“Excuse me?” I had to have heard her wrong. I could've sworn she'd just said that she was a princess, but that couldn't be right.

Could it?

She spoke stiffly, formally. “I am Princess Nami Carr, eldest child of King Raj and Queen Mara, heir to the throne.”

I stared at her. This had to be some sort of joke. A weird, twisted prank.

“Tomas and Kai are my bodyguards, my protectors,” she continued. “But they were also sent to the States and Europe with me to make sure I didn't do anything that would embarrass my family...or cause problems with my betrothal.”

“Betrothal?” This kept getting better. I was getting light-headed. “You're engaged?” The thought occurred to me that Piper would've appreciated the irony of me falling for someone who was engaged.

“Not officially,” she said. “Like you, I was given no choice in the matter. My parents are in the process of selecting an appropriate husband for me. A man from my country who has a good name and a good family.”

“And who wants to be king,” I quipped, trying to make a joke out of it. This couldn't be happening.

“No.” She shook her head. “I will rule. He will be king in name only. Our children will inherit the throne when I am gone. His bloodline will rule only because it is a part of mine.” She stopped suddenly and waved a hand dismissively. “That's not important.”

I sat down on the arm of the couch, not trusting my legs to hold me. “Right. The succession of monarchs isn't important.”

She gave me a sharp look and I could see the hurt in her eyes. I immediately regretted my flippant remark.

“It's just a lot to take in, Nami...I mean, Princess.”

“Don't call me that!” she snapped.

Her face was flushed, but I knew it wasn't because of arousal or embarrassment. She was pissed and I was pretty sure it was at me. And I deserved it.

“This is why I did not tell you when we first met.” Her eyes were dark and flashing, the color of an ocean during a storm. “I have spent my whole life as Princess Nami, one day to be queen. Never knowing if someone wanted to be close to me for my title, for royal favor. I wanted only to be wanted for me.”

Now I really felt like shit. I stood and crossed the distance between us quickly. She didn't move or reach out to me, her jaw set.

“I'm sorry,” I apologized. I pushed back a curl from her forehead and let my fingers linger for a moment. “I was shocked and acted like an ass.”

She relaxed a bit, but still didn't try to touch me. Her arms hung at her sides, her hands clenched into fists.

“Please, Nami. Forgive me.” I went for quiet and sincere rather than charming. I put my hands on her shoulders, but didn't try to pull her towards me. If she came to me, it would be her choice.

Suddenly, her shoulders sagged and she leaned against me, her free arms sliding around my waist as she rested her head on my chest. Her other hand clutched the sheet to her chest. I wrapped my arms around her, closing my eyes as I kissed the top of her head.

“I wanted to tell you,” she confessed. “When you were telling me about your family and everything that happened. I wanted to share it all with you, but I didn't want you to look at me differently. I wanted to be seen as just me.”

“There's nothing 'just' about you.” I looked down at her as she tilted her head back so she could see my face. “And knowing who you are...it makes me admire you more. It took a lot of guts to rebel.” I paused, and then tried to lighten the mood by adding, “The whole political science major thing makes a lot more sense now.”

That got a faint smile. “Just one small step in the process that started when I was born. Training for the throne. Etiquette and language classes outside of my regular classes. In depth history of most countries. Knowledge of treaties and trade agreements.” She sighed.

“And that's why you won't abdicate,” I said, understanding. “Why you won't hand things over to your sister. You don't want her to have to go through all of that.”

She nodded. “If my brother had lived, I could have turned things over to him and no one would've thought worse of me for it. There are plenty of countries we deal with who have issues with women in power.”

“You're right,” I said. “Your situation is definitely different than mine. My parents can hire someone to take over the company if Rebecca screws things up. You have an entire country relying on you.”

“And that's why this meant so much to me.” Her hand slid up and down my bare back as she turned her face and pressed a kiss over my heart. “Time to be me and not have to worry about my responsibilities.”

“Because you have to go home and be the crown princess again,” I said.

“Right.” She flicked her tongue against my nipple and I bit back a moan. “And that means marrying a stranger. Bearing his children and letting another raise them. Even if I'm not queen yet, I won't be allowed to raise them the way a normal person would raise their children.”

“And you don't want your husband doing it either.” I wasn't sure how I knew it, but I did.

“I don't know him,” she said. “What kind of man and father he will be. Maybe he'll be a good man and I will grow to love him.”

I tried not to acknowledge the flare of jealousy that went through me at the thought of her loving another man. Of another man touching her. Making love to her. I clenched my jaw. She wasn't mine, I reminded myself.

“If that is the best I could hope for, I wanted to have something I could remember.” Her fingers traced patterns on my lower back. “That's why I slept with my best friend in college, so I would not have my first time be with a stranger.”

“And me?” I asked softly.

“You.” She made a quiet sound that might have been a sigh. She pulled her arm between us so she could put her hand over my heart.

“I'm a stranger.”

She smiled and pressed her lips against my chest, heating my bare skin. “But you wanted me. Not the princess or the chance to see your child on the throne. Me.”

“And what was that about?” I asked, gesturing back towards the bedroom with my head. “Taking it slow. Wanting me to...”

I swallowed hard at the memory. I'd never done that before, not even with Britni. Even thought we'd been contractually required to try to start having kids shortly after marriage, I'd kept making excuses about why I wanted to wait just a bit longer. I'd never had sex without a condom.

Nami's face turned red and I thought she'd refuse to answer, but she didn't. I supposed since her big secret was out of the bag, there wasn't any point in hiding anything else.

“I wanted to remember you,” she said. “What you feel like, smell like, sound like. When he is touching me, I wanted to be able to close my eyes and imagine it was you.”

Fuck. My fingers flexed on her waist and I told my rebellious cock that it wasn't allowed to get hard again.

“We will be expected to start a family immediately,” she continued. “And I wanted to remember what you felt like inside me, what it felt like to have nothing between us, to have you come inside me. I thought that if I had those memories, perhaps doing my duty would not be as unpleasant.”

Yeah, my cock was definitely not listening to me. I closed my eyes and rested my forehead against hers. “I hate this,” I admitted. “I hate knowing you’ll be forced into a marriage you don't want. Into the bed of a man who won't know how to please you.” I didn't add what I was thinking. A man who might hurt her. I pushed the thought away. I couldn't bear to think of someone harming her.

“You had an arranged marriage,” she reminded me.

I raised my head and gave her a wry smile. “And you see how well that turned out. But at least I'd had an idea of who Britni was.” I ran my fingers through the hair above her ear. “Besides, even though I didn't love her, both of us were willing. What he'll do...” My fingers curled into fists at her sides. “It's almost rape.”

She shook her head. “Nothing will happen without my consent. No one will force me.”

“Isn't that what your parents are doing?” I asked. “By making you marry this man, they're forcing you to sleep with him.”

“I'm agreeing to the marriage,” she said, reaching up to put her hand on my cheek. “And I understand everything that goes along with it. It's my choice.”

I wanted to ask if he was her choice, but I knew I didn't have the right to ask it. She'd told me that we could never be anything more than this, and I'd told myself I was okay with it. After all, I wasn't looking for a relationship. That was the last thing I needed right now. Especially a relationship with a princess.

“I have to go.” She started to pull away from me. “I'm sure Tomas and Kai are getting restless. And they will make trouble for you.” She reached up and ran her fingers through my hair. “Even if nothing came of it, I'd never forgive myself for causing you such problems.”

I couldn't do it. Not yet. “Give me tonight.”

She froze, still in my arms.

“One whole night,” I continued. My pulse was racing. “Spend one more night with me. You can leave in the morning.” I heard the pleading note in my voice but didn't care. I needed to have her one last time.

She looked at me for a moment and stepped out of my embrace. My stomach twisted into knots. She would leave and I would never see her again.

“Tomas. Kai,” she called out loud enough for the pair in the hallway to hear her.

They came back in, looking just as pissed off as before.

“Call my father and tell him that we'll be leaving first thing in the morning.” She glanced at me, but kept her face expressionless. “I'm spending tonight with Reed.”

“Princess, we cannot allow it.” Kai's voice was firm.

“You can and you will,” she said. There was steel in her voice and I knew that was her queen voice, the one she would use to rule. “You know what will happen if word gets out about what's happened here. And I will make sure my father knows that you both failed in your duty to keep me...pure. More than once.”

I couldn't believe she could sound so sure of herself when she was wearing only a sheet, her curls mussed from sex. It was sexy as hell.

“You two will be solely responsible for the dissolution of my engagement. You will be dismissed in disgrace, unable to find employment anywhere. People may talk about me, but you will be the ones who are blamed.”

Both men shifted uncomfortably.

“So, you will do as you are told. Call my father. Make preparations to leave tomorrow morning.” She paused, and then added, “I give you my word. I will get on that plane tomorrow morning without complaint.”

They exchanged looks, then nodded.

“Very good,” she said. “Now go.”

When the door closed behind them, she turned and looked at me. “One more night.”