Royally Kidnapped by the Prince novel Chapter 36

KENNEDY

He’s awesome.

He could be as committed as Prince Thayer in front of his people and could be as the free-spirited ordinary man beside me right now. He was flexible—from a man who had a huge responsibility to a thoughtful friend to Lud and Ash.

I’d been watching him in awe. Everything he did made me admire him even more, and without a doubt, it had nothing to do with how I was madly in love with him that I couldn’t see and think straight. Right now, he was the most adorable and my favorite person on earth.

He was shaking in amusement as he watched his friends, yeah, his friends—those guys down the water who would take a bullet for him, not because they got paid hefty of money to protect him, but the genuine care for him as his friends.

“Are your balls freezing already?” he yelled from the top of the deck. 

“The water isn’t cold, candy ass! Come on and jump already!” Lud had been convincing him to jump and join them. Thayer just laughed and talked about frozen balls.

“You can go and join them. They seem to be having fun down there.” 

He shook his head again. “Nah. I’d love to be here beside you. I’m having more fun watching those idiots like kids.”

“You’re getting softie and pussy-whipped, Your Highness!” 

“Should I push him down?” I told Lud.

“Or you could jump together!” Ash suggested. 

“I think I stay.” I laughed.

“Do you wanna go down and swim? I’s stay on the deck and watch over you.”

I looked at him. His eyes twinkled like those stars above us—he was ecstatic. So was I. “No. I’m kind of a pool girl.”

“You can go ahead. The water’s temperature is warm.” He looked at the enticing pool.

I drew a deep breath. “Would you like to join me?” 

“Of course, I will follow you.”

I framed his face with my hands and kissed him loudly. “Thank you. Seeing you this happy makes me happy.”

“You make me happy, darling.” He kissed me.

“Got to go. The pool is calling. I untied my kimono and showed him what he would be missing. I chose the two-piece red swimsuit. It was skimpy that barely covered my butt crack, but I loved it.

Watching his eyes darken, hearing him groan, and knowing that he liked what he saw made my skin tingle. My inner thigh clenched the moment his gaze dropped down to his prize. 

I swayed my hips and walked with a huge grin on my face. 

I tested the temperature of the water. Thayer was right—it was just perfect not to freeze me. I dipped into the water and swam—it felt so good. My muscles relaxed in the water. It had been a while since I had my vacation. I was so focused on my promotion. The thought of the work I left still made me sad. I thought of the brighter side—maybe something better planned for me. And I still believed it.

After three laps, I laid back, allowing myself to float. I closed my eyes and blocked all those issues I left behind. I focused on the good things I had right now. I focused my attention on the man I loved. 

I pulled the string of my suits and swam to the edge. I wasn’t an adventurous type of person, and I never put anything at risk, especially my work. Lately, I had questioned myself about the decisions I made. But as they said, you’ve got to live the life how you wanted, not how people dictated you. And this was what I wanted right now. 

“What the fuck are you doing?” 

I jolted up and followed my gaze towards the voice of Thayer. He was already getting in the pool with my swimsuits. 

“Skinny-dipping?”

“Damn it, darling.” He looked up and searched for something.

“What are you looking up?” I looked up as well. I didn’t see anything other than the most dazzling stars and clear night.

“You can’t just take off your clothes and get naked. Put these back on,” he ordered and gave me my swimsuits.

“Why not? It's not that the Captain and his crew are interested in me?” I reluctantly took my suits.

“I’m not worried of them, Kennedy. They have signed NDAs and would never leak your naked photos and sell our story to the press. Now, please, put those on. As much as I love watching you naked, I won’t share those gorgeous tits with anyone. Never.”

I glared at him. “I’m in the pool, for God’s sake. Look out there? Who would come and be a peeping tom?”

His jaw ticked. He looked pissed. “Look, my family has spent a lot of money to keep our image clean. Not only that, we hired people to protect us not only from possible assassinations, they are hired to make sure that nothing such indecent photos or videos would get to the press and social media as well.”

“So, you mean to say, I can ruin your clean slate reputations, right?”