It's almost as if she's hiding from me.

I'm about to give up when I catch a glimpse of her fine form walking down the corridor that leads to my library.

"Hey," I call out to her, bridging the gap between us. "I've been looking for you."

"Mm-hmm," she says, a small paperback in her hand. As if I'm not even standing here trying to hold a conversation with her.

Cyndi pulls open the door to my library and walks inside, trailing her fingers down one of the shelves before placing the book back where it goes.

"How do you know where to put that? I have a precise system, and I'm not sure that --"

Cyndi says, "It goes chronological, then by author, then alphabetical. So all of the more ancient texts are back this way," she says pointing across the room, "and your modern texts end right here at the end of the shelves. It's really not all that complicated."

I breathe in a light scent of lavender. She is wearing a different perfume and it wafts toward me. Is this how it's always going to be? That every time I'm near her all I want to do is touch her, feel her writhing under my body?

"You catch on quickly. Anyway, about last night. That was amazing, wouldn't you say?" Cyndi walks past me back out into the corridor.

My smile quickly fades. "Are you really not going to say anything?"

She pauses for a moment, facing away from me before sighing. "There's nothing to say."

"You could at least acknowledge me." I come off much more bitter than I intend to.

"It can never happen again, King Petros. Let me acknowledge that."

I pretend that she doesn't cut right through me. It sounds inevitable anyway. Regardless of what I think or feel.

She spins around, her eyes full of longing, but her voice sounds pained. "We need to focus on making sure that this wedding goes well. It doesn't matter what you think about my being here in the first place. All that matters is that Prince Rupert and Dora are happy. At least we can agree on that. Right?"

I know she's right, and underneath it I know she only wants what's best for Dora, which I can understand. But I despise being tossed aside.

"Ah, love them and leave them, is that your motto? I can't say that I'm exactly surprised." The bitterness floods through my words despite my attempt to hold it back. I shouldn't care. I shouldn't be so affected, I know. But still, there it is.

A look of disgust and anger crosses her face. I don't care if I'm making her uncomfortable. "No one can ever know about last night," she whispers.

I fold my arms across my chest and force out a laugh. "I should have known. I mean of course, I'll keep my mouth shut. As long as that's what matters most here."

Cyndi opens her mouth to speak, but she promptly closes it, narrowing her gaze at me. "I wouldn't have expected you to take it personally."

Not to take it personally? "Who says I'm taking this personally? All I wanted from you was a good fuck. And I got what I wanted." I want my words to sting her like hers do me. If I'm going to deal with the aftermath then so should she.

It doesn't matter that I've been thinking about her nonstop since she kicked me out of her room this morning. Or that I've been thinking about her constantly since we first met. No, I suppose none of that matters at all.

This right here is precisely why I've never believed in true love. When you can't even get past the first hump, both literally and figuratively, what's the use in trying?

Cyndi grits her teeth, and even though I know I'm not supposed to care, I still feel like an absolute jerk when her eyes take on a shine under the lights above. "I'm so glad you got what you wanted, Your Highness. Not that you've ever have to worry about that, of course."

"You can be assured I will not breathe a word of last night. Go ahead and enjoy the library. I have more pressing matters to attend to." I bow and turn quickly. My footsteps echo down the stairs. The palace feels hard and hollow, like the husk of my heart. .

Shit. And I can't blame the woman, either. Not only have I just insulted her, but I've thrown in her face the fact that I do get whatever I want. It's not like it's a secret. What I've gathered about Cyndi is almost everything comes with a struggle.

I groan and desperately wish there was a place for me to curl up and pull myself together. I have never felt this vulnerable. The realization should have made me angry but I mostly felt rotten. There's never been an occasion where I've felt this awful after a disagreement with anyone. The woman has an invisible hold on me. She pulls an invisible string and I say or do the wrong thing.

Except last night. As bad as I feel, I wouldn't change the memories of last night. Her body and her reaction to my touch, the electricity between us. I breathe in and remember Cyndi's vanilla scent.

I tell myself to man up. I've never regretted the things I've said to other women. Or even other men for that matter. I am the King and I often must speak harsh and disappointing words. Even when I personally felt the judgement was wrong, it hadn't counted because I was only a man. I had to subordinate myself to be Delta Ohr's ruler. The King and custom sets the rules and traditions. Though Delta Ohr was modernizing slowly, our charm and our strength lay in staying true to the course.

For the Prince to marry a commoner and a foreigner, was all right and good. Perhaps he was even doing his part to strengthen the blood of the aristocracy. There had been problems with the royal blood. A scarcity of females, a lack of bonding, general lack of trust. These issues I lived with were not outside the norm.

I pride myself in keeping truth always before my eyes. This woman and I would never match. She is right. I knew the truth of her words when she said them. I lashed out in pain and wounded ego. Why did Cyndi bring out the man in me? But I saw how my harsh words crushed her. She lifted her chin and set her face into a mask of defiance. She looked glorious. Why can't I shut her out of my mind?

I've never believed in telling myself lies. I’m starting to realize that maybe I actually do care about what Cyndi thinks of me. I don't know why. But I most definitely do.