Seven

Rose

The five of them stood huddled by the private runway. Alberta looked the most displeased of all.

I was sure I heard her mutter something about the stuck-up Queen interfering, and tried to hide my smirk.

The Queen had all-but demanded Lissa be present for a Royal Ball she was hosting at Court. If Lissa was going, that meant she got a plus-one, which meant Christian. And because it was the field experience, that meant me and Eddie, too. Adrian was invited, and so he was flying with us.

I stuck by Christian's side because it was my role as a guardian, not because I craved any kind of contact I could get with him, even if it was just a brushing of his arm against mine as he waited impatiently for them to be allowed to board.

He was hiding his distaste for the entire situation surprisingly well, though, I had to admit. He'd kept his mouth shut around me, too, never saying what was clearly on his mind when Liss had announced their little visit. He lied to my face and said he was looking forward to it.

That was when I'd definitely known he was dreading the whole thing.

I understood why he was doing it, though. This would be the first place to make their agenda known.

Tomorrow night, Liss would be bringing Moroi's using magic even closer to the forefront of Moroi politics.

The ski lodge had been one thing, but then people got on with their lives and the hype died down. The hype around Liss had only grown, and so her opinions would be gossiped about day-in and day-out.

She had an arm looped around Christian's, and they looked every bit the royal couple.

Complete opposites, with her silver hair and genuine smile, him dark and brooding with his forced smile.

They were both gorgeous.

I tried to push my thoughts away, and turned from Christian.

What had happened at the party was a drunken nothing. It hadn't been mentioned since, and it never would be.

We were just Rose and Christian, begrudging partners in the field experience.

At best, friends who respected each other.

Lust didn't factor into it.

The heated gazes we sometimes gave each other without realising it, that made me wet in a heartbeat, were nothing.

The door to the plane opened, and we filtered on.

I took my seat next to Christian, and in the tiny space, our thighs were pressed completely against each other.

I swallowed, and didn't look at him. Lissa poked her nose through the gap in our seats and giggled. "I love flying."

"But it's just sitting in a seat for a few hours," Christian said, eyebrows knitting slightly.

"But it's about the fact you're going somewhere. I'm always excited because I know I'm going to be doing something exciting when I land."

"I guess that makes sense."

Despite her apparent excitement, Liss stuck her earbuds in and fell asleep within ten minutes of them taking off. Eddie did the same.

"Is your Aunt going to be at this royal get together?" I asked, dreading the answer.

"No. I'd be a lot more excited if she was. This is for the upper echelons only, so she wasn't invited."

"I bet you feel so privileged to be going." I was pushing his buttons mercilessly, and he knew it.

He refused to respond though. His lip tightened, and he stared me down. "Of course."

God, what I'd give to have him take out that frustration in bed with me.

"Well, I'm not going to lie." I looked at him pointedly, but he didn't even wince. "I can't say I'm looking forward to this at all. I know all I'll be doing it standing along the back wall, but watching stuffy royals be stuck-up with each other is going to be such a drag. At least if it was a massive get together there'd be more to people to people-watch."

He stretched and took a subtle look behind him to see how Lissa was doing. I took the chance to peek at the small band of skin above his trousers the stretching had revealed.

The guilt was going to hit me soon, hard, but for now I was too consumed with the need to fuck him that I hadn't dared to think about what a shitty best friend I was being.

But I wasn't acting on it. They were just thoughts. I was never going to act on it. If we hadn't fucked after that party, when we were drunk, horny and there was no chance of anyone finding out, why would we ever do it at some other time?

"It's only a few hours. I'm sure we can make it through."

"Was that a hint at the fact you're absolutely dreading this? Surely not." I grinned at him.

His face was hard for a second, before he shook his head and laughed. "This stuff is my worst nightmare."

"Seriously, though, it will only be a few hours. If the Queen sees Lissa again whilst we're here it'll just be them talking alone."

"I know, and I know it's important, too, with my mom and everything." He frowned. "I wonder if the Queen even knows about that. I wonder what exactly Kirova has done with the knowledge of our impending doom."

"The Queen will know," I said. "I mean, she has to. Surely. Hopefully that'll make her more sympathetic to the cause when Liss starts talking about it."

"I think it's more likely that the Queen will employ every tactic available to get her to take the opposite view."

"And there's not a chance in hell she'll listen. Liss knows her own mind."

"I know that," Christian bristled. "I just mean that it's not going to go as smoothly as you make it sound."

"True. I'm not very good at being optimistic, I should go back to being the killjoy."

"I think we're both better in that role."

They lapsed into silence, and I enjoyed the feel of him against me.

There it was, the guilt beginning to rear its head. Talking about Liss and then going straight on to imagining fucking her boyfriend. The boyfriend I had another five weeks living in the same bedroom with. Who I'd almost kissed at a party.

I was a bitch.

And so was he.

But we hadn't kissed. It was a near miss, and near misses didn't count for anything.