BOOK 3 of The Ostler's Boy Series
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Love. Duty. Valor.
Court & Class.
A pseudo-medieval romance through the eyes of a reckless princess.
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After Svana and her Knight, there was a Princess and her love of adventure.
Eliza Rose, the wildes...
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Kristjan pulled at the layers of my skirt, bunching it into the nonexistent space between us.
"Krist," I whispered.
He kissed my neck. "Shh," he teased, pressing his finger to my lips. "Don't make too much noise." His words were hot against my skin; I was scared my mother would walk into her study at any moment. "It would be hard to explain what we're doing in here," he said.
I shut my eyes, thinking about his pewter ones. I gripped the edge of the wood table that he had put me on. He settled my dress over my legs and dragged me close.
"Wait," I said.
His hand covered my mouth. "Princess, stop," he ordered me. His face was serious as he released my lips. "We're both adults."
"Yes, but..." I shifted. "I'm so nervous."
"I thought you wanted this?" he asked.
"I did, but–" I bit my lip.
"Princess," he purred. "Princess... Princess... Princess."
"Princess?" Amy said.
I snapped out of my daydream. She was looking at me for an answer I didn't know.
"Uh, what?" I tried. "What was the question?"
She gestured to the mirror and shook both hangers of the gowns she held against me.
"Sorry," I told her. "I was thinking of someone else. Something, sorry."
"Certainly not the Duke," she teased.
"Actually, no." I shook my head.
The two dresses were very different shades of pink. One was a flirty ball gown with a fluffy skirt; the other was silk and dainty. It was a promise to demonstrate my shape.
"I haven't thought about the Duke in two weeks," I told her. A blatant lie. One I'm sure she didn't believe.
"Do you prefer the salmon or the powdery?" she asked.
"I... I like them both." I was held by an inability to pick. "Which do you prefer?"
She hummed, deciding. "I think the powdered pink is befitting of a princess. Very feminine. Very in this year by rumor."
"That's fine," I told her. "Whichever will do."
"Oh, okay. That was quick." She hung the losing garment in the closet and started to remove the other from its hook. "A shiny lady you will be," she said. "I would not be surprised if you don't find your husband this season. If it's not too forward to suggest."
