Upon entering her large home, set back from the street and accessed via a rambling pathway through the heavily wooded front yard, I wondered if she'd ...ffer me a drink, or spend some time in the living room. She, however, stayed with the direct approach."Follow me," she said over her shoulder as she started up the wide, winding stairway.What can I say? I followed.Her bedroom was massive and its centerpiece was a large canopy bed. The posts weren't feminine white-painted things holding up a. ” My heart fell at her words. As I pulled away and started to get up, she must have seen something in my eyes or demeanor. She shot up, cupped my cheeks, and kissed me again, slipping her tongue against mine briefly. “Yet, Shaun. As a princess, I can only marry a noble. However, an Outlander who has proven themselves honorable and powerful is acceptable. You are a good man, and what I saw last night says it’s only a matter of you being you to become acceptable.” She told me this with a small. Somebody got my wallet out, and my eyes could open just barely enough to register a blue uniform, but not much else. Some paramedics showed up. I guess the police had called them. They bathed my face and eyes with milk, and that took a lot of the sting out. They offered to take me to the hospital, but I declined. I had already avoided one ambulance bill in this case and I looked at it as a personal triumph over Madeline if I could avoid another. Besides, I knew there wasn't much else they could. Or at the very least, letting me at least touch them beneath her tee shirt if nothing else.When we entered her apartment and as I was soon introduced to Michelle, I wasn't at all prepared for the way it came about. Chris had spoken literally, and if I thought she'd been exaggerating at all, I was sadly, though excitedly mistaken. Michelle was standing at the kitchen sink washing a few dishes as we entered, the counter top just high enough to block the view of her from the waist down. But it was.