“Good morning, Urban!” Nicolette greeted, bounding up so she could hook her arm through mine and turn us toward Vienne and Anniston. “Happy Donnelly Day! Do you know the history of our realm? I’d be happy to share it with you.”

I gazed across her dark curls of hair to meet Vienne’s gaze. My one true love didn’t seem too ashamed to look me in the eye today. In fact, she offered me a small, polite, pleased smile and nodded hello. Relieved that she didn’t seem to be experiencing any regret, I looked down at Nicolette as the princess stayed between us to lead the way outside.

“Brentley told me the kingdom’s history, I believe.”

“Oh.” Nicolette’s shoulders fell slightly as if disappointed she couldn’t tell me all about the two men who’d been banished from Lowden and eventually discovered the village of Mandalay.

“But I’ve never heard of Donnelly Day,” I told her.

And just like that, she brightened once more. “You haven’t? Oh, but it’s the best day of the entire year. We celebrate from dawn until midnight. You already missed the village breakfast, but there will be a parade down in Mandalay at noon, and everyone gives each other presents, and Caulder opens the castle and invites everyone to join us, eating a grand dinner tonight that expands through all the halls on the ground floor. It’s simply spectacular. There’ll be music, and dancing, and plays, all kinds of entertainment. Then we’ll finish the evening by watching an explosion of colored sparkles light up the sky.”

I lifted my eyebrows, impressed. “That does sound like a busy day.”

“Busy in the best way possible. Oh!” She turned away from me to address Vienne. “I wanted to show Anniston the goldfish in the brook over there. Do you mind?”

Vienne meaningfully lifted her gaze my way before returning her grateful smile to Nicolette. “Not at all, Princess. Here, take an extra blanket in case she gets chilled.”

Nicolette tossed the blanket over her shoulder and scooped Anniston from Vienne’s arms before sending me a wide smile and then bouncing away with the baby.

I watched her go, feeling as if none of this was very subtle, but I certainly appreciated getting a moment alone with Vienne.

We looked toward each other at the same moment.

When I lifted my eyebrows questioningly, she flushed. “I hope you don’t mind that I asked Nicolette to help us…talk.”

I shook my head. “Not at all. What did you wish to discuss?”

“Last night,” she said slowly. “That wasn’t a dream, was it?”

I held my breath, bracing for her anger. Then I shook my head. “No. It wasn’t.”

She blinked, then tipped her face curiously to the side. “Why did you come to my room?”

I drew out a long, regretful breath. “Because you were in distress. I’m sorry, I couldn’t seem to stop myself. I woke up to your…your frustration, and I was half asleep. I didn’t know if the bearer of dark magic had gotten to you or what. Though, now that I think about it logically, you probably would’ve been feeling fear instead of aggravation, but I was still half asleep and reacted on instinct. I’m sorry, I—”

“I’m not mad at you,” she said, cutting me off and sending me an amused smile. “Not at all. I didn’t mean to make you think I was. I just… I actually wanted to thank you. For helping me with Anniston. So… Thank you.”

She seemed so formal and stiff, I arched a single eyebrow, even as I said, “It was my pleasure.”

She peeked a glance at me, flushed, and quickly turned toward the nearby bubbling brook where Nicolette had knelt down to point into the waters, even though Anniston was still far too young to focus on anything someone was pointing out to her.

“You’ve been trying to stop the dreams from your end, haven’t you?”

I nodded. “I have.”

She turned back to me, sorrow in her eyes. “Well, thank you for that. I know you only did it for my benefit, and I appreciate such consideration.”

My lips tipped up in a curious smile. “You’re welcome. Though I’m sensing a ‘but’ coming for some reason.”

A bemused smile lit her expression. “But…” she said. “I fear it’s made things worse. I think…I think trying to stop them caused a certain tension—possibly even a longing—to form, which pressurized until…until we had a…a…”

“Sex explosion,” I offered with an ornery grin.

She shot me a short frown, but then her shoulders slumped and she mumbled, “Yes. Exactly.”

“Just for the record,” I offered, still grinning madly. “I didn’t mind the explosion.”

Huffing out a breath, she kept scowling. “I didn’t think you would, but—”

“You minded it,” I ended for her, growing somber. “Yeah, I could tell they had upset you. A lot.”

Apology filled her expression as her large, brown eyes peered up at me. “It wasn’t so much that I minded them, as…”

“You didn’t think you should like them,” I supplied softly.

She sighed and went back to watching Nicolette swing Anniston up to a stand and twirl the baby in a laughing circle. “You really shouldn’t be able to read my feelings so well.”

I could only shrug. “I’ve been paying attention.”

She looked up at me and blurted, “Maybe we should stop trying to prevent them. The dreams, that is.”

My heart leapt with joy. I wanted to yank her into my arms and kiss her right there. But I managed to contain myself and nodded stoically. “Alright. If that’s what you wish.”

She bit her lip and began to frown. “But if we do that, you swear you won’t—”

“Vienne,” I said, holding up one hand and setting the other against my heart. “I know you’re not trying to lead me on. You’re not giving me false hope or anything else you’re worried about. They’re just dreams.”

Dreams that just might sustain me for the rest of my life.

She nodded. “Okay, then.” Blowing out a breath, she nodded some more. “Okay. I guess we’ll just…We’ll…”

“Carry on as if everything is absolutely normal?” I asked, lifting my eyebrows. “Because it is?”

She sent me a quick look. A small smile hitched up the corner of her lip, and she nodded. “Exactly.”

“Oh!” Nicolette’s voice cried in surprise, causing Vienne and me to jerk away from each other, even though we hadn’t been standing all that close.

We glanced up to find Nicolette nestling Anniston to her chest and hurrying to cut off Caulder, Yasmin, and Soren as they wandered up the path, straight toward us.

But the trio hadn’t spotted us yet, which gave Vienne and me a moment to look as if we hadn’t been talking so we could shift closer to Nicolette and appear as if she’d been between us the entire time.

“Happy Donnelly Day, Sister,” Caulder greeted jovially, smiling wide when he spotted her.

“Happy Donnelly Day,” she returned, bounding toward him for a hug, only for him to pause when he saw the babe in her arms.

“Why, you’ve got…” Blinking at the infant, Caulder frowned slightly before lifting his face and glancing over Nicolette’s shoulder to finally spot me and Vienne.

“Vienne,” he greeted. “Prince Urban. Good day to you two as well.”

Soren and Yasmin had been talking together while the queen had walked between the two men, her arm looped through Caulder’s. But when Caulder spoke our names, they lifted their faces in surprise.

Soren’s expression immediately darkened. “What the hell are you doing near my wife?”

“Oh, tha-that was my doing,” Nicolette explained, already stumbling over her words. Her eyes widened with worry. “I invited Urban to walk in the garden with me, you see, and—”

“And Anniston and I wandered across them on our own stroll,” Vienne added easily, smiling at her husband and then the queen and king. “So we decided to walk together. Now, all seven of us can enjoy this fine weather in a bigger group. Wouldn’t that be delightful?”

“Yes,” Yasmin agreed in a saccharine sweet voice, even though her gaze turned to vinegar when it slid my way. “Delightful.”

Oh yeah, the queen was still pissed that I’d rejected her.

Too bad.

Put out that I was still standing too close to his wife, Soren narrowed his eyes at me and reached out to tug Vienne to his side.

She stumbled a bit, not expecting the move, and it took everything in me not to leap forward to steady her…and then punch the dick in the face for daring to put his hand on her elbow…and keep it there.

I couldn’t seem to stop staring at his fingers. I wanted to break every bone in his hand.

Why was he still touching her?

As if sensing my rising fury, Vienne forced a huge smile and started to walk, as if attempting to break contact with him, even though she failed, and causing everyone in the group to walk as well. “Why, it’s such a nice day, I wouldn’t be surprised if we meandered across Brentley and Allera as well.”

He was still touching her. In fact, I think he’d decided to keep his hand on her elbow as if he were actually escorting her.

The fucking prick.

Meanwhile, Yasmin laughed at Vienne’s suggestion. “I doubt we’ll see much of those honeymooners. They barely make it down to dinner each night with their clothes on straight, as it is. They certainly won’t leave the bedchamber on a holiday like this.” Her evil grin slid my way. “I had no idea your sister held such a healthy appetite for pleasures of the flesh, Prince Urban.”

I narrowed my eyes at her, but Nicolette was the one who spoke up. “I believe this is the very kind of conversation you’re always telling me a lady shouldn’t start in polite company, Your Majesty.”

My eyes widened at her defense of me, as did most everyone else’s in the party. Yasmin whirled to send her an incredulous glance, and I knew she would’ve attacked—possibly even with claws—if Caulder hadn’t thrown back his head and hooted.

“She got you there, dear wife,” he told Yasmin as he pulled her close and kissed her hair, still chuckling. “She got you there.”

“Hmm.” The queen pulled herself up taut and continued to glare at Nicolette. “So she did.”

She kept moodily quiet the rest of the trip, while Nicolette, Caulder, and Vienne passed the baby between the three of them, and Soren tried to convince Caulder to raise the tariff on clear rock, but failed.

The day passed in much the same vein, with me forced to remain in the company of these people, listening to Yasmin’s backward compliments and narcissistic musings while watching Soren pay more attention to Vienne than he’d ever done before, in between my own fumbling attempts to unsuccessfully cheer Nicolette whenever the queen hurt her feelings and Caulder moodily grunting through it all.

We attended the parade in the village together, sitting on a royal dais to get the best view, where Brentley and Allera finally showed up just in time for it to start, looking rumpled but refreshed.

“Hello, dear brother,” my sister greeted me brightly as she fell with a laugh into the chair next to mine and immediately started clapping for the first exhibit of a cloth dragon being carried on stilts by a group of children that passed by us. “It seems as if I rarely see you anymore. How have you been?”

“The collar of your dress is crooked and your hair is askew,” I muttered, not even glancing her way.

When she looked down to see that I was right, she quickly rearranged herself and then patted her hair back into place, still smiling as if actually proud of how much disarray she was in.

I finally sent her a dry glance. “Apparently, I’m not doing as well as you are.”

“Hmph,” she said, lifting her chin. “You’re just jealous you’re not getting any, and I am.”

She was right. Dammit. I glanced discreetly toward Vienne, where Soren was sitting next to her and actually leaning in to speak to her. When she nodded politely at whatever he’d said, my gut tightened into knots.

The rest of the day was a blur full of strangers’ faces, villagers introducing themselves to me, my soldiers teasing me over how dressed up I was, and Vienne always at Soren’s side. It was a miserable, tedious affair.

I was ready to go straight to my bed after the huge dinner that evening, but Nicolette begged me to stay and watch the light show with her. So, I did, and I’m glad I did. It was unlike anything I’d ever seen before.

“How…?” was all I could ask as I gaped in awe at the night while explosion after explosion lit up the sky with a multitude of colors.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Nicolette murmured from next to me.

My lips parted as my gaze remained fixated. “Yeah. It is.”

I’m not sure how long I stood there, staring, entranced, but the princess left my side at some point, and I found myself enjoying the sights alone until I felt stirrings from my mark, telling me Vienne was approaching.

I turned just as she tripped and tumbled headlong into my chest.

“Watch out,” I cautioned softly, catching her close until her face mashed against my tunic. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine. Just clumsy. Sorry, I…” I kept hold of her arms until she straightened and looked up into my eyes. “I just wanted a closer look because it was so beautiful.”

I frowned, confused. “What’s beautiful?”

She couldn’t be talking about the light show, since she was looking nowhere near the sky. She was too busy staring at me.

“The way the colors reflect off your face,” she murmured, lifting her hand so she could gently touch my cheek.

Though she only grazed my features, I swore I felt her fingers everywhere. The sensation covered every inch of my body until I was hard and aching, ready to take her right there.

“So beautiful,” she murmured, stroking my face.

“Vienne,” I started in a hoarse voice, glancing around to make sure no one else could see what she was doing to me in the dark. Gently taking her wrists in my grasp, I urged her hands away from me. “Darling, what’re you—”

“What do you think we’ll dream about tonight?” she asked in wonder, still staring into my eyes. Then she giggled and shifted closer. “I hope I fall asleep first, because I know what I want to dream about.”

My mouth fell open, and my eyes grew wide until she hiccupped and giggled again. Then I realized— “Holy shit, you’re smashed. How much have you had to drink?”

Laughing, she shook her head and covered her mouth. “A lot.”

I took her shoulders and glanced around, needing to get her somewhere safe and out of the public eye, but then Allera and Brentley showed up surrounding us and basically protecting us from view of everyone else.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Allera hissed as she jerked me away from my one true love. “It might be dark out, but honestly, anyone could’ve glanced over and seen you two. Brentley and I certainly did.”

“Be careful,” I hissed when Vienne wavered as soon as Allera pulled me away from her. “She’s had too much to drink. She doesn’t know what she’s doing.”

“I know exactly what I’m doing,” Vienne announced on a petulant frown. “I was touching all the pretty lights on your face.”

“My God,” Brentley uttered, shaking his head as he gaped at her. “I’ve never seen her so drunk before.”

“We’ll get her back to her room,” Allera told me as she gently hooked her arm through Vienne’s. “You should go mingle and make sure you’re seen by people, especially her husband.”

I opened my mouth to refute that idea, but Brentley patted my arm. “You know it’s for the best, mate.”

When I nodded, Vienne cried, “No. I want to stay with Urban.”

She reached for me, but Allera pulled her back. “Come along, dear. Let’s go check on Anniston, shall we?”

The mother was easily deterred. “Okay. Good idea. She was sleeping last time I checked. A maid is staying with her, but with dark magic in the castle, you can never be too safe, though the dark magic certainly hasn’t done anything to hurt anyone yet. Do you think the priestess who touched Nicolette was wrong? Maybe there’s no dark magic around at all.”

“Priestesses are never wrong,” Allera told her as she led Vienne away.

I watched Brentley and Allera steer her off until they disappeared in the crowd. Then I sighed and wandered around, looking for Vienne’s dick of a husband, but I never found him. When I came across the king, I nodded a greeting, talked to him for a few minutes and called that good enough before I decided to retire for the night.

Once I was alone in the hallway on my floor of the castle, I finally let my grin grow. Vienne had sought me out. She’d touched me and called me beautiful. This was going to end up as a good day, indeed.

But then I opened the door to my room, and a wave of heat rippled across my skin. My mark tingled a moment before lust coiled through me, growing stronger and stronger until I had to reach for the back of a chair to steady myself.

What the hell...?

I realized what was happening a moment before the orgasm hit.

With a groan, I bowed my head and gnashed my teeth as wave after wave of pleasure poured over me, flooding my veins. I didn’t ejaculate, though, because it wasn’t my orgasm. I suppose I easily could’ve reached down and relieved myself. It would’ve been a long, hard release if I had. But I couldn’t. Not while I knew all this had originated from my one true love, who was currently letting another man inside her.

Growling deep in my throat, I tried to fight off the sensations still rolling through me. I hated knowing she was having sex right now. Hated feeling it. And for the briefest moment, I hated her for enjoying it... Because, oh yes, I could feel her joy coming through the mark loud and clear. Her orgasm had been that strong.

Acid settled in my stomach. I wanted to vomit.

Why?

Why had I been forced to experience that with her? Wasn’t it torture enough knowing she was married to someone else, to understand they would lay together eventually? Why did I have to feel it with them? To know when it was happening?

To say the least, I didn’t sleep that night. At all.