Page 32 of The Prince and His Stolen Groom
He pressed more firmly against me, pinning me against the bookshelf. I felt his whole length behind me, from shoulders all the way down my legs. At some point, one of his legs had slipped between mine, bringing us closer.
I squeezed my eyes shut, which only made things worse. Without any visual stimulus, I could feel his breath on my neck, barely stirring my hair, and the soft, steady thump of his heartbeat against my back. “Did you get it?” I asked, my voice embarrassingly strained.
“There we go,” Brendon said, finally stepping back.
When I recovered myself enough to turn around and look at him, his whole face was alight with triumph.
“Thanks for your help,” he said, before casually lying on the couch and opening the book.
I stared at him. Shouldn’t he get dressed or shower before he started reading? No, no, I absolutely did not need to be here when he was naked for any reason whatsoever. I rushed to the door, then paused with my hand on the knob. “The Good Wizard should be here today.”
“Excellent,” Brendon said, not bothering to look at me. “Let me know what he says.”
“I … yeah, of course.” I slipped out the door and rushed to Chester, needing to go home and take an ice-cold shower to wash away the lingering traces of his touch.
Chapter Thirteen
The Good Wizard arrived with more fanfare than the prince. Despite it being high noon, fireworks lit up the skies, their booms subdued so as not to startle anyone. The bright, colorful flashes created fanatical shapes like dragons, griffins, and unicorns. Then a carriage pulled by six gleaming white flying horses burst through all the noise and chaos, doing five or six laps over our heads.
I felt a little bad that Brendon had missed it. But as soon as I thought about him, I remembered the way he’d pressed into me from behind and decided it was probably a good thing the prince wasn’t here, orIwould have missed the show. Sporting an erection in front of my family would only add to the embarrassment.
The horses finally came in for a landing, gently stopping right before me and my family—and Kit. The carriage door opened with no assistance, and the Good Wizard flung himself out, large blue sleeves covered with shimmering golden stars billowing in the wind. A disembodied voice echoed all around us. “Presenting The Good Wizard, Protector of the Desolated Lands and the Savior of the Five Kingdoms of Woe, Bane, Gloom, Calamity, and Misfortune.”
I expected a name to follow at some point until I realized that the reason we all called him ‘the Good Wizard’ was because that was the only name we would get.
As my parents greeted him, the carriage and the horses disappeared with a gentle puff of glitter washed away on a breeze, leaving behindonly a set of patched up, barely-held-together suitcases.
“Ah, here is our groom,” the Good Wizard said, his voice somehow both breathy with age and strong enough to fill the whole courtyard. Instead of stepping before Kit, he took my hand and shook it vigorously. “A pleasure to meet you.”
I blinked at him, horrified by the implication. “I absolutely am not!”
His brow furrowed, two bushy white eyebrows meeting in the middle. “Really? Are you sure?”
“Positive,” I replied, my face heating from embarrassment. “I’m the bride’s brother.Thatis the groom.” I pointed at Kit, standing a few steps behind us in the full glory of their armor.
The Good Wizard stared at Kit for a long moment, blinking owlishly, before announcing, “No it isn’t.”
Oh fuck.I hadn’t predicted that the Good Wizard would be able to identify the imposter at a glance. A few days ago, it would have been perfect since Brendon’s disappearance would delay the wedding. But it wasnotthe time for all of that to come out. I needed to talk to the Good Wizardfirst.
To my surprise, Franny intercepted him, laughing lightly as she looped arms with the Good Wizard. “Of course it is, good sir, though I’m not surprised you can’t recognize him with the helmet on. There’s a custom in Bane where it’s bad luck to see the groom before the wedding.”
“No there isn’t—” He cut off with a slight oomph as he tripped over something.
Franny’s smile remained serene and perfectly poised, or I would have suspected she’d stepped on his foot. She was acting odd, which wasn’t right.Iwas the one who had reason to act odd and suspicious.
“You’ve had such a long journey. Please, come inside for some tea. Brendon, why don’t you join us, darling? We can all have a lovely chat.”
Since I also wanted to speak to the Good Wizard, I followed behind them, but at the castle entrance Kit stopped me. “Rick, I received a notice from Madame Trousers’ that your order was ready.”
“My order?” But I’d already taken the clothes I’d purchased.
“Yes, you should go get it, since it’s importantfor the wedding.”
Dammit, was Kit treating me like an errand boy now? “I have plenty of time to go get it. The Good Wizard just got here, it’d be rude for me to leave.”
“Nonsense, Fred. Brendon and I have last-minute wedding preparations to discuss, you’d only be bored silly. This is the perfect time for an outing,” Franny said, stubbornly waving me off.
“But I—”
