At that, she snorts. “As if a prince of the realm would ever deign to cross the river if he didn’t have to.” She shoves the hair that has fallen over her brow back from her face. “If I give you my name, will you leave?”
“Perhaps.”
Golden eyes lock with mine. “My name is Allette Rittey.”
Allette.
Her name is a wistful breath, echoing with the sweet ache of desire. I’m loath to let it fall from my lips, to let it escape. “You seem to have taken an instant disliking to me, Allette.”Allette. Allette. Allette.“Why is that?”
The shirt she clutches falls to her lap, and I do my best to keep my eyes on hers, which is easier when she hugs her knees to her chest. “Speaking ill of the royal family is considered treason. And with all due respect, Prince Senan, I would prefer not to disgrace my family with my arrest.”
It’s true that my father does not permit dissention. Thankfully, I am not my father. “Consider this your one chance to say whatever you wish about me or my family with absolutely no repercussions whatsoever.”
Her shoulders straighten, as if bracing for a fight. “All right, then. You, sir, are a rake and a cad.”
True on both counts. Yet I must know, “What evidence do you have to support this most grievous accusation?”
“I attended Aurora Academy with Scarlett Tildon before she was disgraced.”
Ah. That explains so much.
The whole “look, don’t touch” rule? That was created specifically for women like Lady Scarlett Tildon. To think, I didn’t even sleep with her.
“If that is all…” Allette gestures toward the castle towers barely visible on the far horizon.
I sit up fully, prepared for my own argument. “It is hardly fair for you to dismiss the case without allowing me to defend myself first.”
Allette offers a tight-lipped nod, but the spark has returned to her eyes. “Very well. You may proceed.”
“Your friend Scarlett?—”
“I never said she was my friend.”
An interesting distinction, and one that pleases me greatly. I would hate to think of Allette being close to a backstabbing viper like Scarlett. “Lady Scarlett and her family attended a masquerade at the castle where she tried to enter my chambers without permission.Thatis why she was disgraced. I neither invited her into my bed, nor did I order her arrest.” Yes, I kissed her once, but that was where the dalliance had ended. A man can only handle so much of someone else’s tongue shoved down his throat.
I bet Allette Rittey wouldn’t try to check my tonsils with her tongue.
Or if she did, maybe I’d like it.
A shapely brow arches in silent question. “And I should believe you because…?”
“Because it’s the truth.” I am hardly a saint, but I do pride myself on being respectful toward others, and that includes thewomen I allow into my bed. Or, more accurately, who allow me into theirs. I shudder to think of what the king would do if I had the gall to bring a woman to the castle.
“Why do you care about my opinion?”
For lack of a better response, I answer honestly. “I don’t know.” There are plenty of people in this kingdom who despise me and my family, so it makes little sense that this random woman’s thoughts should matter. “But I do,” I confess. “That is madness, isn’t it?”
There I go again, seeking her opinion when I am a twenty-two-year-old man, perfectly capable of making up my own mind.
Allette takes so long to respond, I’m not sure she plans to. But then her smile unfurls like the dawn. “No more mad than the idea of a prince sitting next to me on my rooftop.” The tanned skin across her stomach stretches taut as she eases onto her back. Her pools of liquid gold drift closed, but she doesn’t ask me to leave again.
A smile finds its way to my own lips as I ease back onto the tiles and close my eyes as well.
Six
ALLETTE
NOW