Chapter l330

Chapter 0330

After bringing the cookies to Elva and spending some time with her, I set out again, this time in search of Nicholas.

My intentions were dual purpose. I wanted to speak with him as Julian suggested, as well as check on his wounds. He was a fast healer, but his bruises were many. I’d rest easier when I could see him healed with my own eyes.

After checking where he was staying with Mark, I located the correct guest room. The door was already open, Nicholas was sitting inside at a desk, reading through some papers. A line of worry creased the center of his brow.

I knocked and he glanced up from his paperwork. Immediately, that worry line vanished.

“Piper.”

“May I come in?”

“Please.” He stood up from behind the desk.

I entered the room and closed the door behind me. “I was hoping to check on your bruises.”

“I’m doing much better.” He began to roll up his sleeves.

I came closer to see. Some of the bruises were still there, but they were more faded then they had been the last time I’d inspected them. After another day, they’d probably disappear entirely.

Relief flooded through me so much that I slumped where I stood. Nicholas, worried, stepped closer as if to catch me from falling. I wasn’t going to fall, though I sort of wished I was, just to be in his arms again.

“This isn’t the only reason I came here,” I said.

He lifted a brow. “No?”

I pressed my l*ps hard together. I didn’t really know how to begin this discussion. I supposed the best way over was through, though, so I pushed forward, albeit somewhat clumsily.

“I have to k*ss Julian.”

Nicholas straightened. His arms went rigid at his sides. His jaw clenched.

“Things are more complicated now. The producers are making demands. I had thought we could just hold hands or something,” I said, “But they want more intimacy. And with the King keeping track now… I don’t think there’s a way around it. I have to k*ss him.”

“I’ve known that from the start, Piper,” Nicholas said.

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“You have?”

He gave a curt nod. “I have been trying to… contain my jealousy. I know I have no right to it.”

I swallowed hard. My heart thundered in my ears. “You’re jealous?” I knew it, but to hear him say it…

“Yes,” he said instantly, with more force than strictly necessary.

I stepped closer to him. I licked my l*ps. I’d applied l*p balm since my date with Julian. My l*ps weren’t chapped anymore.

“Kissing Julian feels dishonest,” I said. “I would much rather be k*ssing someone else.”

“Oh?” Nicholas asks. His l*p twitches, an almost smile. “And who would that be?”

He knew very well who I’d rather be k*ssing, but I appreciated the game. It felt fun, to be flirted with by the man I held such affection for.

“Maybe I should show you,” I said, sliding closer to him. I was right in front of him now. I placed my hand on his chest.

“You had better,” Nicholas said. “That way I know exactly who you mean.”

I hummed as I pressed up onto my toes, closing the distance between our mouths. At once, he gathered me into his arms, pulling me closer, as close as could be.

Nichol s’s l*ps are soft yet insistent. He takes control of the k*ss at once, and I’m blissfully at

his mercy.

I hum into his mouth. He growls into mine.

His k*ss is claiming, marking my l*ps as he had my n*eck. The producers had smirked when they saw the bruises there. They had assumed Julian had left them, and Julian was eager to let them think so. He’d made a point of touching my n*eck a lot while we had been together.

Nicholas put his mouth over them now, refreshing them.

“Oh, Nick,” I sighed. I could happy live in this moment alone if I had the power to stop time.

He lapped at each mark, soothing the pleasure pain he’d caused. I wished he could mar my entire b*dy with those same love bites. Maybe someday we would have the time.

No. I condemned those selfish thoughts. Nicholas and I shouldn’t be overly intimate, for the sake of his future bride if not for my heart alone. If we laid together, and then were forced to part… That moment would haunt me the rest of my life.

I didn’t know if I was strong enough to survive it.

With the marks refreshed, Nicholas dropped his forehead onto my shoulder.

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“I hate the thought of you k*ssing him, but I know why you have to,” he said. “I wish more than anything that you didn’t have to. But for the good of the kingdom…” 1

He squeezed me in his embrace. I glanced back at his desk, at the papers there. Were they some kind of report? He likely knew about the increase in protestors.

“Are things worse than they look?” I asked. They already looked pretty bad.

“Yes,” he said. “If they weren’t… If this wasn’t absolutely necessary…

He lifted his head to gaze down into my eyes.

“Julian is going to try to take you from me.”

I blinked. “No. He knows we are only playing pretend.”

“Maybe,” Nicholas said. “But…” His voice lowered, rough and se xy. “When he tries anything … When he k*sses you… I want you to remember one thing.”

A shiver trembled pleasantly up my spine. “What’s that?”

“This.” He k*ssed me again.

My eyelids fluttered closed, and I fell into the feel of him once more. My heart warmed in delight.

“Tell me when it happens,” he said against my l*ps. “So I know when not to watch the broadcast. I know it has to happen, but I don’t want to see it.”

“I promise,” I said.

His mouth covered mine once more. He turned me and pressed me up against the wall. I gripped at his shoulders with both hands. His hands trailed from my backside around my hips. His grip was strong. I wanted him to push me up the wall and keep me there.

He growled against me like he just might.

But then a knock sounded on the door.

“Ignore it,” he said, then bit my bottom l*p.

“Ah!” I gasped.

His hand flitted up and covered my breast through my clothes.

“Nick…”

The knock came again, louder. This time, a voice followed it, “Prince Nicholas!”

That was Mark’s voice. Shouldn’t he be with Elva?

Nicholas stepped back from me at once. He dropped both hands to my waist, steadying me as

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My legs felt weak, and not just from that k*ss. For Mark to be here meant something had to be wrong. But what?

“Mark,” Nicholas called out. “Come in.”

As the door opened, Mark hurried through. Nicholas kept his hands on my waist. Mark already knew about us. He didn’t so much as bat an eye at our closeness.

However, his usually composed face was twisted with concern.

“Piper, thank G od, you are here too,” he said.

“Mark?” I asked. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

He took a breath.

I tried to prepare myself, but nothing could stop the fear that shot through me at hearing the

words he finally said.

“Elva has a fever.”