Page 114 of Falling Princess

Lorcan was more interested in the ancient sculptures, so we sauntered toward the Greek and Roman galleries.

“This is a lot of naked statues,” I whispered, impishly. Giddy with relief that there were no reporters inside the event.

Lorcan got me back, literally, by stroking his thumb over the indentation of my spine, right above the edge of my dress. As though being around him doesn’t put me in a bad enough state, looking at naked statues and touching skin-on-skin had serious side effects on me. I read the placards but retained none of the information.

Hours ago, he told me why we had to wait. I’m not certain I agree. Here in the outside world, it’s easy to forget how precarious the political situation is back home. What if we embraced what we wanted and—

Ruined everything. Years of careful planning, tossed aside because we couldn’t keep a lid on our feelings. Lives lost.

We wandered without purpose for an hour, soaking in the art without trying to make anything more of our visit. Enjoying the time as though war’s long shadow didn’t hang over us, as though we were two people spending an evening together without suffocating titles. I looped my arm through his.

The only people around were invited guests like us, or guards, all thoroughly investigated. Cata and my father must have done a good job of suppressing evidence of our recent connections to the world’s shadier crime syndicates. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have been allowed in.

We passed Kenton, who nodded, his dark hair flopping over his face, going into the Greek Sculptures gallery as we came out. On one arm he had a voluptuous redheaded white woman in a dress not dissimilar to mine; on the other, a gorgeous Black woman in an ivory silk gown.

“I hope Scarlett is out having a good time,” I whispered to my guard. He glanced over with a half-smile.

“I couldn’t do what they do,” he murmured.

“Me, neither.”

We bumped into Raina and Bashir in the Palace of Sargon II. They waved and wandered off.

“Raina does have a good eye for fashion,” Lorcan commented. His eyes followed her dramatic violet and silver silhouette. But it was my gown he was thinking about, apparently, for a moment later he backed me into a dark alcove and said, “This, for instance.”

There must be a million cameras in this place. I don’t care. I arched into his touch as he traced the curve of my breast right next to the necklace.

“It’s nice, isn’t it?” I said breathily.

“Gorgeous.” His gaze flicked down to my chest. I liked that my heels put our mouths nearly at the same level. I am less fond of the ache in my feet after a few hours of wear, but I’ll live. Worth it to be this close to him.

“I was thinking it would look great on your floor,” I whispered, tucking one hand beneath his suit jacket and running it over his narrow hip to his back. It bumped against a leather casing attached to his belt. The handle of a knife was cool to my touch. I guess he left the gun back in our hotel.

Lorcan’s eyes shuttered. “You can’t say things like that, Princess.”

My sweet killer, undone by the mere suggestion of sex. I adore him completely.

I pressed a kiss to his lips.

He tugged the bow at the back of my neck free. I gasped against his mouth as the fabric slithered down my chest. Desire surged down my body and pooled between my legs. He could hike my skirt up and fuck me right against this wall and I wouldn’t care who caught us. I was on the cusp of asking him to.

Instead, he ran rough fingertips in circles around my nipple. I swear I felt each stroke in my clit. I groaned. My body throbbed in both places. It’s so good, but not enough.

Lorcan leaned in, kissing me open-mouthed while palming my naked breast. I dragged him hard against my front. Even better. Still not enough. I ran my hands up his back, beneath his suit jacket. I want him undone. Naked. Every scar and muscle revealed to me. His skin was warm beneath the smooth fabric of his shirt, and he smelled intoxicatingly good.

If we’re caught, we’re dead. Not literally, but we’ll be separated, which is effectively a death sentence for me. I was so wet with need I nearly pushed his hand down to ease the ache.

We weren’t caught. Lorcan pulled back, then stroked his thumb over the tight bead of my nipple before reluctantly releasing me. Dazed, I got the strap up over my shoulder and re-tied the knot. He skimmed his hands down my sides and dropped his forehead against mine. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and dug my fingers into his hair. Breathing him in.

“You’ve become such a distraction,” he complained against my temple. I felt the frustration in his body, from the tension in his back to the slight tremble in his arms. “It was almost easier to protect you when you wanted nothing to do with me.”

“Right now, Lorcan, I want you to protect yourself. You promised me that as long as you’re alive, you’ll come back to me.” I touched his nose with my fingertip. “Therefore, you have to stay alive. Understand?”

It’s as close as I’ve come to telling him how worried I am about him. He captured my hand and kissed my finger. “Then I need you to stop teasing me.”

“I wasn’t the one who started things just now, admit it—”

“Zosia—”

---