Page 25 of Princessa
Chapter 16
Thick and sweet, the wordskiss mepoured out of me like honey.
And Grayson didn’t second-guess a single syllable.
Without delay, his mouth crashed against mine, the impact magnetic.
His lips eager. The kiss sublime. My heartbeat unmeasurable.
The cool night air that sauntered over us should have made me shiver. Instead, the sensation rushing through me was twenty-four-carat heat.
Who would have thought I’d move to France and make out with a molten-hot prince on the beach under a starlit sky?
Not me.
France is where I came to recover from my relationship oops. Focus on something other than epic betrayal. Not be seduced by romantic gestures and hopeful possibilities. Yet, there I was, fingers running—pulling—a gorgeous head of hair while his hands cupped my face, a kiss so rhythmic and in sync, anyone would have thought we’d performed it a thousand times before. Perhaps in a dream. Another life.
Part of me wondered if that twinkle in time was real or just another one of many dreams because, cliche-ridden or not, the moment seemed too good to be true.
Heseemed too good to be true.
My tongue swiped his, kicking off an all-the-feels blitz from head to toe, transforming me into a new and improved Arabella Royale: glazed, dizzy, and downright drunk on Prince Phenomenal-Kisser Grayson.
Girl, this has got to be the best we-are-just-friends smooch, ever.
Grayson pulled his lips away from mine, as though he’d heard Santana through my inner thoughts.
Talk about a buzzkill.
“You okay? Do we need to slow down?” His hooded eyes held less composure than the affected tone in his voice.
“I’m okay, just feeling a little dizzy.”
“Probably the wine. Maybe you should lie down, stargaze until you feel better.”
Unable to stir up courage to tell him my dizziness came from that mind-blowing kiss, I lay down, legs crossed at my feet, arms at my side, eyes on the sky. “Right. Has to be the wine.”
Settling down beside me, his peepers also on the stars above, Grayson took hold of my hand and brought it to his lips with a tender kiss. “So, is it safe for me to assume we’re no longer traveling down the friend road?”
“Nothing would please me more than to get off this road and cross over to wherever this leads us.” I flicked my attention from the sky to Grayson, surprised to see he’d already moved his seductive blues onto me. “But…I have questions.”
“I figured you would. Fire away.”
A knot of tension balled up in my stomach as I contemplated how to frame the question that had been hovering around me. “Why don’t you want to marry The Dragon?”
His eyelids dropped as he breathed out what seemed to be an exasperated sigh. “Her actual name is Lady Iris Godiva—”
“Godiva? Like the chocolate?” I tried to hold back the giggle that burst free.
“Yes.” He chuckled. “But definitely far less sweet. Anyway, as you know, Andorra has this stupid rule in which heirs to the throne must be married before or at the end of their thirty-fifth birthday. If, after many years of being single, they can’t find a suitable spouse, their parents step in, assuming they have better luck finding a match.”
I sat up, watching his expression tighten, irritation marring his face.
“My parents’ choice since I was a teenager has always been Lady Iris Godiva of Berkshire.”
“Why her?”
Grayson sat up, threading a hand through his hair. “Some years ago, Andorra was in financial distress. My father went to his friend in England—Lord Devon Godiva of Berkshire and asked him for financial assistance to get Andorra out of dire straights.”
