Twisted Games (Twisted, #2)

by Ana Huang

Not that it would’ve gone anywhere. He was, after all, my bodyguard, but it would’ve been nice to have eye candy without wanting to drop-kick him into the next century.

Men. They always ruined it by opening their mouths.

I loved animals, I truly did, but I could not have a butterfly living in my stomach. Not for Rhys Larsen. It needed to die immediately.

I took this job thinking I had one objective, but now it was clear I had two. The first was to protect Bridget. The second was to resist her.

Specifically, hell was watching other people swan around an ice rink, drinking hot chocolate and making googly eyes at each other like they were in the middle of a goddamn Hallmark movie.

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 into her heart, and etch myself onto her soul, I would.

Then again, nothing about my life had been normal since Bridget von Ascheberg came into it.

No matter how much it felt like forever, we would eventually have to part ways...unless I did something drastic. Something no one had ever done before. Like repeal the Royal Marriages Law.

I wished I could tell him I’d never been happier than when I was with him. I wished I could tell him it wasn’t about the throne or power, and that if I could, I would give up a kingdom for him. But I’m sorry were the only words I was allowed to say.

“Let me figure out the how. As for the why…” I pressed her tighter to me. “I’m not leaving you. If you’re in Eldorra, I’m in Eldorra. If you’re in Antarctica, the Sahara, or the middle of the fucking ocean, I’m there. I’m as much yours as you are mine, princess, and a law isn’t keeping me away. I don’t care what a piece of paper says. I’ll burn down the entire fucking Parliament if I have to.”

A smile tugged at her mouth. “You couldn’t stand me back then.” “Doesn’t matter. You were still mine.” I curled my hand around the back of her neck while keeping my thumb on her lip. “Mine to fight with. Mine to protect. Mine to fuck.” My voice dropped. “Mine to love.”

Her mouth against mine, her limbs wrapped around my body, our breaths and heartbeats mingling until they were one…I’d lived in hell my whole life, and it wasn’t until now I glimpsed what heaven felt like. But as our kiss deepened and I sank into her once again, I realized I was wrong. Bridget felt better than heaven. She felt like home.