and manfully choking it down.
“I told you.” King Leo sounded pleased. “There is a reason this is my number one sweet.”
Nodding, Braden continued to eat, shoveling the cake into his mouth as quickly as he could while still having some sort of table manners.
“Take it easy, dear,” Queen Ionna admonished. “You’ll choke if you continue to eat so fast.”
Polishing off what felt like the last bite, he swallowed, before taking a large gulp of his now lukewarm coffee. “Very good. I’m sorry if I seem to be rushing, but I have much to do to get ready to begin testing the princess tomorrow. If you’ll—”
“Our daughter is eager to begin as well,” King Leo interrupted before Braden could get out the words excuse me. “Isn’t that right, Alisa?”
“Of course,” she said, sounding about as sincere as he felt when forcing down the sickeningly sweet cake. “Where is your laboratory? I will meet you there in the morning.”
Braden took his time answering, figuring King Leo would interrupt and tell her the rest of it. Not only had the royal family allowed him the rare privilege of analyzing their youngest daughter, but they had set up a fully functional laboratory down the hall from his bedroom. This was on the same floor as hers, though in a completely different wing.
But neither the king nor the queen spoke. Apparently, they were leaving it to him to relay the news.
“Well?” she repeated, her rich voice curious and mildly exasperated, all at once. Once again, just the sound of her had the same effect on him, like a jolt of raw energy sending his wolf into a frenzy.
Again, damn it. Gritting his teeth, he battled back his other half. This had not happened since he’d been a teenager, full of raging hormones. It took him a moment to get his beast under control, luckily. Though this time, he lost more ground more quickly. If the beast kept fighting him, he’d have to do something quickly or there’d be a major embarrassing incident. He could only imagine that it’d be in extremely poor form to shape-shift in the palace while lunching with Pack royalty.
He had to get a grip on this thing, whatever it was. Taking a deep breath, he wondered how much longer he’d have to wait to manage to politely excuse himself.
“Your laboratory, Dr. Streib?” Princess Alisa repeated, speaking slowly as though she now thought him a simpleton. “I asked you where I might find it.”
Lifting his chin, Braden explained the situation in a few short sentences. “My understanding is that I am actually working on the same floor where you also reside.”
“At the opposite end,” King Leo put in. “This is a very large palace, Dr. Streib. Your living quarters and your laboratory are in the west wing. Princess Alisa occupies most of the east.”
Thankfully, the princess didn’t comment. Braden wasn’t sure he could take another assault of her voice on his wolf self. Now if he could just get out of there until he got his beast under control.
“I’m glad we got that settled,” King Leo said, amusement warring with preoccupation in his voice. “We have also provided you with an assistant, Dr. Streib. Katya will be there to help you first thing in the morning.”
“Thank you,” Braden said, pleasantly surprised.
“You are most welcome.” The king heaved a satisfied sigh. “Now, if you two will excuse us, the queen and I will leave you to finish your discussion. Come, my dear.”
Braden pushed to his feet as well, standing politely as the King and Queen of Teslinko exited the room. When he finally took his seat again, he sensed the princess studying him. He wanted nothing more than to bolt, but knew he had to do something to satisfy his wolf.
He had no choice but to enlist her help. He needed to change badly and he had no idea where to go.
The servers offered more coffee. They both accepted, waiting while the beverage was poured.
She sighed. “You are different than I would have expected.”
If she wanted to make polite small talk, he thought he could manage, as long as he kept a death grip on his wolf. “How so?”
“Well,” she mused, “despite your generally ruffled and disheveled appearance, you are actually a very attractive man.”
Heat suffused him, which both infuriated and intrigued him. “Though a bit backhanded, I’ll accept the compliment.”
She laughed, a low and musical sound that sent a heated shiver through him. He felt his grip on his wolf slipping and frowned, concentrating on regaining control. “Now it’s your turn,” she said, a smile making her voice light.
“My turn?”
“To compliment me.”
Was she flirting with him? He could think of no reason why someone like her would do so other than to mock him. But why? They were alone. Did she mock him for her own amusement? Considering he knew absolutely nothing about her personally, such a thing was entirely possible.
Taking a deep breath, he considered his options. Even when he’d been able to see, flirting had not been his strong suit. Fleeing would not only be cowardly, but slow and ungainly since he was unfamiliar with the path he’d need to take. In reality, he knew he could withstand much from her, considering how badly he needed her for his research.
Rapidly searching for a vapid, non-offensive bit of frippery, he settled on the first thing that came to mind. “You have a sensuous voice and a beautiful laugh.”
The instant the words left his mouth, he knew he’d made a huge mistake. Too personal and too true. Not at all the purpose of light, playful flirtation. He should know this—intellectually, he did. But because he sucked at flirting, abhorred it in fact, he’d given her truth when she wanted falsehood.
As if she knew this—of course she did—she inhaled sharply. Any moment now, he suspected she’d let fly with a bit of scathing commentary, merely to point out what kind of social pariah he was. And if she did, he knew he wouldn’t be able to rein himself in. He’d respond in kind. While he wasn’t good at flirting, he was excellent with cutting retorts.
Which would only make things worse between them. He needed to get along with her if he wanted her cooperation for his experiments.
His tenuous grip on his wolf slipped. Out of his depth, he took the only option that made sense. Leaving before he either said something truly awful or worse, before his wolf broke free and he shape-shifted right there in the dining room of the royal palace.
Pushing to his feet, he murmured a quick excuse and headed out. She made no move to help him, despite the fact that he’d forgotten his cane.
Halfway in his struggle toward the door, he turned in her general direction. “Please come see me in the morning in my laboratory. I’m eager to begin my work.”
Without waiting for her to answer, he left the room, cursing his social ineptitude and cursing the fact that he hadn’t managed to ask her to assist him in finding a place to change.
Once again, it appeared he was on his own. He and his wolf, both blind,
