LITMIR.BIZ

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the part where I’m not the marrying kind.

      I reach the bottom of the stairs and draw a lung-searing breath before pushing through the exit that leads to the castle grounds.

      Of course I know about the marriage decree. I memorized Edenvale proclamations and laws alongside my ABCs. But this is the twenty-first century. I never dared believe that Father would enforce that arcane law any more than he would the one about how no high ministers could enter the palace wearing purple, or how hunting on royal lands was a hangable offense.

      Don’t even get me started on the decree prohibiting anal sex.

      Hell, I tapped the back door of a hotel heiress in the castle’s highest tower last week. Not something I normally do, but she offered, and I sure as shit wasn’t going to turn it down. Not my favorite position, but sex is like pizza in Naples. Even if it’s not great, it’s still damn good.

      The castle grounds are perfectly manicured with hedges cut into topiaries of rabbits and swans. Father enjoys indulging his whimsical side.

      The morning sun scalds my neck.

      “Sire, Sire, please, wait!” a woman cries behind me. Then she mutters under her breath how hard it is to run in heels.

      My molars grind with enough force that it’s a miracle they don’t shatter. I’ve heard that lilting voice before—the auburn-haired woman from the matchmaking service that my father hired.

      Marriage decree aside, this situation—them hiring a matchmaking service—is the biggest insult of all. As if I need any goddamn help finding a willing woman.

      “Sire!”

      I should wait. Chivalry and all that. But remember the part about how I’m no Prince Charming?

      I veer into the maze, kicking at stones in the gravel path. Fuck being a gentleman. I turn left, then right, then left again. The walls surrounding me are twelve feet high and covered in leaves. This maze might be the largest in Europe, but it was my childhood playground. I always know the way out. Time to ditch this tenacious matchmaker and figure out a plan to avoid getting tied in unholy matrimony.

      That’s when I hear it.

      A snap, quickly followed by a sound like someone trying not to cry out.

      Shit.

      She’s fallen over.

      Not a surprise. I caught a glimpse of her precarious five-inch stilettos when she crossed her legs upstairs in the castle hall and this path is rocky and uneven.

      I also caught an eyeful of a toned calf that connected to a perfectly curving thigh. That was the best part of the meeting. Before I glanced at the folder on the table and read the gold-embossed title: Happy Endings Matchmaking Services: Making Dreams a Reality.

      A cool mountain breeze brushes my face. I pause. Debating. I want to keep going. I even take a step. It’s not like I asked her to give chase. She saw that I didn’t need her advice. That I didn’t want her professional services. Yet she insisted on pursuing me of her own free will. This is her own fault. I owe the woman—a total stranger—nothing.

      The image of that exquisite creamy thigh flashes behind my eyes, this time draped over my shoulder.

      Okay. Correction. I don’t want her in a professional capacity.

      My shoulders slump. No matter what my instincts demand, I can’t abandon an injured woman alone in the maze.

      Before I know it, I’m backtracking. It takes less than thirty seconds to find her.

      She’s kicked off that lethal-looking shoe and sits rubbing a swelling ankle. Her toes are painted a glossy classic red.

      Okay, damn. I like that.

      Her lips are flawless, painted in exactly the same shade.

      I like that even better.

      I’d like it best streaking my shaft.

      My cock twitches in agreement.

      Fuck. This matchmaker—and maddeningly sexy woman—is the enemy. But try telling that to my asshole dick. Sometimes an overactive libido comes with serious drawbacks.

      Then her gaze fixes on my face, and with one look at those tear-filled baby blues, my brain fucking flatlines.

      Kate

      It takes everything for me to hold my prince’s fixed stare, not to wince at the white-hot pain in my ankle. But there is no way I’m letting this guy—prince or otherwise—get the best of me.

      “You okay?” he asks.

      “Of course not.” I glance at my ivory skirt, the side slit ripped even higher. I’m also sure my ass is one big grass stain. And let’s not even discuss the hair. I’d gone for professional with the French twist, but now my auburn waves hang in my face, which is probably for the best. His steely gaze is too close.

      “Just—show me the way out,” I say, attempting to push myself up, but as soon as I put pressure on my bare foot, my knees buckle and I almost hit the ground again.

      Almost. Because Nikolai Lorentz, Prince of Edenvale and heir to the throne, catches me.

      “Shit,” he hisses. “You are hurt.”

      “And you smell like you hit a limousine minibar,” I say, trying to cover my reaction to his hands on me with disdain.

      But my breath still quickens. He carries me with a concern I can feel in every nerve of my body.

      “It was a Rolls, but you’re very perceptive, Miss—”

      “Winter,” I say, having no choice but to throw my arms around his neck for purchase, my broken shoe still dangling from my fingers.

      “Aha,” he says, that devilish grin taking over his features. “Have you read Romeo and Juliet? Doesn’t Juliet ask what’s in a name?” He begins to walk.

      My cheeks grow hot, and the tips of his fingers—his palm where it touches the bare skin of my thigh—sends sparks right through me.

      I clear my throat. “You read Shakespeare?” I ask, though it’s obvious.

      “You’re as icy as your name implies.”

      I huff out a breath and push as far from him as I can while the rogue still has me in his arms.

      “I’m no such thing! You—you’re the one who likened my services to a dating website. My work is nuanced and relies on personal metrics and psychology, thank you very much. You’re also the one who just cost me a day’s work. So pardon me if I’m not exactly warming to your famous charm.”

      He stops dead in his tracks. We’re still in the maze, and I can’t tell if we’re any closer to making it out of here or if he’s taken us deeper.

      His eyes dart in every direction, as if he’s checking for intruders, before they land on mine. Stone gray and burning with intent, I can’t look away if I try.

      “I will not marry,” he says, his voice cool and even. “Is that understood?”

      I nod. “And I will not walk away from this job.”

      “Then I guess we’re at an impasse.”

      The air between us is warm, charged with the mingling of our breaths. His skin against mine sizzles. My head tells me that everything I’m feeling is wrong, but the physical need brewing inside me throbs at my core.

      I haven’t been with a man since my fiancé, Jean-Luc, died BASE jumping in Alaska. He was the love of my life, but he loved the thrill of adrenaline more than me. Afterward, I joined my big sister Madeline’s business to devote my life to what I was denied: a happy ending.

      It had been two long, careful years of self-denial and occasionally my own hand. Before that it had only ever been Jean-Luc.

      But the hand against me now

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