by R. S. Lively
Luca makes sure to step over the pool of blood, and his hard face softens as he gets closer to me. “Are you okay?” He manhandles me a bit when he cups my face, rubbing the skin with a little too much force.
It doesn’t bother me though. I know he means it out of love.
“You just threw a man down the steps. On purpose,” I say.
“I’d do it again if it means keeping you safe.”
“I think…” I move my gaze from the blood on the floor to the concern on his face. “I think I’m going to pass out.”
The whites of his eyes show. “Now?”
The world spins and blurs. Marcel’s face gets unrecognizable, and my hand lands on the teacup, sending it flying across the island, followed by a loud crash. “Yeah.” My eyes roll back to my subconscious, my body following into the weightless abyss.
Chapter Nineteen
Luca
My hand goes to the back of her head, and my other arm catches her around the waist before she hits the floor. I pull her to my chest, keeping her safe, right in my arms where she belongs. “I guess we won’t know what happened until later.” A piece of hair fell in her face, and I take my index finger, moving the strand of silk out of her eyes.
“Sire?”
“Yes, Marcel?”
“Whatever it was, when I saw her, she truly was frightened. I hid her in the cabinets, as you can see. He planned on doing something, Prince. And whatever it was, it wasn’t good.”
A breath escapes my mouth. “I’m glad I did what I did then. No one hurts my sweet little fox.” I bring her forehead to my lips and close my eyes, pressing a kiss against her damp skin. She’s soaked from fear and sweat.
“Yes, Sire. It’s a good thing. Although, may I add, what you did might have tipped her over the edge.”
“Ah, she’ll be okay.” She’s meant to be mine, after all, and a prince deserves a strong woman to stand by his side, and I think she’s the strongest there is. “Thank you for keeping her safe, Marcel.”
“Any time, Prince. I enjoy Ms. Caldwell. I believe she is a fantastic partner for you.”
“I’ll have to agree with you on that. We will be in my chambers for the rest of the day. I’ll call you if I need anything.”
“Good day, Prince. I hope she feels better.” He looks at her with concern before turning his back and going toward the staircase that leads to my mother’s chambers.
I nod my head, telling him to do the same as I take her to my room. “Oh, my sweet one. What happened?” Her tear-stained face rips at my heart. I hate knowing I wasn’t there for her when she needed me. I know I can’t be with her every second of every day, but she will be a target now. Perhaps I need more guards.
If I don’t, I’ll get them anyway. I’ll line the castle with an entire fleet if it means keeping her safe. Her cheeks are red, and her eyes are puffy, but still, her beauty is profound. It speaks volumes. Her jaw is soft, her lips a natural pale pink, her skin pale and flawless.
“I’m a lucky man,” I whisper against her lips and open the door to my room. Seconds pass and I’m at the bedside, laying her down on the soft mattress. She lets out a sigh and turns her head, brows pinched together.
Leaving her there, I loosen my tie as I enter the bathroom and grab a rag. Turning on the faucet, the rag gets soaked with cold water. I wring it out and go back to Rosie’s side, placing the rag on her forehead. She lets out a peaceful sigh, and I move the rag down to her chest and the back of her neck. Her eyes flutter, fighting the need to open.
I keep the rag on the back of her neck and reach for the mini-fridge next to the bed to grab some water. She will be thirsty when she wakes, I assume. The cap twists off easily enough, and I set it on the nightstand. She moans, turning her head in my direction. Her lips part in a wistful sigh, and those beautiful eyes flutter again. Those long lashes fan over the apples of her cheeks, replicating their shadows on her pale skin.
Carefully, I lift the back of her head and take the rag from the base of her neck, noticing that it is warm. “I’ll be right back, my sweet little fox.” I stand up and get the rag nice and wet with cold water, wring it out, and do the process all over again, but still, she doesn’t wake. “You’re worrying me, Rosie,” I whisper, running my fingers through her silky hair.
I place the rag in the middle of her chest and swirl the soft cotton over her flushed skin. She tilts her head back and whimpers. I pause my movements, wondering if it is still her trying to wake up, or reacting to the touch of the rag. I swallow, taking the cloth again and swirling it between her breasts.
She moans, again. And I can’t help it, my cock answers her call. The shaft starts to plump, so I close my eyes, willing it away. I move the cloth down her arms and up, grazing it over the pulse point of her neck, and diving back down between her breasts.
“Mmmm,” she says or groans. I’m not sure which. They both sound the same.
I ignore it. I’m not into taking someone while they don’t know what they are doing. She probably doesn’t know what her body is responding to.
Me. It’s responding to me.
I rip my eyes away from her writhing body, but her hand grips my wrist. I snap my head to look down and see those brown irises staring back at me, still riddled with unawareness. “Hey, you. You gave me a scare.” I bend back down and kiss her on the tip of her nose, thankful that she woke up.
“Don’t stop.”
I cock my head to the left, a bit confused. “Don’t stop what?”
“Touching me.” She grabs my hand and drags the rag across her chest again.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. You’re still shaken up,” I say, trying to do the right thing. Trying so fucking hard to do what’s right.
“Make it go away.” She uses my hand to go under the straps of her dress, yanking the small string down her shoulder.
“Make what go away?” I ask, needing to know before we go any further.
“His touch.”
My eyes see red. Now I wish I would have killed him. I knew he did something that upset her, but now I need to know everything. “He touched you?” My voice comes out threatening and low, reminding me of a demon.
She doesn’t flinch though. She knows I would never hurt her.
“Not in the way you’re thinking. Calm down.” Her hands lie on my face, gently cupping my jaw.
“I can’t. I can’t get the image out of my head.”
She slides her hands down my neck and chest, scratching the skin along the way until she reaches my hands. She lifts my hand, curling my fingers into my palm, and ghosting my knuckles down her shoulder. “He touched me like this. And like this—” Rosie takes my other hand and takes three of my fingers up her right thigh, the hem of her dress lifting the higher she takes me.
“Rosie…” I clench my jaw as anger boils my soul.
She stops my hand. “That’s all. He said a few horrible things, but it doesn’t stop me from wanting you.”
“I don’t want to push.”
Rosie leans on her elbows and lifts her right hand to take the blue strap off her left shoulder. It falls. My eyes linger on the space between each arm. It’s so creamy, so smooth. “I’m pushing you, and you aren’t giving in. I need you.”
She’s desperate. And who I am to say no? “I’ll never reject you when you need me, my sweet one.”
Her eyes close from enjoying my touch. I explore her canvas, tracing invisible lines down every inch I can see. Rosie pulls my three-thousand-dollar suit apart, causing the buttons to fly off and clatter on the ground. I don’t care. I can replace buttons.
I need this too. The grief from what my mother told me weighs on my heart, and Rosie’s want is distracting me from it.
“I want to suck your cock.”
My hand flies to my cock, pressing the heel against the straining length. It’s fighting to get out of my trousers. Her words are an erotic promise, gripping my stalk with the anticipation of her words.
Rosie wiggles ou
t from under me and gets on her knees. She pushes me down until I’m flat on my back, staring up at her, the straps on her dress still hugging her arms. Her brown hair flips to the other side of her body to get it out of her way as she crawls between my legs. She pulls at my belt. “I’ve been dying to taste you, Luca. I’ve dreamt about it.”
“Fuck, you can’t talk like that,” I grunt, holding the come threatening to shoot from my cock. How am I already so close? She hasn’t even touched me.
“Oh, you like that?” She bats her eyelashes at me. Her skin flushes with color as she bites her lips, baiting me like a temptress.
I slide my hands up her legs, stopping at the thick of her thighs and grabbing the meat, needing to release some of the sexual frustration she is making me feel. Her dress draping over my hands, hiding them, adds to the erotica of it all. “I really do.”
She rubs her palm over the tent in my pants, giving it a good squeeze. “I can tell.” Rosie leans forward, never taking her eyes off mine, and unbuttons my pants. Already, relief buzzes through the crown of my dick from the material giving. The sound of the zipper lowering reminded me of a slow, sexual song. My balls tighten to my body, and I know once she gets her mouth on me, it isn’t going to be long before I blow.
Fuck, just the thought of coming down her throat has my cock jerking beads of pre-come.
“I’ve never really done it before,” she admits.
“What, dirty talked?” I say in a heavy breath.
“Sucked cock.”
I close my eyes and take deep intakes of air to try to control myself. My body is shaking; my cock is so hard it’s about to combust, and I’m about to make a mess in my pants. I’m a fucking prince. I can’t be coming in my pants without a touch like a wanton teenager. “You need to give me a minute or this isn’t going to last. I fucking love that the only cock in your mouth is going to be mine.” I slam my fist against the bed as my orgasm gets closer.
My pants aren’t even down yet.
She blushes from my honest words, but still hooks her fingers in the waistband of my pants and yanks them down. My cock slaps against my stomach, yanking a rumble from my chest. “Oh,” she says with her eyes locked onto my rock-solid root.
I know what she is looking at. I’m a big guy. A large vein travels from the base to the tip, plumping it full of arousal. My crown is red and angry, almost purple it’s full of so much blood, like my cock needs to get bigger but physically can’t. Clear liquid pools above my navel from my slit, and she runs her finger through it, swirling it around until it gets caught in a few hairs. She brings her finger to her mouth, staring at me as she feeds it to herself. First, she runs the liquid over her lips like gloss, making them shine. Then, she shoves the slender digit into her mouth, swirling her tongue around it like a lollipop.
My lips part as I pant, watching her lick herself clean of my flavor, “Mon Dieu.” I whisper too low for her to hear.
“You taste good.” She smiles around her finger and pulls it out of the hot cavern of her mouth with a loud plop. She gets comfortable settling between my legs. She’s still dressed, as am I from the waist up. It all changes though when she pulls her arms free from the straps. Her round, perky tits show, no bra, just bare beauty in the best form.
I lick my lips, wanting a taste, but she holds me down. I take the hint for what it is. She wants to be in control. I’m okay with that. “I haven’t seen many. Are they all big like yours?” she asks in a sugary sweet voice.
Her innocence is mine and nothing turns me on more. “No, my sweet one. But I’m made just for you.”
“I don’t know if I can fit you in my mouth.” Her breath glides over my erection like a feather, and I tremble from the foreplay.
“You don’t have to, but I know you can.” I rub her bottom lip with my thumb, pulling it down until it bounces back into place.
She nods, staring at my girth like a challenge. She takes one hand, holding me tight in her soft palm. Her fingers don’t touch as they wrap around me, but that’s okay. She gives a tentative stroke.
I hiss.
She takes her other hand and squeezes my balls.
I groan.
She circles my crown with her tongue.
I cry out.
Everything she does is perfect. She knows what I like. Every move she makes, it’s as if she is reading my mind, doing what I know feels good. Rosie continues to jack my cock as she wraps her lips around the fat tip, sucking more of me, little by little.
My hands tangle in her hair and move with her as she bobs up and down. Her tongue twirls around me like she’s licking a popsicle, tracing the vein under the thin, sensitive flesh. “Oh, Rosie. Just like that,” I say, thrusting my hips into her mouth until she gags. “Sorry, my sweet. I got carried away.”
“It’s okay.” She licks her lips. “I liked it.”
She is a completely different woman in the bedroom. She isn’t shy with what she wants or thinks. She tells me, and I love it. I grip her hair with a little more force and drive my cock into her mouth again. The slurps and gags make me speed up my thrusts until I’m coming down her throat with a loud grunt that bounces off the walls. I watch with fascination as her mouth overflows with my seed, dripping down her chin and dropping onto the bed.
Rosie swallows as much as she can and licks me clean. I’m breathing hard and sweating as I look at her. Her mouth is a ruined mess and I swipe my finger along her chin and shove it between her lips. She moans, holding my hand with hers to keep me in her mouth. She reminds me of hungry vampires from folklore and books latching on to their victims until they are dry.
My cock is hard again, ready to slide into her pussy. With every suck she does around my finger, it’s a direct line to my cock, like she is blowing me all over again.
“So sweet,” I say as I watch her devour me.
And I can’t wait to do the same to her.
Chapter Twenty
Rosie
I blush from the way he looks at me as I eat my fruit. The day has passed, and now the sun is setting over the wondrous hills the kingdom sits on. I lay naked in the bed, covered in a thin white sheet. I pop another strawberry in my mouth, and he never take his eyes off me. His gaze moves from my mouth to my hand as I reach for another piece of fruit. “Interesting?” I ask with a small smile.
“Completely. Have you ever watched yourself wrap your lips around…well…anything? It’s sexy.”
I bite into a strawberry and roll my eyes from his exaggeration. “My lips are just like anyone else’s as they eat.”
He scoots closer to mem causing the sheet to fall from his waist and show his flaccid cock. It still shines from my juices. He fucked me from the back, on all fours, taking me like an animal. My body responds to the memory, my pussy getting wet.
“I will have to disagree with you. I’ve never tasted lips like yours. They are the best. Perfect. Made for me,” he whispers, grabbing a blackberry and rubbing it over my lips.
I flick my tongue out, tasting the tart nectar from the small fruit. I push it between my lips, and I bite down, chewing on the juicy, sweet treat.
“Yeah, there is no one like you,” he says, watching me enjoy the desert he had delivered to our room after our little romp.
I wipe the side of my mouth, shy all of a sudden. I’ve never had anyone talk to me or look at me the way Luca does. He makes it easy to love him, and I do, but it’s only been a few days. When is it okay to love someone? Am I being the virgin girl who falls in love with the guy who takes her virginity? I don’t want to be that girl. How can I not be, though, when I’ve done nothing but fall in love with him over the last three months?
“What’s going through that pretty head of yours?” he asks.
“Just thinking about how happy you make me, that’s all.”
“That’s all, huh? I find that to be everything, Rosie.” He moves the plate of fruit from the bed and places it on the nightstand before rolling it out of bed. He’s completely bare. His ass is a
n object of perfection. He has two dimples right above the bubbled curve. His muscles in his back flex as he stretches, showing every line and valley he has worked so hard for. His cock lies against his thigh, heavy and long, making my mouth water for another taste.
“You keep looking at me like that and you’re going to drain me dry, but I’ll do it, for you.”
I break eye contact from his body and look at the window, knowing what he meant. He’s come twice today—any more, and he might be shooting nothing but air. I take it as a compliment. It makes me feel good that I’ve made him feel so good.
“Come on, let’s take a bath.” He holds out his hand for me to take.
The ache in my pussy tells me warm water will feel great. I slip my hand into his, and he robs my breath from the simple touch. The sheets slide down my body as I stand in front of him, nude.
“You are beautiful,” he says in disbelief, like he can’t believe he gets to look at me.
“So are you,” and I mean that. I know men like to be called handsome or hot, but Luca is beyond that. He is handsome, but he is an ethereal god in my eyes, like a beauty that can’t be reached. I peer up at him over the graceful curve of my shoulder, shy again.
“What you do to me,” he whispers and drags me behind him as he takes us to the pristine bathroom.
The round, large tub sits higher, on another level than the rest of the bathroom. It has to. It’s too big. The tub is deep, too. It can seat four, at the least. The handles remind me of a Victorian-style faucet. They are gold and long, pointing down to signal the water is off. Luca turns the knob all the way until it’s turned up to the ceiling.
Right away, steam rises from the rush of water. There’s no waiting for it to heat up. Luca bends over, pouring some type of liquid that smells of apple and vanilla in the tub. Bubbles start to form, and he looks pleased with himself before standing straight. “I’ll be right back.” He kisses my cheek, disappearing into the bedroom again.
