Steel Princess (Royal Elite #2) by Rina Kent

Elsa shoves at my chest to sit up.

I let her go.

Picking battles is the surest way to win a war.

She’s still pissed off — no thanks to Jonathan and Queens — so I can’t push her too far.

Yet.

“How long have I been out?” She reaches for the elastic band on the floor.

I snatch it from her fingers before she ties her hair.

Elsa huffs while standing up and gathers her hair in a bun and ties it with itself.

“Some time.” I plop on my elbow and tilt my head to the side to watch her.

She finds her bag on the chair and retrieves her phone.

Her simplest, most mundane gestures draw me in like nothing in this world ever did.

Like a distant memory from the past.

The way she bites her lower lip when concentrating. The way she sits with her legs tucked closely together like a good little girl.

“It’s late.” She groans. “I need to go back.”

“No.”

She lifts her head, chest-puffing. “What do you mean no?”

The spirit of this girl.

She’s always ready for a fight.

It makes my dick hard.

“Aren’t you here for the story?”

She bites her lower lip as if she’s contemplating it. “Fine, tell me and then I’ll go.”

I shake my head.

Her brows scrunch. “I did my part of the deal. You promised, Aiden.”

Those flushed cheeks are adorable when she’s angry.

I can’t get enough of being under her skin.

I doubt I ever will.

“Stay the night and I’ll tell you.”

“I can’t. Aunt and Uncle expect me to be home.”

“Tell them you’re staying the night with Reed.” I pause. “You were planning on it before she cancelled last second, no?”

“How the hell do you know that?” She narrows her eyes. “You manipulated Kim into telling you, didn’t you?”

I lift a shoulder. “Stay the night or I won’t say anything.”

Her nose twitches as she mulls the proposition in her head. I can see that eagerness. The need to know, and it feels good to have her need me.

Even if I have to threaten her for it.

At least now, she won’t be fucking around and telling me it’s over.

It’ll never be over.

I might have to give up some of my bargaining chips to keep her close, but it’s worth it as long as I have her in my space.

Even if she still can’t trust me.

Elsa is smart and has more self-preservation than anyone I know.

Good.

She shouldn’t trust me. At least not yet.

Because when I tell her what I know, there’ll be no going back.

It’ll be the beginning of her decimation.

And mine.





18





Elsa





I agreed to stay the night.

Okay, agreeing isn’t the right word. I was coerced to stay the night.

Aiden knows how much I need the truth and like the psycho he is, he used my desperation to his benefit.

But then again, I’m well aware of his manipulations and I fell for them anyway, so I guess that makes me an accomplice.

I sit in the spacious round bathtub because Aiden ran another bubble bath for me.

It still baffles me how he has this level of care in him but still acts in an overbearing, almost oppressive kind of way.

It’s confusing.

He’s confusing.

He sits at my back like an overwhelming presence. I can feel his warmth without glancing back.

It’s different from the water’s coolness. Like a halo, it swallows me whole.

Goosebumps erupt on my skin with each passing second.

Aiden leans back against the bathtub with his legs stretched on either side of me as I sit in the middle.

I pull my knees to my chest and will my body to cool down for a freaking second.

If I give in to him one more time, I might start losing myself to him again.

That is if I didn’t already.

Why the hell did he tell me about his insomnia? He should’ve deflected like always. And what’s with the way he looked at me?

I’ll protect you.

His words send a shiver down my spine.

Nope. I’m not going there.

I’m only here to hear what he has to say. Once he’s done, I’m out.

A sponge comes in contact with my tense back. I purse my lips as he slowly lathers my skin with careful, gentle strokes.

The scent of coconut wafts in the air and fills my senses.

Stop.

Why can’t he be mean? Why does he have to enchant my body more under his spell?

“So?” I snap harder than I mean.

I wanted to douse the tingles he’s drawing out of my body, but it’s not working at all.

“So what?” He continues his ministrations.

“I’m waiting for the truth.”

“You sure you don’t want to change your mind?” His voice is quiet in the dooming silence of the bathroom.

“No.”

“Hmm. You might want to, sweetheart. I still don’t think you’re ready.”

“Let me worry about that.”

He’s quiet for a bit, and I think he’ll bail on me. He’ll be unfair like all the other times and laugh in my face.

This time I’ll only have myself to blame. I made a deal with the devil knowing exactly how conniving he can be.