"If I'm being totally honest, I'd fuck that ass—right here, and right now. I mean, look at it."

"You're kidding, right?" Nicholas says, shaking his head. "Show some respect man. This is the Princess you're talking about."

"Pfft, whatever," I say, because even I know he's just being a pussy. He knows he'd like to fuck that ass as much as I would, but he's too much of a coward to admit it. Nick's always been the good guy of the bunch. He's every mom's wet dream.

He's the guy every mother wants her daughter to marry.

He says things like "yes, ma'am" while tipping his fucking hat.

He'll open a woman's door, pull her seat out for her, and pay her tab, even when he knows he doesn't have a fucking chance with her.

He's fucking chivalry reincarnate.

Don't get me wrong. That's good and all, but if I could give him one piece of advice, it'd be to grow a fucking pair of balls every once in awhile.

Sometimes, women want a guy who can fucking take charge.

"Seriously, look at her," I say, motioning toward Snow. We've been walking through the forest, back to our camp, and the whole fucking time, my eyes have been glued to her ass. Even in the darkness, it's lighting my path like a full moon.

"Is that ass not perfection, or what? Now that's one perfect peach I can sink my mouth into."

I can't help but undress her with my eyes. I can imagine slapping a hand against each cheek and taking her from behind.

Nicholas stops walking for a minute and turns to me. "Are you forgetting why we're here?"

"Spare me, Nick," I say, rolling my eyes. "I get it. We're Freedom Fighters. We're here to save St. Carlta, blah, blah, blah."

"You think this is a joke, Derek?" Nick says, pointing one finger at me in an accusatory way. "This is serious. Pull your head out of the gutter. This is bigger than you, me, or even the whole Avondale family. And this is definitely bigger than the needs of that cock of yours."

I shake my head. "Since when did you get so serious?"

Nick and I start walking again, and he continues to drone on and on about the high and mighty role we're playing here—and I get it, I really do—but c'mon, there's a hot woman in my line of sight, and his words are going in one ear and missing my brain completely. Can't Nick lay off me for a fucking minute?

"Here we are," Richard says, showing Snow the camp. It’s a stopping off point till we reach the fortress and it’s a simple affair. She doesn't seem too impressed at first—it isn't the fucking castle—but given the alternative, she'll take it.

I watch as Richard offers her a drink, and she sits down.

"Thank you," she says, and she looks up at all seven of us, thanking us each with her eyes. "Without you...well, I don't know what would've happened to me by now."

"It's an honor, Snow," Richard says. "As we said before, we're here to help. We all want to see the King's power restored."

"The current political climate isn't good," she continues, pushing a strand of her raven-black hair behind one ear. "Things are going downhill fast. Moira had this all planned. I just wish I could've done something sooner...before she screwed my father over like she did. Maybe if I would've skipped a few Pilates classes or something..."

"You can't blame yourself. She won't get away with this," Lucien says, nodding sympathetically. "We won't let her."

"I appreciate that," Snow says, "but I don't think you guys know how bad things have gotten. It's bad enough that Moira's had my father removed from power, but now the Queen has seized control of all the Royal bases, and what's worse is that she's having all media censored...TV, newspapers...even Internet media sites."

I instinctively touch the cell phone in my pocket when she says this and someone asks, "What about social media?"

"That too," she says, looking down into her cup. "You can't even check Facebook anymore. Access to those sites has been blocked. She's too paranoid to let anyone see what's really going on. But people are scared. They aren't stupid. They can feel their freedoms slowly being ripped away, and it's creating fear. A lot of fear. People are staying in their homes instead of going outside. Businesses are shutting down. I don't know what's going to happen if the Queen stays in power...but it won't be good."

A tear zigzags down her cheek and Lucien hands her a napkin. She thanks him, and dabs it underneath her eyes, careful not to smudge her mascara. Then she stands up, and as she does, the napkin falls.

I watch it flutter to the ground, and as soon as Snow notices, she bends down to pick it up, giving Nick and I a clear view of her incredible ass.

Even Nick can't look away this time, and I give him a smile, nudging him with my elbow.

He shakes his head, as if it's an Etch-a-Sketch and he's trying to clear his mind of the image. "Almighty God, wow," he whistles under his breath, half to himself.

"I told you," I say laughing. "Pretty great, right?"

"She's more than great," Nick says. "She's perfect."

I nod in agreement.

Having Princess Snow in our midst should be interesting...