Crowning His Unlikely Princess (Mills & Boon Modern)

by Michelle Conder

  ‘Cassidy?’ His lips grazed her ear lobe, his warm breath sending her brain into free fall. ‘Tell me.’

  ‘Yes.’ Her arms tightened around his neck as she gave herself over to a need that was greater than fear. ‘Yes, I want to be in your—oh!’

  Even before the words were out of her mouth he was lifting her and striding toward the entrance to the rose garden. Overawed at the powerful muscles in his shoulders that flexed beneath her hands, all Cassidy could do was bury her head against his shoulder and hang on.

  Logan didn’t know how he made it to his apartments without being seen by anyone other than the two guards stationed outside his door but he didn’t care. He didn’t care about anything right now but the woman in his arms and the ache in his body. He hadn’t meant this to happen, hadn’t expected it to happen, but now that it was he knew he needed it more than he’d ever needed anything.

  ‘Cassidy?’

  She looked up at him, her moss-green eyes soft, her body pliant in his arms. He groaned and bent to her, taking her mouth in another deep, hungry kiss.

  Her fingers slid into his hair and Logan was beyond reason, completely lost to the feel and the taste of her, the soft curve of her body in his arms. The trickle of worry that perhaps he needed her just a little too much was replaced by the burning desire to strip her naked.

  He released her legs so that her body slid down his, but he didn’t let her touch the floor. His hands banded around her as he continued to devour her mouth, one hand sliding lower to cup her bottom, the other moving up to the back of her head, his fingers tangling in the silky mass of her auburn hair.

  Cassidy writhed against him, the little sounds of pleasure coming from her lips driving his need higher.

  Conceding that if he didn’t leash his lust for her this would be all over in a matter of minutes, Logan dragged air into his lungs and stood her beside his bed.

  She looked at him with glazed eyes and he leaned forward and took her mouth in another addictive kiss.

  A little moan escaped her lips and he realised that he already loved those sounds. That he wanted more. Smoothing his hands down over her narrow shoulders, he skimmed his fingers down her arms, revelling in the way she shivered beneath his touch. She was so responsive, so expressive, and so his.

  Suddenly impatient to see all of her, Logan searched for the zipper in her dress and eased it down. The bodice sagged to her waist, revealing gorgeous breasts cupped in a whisper of silk.

  ‘You wore it,’ he breathed, tracing his fingers gently along the delicate edge of the cup, making her tremble.

  ‘It came with the dress,’ she said, angling to get closer to him.

  Logan held her back so that he could look at her. ‘I know. I chose it.’

  ‘You did?’ Her eyes flew to his. ‘I thought the shop assistant would have done that.’

  ‘Not a chance, mi amor. I’ve been imagining you in this all night and reality far exceeds what I came up with.’

  Her hands rose as if to shield herself, but Logan captured them in his. Then he sat on the bed and pulled her between his spread thighs.

  Cupping her breasts in his hands, he watched her eyes glaze over with pleasure as the rough pads of his thumbs grazed her nipples.

  The catch in her breath sent a spike of heat through his blood and he bent forward, kissing his way towards one rigid peak before pulling it into his mouth. She moaned, a soft keening sound, her hands forking into his hair, her grip urging him on.

  Logan was happy to oblige her, his lips and tongue caressing each hard bud in turn as he teased her arousal to another level.

  ‘Logan?’

  She twisted in his arms, arching closer, and he gave her what she craved, unclipping the bra at the back and letting if fall away before he fully latched onto her nipple and tugged hard.

  Her fingers tensed in his hair, her head thrown back as she gasped with delight.

  He was delighted himself, her response ratcheting up his own arousal until it was all he could do not to throw her onto the bed and bury himself inside her.

  But he was enjoying unwrapping her too much, which he continued doing, sliding the dress down her legs so that it pooled at her feet. This time it was his breath that caught as he took in her slender legs and the pale silk at the juncture of her thighs.

  A soft curse left his throat and his hands shook a little as he took her hips between his hands and eased the scanty fabric downwards.

  ‘Logan...’ Her soft plea for more undid him and he eased one hand up the inside of her creamy thigh, while the other one held her in place.

  ‘Are you wet for me, Cassidy?’ His voice was thick with need, his eyes on hers as his fingers grazed her softness.

  A whimper escaped her throat and her feet shifted wider, giving him better access to her. He took it, cupping her sweet mound in his hand, the essence of her damp against his palm.

  She wasn’t just wet, she was fully aroused, her female scent sending his senses into a spin.

  Growling softly, Logan pushed to his feet, picking her up and throwing her on the bed before she had time to draw breath.

  She gave a nervous laugh and glanced at her feet. ‘My heels—’

  ‘Leave them.’ He circled her ankles with his fingers and slowly parted her thighs.

  ‘Logan, it’s too much,’ she said, her cheeks flushing even hotter under his gaze.

  ‘Let me,’ he said, coming over the top of her and bracing his hands on either side of her head. ‘I want to taste you.’

  ‘I don’t... I’ve never...’ her tongue sneaked out to wet her lips and Logan kissed her as he wondered just how innocent she was.

  ‘You mean no man has ever gone down on you before?’

  She shook her head, her hair spread out on his white sheets.

  ‘Then it will be my pleasure to introduce you to the delights of the flesh, mi amor,’ he said, chuckling a little as she tried to grip his shoulder to prevent him from sliding down her body to bury his face between her legs.

  Her gasp of shock turned to one of rapture as he swept his tongue along the seam of her lips, his hands urging her thighs to spread as her hesitation dissolved.

  He took a moment to breathe her in and then he showed her exactly what she’d been missing, using every ounce of expertise he had to bring her to the brink of climax over and over before finally letting her fall over the edge into delirious oblivion.

  She screamed his name as she orgasmed, her fingernails making small crescent moons in his shoulders.

  Logan didn’t mind. His body was throbbing and he barely gave her any time to recover before his clothing hit the floor and he’d rolled a condom over his pulsing erection.

  She took him in as he came over the top of her, her hands skimming his shoulders and stroking his chest.

  ‘I want to touch you,’ she said.

  ‘Next time,’ he promised, his lips taking her mouth in a searing kiss as he positioned himself at her entrance. ‘I need to be inside you too badly to wait for that.’

  He stroked a hand down over her thigh and around to her bottom to angle her up to him and then he entered her on one deep, smooth thrust.

  He felt her body tense beneath his, a frown forming between his eyes as he gazed down at her. ‘Cassidy?’

  ‘Oh, that feels so full,’ she moaned, wriggling her hips tentatively beneath him as if she was trying to get comfortable.

  ‘You have done this before, haven’t you?’ he asked, straining to hold himself back.

  ‘Yes.’ Her gaze swept him in wonder. ‘Once. But it was nothing like this.’

  Once?

  He wanted to pursue that incredible detail, but she’d started moving, shattering his concentration. ‘Cassidy, mi amor, you need to relax. That’s right, you’re so tight.’

  He groaned as her inner muscles gave around hi
s hard length, her lower body tilting upwards as she sought to take him even deeper.

  Sweat rolled down his spine as he powered inside her, swallowing her gasp of pleasure with his kiss. Sensation built like a dam about to burst as she learned his rhythm and matched him, her legs locking around his hips in an attempt to find her release. He wasn’t at all sure he could hold out until she got there again, and then she did, her body exploding around his in a paroxysm of pleasure that shredded his self-control and sent him spiralling into the strongest climax he’d ever had.

  Fighting for breath, Logan rested on top of her, completely shattered, a rush of pure emotion short-circuiting his brain.

  Time had no meaning as his lungs worked to regulate his breathing, the soft rasps of her own uneven breaths warming his throat, her slim arms loose around his shoulders.

  Sex had always been great for Logan, fantastic even, but this... What they’d just shared together was something entirely different. And for a man who prided himself on control and a keen ability to keep emotion and sex separate he’d just displayed an unhealthy version of the opposite. Because that had not felt controlled, or unemotional.

  Waiting for his usual desire to remove himself immediately from a woman’s arms, he was surprised when it didn’t happen.

  Then he heard Cassidy’s soft sound of shock and knew that at least one of them was panicking.

  Sensing that she was about to push him away, Logan rolled to his side and drew the length of her body against his. ‘What’s wrong? Did I hurt you?’

  He hadn’t been overly rough, but he hadn’t exactly been gentle either.

  Cassidy buried her head against his chest. ‘No. But I should go.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because...because... I’m in your bed.’

  ‘Which is where I want you to stay,’ he said, realising that it was true. ‘Tell me how it is that you’ve only had sex once?’

  She made an inarticulate sound of discomfort. ‘Because the first time wasn’t something I felt compelled to repeat.’

  ‘Why?’ Logan’s muscles immediately tensed. ‘Did he hurt you?’

  ‘No.’ Her voice was muffled against his chest. ‘He was repaying me for giving him my study notes.’

  Logan reared back to look at her. ‘You bartered sex for study notes?’

  ‘Not deliberately.’ Even in the low light he caught the scarlet tinge to her cheeks. ‘I thought he liked me.’

  ‘Idiot.’

  ‘Well, thanks.’ She made to push away from him but he hauled her back.

  ‘Not you. Him. He clearly had no idea what he was missing out on.’

  ‘He did know because we—’

  ‘He didn’t. He obviously had no idea how to arouse you.’ Logan rolled onto his back and brought her over the top of him. She looked down at him in surprise, her palms flat against his chest, her hair a curtain framing her lovely face. ‘Widen your legs.’

  ‘Logan—’

  ‘Do it,’ he whispered, settling her thighs on either side of his hips so that she could feel exactly how much she turned him on.

  ‘Oh!’

  ‘Yes.’

  Reaching up Logan dragged her mouth down to his, plastering her upper body to his chest. ‘Let me love you again. You’re so beautiful, mi amor.’

  ‘Logan...’ Her token resistance was lost as she gripped his face in her hands, her body supple and pliant as he showed her just how much he wanted her.

  Logan woke from an almost catatonic state after a night of unbelievable sex to find himself alone. He took in the mussed bed sheets and the stream of light that arrowed between the partially closed curtains.

  The whole incredible night came back to him in a rush, starting with that incredible kiss in the rose garden to the moment he’d surged inside Cassidy’s body that first time. Just thinking about it sent a shaft of arousal through his bloodstream and he strained his ears to hear if she was in the shower.

  Silence greeted him and he wondered where she was. On the rare occasion that he spent the whole night with a woman it was usually to wake up with her artfully displayed on the sheets beside him and ready for round two.

  He frowned. He couldn’t remember how many times his body had sought Cassidy’s during the night but he did remember how sleepily receptive she had been each time he’d reached for her.

  Hell, he’d just spent an incredible night in bed with his EA. The realisation was like a hammer blow to the solar plexus. From the moment he’d found himself attracted to her he’d planned to keep things strictly professional between them.

  So much for that.

  He’d been undone as soon as she’d appeared in that amazing gown in his drawing room, all his good intentions disappearing like dust in a sandstorm.

  He scrubbed a hand over his face. No matter what the cause, there was no getting around the fact that he’d just made his life exponentially more complicated than it already had been.

  And he’d slept with an employee. Just as his father used to do.

  Leo’s words bounced around inside his head. Something about Logan not being like their father because he didn’t use his position as a power play with women. And his own response. ‘Regardless, the only thing Cassidy and I have between us is a close professional relationship.’

  Right. Having just spent much of the night doing the most intimate things a man and a woman could do together, he could no longer lay claim to that.

  And even though he hadn’t used his position as her superior to get Cassidy into bed, there was no denying that he’d set aside his principles and slept with an employee.

  In fact, he’d even forgotten that she was an employee. Sometime during these last few days his view of her as just his EA had transformed into something different.

  He remembered her at the museum. Her warmth with those around her. Her smile. She had not only handled herself impeccably during the event, she’d added to it. He had always forced himself to only notice her professional attributes in the office, but it was clear she was much more than that. She was an accomplished, loyal woman whose commitment to her job, and her family, ran as deeply as his own.

  He’d never taken the time to really know her and now he knew her a little too well. Would they be able to get their working relationship back on track? Because that was a priority. The idea of having to find a new EA as good as her didn’t thrill him. But what did thrill him was the thought of seeing her again. Which didn’t help.

  Forcing an image of a sexy, pliant Cassidy from his mind, he jumped out of bed and trekked into his bathroom, heading straight for the shower.

  A cold one.

  He needed to clear his head, and lying in bed recalling every erotic moment they had shared the night before wasn’t going to achieve that outcome.

  The important thing to do was to set aside everything that had happened last night and chalk it up to two people who, having just discovered that they shared an intense chemistry, had given in to temptation after a particularly gruelling few days. Because he had never intended to jeopardise her position in his life and he didn’t want to lose her over one slip-up.

  And hopefully she felt the same way.

  Hopefully she hadn’t misunderstood last night and believed that sex equalled a serious relationship. It never had for him, and usually he made that clear with a woman from the outset.

  So where had that speech disappeared to the night before? The same place as logic and self-control.

  Slamming his hand against the controls, he stepped from the shower, shaved and pulled on jeans and a shirt.

  There was no sense in putting this off. He had to find Cassidy and deliver the news that as good as last night had been it would be best for all concerned if their relationship remained that of boss and employee and nothing else.

  And surely she’d want the same thing. She was a wo
man who liked her i’s dotted and her t’s crossed as much as he did.

  She was also romantic, his rational side reminded him. Romantic and inexperienced.

  And he had been the one to shift their relationship into the personal realm when he’d danced with her. He might not have used power to persuade her into his bed but he’d known how badly she’d affected him and like a moth drawn to a flame, he’d let his libido take control.

  Deciding that what was required here was calm, logical reasoning, he shut down his guilt and went in search of her.

  CHAPTER TEN

  CASSIDY REREAD THE letter she’d just finished typing.

  It wasn’t very long. In fact, it was quite short.

  Should she add more?

  Your Majesty,

  It has been a pleasure working for you these past twenty-one months, but I hereby tender my resignation forthwith.

  Was it too blunt?

  And what about the pleasure reference?

  After last night she didn’t want that to be misconstrued and so she deleted ‘a pleasure’ for the more ambiguous ‘great’.

  Then she added a couple of lines about how much she had learned, working with him, and sent it to the printer.

  And even if she hadn’t already been thinking of resigning there was absolutely no way she would be able to work with him after last night. Just the thought of facing him this morning was enough to make her blush.

  And sleeping with her boss was not exactly what her sister had been thinking about when she’d advised her to fully immerse herself in the experience so that she had no regrets. It hadn’t been what she’d been thinking either when she’d decided to attend the ball at the last minute, although she was honest enough to admit that she had wanted him to notice her as more than just his EA last night. And she had wanted to create some ‘amazing memories’.

  Mission accomplished, she thought.

  Not that she regretted anything that had happened between them. How could she when it had felt so right to be in his arms? But she had to eradicate that feeling. Along with her plan to work for him for another month. Yes, she’d feel badly, not helping him settle into his new role, but after last night... She felt her throat thicken with emotion. That terrible suspicion she’d had about falling in love with him had tripled since this morning.