FORBIDDEN BLOOM

4 — TO FIND HER AGAIN

LEONIDAS

It was the way she floated with grace, setting her chin haughtily like everyone else was below her. Including me. It was the way she set herself so distinct in the crowd, she became impossible to miss.

A beauty mark to her top lip, she had a face that was hard to stop looking at. One that was hard to leave your mind once you’d memorized every detail.

It seemed she sought me out before I did, because after the first time we laid eyes on each other, I found her everywhere I looked.

“This must be your father.”

I stopped walking, long enough to turn around and see she had stopped in front of a large portrait.

And yes, the man was my father. The man I hated very much.

“Come along, you have a long night ahead.” Clearing my throat, I continued on my way.

She did, those long legs catching up with me and leading her ahead so that I had to stare at the column of her neck and her ass jiggling underneath that dress.

Gods, she wasn’t going to make it any easier for me, was she?

I took note of how she stopped right at the door to my quarters.

“How do you know that one is mine?”

She c****d an eyebrow. “Really? We’re pretending like this isn’t the only grandiose looking door in this hallway? You must have brilliant eyes, Your Grace.”

Laughter fell out of my lips, and like before, it was from my belly. Never have I laughed this much, twice in one night.

It made me want her all the more.

Stepping up beside her, the smell of jasmine on her skin hit me harder than the wine in my system.

I let my knuckles drag across her arm to feel the heat of her before I grabbed the heavy gold handle of the door and pushed it open.

“You’re observant. That’s a dangerous trait to have around me.”

Slipping past me into the room, she shot back, “I’ve heard that I’m prone to being familiar around danger. I guess I like it a little too much.”

Then she winked. She knew exactly what she was doing.

I followed her in and shut the door, leaving us with nothing but the dim glow of light from the bulbs on the wall.

My room was built for a King, with lots of space that usually made the place feel empty.

However, for tonight, it felt different.

She was not here to act like the others, starry-eyed, and bowing to my every whim. This was finally a woman who challenged me at every turn, strutted around because she goddamn well owned it.

“Everything is in its place,” she noted, eyes drawn to the weapons on the wall. Then my desk, my bed, and finally me. “Clean desk, polished swords, and a bed that looks like you barely sleep in it. Tell me, you are a man who likes to be in control of every detail?”

“I’m the King, of course I have to be in control of everything. It’s part of the duty I owe to my people.”

I closed the distance between us, stopping only when the scent of her perfume reached me.

Until there wasn’t a breath of space between us.

I had to look down at her, and she had to tilt her head back. Despite this, her eyes never left mine.

It stirred my blood in ways I never dreamed.

“So, is this long night planned out too?” she challenged. “Does the King have a schedule for what comes next?”

I reached out and palmed her waist to pull her closer. “I’m flexible, trust me.”

From where we stood, I could feel her heart racing against my chest in a rhythm that contrasted with the smug expression she wore.

“Indeed,” she scoffed.

I leaned down until my lips brushed against the shell of her ear. “You’ve got a big mouth, but I have a feeling you’re going to be using it for something else tonight.”

There was no need for her witty comeback, because I hooked my hand under her thighs to hoist her up. She giggled, wrapping her legs around my waist and letting me lead her to my bed.

Need roared in my ears so loud it drowned out everything else.

Before she could catch her breath, I dropped her onto the furs and was over her, pinning her wrists above her head.

The haughty look was still in her eyes but they were now dark with hunger. A freak that matched mine in the sheets.

“Still want to talk?” My knee pushed between her legs to part them.

She ground against my leg. “Less talking, more doing,” she breathed.