Not My Fairytale

Chapter 33

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A Nuisance

"Put these on," I ordered in a whisper, holding out my arms and resisting the urge to glance over my shoulder at the towering wall behind me.

Angelo took the garments from my hand, inspecting them with a skeptical look, "You think this will work?"

I nodded, "At this hour, we're not likely to run into anyone to begin with, but in case we do, we can tell them you're escorting me to my rooms, or some other nonsense."

The corner of his mouth quirked up in amusement, "Rooms?"

"Just put them on," I sighed, rolling my eyes and already regretting my decision to follow through with the plan I had concocted.

He shrugged, stripping off his shirt without further question. My eyes lingered on the lean muscle of his exposed chest, before he reached for his pants and I quickly averted my gaze– not because he seemed particularly concerned with his modesty or because I didn't want to look. He couldn't seem to care less if I watched him change. In fact, he likely wanted me to do just that and I very much wanted to oblige.

But I couldn't.

With the way the draw of the mate bond seemed to grow with each passing day, I didn't trust myself not to jump his bones if given half a chance.

My cheeks burned at the direction my thoughts had turned. With the reminder of our promised kiss at the end of the night looming ever-present in the back of my mind, it was difficult not to let my imagination run wild.

"Alright," Angelo said, drawing my attention back to where he stood, adjusting the uniform over his body, "I had my doubts, but I think I make a rather dashing castle guard, wouldn't you agree?"

I snorted and turned by back to him, if only to keep myself from doing something embarrassing like answer that question truthfully. How much simpler would our lives have been if he truly had been a castle guard?

"Let's go," I told him, looking up at the wall, "we don't have much time before the guards will pass through here again."

He grunted in acknowledgement, following close behind me as I darted from the tree line. "It's a bit of a tight fit," I warned, shooting him an apologetic look, before slipping through the hole in the curtain wall that my Aunt Sienna had once shown me.

It took him a bit longer to squeeze his larger frame through the opening, but he was grinning as he joined me on the inside of the castle grounds, "Such a rebellious princess, you are."

I snorted again. It must run in the family.

My nerves grew with each step that drew us closer to the castle. The plan will work, I told myself firmly, but it did nothing to lessen my apprehension. My anxiety would likely linger until Angelo was safely back on the other side of those stone walls that, all of a sudden, appeared taller and more menacing than they had ever been before.

Just before we could exit the cover of the enchanted garden, I halted. Angelo stopped as well, but his head was swiveling in every direction, taking it all in with raised brows. I let him gawk for another moment before I cleared my throat, "That disguise won't fool anyone if you keep looking at everything like you've never seen it before."

"This is..." Angelo said, voice trailing off as he looked around at the flowers blooming around us, "There's a spell at work here, I can feel it."

I gave him a pointed look in response, and he sighed, straightening his back and adopting the stoic expression of a guard.

"Better," I turned on a heel to exit the garden, hearing the crunch of his boot-clad feet following a short distance behind.