Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 97577 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 488(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97577 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 488(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
I glanced down at her heart-shaped face and into her mismatched-colored eyes—one hazel and the other a pure blue. Lifting her chin and holding it in place, I leaned in. “Why would you be talking about anything else when our relationship is purely physical?”
“Then why do you always come to me when you want to clear your mind?” she asked, closing the distance between us, but I turned my face and let hers go. Her lips brushed the corner of mine.
“You know why I come here,” I muttered, reaching over to the side of the bed for my almost-forgotten glass of wine.
“Yes, I do.” She snickered and sat up out of bed, not bothering with the sheet to cover herself. “Not only am I divorced but I also can’t have children. Therefore, I can never be anything more for you but something physical. So, I’m safe.”
She had no other reason to say that than to try to make me feel bad. But it was the truth. She was once the Countess of Gormsey. However, when the Count of Gormsey divorced her and ran off with another man, it became clear why he’d married her, even though everyone knew she couldn’t have children because of a childhood accident. You would have thought she would have avoided the nobility at all costs after that embarrassment. But no, there was no party or celebration Sabina Franziska was not in attendance in all her glory.
“Your Highness,” she whispered, leaning closer, her breasts brushing up against my arm. “I know something is bothering you. You are only ever that rough for that reason. You can talk to me, too. I consider you a friend.”
“My father says princes have no friends. We have family, and we have people, and we have servants.”
“You quote poetry to other women, and you quote your father to me. You are hurtful, Your Highness.” She pouted, faking her hurt, and kissed my chest before rising from the bed, brushing her auburn hair off her shoulder. “I’m going to shower. You can debate whether you’d like to join me.”
It would not take much debate. I wanted to join her, but it was almost nine in the morning, which would normally be considered late. However, since I was not in the palace, and had been gone since last night, I was already going to be lectured to death by my mother, father, or brother—or all of the above.
Knock. Knock.
“Sir? You’ve been summoned,” the nervous voice called from the other side of the door.
“The devil hears when you call,” I muttered, finishing off my wine before rising out of bed to grab my clothes.
“And just like that, you’re leaving me.” Sabina frowned, coming out of the restroom with a white, satin robe on.
“Did you not hear? I have been summoned.” I frowned.
“And when the palace summons...”
“I go running,” I finished for her, taking my shirt from her hands.
“I will see you at your next crisis then.” She kissed the side of my face.
I was not sure what to say back to that. If my family had their way, I would be married before the year was over. And the last thing I could have was a mistress, especially one like her. So, I said nothing and stepped away from her to the door. Opening it, I found the blond-haired, freckle-faced palace guard who was more like my stalker, standing at the door, waiting for me.
“Your Highness, we must go,” he whispered, doing his best not to look at the woman behind me. Not because he was being discreet but because Wolfgang, even though he was twenty-three, was greener than all the hills in Ersovia. He was young but not that young. He had been at the palace for a few months as my personal secretary. Why he was blushing at a little thing like this was beyond me.
Eliza was the same age as him, and she knew a little too much about the world.
“Then let us go,” I said, walking out of her bedroom and closing the door behind me.
“Your shirt, Your Highness...”
“She never has anyone here when I call. Do not panic. No one is going to see,” I replied, but even still, he checked around me.
Shaking my head, I buttoned up the rest of my shirt as we walked down the stairs and out into the gardens. From her divorce, Sabina was given different properties around the country. One of them was here—a small, almost-forgotten cottage right outside the city. It happened to be right behind a historic art museum, so even if anyone saw me, I could easily just say I was here for the art.
“Even still, Your Highness, you should—”
“Please, do not start lecturing me. I already have one coming, and I am saving my energy for it.”
It took us twenty minutes to arrive back at the palace.