The Beast Prince: a royal romance with humor and suspense (It's Raining Royals) by Alix Nichols

Author:Alix Nichols [Nichols, Alix]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-02-09T16:00:00+00:00

A sharp sound wakes me up. I listen for a long, anxious moment, but there’s only silence and the howling of the wind outside. And then a dog barks.

That was it, that was the sound!

I leap out of bed and rush to the window. But I can’t see anything. I try to push the window sash up, but it’s stuck. It snowed so much during the night that a fresh, plump blanket of white has climbed up the sides of the cabin. It’s covered everything, filled every hole and nestled inside every crack. We’re snowed in.

I run to the door and tug it open. A blast of cold morning air hits me. Stepping back, I bump into Elise.

“Good morning!” Overexcited, I move to hug her, but I stop myself in time.

First, I’m covered in snow. Second, taking her in my arms now would send the wrong message.

She brushes the white powder off my chest and head, grinning. I smile back, enjoying her touch and her good mood.

When she’s done, she puts her arms around my neck. “Good morning!”

One last time. A farewell.

Even before my mind has issued a formal permission, my arms wrap around her and press her to my chest. I breathe in her hair, my eye closing. Her hands stroke the back of my neck. But, somehow, I regain control and release her.

“Let me get your coat,” I say. “You must be freezing.”

Without waiting for her reply, I bound to the bed and return with her down coat. “Put it on.”

She complies, eyeing the open door and the snowpack, some of which has tumbled in. “We’ll need a shovel to dig a way out.”

I look around the cabin, but there are no shovels in sight.

She darts to the kitchen area. “Let me see if I can find something here.”

The dog barks louder.

“Hey!” I call, hoping there’s a person near the dog. “Over here!”

The dog is barking hysterically now. A smallish dog, judging by his timbre. I can’t hear if his master responded, so I call out again.

Somebody answers. The snow muffles the actual words, but the implication is unequivocal. There’s a person on the other side.

Elise returns with two skillets, one of which she thrusts into my hands. “Couldn’t find a shovel, but these will do. Get digging.”

“You’re hot when you’re bossy,” I tease her.

She gives me a mischievous wink. “You haven’t seen me bossy yet.”

I smile… and regret my words at once. We’re flirting again. And bonding. Again. But I will not dally with her, knowing full well it’s a dead end. Formality is the way forward. Formality and distance. It’s the only way.

Armed with the skillets, Elise and I dig into the glittering snowpack. The person on the other side is digging, too, it seems. It’s a man.

“I’m almost there! Hang on!” the man on the other side calls as he digs toward us.

Another minute, and we come nose to nose.

A sturdy man in his fifties, he shrieks at the sight of me, shuffles backward, and trips over his dog.

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