A Royal Mess and Her Knight To Remember

still held nearly hit her in the face. She stared at it, hissed in frustration and dropped that arm to her side. “I’m out of here,” she decided, and stormed toward the door.

Giving him an unwitting view of the back.

Or lack of, in this case.

He swore again, reverently, then beat her to the door, holding it closed. “Princess.” His voice was hoarse. “You’re…missing a few items of clothing.”

“Don’t tell me, you were class valedictorian, right?”

He ignored that to let out a rough groan as his gaze devoured her. “You’re…dressed like a dominatrix.”

“Your powers of observation are startling.” She pulled on the handle, but with his weight against the door, it didn’t budge. “You might not have noticed this part of the costume.” She lifted the whip. “But believe me, after tonight, I’m not afraid to use it.”

He actually almost smiled. “Hey, I’m not afraid of a little role-playing.”

He’d let her… Oh, good Lord.

“Let me guess.” He fingered the whip. “The bridal shower?”

“You’re laughing at me.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Great. Fine. Go ahead and get some amusement out of this. Just as long as you let me out of here.”

“You’re just going to walk down the hall dressed like that?” His eyes were dark, and very, very hot as they ran over her body, stopping at the plunging neckline of the bra that barely covered her nipples. “You’re going to need that whip,” he said. “As every single male you see is going to drop his tongue and follow you like a puppy.”

She snorted. “Oh, please.”

“Do you have any idea how you look? Or what the back of that thing shows off? My God, Annie. You’re the most amazing-”

“Right.”

“-gorgeous, mouthwatering-”

“Are you going to be a gentleman about this or not?” she interrupted, not pleased at how his compliments warmed her.

He considered carefully, then slowly, almost regretfully, shook his head. “No.”

“Kyle, damn it.” All warmth vanished. “Give me a shirt at least.”

“You’d need more than a shirt, you’d need a potato sack.” He craned his neck and took another good, long look at her butt. “Tell you what.” He straightened, and this time his body seemed closer. “I’ll rescue you. On one condition.”

They were just barely touching now, and she realized she’d been so furious that she’d missed a very important fact.

He was wearing only a set of knit boxers. Very well-fitting knit boxers. “Um…you’re not dressed.”

“Yeah.” He nuzzled at her neck. “You startled me out of a great dream, but this is even better.”

“The condition, Kyle.”

He just stroked a long finger down her jaw. “Hmm?”

“The condition,” she fairly screamed. “You’ll rescue me on one condition, though I’m almost afraid to ask.”

His expression came slow and wicked and made every single bone in her body dissolve. “Oh, yeah. Be afraid. Be very afraid.” He leaned close, whispering, “Because my condition is this.” His finger slid down her throat now, and she shivered at the touch. At her involuntary movement, his eyes were positively slumberous. “You’ve said sex was overrated. I can’t seem to get past that, Princess. Let me prove you wrong.”

She slapped his hand away. “No way.”

“What are you afraid of?”

Afraid? She wasn’t afraid. Just the thought of letting him prove her wrong got her juices going. Hell, just his voice did that.

But she couldn’t…it would be out of the question…no. She was terrifyingly close to caring for this rough and edgy man. She’d rather march down the hallway in this outfit than be here another moment. Than let him disprove the only theory she had that made her loneliness okay. Sex was nothing. Sex wasn’t worth her time. Sex was overrated. Yes, she really had to stick with that theory. “Sorry.” She reached for the handle again, hoping against hope she could make it to her room without anyone seeing her.

But what if she couldn’t?

The thought of being discovered was enough to have her face burning. Her fingers were still on the handle though, and she’d lose face if he didn’t try to stop her one more time. “I’m…going.”

He nodded and stepped back. “Okay.”

“No, really.” She lifted her arms to remind him of how she was dressed. “I’m walking down the hall just like this.”

“I heard you.” He reached past her. “Here. Let me get the door for you.”

Oh, God.

He opened the door, but before it got more than two inches, she slammed it shut, pressed her back to it and glared at him. “You’re a jerk.”

“I’ve been told.” His lips quirked as he crossed his arms. “You have options, you know.”

“The decent one would be for you to help me out.”

“No one ever said I was decent.” He shot her another naughty look.

“Kyle.”

“Yes?”

She bit her lower lip, pride warring with common sense.

Finally, he laughed. Laughed. And if she wasn’t so pissed, she would have loved the sound of it. “Oh, baby,” he said. “If you could see your face. You want me to beg you to stay?”

“Please,” she whispered.

“Don’t you know, in that outfit, you could have whatever you wanted? Stay, Annie. Stay and let me prove you wrong. I’ll make it worth your time, I promise. I’ll let you do whatever you want, you call the shots.” He fingered the whip and waggled his eyebrows. “Unless, of course…”

“Unless?”

“You’re chicken.”

“Chicken?” she repeated incredulously, forgetting her near nakedness and her nerves. “That’s the second time today someone has said that. I’m not a chicken!”

But as she stood there, mind whirling, trying to figure a way out of this ridiculous mess, she knew the truth. She was a chicken. She was a big fat chicken who’d rather face public humiliation than what she felt for a man.

This man.

Because more than any other, he mattered. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Where was Nat when she needed her? No one on earth was more fond of telling Annie when she was being stupid than Nat was.

Okay, she just needed to play her usual routine she had perfected. Run hard and fast in the opposite direction. Which she would, as soon as she was fully clothed again. “Okay.”

He lifted a brow. “Okay?”

Oh, wasn’t he ever so confident, leaning back, arms crossed, lips slightly curved. She may be temporarily defeated but she wasn’t ready to call uncle yet. “You said I could do what I want. Well, okay, I’ll do what I want. I’ll…” She looked at the whip in her hand. “I’ll spank you.”

His smug look vanished in a heartbeat. His arms dropped, and so did his jaw. In his gaze was such a shocked surprise she burst out laughing. “You should see the look on your face, it’s priceless.”

“So you were kidding.”

“No.” She shot him back his own smug smile. “Not at all.” Lifting her chin, she flashed him eyes filled with daring. “I’m tougher than I look.”

“Well you look pretty tough right now.” His hand slid down her arm to her waist, which he gently squeezed. “Tough on the surface, anyway. But inside, where it counts, I’m thinking you’re soft and sweet. Are you soft and sweet, Annie?”