His fingers once again began to circle and tease her clit. Reanna closed her eyes to savor the feeling. “What do you like, Reanna? This?” He rolled her clit between his thumb and finger, sending flames through her. He parted her folds and licked her excited nub. Reanna reached forward and grabbed one of his shoulders.
“I like that,” she said a rush.
He chuckled and continued his intimate assault. His tongue was hot, wet, and flicking back and forth until she was writhing with need for more. When he slid one finger within her and rolled it gently, she cried out in pleasure. He pumped his finger in and out gently, until she was wet and whimpering at the intensity of her excitement. A slow, unfamiliar heat spread through Reanna. She didn’t stop to question if that was her first climax. She wanted more than his tongue. More than his finger. She needed to feel him inside her.
As if he could hear her thoughts, he moved to position himself above her. He kissed her lips deeply, and her scent on him drove Reanna wild. The tip of his cock grazed the inside of one of her thighs, and Reanna shivered with excitement.
He mistook her response and whispered, “There may be some discomfort the first time. I will be as gentle as I can be.”
She nodded. She wanted to tell him to just do it. Now. She couldn’t wait anymore.
“Look at me, Reanna,” he commanded.
She raised her eyes to his.
He stroked the tip of his cock up and down her wet slit, grazing her clit each time. “Wrap your legs around me.”
She did.
He entered her slightly then withdrew. Reanna pulled his face down to hers again, welcoming his tongue inside her mouth as she spread her legs wider for him. He went deeper the second time, and deeper still with each stroke. Reanna began to move with him, matching his rhythm.
When he finally entered her fully, the pain Reanna had expected didn’t come. She felt herself being stretched to accommodate his size, but the sensation of being filled so completely outweighed all else.
“Are you okay?” he whispered into her ear.
“Oh, yes,” she said with a gasp.
His thrusts were deep and sure, and with each one, Reanna welcomed him with more confidence. She thrust her hips upward to meet him each time. As his pace increased another wave of warmth spread through her body, slowly washing over her, filling her with tingling pleasure.
“I think I just came,” she said between kisses.
He made it sound akin to a growl, and said, “Think? Luckily, I’m nowhere near done.”
He brought a hand down between them and with his thumb he rapidly stroked her nub as he continued to thrust deeply into her. The sensations she had felt earlier were intensified tenfold, and she began to thrash back and forth, giving herself completely to the orgasm. As she cried out in pleasure, he came inside her with one final deep thrust.
Oh, that’s an orgasm. Whoa.
He withdrew and held her as they both slowly came back to earth. Reanna closed her eyes and hugged him tightly. Never had she imagined sex could be that way. Nor had she imagined a man like Xander would care so much about her pleasure. Nothing could be that good and be real. If I’m lying somewhere in a coma and this is just a hallucination, please don’t wake me.
He kissed her forehead and hugged her more snuggly to his side. “Eventually you’ll have to open your eyes.”
She laid a hand on the center of his muscular chest, loving how his heart was still coming back down to a regular beat. She shook her head and kissed the arm her head was resting on. “What if you’re not real?”
He took her chin in one of his hands and raised it so he could kiss her lips lightly. “I am very real. I assure you. And I’m not going anywhere.”
Reanna opened her eyes and caught him smiling at her. “I’m sure the women you’re usually with say something witty right about now.”
He traced a thumb across her parted lips. “The only woman who matters to me is you, Reanna.”
He couldn’t mean that, could he? “What do we do now?”
He kissed her upturned nose. “We shower.”
She looked down at the pink evidence of her virginity on his still firm cock. His bare, condom-free, cock. “Oh my God. We didn’t use any kind of protection. I’m not on the pill. Shit.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Xander assured her.
Reanna flapped an arm in agitation. “What do you mean it doesn’t matter? Of course it matters. I don’t know you. You don’t know me. We just did something I can’t believe I would do with someone I just met yesterday. And we did nothing to prevent a baby or anything communicable. I am way too educated to make this kind of stupid, stupid mistake.”
“I’ve always been very careful, but with you I don’t need to be.” He picked her up and carried her to the bathroom, completely disregarding the fact she was squirming. He turned on the water without putting her down.
His words confused her. “What do you mean you don’t have to be careful with me?”
“We will talk about this, Reanna, but not now.” He held her just close enough to the spray of the still cool water that she shrieked.
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“I absolutely would, unless you stop fighting me. I want to enjoy our first shower together.”
Reanna settled down in his arms but glowered up at him. “You’re very bossy.”
He didn’t look bothered by her judgment. Instead he gave her a roguish smirk. “I may have been overindulged as a child. I do like to get my way.”
“And you’re proud of that?” Reanna countered.
He tested the water with one hand, and decided to wait another moment before stepping into the shower with her. “I am who I am, Reanna. If you cannot imagine yourself with a man like me, say it now.”
She studied his face closely. “That sounds as though we’re in a relationship. Are we? Can we be after one day together? I don’t know anything about you.” He stepped into the warm shower and lowered her to her feet beside him. She looked down at his once again fully excited cock. She waved a nervous hand in the direction of his crotch. “Well, besides that.” He picked up the soap and began to wash her. Fighting to remember what she was worried about, Reanna grabbed one of his soapy hands and held it. “You can’t just ignore my questions.” She closed her eyes with pleasure as his other hand began to intimately wash her sex. “Stop it. I can’t think straight when you do that.”
He continued stroking her and Reanna clung to his wet shoulders. “Then don’t think, Reanna. Enjoy.”
“But what about . . .?”
“I want you again. Now.” He took her hand and wrapped it around his throbbing shaft. “I understand this is new to you. If I had my choice, I would take things slower. I told myself I would wait, but you were too tempting.”
Reanna shivered with desire. Common sense battled and lost to the passion already building again within her. She stroked his cock and looked up into his eyes. People had casual sex all the time and survived. Maybe he was right; she was cheating herself by not letting herself go and simply enjoying it.
Xander’s soapy hands were everywhere on her. She didn’t want to think anymore. She wanted this. And more of what they’d done earlier. And maybe a few other things she’d heard about but had never imagined herself doing.
Xander made her want to say yes to everything.
He turned her so her back was against the wall of the shower. She moaned as he kissed her deeply, claiming her mouth with an expertise that had her sagging against him. He lifted her off her feet, and lowered her slowly down onto him. Reanna clung to him as he thrust upward into her. They were beneath the warm spray of the shower, their bodies slick from the steam and soap.
Reanna cried out his name as some of his gentleness dropped away, and their mating became wild and urgent. He pounded into her, and she met his thrusts eagerly. If tomorrow brought consequences of what they did that day, she decided she was going to have enjoyed every single moment of earning them.
&
nbsp; He took one of her nipples between his teeth. Pleasure mixed with pain, and Reanna dug her nails into his back. The action drove him wilder, and his thrusts became even more powerful. Reanna wrapped her legs tightly around his waist and opened herself wider to him. He kissed her neck hotly, nipping at the lobe of her ear. As he caressed her, there was a proprietary feel to him. This time she was his for the taking, and she loved every moment of being claimed by him.
When the first crest of a mind-shattering orgasm shuddered through her, he joined her, thrusting deeply one or two more times before relaxing against her, resting his head on her bare breasts. A few moments later he lowered her to her feet and said, “There is no reason for you to ever look down, Reanna. You are an amazing woman. I am going to enjoy watching you blossom.”
“Blossom?” Reanna asked, once again feeling like she had stepped into an alternate universe. “I don’t understand.”
He stepped out of the shower and toweled off, then wrapped the towel around his waist. He turned off the water and held out a second towel in front of him. “Come. I will dry you.” Reanna stood before him as he tenderly wiped the water off her, even blotted her hair with the towel before he wrapped it around her. “Let’s go to bed. I want to wake up with you in my arms. Morning sex always puts me in a good mood.”
Still in a haze, satisfied from what they had shared, Reanna led the way back to her bed. She slid beneath the sheets and moved over so he could join her. Tucked against his side, she whispered, “You can stay. But only one night.”
He chuckled and embraced her tighter. She was beginning to think he would stay exactly as long as he wanted to. The scariest part for Reanna was the realization that she was more than okay with that.
Maybe I can be this person.
Later that night Xander lay on his back with Reanna still asleep in his arms. He tried but failed to keep his mind from racing so he could join her in what looked like a peaceful slumber. Despite his desire to stay with her in the United States and put off the inevitable, he knew Simon was right. In the age of cell phones and the Internet, they would be better off heading back to his country soon.
But how? Reanna was a gentle soul. She didn’t deserve to be rushed or scared. The extent to which her life would change because of him was immeasurable and unavoidable. Once she stepped foot on Rubare Collina soil, her life and her future would be his responsibility. He didn’t want her to regret entrusting it to him.
He cursed himself for procrastinating. He should have started his search earlier, found her sooner. What little thought he’d put into this obligation had revolved around the annoyance of putting aside his work projects, not the possible feelings of the woman he would choose.
That had changed the moment he’d looked into Reanna’s eyes. Yesterday he’d made the mistake of returning to the packet Simon had compiled on Reanna and reading through pages of documents and summaries. Her life had not been an easy one. There were notes from social workers as far back as the age of seven. No information was beyond Simon’s reach. Confidentiality, like many other laws, dissolved for those with influence and money. He half-wished he hadn’t read the report of how her parents had died while on academic sabbatical in Egypt. Or how, lacking other family, she’d been placed in foster care.
He’d been infuriated by the report stating that at the age of eight she’d accused a fellow foster child of inappropriately touching her. With no evidence, and considering the likeable personality of the other child, Reanna had been the one removed from the home.
He wanted to go back in time and throttle every single person who had doubted her story. Evidence of what that experience had done to her was reported by her next social worker, who had written that Reanna had become withdrawn and exhibited an inability to trust the adults around her. The file also said she stated she was terrified of doing anything that would have her removed from her next placement.
She was moved four more times after that entry. The first time the family had a baby of their own. The next two families described her as withdrawn and unwilling to interact with other household members. The final family stated she was constantly having trouble at school, and they couldn’t handle the disruption to their work schedules.
Her report cards had provided evidence to support his suspicions. She’d excelled in every subject until she’d been promoted several years ahead in an attempt to challenge her advanced intellect. Her paperwork described her as a loner with only one documented friend whose visits resulted in temporary improved behavior from her: Kendra Little.
Reanna had attended college while she was still young enough to be in high school. She aged out of social services, and Simon’s file became anecdotal. There were clippings from online papers each time she won an academic award.
If his sources were correct, and he had every faith they were, her friend Kendra had found Reanna a job at Biostern after Reanna graduated with her PhD. Simon had noted Reanna had no family, no strong ties to work, and a small social network. But he hadn’t considered the length of time Reanna had been a friend with this other woman. Kendra might be trouble.
Which was another reason Xander had to move fast. He couldn’t give Reanna time to tell her friend about him. That was partly the reason he’d refused to leave Reanna the night before. His presence alone would inhibit her ability to reach out to her friend.
With Reanna’s project finished, her disappearance could be explained with very little effort. He would send in a resignation letter along with her files. The letter would say she was going on vacation. Her home and all of her bills would be dealt with. Tomorrow he’d offer to take her somewhere, convince her to get on his plane, and that would be the end of it. Then all he had to do was get her to say she loved him.
How hard could that be?
Once she settled in she would love his country. He kissed her forehead in response to a warm feeling that spread through him as he imagined her there. She was a woman who as a child had desperately wanted a place to belong. If he was right, she still craved such a place. With him, Reanna would have that. She would have a family and a place to call her own. He wished he could explain all that to her. It would make what he had to do less traumatic for her.
He didn’t like deception, but in this case, it was necessary. If she was scared of him, she would have difficulty giving her heart to him. He looked down at her face, seeing both the woman she was and the terrified child she had been. He couldn’t bring more pain to a woman like Reanna.
But he also couldn’t let her go.
He touched her cheek softly. Things are about to change, Reanna Fielding, but I promise I will make your life better than it has been. You’re mine now.
In the early hours of the morning, Xander fell asleep, still cradling Reanna safely in his arms.
CHAPTER FIVE
Reanna woke with a start at the sound of her phone ringing downstairs. She recognized Kendra’s ringtone and sprang out of bed.
Crap! I forgot Kendra is coming here this morning. Shit. Shit. Shit. I have to get down there before she lets herself in.
Reanna threw on jeans and a T-shirt and sprinted down the stairs to intercept her friend. She reached the living room just as Kendra was closing the door behind her.
“Did you forget we were meeting for breakfast?” Kendra laughed and referenced Reanna’s hair.
Reanna glanced at herself in the mirror beside the door and cursed. She smoothed her wayward locks the best she could with her hands. “I did. I’m so sorry, Kendra. Can we do it tomorrow? Or next week?” Reanna looked over her shoulder at the stairs leading up to her bedroom and pleaded, “And can you lower your voice?”
“Why? Do you have someone here?” Kendra joked in a stage whisper. When Reanna didn’t immediately deny it, Kendra said in a rush, “Seriously, is someone here?”
Reanna nodded and pointed toward the ceiling.
“A man? You have a man here?”
Reanna grabbed Kendra’s arm and shushed her. “Don’t make a
big deal over this. I’ll tell you all about it later.” She tried to drag Kendra back toward the door. “But you have to go.”
Kendra turned and took both of Reanna’s hands in hers. “Who is it? Is it the man you met the other day? Tell me you didn’t sleep with that guy down the street who leaves those creepy notes on your car.”
Reanna looked over her shoulder at the stairs that led to her bedroom and turned back to Kendra urgently. “Remember I told you I met someone at the bookstore? I will tell you everything if you go now before you wake him up.”
Kendra whipped out her phone and showed Reanna a picture. “Is this who you have upstairs?”
Reanna’s eyes widened with surprise. “I think so. You’re moving your phone around too much.”
Kendra held the phone in front of Reanna again. “Take a close look. Is that him?”
Reanna grabbed the phone and studied the photo. Xander was standing beside two other men who looked like they might be his brothers. “Yes, that’s him. How did you get a picture of Xander?”
“Prince Alexander Edward Charles Demande? Crown Prince of Rubare Collina? I knew his name sounded familiar. He’s from an island country off the coast of Europe. It’s like Monaco. They still have royalty. Only he and his brothers also run Dyholm, the company that supplies little chips to cell phone companies. They’re insanely rich. How did you meet him again?”
Reanna sank down onto the arm of the couch, staring at the photo of Xander. She scrolled up and down to read the accompanying story. He and his brothers had gone to England to attend a royal wedding, and had been photographed outside the church. It was just as Kendra said, Xander . . . Alexander . . . was royalty. “I might throw up. Or pass out. Or throw up and then pass out.”
Kendra rushed over and shook Reanna. “Oh, no you’re not! Not until you tell me everything. How did you meet a prince at a bookstore? I’m so jealous. I want to hear everything.” Kendra stopped and a huge smile spread across her face. “I can’t believe your first time was with a fucking prince. I’m still trying to forget how bad the sex was with that wrestler in high school. Remember the one who asked me to score him on a scale from one to ten because he was trying to improve his technique? I’m sure he’s still trying. He was awful.”
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