To Kiss a King

by Maureen Child

  Sliding his hands up and down her body, Alex arched into him, allowing her mind to drift free so that she could concentrate solely on the moment. Every stroke was a benediction. Every caress a promise of more to come.

  Her body felt alive in a way it never had before. His touch was magic…kindling sparks of flame at every spot he touched. He leaned over her, kissing her, then sliding along her body, nibbling his way down. Then he stopped, pulled back and slid off the bed.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Right back,” he swore, his eyes fixed on hers.

  True to his word, he was gone only moments and she saw that he had another condom with him, sheathing himself as he came closer.

  A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. “You always carry those in your wallet?”

  “I have since I met you,” he admitted, kneeling back on the bed, dropping his head for a quick kiss. “Just in case.”

  “Always prepared?” she asked.

  “Babe, those are the Boy Scouts. And trust me when I say I’m no Boy Scout.”

  “No,” she whispered as he moved down the length of her body again, letting his mouth and tongue blaze the trail, “you’re really not.”

  Alex sighed deeply and stared up at the ceiling. Moonlight poured through the windows, along with a chill ocean breeze that ruffled the white sheers and sent them into a sensual dance that mimicked her own movements beneath Garrett’s talented hands.

  “You’re torturing me,” she whispered and arched into him as his lips crossed over her abdomen.

  “That’s the plan,” Garrett assured her.

  “You’re an evil man,” she said on a sigh. “Don’t stop.”

  “Not a chance,” he promised.

  Then he moved, shifting down to kneel between her thighs and Alex looked at him. Slowly he scooped his hands beneath her bottom and lifted her from the bed. Everything in her tensed in expectation. Her gaze locked with his as he lowered his mouth to her center and—

  She groaned at the first sweep of his tongue across a bud of flesh so sensitive it felt as if it had a life of its own. Electric-like jolts of sensation shot through her, coiling the tension within her even tighter. Alex moved into him, loving the feel of his mouth on her.

  Reaching down, she pushed her fingers through his hair as he pushed her higher and faster than she had gone before. This intimacy was so overwhelming; her system was flooded with emotions tangling together. She felt so much, wanted so much, needed so much.

  It was close. She felt it. The orgasm hovering just out of reach was almost on her and she wanted him inside her when it hit. “Garrett, please.”

  Instantly, he pulled away from her, sat back on his thighs and lifted her onto his lap. Alex went up onto her knees and slowly, deliberately, lowered herself onto him. It was delicious. The tantalizingly slow slide of his hard thickness pushing into her depths. She gloried in every inch of him. She let her head fall back as she wrapped her arms around his neck and swiveled her hips against him, taking him even higher and deeper than she had before.

  Until she was sure he was touching the tip of her heart.

  “You feel so good,” he whispered, kissing the base of her throat, locking his lips against her pulse point. His breath hot against her skin, he whispered words she couldn’t hear—could only feel.

  And then she moved on him and his hands settled at her hips, guiding her motions, helping her set a rhythm they both kept time with. Again and again, she rocked her body onto his, and, over and over, they tore apart and came together. They moved as one. Breathed as one.

  And at last, they shattered as one.

  Ten

  In the dark, when it was quiet, reality crashed down on top of them again, and Alex was the first to feel its sharp tugs at the edges of her heart.

  Grabbing up her short, blue silk robe, she slipped it on, then crossed her bedroom, opened the French doors leading to the balcony that wrapped around the entire penthouse suite and stepped outside. The stone floor was cool and damp beneath her feet and the wind off the ocean lifted her hair and teased her heated skin.

  Staring out at the moonlit sea, Alex tried to get a handle on the rampaging emotions crashing through her. Her mind was alive with careening thoughts that rushed up to be noticed then were swallowed and replaced by the next one. In fact, the only thing she was truly sure of was that she did love Garrett King. Infuriating as he was, she loved him.

  They’d known each other such a short time, it was hard to believe. But the simple fact was, as her mother had always told her, love didn’t come with a timetable. It was either there or it wasn’t and no amount of waiting would change that.

  Her heart ached and her mind whirled. There was misery along this road and she knew it. Garrett had made no secret of the fact that he wasn’t interested in a relationship. And even if he were, their lives were so different. They didn’t even live on the same continent! What possible chance was there for anything more than what they had already shared?

  Taking hold of the iron railing in front of her, she squeezed tightly in response to the tension within.

  A moment later, Garrett joined her, and her heart sped into a gallop. She glanced at him. He was wearing the slacks he’d abandoned what felt like hours ago, but he was barefoot and shirtless and his broad, sculpted chest seemed to be begging for her touch. She gripped the handrails to keep from giving in to that urge.

  “Alex, we really need to talk.”

  “That never bodes well,” she replied, deliberately turning her gaze on the ever-shifting surface of the water below.

  He stood beside her. Close, but not touching and still, she felt the heat from his body sliding into hers.

  “It’s too late to do a damn thing about it, but none of that should have happened, Alex.”

  She stiffened. He still regretted being with her. How would he react, she wondered, if he knew she loved him? She glanced over the railing to the sand ten stories below. He’d probably jump.

  “No doubt you’re right.”

  “Huh.” She felt more than saw him turn his gaze on her. “You surprise me. I expected a different reaction.”

  Alex steeled herself then turned to look up into his eyes. “What were you thinking? Keening? Gnashing of teeth?” She gave him a smile that felt stiff and wooden. “Sorry to disappoint.”

  “Not disappointed. Just surprised.”

  “Well, you shouldn’t be,” she said, silently congratulating herself on how calm and cool she sounded. Honestly, if she weren’t a princess, she should think of going on the stage. “You’d already made yourself quite clear on the subject, and, as I’ve mentioned, I’m not an idiot, Garrett. I know that we don’t suit. I know we mean nothing to each other and that this isn’t going anywhere....”

  Those words ripped a new hole in the fabric of her heart, but better she say them than him.

  “I didn’t say you mean nothing to me, Alex,” he said, laying his hands on her shoulders and turning her so that she faced him.

  God, she didn’t want to look into his eyes. Didn’t want to feel the heat of him spearing through her body. Didn’t want to think about the pain she would feel when she was gone and back in the palace.

  The only way to get through any of it was to pretend none of it mattered.

  So she gave him that forced smile again and hoped he wouldn’t notice. “Ah, yes, I forgot,” she quipped. “I do mean something to you after all. Quite a hefty paycheck, I’m guessing.”

  “I didn’t say that, either,” he ground out.

  “You haven’t said much, Garrett,” she told him. “What else am I to think?”

  “That you’re an amazing, smart, funny, incredibly sexy princess.”

  “It always comes back to that, doesn’t it?” she mused, stepping out of his grip and turning to face the sea again. “If I’d known how you would focus on that, I would have worn my crown while we were in bed together.”

  “I don’t give a damn for your crown, Alex,” he s
napped, voice near growling now. “In fact this would all be a hell of a lot easier if you weren’t a princess. You think your father would be thrilled to know that I’m here with you?”

  “What’s my father got to do with any of this?”

  Clearly exasperated, he snapped, “I’ve done security work for royalty all over the globe. You know what’s the one thing they all have in common? They don’t get involved with non-royals. Hell, I’ve got more money than a lot of them, but I’m still a ‘commoner.’ You think your father feels any different?”

  “Probably not.”

  “Exactly.” Garrett shook his head. “It all comes down to that, Princess.”

  “Story of my life,” she murmured, sliding a glance at him.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Please,” she scoffed. “Do you think you’re the only man who has run screaming into the night trying to escape the glare of the palace? You’re not.” Shaking her head she added, “And for all of those that run away, dozens more run toward the crown. None of them see me, Alex. They see the princess. Some hate the very idea of royalty and others covet it. People on the outside look at the royal family and think, Isn’t it wonderful? All the pomp and pageantry. How nice to shop wherever you like and not worry about the price.

  “Well,” she continued, “there’s always a price, Garrett. It’s just one that most people never see. It’s a lack of privacy. A lack of freedom and imagination. It’s being locked into centuries of tradition whether you like it or not, and it’s duty.”

  Her gaze narrowed, her breath coming fast and furious, she hurried on before he could say a word. She looked up into his eyes and watched them flash with emotion, but she didn’t let that stop her.

  “You think I don’t understand your ‘duty’ to protect me? Trust me when I say that’s the one thing I am all too aware of. Duty is the first thing I was taught. Duty to my country, to the citizens of Cadria and to my king. My family has ruled for centuries. Yes, Cadria is a small country, but she’s proud and it’s our duty to protect her. Keep her safe. So, yes. I understand your self-imposed duties, but it doesn’t mean I like them any more than I like the golden chains linking me to my own set of duties.”

  He studied her for a long minute before speaking. When he did, he said only, “Quite a rant.”

  She huffed out a short laugh. “Apparently, I have what you Americans refer to as ‘issues.’”

  “I never use that word,” he assured her, and reached out for her again.

  Smiling, she let herself be held. Probably another monumental mistake, but she needed the comfort of his arms. The strength of him, wrapped around her. If she had one more thing to regret in the morning, then so be it.

  “Why’d your father have to be a king?”

  She laughed a little and linked her arms at the small of his back. “Your father was a King, too.”

  He gave her a squeeze. “Funny.”

  Tipping her head back, she looked up at him and whispered, “You may be willing to pretend that everything that happened tonight was a mistake, but I for one, enjoyed myself immensely.”

  “So did I, Alex. That’s the problem.”

  “Doesn’t have to be.”

  He shook his head. “I’m here to do a job and that doesn’t include bedding you.”

  That barb hit home with a staggering force she didn’t even want to admit to herself. So much for tender makeup scenes in the moonlight. “Yes,” she said softly. “I wonder if you’ll get a raise in pay for this? Maybe if I tell my father how very good you were?”

  “Cut it out, Alex.”

  She felt like a fool. She’d spilled her heart out to him, laid it at his feet and he chose that moment to remind her that he was being paid by her father. How could she possibly love a man who only saw her as a job? How could she have forgotten, even for a minute, that he had lied to her from their first day together? That her father was paying him to watch over her?

  Well, fine. If he wanted to turn his back on what they had together, then she wouldn’t stop him. She might be fool enough to love him, but she wasn’t so big a fool that she didn’t know when to pull back from the edge of a very steep cliff. Releasing him, she steeled herself for the soul-deep cold that slipped inside her the instant she left the circle of his arms.

  “You’re the one who brought this up again,” she reminded him.

  “I just want you to understand is all. I didn’t want to say yes to your dad, but he’s a hard man to refuse.”

  “That much I know from personal experience.”

  He took a breath. “When I realized who you were, I was worried. I called your father and told him I was uncomfortable with you out on your own with no protection. And so was he. I talked to your mother, too.”

  She closed her eyes briefly and he felt the tension in her body tighten. “So they double-teamed you.”

  “Yeah,” he said with a sharp nod. “Guess you could say that.”

  “They’re very good at it,” she mused, a half smile blooming and disappearing from her mouth in a fraction of a second. “It’s how they deal with my brothers and me, as well.”

  “Then you can see why—”

  “I can see why you said yes to my father,” she cut him off neatly and speared him with a glance that had gone icy. “What I don’t see is why you lied to me.”

  “I lied because I had to. Your father told me you’re adept at escaping your guards.”

  “And because you lied, I never even tried to escape you,” she whispered.

  “I couldn’t risk you escaping me, Alex. I had to keep you safe. As for fighting what was happening between us…” He paused and shook his head again as if he couldn’t believe they were in this situation. “In my job, when I get distracted, people tend to die. I won’t let that happen to you, Alex.”

  “Garrett, if you don’t live, you might as well be dead already. Don’t you see that?”

  “What I see is that I let you get to me,” he said, gaze moving over her face. “Didn’t mean to. Didn’t want you to. But you did anyway.”

  A part of her thrilled to hear it. But the more rational voice in her mind warned against it. The look in his eyes was far from warm and fuzzy. The set of his jaw and the tension in every line of his body screamed that he was a man who’d made his decision. Alex had come in second to his sense of honor. What he said next only defined it.

  “As much as I want you, I can’t let this happen again, Alex. Not while I’m responsible for your safety.”

  There it was. Duty first. She should respect that sentiment, seeing as she had been raised to believe the same. But somehow, that didn’t make her feel any better.

  A chill swept over her that had nothing at all to do with the cold wind still flying toward them. Garrett couldn’t have made himself clearer.

  “No worries, Garrett,” she told him, keeping her voice light in spite of the knot of pain clogging her throat. “You’re absolutely safe from me now as I’m just not interested anymore.”

  “Liar.”

  She laughed shortly. “Amazing that you even feel comfortable using that word against someone else.”

  “Amazing that you can be so pissed at me for doing something you’re pretty good at yourself.”

  She ignored that and turned for the bedroom, suddenly more than ready for this conversation to be over. “Before you go, want to check the bathroom for hidden assassins?”

  “Funny.”

  Stepping into the bedroom, she walked to the dressing table, picked up her hairbrush and started drawing the bristles through her tangled hair. Staring into the mirror, she caught his reflected gaze. “You’re making far too much of this situation. You’re assuming I want this ‘relationship’ to continue. But I don’t.”

  “Lying again.”

  She tossed the brush down. “Stop telling me when I’m lying. It’s rude.”

  “Then stop lying.”

  “Same to you.”

  “I’m not lying now,”
he said. “I still want you.”

  “Me, too.”

  “Damn it, Alex.”

  “Shut up and kiss me, Garrett.”

  He did and Alex’s brain went on hiatus again. Soon, she would be able to sit back and regret this at her leisure. But at the moment, all she could think was how right it felt. How good it was to be in his arms again. To have his mouth fused to hers.

  He lifted her and carried her to the bed and when he set her down onto the mattress, she looked up into icy-blue eyes that sparked and shone with the kind of need that shook her to the bone.