Page 25 of Praise Me: Princess
While I despair over the possibility that my love could be harmed in battle, he bands an arm across my shoulders, kissing my temple hard. “If I die, I will return from the dead to be with her. Six feet of soil and a wooden box couldn’t stop me.”
“People from Leidenstein are strange,” whispers the prince.
I look back over my shoulder and see my mother appears indecisive…but not surprised. “You knew about us?”
“The walls of the palace tend to echo, and you haven’t exactly been quiet in the evenings. Or mornings. Or afternoons.” She gives us a dry look. “I must say, Commander, I approve of the way my daughter has flourished in your presence. Never did I expect to see her kick a chair. Or shatter a glass, let alone leave the palace with such confidence. She is braver now than before you arrived.”
“She has always been brave,” he says, kissing the top of my head. “She just needed the safety to let it show.”
Ingrid hums, studying us. “I find myself disinclined to wed my daughter to a prince who is clearly lacking in maturity…”
“Hey!”
“You are positive that you can turn the tide up north?”
“I will exhaust myself in the service of Leidenstein, Queen.”
She sighs. “Very well.”
Conrad releases a rocky exhale, relief washing over his features.
I am far from relieved, however.
“No,” I whisper, holding him tighter. “You’ve served enough. You shouldn’t have to go back and give more of your time. Your life.”
“I amgaininga life by going back, Princess. A life with you.”
“Please, no. No. I can’t stand it,” I whisper shakily. “I don’t want you in harm’s way.”
Conrad scoops me up into his arms. “I will leave for the front lines in an hour, Queen. Right now, the princess needs to be reassured.”
With that, the commander turns and marches out of the room.
“Oh sure, just use any available guest suites,” complains Kristof with a heavy dose of sarcasm. “Well, this certainly didn’t go as planned.”
No, it didn’t.
It went much, much worse, if you ask me.
Conrad disagrees. Vehemently.
And as he closes us in a dark room at the end of a long, marble-floored corridor, my body pressed back roughly to the door, his feasting mouth tells me exactly how much.
thirteen
. . .
Conrad
Of all thebullets I’ve dodged in my lifetime, this one came the closest to killing me.
One month of service. That’s all? Only four measly weeks and I will have this woman as my reward? I would have agreed to serve the rest of my life if only to stop her marrying that clown. That motherfucker who had the nerve to covet what is mine.
Mine.
One month and that claim will be official.
I am kissing the princess now, her tight body sandwiched between me and the door, her thighs circling my hips, tiara askew. We haven’t fucked since this morning, so she’s extra whiny in between thorough pillages of her sweet, young mouth, and without laying a finger on her, I know she’s soaked straight through her panties.