To Love a Prince

by Nana Malone

  Once she was safely on her feet, I eased her dress back into place as I adjusted my clothes. Then I took her hand and tugged her close enough to kiss her lips softly. "The whole night I've been trying to get you inside, where it's romantic and I have candles and flowers."

  Her eyes went wide. "You have candles and flowers?"

  I nodded solemnly. "Well, yeah. You liked them so much the last time."

  She grinned. "Well then, by all means. I'm sorry that I've been ruining your plans."

  "I know, right? I was going to gently seduce you... lick you all over with my tongue and mark you as mine."

  "Well, I'm pretty sure you have already marked me, but you don't need to. I have always been yours."

  "You know just what to say to a man, don't you?"

  "Nope, just this one."

  She stood on her tiptoes and kissed my chin, and I ran my hand through her hair again. "Nope. Nope. We're not going to get distracted with more kisses. We're going inside. I want to put my mouth on you and not come up for air for at least an hour. So, you should probably be lying down for that."

  "Amen. I am so here for that."

  She giggled as I tugged her forward. When we got to the front of the bungalow, I stopped to give her another quick kiss. "Let's make this official. I want to carry you over the threshold."

  She laughed. "We're not married."

  I didn't know why, but those words bothered me. We should be married. She was mine and I was hers. I knew that we had a long time to go before we'd know each other well enough again, but I also knew what my brain was telling me. This was it. She had always been it. "It doesn't matter. You're still mine."

  "Fair enough. Lift me."

  I scooped her easily up and held her against my chest. When I stepped on the first stair, a tingle of warning on the base of my neck told me something wasn't right. I frowned not sure what could possibly be wrong. Ariel gave me a beaming smile and I tucked her close. Nope, I wasn't listening to any bad omens.

  The night was about us, and nothing was going to ruin that. I lifted her onto the second step, and the click was the only thing that warned me of what was coming. I didn't know how I knew, but it was some evolutionary sixth sense. I turned as quickly as I could and tossed her away from me. My last memory was the sound of the explosion, the sound of splintering wood, and a fire blazing over my body.

  Thirteen

  Ariel…

  I burned. Oh God, it was so hot.

  I lifted my hand off the sand to rub at the ache. Tristan had tossed me.

  Oh God, Tristan.

  He was lying about fifteen feet from me. Splintered wood and fire were all around us. Jesus, the bungalow was on fire. I rolled over to my side. I had to get him out of there. Thanks to his quick thinking, I mostly just had a headache. I wasn't hurt. I only had some scratches. I raised my arms and glanced at them. Just some minor cuts. I looked down at my legs. More minor cuts. I wasn't injured.

  Okay, so move.

  I forced first my toes, then my feet to move, and then I bent my legs and pushed myself into a sitting position. I could manage that. I snatched up my shoes. I had to get him back up. When I glanced at the tunnel that led us down there, I knew there was no way I could take him up the hard way. But there were permanent stairs about two hundred yards down the beach. I'd get some help eventually if I went that way. Oh, God.

  Okay, relax. You can do this.

  I crawled over to him and tried to rouse him. "Tristan. Tristan, please. Wake up. I need you to wake up."

  He moaned, but otherwise, he didn't move.

  I quickly checked him for injuries. He had a cut on his head. He was bleeding a lot. Head wounds bleed. I knew that much.

  He had more blood on his side.

  With a quick glance under his tuxedo, I couldn't see any exit wound. Was something lodged inside? Jesus Christ.

  Stop fucking around. You have to get him up. It's your job. No one is coming.

  And if someone was coming, there was a good chance they might not be friendly.

  With a breath, I patted the inside of my thigh. My gun was still strapped to me, thank Christ.

  Okay, I could do this. I knew how to do this. I forced myself to a standing position and dragged in several deep breaths. I couldn't waste time, but I couldn't do this in a hurry either.

  I reached down, grabbing him by the arm and then the leg on his uninjured side. Fuck, he was big. Something I had always relished. He actually made me feel petite. But suddenly, it was a liability. I needed to be able to carry him and carry him far. All said and done, it was probably half a mile to the base of the stairs, and most of that was uphill.

  Are you going to bitch about it, or are you going to get it done?

  I had no choice. With several grunts and rolls, I managed to maneuver him so I could lift him. Then I slung him over my shoulder in a fireman's carry. Christ, he was heavy.

  Take a step. Rest when you can. Move.

  Just the idea that someone might come, that someone might be out to do him more harm, got me moving quickly.

  One step in front of the other. Slowly but surely. Ten steps. Then fifteen. And twenty. I had to stop once and rest, and then he groaned.

  It didn't matter what I did though. I couldn't rouse him. I couldn't wake him. So, I had to keep moving. Whether I liked it or not, I wasn’t going to quit. He wasn't going to make it if I did. And that was an unacceptable outcome.

  We finally reached the bottom of the stairs. It was guarded by a wall and a lock code. I gently put Tristan on the ground and reached for it to tap in my access code.

  I also hit the emergency beacon. Hopefully, someone would come soon.

  Because carrying Tristan up those stairs was not going to be a picnic.

  Nevertheless, when the door swung open, I eased a rock over to prop it open and then reached for him again.

  "Your Highness, now is not the time for a rest. I need you to wake up, Tristan. I'm going to need your help." He groaned again, and this time he actually moved. "Tristan, can you hear me?"

  He coughed. "Jesus Christ. What the fuck?"

  "Oh my God. Thank God. Okay, you and I need to move. I don't know who's coming for us, but they blew up the bungalow."

  He reached for me. "You... okay?"

  "Yes, I'm fine. But you're hurt."

  He frowned, and then as if realizing it for the first time, he poked at his side and then hissed. "Jesus."

  "Come on. We'll be safer behind the palace grounds. I need to move you inside."

  He lifted his head and glanced around. "Where are we?"

  "The actual entrance to the beach, about two hundred yards down from the bungalow."

  He groaned. "The bungalow, they blew it up."

  "Yeah. They sure did. Come on, focus. Let's go."

  "Okay, I think I could stand."

  I stared at him dubiously. "Are you sure?"

  "You think you can carry me up the stairs by yourself?"

  I glanced back up, and I knew that if he could walk it would be preferable. "Okay, let's try and get you up. I already hit the emergency beacon, so someone should be coming this way soon unless they're all headed down toward the bungalow... I don't know. I don't have my stupid phone. It's in my purse which is back at the fucking ball."

  "It's fine. Come on, let's go. You and me. We're a team."

  God this man, he was so steady. Always so steady, able to just make me refocus. I could do this. This wasn't the end of the world.

  I wrapped his arm over my shoulder and then helped him to his feet.

  He groaned and I watched him. "God, are you sure?"

  "We don't have a choice. Come on, let's go."

  I swallowed hard and nodded. "You and me against the world. We can do this. We can do anything."

  We started up the stairs slowly. Shifting, adjusting, making it work. One shuffled foot at a time. I tried not to look up at the expanse of stairs. I tried not to think about it. It was a thing that we had to do. It was my job
. I was his knight. I was supposed to protect him. So, like it or not, we were climbing.

  After hearing the explosion, people were already on their way. "Lady Scott?"

  I called up the stairs. "Lord Tatt. Explosion. Prince Tristan needs help, some medical attention. Do you have a radio?"

  A Royal Guard came running forward. "Yes." He tossed it to me, and I switched to the channel that we all used. "Medical attention requested for the prince. This is Lady Ariel Scott." I gave my King’s Knight identification number and instructed the person on the other end to call my team and to notify Penny and Sebastian.

  By the time we reached the top of the stairs, I was exhausted. But Tristan looked worse than I did. He was shaking, barely standing. Luckily, there was a stretcher waiting for him. I gave instructions, and I knew he would be safe, I knew he would make it. My legs started to shake as if I had been waiting for a confirmation that we were going to make it through it before I collapsed. Sebastian and Penny came out of the garden, followed quickly by Roone, Lucas, Bryna, and Jessa. Sebastian took one look at his cousin, and then his gaze snapped to mine. "My quarters, now."

  Tristan groaned. "Can we meet in the medical bay?"

  Sebastian and I both had the same response to that. "No, you're going to the hospital."

  "I'm pretty sure it's a flesh wound."

  I shook my head. "So, you're a doctor now? I just carried you nearly half a mile. Who knows what I jostled? I just basically saved your life, so what, you can risk it again because you want to be part of the team meeting? You're going to the hospital."

  Sebastian nodded. "Okay, we're all going to the hospital. If necessary, we'll convene in there. But getting Tristan treated is the most important thing."

  We marched out to the north parking lot. I ran by his stretcher, holding his hand. The idiot grinned at me. "You were pretty badass, you know that?"

  "I know. How about we don't test that again?"

  He chuckled. "You know full well I can't guarantee that."

  "I will kill you myself, you know that."

  "Well, you know, you're welcome to try, but it appears that I am unkillable.”

  “We are never, ever, ever going to test that again. Do you hear me?"

  "Yeah, I hear you." He squeezed my hand again, and then he passed out. The moment his eyes fluttered close, I let a sigh break free.

  I should have guessed she would be right by my side. Penny. She put an arm around me and held tight. "Hey, I'm here. You can break down now. He's asleep and no one is going to see your tears." And then as I marched behind the stretcher, I let the tears fall. I could have lost him.

  I nearly had lost him. And then where would I be?

  Tristan…

  I peeled my eyes open and then quickly slammed them shut again. It was too bright. God, why was it so loud? There was beeping. A loud beeping and murmured voices.

  And then it hit me. The explosion. Ariel in the sand. The pain in my side. And then I braved the bright light and blinked, letting the light in, finally getting the picture of where I was.

  Oh, God. Hospital.

  "Hey cousin, welcome back to the land of the living."

  I gingerly turned my head, anticipating pain, but there was none. There was just this humming throb at my side. I lifted a finger, trying to reach for it, but something stopped me... a soft delicate hand.

  I gingerly turned to the other side. Ariel. "Are you okay?" Wait, that didn't sound right. It came out like gargled-goop. I tried again. "Are you okay?"

  The smile she gave me was tremulous. "Yeah, you know, what's a little explosion between friends?"

  I coughed. "Jesus, that hurts."

  "Yeah, you had a laceration on your side, from the explosion. Then, of course, I jostled you all the fuck around, so that probably didn't help."

  "Holy shit, yeah, you carried me a couple hundred yards and then halfway up the stairs to the palace. You saved... my life."

  She shook her head. "Well, you're too stubborn to die, so I just did what anyone would do."

  It took me a moment to muster up the energy to squeeze her hand. God, why was I so lethargic? My brain was alert, but I couldn't move easily. "Thank you."

  She blinked rapidly. I could tell she was holding back tears. "Yeah, stop trying to get killed. You make my job harder."

  "Sorry. I'll make sure to stop."

  "You better, or I'll kill you myself."

  I chuckled and then groaned immediately. Bad idea. I was never laughing again.

  Sebastian clapped a hand on her shoulder. "The problem is we have to see how you're responding. The doctor said you'd be okay, but with the sedative they gave you, you've been out for a couple of hours.”

  “Do you know what happened?" I tried to shift my position, but that was also a bad idea.

  He shook his head. "We've got Ariel's team investigating now."

  Ariel spoke then. "Jameson is actually the demolitions expert. She's trying to determine where the blast came from. We have cordoned off the area, keeping out all of the Royal Guards.”

  "Was this Ashton?"

  Ariel glanced at Sebastian, and my cousin shrugged. "I don't know. If it was your brother, it means he had help. Which is why we're not letting the Guard anywhere that scene. It's almost a miracle you survived that.

  The thought that instead of carrying her over the threshold, she could have skipped ahead of me and run in first hit me like a ton of bricks. She could have caught the brunt of the blast.

  The rage that I had managed to stuff into the center of my chest, slithered out, simmering to life in my veins. "I'm going to kill him."

  Sebastian's hand on my shoulder squeezed. "I know you want to, but let's find out all the facts and figure out what the hell happened. If you have to have visitors, we've got the whole team outside.”

  "Amelia, is she here?"

  Again, another exchanged glance. Ariel squeezed my hand again. "Listen, everyone just wants to make sure you're okay, all right? So let’s worry about all that—"

  I shook my head and interrupted her. "Amelia, is she here?"

  Sebastian sighed. "No, but I can get her here. Fast."

  "Bring her. We need to talk this through. Someone wanted to kill me tonight. I don't necessarily have a shit ton of time if we don't figure it out."

  He nodded. When he walked back out of the room, he sent in my friends. Lucas, Roone, a couple of my teammates were there too. Though they had that slightly worried, panicked look to their face at the possibility of me not being able to play. "You blokes need to wipe those looks off your faces. I'll be back running circles around you in no time."

  I had no idea if that was true. All I knew was that they all should stop looking so damn worried. Thirty minutes later, Sebastian was back with Penny and a petite brunette girl. Seeing her again, I vaguely remembered her from before. I had run into her once or twice at some ball. Maybe danced with her? Why did she think I was trying to hurt her?

  Suddenly, my small hospital room became very crowded. The doctor walked in and started to hustle everyone out. But Sebastian just lifted a brow and she sighed. "My patient needs his rest." Sebastian nodded and held up his hand. "I understand, but someone tried to kill your patient tonight, so my team and I have to figure it out. We won’t overtire him, I promise. We’re invested in his recovery.”

  She sighed and rolled her eyes, but she left us alone.

  Penny brought Amelia forward. “All right Amelia, I know you and I have been talking, but why don’t you tell the rest of the team what you’ve been telling me.”

  She glanced around meeting everyone’s faces, looking at Sebastian, Penny, Lucas, Roone, Bryna, Jessa, all of them. And then her gaze flickered to mine. "I didn't think I'd be seeing you."

  "I don't understand Amelia. Sure, we knew each other in passing, but your father seems to think we had some long, intimate relationship."

  Her shoulders slumped and she sighed. "It's because that's what I thought."

  I frowned. "I don'
t understand. We have met maybe twice, three times, I think?"

  She nodded. "I know, it's just... one day after, I forget what ball it was, but you danced with me, and I was awkward and unattractive then. You know, my heart fluttered, and of course, I had some school girl crush."

  "Right, but that does not warrant your father's hatred of me. Why does he believe that I could hurt you like that?"

  "Well, after that ball, you texted me."

  My brows snapped down. "Amelia, I'm sorry, but I didn't."

  She shook her head. "No, I know. Now, I know. I thought it was you. I texted back and forth with someone I thought was you for... I don't know, six months? Then you wanted to meet."

  My gaze flickered to Ariel, and I shook my head. "No. That's not right."

  Amelia continued her story. "No, I know. I went to meet you and there was this bungalow on the beach..."

  The warning slithered up my spine, but I couldn't shift to avoid it. I knew what she was going to say. I knew where she was going, and it was like seeing the train coming but being powerless to stop it. "I— It was dark. There weren't any lights on, and you were there. We made love."

  My stomach twisted, and the bile churned as the storming anxiety swirled around my stomach. "Amelia, I'm sorry, but it wasn't me."

  "No, it was your brother Ashton."

  Yup, just when you know the worst thing that you could possibly hear, and then it's said, you feel sicker immediately. That was how I felt.

  "Ashton pretended to be me?"

  Amelia nodded. "I didn't know until... you know, after I had slept with him. I wanted to leave, but he kept me there. Not, you know, against my will or anything. I think he wanted me to slowly come to the realization while I was still in bed with him."

  "I'm so sorry," I muttered.

  "He laughed at me, saying I was naive. He said he was the one who’d been sending me text messages the whole the time and that I had been falling in love with him, not you."

  "Jesus Christ." I lifted a hand, trying to scrub it on my face, but there was still a disconnection between what actions my brain wanted to take and what actions my body was capable of doing.