Royally Damaged

by Crowne, K. C.

  “Or what?” he said.

  Or what...

  I couldn't hit him. Not just because I didn't want the attention, but because I didn't want Lizzie to see me as some sort of thug. She was staring at me now wondering what my next move would be. I could tell it was make or break. Do the wrong thing and she probably wouldn't speak to me again.

  At my side, my hands flexed themselves into fists. If I had my way I'd be pummeling them right into the center of Adam's squidgy face. He had one of those faces you just never got tired of hitting. I was amazed how he got through his life so far with a big nose like that so intact.

  “What you going to do?” he said.

  “Nothing,” I replied. “Absolutely nothing.”

  This wasn't the answer he wanted. He wanted me to throw myself at him so he could beat me down and become the big man in front of Lizzie. But I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction.

  “You're embarrassing yourself,” I told him. “Just go.”

  “I'm the one embarrassing myself?” he said.

  And once again he prodded me hard in the chest, but I barely felt a thing.

  “You're just a fucking poser in a cheap suit,” he said.

  “Cheap suit?”

  Now I wanted to kill him more than ever.

  “Yeah, that's right,” he said.

  I had to use all of my mental strength not to land a punch square in his face.

  “Coward,” he said.

  I could start to hear movement in the other rooms. Obviously we'd caught the attention of the other hotel guests. The next thing I knew, the elevator doors at the bottom of the hall were chiming open, and out came running Steven and Dylan.

  “Stand back,” shouted Stephen.

  Adam looked up, jaw flapping open. If he looked small beside me, he looked like an infant compared to my boys.

  “You're coming with us,” said Dylan.

  Taking Adam's arms, he pressed them up behind his back.

  “What's going on?” cried Lizzie.

  “We've got this, ma'am, insisted Steven as he grabbed one of Adams arms.

  The two of them huckled him down the hall, and pushed him into the elevator.

  “What's happening?” asked Lizzie. “Where are they taking him?”

  “Just don't worry about it,” I told her. “Just go to sleep.”

  She stared down the hall. I couldn't decide if she looked happy Adam was gone or worried about the way in which he had been thrown into the elevator like he was a sack of manure.

  “What are they going to do it to him?” she asked.

  “Just throw him out on his ass,” I replied.

  She was silent for a moment as she stared at the elevator doors.

  “Who are those men?”

  “Just security,” I said.

  “They didn't look like the hotel's security and I've been seeing them everywhere. They were on that yacht we went out on, remember?”

  I said nothing.

  I wondered what they were going to do to him. Steven was a professional and he wouldn't do anything he wasn't permitted to, but Dylan was a wildcard.

  “Don't worry about him,” I said. “I'll catch you tomorrow.”

  “Are you sure you won't come inside?”

  She leaned against the door way seductively.

  “I'm sure,” I said. “You need your rest.”

  The disappointment was evident on her face.

  “Good night,” I told her.

  She closed the door over without saying a word and I walked away back to my suite.

  Back upstairs, I lay down on my bed and felt the cool breeze from the balcony drift over me.

  What a night.

  Looking over at the clock on the wall I saw it was just scraping eleven. I thought about her down there alone and wondered what she was thinking. What did she even want? Sometimes, I thought it was me, but then yesterday she made it pretty clear that wasn't the case. She was one complicated cookie that was for sure.

  A knock came on the door and it slid open to reveal Steven and Dylan.

  “Where have you been?” I asked.

  “We gave that asshole a real good talking to,” said Dylan.

  I raised an eyebrow.

  “Just a talking to?”

  “Yeah,” replied Steven.

  I found myself instinctively looking down at his right hand and I was pleased to see his knuckles weren't swollen.

  “He won't be bothering you again,” said Dylan. “Not if he knows what's good for him.”

  I gave him a solemn nod and he disappeared with Steven. I walked over to the drinks' cabinet, poured myself a Remy Martin and walked out on to the balcony. I could see the pool from where I stood and there was a forlorn figure in a suit sitting in one of the loungers. It sensed it was being stared at and looked up to me. It was Adam.

  He may have been several floors down, and it may have been dark, but I could still see the streaks of wet tears streaming down his face in the moonlight. I didn't know what he was crying about, losing Lizzie or losing face.

  Lizzie

  “You're thinking about him again, aren't you?”

  “Who?”

  “Mr Clean.”

  “I am not,” laughed Louise a little bit too loudly.

  “Of course you are!” I giggled.

  “Okay, maybe I am.”

  “So are all the girls,” I chuckled.

  My stomach growled with hunger as I looked at the waiters bringing the plates out.

  “Wow,” I said to Louise. “Christy has really gone all out.”

  “Obviously,” said Louise. “She's got good taste like her mama.”

  She sipped on her champagne as a plate of salmon was put down in front of her.

  “I'm going to be as fat as a pig by the time I get home.”

  “Me too,” I laughed.

  The rehearsal dinner was underway and Christy was looking more radiant the longer she stayed on the island. She was sat at the head table now with me and Louise beside her. Phil was supposed to be here too, but he was nowhere to be seen. To my right sat an empty chair, and I couldn't stop glancing down at it.

  “So where's your lover boy?” asked Louise.

  “On his way,” I replied, although I wasn't too sure if that was true.

  Last night had been a disaster in more ways than one. I didn't know what I was more mortified about, drinking too much rum, I was practically legless by the time I got upstairs, or the fact that Adam had tried to start a fight with Phil. Then there were those guys. Security apparently although I was pretty sure there was something insidious about them.

  I remembered seeing them that day on the yacht, ear pieces stuck to their heads and muscles bulging as though they were champion bodybuilders. They were nothing like the regular security guards of the hotel.

  And where did Phil go afterward? And where was he now?

  Once again, I found myself constantly on the lookout for him.

  “I take it nobody's sitting here,” came a slimy voice.

  I looked up and saw Adam. I was at least pleased to see he didn't have a black eye, although he was tired and unusually subdued. He looked like a kid who had just had a stern talking to from the principal.

  “It's a terrific dinner, isn't it?” he said.

  “Yeah great,” I replied. “It would be better without you, though.”

  “Oh, don't be like that. Anyway where's your toyboy?”

  He looked triumphant at him not being here.

  “None of your business,” I replied.

  I turned my attention back to Louise, but she was laughing and joking with Josh, telling him a story about how Christy had fallen off her bike when she was six. He looked bored to tears by her story, but was too polite to say anything.

  “We haven't had time to talk properly,” came Adams voice.

  “I thought it would be pretty obvious I didn't want to talk to you,” I said.

  “Why are you being like this?”

&nb
sp; I glanced around the room wondering if there were security on the lookout for Adam after last night, but there was no one but Christy's friends and family who were getting increasingly drunk. In that moment, I began to feel increasingly lonely. I was in a room full of people, but the one person I wanted to be here wasn't.

  “Excuse me,” I said. “I need to go to the little girl's room.”

  “I can walk you over if you like.”

  “Don't be a creep, Adam.”

  I left him there and wound my way through the endless tables of guests. I didn't need to turn around to know he was still looking at me.

  Inside the bathroom I looked at my reflection and saw the sun had tanned my usually pale cheeks.

  Looking good! In fact, I've never looked better.

  I topped up my makeup, brushed my hair, and gave myself one last look over. If Phil wasn't here to see this then it was his loss.

  As I pushed my way back out, I came face to face with a wide set of shoulders.

  “Sorry,” I said bumping into the figure.

  “Don't be,” came a familiar voice.

  “Phil, where have you been?”

  As always, he looked impeccable in a light gray suit draped over his muscular frame, and his hair was groomed to perfection without a single strand out of place

  “You're late,” I told him.

  “Sorry, got held up on business.”

  He took my hand and lead me up to the table. Adam saw us approach and my stomach tightened.

  Here we go again. Another fight.

  But to my relief, Adam knew it wasn't worth his trouble, slid off his chair and walked outside with his pack of cigarettes.

  “Has he been bothering you?” asked Phil.

  “Of course he has.”

  “Son of a bitch. He should know better by now.”

  We took our seats. Beside me, Louise was still telling the same story, and Josh looked as though he had to resort to an out of body experience just to cope with the boredom.

  “Are you going to apologize about last night?” Phil suddenly asked.

  “Apologize?”

  “Yeah, you were quite the naughty girl getting drunk like that. But I bet you liked two men fighting over you.”

  “I enjoyed no such thing,” I replied, “And actually I was rather impressed with you not throwing a punch when you easily could have. Most men would have, you know.”

  “I'm not most men.”

  He smiled and slid his hand on to my knee.

  I knew he wasn't most men. Other guys with less self-control would have loved nothing more than to fight Adam, but throughout the barrage of insults he had received, Phil remained calm. If anything he looked slightly amused by the whole thing.

  “Are you going to tell me what you were in such a huff about last night?” he asked.

  “I wasn't in a huff.”

  “Really? Because you looked that way to me.”

  “I have no idea what you're talking about,” I said and took a gulp of champagne.

  Below the table, his hand moved higher up my leg until it was squeezing at my thigh.

  I could feel my insides heat up and a fire start to rage between my legs.

  “I'll be honest,” I said. “I was worried about you. Was worried that you might have been hurt by Adam.”

  “I couldn't get hurt by Adam,” he laughed and his grip on my thigh tightened.

  “Stop that,” I giggled and pushed his hand away.

  “Anyway, I was the one worried about you. You were drunk as a skunk last night. Bet you woke up with a whopper of a hangover.”

  “You've no idea,” I laughed, “Although it would have been easier to cope with if I had you there.”

  From behind us, the evening sun was filtering through the stained glass window creating a kaleidoscope of colors across the room. I could hear the sea in the background, although its harmony was ruined by the endless yacking from Louise coming from beside me.

  “I'm getting a little tired of these people,” I said. “Come outside?”

  “Won't your friend notice?”

  “She won't notice thing,” I said.

  Right then, Christy looked so happy she probably wouldn't notice if a nuclear bomb hit the room.

  Like giggling teenagers, the two of us stepped out into the private garden and snuck away from everyone.

  “This is beautiful,” I said. “I didn't even know it was here.”

  “I did,” he replied.

  “You would. You've probably brought loads of girls here before.”

  “I've done no such thing.”

  We walked through the garden, and I looked at all the names of the flowers that lined the path. They were all in Latin, all beautiful, but unpronounceable.

  “I shouldn't have got so drunk last night,” I said.

  “Is that an apology?”

  I dismissed his question by reaching up for a kiss

  “Oh, so now you do want me,” he said, sliding his hands down towards my hips.

  “Maybe.”

  The setting sun was glinting his eyes.

  “Maybe I was a little harsh the other day,” I said. “Telling you it was all just a joke. I didn't exactly let you down gently.”

  He looked out toward the sea, his face giving nothing away. I tried to figure out the look behind his eyes, but I just saw a cold blankness.

  “I've never met a girl like you,” he said. “I mean a girl who can make me feel like this.”

  I didn't know what to say so just took his hands and pulled his arms around me.

  “I didn't think this was going to get so complicated,” I said. “This was supposed to be a week away. “A week to forget about Adam, but here I am with you.”

  “Do you think I expected this either?”

  He ran his hands through my hair until my scalp crackled. Goosebumps ran down the length of my back. He leaned forward and kissed the sensitive spot of my neck just below my ear and every cell in my body stood to attention for him.

  He pulled me away so we were out of sight from the window and we nestled in between the rose bushes. He held me close and cupped my face in his hands, kissing me softly at first and then harder. His hands moved lower and lower until they were threatening to make their way underneath my dress.

  “Woah,” I said, slowing him down. “What if someone sees?”

  His response was to kiss me even harder and push me up against the wall. I opened my legs up for him and he pressed himself against me. He was hard already and I kissed him hungrily, winding my tongue against his.

  I clutched at him desperately, eager to do the thing I had wanted to since I first lay eyes on him.

  Part of me was telling myself to slow down, to get my head in check and really think through what I was about to do. The other part of me was telling me to do what I wanted, to give in to my body.

  It felt so natural to feel his hand between my legs. He pushed his fingertips into my panties and pulled them to the side. I was slick and wet waiting for him. Roughly, he pushed two fingers inside me. It was uncomfortable at first, but I wanted more of him. He reached a steady rhythm, rubbing my clit in circular motions with his thumb as his fingers moved inside me.

  I felt the heat rise inside me. Felt the need to let a scream rip out my body.

  “Oh, God,” I gasped, grabbing at his arm. “I don't know if we should be doing this. What if we get caught out here?”

  “What if we do?”

  “You're not afraid?”

  “Why would I be?” he said, kissing my cheek, then my neck.

  His fingers were still inside me, moving slowly as I grew wetter. The sensible part of my mind was telling me to push him away and head back inside. I wasn't the type of girl to let it all loose in public, but at the same time, he seemed so confident, and the feeling down below was obscuring any rational thoughts. I just wanted more of it. Wanted him deeper inside me.

  Opening my legs, I invited him further inside me. I reached for his zippe
r and pulled at it eagerly. He was hard inside his pants, a large bulge visible and waiting to be touched.

  Is he really that big?

  I tugged at his pants and yanked them down before slipping a hand into his boxer shorts. He was large, almost worryingly so. My fingers struggled to confine his girth. As I stroked him, he moaned to himself, his eyelids flickering shut as his tongue darted out over his lower lip.

  “Oh, God,” he said, reaching for my thighs.

  He lifted me up against the wall and pinned me into place, my legs wide around his sides.

  Am I really doing this? I shouldn't be. I'm not this kind of girl. But I want to be. I need him!

  I took him in my hand and guided him inside me. He filled me up instantly giving me a slight shock of pain. But it soon subsided, and soon I was filled with nothing but pure liquid heat and pleasure. He thrust gently at first, his eyes boring into mine, but when I moved my hands around his hips and pulled him closer, he got the hint and grew faster.

  I leaned back against the wall and reveled in the sound of his grunts in my ear. My fingers clutching his sides tightly, my nails threatened to break the skin.

  “Oh, fuck,” he gasped.

  I pushed myself against him, grinding my hips against his. Watching his body move against mine, I felt a hard, fast orgasm rush through me. I had never been with a man so big before or with someone who knew how to move in just the right way. I was sure I couldn't feel anything so divine until he reached a hand down and stroked at my clit. A scream gushed out of me as my whole body shuddered.

  “Oh, God!”

  “Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

  His legs nearly gave way beneath him as he came, his muscles pulling themselves taught as he thrust into me one last time with all his strength.

  For a moment, the two of us just stood in silence in disbelief as we tried to regain our breath. He was panting hard with his head on my shoulder, holding me close as the noise from the nearby party returned to my ears.

  They must have heard. How couldn't they?

  I pulled down my dress and blushed as his eyes met mine.

  “I guess we should go back,” I said.

  “We don't have to.”

  He rested his hand on my cheek and I leaned in to kiss it.