Page 12
Story: His Forbidden Princess
"I want to hear you say it." I'm pushing deliberately now, testing the limits of his control, curious to see what would happen if it snapped again.
He doesn't back away as I approach, though every line of his body radiates tension. "It doesn't matter. It can't happen again."
"Can't it?" I stop just inches from him, close enough to feel the heat radiating from his body. "Because it felt like something that could happen again. Something that wanted to happen for a long time."
His nostrils flare slightly, the only visible sign of his reaction to my proximity. "What do you think you're doing, Lirien?"
The use of my name without title sends a thrill through me. "Exploring my night of freedom." I tilt my head, studying him. "Unless you're rescinding your generous offer?"
"This isn't a game." His voice drops to a dangerous register.
"Isn't it?" I reach out, my fingers hovering over the scar on his jaw without quite touching it. "The rules seem simple enough. You want me. I want you. But you won't allow yourself to act on it because of duty, position, propriety."
"Those aren't trivial concerns." He catches my wrist before I can touch him, his grip firm but not painful. "You are the crown princess. In a few months, you'll be betrothed to strengthen the kingdom's alliances. That is your duty."
"And if I don't want that duty?" I challenge, not pulling away from his hold.
"We don't always get what we want." His thumb moves almost imperceptibly against my pulse point, betraying the restraint he's exercising.
"You got what you wanted in that alley." I lean closer, emboldened by the flicker of desire I see in his eyes. "You wanted to kiss me, and you did."
"A moment of weakness." His jaw tightens. "It won't happen again."
"Won't it?" I deliberately lick my lips, watching his gaze drop to track the movement. "Because I think it could happen right now, if I wanted it to."
"You overestimate your influence, Princess." But he doesn't release my wrist, doesn't step away.
"Do I?" I use my free hand to push a strand of hair behind my ear, a deliberately innocent gesture that draws his attention to my neck, my collarbone, the swell of my breast beneath the simple shirt. "Then prove it. Let me go and step away."
For a long moment, he doesn't move. Then, with what seems like physical pain, he releases my wrist and takes one step back.
"Satisfied?" he growls.
"Not particularly." I rub my wrist, though he didn't hurt me. "What are you so afraid of, Dain? That you'll like it too much? That I will?"
"I'm afraid of ruining you." The blunt admission hangs in the air between us. "I'm afraid of being the man who took advantage of his position to seduce the woman he's sworn to protect."
"Seduce me?" I laugh, the sound brittle even to my own ears. "Is that what you think this is? You following me like a shadow for years, never speaking more than necessary, keeping me at arm's length while watching my every move with those eyes that see too much?"
"I was doing my job."
"Your job doesn't require you to look at me the way you do when you think I don't notice." I step forward, erasing the distance he created. "Like you're starving and I'm a feast you can't touch."
His breathing changes, becoming shallower. "Lirien?—"
"Say it." I place my palm flat against his chest, feeling the thunderous beat of his heart. "Tell me why you kissed me. Tell me why you brought me here instead of the palace. Tell me the truth, just once."
The struggle plays out across his face—duty warring with desire, propriety with need. When he speaks, his voice is rough with suppressed emotion.
"Because I've wanted you since you were eighteen and I realized you were no longer a child to be protected, but a woman who haunted my dreams." The confession tears from him like it causes physical pain. "Because every day spent at your side, watching men court you while I stand guard, is its own special kind of hell. Because when I saw that sailor touch you, I wanted to kill him with my bare hands for daring to put his fingers where mine can never be."
The raw honesty of his words steals my breath. This is Dain Vorex—the stoic, silent captain who has shadowed me for years—laying his soul bare with a vulnerability I never imagined him capable of.
"Why can't they be?" I whisper, my hand still pressed to his chest. "Why can't you touch me, if I want you to?"
"You know why."
"Pretend, just for tonight, that those reasons don't exist." My fingers curl into the fabric of his shirt. "Pretend we're just a man and a woman in this room, with no titles, no duties, no future arranged by others."
He doesn't back away as I approach, though every line of his body radiates tension. "It doesn't matter. It can't happen again."
"Can't it?" I stop just inches from him, close enough to feel the heat radiating from his body. "Because it felt like something that could happen again. Something that wanted to happen for a long time."
His nostrils flare slightly, the only visible sign of his reaction to my proximity. "What do you think you're doing, Lirien?"
The use of my name without title sends a thrill through me. "Exploring my night of freedom." I tilt my head, studying him. "Unless you're rescinding your generous offer?"
"This isn't a game." His voice drops to a dangerous register.
"Isn't it?" I reach out, my fingers hovering over the scar on his jaw without quite touching it. "The rules seem simple enough. You want me. I want you. But you won't allow yourself to act on it because of duty, position, propriety."
"Those aren't trivial concerns." He catches my wrist before I can touch him, his grip firm but not painful. "You are the crown princess. In a few months, you'll be betrothed to strengthen the kingdom's alliances. That is your duty."
"And if I don't want that duty?" I challenge, not pulling away from his hold.
"We don't always get what we want." His thumb moves almost imperceptibly against my pulse point, betraying the restraint he's exercising.
"You got what you wanted in that alley." I lean closer, emboldened by the flicker of desire I see in his eyes. "You wanted to kiss me, and you did."
"A moment of weakness." His jaw tightens. "It won't happen again."
"Won't it?" I deliberately lick my lips, watching his gaze drop to track the movement. "Because I think it could happen right now, if I wanted it to."
"You overestimate your influence, Princess." But he doesn't release my wrist, doesn't step away.
"Do I?" I use my free hand to push a strand of hair behind my ear, a deliberately innocent gesture that draws his attention to my neck, my collarbone, the swell of my breast beneath the simple shirt. "Then prove it. Let me go and step away."
For a long moment, he doesn't move. Then, with what seems like physical pain, he releases my wrist and takes one step back.
"Satisfied?" he growls.
"Not particularly." I rub my wrist, though he didn't hurt me. "What are you so afraid of, Dain? That you'll like it too much? That I will?"
"I'm afraid of ruining you." The blunt admission hangs in the air between us. "I'm afraid of being the man who took advantage of his position to seduce the woman he's sworn to protect."
"Seduce me?" I laugh, the sound brittle even to my own ears. "Is that what you think this is? You following me like a shadow for years, never speaking more than necessary, keeping me at arm's length while watching my every move with those eyes that see too much?"
"I was doing my job."
"Your job doesn't require you to look at me the way you do when you think I don't notice." I step forward, erasing the distance he created. "Like you're starving and I'm a feast you can't touch."
His breathing changes, becoming shallower. "Lirien?—"
"Say it." I place my palm flat against his chest, feeling the thunderous beat of his heart. "Tell me why you kissed me. Tell me why you brought me here instead of the palace. Tell me the truth, just once."
The struggle plays out across his face—duty warring with desire, propriety with need. When he speaks, his voice is rough with suppressed emotion.
"Because I've wanted you since you were eighteen and I realized you were no longer a child to be protected, but a woman who haunted my dreams." The confession tears from him like it causes physical pain. "Because every day spent at your side, watching men court you while I stand guard, is its own special kind of hell. Because when I saw that sailor touch you, I wanted to kill him with my bare hands for daring to put his fingers where mine can never be."
The raw honesty of his words steals my breath. This is Dain Vorex—the stoic, silent captain who has shadowed me for years—laying his soul bare with a vulnerability I never imagined him capable of.
"Why can't they be?" I whisper, my hand still pressed to his chest. "Why can't you touch me, if I want you to?"
"You know why."
"Pretend, just for tonight, that those reasons don't exist." My fingers curl into the fabric of his shirt. "Pretend we're just a man and a woman in this room, with no titles, no duties, no future arranged by others."