Page 65 of A Fierce Princess

He cups my cheek and runs his thumb across my lips. “It’s also an opportunity. An opportunity to make the world a better place. An opportunity to use a position of power for good. It’s not all bad,” he says. He pauses as though listening to his words and really believing them for the first time. He smiles at me then.

“Plus, I have you,” he adds.

I laugh. “I’m not sure I’m much of a consolation prize for losing one’s freedom,” I say.

The look on Logan’s face could ignite a fuse. “Don’t ever say that again. You are worth everything. How do you not see it?” he asks.

“Logan, I’m just me. I was born into all of this,” I say, motioning to our surroundings. “I didn’t do anything to earn this.” I stop and realize for the first time in my life that I want to do something to earn what I have, to be worthy of what I have. It’s like the world’s largest lightbulb just went on over my head.

“What?” Logan asks, clearly seeing my face light up with my one thought.

“I want to earn this,” I whisper. “I want to be worthy of all of this. I’ve never thought about that before…I’ve never thought of what motivated me to do what I do. I mean, not really thought about it.”

“So, do something. You have the world at your fingertips. You can do something, something big,” he says.

I nod, my thoughts exploding in my head like an atomic bomb. My mind begins racing with possibilities, possibilities that I’ve never considered before this very moment. I look up at him and grin.

He smiles down at me. “What I wouldn’t do to keep that very look upon this face,” he murmurs as he bends down and kisses me.

“Thank you,” I say against his lips.

“I’m not sure for what, but you are very welcome, my princess,” he says back as we continue to kiss.

I sigh in contentment and throw my arms around his neck. I hear movement somewhere in the palace, and I jump back and look up at him. He laughs and bends down, tossing me my clothes. We dress in a hurry, giggling as we do so, and then I wipe down the counter because I’m anal like that.

When I’ve determined that no one can tell we’ve desecrated the kitchen, I turn to Logan. He holds out a hand, and I look at it for a good long moment. Somehow, this seems different than just asking me to come with him, this seems like he’s asking me to be with him. I slowly reach out and grasp his hand. He smiles at me and pulls me against him, crushing me to his chest.

“You know what?” he whispers into my hair.

“What?” I reply.

“We are going to be a force to be reckoned with, my fierce princess,” he says. His words melt into my soul. I don’t know if he knows the Shakespeare quote that my brothers always recited to me, but the fact that he called me fierce confirms that he understands me on a cellular level. I melt into his embrace.

“Come with me,” he says, and he leads me to his room. I look around as we walk through the palace, curious if anyone will see us, but I don’t find a single soul meandering the halls, just the occasional shadow of a guard turning down the next corridor. It makes me a little curious, as I know I heard someone awake, but the palace usually has a handful of staff wandering about at all hours of the day. I decide it was probably a security guard. I don’t give it another thought as Logan pulls me into his room and closes the door behind us.

Chapter 26

It’s my phone buzzing that wakes me in the morning. I reach for it and look down.

Chris: Sten is here

I bolt up in bed. Logan reaches out and tries to pull me back down against him. I resist, and he opens his eyes. As soon as he sees me, he sits up.

“What’s wrong?” he asks.

I turn my phone around to show him the text.

“Your uncle is here,” I say.

He opens his mouth and then closes it. “Why?” he asks.

I shake my head. “I don’t know,” I admit. “If our fathers thought we were in danger, then Sten wouldn’t be in here.”

“What if they are setting a trap for him?” Logan ponders.

“By bringing him into our home? Why would they risk our lives like that?” I ask.

Logan rubs his forehead. “I don’t know. I mean, I don’t even know Sten. I don’t know what to think,” he says.

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