A body long shiver visibly runs through me when I think of the stiff tree trunk hanging between the man’s legs.
Both of Nat’s eyebrows dart up. “Damn—that answers my question.” She takes another bite of her sandwich. “This is really surprising news because the last we left off, you didn’t seem so sure about going out with him.”
I shrug. “I wasn’t…but then we started talking and we started kissing and…the chemistry was just there, y’know. I can’t explain it. We both wanted to fight it. He had his walls all the way up. But at the end of the day, the attraction was too strong to resist.”
A thoughtful look comes over my friend’s face and she hesitates to ask. “So, was it a one-time thing or are you guys together or just hooking up or…”
My stomach gets all tied up over the question. “We promised each other it was just a fling. …”
And because she’s my best friend, she immediately reads the expression on my face. “But now you’re wanting more…”
It’s not like me to be this invested in a guy. I’m not the kind of girl who automatically needs to jump into a relationship just because I happened to bump uglies with a dude. I’m usually just fine with casual sex. But this time…with this man…
I pull in a sharp breath. I try to reason with her, with myself. “He’s not staying in Copper Heights forever.” My shoulders drop with resignation. “Plus, he’s a fucking prince. How realistic is it for me to expect something more from him?”
She huffs, her nose wrinkling with contempt. “You could totally bag a prince,” she says with confidence. A little laugh comes out my mouth. Her eyes flash, severity radiating from her gaze. “Does he know how you feel?” she asks sympathetically.
My shrug is helpless, pathetic. “Talking about it won’t change things. It’ll only make everything more complicated…I just need to get out of my feelings. And have fun while he’s still around.”
Nat looks worried about me. As usual. Her forehead is creased, her eyes are narrowed.
I reach out and shake her arm. I singsong her name. “Natalieee. It’s okay. It’ll be fine.”
“You sure?” she asks skeptically.
“Yes, it’ll be fine. And fun. I mean—how many girls do you know can say they had a royal shag? Or ten?” I imitate Xavier’s sexy accent when I say that.
Finally, she laughs. “Okay… as long as you don’t get yourself hurt…”
I throw both of my palms up innocently. “Nobody gets hurt. I swear.”
She sighs with resignation. “Well, I love you, hun. You deserve to have some fun. With a damn prince.” Leaning over the table she throws me a wink. “And I think your vagina deserves all the spiritual development workshops it can get.”
“Vagina Dearest couldn’t agree more.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Xavier
"You're staring at me."
She snuggles lazily against her pillow. Her comment sounds more like an observation than a complaint, really. I grin and brush a strand of dark hair from her eyes. "You were staring at me first."
Her fingers lock around my wrist. She drapes my arm across her waist beneath the covers. God—she's soft. My touch scrapes up her spine, caressing her smooth skin. "There's nothing else to stare at." She shrugs faintly.
"You could stare at the ceiling." I nod my chin at Ethel’s homage to the masculine crotch.
Sadie chuckles, throwing a quick glance at the mural. "I enjoy having a scrotum in my face as much as the next girl but that is a bit much." She scrunches up her nose. So fucking cute.
I sigh, getting closer. “So, we could stare at each other..." I brush my nose against hers. My fingers move down her tailbone and through the seam of her luscious arse. She doesn't even flinch. "...Or if that makes you uncomfortable, I have a few ideas for other things we can do."
My dirty, dirty girl groans and presses her arse into my palm. "Mmm…I have a question?”
“What is it, sweetie?”
“Will that accent of yours ever stop making me wet?" Her voice goes low and needy as her eyes flutter shut.
My thumb presses just a little bit harder against her puckered anus. I drop my tone to match hers. "I say we run a scientific experiment to find out. Let's lie in bed all day and I'll whisper naughty things in your ear and we'll document the results. Maybe I’ll pull some strings and have it printed in a scientific journal or something."
Flipping onto her back, she looks up at the ceiling and laughs. "That idea sounds absolutely amazing…but I have to go to work today."
"You don't have to work today.” Am I pouting? I think I’m pouting.
She brushes her lips over mine. “Yes, I do.”
I growl, frustrated that her barely-above-minimum-wage job is going to get in the way of us enjoying each other. Again. “Take the day off. Call in sick and I'll pay you back."
She scoots away from me, to the edge of the bed, clenching the blanket to her naked chest as she goes. Leaving me completely exposed. "I'm just gonna go into the bathroom and take a shower and pretend you didn't just offer me money in exchange for sex. M'kay?"
Ouch!
She glides through the doorway, her footsteps a little stomp-ier than usual. "Didn't mean it that way!" I call out after her.
She responds by rolling her eyes as she presses her fingers to her lips then smacks her supple behind.
Kiss my arse.
I would gladly spend my day fulfilling that request. If only she'd let me. I hear the bathroom door slam shut and the water turns on.
Lying back with both hands behind my head, I grin. And try to avoid looking at the ceiling, of course.
Man—life is good. Being with Sadie feels good. I can’t remember the last time I smiled so much or laughed so much. I can’t remember the last time I felt so protective of a woman, so determined to keep her happy. The highlight of my day is her range of facial expressions—The way she grins when she talks about her job. The way she tries to pout when I do something to get a rise out of her. That little smirk that pinches her face when she pokes fun at me…The way her eyes flutter and her lips part when she comes apart on my cock.
My entire day revolves around her, around being with her…because at the back of my mind, I know my time is running out.
I've been increasingly worried about the Queen’s health. As much as I'd like to pretend that the world outside of these four walls doesn't exist, the reality is that Grandmum’s time is running out, too. I have duties to her and to my country. I can’t avoid them forever.
When I call Thomas for an update on her health status, the prognosis seems bleak. "She’s been bedridden for days," my secretary tells me. "She called for her doctor. I believe he's seeing her as we speak." He clears his throat. "Your Highness, I think you should prepare yourself for the worst."
My gut sinks when he says that. She's been getting sicker over the weeks that I’ve been gone. They've run a million tests. They've brought in specialists. They can't quite figure out what's wrong. I think the doctor has chalked it up to old age.
I prop myself up on the mountain of decorative pillows surrounding me. I hate the words that come out of my mouth next. "She should step down. Give up the Crown and focus on her health." I know that my grandmother’s abdication would bring me closer to the Throne and pile a heap of responsibilities onto my shoulders that I’m just not suited for or interested in. But it’s what’s in her best interests.
Thomas scoffs snidely. "From what I hear, that's what your father has been advising her as well.” Even though I can clearly read the insinuation in his tone, he spells it out anyway. “Unlike you, your father is very eager for a taste of power.”
That's no secret. Edmund has always been a power-grabber but lately he’s become completely tactless about it, carrying himself as if his mother were already six feet under. I've been keeping up with the news articles out of Ridgeland.
"The bastard," I mutter under my breath and scrub a hand down my face.
"Your Highness, if I may…”
I’m pretty sure I already know what he’s going to say…I exhale heavily. “What is it, Thomas?”
“I think that you should come home. She's your grandmother and if anything should happen to her, you'd regret that you weren't here to say goodbye."
The truth of that statement slices straight through my chest. I know he's right but I don't want to admit it. When I arrived in Copper Heights, I was being a coward. I was trying to hide, not only from the sins I've committed and the people I've hurt, but also from the life I was born into—the obligations, the duties, the privileges. I was searching for a simpler life.
But now my reasons for wanting to stay here are entirely different.
Sadie’s screechy singing-voice filters into the bedroom. She’s a terrible singer. But that never stops her from bellowing at the top of her lungs. She literally thinks she’s the next Stevie Nicks.
This girl has flipped me inside out. I barely even recognize myself. I'm happier. I'm better now that she's around. How will I manage going back to the life I was living before? I need her so much.
Eager to evade Thomas's guilt trip, I hastily put an end to the conversation, telling him to keep me apprised of the state of the Queen’s health. I toss the phone across the mattress and drag my hands down my face.
The bathroom door opens and Sadie waltzes into the room, dancing to music only she can hear. Beautiful, carefree, brave. Dammit, Sadie. I’m falling for you and that definitely wasn’t the plan.
Oblivious to the turmoil in my head, she dances right past the bed and snatches her T-shirt off the headboard. She shimmies her body as she slides it over her head. I lie there watching her, melancholy wrapping around my heart. She makes a come here gesture with her hands, inviting me to her exclusive party. The offer to wrap my arms around her and feel her body moving against mine is tempting but I refuse it anyway. “I think I’ll pass,” I tell her.
“You sure?” she teases, strutting closer to the bed with a devilish glint in her eyes. Her fingers crawl up and down her thighs as she moves.
Fucking temptress.
I’ll show her.
I grab her by the waist and pull her down onto the mattress. She yelps as she tumbles. I flip us over so that I'm on top, completely dominating her. She kicks up her feet, protesting. With a hand between her legs, I spread her thighs apart to make room for my hips. I want her to feel how hard I am for her. I grind against her and she’s so willing. Always so willing and wet for me.
Sheathed in a condom, my cock is angled at her entrance, pulsing with the need to join with her. Her fingertips play across my collarbone. My name evades her lips on a whisper.
And I forget that a world exists outside of these walls. Because she's the universe. Her eyes are brighter than the stars. Her body sprawls out beneath me like a landscape. Her touch is lightning on the surface of my skin. She's the universe.
She smiles and I'm captivated. My heart is her prisoner. I'm a bloody monarch. I literally have a kingdom at my feet, unspoken power at my fingertips. Yet all I want in this world is to stay locked in this room with this girl.
And I don't know how the hell I'm supposed to let go.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Xavier
Sweat pours down my temple as I sweep the roller brush up and down the kitchen wall.
I really hope Sadie likes this shade of yellow. From the moment I saw the color swatch at the hardware store, it stood out to me and I instantly knew it was the right shade. It’s bold and exciting, fresh and a little rebellious but still warm, radiant, beautiful. The color describes Sadie so well.
I spent the day painting her apartment, each and every room. The bathroom is a fresh shade of mint green that matches the tiles. The hallway is a crisp sky blue. The living room is soft pink, sort of like bubblegum. Or Sadie’s soft tongue. Or that sweet, slippery space between her thighs.
God—it always comes back to sex. But I can’t help it. That body of hers was made for my hands and my mouth and my cock to explore. Those soft curves, the long legs, that perfect hourglass shape in a perfect size twelve. My body has never reacted to a woman’s like this before. Not with this much urgency, this singeing lust, this nearly violent degree of need.
But it’s my heart I’m most concerned about.
The damn girl’s got her fingers locked around my heart. I hate admitting it but it’s true. I’m a goner for her. She’s so damn sweet, so funny, so kind. And she’s free. She marches to her own drum. She dances whenever she wants. I’m captivated by her.
I’m not standing in this apartment sweating bullets with paint splatter all over my skin because of some obligation that’s written in her lease. I’m here because I love her. Because I want her to be happy. Because if painting a damn wall is what I have to do to see her smile when she walks through that front door, then I’ll paint a fucking wall.
I’m so very screwed. Way in over my head. But I’m blissful when I’m with her. Sometimes, I even forget about all my shortcomings, my flaws, my sins, my responsibilities. Sometimes, I look at her and all I see is her.
When I hear her keys jingling in the lock, my heart goes into overdrive. The widest grin spreads across my face and I march into the hallway, throwing the door open. She’s standing there, looking a little bit frazzled—hair all messed up from the humidity, rollerblades slung around her neck, stomach sweat-slick and bared in her tiny gym bra—and she grins at me, too. Wide and uninhibited, like she’s been waiting for this moment all day, just like I have.
And I can’t be expected to keep my hands to myself, not when she’s looking at me like that.
I drop the paint brush to the newspaper covering the floor and I yank her body against mine. She yelps but I swallow the sound with my lips crashing into hers. I kiss her, hands clenching greedily on her waist and her hips, tongue tangling with hers. She moans but her hands are on my shoulders, applying force.
I think she’s trying to push me away…?
I barely register the sound of footsteps entering the front door. It’s the tiny voice of a child that breaks my trance. “Aunt Sadie, the prince is your booooyyyfriend?” the little girl singsongs.
Sadie pulls away completely with a hint of a blush on her cheeks as she faces the tiny redhead. Her words don’t come easily. “Uh…hey, honey. Um…” Maybe this makes me a jerk but I love seeing her flustered. She turns her attention to me. “I’m babysitting tonight so Natalie and her ex can go on a date. They’re taking a shot at working things out.” Her tone is almost apologetic when she says it.
The child pushes into the apartment, headed straight for me. “Hey, Your Majesty!” she says. She drops her head to her chest and crosses one foot in front of the other as she bends her knobby knees in front of me. The perfect curtsey.
Smiling, I give her a gallant bow in return. “Hi. You must be Thandi. Your Aunt Sadie has told me all about you.”
Glittering blue eyes go wide. “She did?” Thandi’s gaze bounces over to Sadie, both of her tiny hands clenching on the straps of the oversized backpack on her shoulders.
“Uh-huh. She even told me that you placed first in your summer camp's science competition. I think that’s really, really cool.”
"Yup! My homemade fire-based water filtration system was lit! Literally!" She beams at her witty pun and I laugh heartily. "I wanna be a scientist when I grow up.”
"Then, you must be really smart like your Aunt Sadie?" I state sagely.
"You got it!" She stretches her fist out and I bump mine against hers.
I flash Sadie a wink. "Smart, pretty girls rule, huh?“
Thandi grins shamelessly in Sadie’s face. "I like this guy. Better than the last one. Nice pick, Aunt Sadie.”
Sadie’s blush is in full force and effect now. She speaks quickly. “Honey, Xavier is just my friend, okay?”
I fold my arms over my chest and lift a brow. “I think I could maybe be more than your friend.”
The instant the word
s come out of my mouth, the alarm bells go off. Fuck—maybe I shouldn’t have said that. I shouldn’t have suggested something that I’m not able to deliver on. Yes, theoretically, I’d love to get more out of this situation with Sadie. I’d like to be more than just the guy who plays her body like a fine-tuned instrument and makes her toes curl into the mattress. I’d love to be more than her friend.
“Huh?” Sadie looks at me with wide, shocked eyes.
I should backtrack, explain myself, rectify the situation. But here I am, making it worse. “Yeah, we could be more than friends. I mean, we have Thandi's blessing, after all." I shrug a shoulder. What the hell is wrong with me?
Thandi’s nod is vigorous. “Yup, you definitely have my blessing.”
Now, Sadie is stuttering. “Um, well…How…uh…”
I need to put her out of her misery. I clasp a hand on Thandi’s bony shoulder. “How about we all go to my apartment upstairs so the paint down here can dry? I’ll make you a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Then, you can build that water filtration device and show me and Aunt Sadie how it works?”
“That sounds super cool!” The child squeals. “Right, Aunt Sadie?”
Sadie nods mutely. And Thandi bounds out the door and up the stairs, leaving the two of us to follow after her.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Sadie
I squirm against the mattress as Xavier laps gently at one nipple and then at the other. He hums with delight and the delicious vibration causes me to shudder and lock my arms tighter around his neck. I don’t want him to stop. Ever.
His fingers dip into my opening and move smoothly inside of me. My muscles clench as my arousal spills out onto his fingers. “You’re going to drown me in this wet little cunt, darling.” He deftly replaces his fingers with his cock.
The Blue Collar Bachelors Box Set: The Complete Blue Collar Bachelors Series Page 97
