Lucas dropped to one knee and put his hands together. “My princess and future queen of the Court of Sirena and all the lands of Biringan, I beg of you, please forgive my foolishness.”
“A bit dramatic, don’t you think?”
“Not when you’ve wronged the future queen.”
“You make an excellent point.” I held out my hand so he could kiss my ring, something I’d secretly wanted to do ever since I saw the Robin Hood movie with the fox as a kid.
He held the ends of my fingers, and brought his lips slowly to my hand, letting his lips graze the skin, sending shocks of electricity all over my body.
In answer, I slowly caressed his cheek with my hand, feeling the rough stubble on his jaw. That was it; he pulled me down so that I was practically straddling him.
“You were too far away,” he whispered, pushing my hair out of my face.
“Where have you been all week?” I said softly.
“Waiting” was the reply.
I wondered what that meant, if the betrothal with Amador was real, if it had been keeping him away, or if there were other reasons. But right then, there was no more time for thinking, because this time, he was the one who kissed me. He rolled us over so that I was underneath him, and then he leaned down. “May I?”
“Kiss me, you fool,” I murmured.
When he did, I closed my eyes and saw fireworks and felt it all over, too, as his hands cupped my face and under my back, and I did the same, running my hands all over him. I lifted his shirt and touched the muscles on his stomach, making him shiver.
He kissed my neck again, and lower, and who knew how far we would have gone if Ayo hadn’t walked in right then, carrying a tray.
“Oh! Excuse me!” The old butler jumped. “I didn’t realize you had company, Your Highness. Or else I would have...”
Lucas hurriedly rolled away, and both of us sat up, disheveled and red-faced. But somehow, I wasn’t embarrassed. I was happy. “Ayo, this is—”
“I know Sir Lucas,” Ayo said primly. “Good afternoon, sir.”
“I am courting the princess,” Lucas explained, motioning to the flowers on the table.
“Ah, I see.” Ayo picked them up. “I’m going to get a vase for these,” he said, giving Lucas a lingering once-over. “By protocol, sir, if I may. You should ask the princess’s guardian for permission before a formal courtship.”
“I did,” Lucas said.
“You did?” I gasped.
“I sent a note to Elias and just heard back a few moments ago,” he said with a smug smile.
So that was what he was waiting for,I realized. He wasn’t ignoring me—he was following royal protocol. He had been raised in Biringan, and he knew its rules even if I didn’t. Plus, the guards probably alerted Elias to what they had seen in the catacombs.
“Do you need anything else, Your Highness?” Ayo inquired.
“No, thank you,” I told him. He made his escape. We were probably making him uncomfortable, since Lucas draped his arm around me once it was clear he had Elias’s permission.
I didn’t ask Lucas about Amador. If he had Elias’s permission to court me, then Amador was probably lying about the betrothal. She would do anything to keep him by her side. And I didn’t want to spend any of our time together talking about her.
Lucas rebuttoned his shirt while I smoothed my hair.
“Leave it,” he said. “It looks good like that. You never wear it down.”
“Okay,” I said, and wrapped my ponytail holder around my wrist instead.
“Um, I have something else to tell you,” Lucas said. “The page who was murdered, Marikit Baluyot.”
“What about her?”
