Falling Hard (Veronica's Secret) (2 page)

A trip down to the kitchen confirmed that the halls were nearly empty except for the night guard. Veronica found them each some bread, jam, and fruit. Then they sat down at a
corner booth that was used by the kitchen staff.

Aaron slid all the way up against the wall and draped his arm around Veronica as they chattered about nonsense and stole kisses between bites.

Just when the kissing was starting to heat up once again, Veronica jumped at the sound of someone clearing his throat behind her.

She turned to see a tall man she didn’t know. He had short, well-trimmed,
blond hair and deep brown eyes.

Once her heart settled back into her chest
, Veronica responded. “Can I help you?”

“Pardon me. I didn’t mean to disturb you.” He bowed slightly
and awkwardly. “Shouldn’t you be off duty by now?”

Veronica’s back stiffened. “Oh. We aren’t kitchen staff. We were just getting a snack before heading to bed.” She realized that this regal-looking stranger was probably relate
d to Prince Benard in some way.

Suddenly she grew nervous at what he must think of finding her snuggled up to Aaron
.

The man held out his hand to her. “My apologies once again. Please allow me to introduce myself. I’m
Benard, Prince of Yarinna.”

Oh
god!
Veronica screamed at herself. She knew she looked like a mess. She shook his hand hastily, then slid out of the booth as quickly as possible.
I hope he doesn’t recognize me.
“Uhh … nice to meet you … Bena … Prince Benard.”

Get ahold of yourself, Veronica!

Benard had a slightly amused look on his face, and she suspected he knew exactly who she was and what she was doing. She knew she had to get out of there before she embarrassed herself even further.

Veronica pulled Aaron out of the booth
, hustled them out of the kitchen, and back up to her room without looking back.

Once inside the room she paced back and forth, hoping for her heart to settle from its place up inside her throat. She felt like she was choking on it.

“Calm down. It’s going to be okay.”

She looked up at his eyes fiercely. “Calm down? Do you know who that was down there? How can I look him in the eyes in the morning?”

Aaron placed his hands on her shoulders to get her to stop pacing. “I’m sure he understands. This is an arranged marriage, Veronica. It’s possible he had someone to say goodbye to also.”

She hated to admit it, but he had a point. Maybe it would be okay. Still she bit her
nails and went back to pacing.

“You have to go
,” she said. “This isn’t right. We shouldn’t have done this. What if this causes him to not want to marry me? My father will kill me if I’ve ruined this arrangement.”

Aaron wrapped his arms around her, but it did nothing to calm her fears. She studied his face, clearly seeing the hurt in his eyes at what she’d said.

“I love you, Aaron. I always will. It’s time to say goodbye.” A tear slipped out of the corner of her eye and trickled down her face.

Aaron wiped it away with his thumb. “I love you, Veronica. Maybe we got a little carried away, but I will never admit that this was a mistake. I want you to be happy. I will always be available if you need me.”

“I know.” Her voice came out in a choked whisper.

They kissed one last time, and Aaron left her arms for good.

Prince
Benard waited at the head of the enormous room. His mother and father waited before him, right next to King Doogan, Veronica’s father. The room was decorated finely in gold, cream, and silver flowers, ribbons, and candelabras.

The crowd in the room consisted of
each of their immediate families. The groll attacks kept the usual celebrations for this type of occasion to a minimum.

He was curious to see Veronica’s reaction after last night. He imagined she would be furious. He didn’t blame her for what she did.
Benard blamed Aaron. Younger men had a way of thinking with their cocks, and Benard didn’t want young Aaron anywhere near his future wife. At age nineteen, she was six years younger that he was, but that wouldn’t matter.

She’d mature quickly as his wife.

The harpist began playing as the double wooden doors on the far side of the room swung slowly open.

Princess Veronica stepped into the doorway wearing a shiny pearl-colored gown with silver beading that accentuated her ample chest. Her hair was pinned up with brown ringlets hanging
down to the sides of her face.

Benard
was instantly turned on by the sight of her.
She will look amazing at my side as my Queen—as long as she doesn’t get fat.

She glided into the room to the beat of the music, and
Benard swore he could freeze water with the look she gave him. It made her look amazingly sexy.

She stepped forward until she was standing just across from him. They were required to face each other during the ceremony. If looks could kill,
Benard knew he would have been dead the second she stepped into the room and saw him.

“Welcome all to the engagement ceremony celebrating the joining of Princess Veronica and Prince
Benard,” began the Priest.

Benard
didn’t pay much attention to the ramblings of the Priest. His attention was drawn to the tight dress that covered Veronica’s milky skin. It accentuated her every curve perfectly, and left just a peak of cleavage showing. He couldn’t wait to get her alone and naked, though he feared she would be mad at him for what he’d done after they met the night before for a very long time.

There were ways around anger, though. With the right amount of temptation and desire she would crack and let him in
—eventually.

At the end of the ceremony
, he was asked to take her hand and kneel before her. She held out her hand to him reluctantly. He took it gently, and kissed the back of her hand as a gesture of acceptance.

That was it. They were officially engaged.

He knew their engagement would be short. King Doogan was near death, and wanted to see Veronica married to a proper Prince who could look after the kingdom before he died. The details had yet to be set by the two Kings. He and Veronica didn’t have much say in the process, but none of that really mattered to him.

He was ready to step up and be King as soon as they would let him.

People began filing out of the room. Tradition allowed them to have a short time alone together before they attended a reception to greet the guests.

Once they were alone, Veronica let her anger fly.

“What did you do to them?”

Benard
raised his eyebrows at her, intrigued. “I hardly feel it is appropriate for your lover and his sister to attend our engagement ceremony.”

Her voice
went higher. “I don’t really think it’s your decision if my two best friends attend or not. Nayla and Aaron have been my support since we were children. You had no right to throw them out!”

This wasn’t exactly how
Benard imagined meeting his Queen-to-be, but the decision had been clear when he’d found her with another man’s tongue down her throat in public, no less.

They didn’t even have the decency to keep it hidden.

“What was I supposed to think when I found you two down there? I want this marriage to work, Veronica. I’m offended that you would find his presence here appropriate.”

Swallowing hard, she opened her mouth to speak without looking into his eyes. “I apologize for what you saw. I have loved Aaron for a long time, and until the death of my mother and brother, we were to be wed. Things changed very quickly
. We were only saying goodbye.”

Again she swallowed and sighed. “I will do my best to be a dutiful Queen … and wife. I wish that you had not sent
Nayla away too.”

Benard
nodded to her. “Come. We have a reception to attend.”

Tradition would have them celebrating
, and surrounded by people all day long. He hoped some of her anxiety and anger would blow off as the day passed. Benard hoped for a chance to get to know her better after the sun went down. He couldn’t wait to see what she looked like without that stunning dress on.

They sat together throughout the afternoon. People approached them for conversation, which Veronica pretended to enjoy, but
she ignored Benard completely. During the dinner she started drinking wine to numb her anger.

Benard’s
parents chatted away politely with King Doogan. No one seemed to notice how tipsy she was becoming, except Benard. Finally, she began to speak to him.

“Do you consider yourself a gentleman, Prince
Benard?”

Benard
held back a smile. “I do.”

“Do you know how to take care of a woman?”

Benard feared she would make a scene if her voice grew any louder. He leaned over and whispered in her ear. “I do. Can we go somewhere to be alone? I brought some of my favorite wine with me for celebrating.”

Veronica’s head was beginning to spin with the wine catching up to her. She’d only been allowed to drink on special occasions before, but she’d never drank this much. She needed something to numb the pain of missing Aaron. All she could think about was how it felt to have his lips against hers, his warm skin touching her, their bodie
s colliding together in unison.

She had to stop herself from groaning aloud while she pictured it.

She knew Benard had been right. Having Aaron there was inappropriate, but she missed him.
I will never love anyone else,
she thought
.
She also felt it was unfair to have sent Nayla away, but they were safer traveling together than separately, so she’d come to accept that too.

Soon, she’d find a way to go visit her best friend and see Aaron again.

Now, she had to find a way to face being married to someone she didn’t love and knew she never would. On top of it all, she’d have to pretend to be happy because she would be Queen of Palinna, and her life would be under constant scrutiny.

She decided to give
Benard a shot because he seemed like a nice guy, in spite of the fact that he kicked Aaron and Nayla out.

And because she knew she didn’t really have much choice.

She took another gulp of her wine, and set the glass down as a wave of dizziness roared through her. Loudly chattering voices and booming laughter overwhelmed her. The tantalizing words of her cousin, Anna Marie, drifted toward her as Anna Marie shamelessly flirted with one of Prince Benard’s brothers. Her aunt’s voice was a cackle, as she laughed at everything Benard’s father said.

In the back of her mind she thought she could hear voices speaking around her. They belonged to the people surrounding her, but were saying things that clearly weren’t being said aloud.

“I can’t believe Anna Marie wore that dress.”

“Does
Jarron know he has food hanging out of him mouth?”

“When will this dinner be over?”

Closing her eyes to steady herself, she pushed her chair back away from the table. She’d heard the thoughts of people around her before, but never when she wanted to hear them. She never told anyone for fear they would call her crazy. She’d been tested as a small child for magic, as all children were, but had been deemed untalented. A gift for magic was rare, but when found in a child they were scooped up, and hauled off to be trained before their abilities killed them.

Veronica stood and slid her chair out of the way. She held her hand out to
Benard. “Yes, let’s get out of here. I can’t stand to be around these people any longer.”

Prince Benard held Veronica’s elbow to keep her steady as they headed toward his new room. She was of average height, which made her just a few inches shorter than him. As they walked she stumbled and wavered, sometimes leaning on his chest before continuing on. The buzz in her head had calmed some.

Once they reached his room, he held the door open for her and helped her over to the couch. “Did you want me to get the wine?”

“No. I don’t think that’s such a good idea. Any more wine and I’ll be getting sick all over this pretty floor.”

Benard
laughed. His voice was deep and strong. He certainly looked strong. He took a seat beside her, and draped his arm loosely around her shoulders, though his body wasn’t close enough to touch her. “Good choice.”

“Tell me about yourself. Where are you from exactly?” Her speech slurred some. She wasn’t quite as drunk as she wanted him to believe.

“I’m from the East. Yarinna. I’m the second-born son of King Tiblis.”

“I see. Sucks to be born second in your case, right? I mean … your brother is the one who gets to take the throne.” She paused while he nodded. “I didn’t mind being second myself, because it meant that I could stay out of the spotlight. But now …”

“Now, I get to be King, and you get to be the beautiful woman by my side.” He said it as if he was a great dramatic storyteller.

“Yeah,” she agreed blandly.

“I know that I’m not Aaron, but being married to me won’t be the worst thing in the world. I promise.”

Veronica rolled her eyes. “As much as I appreciate that you won’t be making my life miserable, I’m not quite ready to sign you off as
not
being ‘the worst thing in the world’.”

Benard
nodded. “Fair enough.”

More thoughts drifted into her mind through her drunken state. This t
ime they were clearly Benard’s.

I wonder if she’s drunk enough to let me kiss her. God
, she’s beautiful.

Veronica wasn’t sure what to do about
Benard. Yes, she was attracted to him, but also she was heartbroken over Aaron. She pulled herself up and stumbled to the door. “I think I need to go lie down.”

Benard
hopped right up to help her. “Are you sure? We’ve barely gotten to talk.”

She nodded. She pretended that a wave of dizziness washed over her, so she braced herself up against his warm chest.

“Easy there,” he said. “Maybe you should just sleep here.”

Veronica laughed. “You think you can get me into your bed that easily?”

“I am extremely attracted to you, but I have no desire to take advantage of you.”

She stared into his eyes, and found only truth in his words. His thoughts didn’t
make him sound like he was a womanizer, just an average man with desires to fulfill. The warmth of those brown eyes pulled her in. For a moment she lost herself in them, and pushed her arms up around his neck. She wanted to push her night with Aaron out of her mind to ease the ache, and wondered if loosing herself with Benard would help.

He leaned forward as if in invitation and she met him halfway. The kiss started slow. Veronica held herself back, not wanting to risk it all. She felt his hands slip around her waist and pull her body closer. As the kiss grew hotter she could feel her
body start to crave his touch.

She wanted to know what his hands felt like on he
r breasts and between her legs.

She began to think she could push Aaron out of her mind and be with
Benard.

Aaron
.

She panicked and pulled away. Veronica knew that crossing the line with
Benard meant saying goodbye to Aaron, but she wasn’t quite ready for that. Breathing heavily, she kissed him once more on the cheek, and moved toward the door.

Once she reached the door she turned back to him. “I need a little more time to clear my head.” Suddenly feeling very sober
, she pulled open the door and dashed toward her room in a daze.