The look on her face nearly fucking broke me.

It was pure fear and anger, like she was terrified of what they were saying about her, but angry at me for putting her in the position to be talked about. And I can’t blame her. She’s not from this world, so this sudden media spotlight is probably pretty terrifying for her.

Besides, being called a spy and a traitor is a big deal. She’s right that I brought her out here to keep her safe, but I hated admitting that to her. I don’t trust the loyalty of the guards back at the castle, and I definitely don’t trust most of the stewards. So for now, I’m the best protection she has, at least until I establish more control in the castle.

And I’m working on that. I’ve been making calls to influential lords outside of the castle, trying to win them over to my side. I’ve also been sending out bribes to prominent stewards within the castle, hoping to turn them against Julian. So far, I can’t tell what’s working and what isn’t, but I need to keep going.

I leave Hazel alone for the rest of the day. I spend my time back in my little office, making calls, shoring up my alliances, and starting to build my power base. I’m going to need allies when I finally make my move against Julian, and this is the start of all that. I know the younger nobles support me, but they aren’t enough, though they’re a great start.

The day slips by and the sun slowly starts to sink over the landscape. I stretch in my chair and get up. I haven’t heard from Hazel in a few hours, so I decide to go upstairs and check on her. I knock on the bedroom door before slowly pushing it open.

She looks up at me and smiles a little bit. She’s sitting on the floor at the foot of the bed looking through an old photo album.

“Hey,” she says.

“Hey, yourself.” I step toward her, smiling a little. “What’s that?”

“Pictures of you and your family,” she says. “I found this under the bed.”

I laugh and sit down next to her. “I don’t remember this at all,” I admit.

“It’s pretty good. You had some really bad haircuts.” She points to a particularly awful picture of me when I was six.

“I was as handsome then as I am now,” I say to her.

“You weren’t my type back then.”

“Why, not into bad hair?”

“No, not into six-year-old kids.”

I grin and nudge her. “I’ve always been an old soul.”

She rolls her eyes. “Don’t be gross.”

We lapse into silence for a couple of minutes as she continues to page through the book. I don’t so much look at the pictures as watch her reactions to them. She seems really interested in each one, and I have to admit that I like watching her smile and get interested in our history. We may be unconventional, but I do still have some good memories from when I was a kid.

I glance at the window and note that the sun is about to set. An idea comes to my suddenly, and I stand up.

“Come on,” I say. “Leave the book. We’ll look at it later.”

She raises an eyebrow. “Where are you taking me?”

“It’s a surprise. I think you’ll like it, though.”

She hesitates. “I think I’ve had enough surprises today.”

I crouch down in front of her and take the book away. I close it and toss it onto the bed before taking her hand between mine. “Trust me, princess,” I say. “You’re going to like this.”

She watches me for a second then sighs. “Fine,” she says. “Let’s go.”

I grin and stand, tugging her along. She reluctantly follows as I hurry us back through the house. We head out the back door and down a path that leads toward the lake.

Still tied up to the little dock is the rowboat I built four years ago. I painted it red and white, the colors of the royal crest, and I named it the Royal Dingy. Hazel laughs when she sees it.

“You’re not getting me in that thing,” she says.

“Oh, come on, we’re running out of time.”

She steps onto the dock as I climb into the rowboat. It’s actually very steady and in good shape considering I pretty much don’t take care of it at all. She sighs and bites her lip.

“Come on, don’t be scared,” I say to her, holding out my hands.

She takes them and I help her onto the boat. It rocks a little bit but I stabilize it. She sits as I untie the ropes and use an oar to push off into the lake.

I look up at the sun and I know I don’t have much time. I don’t bother talking as I get the oars into position and start to row as fast as I can. I have maybe two or three minutes to get into position and I have a good amount of distance to cover.

I’m sweating as the boat glides across the lake. Nobody else is around, and it’s actually really beautiful and comfortable out on the water.

“Why are you rowing so fast?” she asks me.

“You’ll see,” I grunt, pushing and pushing, going as fast as I can.

I look up and eyeball our position on the lake. I give it another quick pull before taking a breath and sliding the oars back into the boat. The sun is just starting to set and colors burst into the sky.

“Okay,” she says to me. “We’re here. What’s the surprise?”

“Wait a second,” I say, holding up a hand. “Just trust me.

We sit there in silence together as the sun slowly starts to set. The colors are impressive peaches, oranges, reds, and purples, all swirling in the sky. As the sun gets lower, the light bends more and more, sinking in the sky, creating incredible panoramas. The sunset would be gorgeous itself, but that’s not why we’re here.

Slowly, the light hits the water, and the water changes. All around us, it looks like we’re floating on a sea of burning orange pure fire. It lights up, reflecting the gorgeous sunset. Because the water is so pure and reflective, there are a few spots on the lake that look absolutely incredible if you park a boat right on top of them. The water reflects this miasma of shifting colors, deepening reds and purples, and it’s like an incredible light show as the sun continues to set.

Hazel stares with a huge smile on her face. “Holy crap,” she says finally.

“Right?” I reply softly.

She laughs as the light finally shifts, and the water reappears. She looks up at me, astonished. “I’ve never seen anything like that.”

“Not many people do,” I say. “It happens once a day, but you have to be in the right spot for it. I only discovered it a couple years ago.”

She’s quiet for a second. “Thanks for bringing me here,” she says.

“I know this is hard.” I reach out and take her hand. “But if anyone can handle it, I think you can.”

“The things they’re saying about me…” she trails off, shaking her head. “It’s all lies, and it’s really bad.”

“It’s Julian. He’s leaking these things. He wants to destroy us.”

“What are we going to do?”

“We’re going to fight back,” I say firmly. “We’ll do some charity, make us look good to the public, and we’ll go after Julian hard.”

She glances away, out toward the water. “I don’t know. I’m in so far over my head.”

“Maybe.” I move closer to her, leaning over and pulling her toward me. “But you’ve gotten this far. You have to trust me.”

“Trust you…” she says softly. “I don’t know.”

I smirk at her and tip her chin toward me. “Why not? You think I’m not trustworthy?”

“You’re a player. And a prince. What do you want with a girl like me?”

“You know what I want,” I whisper to her, pulling her closer.

“Nolan…”

I kiss her softly at first, but quickly the kiss turns deep and more passionate. Our tongues roll along each other and I know I can’t wait until we get back to the shore.

I reach down and unbutton her jeans. She doesn’t fight me as I tug them down over her hips, making the boat rock. She doesn’t resist as I get her panties off, and my fingers find her soft, wet little pussy.

She moans into my kiss as I slide my fingers inside of her. I love how tight and warm she is. She’s wet already, ready for me, like she always is. And I want to make her feel good. Reward her for being such a good princess. I want her to know that she’s all I want or need.

I drop down and press her back. She supports herself with her elbows on the edge of the boat as I kiss her inner thigh and find her pussy with my tongue. I lap her up, lick her bottom to top, and suck her swollen clit.

“Oh, shit,” she moans. “Nolan. This is a bad idea. This boat’s going tip.”

I press two fingers deep inside of her. “Relax, princess,” I say. “You’re in good hands.”

I fuck her pussy with my fingers and she grips the side of the boat. I make sure to keep a wide stance, stabilizing us, as I start to fuck her pussy and suck her clit. I lick and love every single taste of her perfect, wet little cunt. I lap her up and finger-fuck her, and her moans get deeper and louder.

The boat’s rocking but I don’t care. We might actually tip as she reaches forward and grasps my hair, back arching as I fuck her pussy deep with my fingers. I manage to keep us stable, legs straining to keep us from tipping, and I know she’s totally lost. She’s too deep in this to stop and I don’t want her to. I keep fingering her pussy and I dive back down, sucking that wet nub, sliding my tongue down inside of her and back up, sucking and licking her clit.

“Oh shit,” she gasps. “I’m close. Nolan, I’m so close.”

I keep going, mercilessly fucking her pussy with my fingers, sucking and licking her faster and faster. Her moans get deeper, louder, ringing through the valley. I love it, I want everyone nearby to hear her fucking come for me.

Her orgasm rips through her body, making her convulse. The boat fucking rocks hard side to side, and I’m pretty sure we’re about to get dumped, but I don’t stop. I couldn’t stop if I wanted to. I have to get her off and make her scream. I do what I can to keep the boat steady as she comes hard.

Slowly she finishes, and although we took on a little water, the boat didn’t tip. It stabilizes, and she collapses back, breathing hard.

“Holy shit,” she says.

I smirk and kiss her. “Now, I have to row us back.”

“Nolan,” she says.

“Yes?”

She grins at me. “Good job.”

I laugh and kiss her again before getting out the oars.

I’m so fucking hard, but I got what I wanted. I got her off and made her smile. Hopefully, she’ll be back to her normal self soon, laughing and joking. We can go back to having a good time together.

But the fight is just starting. I have some ideas of a PR event coming up, and that’s just the first step. I have my tentacles out in the castle now, feeling and probing for Julian’s weakness. If he has one, I’m going to find it.

And I’m going to exploit it until he’s fucking ash under my boot.