by Lucy Lennox
“I know, right? People in Hobie think I’m a little nuts,” I admitted. “Hopefully I can get a teaching position at UT Dallas or University of North Texas. Otherwise, I’ll have to leave all my family and move for the job. In addition to my grandfathers, I have a bunch of cousins in Hobie and Dallas whom I adore.” I gazed at Lio’s deep blue eyes. “Do you have siblings or cousins?”
“I have a sister,” he said with a smile. “Typical sister. She drives me crazy.”
“What’s her name? Do you live near her?”
He seemed to hesitate before answering. “Henriette—Hen—lives close to me in Monte Carlo.” I sensed his body tense up and wondered if his sister was a sore subject.
“You don’t have to tell me about her if you don’t want to. I didn’t mean to…”
“It’s fine. I like talking about Hen. She’s actually very funny and sweet. She’s my best friend.”
We continued talking while we finished the dinner he’d brought for us. Once we were warm, Lio had opened the bottle of white wine and poured us each a couple of glasses as we kept finding things to talk about. Getting to know Lio was easy and relaxing—way less stressful than I’d anticipated. Something about him tamped down my shyness and put me at ease. We talked about everything from family members, to embarrassing moments in college, to our favorite bingeworthy movies and shows.
At one point, he told me about serving in the French army.
“Why the French army if you’re from Monaco?” I asked.
“The French military defends Liorland. We don’t really have our own armed forces,” he explained.
“What did you do while you were in?”
“I was part of a division that provided support to global health initiatives in war-torn countries. Basically, we protected the doctors and nurses trying to help the civilians caught up in the fighting.”
“Wow. That must have been both horrible and amazing,” I said, imagining the evils he must have seen during that time.
“Witnessing innocent bystanders hurt because of political shit going on without their input was heartbreaking,” Lio said. “Especially the kids. Seeing children growing up in a town that’s been decimated by bombs and starvation, lack of clean water or medical help… it’s devastating.”
“I can’t imagine. How long did you stay in for?”
“Only three years. I was able to leave early to work directly with a global children’s charity.”
“And what do you do now? For a living, I mean?”
His eyes shifted to his hands, where he twirled the stem of his wineglass. “I work for the government. And I still try to spend as much time as possible supporting that charity.”
“That’s admirable, Lio. One of my grandfathers is a doctor and would love to hear more about your experiences. He works on some of our local rural health initiatives for children living in poverty. Even though he’s retired, he still volunteers for projects when they need him. Things like vaccinations during flu season and helping with wellness exams before each new school year.”
Finally, I remembered his poor friend outside, wandering the cliffs in the cold December night.
“Shit, your friend Jon!”
“He’s fine.”
“He’s got to be frozen solid, Lio. Maybe we should head back so you can put him to bed,” I suggested.
Lio’s blue eyes smoldered at me. “I’d rather put you to bed, Felix.”
I felt my heart lurch into my throat and my cock hop in my pants. Then my mouth just fell open and out came stupidity. “Oh… um… yes, please? That would be nice. Good. I mean… yes. Please.”
Way to stay cool, Felix, I thought.
Lio’s eyes lit up in a predatory glint. “Then it’s settled. Let’s pack up so I can get you into bed.”
My stomach nearly fell to the floor, and I wondered if I’d be able to even walk as far as the vehicle parked outside. A stupid gathering of brain cheerleaders shook their asses and cheered loudly in my psyche. Gonna get fucked! Can I get an F? Can I get a U? Can I—
“Felix, you coming?”
I shook myself out of my mental pep rally to glance at him. He stood by the wooden door with the picnic basket over his arm. At some point he’d managed to pack everything up and douse the fire while I was mentally calculating the distance between the dovecote and naked time.
“Hell yes.”
I am definitely coming.
Chapter 9
Lio
I’d tried to tell myself hooking up with Felix was some kind of last chance intimate connection with a man, but the more time I spent with him, the more I realized sex might not be enough. He was interesting in a way I hadn’t come across before. His entire face lit up when he talked about glass, and passion simmered under his skin anytime I got near him.
I wanted to fuck his brains out, but I also wanted to hear more about what made him tick. He had intellect and a kind of sweetness I was unused to seeing in anyone I partied with. Maybe it was simply that I’d never really given anyone the chance. I didn’t date, really. I hooked up. I was beginning to realize there was a noticeable difference between the two.
Despite Jon shooting me evil eyes the entire drive back to the castle, I was giddy with excitement. The voice of reason had long since deserted me, leaving me free to anticipate sex with Felix. I kept trying to remind myself it could only be physical. Two men using each other to meet some needs. It wasn’t like it was even possible for there to be more between the future king of Liorland and a small-town Texas college professor. But I couldn’t help the twinge I felt in my chest every time I thought of using Felix for sex.
I really liked the guy. He was cute and smart and sweet. I had to admit, the fact he didn’t know who I was checked a major box in the pro column of whether or not I could get away with sleeping with him. Not that I thought he was the type to sell me out to the tabloids, but I’d learned early on, looks could be deceiving when it came to who one could trust not to blab to the press.
After we ditched Jon and the picnic supplies in the kitchen, I grabbed Felix’s hand and led him toward my royal bedroom. It wasn’t until we were halfway up the stairs that I realized he’d know a visitor, no matter how close to the family, would never sleep in the royal apartments. Plus, how the hell would I explain having a valet?
Without realizing it, my feet stopped midclimb.
“What is it?” Felix’s voice sounded unsure. “Lio, if you don’t want to…”
I turned to look at him, our hands still clasped together. His gaze had darted down to the floor, and I could see the pink tips of his ears. He thought I’d changed my mind and didn’t want him anymore.
I reached out with my free hand to tilt his chin up.
“Oh, I want to, Felix,” I murmured in a low voice. “Never doubt how much I want to. I’m just wondering if you’d be more comfortable in your own room.”
I leaned in and distracted him with a line of soft kisses to his jaw to keep him from overthinking why I’d changed our direction so quickly.
“Oh. Ohh. Yes, that’s… oh.” He began to tremble under my touch as I slid both hands to his hips and moved him back against the heavy wooden handrail of the massive staircase. “So good,” he groaned. “Please don’t stop.”
“I love the noises you make, Felix,” I grumbled. “You’re making me hard as a damned pipe.” I grabbed one of his hands and held it against the front of my pants so he could feel me. His sharp intake of breath made my cock even harder as his slender fingers tested the hard length under my fly.
“Fuck,” he gasped, hot air wafting over my ear. “Oh fuck, Lio.”
“Invite me to your room, Felix,” I coaxed as my hands slid down to cup his firm ass through his soft wool trousers. “Want to see you naked. Want you underneath me. Want to make you come screaming my name.”
His entire body shuddered as he groaned again. I moved my mouth back up to his and nibbled hotly on his lips. They were full and warm, perfect for spending hours licki
ng and teasing.
“Mm-hm,” he hummed against my skin. “My room.” His mouth opened for more kisses before continuing. “My room and the naked. And the screaming,” he murmured. I wasn’t sure he was quite with me any longer. He seemed fucked out already, and we hadn’t even taken the first stitch of clothing off.
I released him and stepped back, keeping my hands on his hips to steady him. “Lead the way, Trouble.”
When we passed back through the kitchen on the way out the side door, Jon’s head snapped up in surprise from where he sat by the fire trying to warm up.
“Where are you going, sir… Certainly, you’re not heading back out now?”
The rule for the royal guard on my watch duty was that as long as we were in the same building and it was deemed safe, he didn’t have to stay in the same room with me. He could hang out nearby and wait until I needed to leave the house before joining me.
But Felix’s guest quarters were across one of the gardens and above the carriage house.
Fuck. This was going to be a problem.
“I’m fine. I’ll see you in the morning,” I tried.
His eyes narrowed as he began to sit up straight in his chair. I felt Felix tense next to me, and I scrambled for a way out of the confrontation that was brewing with my bodyguard. I could ask Jon many things, but I could not ask him to break protocol. He could lose his job.
“Jon, why don’t you walk with us to the carriage house? There’s a… a really interesting chair you might want to see there.”
After the words were out of my mouth, I felt my back teeth clack together in frustration. A chair? Really, Lio? Christ.
“Sure thing, Lio,” Jon said with a smirk. He reluctantly unfolded himself from the cozy chair by the fire, causing me to feel a twinge of guilt for making him get up. I reminded myself that there was a very comfortable sitting room in the carriage house that he could hang out in and do… whatever it was he did when he was waiting around for me. It wasn’t like waiting on me was anything new for him, but I still felt guilty about it.
After entering the small stone building and leaving Jon on the main level, we made our way upstairs to the guest apartment.
Once the door to the small suite closed behind us, Felix turned to me with wide eyes.
He was nervous.
I reached out to cup the sides of his neck gently and rubbed my thumbs along the angle of his jaw. “Hey, if you’ve changed your mind, that’s okay,” I told him softly. “I don’t want you to do anything you don’t want to do.”
His nostrils flared and his eyes heated up. The sudden pique made my heart speed up. The man was adorable anyway, but when he was annoyed? Fuck, he was irresistible.
“What makes you think I’ve changed my mind? I’m not a kid, Lio. Just because I’m smaller than you are and… and… I don’t know. But don’t treat me like a stupid farm boy from some… some…”
I couldn’t help myself. “Ranch in Texas?”
His eyes rolled behind his sexy glasses, and he threw up his arms. “Why do people think I can’t handle shit? It’s annoying as hell. Just because I’m from a small town—”
“Woah,” I said, holding up my hands in surrender. “I never said you couldn’t handle shit, Felix. I only wanted to check in with you to see if this was still okay.”
“Of course it’s okay,” he snapped. “Why wouldn’t it be okay?”
I bit my tongue to keep from laughing. He was so fucking cute, but I didn’t dare tell him that.
“If I’m being honest, you look a little freaked.”
“I am freaked.”
His words froze me on the spot. “Why?”
Felix narrowed his eyes at me. “Because you’re you and I’m me. Because this doesn’t happen in real life, so I’m wondering what the deal is. When is the other shoe going to drop?”
“What doesn’t happen in real life? Sex? Hookups? Jesus, Felix, tell me you’ve had sex before.” The words were out of my mouth before I realized how condescending they were. “Wait.”
Instead of the scream of annoyance or demand to exit the premises I was expecting, I was attacked by a hot Felix, intent on sucking my tongue out through my teeth.
“Mmpfh!” My arms went around him to keep us from falling over backward as his body landed against my chest. His legs wrapped around me, and his arms pulled tightly around my neck. Once I realized what he’d done, I moved a hand under his ass to steady him and couldn’t help but sneak a few grabs at the delicious roundness there.
Felix ripped his lips off mine long enough to mutter, “Yes, I’ve had sex, you jackass,” before diving back in for more. “Stop talking. That’s the problem here. The damned talking.”
His mouth tasted like heaven. Like wine and spices and himself. His body was warm through his clothes, but it wasn’t enough. I couldn’t feel his skin. I desperately needed to feel his skin.
“Clothes,” I managed to get out between kisses. “Off.”
His entire body was trembling in my arms, and it made me even hotter for him. He was the most responsive man I’d ever been with, and we hadn’t even gotten to the good stuff yet. How would he sound when I slid inside his body? How would his breathing hitch and his pupils dilate? I felt my own muscles begin to shake.
His slender legs tightened around my hips, thrusting his hard-on against my belly.
“Oh god, Felix. I have to get you naked. Please,” I begged.
“Bedroom,” he said between sharp pulls of breath. “Let me down. I’ll show you.”
Of course, I knew where the bedroom was already. It was my damned house. I’d had friends stay in the carriage house apartment before and knew every inch of it. Instead of letting him down, I walked with him still clasped to me.
His lips traveled down the side of my neck in openmouthed kisses.
“You smell good enough to eat,” he murmured against my skin. “It’s been driving me crazy all night. When you were sitting next to me at the table, I wanted to jump you right there.”
I closed my eyes for a moment to suck in a breath and get my bearings. “Why didn’t you? Jesus, Felix. You should have. It took all of my self-control not to grab you and kiss the hell out of you.”
He pulled back and grinned at me like a cat with the cream. “Really?”
I rolled my eyes as I stepped through to the bedroom. “Yes, really. Are you truly so blind that you don’t know how sexy you are?”
“I might be cute in a nerd way, but it’s never been the kind of attractiveness that gets the attention of a guy like you. You know, the hot guys. The popular guys.” His face began to blush as if he realized he’d admitted an inner thought he’d meant to keep secret.
“Liar,” I said, tossing him down on the bed. “Take off your clothes.”
Without looking away from my eyes, he began to unbutton and unfasten.
I stood stock-still, watching. His long, slender fingers carefully removed his glasses before lifting the soft sweater over his head and dropping it on the floor next to his bed, leaving only a soft undershirt covering his trim muscles. Felix was a smaller guy, smaller than I was anyway. But his clothes had clearly been hiding a nice toned body.
I watched his rounded shoulders move and his small biceps flex as he crossed his arms to pull his undershirt off.
As the cotton moved across his stomach, it revealed the shallow ridges of ab muscles with a dark, delicious happy trail bisecting the lower bumps.
“Good god,” I said under my breath.
Felix’s eyes were still locked on my face as he lifted one eyebrow. “Is this a solo strip show, or were you going to participate?”
I wondered if drool had escaped the corner of my mouth. “Um, if it’s all the same to you, I’d like to watch.”
He barked out a laugh, startling me out of my reverie and spurring me into action. I quickly shucked off my own clothes, realizing the sooner I was naked, the sooner I could slide my naked self along Felix’s naked self.
As his fingers to
yed with his belt, I felt my cock grow even harder than before.
The leather slid through his fingers slowly, like the worst kind of tease.
“You’re growling,” he said with a smirk. “I like it.”
“You’re teasing me. Take it off, Felix, or I’ll take it off for you,” I growled.
His chest raised and lowered faster while his fingers fumbled to remove the leather strap from around his waist. Once his belt was gone, he flicked open his fly, revealing a bright pink pair of boxer briefs.
“Oh god.” I quickly grabbed for my cock to squeeze it into submission. “Real men wear pink underwear too, huh?”
Chapter 10
Felix
I was sure my face matched the color of my underwear by now. I shrugged and admitted the truth. “I wasn’t expecting anyone to see them.”
Lio’s eyes rolled back in his head with a groan. “You’re killing me, Felix.”
I felt the corner of my lip tip up. “Well, I hoped, but I wasn’t expecting it,” I clarified.
He smirked and slid off his trousers until he was standing beside the bed in nothing but a pair of sexy-as-fuck black briefs doing very little to conceal a giant, intimidating package.
His olive-toned skin seemed to go on for miles, and the dark hair on his legs continued up a slim trail from the waistband of his briefs to his navel. He was a goddamned Greek god.
“Jesus fuck,” I muttered. “I’m leaving the rest of my clothes on. Matter of fact, I’m putting some extra back on. Where’s my suitcase?”
Lio’s eyes sparkled at me. “No you’re not.”
I looked up at his face. “Yes I am. I can’t compete with all that…” I gestured wildly at his entire body. “All that… that… You know, all that.”
His laugh was a sexy deep rumble that went straight to my gut and down to my groin.
Lio crawled over me on the bed on his hands and knees. “All that wants desperately to get inside all this,” he said in a silky voice. His eyes roamed slowly over me before his mouth dropped to run the flat of his warm tongue up my happy trail.
I could see the muscles shift and bunch under the skin of his shoulders. The firm, round globes of his ass in those black briefs could be seen above the strong plane of his back.
