Page 24 of Prince She Shouldn’t Crave (Royal House of Halrovia #2)

Lena sat in her room, her heart beating as fast and light as a butterfly’s wing.

It had been a few days since they’d returned from Lauritania.

Apart from during their workdays, she hadn’t seen anything of Gabriel after hours, as he’d had meetings and dinners, making it impossible.

Yet he’d promised her there was a way and, today, she’d received a text from him:

Wait for me in your room tonight. Seven thirty. Wear flat shoes. Don’t eat.

So here she was, waiting as he’d asked. She wanted to get up, pace—impatient, nervous, excited all at the same time.

How were they going to do this? She’d asked for one night because that was all she’d expected.

Losing her virginity and moving on. Yet the hunger.

It was a compulsion impossible to ignore.

Beyond mere desire, a need. She’d never expected to experience this with a man, even more, a prince .

What would it be like to have someone actually fall in love with her?

To marry? Gabe. Someone so far above her…

No. That wasn’t what their agreement was.

As for his status, she’d come to think of them as equals.

He was funny, self-deprecating, with a wry sense of humour.

He didn’t seem to take himself too seriously, even though there were serious parts to his role.

She felt privileged to see this side of him.

The side she wanted to show to the world: the man, not the prince.

But Lena had no idea how he thought they could do this secretly.

Though Gabe had promised , and she believed him.

It was an intoxicating thing, to be able to simply believe in someone.

That they’d have your interests at heart, as well as their own…

Lena checked the time on her phone. Seven twenty-eight.

It heightened the anticipation that she had no idea what she was waiting for.

She amused herself with a fantasy that he’d rappel down the walls and sneak in her window, or wear some disguise to turn up at her door, all the while realising those imaginings were fanciful and ridiculous.

The time ticked over. Seven thirty. She stood and walked to the window. The sun had dipped below the horizon now, the lights twinkling in the city below them.

‘Lena.’

A male voice. She squeaked, unable to help herself, whipping around, and there he was, standing in her room.

Gabe.

She wanted to run to him, fling her arms about his neck, but that wasn’t the kind of relationship they had…

some teenage fantasy. This was all grown up.

Lena held herself back and, instead, admired him.

He wasn’t in a suit tonight. Dressed more casually, in tan trousers, an open-necked shirt, no jacket, no tie.

His hair still slightly damp, roughly dried. So handsome, it took her breath away.

‘How did you get in here without me hearing you?’

The corner of his mouth kicked up. ‘This palace has many secrets, and I know them all. Ready?’

‘Of course. But where are we going? And how?’

‘To my room,’ he said with a sly grin. ‘Follow me.’

He walked through into her bedroom. She was happy she’d made her bed and that it wasn’t a mess, though she’d brought few belongings with her, as she hadn’t known how long she’d be staying given he’d initially placed her on probation.

Now she guessed she should get more of her possessions sent from home since she was staying…

As his PR and image consultant, of course.

Gabe walked up to the wall next to her bedside table, to a panel where there was a beautiful embossed rose detail she’d admired when she’d first moved in here. He pressed, and the panel swung inwards.

‘You’re kidding,’ she said.

Gabe winked, making her toes curl. ‘Secret passageways. My sisters and I used to play in them when we were children. We were terrors, visiting each other’s rooms when we should have been sleeping.

In the end my parents had the doors in our rooms barricaded with large furniture to stop us exploring.

But that didn’t stop me. Many places in this palace are interconnected.

How did you think I was going to get to your room? ’

‘I don’t know. I was imagining all kinds of things, like a disguise or you rappelling down the side of the palace to my window.’

He chuckled. ‘No theatrics or daring, I’m afraid.’

‘This seems pretty daring to me.’

‘Up for an adventure, then?’

She nodded.

‘After you.’

He motioned with his hand and she walked through into the dark, unlit space behind her walls. He followed as she waited just inside the passageway.

‘But first,’ he said, easing her up against the wall in the semi-darkness. The rough stone cool against her back. The only light coming from her room. Gabe cupped her cheek. ‘You look so beautiful. These past few days have been torture , unable to touch you. Kiss you.’

He dropped his lips to hers. Hard. Unforgiving.

Desperate. She matched him. Slipping her hands into his hair.

Holding him close. Never wanting to let him go, although that was just for now, not for ever.

The ache at that thought fled as they reacquainted themselves with each other’s bodies.

Touching. Teasing. How long they stayed there, she couldn’t say.

Time lost all meaning. All she knew was that when they pulled apart, she was overheated, and they were both panting.

‘We need to go or I’ll take you up against this wall.’

‘I don’t mind the sound of that.’

Gabe chuckled and the sound echoed in the cavernous space. ‘Noted, for another time.’

He bent down and picked up something off the floor. There was a muffled click, and a beam of light from a torch illuminated the space with a cool glow. Gabe walked to the open panel in her wall and closed it shut. Shut them in.

‘Where does this lead?’ she whispered.

Gabe reached out his hand, and she took it. Threading her fingers through his. He squeezed.

‘To many places, including my apartments. It was lucky that your room connected to mine.’

They began walking, their footsteps echoing around them.

‘How do you find your way?’ Her voice was a hiss in the darkness.

‘I learned exploring as a child. There are also plans. However I have a pretty good mental map of the place.’

‘Does anyone else use these?’ she asked as they walked through. The air was a little stuffy, warm.

‘Our personal staff, rarely. Kitchen staff, when we have large functions, because there’s a passage that leads into the ballroom, but most of the time they sit unused.

I still walk through if I want a shortcut.

I’ve made some marks should you want to come back to your room on your own.

If you want to find mine.’ He shone the torch onto the walls and Lena saw arrows in chalk.

Gabe squeezed her hand again. She squeezed back.

‘Very resourceful,’ she said, still keeping her voice low, quiet.

‘I’m not just a…what did you call me. Thirst trap?’

‘That’s your hashtag. Why am I whispering?’ she asked.

‘I don’t know. No one can hear us here. It’s quite safe.’

She looked at the wall again, with the chalk-marked arrows. Small but clear. All pointing to her room.

‘How do I get back in?’

‘I’ll show you when we get to my end. There’s a small latch. It’s easy. The only problem is when there’s furniture across the doorway. People have forgotten these passageways, or deliberately blocked them off. I can only imagine what would have been done using them,’ he said, chuckling.

‘A little like what we’re doing now.’

‘I have no doubt.’

Gabe seemed to pick up the pace. She followed his purposeful stride. ‘How long will it take?’

‘Shorter than walking through the hallways to get to my room, since I’m in another wing entirely,’ he said. ‘You’re not afraid?’

‘No, it’s amazing! I’ve always wanted to walk through a secret passageway. Think of the things you could do!’

‘I suspect they were used for espionage. Invite foreign dignitaries to stay, put them in the right quarters, and then you could stand in these passageways and listen.’

‘Really? I would have thought the walls were too thick.’

‘In certain places there are what appear to be air vents in the walls. They’re not. They’re listening ports.’

‘Oh, that’s very underhanded of you and your family. Would they be used now?’

He shook his head. ‘We prefer diplomacy rather than subterfuge.’

‘Isn’t subterfuge what we’re doing?’

Gabe chuckled again. ‘I suppose it is. Must be in my blood.’

Or hers…but she didn’t want to dwell. Gabe didn’t have another family stashed away. They were both single, free to do whatever they wanted. She tried not to think about how they were sneaking about secret passageways to see each other. What that meant.

After a few more minutes Gabe slowed, stopped. Shone the torch on the wall, illuminating an X in chalk.

‘X marks the spot,’ she said. ‘These are your rooms?’

‘Yes. Pieter has the night off, so we won’t be disturbed. Here’s the mechanism to get in.’ There was a complicated-looking lever in the wall. He depressed it, then turned, and the door snicked open. He closed it again.

‘You try.’

She did. Once he appeared satisfied that she could get into his room from the passageway, he pulled on the handle and led her through, closing the door behind them.

Lena walked into what appeared to be a dressing room with racks of suits, business shirts—all perfectly ordered. No surprises there. It seemed as neatly ordered as himself. The space was imbued with that scent of him. Woodsy. Green. Fresh, like the cool mountain air. She breathed him in.