“Good morning,” a sexy voice whispered in my ear. It was quickly followed by warm lips nibbling on my earlobe. Heat radiated from his long, hard body as he nestled against me. The sexy stubble on his chin tickled as he nuzzled me.

It was the best way to wake up ever.

“Morning.” My voice was an almost unrecognizable husky purr. If that was a side-effect of fantastic sex, then I hoped I’d be hearing that voice a lot in the future.

Actually, I hoped Nico would be hearing it.

It would have been nice to stay in his arms, skin against skin, buried under the covers forever, but a nagging thought in the back of my head reminded me we couldn’t. Today we were flying back to Falkenberg. “Should we—?”

Nico nudged me onto my back, pinned my hands above my head, and kissed me. Quite thoroughly. At last, he pulled back, his teeth nibbling my lower lip. “Yes, we should.”

“You don’t even know the question!”

He cocked an eyebrow, smirking as he looked down at me. “Do you?”

I had to look away from his vivid eyes—which were free of the contacts and back to their amazing hazel color. We’d lost most, if not all, the pieces of our disguises last night. Wait, what had I been asking him? Realizing I didn’t remember, I giggled. “You distracted me.”

“I did,” Nico said in a low, sexy voice. “Because I have a better question.”

“You still don’t know what mine was.” But somehow I had a feeling I was going to like his better, too.

“Do you want to get dirty—and then get clean—with me in the shower?”

“I definitely do.”

Ninety minutes later, we were dressed, packed, and arguing. “Please?”

My own personal Prince Charming sighed after I told him I wanted to have breakfast in the restaurant downstairs. “Are you sure? I like it being just us.”

“So do I, but we’re going to have to be around other people eventually.”

“And we will. This evening, we’ll be back at the castle surrounded by the staff and all the children.”

I giggled. “There are only two children.”

“It feels like more. They have costumes and falcons, and they’re no longer shy and quiet.”

“Which is a good thing,” I said.

Nico smiled. “I know. But I also like having you to myself sometimes.”

“You’ve got me, but I want breakfast. I worked up an appetite last night—didn't you?”

“You know I did. Several times. So, I guess it’s time to let other people see the way your skin glows after good sex.”

I blushed, for once unsure of what to say.

Nico smirked. “Shall we go to breakfast, Milady?” He held out his arm.

“Indeed, kind sir.” I took his arm and then laughed. “Or maybe I should say sire, not sir.”

I took one last look around the room as we walked out the door. Hotel staff had already delivered our luggage out to the car that would take us to the airport.

We barely made a stir when we entered the restaurant which didn’t seem right because Nico looked hot as sin. He had on a black button-down shirt and faded black jeans. His jaw was shaved smooth, but he still had a dangerous edge to him—or perhaps I saw him that way now that I knew what he could do with his mouth, his fingers, and that massive bulge between his legs.

We both ate as if we were starving. When Nico ordered more bacon and eggs, he winked at me. “Yep—definitely worked up an appetite last night.”

“And this morning.” I grinned at him.

“And hopefully this afternoon, too. Ever joined the mile-high club?”

“Not yet,” I said, drawing out the second word. “But I’m looking forward to applying for membership.”

Nico grinned and reached across the table, putting his hand on mine. To his left, I saw a woman take a picture with her phone. It had happened a few times so far this meal, but it wasn’t intrusive. Nico didn’t seem to mind—nothing was getting to him today. I’d never seen him in a better mood.

It thrilled me to know that I was a part of it.

While Nico had a second cup of coffee, we talked a bit about places we’d visited in the past. It was nice, normal chitchat, but it made me happy we were sharing details of our lives. Sometimes people forgot to do that. In fact, a lot of the people at nearby tables were checking their phones or texting. Why didn’t they put their devices away?

Just as that thought crossed my mind, my own phone chimed. It was a short text from Autumn: OMG, call me immediately!!!

That was strange. I started to tell Nico about it, but his face was guarded as he scanned the room. Maybe it was my imagination, but it seemed like a lot of the other diners were staring at us—and more than a few were snapping pictures.

“Cara, I think maybe we should—”

He was interrupted by Thompson appearing out of nowhere. “Sir, we’ve got a situation.”

“What—”

“Not here,” Thompson said with an edge in his voice.

For a moment, I thought Nico was going to argue, but instead he nodded, rising fluidly from the table and holding his arm out to me. It seemed like half the restaurant was staring at us now.

Thompson led us down a back hallway. Chefs and waiters looked up as we passed the kitchen. At the back of the restaurant, Thompson’s men waited in a small hallway.

“What the hell’s going on?” Nico’s voice was more concerned than angry. He knew as well as I did that something was up.

“Sir, the paparazzi are all over. The front entrance is completely mobbed, but there are more at every exit.”

Nico’s face fell. Mine, I’m sure, just showed shock.

“But why?” I asked, reaching out and putting my hand on Nico’s arm. He turned, about to take my hand in his, but before he could grasp it, he froze, his muscles going rigid. “What?”

He didn’t say anything, just stared down at where my hand clutched his sleeve.

“Nico?”

My gaze followed his and an icy dread pierced me.

Oh no, no, no.

This was bad.

Displayed prominently on my left hand was the fake diamond ring.