Page 8 of Royal Guard

GARRETT

Stop looking at her.

Stop goddamn looking at her. Right now.

But I couldn’t.

Up there, in the glamorous first class cabin, she’d fit right in. Now she’d fallen like an angel from heaven and she was standing there in the desert,myworld, with that pretty hair all mussed and her fancy pajamas already dusty and sand between her toes and somehow, she looked even better. All the dirt and dust and roughness just showcased her beauty even more.

There was a smudge of dust on her left cheek. Resisting the urge to reach down and wipe it off that smooth skin was the hardest thing I’d ever done.

Instead, I forced myself to look down at her bare feet. “We got a long way to walk,” I said. I could see for at least a few miles in each direction and wherever the Interstate was, it was beyond that. “You can’t walk like that.”

I thought for a minute and then grabbed hold ofthe left cuff of my shirt and tugged it until the stitches at the shoulder tore free and the whole tube of fabric slid down my arm and off. I knelt down beside her. “Give me your foot—” I broke off. I knew there was probably some fancy term I was supposed to be using. Didn’t seem right that I kept calling herma’am.“What am I meant to call you?”

I looked up at the same exact moment she looked down. Her eyes were that lush, verdant green you never see in the desert, the green of thick forest. Our eyes locked and all that attraction just hit me again, like a wave slamming into me from behind and lifting me right off my feet. The temptation to just stand up, bury my fingers in that chestnut hair and pull her down for a kiss…. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d fantasized about kissing a woman. Not fucking her:kissingher.

She parted those perfect lips. Started to form a syllable that might have beenKr—Then she bit it back and swallowed. Straightened her spine and lifted her chin. “Your Highness,” she said firmly.

I stared at her for a beat and then nodded. I got it. “Give me your foot, Your Highness.” The term felt weird in my mouth, like drinking champagne. But it reminded me of who she was and who I was...and that was a good thing.

She lifted her foot into my offered hands and I used the sleeve of my shirt to wrap it like a bandage. I tried not to think about how soft her skin was, like she’d never walked barefoot her entire life, or how elegant her ankles and calves were, like some finely-carved statue. I tore off the other arm of my shirt and wrapped her other foot.There.

As I stood up, my dog tags clinked under what wasleft of my shirt. In the absolute quiet of the desert, even that tiny sound carried.

The Princess’s eyes locked on the chain around my neck. “You’re a soldier?” she asked.

“Wasa soldier,” I muttered. The memories gathered above me, storm clouds made of lead. I felt myself tense—

I forced them back and nodded at the road. “We should start walking, Your Highness, before the sun gets too high.”

She nodded and we walked. Well, I did whatIcall walking, shambling along like Bigfoot. But she...sheglided.Even with bits of cloth for shoes, even on the asphalt that soon got to be baking hot, she was as graceful as if she was on ice skates. Was that something they taught princesses, when they were kids?

And that stereotype of her being spoiled and selfish didn’t hold up at all. She didn’t complain once about the rising heat, or wanting a drink, or how much her feet hurt.

I thought about how scared she must be. Knowing that there are people out there trying to kill you...hell, that had been my normal, in the marines. But forher….

It didn’t help that we were out in the wilds. I didn’t know much about Lakovia, but my image of it was trees and mountains, mist and snow. It sure as hell wasn’t likethis.And she was used to being in a bulletproof limo, or in a hotel suite with lots of those guys in blue suits to protect her. Not out here, exposed, with a complete stranger. I wanted to reassure her but that meant talking and I’ve never been much good at that. Even if I was, I sure as helldidn’t know how to talk to a princess. And when I felt likethisabout her—

There was a growl, off in the distance. The Princess drew in her breath and took an instinctive sideways step...towards me.

That protective urge swept over me. I just wanted to put one big paw on her shoulder and pull her in until she was resting against my chest, my body sheltering her from everyone and everything. Assassins, animals...I’d take them all on. My fingers actuallyflexed,reaching to do it—

Instead, I said, “Cougar. Probably coming back from a night hunting. It won’t bother us.”

She swallowed and nodded. “We have wolves in Lakovia.”

I nodded. But she must have seen something in my eyes because she cocked her head to one side. A little of the fear left her eyes and, for the first time, I saw just a hint of teasing humor. “You don’t have any idea where Lakovia is, do you?”

I felt my neck and ears go hot. “Uh...Never was that good with places, Your Highness. Except for the Middle East. They never sent me to Europe.”

She nodded. And as we walked, she told me about Lakovia. Itwasin Europe, right in the center, wedged between all those places like France and Italy to the west and all those former Soviet states to the east. It was proudly traditional, and a little suspicious of outsiders. And it was unusual in one other way. “We’re one of the few actual monarchies left,” she said.

I let that roll around my head for a second. A real, full-on monarchy. The King’s—her dad’s—word was law: no parliament, no prime minister. Her familyweren’t just figureheads, they actually ran the country. Which meant she was a politician, just like the guys who’d taken everything from me.

So why did I like her so much?

As I thought it, I got that feeling again, the one I still couldn’t place, like the wind had caught hold of something inside me and filled it, made it fly like a flag. It went way beyond just being attracted to her.