Hand-Me-Down Princess Read Online Free PDF Page A

at a few scurrying members of the staff, pausing before they entered the first room where she’d be introduced. “Will we always live here?” she asked. “Or will we ever live away from the palace?”
    Malachi tipped his head to one side as he thought. “I don’t know. I suppose I never really thought about it. I am entitled to live in the palace until William’s heir takes over. Though it’s unlikely I’d be kicked out in the cold even then. However, which apartment would likely change, this one for now and a smaller one after William’s children are grown and need it, and our children are grown so we don’t. As for a place of our own? I have never considered it.”
    She gave a single nod, and he reached for the door, but he continued to turn the idea over in his mind. Maybe it had merit. For the next two hours, he showed her around the palace and introduced her to different groups of staff members. His feet hurt by the time they came to a stop in front of a door with a keypad next to it. He could only imagine what her feet felt like in the heels she wore.
    “And this is our apartment.” Malachi punched a ten digit code in and the lock released. “You’ll be able to set your own code to get in.” He punched a few more numbers then the pound sign. “That’s a privacy code. No one else will be able to get in without our permission, not even my father.” Pushing the door open, he waited for her to enter before him. “I haven’t moved in, not really. I haven’t even slept here yet.”
    The door opened into a living area, dark, dusty and filled with furniture covered by sheets.
    “I didn’t know how you’d want to decorate. We can pick from what we already have here, in one of the vacant apartments, or in storage, or we can order new.”
    “Um, aren’t we staying here tonight?” She dropped his arm and twisted her hands together, something he noticed she did when she was nervous.
    “No. We have a couple of options, and I suppose we could, but that wasn’t the plan. I’ll show you around, but our room isn’t ready yet. It’s one of the things the staff did ask that we do this afternoon.”
    “What’s that?”
    It couldn’t be much more awkward, could it? “Make some decisions about our room. They wanted to have it ready for us when we get back. Anything else can wait. Each of the bedrooms in the apartment is set up with different furniture for us to look at. We can pick from those or specify that we like one but would prefer a different color and so on.”
    He led her to a door on the other side of the living area. “Through here is the kitchen. We will have a cook, if we want one, but if there’s ever anything you’d like to make, you’re welcome to. You don’t need to ask permission. This is your home.” Malachi looked over at her, reaching out to brush a bit of hair off her face. “It’s going to be our home for the foreseeable future, and I want you to be comfortable here. If something makes you uncomfortable, or if you’re curious about something, you need to let me know, and I’ll take care of it.”
    Making up his mind to be honest about things, he took a step toward her, putting himself in her personal space. If he had to guess, she guarded that space fiercely, but when he put his hands on her hips, she didn’t try to back away. “I know this has caught us both off-guard. We’ve only known we were getting married for a couple of weeks and have only known each other for a few hours.” Now came the hard part. “I would never press you for more than you’re willing to give, for intimacies neither of us is ready for, but I’m afraid I’ll have to insist that we share a bed from the beginning.”
    Jessabelle’s dark brown eyes closed, and he could see her swallow hard before she nodded. “I expected we would, but thank you for the other. I...” She took a deep, steadying breath. “I’m not ready for that. If you want me to be, I’ll do my best to be, but...”
    He