Christian swore.
Nick laughed.
Kessen gulped.
“Furthermore,” Duncan said, stepping forward, “I find it odd he would be in this young lady’s room at such a late hour. Do you really have such a hard time keeping your hands to yourself, young man?”
“Duncan, we’re the same age. We—”
“Not a peep out of you!” Nick said, pointing his finger at Christian. “And you, young lady!” Nick turned towards Kessen. “For shame! You’re just lucky your father wasn’t here.”
Both Duncan and Nick closed their eyes and shook their heads.
“It was just kissing!” Kessen said, then wished she wouldn’t have, considering they were all adults, and it was a boldfaced lie.
“He’s naked!” Nick yelled.
Duncan held up a robe in mock disdain. “Cover yourself this instant!”
Christian took the robe. “I’m wearing pants.”
Nick started clapping. “Good for you! Just keep them on, will you?”
Duncan laughed.
Christian growled, and Kessen turned redder, if it was possible.
“We were testing you two,” Nick informed them.
“And you failed,” Duncan agreed, crossing his arms.
“I’ll stand watch here,” Nick whispered to Duncan. “But you need to go to the horny high schooler’s room, so he doesn’t escape again.”
“Yes, brilliant,” Duncan agreed.
“High schooler?” Kessen asked dumbly.
“Oh, we were referring to him.” Nick threw a disapproving glance Christian’s way.
“Now we are all settled, shall we sleep?” Duncan asked.
Christian smirked and winked at Kessen just as the boys began another lively discussion on door locks. She blushed and smiled back, squeezing his hand.
“Tomorrow,” she said quietly. He nodded his head and left, but not before punching Duncan hard in the shoulder.
Nick shook his head, but it was easy to see he was in good humor. The little rat set them up on purpose. No matter, she would get her revenge on him someday. He saluted her and turned on his heel to leave the room. She heard the lock turn and laughed until she managed to fall into a deep sleep.
****
Christian however, was not sleeping. Who could sleep after a day or even a night like that? If this was what he had to look forward to for the rest of his life, he couldn’t sign up fast enough. His body was burning as if on fire, and his mind was reeling with every single possibility of what could have happened with Kessen had Nick and Duncan not shown up with guns firing, literally.
How they managed to find the paintball guns Christian himself had so dutifully put under lock and key, he would never know.
He believed he loved her, but a girl like that would panic if he said anything. She would most likely hop on the first plane back to Colorado if he confessed his love after only a few days of knowing her. But he knew—he knew he was falling hard. After all, he had dated a lot of women, and none of those times had felt anything like this.
Though he was guilty of many things, he had never been one to panic.
Naturally, there was a first time for everything.
Chapter Twenty-One
The sun woke him up rather than his alarm. Christian groaned out loud as he quickly got ready then stepped out into the hall.
As per their earlier arrangement, Nick was lying across the floor in front of Christian’s door. And Duncan, bless his twisted little heart, was sleeping with his paintball gun across the threshold of Kessen’s door. Both of them snoring in unison as if they had been spent many years as an old married couple.
Christian’s sluggish mind began mentally calculating how long it was before his coming nuptials. Five days didn’t seem far away, and the ever-present panic began welling up inside his chest before he had time to stop it.
Marriage was inevitable, love was—oh no. It always came back to love, didn’t it? His chest suddenly constricted. He felt as if Kessen had shot him three times in the front rather than the back. Whatever this feeling was, he needed to keep it to himself, or she would be on the first flight back to Colorado. He was just panicking, that was all.
He carefully stepped over the sleeping guards, opened Kessen’s door, and peeked in.
“Kessen,” he whispered “Kessen, are you in here?”
No response.
He looked toward the made bed then glanced at the bathroom door just as she was coming out, with only a towel on.
He panicked, not because of the towel, but because he didn’t want her to think poorly of him for sneaking in her room twice within the past twelve hours.
“What are you doing here?” she squealed. “Nick’s a light sleeper. If you don’t watch out, you’ll have more paintball welts than you can count.”
“Your concern for me is endearing,” he drawled. His mouth suddenly went dry as he noticed the sunlight reflecting off of her shiny skin.
He slowly turned his head to fully face the water nymph, clad in nothing but a giant towel and a scowl. Both of which looked more brilliant on her than anything he had ever seen in his life.
“Uh,” he started to say, eloquently. “I was just looking for you.”
Kessen grunted. “I figured you weren’t lost.”
He bit his lip, silently praying the pain would take away the already increasing desire to see her out of the towel and onto her bed.
His thoughts were not his own.
She lifted a questioning eyebrow in his direction as if to say, “Are you going to speak or just sit there and stare at me like an animal in heat?”
“I wanted to apologize and say I’m glad we came to an agreement last night.” He suddenly felt twelve years old, which was further proven by the fact he broke eye contact and suddenly found grand interest in the way his shoe rubbed against the carpet.
His averted eyes didn’t slow the ramming of his heart within his chest. Could she at least put on a robe or something?
Christian swallowed convulsively when he noticed the shadow on the floor creep toward him. She was moving closer; he began to smell the lemon soap she had so expertly applied to her body. He closed his eyes for a brief second before holding his breath.
“I need to get dressed.” Her lips were inches from his.
Now she was just being cruel. He was obviously stronger than her; all he needed to do was take her by surprise and—
“Stop,” she said, half smiling. “I know what you’re thinking.”
“Oh dear girl, you have no idea what I’m thinking. If you did, you’d lock yourself in that bathroom and pray for my black soul.” He broke into a wide grin, obviously throwing her off balance.