I can’t take my eyes off of her. I know I’m talking, saying all the correct, polite things that a well-bred prince ought to say in a foreign court, but I don’t have the first fucking clue what any of it is.

All I can see is her, sitting a few paces behind her parents, the sapphire blue gown hugging her perfect curves. She’s breathing quickly, like she’s nervous, and with every breath her chest swells in exactly the right way to make me achingly hard.

But that’s not all. It’s also the look in her eyes, the way her lips parted just a little when she realized who I was.

Princess Josephine is frightened of me. That’s no surprise. I’ve got a reputation that precedes me by miles, and even if the vicious rumors aren’t true, she probably should be frightened of me.

After all, I’m not gentle. I’m not kind. I’m sure I’m not the prince charming she’s always dreamed of.

But I know that look. Behind the fear and the nervousness, there’s something deep and wild in her eyes, in the way her lips part when she looks at me. Something that makes me crave her the way a drowning man craves air.

I knew it the second I saw her picture, the second I watched her on the television, a bridesmaid in her sister’s unconventional wedding. It’s why I’m here right now.

I sit in the throne room for a fucking eternity. I absolutely hate this shit, and I refuse to do it in my own court. The only reason I’m doing it now is because of her.

When the reception is finally over, the King, Queen, and Princesses all proceed out, Josephine giving me one last glance before she leaves.

Before I can even rise in my own seat, there’s an attendant at my side, waiting to be noticed. He clears his throat politely.

“What do you—“

I force myself to stop, take a breath, and start over.

“Yes?” I ask.

His face is perfectly blank, like I didn’t just growl at him.

“The royal family has requested your presence in their private sitting room,” he says. “If Your Highness would follow me...”

I stand, remembering to smooth down my suit. I fucking hate wearing this thing, even if it makes me look civilized and maybe even good. But when I’ve got it on, I feel like a fake, because I’m not civilized unless I have to be.

We walk out of the throne room, through a few doorways and another hall, and then he pushes another door open and nods me through.

Inside are the King, the Queen, and Princess Josephine.

After a second I remember my manners and bow.

“Prince Leopold,” the King says, strict and jovial all at once. “Many thanks for making the long journey to Tomassia.”

He’s just being polite. It was a plane flight.

I nod slightly.

“It was nothing,” I say.

Princess Josephine doesn’t say anything, but she’s standing tall, shoulders squared and back straight, the same way she stood at the bar. The way she stands when she’s trying not to look afraid.

“The Princess has offered to show you to your chambers,” he goes on. “I hope you’ll find them adequate.”

“I’m sure I will,” I say.

Josephine looks at her parents. They look back, and then after a moment, she steps forward.

“Shall we?” she asks, her voice soft but steely as she walks toward me.

She stops a few feet away, her eyes burning into mine. It’s all I can do not to take her by the waist right there and devour her perfect, beautiful mouth with mine.

“It would be my pleasure,” I say.

* * *

The halls are filled with servants, courtiers, nobles, and dozens of other people rushing around to prepare for the banquet dinner tonight. Josephine and I talk stiffly, as she points out the portraits of this or that ancestor, architectural details, historical notes on the castle.

I answer in grunts and single words, because even though I’m trying to do better, just being near her reduces me to my basest state. All I can think about is tearing her dress off, pulling her hair, and taking her again and again while she whimpers, begging me for more.

At last, we enter the South Wing of the castle, and she leads me down a stone hallway. For once, there’s no one else here, and we come up to a doorway.

“These will be your chambers,” she says, turning her crystal-blue gaze on me as she stops, clearly expecting me to go in.

I don’t. Instead I let my eyes roam over her body, savoring every goddamn inch of her and letting her know exactly what I’m doing.

I’m hard as fucking iron, and my trousers can’t even begin to hide my massive erection.

I’m a beast in more ways than one.

“You can drop the act,” I growl.

She swallows hard, but she doesn’t budge an inch, just lifts her head up a little, her chin jutting out.

“What act?”

I step forward so that now we’re closer. I tower over her by at least a foot, and maybe more, but she doesn’t back down.

“The act that I didn’t rescue you from the wolves last night,” I say, my voice low and gravelly.

She looks down, turning her head slightly, and the cords in her neck pop. I grit my teeth together and force myself not to bite them.

“Thank you for that,” she says, her voice polite and rigid. “And thank you for not telling my parents the trouble that I nearly got myself into, but—“

“But nothing, Princess,” I say, and take another step closer.

This time she takes a step back, against the wall.

“You were running from bad news, and the bad news was me,” I go on.

She looks me in the eye, half defiant and half nervous, and I put one hand on the wall, next to her head.

“That’s not exactly what I meant,” she says bravely, and I just laugh.

“You can’t lie to me,” I say, and now my face is just inches from hers. “You think I don’t know the rumors? You think I don’t know what people say?”

She swallows hard, her eyes darting back and forth.

“You think I don’t know about this?” I ask, running one finger the length of my thick, ugly scar.

“I didn’t say that,” she whispers.

“I came here for one reason, princess,” I growl. It’s taking everything I have not to crush her mouth with mine right now, tear off her dress and show her just how uncivilized I am, but I don’t.

Not yet.

“I came here to make you mine,” I say. “Not because my parents arranged a marriage. Not because your parents requested that I marry you. I will have you, Princess.”