Chapter 36

“Adan?”

“Yeah,” Lucy said. “Have you heard of him?”

I could only smile and shake my head. “Yeah, I know him actually.”

Her eyes widened. “Really? How?”

“We just happened to meet on campus one day,” I started.

“Isn’t he amazing?” she asked with a big smile on her face.

“Well,” I said, “I haven’t known him for very long, but he’s definitely very smart.”

“And isn’t he dreamy?” she continued. “I can hardly pay attention in class.”

I tilted my head at her. “Well, I really only see him as a friend, but yes, he is what you’d call a handsome man.”

“Sorry,” she said. “I don’t know how I can forget sometimes that you’re a married lady.”

I shrugged and said, “He’s just not my type.” Which was kind of a weird thing to hear myself say. I’d never really talked, before, about having a type.

But now it just felt like a simple fact that my type was… Nolan.

That’s what I thought of when I thought of what I wanted.

His green eyes and challenging stare. His broad shoulders and muscular arms. The five o’clock shadow that darkened his chiseled features every day by sunset.

I snapped back to my conversation and said, “Lucy, do you also know… the other thing about Adan?”

She frowned at me. “What do you mean?”

I sighed. “Do you know who he is? That he is Nolan’s brother?”

“Wait, what? Your Nolan?” She swiveled her head toward the door as if the prince might be standing there.

“Yes. Adan is his half-brother, actually. They have different mothers.”

Lucy shifted in her chair and said, “Ohhh. Oh my Goddess, I think I remember that. From back when we were kids.”

I shrugged. I didn’t remember anything about politics from when I was eight.

“Yeah,” she said, “the eldest prince disappeared. Then the younger one had to become the new heir. Wow, I’d forgotten all about that.”

I nodded. “That’s pretty much the story.”

“Okay, so Adan’s a Lycan. His father is the King. Now I know for sure that we could never be together.”

I took a little pillow off the sofa and threw it at her.

It bounced off her and she said, “Ow!”

“I’m sorry,” I said, “but stop that! You could get him. I can totally see it.”

She shook her head side to side dramatically, but then stopped and said, “Wait, really?”

“Yes. You’d be great together. You might be the two most charming people that I know.”

Lucy beamed. “That’s sweet, but I’m just telling you about a fantasy right now. I’m more convinced than ever that I’m far too inferior.”

“I think you should just tell him,” I said. “Give him a chance.”

I could tell by the expression on her face that she was starting to regret having this conversation with me.

“Remember the first time we met?” I asked her.

She nodded. “Of course. The day you saved me, outside the Arts building.”

“I prefer to think of it as the day you gave me a much-needed confidence boost. When we were in the car. Remember?”

She squinted at me.

“You yelled at me? And convinced me I was talented enough to win the fashion competition?”

“Oh yeah,” she said, smiling. “That really helped you?”

“Yes. And here’s the deal I’m going to make with you. If you were right and I do win this, you have to admit that I am right also, and tell Adan that you like him.”

She shook her head No, but said, “Deal.”

NOLAN

The prince came home once again to find their bedroom empty and went to Yena’s studio to look for her.

She was standing with her back to the door, looking at her collection. The three designs were hanging on dressmaker’s dummies. They were gorgeous, and all looked finished.

Yena had her arms folded and was just standing there, staring at the clothes. Nolan knocked on the door and she turned around. She smiled when she saw him, waved him over, and returned to staring at her work.

He walked over and slipped an arm around her waist.

“They’re beautiful,” he said.

“Thank you. I can’t decide if they’re finished or not.” She kept staring.

Nolan cleared his throat quietly. “I wanted to see if you… could possibly tear yourself away to have a little fencing lesson with me again tonight?”

He put his other arm around her, encircling her waist, and made her turn to face him. She reached up to pet the short scruff of his beard, dragging her fingernails through it.

“I’m too tired tonight,” she said, giving him a pouty look. “But another night soon, I promise. When the show is over.”

He nodded.

“How was your day?” she asked, giving him an encouraging smile.

He shrugged his shoulders and said, before he could stop himself, “I missed you.”

A confused look flashed across Yena’s face.

Then she stood on her toes, hooked her arms around Nolan’s neck, and kissed him. The hair on the back of his neck stood on edge.

She was much shorter than him, and he swooped her up into his arms. Her legs wrapped around his waist like they belonged there.

Nolan pulled his lips away from hers just long enough to whisper, “Come to bed with me.”

She looked deep into his eyes and nodded.

YENA

Nolan carried me to our room and laid me down in bed. The room was dark. I relaxed back into the bed and let him undress me, loving the warmth of his hands on my skin.

He leaned in and kissed me. I tugged on his shirt front, trying to pull him on top of me. He resisted, starting to shift his weight back onto his heels.

I kissed him again. He kissed me back, but then put a hand on my cheek and used his thumb to pry our lips apart.

I caught his thumb in my mouth and sucked on it.

I heard a rumble come from his throat. Not quite a growl. Almost a purr.

“Go to sleep,” he whispered in my ear. “You need some rest.”

He wasn’t wrong. We’d hardly slept the night before.

But the feeling of his hot breath on my neck only made me want him more.

He tore away from me and crossed the room. He got undressed and slipped into the other side of the bed. I started to feel the warmth of his body as he slid further in, closer to me.

He stopped a few inches from me and rested his head on the pillow.

He was trying to be good.

I wasn’t going to be able to fall asleep. I turned onto my side, facing him, and closed the gap between us.

That was all the permission he needed, and he had both hands back on my body in an instant. We kissed again and it started to feel like we might never be able to stop.

Just as I started to wonder what he meant when he said he missed me today, I felt something that made my brain stop working. He was getting hard. My legs parted for him like a reflex.

I had that slipping feeling, like when we kissed at our wedding. Like I was about to start melting.

What started out slow and sleepy got more intense really quickly. I knew Nolan couldn’t help himself once he was inside of me. It was like I supercharged him.

He growled “Yena” in a voice so deep and desperate, it felt like his soul was reaching out for me. I had a sudden, almost irresistible urge to tell him that I loved him.

I choked it back and whimpered his name instead.

He gave me an orgasm that felt like it went on for a long time, making me convulse and almost levitate, right before he had his. I remember him stroking my face as I lie there trying to catch my breath.

Then I crashed. And had the best night’s sleep of my life.