Page 30 of A Fierce Princess

“What’s rule number one?” I ask.

“Never fall for your enemy,” he says as he leans down and kisses me.

Chapter 15

I’m momentarily transported to another planet…I think. His lips are as amazing as I thought they would be the first time I saw him in person. I sigh against them, and he licks between my lips. It’s not my first kiss, but it feels like it. I tentatively swipe my tongue against his, and he makes a growling noise as he deepens the kiss, tilting his head to the side. He releases my wrists, and his hands go to my face, cradling it so he can get the access he wants. I find myself reaching out to run my fingers through his hair. I’ve wanted to do this for days now. His thick hair feels amazing. I push his head harder against mine, seeking more.

It feels so wrong to be kissing him, but I can’t stop myself. I remove my hands from his hair and run them down his body, feeling the wall of perfect muscles from his chest down his abdomen. He groans into my mouth as my hands hover just above his shorts.

He pulls back slightly and rests his forehead against mine. “We should stop this, Princess,” he says.

I try to pull him back down, but he pins my wrists again. “Logan,” I pout. “Please.”

We’re both breathing fast as we try to catch our breaths.

“I got carried away. Forgive me?” he asks.

I suddenly feel ashamed as though I did something wrong. “Fine,” I say. I let my body go limp, and he releases me, sitting up on his haunches between my legs. He runs a hand through his hair again as he looks down at me and then stands, offering me a hand. I don’t take it and instead stand on my own.

“I should head back to my cabin,” he says as he walks toward the door.

“Wait,” I say. “We still need to figure out what to do about…you know, everything.”

“Get some sleep, Your Highness. There’s nothing we can do about it right now,” he says as he opens the door and leaves. I stand there staring at it for a long moment. Part of me wants to follow him and part of me is so humiliated that I want to bury myself under a pillow until we dock. I sit back down, and then curl into a fetal position on the floor, hoping that the marine carpeting will suck me into another dimension.

Chapter 16

Iwake with a start. I’m still lying on the floor. I’m momentarily disoriented as I rub my eyes. Memories of the previous night flood into my head like a tsunami. I sit up and groan. I’m an idiot. I fumble on the ground searching for my phone. Eventually, I find it on my bed next to my computer which is still up and running. I’m about to head out to the galley to get coffee when I notice one of my searches has a notification. My blood goes cold as I click on the small icon.

I freeze, contemplating what I’m reading. For a long moment, I hear nothing else, see nothing else. The words on the screen slowly start to come into focus like a word puzzle. M is here.

“Shit!” I whisper-yell to myself.

M has checked into a hotel on Nassau under one of his known pseudonyms. Clearly, he’s not worried about being spotted. That alone confuses me. Using his name to get through airport security, yes, I get that. It can be costly and time-consuming to get a proper fake passport, but this…well, it’s odd.

I sigh. Everything about my life at this moment is odd. The double life that I created that once seemed so easy to maintain is now an epic disaster. My two universes are about to collide, and the world will never be the same. I take a breath and garner my last semblance of bravery. It’s time to tell my brothers. I'm an idiot if I think I can do this on my own.

I walk out of my room and then quickly back in after I realize I’m still dressed in my clothes from yesterday. I shower and change. I grab a coffee from Vicky as I walk up to the deck. Thomas and Logan are discussing something, and my brothers and Mia are at the other end of the boat.

For a moment, I’m perplexed as to which direction to go. After weighing my options, I head toward Logan.

Thomas nods at me and is about to say something to Logan when Vicky calls him to help her with something below deck. He heads down, leaving Logan and me alone.

Logan looks like a deer in the headlights. He looks everywhere but at me.

I clear my throat, and he finally makes eye contact.

“We need to talk,” I say quietly.

“No, we don’t,” he says.

I raise an eyebrow. “I just told you there’s a bounty on your head, and you don’t think we need to discuss that?” I ask.

“Nope,” he says.

I sigh. Men.

“Logan, I know everything I dumped on you last night was…overwhelming, but I…you…have to be careful now,” I stammer as I try to search for the right words since telling him that I like him and don’t want him to die seems a little out of the question.

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