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Chapter 27 : A Warm Welcome
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Prince Rowan's Treasonous Love Chapter 28 : Romance with Rowan
“You wore it,” Rowan breathed, gesturing to the pendant around my neck.“I won’t get many opportunities to wear it for a while. I wanted to take the chance. I was really taken by your note,” I answered kindly.Rowan had me in his arms in an instant. This was different from our usual, hurried episodes. He touched my cheek gently, the tenderness almost surprising. Our eyes met, the spark between us almost palpable. I couldn’t stand the tension, and the few inches of distance between our lips felt like a canyon. I leaned into him, pressing my lips to his.It's amazing how a simple pendant and a heartfelt note can bring two people together in such a profound way. The way Rowan embraced me made it feel like time stood still. This kiss felt more intense than anything we had experienced yet. The depth and commitment made me feel like I was living out some Nicholas Sparks book.Rowan held my face to his, tongue running along my bottom lip. I breathed him in, his breath like holy incens
Prince Rowan's Treasonous Love Chapter 29 : Keep Trying
Waking up the next morning, I felt light as air and heavy as bricks all at once. I stretched, yawned, and rolled out of bed. Getting up and ready felt like a haze as if I were still dreaming.They had managed to get the repairs done to the dining hall while we were gone for the weekend. I was impressed with how seamless everything looked when Aurora and I got to the dining hall."Thank goodness they got this done so quickly. Imagine how embarrassing it would be to have the wedding and still have chunks of the ceiling missing," Aurora giggled as she walked to make herself a plate.That sounded so out of place for her. When we had first arrived, she had been fairly quiet, but she had seemed like she really cared about people. The more she came out of her shell, the more I started to dislike what I was seeing.Once, as a teenager, I had been in a relationship with an older man. I didn't exactly have anyone around to warn me what a terrible idea it was, and I had gotten in over my
Prince Rowan's Treasonous Love Chapter 30 : Honored
I hated being noticed. I had practically made a career out of staying in the background. Rowan was really pushing my buttons by making me do this. He even had Tony bring me a dress which he bought for me so that I had something new to wear for the occasion.Rowan assigned several of his own guards to watch over Aurora. It was supposed to help relieve me of my duties for the evening, but I had the feeling they were also supposed to keep an eye on her to prevent her from trying to kill him again."I should be thanking you for saving him. I don't know where I'd be if something happened to him," Aurora said as we walked to the dining hall."No problem. It's my job to keep people safe. I guess keeping him safe is an extension of keeping you safe," I dismissed. The seam along my ribs was itching. This dress was stunning, and it fit like a glove, but my nerves were making my skin crawl.It was a surprising choice, a style that I didn't realize Rowan was familiar with. It was made with
Prince Rowan's Treasonous Love Chapter 31 : Salvation
*Rowan*I'd been with lots of women. Too many, really. I was embarrassed that I had been so frivolous with so many people's emotions. With Genevieve, I knew I had been wasting my time, that I could never have shown love to someone the way I could for her.She deserved it. She deserved every lovely thing I could give her. Not only was she brilliant and strong, but she had saved me. I owed her my life.I had done nothing to earn her attention. I didn't deserve her love and affection, but she continued to shower me with it. I wanted to do the same for her.Her kiss was intoxicating. I was thirsty for more of her, drinking her in like water after a drought. Her lips moved against mine, passionate and hungry.Genevieve stroked her tongue along the roof of my mouth, sending sparks down my spine. I was coming alive at her touch, like nothing I'd ever felt before.I slid my hands under her sweatshirt. I wanted to take it off her, but I was afraid of hurting her arm. Instead, I sett
Prince Rowan's Treasonous Love Chapter 32 : Closer
*Genevieve*There was another note on my pillow the next morning. I snatched it up, hoping for something sweet from Rowan. I was getting used to his thoughtful little gestures.'They're going to try to have me shot at the parade this weekend. Help.'That was all. The handwriting wasn't his usual beautiful script. It was still neat, lovely handwriting, but it was clearly written in a much more hurried manner. There were a few letters with wavy lines, indicating that his hand had been shaking when he wrote it.Poor Rowan. I wouldn't let anything happen to him. Budge and Tony would help us figure a way out of this as well. It had to be torture though, to live every day knowing that people around you wanted you dead.I had to find this third person. We had to determine who it was and make sure they were held responsible too. We had to hurry. There had been enough back and forth, enough risk. The wedding was quickly approaching, and I feared that if we didn't find them soon, they
Prince Rowan's Treasonous Love Chapter 33 : Drawing Lines
*Aurora*I sat staring at my reflection for far too long. I wasn't trying to be vain. I just wanted to look perfect. Jonah had stressed to me over and over again that being royal meant appearing perfect. It was the reason he spent so much money getting his look fine-tuned, so he could present himself to the world exactly as he wanted to be seen.I hadn't yet spent the money on the surgeries and procedures that Jonah had. But when I was queen, I would. When I was queen, I would get an entirely new wardrobe. I had believed that the exorbitant spending of the king and queen was just frivolous waste, but Jonah explained it all had a purpose.Jonah helped lead me through every decision I needed to make since coming here. Ever since meeting him by chance in that meeting during negotiations, I had felt so much more relaxed. I had someone who could help me navigate every potential pitfall in this situation.It felt like so much pressure. I was having to rely on Jonah more and more, loo
Prince Rowan's Treasonous Love Chapter 34 : Shifting Sands
*Genevieve*"Are you ready for your fitting?" I asked. I'd had enough of the verbal two steps. I didn't want to have to second-guess everything I was saying."Yes. I can't wait for you to see the dress. Rowan's guards just don't get excited enough," Aurora answered.I walked with her down to the room they set aside for her dress. It was practically a seamstress shop at this point, with all of the sewing machines and bolts of fabric everywhere. There were several people rushing around the room when we arrived, all of whom I recognized from other parts of the wedding planning process."Aurora, darling, you're late again. At this point, you'll be late for your own wedding." The coordinator laughed. It was a performative laugh, not a genuine one, and it rankled me."They'll wait for me," Aurora dismissed.I knew why she didn't bother with being on time. I knew why she wasn't worried about any of the logistics of this wedding. It was never going to happen.I'd grown more and m
Prince Rowan's Treasonous Love Chapter 35 : Contingency Plan
*Rowan*As I left Genevieve in the nook, my mind was racing. I tried to play it cool around her. She had enough to worry about already. I couldn't stop thinking about that first line in her note.'Aurora is suspicious.'Over and over and over again. It played like a warning message. I couldn't shake the thought free. If Aurora was suspicious of Genevieve, then we were living on borrowed time. I had to get Genevieve out of danger.I could send her away. I could have her removed from her post and sent home. I could send her on a mission. It might be a diplomatic nightmare, but I could find a way to send Genevieve out of harm's way. I wanted to come up with any excuse to get her as far away from here as possible, but I knew Genevieve.Wherever there was a fight, she was running headlong into it. The woman took a bullet for me, of course, she would want to stay and be a part of whatever happened next. I would never be able to stop her.That was something I loved about her. She
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Prince Rowan's Treasonous Love Chapter 50 : Happily Ever After
Rowan wanted to watch this movie. I wanted to be a good wife and watch it. I wanted to show that I was interested in his interests. But war movies were just so boring, and I could think of something much better to do with my time.In the few days between his proposal and our wedding, I'd had time to do a little shopping in town. I hadn't exactly needed lingerie our first few days here because we'd been too ravenous for each other, but now, I thought it would be a nice touch. And useful in convincing him to ignore this awful movie.Crawling into the bed, I pulled the covers up over my lap and settled in next to him. He turned to me and gave me a little smile before returning to watching the movie. Someone on screen threw a gun at someone else.I stroked his arm, trying to put on a convincing show that I was watching the gray planes on the screen drop bombs on the towns below. He absentmindedly scooted closer to me. Rowan's hand found my thigh, and he ran his finger along the skin,
Prince Rowan's Treasonous Love Chapter 49 : Tintinnabulation
*Genevieve*The good thing about the fact that there was a massive wedding planned to happen in a week and a half was that it took little to no time to throw together our wedding.I didn't want the elaborate wedding that Aurora had planned, but I did want something romantic and beautiful. I had helped the palace staff make some adjustments to the current decorations, rearranging some of the decorations and florals and everything else to make the wedding more fitting to Rowan and me.Finding a wedding dress had been a little more complicated, but a dress shop in town had been willing to accommodate me.As I stood and studied my reflection, I found myself wishing my mother hadn't abandoned me. I wished my father wasn't an alcoholic. I wished that I hadn't thrown my entire personality into my military training, keeping me from having any time to make friends my own age.The dress was sleek ivory satin. It stood out against my tanned skin, but it didn't overpower me. It had a sco
Prince Rowan's Treasonous Love Chapter 48 : Adjusting
I awoke the next morning in Genevieve's bed. She was curled around me in a warm embrace. I debated over whether or not to just close my eyes and go back to sleep. If I could just stay in this moment, wrapped in her arms and not having to concern myself with what I knew was waiting outside the door.Aurora's room was next door. Jonah's room wasn't far either. Those rooms would be empty today, no longer inhabited by traitors. I wondered what my mother was doing. What did she think? How was she feeling?It was thoughts of her that drug me from bed. Genevieve barely stirred. I knew she must be exhausted from the events of yesterday. I scrawled out a quick note to her and set it on the pillow next to her.Slipping out of her room, I hurried to mine. I needed to find some clean clothes. After hurrying to put on my clothes from last night as quickly and quietly as I could, I was disgusted by how wet and cold they were. The ocean water didn't smell very nice either.I took a quick show
Prince Rowan's Treasonous Love Chapter 47 : Follow Up
*Rowan*I thought that if I heard my father say it himself, it would feel more real.My father had been the one to take the shot in the dining hall.He had tried to shoot me and had successfully shot Genevieve. When I finally put the pieces together and realized what was happening, I had prayed that somehow I would be wrong. I knew that my father and I didn't get along. It wasn't a surprise that he didn't exactly have warm sentiments when it came to me.But for it to be confirmed that he wanted me dead?To know for sure that he would have killed me himself if I had just been a little less lucky?I should be groveling at Genevieve's feet. How many times had she saved my life? A woman who had been in my life for a matter of months cared more about keeping me alive than my own father. I owed so much to her.She pulled out a chair for me to sit on. Budge flopped down on her bed, muttering about wanting to get a few kicks in himself. The people in this room were the people who
Prince Rowan's Treasonous Love Chapter 46 : Troubled
For fuck's sake.We just couldn't catch a break tonight. They were ahead of us at every turn. I expected my heart to race, my knees to go weak, for some sign of the distress I knew I should be feeling to make itself known, but there was nothing.I was numb. I felt defeated. I let the ice-cold anguish wash through me and back out to the ocean. Maybe it traveled down those same damned drainage pipes we crawled through. Wherever the feelings went, I found some well of strength deep inside and pulled from it to stay standing.The king smiled, his yellowed teeth showing from underneath his salt-and-pepper mustache. "Am I interrupting something?""What do you want, Dad?" Rowan demanded."I don't want you to take this personally," the king began. "It's just that the blonde ruined things this afternoon, so I've had to expedite my plans.""Do we have to do the monologuing?" I sighed.I was soaking wet. I'd been falsely accused of attempted murder, imprisoned, and had to scramble f
Prince Rowan's Treasonous Love Chapter 45 : Escape Route
*Genevieve*It was impossible to tell what time of day it was. The handful of dim lights in the dungeon were on all the time, so telling time was impossible. I felt like it had to be nighttime, but I couldn't be positive.Hurried footsteps trampled down the stairs, echoing against the rock walls of the wet basement."Genevieve," Rowan hissed.I stood, hurrying to the edge of the cell, grasping at the bars."What are you doing down here?" I demanded, though the relief at seeing him nearly swept me away like a tidal wave."Getting you out of here," he answered, racing from the base of the stairs to my cell door.He fumbled with the keys, jamming several different ones into the keyhole before finding the right one. He twisted it and yanked the door open."Let's go," he urged.I followed him out and down the hall. Rowan held his hand behind his back and I reached up and took it. He guided me away from the stairs he had used to come down here, and instead, toward a door at
Prince Rowan's Treasonous Love Chapter 44 : Mixed Signals
*Rowan*There were two guards posted outside of my room. Luckily, they allowed Budge to be the guard inside my room, but we were effectively prisoners."You know, it seems a little stupid to have a fireplace in a bedroom," Budge pointed out, kicking at the ash in the fireplace. It made a little gray puff in the air."I mean, if we lived somewhere cold, it would be nice," I excused."We live on an island. It's stupid," Budge insisted."I won't disagree with that."I was on my laptop, scrolling through articles online trying to see what I could do about all of this. The problem was that there wasn't a whole lot of information online about Boldovan law."We'll get her out," Budge assured me, coming to rest a massive hand on my shoulder."I know we will. I won't survive if we don't."I wouldn't survive without her. Not just in the way that she seemed to be the only one keeping me alive, but I didn't think I could live without her by my side.It was like I had gone all m
Prince Rowan's Treasonous Love Chapter 43 : Rotting
I didn't realize the palace sat on top of an old prison.It wasn't exactly a prison. At one time, it had technically been a dungeon, but now, it served as holding cells for political prisoners.There were no windows. It had been cut straight into whatever rock made up the island. It was wet, water constantly dripping down the walls. There was some sort of mold growing along the walls too, and it smelled like dead fish.I was the only one in the entire holding area. There wasn't even a guard down here at the moment. A few incandescent bulbs lit the area, but it didn't do much to light it.Old-style prison bars constructed two walls of my cell. I gripped them and rattled them, but they wouldn't give in. I contemplated throwing myself at them a few times to see if I could work something loose, but I was sore enough that I didn't want to risk any further injury.Purple and blue bruises were starting to bloom around my wrist, and I had barely managed to staunch the bleeding from m
Prince Rowan's Treasonous Love Chapter 42 : Twisted
*Genevieve*This was uncomfortable. Aurora's eyes darted between the two of us, her brow furrowed. I could tell that she was suspicious."Hey, Aurora," Rowan greeted, sounding much more casual than I felt."What's up, guys?" Aurora pasted a smile on her face, but I knew her well enough to know it was a fake smile."Just getting Genevieve's arm patched back up. Would you like to help?" Rowan offered."I'll come watch." Aurora shrugged.We all entered the room. I felt like the hair on the back of my neck was standing on end, but I just breathed in deeply through my nose. Something was definitely off, but I couldn't decide what."Here, have a seat," Rowan instructed, gesturing to the edge of his bathtub. I went into the bathroom and sat down as instructed, watching Aurora and Rowan in the room. Rowan handed first aid supplies to Aurora and then the two of them joined me in the bathroom.Rowan turned on the water, letting it get hot. He pulled the showerhead off the wall an
