Page 5 of Royal Rebel

There’s a hope in her voice, a little fringe of desire that I desperately want to grab onto and never let go. “Then as long as you’re sure.” I slide off the couch, getting onto one knee. “Amelia Irving, will you do me the honor of marryingme? Of becoming my queen? Making the history together that the people will talk about for generations?”

I open the box, showing her the ruby stone that had once been my mother’s. When she gasps, I know she recognizes it. “I’m glad I picked the ruby, it goes so well with your complexion and darker hair. The ruby is you—passion and fire.” My mother had been both passion and fire, too.

“Yes,” she answers, her voice cracking slightly. “I will. I’m not going to lie to you, I’m scared to death, but we were chosen to do this,destinedto do it, and I’m willing to figure out why fate put us in each other’s path.”

With shaking hands, I slide the ruby onto her left ring finger before bringing that hand to my lips to kiss. She gasps again when my lips touch skin. “Come on, let’s get you back to your room.”

We walk slowly in the almost-silence of the hallways. Obviously my party was over hours ago; everyone has gone to sleep, or left for the night. I can’t say I’m unhappy with how my birthday turned out. Much different than the ones before, but I’m getting older and a change must occur. When we get to her room, she stops to face me.

“I’ll see you in a few hours?” The question is accompanied by the tilt of her mouth, in a smirk that goes straight to my groin. Her face is expressive, I mark that down for future reference.

“You will.” I lean toward her, placing my hands on either side of her head, allowing my body to press her slightly into the wood of the door. “There’s one more thing we have to do, one more thing we have to get out of the way tonight.”

She’s breathing harsher as she looks up into my eyes. “What’s that?”

“We can’t have our first kiss in front of the people. It needs to be private, in case we’re bad at it, you know?”

She giggles slightly, wrapping her arms loosely around my neck. “You think we’ll be bad at it?”

“We’ll definitely try not to be.” I tilt my head one way, she tilts hers to the other and slowly we move in.

Our lips touch and it’s an explosion of passion I wasn’t prepared for, something I’ve never shared with another human being. Unbidden, my mouth pries hers open, allowing our tongues to duel for space that we both occupy. My hands immediately come off the door, wrapping my arms around her waist, moving up to feel the bare skin at her back. I moan as she slides her hands up into my hair, pulling softly against the force of the kiss.

When I pry my lips from hers, she makes a noise in the back of her throat, tilting her head back as I claim the sides of her neck, wanting to touch every inch of her body that’s both covered and uncovered.

“Tristan.” Her voice is breathless, dazed sounding, as I smear my lips along her jawline, nipping with my teeth.

My hands have a mind of their own as they move up from her waist to her ribcage, my thumbs seeking out the telltale sign of arousal at her breasts. When I find what I’m looking for, I growl, moving my head lower to grasp the nub through the dress, through the bra, and whatever else is separating us. The gasp she releases this time is loud, reverberating off the bare walls. It’s enough to pull me out of the web of arousal we’ve weaved around one another.

When I let her go, we’re both panting. Her lipstick is smeared, eyes are dilated, and lips are swollen from the demanding nature of my kiss. I want nothing more than topick her up, take her into the room, and show her what else I can do, but even I know now isn’t the time.

“Sorry.” I inhale deeply, letting my forehead fall against the door with a loud thump. “Didn’t mean for that to get out of hand.”

She wraps her arms around my neck again, this time slightly combing my hair at the nape. “It’s okay, I didn’t either.”

I chuckle deep in my throat. “At least we know we have chemistry.”

“Loads,” she agrees, laughing slightly against me.

With a concentrated effort, I unwrap her arms from around my neck and physically set her away from me. “Sleep well, my Amelia. I’ll see you in a few hours.”

“See you soon.” She lifts up on tiptoe, even in heels, kisses me on the cheek, and then slips into her room, closing the door quietly behind her.

I lean against the door again, trying to get my body, my feelings, my mind completely under control. As I reach down to adjust my raging hard-on, I know one thing is for sure. My normal? It will never be completely normal again. The woman who now wears my ring…she’s fucked it all up in the very best of ways.

CHAPTER 3

AMELIA

Carefully I take a sip of the iced coffee that’s been placed in front of me, making sure not to drop any of it on the white robe I wear, or to smear any of the lipstick that’s been painstakingly applied to my lips.

“Nervous?” Shannon asks as she sits beside me, going over a few last-minute bullet points.

“Very,” I admit, willing my arm not to shake, willing myself not to show the weakness I feel in this moment.

“It’s all going to be over within the next hour to an hour and a half,” she reminds me.

It’s insanity that I robbed myself of any sleep last night over an hour and a half of my life. But I did. I stayed up, going through everything bad that could happen. Wondering what the pictures and headlines would be if I tripped over my own foot, or on a crack, and landed with my rear end up in the air. What if I snorted or smiled with something in myteeth? What would the world say about me then? Those were the thoughts that kept me up last night.

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