His eyes held mine, unwavering, daring me to refuse.I didn’t.I couldn’t.
Something unspoken passed between us, an agreement as binding as any treaty I’d ever signed.
And then he asked, voice dropping to a husky murmur that twisted heat through me, “Bryce… are you prepared to let me ruin you tonight?”
ChapterFourteen
Arthur
Isurprised myself.Never in my life had I been so forward with a man—certainly not one as formidable as Bryce Lewis.And yet the moment we stepped out of The Thin White Duke into the cool London night, I knew I wouldn’t have changed a thing.
The rain had passed, leaving the pavement slick with reflections of neon and headlamps.A taxi hissed by, spraying the gutter, and the scent of wet concrete rose into the air.Bryce paused beside me, his hand still faintly trembling in mine, when shadows detached themselves from the doorways.
His security detail.
Two men, black suits, earpieces glinting beneath the streetlamps.They moved with military precision, scanning the pavement, then one of them—tall, granite-faced—approached.
“Ambassador,” he said, his voice clipped.“We’ll escort you now.”
Bryce froze.I felt it ripple through his body like a shock.His colour rose instantly—bright red, the flush climbing his neck to his hairline.For the first time since I’d met him, he looked… flustered.Almost undone.
“I—no, I won’t be needing you any longer this evening,” he stammered, lifting his chin with an effort that didn’t quite mask the quaver in his voice.“This is my private time.”
The agent’s jaw tightened.“Sir, with respect, State Department regulations compel us to accompany you at all times outside the residence.”
“I said I won’t need you,” Bryce insisted, but his voice faltered against the agent’s steadiness.
I couldn’t stand it another moment—the sight of him cornered between desire and duty, his privacy reduced to an argument on a London street.So, I stepped forward.
“Will the security at Kensington Palace be enough to calm you down?”I asked crisply.
Bryce’s mouth fell open.Then snapped shut again, his eyes darting toward me with something like horror and amusement all tangled together.
The agent hesitated, then pressed two fingers to his earpiece, murmuring into the tiny microphone.A pause, the faint crackle of response.At last he nodded.“Yes, sir.British security is more than capable of—”
“Good,” I cut him off.“Then you’ll arrange a lift to my apartment at the palace.Now.”
Another flick of his wrist, more murmuring into the mic.Moments later, a black SUV glided to the curb, sleek and ominous, headlights glinting on the wet pavement.One of the agents opened the rear door with a polished motion that might as well have been a bow.
I slid in first and Bryce followed, ducking his head to avoid the frame.The door closed with a solid, final click, sealing us in.
As the SUV pulled away from Soho’s glow and began its glide toward Kensington, I stole a glance at Bryce.He was biting his lip, shoulders shaking.
“What?”I whispered.
His eyes danced.He pressed his fist to his mouth, stifling laughter.
And just like that, I was lost.It was all absurd: the black-suited agents, the solemn voice calling palace security to verify whether I was safe company, and the diplomatic theatre.I pressed my hand over my mouth, trying not to laugh, and within seconds we were both trembling, shoulders quaking with silent hilarity.
It was ridiculous.
When the laughter finally ebbed, quiet filled the SUV, punctuated only by the swish of tyres on wet roads.I thought about the absurdities of my life—the suits, the tabloids, the endless scrutiny.And I thought about his, too—the treaties, the cables, the constant watchful eyes.Privacy was the rarest of luxuries for either of us, perhaps the greatest drawback of existing so publicly.
But for once, we had carved a moment.Just ours.
I turned my hand over in the dim light and reached for his.Bryce let me take it, fingers warm, still trembling faintly.I lifted his hand to my lips and pressed a kiss into his palm.
His skin tasted faintly of lemon twist and gin, and the way he inhaled told me everything: he needed this as badly as I did.
