Twisted Games (Twisted, #2)

by Ana Huang

Princess Bridget von Ascheberg of Eldorra would be the death of me. If not literal death, then the death of my patience and sanity.

“You gonna keep ogling me, or you got something I can help you with, Princess?”

My voice lowered, dark and full of unspoken threats. “You’ll find out the hard way what happens when you bargain with the devil.”

“I’d really hoped you were into cosplay. You would make a good Thor, only with dark hair.” “Second time you’ve tried to get me to take my shirt off, Princess. Careful, or I’ll think you’re trying to seduce me.”

AHHHHHHHHHHGGH

“Because I understand what it’s like to be alone.”

I was a princess. He was my bodyguard. I was twenty-two. He was thirty-two. It was wrong, but I couldn’t stop.

I could handle getting shot. I couldn’t handle Bridget getting hurt.

awwwwwww

Part of me wanted to push her far away from me, and another part wanted to drag her into my arms and keep her as mine.

Same

“Princess, you couldn’t look horrible if you tried.”

“Was that another compliment, Mr. Larsen? Two in two years. Careful, or I’ll think you like me.”

“I suggest you stop lookin’ at me like that, Princess,”

“Unless you plan on doing something about it.”

warm hand against my rough, calloused one. Clean versus bloodstained. Innocence versus darkness. Two worlds that were never meant to touch.

I’d never been in love, but I’d dreamt of it all my life. To find that grand, sweeping love, the kind worth giving up a kingdom for.

“You’re a lot of things, Princess. Stubborn, infuriating, a pain in my ass half the time. But I promise you, you’re not a spare anything.”

Jesus Christ. I wasn’t a religious man, but if there was ever a time to believe in God, it was now.

I wondered if we would’ve worked in a different life, a different world. One in which I was just a woman and he was just a man, unburdened by the rules and expectations of others.

Meanwhile, all I could do was stand there and watch, because women like Bridget weren’t meant for men like me.

My truth? There was only one man who’d ever given me butterflies with a kiss. One man whose touch set me on fire and made me believe in all the fantastical things I’d dreamed about since I was a child.

“I came back despite knowing the torture I’d have to go through because I can’t stay away from you. Even when you’re not there, you’re everywhere. In my head, in my lungs, in my fucking soul. And I’m trying very hard not to lose my shit right now, sweetheart, because all I want is to cut off that fucker’s head and serve it on a platter for daring to touch you. Then bend you over the hood and spank your ass raw for letting him.”

Even when you’re not there, you’re everywhere. In my head, in my lungs, in my fucking soul.

“You know what you said earlier? About how we always end up where we’re meant to be?”

The slightest movement from me, and I would fall. The question was whether I wanted to save myself or if the pleasure would be worth the eventual pain.

“Perhaps…”

“I was always meant to find my way to you.”

Would the pleasure be worth the eventual pain? I only had to listen to the frantic beats of my heart to know the answer.

Ours was a story destined for a tragic ending, but when you were already on a train headed off the cliff, all you could do was hold on tight and make every second count.

Bridget von Ascheberg was mine and mine alone. It didn’t matter that she wasn’t mine to take. I was taking her anyway, and if I could tattoo myself onto her skin, bury myself in her heart, and etch myself onto her soul, I would.

“Remember. In public, you’re my princess, but in private, you’re my whore.”

But fuck, if she was an addiction, I never wanted to be cured.

We always end up where we’re meant to be, and you were always meant to be here.” With me.

“Easy for you to say. You’re not the one at risk of dying.” “Trust me, Princess. I would rather end my own life than ask you to do anything that might hurt you.”

I couldn’t help but wonder if there was only room for one happy ending in this kingdom…and if it wasn’t already too late for mine.

We weren’t a dirty secret. We were the most beautiful thing in my life, and I wanted to share it with the world the way all beautiful things deserved to be shared.

Could I still be alive if my heart wasn’t beating?

We weren’t a fairy tale. We were a forbidden love letter, tucked into the back of a drawer and retrieved only in the darkness of night. We were the chapter of bliss before the climax hit and everything crumbled into ash. We were a story that was always meant to end.

“You asked me if I’d ever been in love. I said no.”

“Ask me again, Princess.”

“Have you ever been in love?” “No. But I hope to be one day.”

“I never thought I’d see the day. Rhys Larsen in love.”

“No matter how many detours you take, your story only has one ending. Cut it off before you’re in too deep and you can’t get out.”

If she couldn’t or wouldn’t fight for us—because of her guilt, her duty, her family, or any other reason—I’d fight enough for us both.

For thinking anything she said could make me give her up when she was the only thing I’d ever wanted.

“If we do it, we do it together. You and me against the world, Princess.”

But I’m tired of being afraid. With great risk comes great reward, right?”

“I take care of what’s mine, and you’ve been mine since the moment I saw you outside your poorly secured house at Thayer.

“Have you ever been in love, Mr. Larsen?” “Only once.”

Until Bridget, I’d never loved or been loved, and I finally understood what the fuss was about.

I want to be in your mind, in your heart, and in your fucking soul the way you are in mine. You and me, Princess…” “Against the world,”

“I never believed in love. Never wanted it. I didn’t see the practical value, and to be honest, I was doing just fine without it.