Twisted Games (Twisted, #2)

by Ana Huang

“Let me be frank, Princess Bridget. You are not my first, nor will you be the last, royal I’ve guarded. I’ve worked with Harper Security for five years, and I’ve never had a client harmed while under my protection. Do you want to know why?” “Let me guess. Your dazzling charm stunned the would-be attackers into complacency,” I said.

“You’ll get along just fine after the, ah, transition period, Your Highness.” Perhaps…if we made it out of the transition period alive.

“Sure seems that way.” Rhys’s face remained impassive, but I could hear the mocking bent in his voice. He walked to the bathroom, and without looking back, he added, “By the way, Princess, the book is upside down.”

gentleman wouldn’t point something like that out, but Rhys Larsen was no gentleman. He was the bane of my existence.

“Thank God I have you, sweetie,” I said to Meadow. “At least you can carry on a decent conversation.” She meowed in agreement, and I smiled. I swore cats were smarter than humans sometimes. There was another long stretch of silence before Rhys surprised me by asking, “Why do you volunteer at an animal shelter?” I was so startled by the fact that he’d initiated a non-security-related conversation I froze mid-pet. Meadow meowed again, this time in protest. I resumed my petting and debated how much to tell Rhys before settling on the simple answer. “I like animals. Hence, animal shelter.”

“I do not look like a strawberry,” I said with as much dignity as I could muster. “At least I’m not the one who refuses to get surgery.” Rhys’s thick, dark brows lowered. “For your permanent scowl,” I clarified. “A good plastic surgeon can help you with that.”

He laughed. A real laugh, not the half chuckle he’d let slip in Eldorra. His eyes crinkled, deepening the faint, oddly sexy lines around them, and his teeth flashed white against his tanned skin.

Once, when I saw Rhys petting Meadow, who’d worn him down with her utter cuteness. Another time when I saw the way his arm muscles flexed as he carried groceries into the house.

“It’s not all right. It’s beautiful,” I repeated. “Seriously, thank you. I’ll treasure this forever.”

I never thought I’d see the day, but Rhys blushed. Actually blushed

I finally gathered enough of my wits to pull back, but before I could, a loud crash shattered the silence in the greenhouse. Steffan and I jumped apart, and my eyes fell on Rhys, who stood next to a broken pot of lilies. “My hand slipped.” His voice held not an ounce of apology.

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?” He grazed his hand over the side of my neck, and my heart thudded so hard against my rib cage I half expected it to leap out of my chest and into his arms. I couldn’t bring myself to speak, but I managed a small nod. The heaviness of the air caressed me like a bold lover’s touch, and I knew, deep in my gut, I stood on a dangerous precipice. 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…” Rhys’s touch skimmed down my neck and over the curve of my shoulder. I shivered, my skin blossoming with a thousand more goose bumps. “I was always meant to find my way to you.”

“Good.” I swiped my thumb over her bottom lip. “I want to hear you say it. Who do you belong to?” “You,” she whispered. I could smell her arousal already, sweet and heady, and I couldn’t hold back any longer.

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

Bridget was, after all, my greatest risk and my greatest reward. She lifted one hand and tangled her fingers with mine. “I missed you.”