Page 61 of The Prince and His Stolen Groom
“They did,” I confirmed with a grin. “It was … an experience.”
He poured himself another drink and topped off my flute. “Well, at least they didn’t almost bite off your tongue,” he said, his amusement fading as his smile drooped. “Not my best work.”
You could try again. I took a long drink to drown out the words and cool the fires of my lust.Get to know him better first, then jump his bones. Wait, no, get to know him, propose the marriage idea,thensex.Order was important, and we’d fucked it up from the beginning. This maze and these silly little question books had given us an opportunity to get back on track. “What else is in there? Anything neutral?” Probably not with that title, but I could hope.
He flipped through the book and held it up as he read out loud, “What is your ideal way to spend an afternoon?”
I grinned and grabbed another dainty sandwich from the picnic basket. “This way isn’t so bad.”
He smiled back at me, soft and happy. “I’ve had worse.”
I don’t know how long we spent snacking, drinking, asking questions. We didn’t always answer them. I vetoed some, he skipped others, flipping through pages until he found something he liked. Eventually he dozed off, the book resting on his armored chest. I drifted off soon after, thinking,yeah, I could spend a lot more days like this.
Chapter Twenty-Three
I woke up with a crick in my neck and a burning pain in my head. That might have been from the sun blaring down at me as if it had a personal vendetta against my eyeballs. A shadow moved to block it out, giving me some relief while I adjusted to being awake.
“Frederick Woeful, what kind of behavior is this for a prince?” Mother demanded.
I blinked a few times, then sat up fast enough to make myself dizzy. Brendon was also just waking up, but he couldn’t sit up on his own in the armor. How he’d managed to nap like that, I’d never understand. I helped him stand and then watched him almost fall over as he immediately tried to bend at the waist to search the ground for something. The maze had disappeared sometime while we’d slept, every trace of it gone. Even the blanket we’d been laying on. We were on the very edge of the forest, the castle visible in the distance.
Mother crouched and picked up his discarded helmet, handing it to him. “I hope this doesn’t violate any of your customs,” she said, sending me an acidic look that melted any possible excuses or protests.
Brendon settled the helmet on his head then asked, “Did Princess Francesca see me?”
Would Mother notice the change in his voice? Maybe that’s why he’d waited until the helmet was on before speaking.
“No, she’s still up at the castle. She was up quite late waiting for you and my wayward son to return.” She glared at me in disapproval.
I hunched my shoulders, trying to make myself as small as possible. “We got distracted.” Even the thorns from last night had vanished, leaving me no evidence to explain why we had been out all night.
“It was my fault,” Brendon volunteered. “When I found Rick, he uh, was …” He trailed off.
“Drunk.” It wasn’t my preferred excuse, but it was the easiest explanation without going into the kidnapping, switched identities, and the evil mage I might have unleashed on the kingdom.
Mother’s lips pursed. “I see.”
“And I decided to join him,” Brendon rushed to fill in. “It’s another tradition—to celebrate the end of one’s bachelorhood with other unmarried people.”
“Really? You didn’t mention anything before.”
“That one is optional.”
She looked at him with a mixture of exasperation and fondness. Obviously, she thought he was covering for me, but wasn’t willing to call her future son-in-law a liar to his face. “Well, now that I’ve found you—”
“Why you?” I interrupted, frowning as I noticed she was alone. The castle guards or one of the staff should have been looking for us, not the queen—especially not on her own.
Her lips pressed into a thin line. “I was concerned I might need to unlock the tower. I know how you are about that silly thing, and after last time …”
She trailed off and I was glad she’d dropped the subject.
“Thank you,” I muttered.
“Yes, well, the next time you two would like to cavort about, please do keep it better contained. Anyone could have come across you in your drunken stupor. Our kingdom may be protected, but it is not necessarilysafe.”
She had no idea how unsafe it was. “I’m sorry, Mother.”
She sighed and cupped my cheek. “I wish you would take better care of yourself, Frederick.” Glancing at Brendon, she smiled and said, “At least you’re getting along with your future brother.”
