“No she wasn’t. None of this was your fault.”
“Then none of this was your fault either,” she shouted back.
I hadn’t even realized I had raised my voice until she did the same.
“I’m going to be honest and tell you that I’m scared,” I said, not even realizing the words were coming out of my mouth until I’d spoken them. I just needed to get my head out of my ass and say what I was feeling.
“Scared of what?” she asked wearily.
“I was scared you were going to end up like Phoebe.”
She pressed her lips together. “You loved her very much,” she whispered, and I heard the pain there.
I stepped forward again, this time hesitantly putting my hand on her cheek. She didn’t move away, and I took that as a good sign. “I did. I loved her very much. But that doesn’t mean she’s the only person I can ever love.”
“What are you saying, Kannon?”
“I’m saying that sometimes I get in my own way. I do it all the time. Phoebe’s not the only one in my heart now. And that means I’m going to be scared to death of losing you like I lost her.”
“Kannon,” she breathed. Then she pushed my hand away. “I bared myself to you, and you threw it back in my face.”
I let out a breath, the hurt in her words a visceral pain. “I know, and that’s unforgivable. I was trying to do what I thought was best for you.”
“You were trying to make my decisions for me. Something that everyone has done for me since the time I was conceived. Most likely, before that. How do I know you won’t throw that back in my face again?”
“You don’t. You’ll have to trust me. And I’ll have to spend however long it takes working to make sure I earn that trust.”
“I shouldn’t even be listening to this. I should let you walk away again or do it myself.” I waited for her to continue, waited to hear something that would give me hope. “But...I can’t. If I do that, I’ll only be hurting myself. And I’m done hurting my future and heart just to live up to everyone else’s expectations.”
I nearly fell to my knees, truly ready to grovel. “I’m sorry. I’m scared. I was an idiot. I’ll do whatever you want. But take me back. I know this is too fast, and there’s so much left in our way, but let’s figure it out together. I’ll go down on my knees if I have to. I’ll grovel. I’ll do anything you want. But just forgive me for walking away. Forgive me, please.”
She blinked up at me and then reached up and traced her finger along my jawline.
I leaned into her touch, soaking it in. I didn’t want this to be the last time she touched me.
“You’re right. It’s far too fast,” she whispered. “But I know what I’m feeling. I don’t know how this is going to work. I don’t even know what my future looks like beyond this moment, but I know I don’t want to have that future without you. I want to figure it out. I love you, Kannon. I wasn’t lying or caught up in the moment when I said it.”
I sucked in a breath. “And I love you too,” I whispered. Her eyes filled with tears, and I leaned in and brushed my lips along hers. She sank into me, and I nearly groaned. I’d missed this connection between us.
I didn’t know what was ahead of us, but I knew this needed to be part of it.
“I don’t know what I need to do for this to work, but I’m all in. There’s just going to be a lot of threads to untangle and weave for us to make it work.”
Her eyes clouded for a moment, and she backed away but took my hand in hers. “You’re right. I have no idea how this is going to work. And I don’t want any promises beyond this moment. But I love you, and I want to figure it out, even though we have a lot of obstacles to overcome. My kingdom still has that arcane law we have to deal with, and my timing couldn’t be worse.” She cringed and put her hand on her stomach.
My eyes widened. “Do you know this soon?” I asked, fear and what felt like elation tangling up together.
She shook her head, her hand falling. “No, it’s far too early to tell, and as I said, I’m on birth control. But that doesn’t negate the fact that there’s still a rule in place that states if I don’t get pregnant, or if my brothers don’t impregnate someone else within the next few months, we could lose our throne. And then, even if we get around that, I’m still the princess. I still have responsibilities. And you have your job to deal with, and I have my photography career, and… I just don’t know.”
I pressed my lips to hers, kissed her hard, and then pulled away, resting my forehead against hers. “We’ll figure it out together. I have some of the best people in the business when it comes to figuring out tricky scenarios. And your family is pretty damn smart, too.” There was a pointed cough, and I turned, pushing London behind me.
She pushed at me and laughed. “You don’t need to protect me here. It’s just my brother.”
The King of Alden walked from behind a tree and raised a brow.
“While I do enjoy the fact that you’re so protective you’d put yourself in front of my sister, I don’t know if I need you guys to make out like that in public.”
“We’re hardly in public. These are my private gardens.”
“So private that you didn’t even notice me here?”
“That won’t be a mistake I make again,” I bit out through gritted teeth.
The King of Alden nodded and chuckled. “Good. As for the issues regarding the royal line?” the King asked, shaking
