Chapter 6

Callum

Why does this guy in the kilt have to be so tall?

That’s the first thought that runs through my head when Rolf, the palace staff manager, makes introductions at a called mandatory meeting.

I don’t attend mandatory meetings, so I’m already in a bad mood. My father, who’s retiring soon, pushed me to go to it.

“You’re taking over my job soon. Go make a good impression on the new people.”

“How long do I have to stay?”

My father sighs. “Fifteen minutes.”

Rolf introduces the tall guy in the kilt as Uther Nancarrow, the new palace security chief. The man could not look more like his name if he tried.

“Why don’t we go around the room and introduce ourselves to Mr. Nancarrow?” Mrs. Beason, the cook, says.

Oh gods.

I’ve known 99 percent of these people my entire life. Hopefully, this icebreaker won’t take up too much of my time.

No such luck, as everyone on the staff wants to tell this newcomer their life story. Complete with batting eyelashes and hair twirling. What the hell is going on here?

“Callum Black. Gamekeeper,” is all I grunt when it’s my turn.

During the mixer that follows, I’m counting the minutes until I can leave when I overhear a conversation that raises my hackles.

“The princess isn’t likely to run away from that one, is she?” says one of the housekeepers.

“More like cling to him once she gets a look at him,” replies another.

A third person chimes in. “I heard he’s on orders to stay on top of her every second when they’re on royal engagements.”

“He’ll crush that poor girl,” the second one snickers. “He’s built like a steam engine.”

The fifteen-minute mark can’t come soon enough.

I don’t much enjoy leaving the palace grounds, nor do I enjoy driving, but I have to do both in order to get a phone. It’s been long enough, and now I have a reason to have one.

My 18-year-old brain sends me off the deep end with thoughts of that gorilla being assigned to my princess.

On the way to the phone store, I’m kicking myself. If I’d been more social with the rest of the staff, I’d have known the queen was hiring a new head of security. I could have applied. I’m not six foot four, but I’m sturdy, and everyone in the royal family knows I would take a bullet for any of them.

The more I think about how that man will be close to her, spending more time with her than I’ll ever get with our stolen moments here and there, the more it drives me mad.

Setting up my phone is shockingly fast, though my sausage fingers will take a while to get used to typing on a tiny screen.

Flora: I waited for fifteen minutes. Then I got mad and came home.

Me: I’m sorry, love. Rolf called a staff meeting, and I had to go.

Flora: Look at you, all professional and carrying a phone.

Me: And now I can let you know where I am so we won’t miss each other.

Flora: That’s the only reason?

That’s the only reason that I’ve given. Flora can’t handle the real reason.

The real reason is I freaked out when I saw who the new bodyguard was.

Me: And so you know when to let me in.

Flora: Let you in where? The palace?

Me: Yes. Unless you want me to turn around and go home.

Flora: Where are you?

Me: The east entrance, lower level by the kitchens.

Moments later, the east door bangs open. The princess hugs her satin bathrobe, her eyes wide and her cheeks flushed.

“You silly, silly boy!” Flora shout-whispers. “Someone will see you!”

But instead of letting me in, Flora jumps off the stairs, and I catch her in my arms.

We kiss under the moonlight, with her wrapped around my frame. Right where she belongs.

Her lips are urgent against mine in between scolding me for striding up to the palace in the middle of the night.

“This is a one-time thing. You can’t come to me unannounced. What if Uther finds out? He’ll be on your neck.”

At the mention of that man’s name, I lose the final shred of sense that I have left.

I back her against the cold stone of the palace wall, my hand under her perfect ass.

My mouth traces a line of wild kisses down her throat. “He can try but he can’t keep me away from you.”

She gasps when I allow her to feel my erection, my body flat against hers. “Callum!”

“You’re my girl, Flora.”

Her warm body melts into me as her fingers squeeze my shoulders. “Of course I am.”

It feels so good to hear that. In all our time together, in the stolen moments in the woods, we innocently kiss and share stories about our day.

But we don’t say what we are to each other. Well, she doesn’t. I love to remind her that she’s my girlfriend, but I think she takes it as a little secret joke between us. Maybe I wink too much—an automatic response when I’m trying to charm someone. I inherited this habit from my father.

What Flora and I have is anything but a joke to me.

Uther’s presence in her life has made me irrational, and I am unable to tamp down this instinct to stake my claim.

My tongue plays against her pretty throat as I kiss her while my hands squeeze her plump cheeks. She sighs and rolls her hips forward to welcome the press of my rigid length.

“Callum, we can’t do more than this…not right now,” she whispers.

I plant a hungry, licking kiss on her mouth, and her hands go to my hair.

“I can wait as long as I need to for the girl I plan to marry,” I say.

Flora’s twinkling eyes study me momentarily like she’s wondering if I’m serious.

She decides I’m joking, and I let her believe it. How can I resist the sound of her infectious laughter, her irrepressible joy?

“For now, whisk me away with your kisses, Callum.”

And how could I say no to that?