Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 96695 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96695 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
Everand pulled away to grin at Hugo, a look of pride seeming to fill his dark-blue eyes.
“I’ve changed my mind, Cousin,” King Victor called out.
Everand and Hugo turned at the same time to see Victor make a small motion with his hand. Captain Ryze and the other two guards returned their swords to their sheaths. Ryze even graced Hugo with a smirk and a nod before he and the guards disappeared.
“Changed your mind about what?” Everand asked.
Victor lifted his hand to his mouth and released a long, piercing whistle that caused Hugo to wince. He lowered his hand and grinned. “You can keep Hugo Baker. I think he’s a bit too spicy for me.”
“I’m too spicy?” Hugo gasped. He stomped two steps toward the king. “You’re too spicy! Your whole family is too spicy!”
The words were barely out of Hugo’s outraged mouth when something huge and black flew up the side of the cliff. Hugo and Everand shouted in surprise and stumbled, knocking into each other. The giant creature circled above them once and landed right next to King Victor.
A Pegasus.
A great black horse with enormous black wings. It was massive, with thick muscles dancing under a flawless midnight coat. Wings big enough to blot out the sky stretched and jostled. The creature tossed its head and pawed at the ground twice but quieted the second Victor jumped onto its back and tightened his fist in its mane.
Victor shot them one last smile. “I’ll be expecting an invitation to the wedding.”
Everand snorted. “Only if you send a damn good gift!”
With a nudge of his heels into the horse’s flanks, the Pegasus extended its wings and ran straight for the cliff. It caught the wind and soared up into the clouds, heading toward the royal palace in Onisa.
“That’s not fair,” Hugo mumbled, still staring at the black dot growing smaller in the sky.
“What?”
“That has to be a royal thing. You make these incredible entrances and exits, leaving us poor commoners in the dust. How can I compete with that? A Pegasus, Ev! The king summoned a Pegasus to carry him home.” He threw out one hand, motioning at where the king had been in the sky.
“You don’t need to make a grand, flashy entrance. Sometimes, you just need to be a nice guy who’s willing to get splashed with mud to save a stranger from injury.”
Hugo jerked around, his mouth hanging open, but all words escaped him. Everand was talking about the first time they’d met. The real first time. Not the nonsense with the arranged luncheon, but that horrible day on the city street when he’d rescued Everand from the runaway carriage.
“You remember?” Hugo choked out.
“I’ve never forgotten. You had no idea who I was. I could see it on your face. You were some thoughtful fellow who saved me from being run over, and you got splashed with mud for your trouble.” Everand reached up and lightly ran his fingertips down Hugo’s cheek, the tender caress sending a wave of heat through Hugo even as his eyes filled with tears. “I wanted to say something. Help you. But you looked so embarrassed. I was afraid that once you learned my identity, it would make the situation worse instead of better.”
“But you said nothing at the luncheon.”
Everand’s smile became crooked. “Neither did you. I thought maybe you’d forgotten the whole thing. That I was the only one who’d felt something that day as our eyes met.”
“No, never.” He leaned in the last couple of inches that separated them and kissed his love slowly, savoring the feel of his lips, the haunting taste of him, and the seductive, possessive sweep of his tongue. From the first time their eyes had met, he’d belonged to Everand, and Everand had belonged to Hugo. Nothing was going to come between them. Not kings or wars. Not even snarling wolves.
“You know, King Victor could have at least given us a ride to the nearest town,” Hugo murmured against Everand’s lips.
The prince tilted his head back and laughed. “It would have been nice.” Threading their fingers together, Everand stepped away and tugged Hugo with him. “Come on. It’s a short walk to town from here. We’ll be able to send a quick message to my father and arrange for a carriage to take us to Frostbourne.”
“Home at last.”
There was just one more thing Hugo needed to take care of before he could claim his happily ever after with a prince.
Thirty
Alow groan slipped past Hugo’s parted lips, and he stretched his legs, his feet sliding along the silken sheets. He was exhausted. Sleep should have claimed him the second his head had hit the pillow. The past twenty-four hours had been draining. Night had been falling around them as they’d stumbled into the tiny town of Bluebell. They’d sent an urgent message to the palace announcing that Prince Everand was free and working his way home. Since they’d decided it was too late to start for Frostbourne, they’d traded some exquisitely made wineglasses for a room and food at a local inn.