Chapter 45 45
For a heartbeat, she just stared at me like I’d set the room on fire with my bare hands. Her lips parted, still tasting of mine, her breath unsteady, her eyes—fierce, wild, confused.
Then came the sass.
“Oh, brilliant. Just brilliant,” she hissed, shoving me square in the chest. “Alpha Gregor, ladies and gentlemen. Guard dog of the century, kissing his ‘future princess’ like he’s auditioning for some trashy palace drama.”
The shove didn’t move me an inch. I stood there, still breathing her in, my wolf practically salivating over the fact that she hadn’t actually slapped me.
“You kissed me back,” I rumbled, low and dangerous.
Her jaw dropped. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me.” I leaned in, close enough to watch her blush rise like fire under her skin. “You didn’t pull away. You kissed me back.”
Her mouth opened, closed, then snapped shut like she’d bitten her own tongue. She crossed her arms so tight her knuckles whitened. “I was in shock! You ambushed me. Any normal woman would—”
“Would melt in my arms?” I cut in, letting the wolf in my voice curl around her like smoke.
She glared, sharp as a blade. “Would push you off!”
“You didn’t.”
That shut her up again. She blinked, flustered, and for once, all her sass and bravado faltered. My wolf preened, smug as hell, pressing against my skin, urging me to close the distance again.
She spun away from me, muttering curses under her breath, pacing like she was trying to shake me off her skin. “This is insane. You’re insane. I don’t even like you.”
“Liar,” I growled before I could stop myself.
She whipped around, eyes flashing. “Oh, so now you’re calling me a liar?”
“Yes.” I stepped toward her, slow, predatory, every instinct demanding I cage her against the wall. “Because I felt it. You felt it. Deny it all you want, but your wolf knows.”
Her lips parted, but no words came out. Just that sharp inhale—the kind you only make when someone’s pinned you right against the truth.
And damn, the sight of her trembling with both fury and something deeper nearly broke my restraint.
My wolf howled again, clawing for more—for her. Mark her. Claim her. Ours.
But I couldn’t. Not yet. Not when she was supposed to belong to the prince. Not when the entire kingdom was watching.
So instead, I forced myself back, running a hand over my jaw to smother the beast inside me. “Sleep, Marigold. Before I do something we’ll both regret.”
Her eyes still burned into me, mouth trembling between a retort and silence.
And as I turned away, I caught it—the faintest whisper, barely audible, but sharp enough to gut me.
“I already regret kissing you back.”
It should have been a dagger. Instead, it set my blood on fire. Because regret or not, she had kissed me back.
And my wolf wasn’t about to let her forget it.
MARIGOLD POV
The morning sunlight was far too cheerful for the chaos in my chest. Birds chirped outside the villa as if no one had been nearly poisoned and almost kidnapped last night. My head still felt foggy from the draught Thunder had tried to slip me, but worse than that—worse than the bruises on my pride or the ache in my throat—was the memory of Alpha Gregor’s mouth on mine.
Yes. That happened. And I was determined to bury it deep, deep in the darkest corners of my brain.
Unfortunately, Sugar existed.
She came bustling into my room in a flurry of skirts, shawls, and far too much perfume for this early hour, carrying a tray of breakfast like she was my fairy godmother and drill sergeant rolled into one.
And then she froze.
Her eyes cut from me—sitting stiff as a poker on the bed—to Gregor, who was leaning against the far wall, arms crossed, broody as ever, watching me like I might disappear if he blinked.
The tension was so thick you could have buttered toast with it.
Sugar’s mouth fell open. She gasped, loudly enough to wake the servants three villas down. “OMG! Did you guys just kiss last night?”
I choked on my own spit. “WE DID NOT,” I snapped.
“We did not,” Gregor growled at the exact same time.
Too quick. Way too quick.
Sugar’s smile spread slow and wicked, like a cat who’d just found a bowl of cream. “Oh. My. Goddess. You DID.”
“Hell no,” I hissed, throwing the blanket over my head like it might shield me from her psychic nonsense. My face was on fire, my heart beating like a war drum.
Gregor scrubbed a hand down his jaw, muttering low, dangerous curses under his breath. I could feel his glare pinning Sugar like a knife, but Sugar wasn’t scared of wolves or kings or even storms.
“Look at you two,” she sang, setting the tray down with an exaggerated flourish. “All twitchy and defensive. Classic post-kiss behavior.”
“Sugar.” I tried to sound calm. I failed miserably. “Nothing happened. At all. Ever. And if it did, I didn’t enjoy it.”
From across the room, Gregor snorted. Actually snorted.
I whipped around, ready to strangle him with my bare hands. “What are you laughing at?”
“Enjoy it?” His voice was low, a rumble that made my stomach knot in ways I hated. “You were the one kissing me back.”
My jaw dropped. “I was in SHOCK.”
“Oh, sure.” He tilted his head, smirk curling like smoke. “Must have been the longest shock in history.”
Sugar squealed. Actually squealed like a twelve-year-old. “I knew it! I KNEW IT! The Alpha and the almost-Princess—sneaky little wolves!”
“Oh God!” I muttered, dragging a pillow over my face to smother both my shame and the fact that my lips were still tingling.
Gregor shifted against the wall, all steady menace and infuriating calm, like he wasn’t the one who had kissed me into forgetting my own name.
“Sugar,” he said finally, voice sharp. “Not. A. Word. To anyone.”
“Pfft. As if I’d ruin this delicious scandal,” she shot back. “I’m savoring it. Feeding off it. Living for it. But my Leon would smile if I ever told him this. Damn! This is way better than Netflix.”
I groaned into the pillow.
Because of course, Sugar had noticed. And of course, Alpha Brooding Gregor just had to keep smirking like he owned my very breath.
And the worst part?
I wasn’t entirely sure he didn’t.