Page 65 of His Runaway Princess

“Everything hurts, but overall I feel all right.” He pushed the button to raise the head of the bed a little more.

“I’m glad.” He sighed. “You protected my granddaughter again. I don’t know how to thank you. If you hadn’t been there...” The king choked up. “I’m glad you were.”

“I am, too, sir.”

The door opened again. Ryker turned his head but before he could process who stood there, Amalia was in his arms.

19

When she laid her head on Ryker’s chest, Amalia knew she should move. She shouldn’t have done this in the first place, not without talking to him first.

But as the tears of relief flowed down her cheeks, she didn’t care. Not as long as he wasn’t in pain.

Was he?

She tried to pull away, but even in his weakened state, Ryker had his arms around her and held her close.

“Are you all right,Amalia mín?” His soft voice carried the concern she knew it would.

“I’m fine.” She couldn’t stop the hiccup. “You’re the one...”

He laughed, just enough to whimper. He was in pain.

This time he let her move away.

“I’m fine.” He reached out the hand that didn’t have tubes attached and brushed little bits of hair back. “I promise.”

“He stabbed you,” she whispered. “I saw the blood.”

Ryker gave a weak smile as he took her hand. “Most of that came from my head. Head wounds bleed a lot, but it was minor. The leg is the worst of it. I’ll be sore, but I’m fine.” His brows pulled together. “What about you? Are you really all right? He didn’t hurt you?”

Amalia shook her head. “The knife broke the skin on my side, but I didn’t even need stitches. Just a little glue.”

Her side ached and she’d need a good massage before long to work the tension out of her neck and shoulders. The headache hadn’t let up, despite taking some medicine the doctor gave her.

“I’m sorry I didn’t protect you better.” He kissed the back of her hand. “He shouldn’t have been able to get to you in the first place.”

“No!” She squeezed his hand. “It’s not your fault. I don’t know how he got there. I’m not sure anyone knows yet. You’re the one who made sure we moved away from the edge of the cliff. I don’t think he noticed, but you moved around and pushed us back toward the house. You kept his attention so I could get away.”

“Ma’am?”

She turned to see Thor standing near the door. “Yes?”

He looked apologetic. “I understand, but need you to please not mention specifics until we’ve had a chance to discuss it with the prince. We need his memory as untainted as possible.”

Ryker groaned. “Prince? You’ve been my boss for years.”

With a chuckle, Thor moved farther into the room. “I understand the difficulty of adjusting to the titles and everything. You’ll likely never get used to it, but it will get easier to hide your discomfort with it.”

“If you say so.”

“And my phone is always on if you need to talk to someone who understands.” He reached the end of the hospital bed. “Or if you need anything else.”

Ryker nodded. “I know. I appreciate that.”

“I don’t remember giving you permission to get married, much less injured.”

The new voice sounded more angry than annoyed.

---