Royally Mine: 22 All-New Bad Boy Romance Novellas

by Susan Stoker

  She wrinkled her nose at him, but smiled to let him know she was teasing.

  Cale eased his finger between her folds once more, much gentler than a moment earlier, then brought his hand up to his face. He stuck his middle finger in his mouth and closed his eyes in ecstasy. “Delicious.”

  Katelin knew she was blushing, but didn’t say a word. His actions were as erotic and sensual as anything she’d ever seen.

  “I’m gonna shower and get ready. Sleep, princess.”

  “I need to get going,” she told him.

  “No. You need to stay right here in my bed and sleep. When you wake up, you can find yourself something to eat. I’ll be home around noon. We’ll have lunch together, then I’ll run you a soothing bath. You’ll hopefully soak away some of that soreness between your legs so I can have another go at filling your womb with my seed. Yeah?”

  Jesus, he was lethal.

  “Okay.”

  “Fuck, you’re perfect.” The smile slowly faded from his face. “I know I’m bossy, princess. I’m uncouth and don’t have a lot of manners. Even though my parents and tutors tried to drill the importance of decorum and politeness into me, I’m afraid I don’t have much of either. But I swear to you, all you have to do is tell me no when I go too far and I’ll listen. Hell, if I had my way, you’d stay naked in my bed twenty-four hours a day. I’d fill you with my cock up to ten times I day if I could. So when you’re too sore, or grumpy, or sick, or if you just need some alone time, all you have to do is say the word. The last thing I want to do is drive you away because I’m too intense. Okay?”

  Katelin’s heart melted at the worried look on his face. “Okay, Cale.”

  “Good. Now, go back to sleep. I’ll stop in before I leave to say goodbye.”

  She nodded.

  He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead, then the nose, then the lips. The kiss wasn’t short, but it was sweet and lazy. A sensual exploration of their tongues and lips. He finally pulled back and put his palm on the side of her head and fingered the purple streak there. “I don’t need you to tell me the name of that douchebag who thought he could touch young girls without their permission. I’ll get the head of my security team to do a background check and I’ll find it on my own.”

  Katelin simply shook her head. “Just don’t get arrested,” she warned, not at all concerned about him teaching Chad Harris a lesson. If he still had teenage foster girls in his house, he needed the lesson.

  “I won’t. Sleep. I’ll be back in a bit.” And with that, Cale stood up and strode toward the bathroom.

  Katelin admired the view of his hard-as-rock butt as he strode away to get ready for his day.

  Katelin was dozing five minutes later when Cale’s cell phone vibrated on the table next to the bed. She hadn’t noticed it before now. She ignored it and closed her eyes again, vowing to remind Cale not to forget it when he left for work.

  Then it buzzed again. And again. Then a fourth time. Whoever was trying to get ahold of Cale was insistent. Katelin began to worry that it was something important. An emergency. She knew that she and Shayla had a special code where they’d text each other in rapid succession if there was something wrong and they needed the other to pick up.

  It vibrated again, then again. Someone was sending lots of short messages.

  Scooting over to the other side of the bed, Katelin reached a hand out and picked up the cell. She’d check to see what was wrong, then let Cale know. She turned it over and pressed the button at the bottom. She didn’t know the password, but the text message previews were there to read.

  Father: Cale, you can’t be serious.

  Father: You’ve gone too far this time.

  Father: I saw the pictures in a gossip rag.

  Father: They were forwarded to me.

  Father: You are forbidden to date that commoner.

  Father: Did you know she’s a nobody? No parents, no…

  Father: I know you’re just trying to needle me.

  Father: Your fiancée is waiting for you to come to your senses.

  Father: Come home and marry Princess Laurann as you…

  Father: I’ll pay off the whore and you’ll be done with her.

  Father: Call me.

  Katelin felt her heart literally break. Lying in Cale’s bed, the memory of the way he’d touched her, spoken to her, all of it blowing up like a puff of smoke. Feelings of being unwanted as a child swamped over her.

  On autopilot—she couldn’t think to save her life—Katelin leaped out of bed and reached down to grab the first thing she could get her hands on to cover up. His shirt. The one she’d worn to get a drink of water a few hours earlier.

  She couldn’t hear the shower anymore and knew she had only minutes before Cale would return. She had to be gone. She couldn’t be there when he got back. It was simply too embarrassing. What a joke. He’d probably hoped she would bolt after he left for his meeting.

  Katelin ran over to the dresser and flung open the top drawer. Socks.

  She opened the next. Boxers.

  The next. T-shirts.

  The next. Bingo. Sweatpants. She knew she’d look ridiculous, but the only thing she was worried about was getting out of there. She was an idiot. Why would a real-life prince look twice at her? She was nobody.

  Whatever game Cale was playing, she didn’t want any more of it. She needed to get out. To go. Her clothes were on the floor in the bathroom and she wasn’t going to go in there to get them. No way.

  Rationally, she thought that she should wait until Cale left for work. Then she’d have time to get dressed in her own clothes and get out of there. She’d be long gone before he got home at lunchtime.

  But she didn’t want to spend one more second in his presence. In his room. Not one. She had no idea how his father, the freaking king, knew about her, but at that point, it didn’t matter.

  Cale was already engaged. To a real princess. He’d proposed and the other woman had obviously accepted. Katelin briefly wondered if he’d told her he wanted to impregnate her.

  She quickly pulled up the sweats, which thankfully had a drawstring tie. She did up the buttons on the shirt, making sure she was adequately covered, then rushed out of Cale’s bedroom and down the hall.

  Shayla and Cain weren’t up yet, as all was quiet in the large living area. The sun was just beginning to come up and if she stopped to look, she was sure the view would be amazing from the wall of windows.

  Thanking her lucky stars she’d taken her shoes off as soon as she’d entered the penthouse and that Cale had put her small purse on the table right inside the door, Katelin grabbed it and unlocked the many locks. She had the presence of mind to close it quietly behind her, even though she really wanted to slam it as hard as she could.

  How dare Cale make her fall for him like he did. How dare he play with her emotions like that. It would serve him right if she was pregnant. He’d have a hard time explaining that to Princess Laurann.

  Katelin knew she was on the verge of falling apart, but she needed to get home first. Needed to lock herself in her room and cry until she had nothing left in her. She’d definitely learned her lesson. No more men. Ever. They were all assholes and she was better off being alone than being manipulated and used like Cale had used her.

  A small part of her rebelled at the thought. He’d sounded sincere. All those times he’d called her “his”. His sleepy thoughts to turn down the air conditioning and bring in a small refrigerator so she’d be comfortable. He was a damn good actor, that was for sure. She hesitated, unsure whether to stay or to go.

  Katelin tapped her foot and tried to ignore how ridiculous she looked. A man’s shirt, sweats that were too big for her, her hair was most likely a disaster and she was wearing heels. God, she was a mess.

  She hurried through the thankfully mostly empty lobby toward the front doors. She’d hail a cab and be out of Prince Cale’s life in just a moment. She just had to hang on and not lose it for another couple minutes. She cou
ld do that. Maybe.

  ***

  Cale was softly humming to himself as he left the bathroom. He’d never been in a better mood. And it wasn’t the sex. Okay, it wasn’t just the sex. It was Katelin. She was everything he wanted in a woman. Soft, sensitive, passionate. Remembering how sexy she’d been the night before had his cock lengthening and he forced himself to think about the upcoming conference call he had that morning.

  He looked over at the bed and froze.

  The covers had been thrown back as if Katelin had left in a hurry. He looked around and noticed his open dresser drawers, the missing shirt she’d taken off and dropped after coming back from the kitchen in the middle of the night…and his cell phone lying on the mattress.

  He rushed over to the bed and picked it up, all thoughts of his pending meeting now gone. He clicked on the phone and read over the incoming texts from his father and his lip curled up in a ferocious snarl.

  Damn him.

  Damn him.

  The paparazzi loved to follow him and Cain around, and while he’d been fairly certain they hadn’t been around last night, it was obvious someone had caught a picture of him and Katelin together. Probably when they’d gotten back to his penthouse. The leeches loved to hang around hoping for a juicy picture of one of the many famous people who lived in their building.

  If Katelin had seen the texts from his father…

  Of course she had. She’d seen them and freaked. He knew without a doubt that if he didn’t catch her now, he’d lose her. She’d probably go home and look on the Internet to find out what she could about Princess Laurann.

  If the roles had been reversed, it would’ve been what he would’ve done.

  No, that wasn’t true. He would’ve confronted Katelin and made her explain.

  It’s what she should’ve done, but for a woman who had felt as alone as she did, it was easier to run.

  Princess Laurann was a friend of the Alexander family who had no desire to marry anyone…not only because she was a lesbian and hadn’t come out of the closet yet, but because they were just friends. Friends who talked about their stifling lives as royals who wanted nothing more than to be left alone by their matchmaking families.

  Clenching his phone so hard he figured he’d have bruises, Cale stomped out of his room and headed straight for the door. Unlocked. Yup. Katelin had run from him.

  No. Just no. She was his. He’d told her and she’d agreed. Not only that, but she’d claimed him right back.

  He wrenched open the door and slammed it behind him. He would’ve taken the stairs if he thought it would get him to the lobby faster, but since he and Cain lived on the thirty-second floor, the elevator was always faster.

  He punched the button for the lobby and tapped his foot impatiently. As he was descending, his phone rang. Not looking to see who it was, Cale answered.

  “Cale.”

  “Mr. Alexander?”

  “Yeah.”

  “The young lady who you escorted home last night just came through the lobby looking…er…disheveled.”

  “Don’t let her leave,” Cale ordered Stuart.

  “Well, er, it’s too late. She didn’t stop to order a taxi from the concierge. She just left,” he said.

  “Fuck. I’m in the elevator, I’ll be there in—” Cale didn’t bother finishing his sentence, as the elevator doors opened on the lobby level. He shoved his phone back in his pocket and stalked toward the front of the building. He didn’t spare a glance toward the man he’d just been speaking to.

  Cale burst out the doors and looked to his right. Nothing.

  Then to his left. Bingo.

  He’d recognize Katelin no matter what she was wearing. But as he took a step toward her, a car careened up the street and screeched to a halt not three feet from where she was standing on the sidewalk.

  Katelin leaped back and stared at the car for a moment as if in shock.

  Cale was running toward her even before the first man hopped out.

  When the second man had left the vehicle and taken Kate by the arm, he was fifty feet away.

  The two men roughly dragged Katelin toward the four-door Ford Focus.

  He was thirty feet away when she started screaming.

  Screaming as loud as she could. As if her life depended on it.

  The men had her bent over and were about to shove her into the backseat of the black car when Cale reached them. Without thought his foot came up and he kicked the first man as hard as he could in the knee. He went down like a stone.

  The second man, who still had his hand on Katelin, looked up in surprise and his nose met Cale’s fist. He went flying backward and his head bounced on the pavement when he landed.

  Katelin straightened and stepped backward, away from the car, and she promptly tripped over the first man. She went down hard on her ass, a loud “umph” leaving her mouth.

  Cale noticed that Stuart and a security guard had followed him out of the building and down the street. The guard had a gun aimed at the driver of the car and was ordering him out and on the ground.

  Without a word, Cale leaned over and picked Katelin up off the ground. He slung her over his shoulder then turned and stalked back the way he’d come.

  “Cale, what’s going on?”

  Cale was too pissed to talk. He knew there were probably photographers hanging around getting the pictures of a lifetime, but he didn’t give a shit. Not only had Katelin left him, but she’d walked right into an ambush. He’d recognized the men who’d attached Katelin and Shayla from the night before. Obviously, they’d either escaped before the cops could get to the alley, or they’d bonded out of jail. And they wanted revenge.

  Their first mistake was going after what was his in the first place.

  Their second mistake was coming back for more.

  “Cale, put me down! I want to go home.”

  “No.”

  “Cale! Seriously, all the blood is going to my head,” Katelin complained.

  “Too bad. You’ll be fine until we get inside.”

  He felt her sigh against him, but she wasn’t struggling. It had to mean something…didn’t it?

  Cale couldn’t think about losing her. He couldn’t. She was his. She’d agreed. Besides, she could be carrying his child. That thought made him shift his hold on her until he was cradling her in his arms instead of over his shoulder. If she was pregnant, it couldn’t be good to have his shoulder digging into her stomach.

  He didn’t think about the fact that if she was pregnant, the baby would only be a few cells big at this juncture. All he could think about was protecting her.

  Cale didn’t look down at Katelin as he re-entered his building. The head of building security rushed up to him and walked alongside him as he stalked toward the elevators.

  “Sir?”

  “Call the police. There are three men outside who just attempted to kidnap my fiancée. Stuart and Walter are detaining them at the moment. We are pressing charges. And if those assholes are let loose anytime soon, I’m not going to be a happy man.”

  “Yes, sir. I’ll take care of it. Will you be available for a statement to the police?”

  “Of course. In a few hours. I’ll contact them and let them know when my fiancée has recovered enough to speak to them.”

  “Of course. I’m glad you’re safe, Ms. Kriss.”

  Cale nodded at the man and entered the elevator. When the doors shut, Katelin asked quietly, “How does he know my name?”

  “It’s his job to know it.”

  “That’s not an answer, Cale.”

  He sighed and stared up at the numbers at the top of the compartment. “I called him this morning before you woke up and told him to put you on the approved visitor list. That you were to be granted full access to the penthouse.”

  “Oh.”

  Cale ground his teeth together. The adrenaline was coursing through his body and he wasn’t sure how much longer he could remain calm. A bell sounded as the elevator reached the p
enthouse. He strode out of the compartment and to his front door. With one hand, he opened it and once again slammed it behind him.

  Without a word, he stalked down the hall to his bedroom. He kicked the door shut and dropped Katelin’s legs. Keeping one arm around her to steady her, and to prevent her from running from him again, he angrily jerked the tie of the sweatpants she was wearing.

  “Cale, what are you—”

  Instead of answering her, he stepped toward the bed, forcing her to walk with him. The pants fell to her ankles and instead of asking her to step out of them, he merely picked her up with the arm at her waist. The material fell over her feet, and he kept going. When he reached the side of his bed, he turned Katelin so she was standing with her back to the mattress, grabbed the neckline of the shirt she was wearing, and pulled.

  Buttons flew as the shirt ripped down the middle. He jerked it down her arms and hurled it to the floor. Katelin stood in front of him completely naked, trembling.

  He pushed her until her ass hit the bed. Then he hauled her up under her armpits until her entire body was on the mattress. He crawled up and over her, caging her in. His knees landed next to her thighs and his hands by her shoulders.

  Cale leaned over her and put his face in hers and said between clenched teeth, “Do not be afraid of me.”

  “You j-just ripped my clothes off.”

  “They were my clothes, and yeah, I did.”

  “And you don’t think I should be scared?”

  “I would never hurt you. Not ever. Not in the heat of anger and not on purpose.”

  “But you’re mad. Are you mad at me? I didn’t ask to be almost kidnapped.”

  “I am mad. And yeah, princess, I’m mad at you. You’re right, you didn’t ask to be kidnapped, but you did leave without telling me. You. Left. Me. You were upset and didn’t think about the danger you could be in.”

  “Cale, what danger? I’m a nobody. I’ve been walking around this city on my own for a decade. I don’t know what’s happening, but it’s not because of me.”

  “First, you’re not a nobody. You’re mine. And because you’re mine, you’re the most precious thing on this planet to me. I would throw myself in front of a bullet if it would save your life.”