I let them sit for a moment, even as my curiosity is practically screaming at me. I brush my hair and get changed into my sleep shirt and shorts. Once I run out of things to do, I sit on my bed and stare at them.
“This prince is going to break my heart.” Whether that’s because I walk away or he does when he discovers the truth, I don’t know, and it doesn’t matter. It’s going to hurt like a motherfucker.
Nothing real can happen between us.
I’m a palace servant. A slave to a family that won’t even allow me the respect of their last name. A prisoner to lies and secrets I don’t want to keep, but still have to. I don’t know whata relationship is, but I know enough to know that they don’t survive the secrets I’m holding or the lies I’ve been telling.
I rub at the pang in the center of my chest.
With an annoyed shake of my head, I tear into the first box and find…a fucking vibrator. Seriously, Rowan! There are two, actually. One is a wand of some kind, and the other is hot pink and curved, one side thicker than the other. There’s also a water-based lubricant in the box.
A laugh slips past my lips. He bought me sex toys, knowing I don’t have any, because the asshole snooped around my room. I glance toward the back corner of my bed at the invisible earring beneath the mattress. He didn’t find that, though. If he did, I can’t imagine I’d be sitting here. He has the other one, and if I can steal it back from him, I can sell them, and that will more than pad my wallet for a while.
I shake that off and go for the second box. This one has two sets of headphones in it. One goes into my ears, the other over them. They’re both expensive, but why would I need two pairs?
A text comes through my work phone, and I reach for it, thinking it’s Rowan, but it’s not. It’s a message from a music app letting me know that my six-month subscription is ready for me when I download the app to my phone.
He bought me music and a way to listen to it.
The third box is the largest and—fuck. This asshole. This perfect, amazing asshole. He bought me clothes. New sneakers, new work shoes, new shirts and pants and fucking panties and bras. Sexy ones too. Pretty ones. Ones I’d pick out for myself if I had money.
Tears burn the back of my eyes, but I won’t let them fall. I can’t.
I pick up the phone and call him. He answers on the first ring with, “You must have opened the boxes.”
“How did you know that?” I flop back, my head bouncing against the pillow before it sinks in.
“Because you would never have called me otherwise.”
Fair. “Your Highness, I can’t accept these gifts.”
“You can. I wasn’t sure what kind of listener you’d be, so I bought you both kinds of headphones.”
“Why are you doing this?” I whisper, my voice cracking on the end.
The phone makes a ringing noise, and I peek open an eye to see he’s FaceTiming me again. Nope. I hit decline, but he calls again, and on the third try, I relent and hit accept. I get under the covers and pull them over my head.
“Where are you? Or I suppose the question is, where am I?”
“In my blanket. I can’t accept the gifts.”
“I want you to have them. It’s nothing extreme. I didn’t buy you diamonds or extravagant designers, though truth be told, I wanted to. I bought you things that most people have. Things you should have. Things I want you to have.”
I shake my head, my hand over my eyes. “And the vibrators?”
He chuckles, the sound warm and enticing as it curls through me. “Have you tried one yet?”
“No. Nor am I going to.”
“If I were there, I’d start with the Hitachi.” His voice drops, the sound low and gravelly. Rough and unrefined.
“Which one is that?” I ask, though I already know. It’s on the box.
“The white wand. I’d turn it on and run it all over your body, along your muscles to relax you, and across your nipples.”
My eyes pinch tight, and I bite into my lip. “Are you trying to have phone sex with me?”
“Video sex, and absolutely.”
