The Shadow Princess (Chronicles of the Stone Veil 6)

He still had to ask her, though. He was just waiting for that perfect moment.

There came a beautiful day when Bastien surprised Thalia with an afternoon picnic. He had their horses saddled and packs stuffed with food and wine, and they headed out to explore palace lands.

They stopped in a grassy meadow dotted with wildflowers with a large pressian tree standing alone in the middle. Bastien spread a blanket and set out food while Thalia tethered their horses.

He watched her sure handling of the animals and the way the sun made her skin shimmer. She smiled at him as she caught him staring. Bastien was going to wait until after they ate and shared a glass of wine, and then he would pull out the ring Queen Selena had helped him create. Not long after Thalia’s birthday party where they’d declared their love for each other, he’d immediately asked her parents for their permission to marry her.

But she was so beautiful and happy, he found that he couldn’t wait any longer. Besides, this felt like the perfect moment.

He moved to his saddle pack, pulled out the small wooden box with a velvet liner, and moved around to the front of Thalia’s horse as she was tying the reins to a low-hanging branch.

It was there that her eyes rounded in surprise as he opened the box and poured forth heartfelt words of devotion and never-ending loyalty if she’d only gift him with a yes to his proposal.

Her response was a soul-searing kiss that rocked his world and had him pulling her body in closer. In the three months since acknowledging their love, Bastien and Thalia had done plenty of kissing.

Which led to fondling.

Lots of fondling, and Bastien doled out orgasms to Thalia with his fingers and his mouth, but he’d never let her give it back to him.

He didn’t want to besmirch her innocence any further, even though she argued against waiting.

But her parents entrusted him with her care, and he decided he could wait until they wed, even if he suffered with a perpetual case of blue balls.

Thalia beamed at Bastien as he slipped the pink diamond ring onto her finger. She kissed him again.

She slipped her tongue into his mouth and somehow pulled him down to the blanket where they made out between whispered words of promise and love. Her hands roamed, bolder than ever before, and when her palm pressed against his erection, he jolted back.

Taking her wrist and pulling her hand away, he chastised gruffly, “That’s not a good idea.”

He was in no way surprised when she growled in frustration and sat up on her knees.

“I can’t stand this anymore, Bastien.”

He gave her a lazy smile. “What can’t you stand?”

“Not being able to touch you… to give you pleasure—”

“Fuck, Thalia,” Bastien growled in irritation. “Stop talking like that.”

“Why?” she exclaimed, holding out her hand so the pink diamond winked at him. “We’re as good as married. I love you. You love me. And you give me pleasure all the time.”

Bastien understood her frustration. He felt it, too, but swept out a hand, hoping to dissuade her with common sense. “You want to make love for the first time out here… in the middle of a meadow where anyone can see us?”

In answer to his question, Thalia rose to her feet with a smirk. She chanted a low humming spell and a shimmery dome formed around them, encompassing the pressian tree they were under. It sparkled with multicolored lights she’d added for effect. It was magnificent to behold.

“A cloaking spell,” she said with a satisfied nod before dropping to her knees before him. “Now… no one can see us.”

It was an incredible piece of magic she’d woven, but it ran strong in her veins. Nothing was more magical than when she grabbed the hem of her flowing dress and started to pull it up her thighs.

Bastien’s mouth went dry as she lifted it off her body, revealing that she wasn’t wearing any undergarments and was gloriously naked.

He was mesmerized, having only envisioned her naked a million times but knowing it could never be as good as seeing it right now. He held nothing back, his gaze roaming over every inch of her, committing it all to memory.

“I want you to make love to me,” Thalia murmured. Bastien’s eyes snapped to hers. “And we aren’t leaving here today until the deed is done.”

“We shouldn’t…” Bastien hedged, but he knew in his heart he wasn’t going to hold out on her.

“We should, and you know it.”

He did know it. Thalia was his in every way, and it didn’t matter if she had a ring on her hand or if they shared a last name.

Under the shimmer of the cloaking spell, he rolled her underneath his body, gave her what she wanted, and he took the same in return.