To Love a Prince (Knights of Valor Book 1)(22)

He couldn’t remember the last time someone else’s happiness had meant so much to him. How had this slave girl undone him when trained courtiers had never gotten to him? Something to figure out so it never happened again.

“I have a few things to get done, and then I’ll be to bed.”

Auburn nodded and left him to his notes and papers.

Eli closed his eyes and sucked in a breath, knowing that turning away from her was proper even if it wasn’t what he wanted. Desire bit him, and he forced himself to focus on his mission and the strands of information that laced the idiocy he’d sat through that day.

Eli wrote down the important points and began formulating a plan.

The moon was high in the sky when the prince shoved the notes away and stretched. Sleep tugged on him, and he kicked off his boots and trousers. Smiling at the freshly polished boots waiting for him, he unbuttoned his shirt and set it aside.

Eli glanced at the bed and frowned when he saw it was empty.

His frown deepened when he found Auburn curled up on the floor beside the bed. A throw pillow cushioned her head, and she’d tucked a thin blanket around herself.

The prince sighed, scooped her up off the floor, and deposited her in his bed. Her eyes fluttered open, and a sleepy smile curved her lips when she saw him.

“I thought...” she murmured.

He tucked her beneath the crisp sheets of his bed. “Neither of us is sleeping on the floor. We’ll figure out something better tomorrow.”

Auburn nodded, her eyes fluttering closed again as she cuddled into his warmth.

He knew it was a lie. Once he’d slept beside her and woken up with her next to him, he didn’t want to sleep alone. She was more addictive than any drug.

Wrapping her in his arms, he held her close as he caged his desires and let exhaustion overtake passion.





Chapter 14





Over the next several weeks, Premal avoided Eli, but the prince had played court games too long to think he’d won. Eli tightened his security and waited.

Despite the lingering threat, the prince attended diplomatic meetings in the morning and again after the heat of the day. In the afternoons and evenings, he returned to his rooms and Auburn.

It felt like coming home.

Strange, considering he was in a desert far from Tamryn. Stranger still to find himself so happy, happier than he ever remembered being.

Perhaps it was the simplicity. Auburn enjoyed their time together as much as he did, and he had only to contend with Sultan Pandhuka. The sultan wanted the same things Eli did, though they had yet to agree on how to get them.

Still, there was no Dragon Church. No politicking for the throne. No engagement to a woman that barely tolerated him. This was an oasis before he returned to the storm of royal succession.

The prince shoved the uncomfortable thoughts aside and started to dress when Auburn caught his eye.

What’s on your mind?” Eli asked.

“I have something for you, something to make the meetings more bearable.”

The prince raised a brow as she walked over to his wardrobe and withdrew a coat, tunic, and trousers similar in style to what he’d brought with him.

He trailed a hand over them, and a smile curved his lips. “Silk.”

“A special weave so it’ll look like your Tamarian clothes, but these should be more comfortable in the heat.” She turned over the hems for him to inspect the workmanship. “They took longer than I’d planned, but they were much more difficult for the craftsman than my new dresses.”

Dresses that marked her as his.

His conqueror roared as he stared at the tunic then up at Auburn. She was his, now and always. Eli leashed the thoughts as he stared into her cornflower blue eyes.

She’d thought of him, learned about him, and cared enough about his comfort to see these made for him.

Oasis, indeed.

She bit her lower lip and stared at her feet. “You don’t like it?”

Eli touched her arm so she’d look at him. “It’s perfect.”

Color tinged her cheeks, and a smile curved her lips.

The prince changed into her gift. She’d gotten the sizing perfect, and he was already cooler. “Not sure I’ll want to wear anything but these while I’m in Qumaref.”

“I’ll arrange for more.”

Eli nodded his approval as he slid his arms around her. Thumbing over her upturned lips, he swallowed back his desire.

The Twins be damned, Auburn still considered herself a slave. He would not take advantage of her.

The Twins.

His breath hitched.

Eli had never given much thought to the goddesses of love. They hadn’t figured in his life, and he preferred it that way. Or he had once.

Staring down at Auburn, pain stabbed through him and left an exquisite ache. Eli kissed her on the forehead and forced himself to leave her and see to his duties. The Twins hadn’t been a part of his life, and he couldn’t afford that to change.

Not if he wanted the throne.



Sadness slowed the pounding of Auburn’s heart as Prince Eli left for more meetings. She almost laughed at herself. It had to be the first time a slave girl was sad to see her master go.

Strange, perhaps, but she enjoyed Eli’s company. He was intelligent, interesting, and he treated her well. Better than anyone had ever treated her.