Royal Bastard

by Nana Malone

  “Lucas, now.”

  Her rocking motions caused her sex to rub against my tip.

  I shuddered from the need. “I’ll go easy.”

  She smiled. “There you go, trying to make decisions for me again. When I want easy, I’ll ask for it.”

  With slow, tilting motions of my hips, I slid in to the hilt. We both hissed in breaths. Hers was an “Ahhhhh.” Mine an, “Ohhhhh.”

  Bliss. I rocked my hips back, slowly pulling out, and rocked forward again. As my cock stroked the sensitive walls of her flesh, she dug her nails deep, scoring marks that a part of me hoped would become permanent.

  She tossed her head back, baring her neck to me. Taking advantage, I nipped at the column of her neck even as I drew forward and the sensitive flesh of her core milked my cock, pulsing and releasing in its tight sheath.

  “Lucas.” My name on her breath was both a balm to the part of me that was always searching, always moving, and an accelerant to the driving urge for self-destruction. Even as our bodies moved together, mixing sweat and her perfume, I knew once wouldn’t be enough. She was already under my skin. As I drove her higher and higher and felt the tingling at the base of my spine, I knew walking away from Bryna Tressel would be torture.

  “Lucas. Please.” Her delicate fingers twined in my hair, pulling me close.

  “Come on, sweetheart.” I drove into her with an increasingly insistent pace, no longer coaxing, but demanding she be my for a night, for a millennium. “I want to feel you around my cock as you come. Let go, Bryna. You’re safe with me.”

  “I—” Her breath hitched.

  I ground my teeth together. The tingle in my spine had turned into fire. I couldn’t hold back. “Bryna.”

  Her body trembled in my arms, and I felt the quiver of her slick flesh against my cock. “Oh. Fuck. Me.”

  As she came, her body flooded mine and clamped tight around me, unwilling to let me go.

  Bryna

  I woke to the sun streaming in Lucas’s bedroom window, and my body still tingled. Lucas lay snoring, one arm thrown over his face, and the other loosely thrown over me, sheets in a complete and total tangle.

  I tried to scoot out of bed while keeping at least part of the sheet covering me, but that wasn’t an option as Lucas was tangled in them. I eventually just gave up before grabbing a T-shirt from his top drawer. I glanced down at him and couldn’t help but smile. He looked so sexy with his abs on display, an arm thrown over his head, and every muscle deliciously revealed.

  I glanced at the clock on the bedside table and winced when I saw it was 5:30 a.m. I padded out to the living room to get some water. I couldn’t help the sheepish grin when I saw most of our clothes strewn all over the living room floor. I stepped over my shoes, my dress, Lucas’s tuxedo pants, his tuxedo jacket…

  When I finally quenched my thirst, I filled another glass for him. I started to carry it back to the bedroom when I paused to pick up his discarded jacket. His wallet fell out, and I picked it up to put it on the counter. Several cards slipped out. I picked them up and meant to shove them back in.

  I was not snooping. Totally not snooping.

  But one quick glance and my breath caught. They were IDs… several of them. Only one of them was Lucas Newsome. The others were for Lucas Beard, Jason Atkins, and Lucas David Anton.

  I let them all clatter back to the kitchen counter with a sigh. What the hell was he doing with these?

  Stop. You know who he is. He told you everything about his history and who he was.

  And I’d chosen him. Last night, I told him that none of it mattered. And it didn’t. I knew who he was. I knew him well. He would never hurt me.

  So what the fuck was this?

  He had five driver’s licenses, each with a different name and address. I didn’t want to invade his privacy anymore, at least not by going through his wallet, but I found credit cards in those other names too. If I kept digging, those addresses would likely flush out too. He’d have built a whole life with those names. Just in case someone like me came calling and he had to run.

  You gave him your word. My heart started to race in my chest. The rapid thud-thud-thud-thud drowning out all other rational thought. Turbulent waves of emotion crashed through me. I just needed… Shit, what did I need? I couldn’t talk to him. Not right now. I needed some distance, some time. I needed to filter and work it out.

  I had made him a promise. I headed straight for the shower, and my brain still tried to make sense of what I’d just seen.

  Pieces of last night’s conversation kept coming back to me. All the things he’d said, every part of his confession played over and over again in my head.

  He’d confessed to being a thief and a grifter, but that was in the past. He walked away last night from a job that probably would have been extremely lucrative. He told me who he was. I couldn’t even imagine that kind of pain, finally finding his father and then losing him. He found out his father was a king, and he a prince, every fairy tale come true. And then to have that ripped out from under him…

  He had reasons for what he did. He had to survive. And there would be consequences for last night, someone he’d have to answer to. It worried me how little I knew him.

  You do know him.

  I told this to myself as I climbed into the shower and let the hot spray pelt against my skin. He’d given me a job. He’d given me a place to stay. And he’d given up himself to save me. That was who he really was. Those IDs weren’t him. Those were for survival.

  When we’d come home from the event, I’d felt the kind of connection with Lucas that I’d only read about in books or witnessed in movies. That was real. There was no hiding from that. It existed. It was tangible. I could feel it and examine it. So I needed to find a way to deal with this. I loved him. We still had a lot to work out, but we could do it. I knew we could.

  35

  Lucas

  Panic.

  Not because I might have a bunch of psychos after me. Not because I walked away from my old life, not because I burned bridges, but because I woke up and Bryna was gone.

  It took me several seconds to actually feel her side of the bed and realize it was still warm. She hadn’t been gone for hours. If she’d run, it was only moments ago, and I still had time to catch her.

  I recognized how desperate I sounded but I didn’t care. Maybe she needed time, and maybe it was just safer for her to be away from me. After all, there would be retribution. I had my phone out, ready to call Roone, but then I heard the shower going.

  See dumbass? She’s just having a shower.

  Except she was having a shower in the other bathroom.

  All her shower shit is in there. We hadn’t been exactly looking where we’re going when we were aiming for the nearest bed for round two. We’d eventually made it to my bedroom. Where you fucked her like the animal Tony says you are. I hadn’t been gentle. I’d been out of control.

  I ran to the bathroom door, and it took everything in my power not to thrust open the door and ask her if she was running. My instincts said she was, and I needed to know why. After what you told her, what did you expect?

  She recognizes that you’re a crazy person, who’d made a whole career out of lying, and then you told her you were the prince? Oh yeah, that screams, ‘You should totally stay with this guy.’

  But she’d promised she would talk to me. She wouldn’t just leave me.

  Oh yeah, you believe that? She made you a promise between orgasms, and you bought it?

  Okay, yeah. That was dumb. I should have made her promise before I started giving her orgasms, held them for ransom.

  It didn’t matter though. I wasn’t giving up. Even if she’d bolted from bed. I was going to be as understanding as possible because it was a lot to digest. So much. But I wanted to be better for her. I needed her I like I needed air, so I wasn’t going to push. I was going to wait. I sat on the bed and tried to stay calm.

  The water finally shut off, and several moment
s later she came out wrapped in a towel. She squeaked and jumped back. “Oh my God, Lucas, you scared the shit out of me.”

  I shrugged. “Sorry. I’m just returning the favor for when I woke up alone.” The anger bubbled to the surface.

  Immediately, her brows snapped down. “I was just in the shower.”

  “Were you?” I hated how that sounded. Weak, like I needed her. But who was I kidding? I did need her. I had completely fallen in love with her. She knew every single one of my secrets. There would be no recovery from this when she left me. And I knew it wasn’t a question of if, but when. I just hoped that I would have a little more time with her first.

  “I just came to grab a shower.”

  “Tell me the truth. Don’t hide. Don’t lie. You were running.”

  “I—" She shifted, her dark hair curling on her neck.

  I shook my head. “Don’t lie to me Bryna, if you’re running, tell me now.”

  She sighed. “I just needed a few minutes to myself. Your wallet fell out of your jacket, and I saw your IDs and I just…” She shook her head. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

  I sat up. I wanted to go to her. I wanted to wrap my arms around her.

  ”Everything that happened last night was so visceral and emotional, and I just needed to mute things for a moment so I could think.“

  I ground my teeth and swallowed the pain like shards of glass in my throat.

  “Second thoughts?” My voice came out low, almost inaudible, but she heard me.

  She shook her head. “No, because I still know who you are. I’m just having a hard time understanding. For over a month now, you’ve been lying to me, lying to my father, lying to Sebastian, lying to everyone. It worries me how good you are at it.”

  She was right. I was a really fucking good liar. “I tried not to lie to you. Outside of keeping the secret of me being the prince, everything else I’ve told you is true. I worked with your father on behalf of Sebastian. Yes, I lied by omission. But several things I didn’t have the authority to tell you. Not that I have the authority to tell you now, but considering I’ve been inside you, I don’t give a fuck.”

  She swallowed hard. “You have such a fluid relationship with the truth.”

  “You said it didn’t matter. I never would have touched you last night if you—" I shook my head and ran my hands through my hair. What the hell was I going to say? I was going to say whatever was needed to make sure she didn’t leave me. I couldn’t stand to have her walk away.

  “Lucas it’s not—"

  I shook my head to cut her off. I couldn’t stand for her to say the words. “I know. This is too much. I’ve asked for too much.”

  She sighed. “Stop. You haven’t asked for too much. I volunteered for this. I’m just confused. I’m allowed to feel this way, right? Last night, I could feel it. Being with you feels right. But it’s terrifying when I see five different IDs in your wallet. You could leave me at any moment, and I would have no idea where to look, or who to call, or what to say, or what to do, because this is what you do so well. And that’s terrifying for me.”

  I pushed to my feet. “You think I’m not scared? Hell yeah, I am. Even one of those things I told you is enough to make you walk away, to make you run. Why did you stay? Why?”

  She tilted her chin up. “I love you, you idiot. But those IDs… where are you going? Are you leaving me?”

  What? She thought I’d go?

  “I’m not going anywhere.” I shook my head. “I considered it. I thought it might even work in your favor if I just vanished, you know? But I couldn’t make myself do that. I need you too much.” I exhaled and asked what scared me the most. “Even after knowing how awful I am, the things I’ve done, the things I was willing to do… do you still want to be with me?”

  She opened her mouth, and I held my breath. I don’t think I’ve ever waited so long for an answer in my life.

  “Of course. This isn’t exactly a choice for me. From the moment I met you, there’s been this pull between us. I can’t deny it. I feel alive, and infuriated and free, and giddy when I’m with you.”

  I needed to be honest with her, even though it was going to hurt. “I have no idea how to love someone right. I’m scared that you were exposed to the person that I was, exposed to bad people because of me and what I’ve done, and I don’t want that. I’m also a man of my word. When I gave it, I promised you I wasn’t going to make decisions for you. So if you’re staying, then I’m keeping you.”

  Her smile was soft. “You are the master of my smile. I couldn’t leave you. I’m not going anywhere.”

  I choked on a sigh of relief. It was all I needed from her. “I’m sorry you saw those IDs. I’m sorry you doubted for one second what I said.”

  She met my gaze levelly. “I’m in. I want you Lucas, always you. From the moment I saw you, I was in for the ride.”

  I didn’t realize I’d been holding my breath until I finally let it go. She was really mine. And I would do anything humanly possible to protect her.

  Bryna

  A deep chill woke me. I peeked an eye open and shut it immediately when the sunlight nearly blinded me. I reached for my blanket, came in contact with hard, searing heat. Lucas.

  Memories flooded over me as I recalled the elevator, foyer, and eventually the bedroom. Our fight. Making up in the shower and again in bed. All of it in startling clarity. I bit back a moan as my tender flesh pulsed at the memories.

  I’d been Lucas’s to do with as he wanted, and I’d loved every minute of it. For me, sex had never been like that. Raw and dirty and so satisfying. With Lucas I could do anything with no fear.

  I sighed when he pulled me close to him and turned me over in bed so we could spoon. As I nestled against him, the hard length of him nudged against my ass. He couldn’t possibly…

  “Hmmm, baby. You cold?” he whispered into my neck.

  I nodded and murmured something noncommittal. I didn’t feel nearly as cold now resting against his heat. I wiggled to get closer, and he growled.

  “Damnit woman, I’m not a machine.” But that didn’t stop him from lifting my leg and shifting behind me to align his erection with my slick heat.

  I felt him searching for something with his free hand in the bedside drawer.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “Damn Bryna, I think we’re out of condoms. I didn’t think we’d go through them all.”

  A flush crept up my body. “Oh. I uhm. I’ve been tested in the last year, and I’m on the pill.”

  He hissed in a breath. “I had a clean bill of health at my last check-up. I’m pretty sure I have some more around here somewhere.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t want to wait.”

  “Are you sure, Bryna? I—”

  “Shut up and make love to me.”

  He chuckled and drew me back up against him. “Somebody sure is bossy. I could get used to this.”

  As he entered me with slow precision, I gasped. I hadn’t thought my body could handle any more, but my flesh parted and stretched to accommodate him.

  “You sore?” He stilled, waiting for an answer.

  “A little, but don’t stop.”

  “I don’t want to hurt you.” The twitch of his dick inside me wasn’t voluntary, but the movement made me push against him.

  “You’re not… hurting me. Don’t… you… dare stop,” I breathed out.

  He groaned but inched forward again. “What the lady wants, the lady gets.” And he wasn’t kidding. I felt every ridge and vein of him as he moved within me. The contrast of his soft, satiny skin against the hard column of his dick was enough to make me quiver.

  We were in no hurry this time. He took his time. With aching tenderness, he kissed my neck and shoulder.

  “Fuck. You are so fucking beautiful. And sexy. And damn mischievous. I will never in my life forget you walking out naked during my date. I wanted to spank you. And then I wanted to fuck you.” He continued whispering words of love into
my ear. He told me how beautiful I was, how much he loved being inside me, how much he needed to touch me. And how good I felt bare.

  He reached around and stroked my clit, and I moaned as the pleasure and spasms increased. “Oh, God, Lucas.” He wasn’t far behind me, as he gripped my hips hard enough to leave bruises and thrust into me. I felt the warm flush of his seed as he came inside me, his dick twitching.

  “Jesus, Bryna, I think you broke me.”

  “I’m just getting started Lucas Newsome…” my voice trailed. “What’s your real name? It just occurred I might not know it.”

  His smile was soft. “It is Lucas Joninski. But I haven’t been him in a very long time.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, Lucas Joninski Newsome Winston. They are all you. And I love them all.”

  36

  Lucas

  That afternoon, Bryna took a nap. She looked so cute all curled up, hair a mess and falling into her face. I should take a picture of that moment and hold on to it forever. She was mine. For the first time in my life, I had somebody who loved me with no strings attached to that love, and I knew exactly who I was.

  I also had Sebastian; I knew that. But our relationship would always be a little complicated. Besides, he came looking for his brother, determined to love him. Bryna loved me by choice, which, given who I was, was kind of amazing. Now all I had to do was be worthy of her love. I’d put in a call to Sebastian first thing after Bryna and I worked out how we were going to do this. He hadn’t called me back yet, but I needed to fill him in on last night.

  He’d be disappointed, of course. Furious, probably. But he was my brother. I hoped he’d forgive me, understand, and help me, because God knew I would need the help. Tony was going to come after me full on, which meant he was really going after Sebastian and Bryna. I needed to protect them, so Sebastian needed to call me back.