“Yeah. Just a little faster,” I replied.
She began to stroke me faster, occasionally glancing up at my face. It was both sweet and sexy, the way she sought my approval.
“Yeah. Just like that.”
Gwen leaned in close, extending her tongue to graze the tip of my member. I groaned softly as she began to lick it in earnest, her tongue moving in short, tight strokes over the length of my shaft.
“Shit…that feels good,” I said. “But it will feel even better if you put it in your mouth. Can you do that for me?”
Still stroking the base of my cock, Gwen opened her mouth wide and filled it with my girth.
“Fuck,” I moaned. Sure, I’d gotten blowjobs before, but Gwen’s willingness to do this for me first thing in the morning in the shower brought this one to a new level. And I loved how obedient she was. I knew I could get her to do anything for me. “Deeper.”
She eagerly went deeper, moving my cock in and out of her mouth. I felt her delicate fingertips on my balls as she began to play with them gently. Damn. She knew exactly what I liked.
I pressed my hand gently against the back of her head, urging her to go a little deeper. “That feels nice,” I whispered. “Keep doing that.”
“Mm,” she mumbled, her voice muffled as she pleasured me.
“Yeah. Just like that.”
She began to go faster and deeper, and I leaned back against the wall of the shower, closing my eyes and enjoying the feeling of her mouth wrapped around my cock. Every worry evaporated from my mind as Gwen had her way with me.
“Just keep doing that,” I urged. “Fuck. I think I’m gonna cum soon…”
I wasn’t exaggerating. Usually, it took me a while, but after going to sleep hard and dreaming about fucking her all night, I was on the verge of exploding.
I felt Gwen’s soft tongue swirl over the tip of my cock as she sucked me back into her mouth, and this was enough to send me over the edge. “Oh, God…” I groaned, feeling the pulsations of pleasure coursing through my body as Gwen finished the job.
I opened my eyes to watch her face as I climaxed, and she eagerly took every last drop of my ecstasy in her mouth, swallowing hard once I was finished.
“You filthy girl,” I said, pulling her up off the floor of the shower and embracing her. I lightly slapped her round, perfect ass. “I can’t remember the last time I came that hard.”
“You really liked it?” she asked in disbelief.
“Um…of course I did,” I said, kissing her lips gently. I grabbed the tiny complimentary bottle of shampoo off the shelf in the corner and began to wash my hair. “Why wouldn’t I?”
She took the bottle from me and squeezed some into her hand. “Well, I just wanted to be sure that you knew how much I appreciate you bringing here. This place is amazing…the hotel is perfect…and dinner was fantastic. This is gonna sound corny, but you’ve changed my life, Carter.”
“Doesn’t sound corny at all.”
In the distance, I heard my phone ringing.
“I think I should get that,” I said. “You finish showering. I’ll see you in a bit.”
I took one long more long look at her body before rushing out of the bathroom, hurriedly wiping myself dry with a pristine white towel, and snatched my phone off the bedside table. It had been Blake who called. But why was he calling me now?
I dialed him back. “Hey, what is it?”
“Carter, you need to turn on the TV. Put on channel 13. Now.”
I wrapped the towel around my waist and switched on the television. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw what was on the screen. Channel 13 was running a clip of the very hotel where I was staying, a grainy piece of security footage. I watched in horror as I was shown entering with Gwen. Even though I had attempted to conceal my identity with a hat and sunglasses, it hadn’t been enough to protect me. Once the woman at the front desk found out who I was from my passport, she had, apparently, leaked the footage to the highest bidder. I should have known she was up to no good.
“Are you watching?” my brother asked.
“Oh, I’m watching,” I sighed. “What the fuck am I supposed to do now?”
The voice of a news anchor said, “Naturally, there is some speculation over the identity of Prince Carter’s female companion. While we haven’t heard that the prince is engaged, it’s possible that he has returned to Ocauria to receive his family’s approval.”
I shoved half of my fist in my mouth to stop myself from shouting.
“Are you alive?” Blake said. “Hello? Carter?”
“I don’t know what’s worse,” I muttered. “The fact that the news thinks I’m engaged to this girl, or the real reason I had to bring her over here. I wish I never lost my stupid ID card!”
“And you can never tell Dad the real reason. You know how seriously he takes royal documentation. Oh, and by the way, he just saw the footage. Just wanted to give you a heads up!”
I gritted my teeth, “Thanks a lot, Blake. I assume the whole country has seen it by now.”
“Thats not true! Not everyone has a TV,” he countered, chuckling nervously. “Or an Internet connection. By the way, it’s all over the Internet, too.”
Shit! “I should go. I need to prepare Gwen for the media shitstorm that’s probably going on in the hotel lobby right now,” I sighed.
“You know, you do this to yourself,” Blake said. “If you travelled with a bodyguard, you wouldn’t have to worry about stuff like this happening!”
I growled. “Whatever. See you later. Oh, and get me clearance for Gwen, too. Just in case she’s with me.”
“How am I supposed to do that?”
“Tell them she’s somebody’s cousin.” I had to think fast — who was a member of the nobility who wasn’t close with my father? “Uh…tell them that she’s the cousin of Duke Henry of Medralla. That should work.”
Blake laughed. “Um…okay…I’ll do that. Later, Carter.”
I hung up quickly. There wasn’t a moment to waste. At that moment, Gwen emerged from the bathroom wrapped in a towel. She was running a comb through her wet hair, and there was a blissful smile on her face. The second she saw my dour expression, she stopped grinning.
“What’s wrong?”
I pointed at the TV. She clapped her hand over her mouth as she watched the footage being played and replayed in the corner of the screen while a couple talking heads droned on and on about why I was back in the country.
“I’ve never been on TV before,” Gwen murmured. “Shit. Why do they even care about who I am?”
“Gwen, we’re going to have to change our plans,” I said, ignoring her question. I knew that I had to think quickly to avert total chaos. “There’s no way I can leave you here by yourself now. You just became a person of national interest.”
She placed her finger over her mouth. “I know it’s probably not the right time to say this, but this is actually really fascinating.”
“Fascinating for you. Terrible for me.” I sat down on the bed, burying my head in my hands. Gwen plopped herself down next to me and began rubbing my shoulders. I wished I could enjoy this impromptu massage. “All right. This is gonna sound crazy, but I need you to come with me to the palace. I asked my brother to give you security clearance, so as long as that pans out, you can come with me.”
“The palace? Me? How long am I going to be there?” she asked, her voice quavering.
“Hopefully, just long enough to tell your side of the story. Don’t worry, we’ll come up with a story to explain what you’re doing here.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Once we’re out of here, everything will make sense. I promise.” I squeezed her hands and stood up. “Let’s get dressed and go.”
Gwen leaped to her feet and began rummaging in her suitcase for an outfit. I felt terrible for doing this to her. However, I had a reputation to uphold. My father would never approve of me losing my royal ID at a random woman’s apartment and bringing her
over here for the sake of damage control. He would lose all faith in me.
And maybe he’d be right. However, I was determined to come out of this scandal unscathed. I couldn’t let Jasper use my slip-up against me. This was bigger than me — it was about the future of my country.
11
Gwen
Had I known that I would be hobnobbing with the royals this week, I probably would have packed differently. Now that I was faced with the possibility of having my image plastered all over the world (or at least the kingdom of Ocauria), none of my clothes seemed sufficiently…regal, for lack of a better word.
I put on a blue wrap dress and those awful heels from last night, lamenting my lack of suitable wardrobe options. Why oh why had I packed so many faded jeans and wrinkled T-shirts? I should have known that this wasn’t going to be a typical vacation.
“I don’t mean to rush you, but please hurry!” Carter said.
“Oh, just let me put on some makeup! I looked like a ghost on that security camera tape.”
Carter grabbed my hands. “Gwen, you’re beautiful without anything on your face. Now let’s go.”
Carter could tell me to do anything and I would probably listen. I was completely smitten with the man. Even though I had no idea what would happen next, I trusted him to take care of me. It was as if I was a lowly production assistant who’d sneaked onto a film set, only to be offered a starring role after accidentally ending up in a shot. Nothing this exciting had ever happened to me before, so I figured I should enjoy the ride while it lasted.
“You ready?”
I zipped up my suitcase. “Hell yeah.”
I put on a hat of my own, as well as my glasses. Carter was donning his own crude disguise. We headed out to the elevator. I nearly fainted when I saw that it was packed full of people.
“Stay cool,” Carter murmured, leading me inside.
We rode down to the lobby and, as planned, I walked far ahead of Carter, pretending I didn’t know him. He went to the front desk to check out. I glanced around, but there wasn’t a photographer in sight. Perhaps he was just being paranoid.
I headed outside, waiting for him near the row of taxis that seemed to be perpetually parked in front of the hotel.
Suddenly, I heard Carter yell, “Get in the car! Hurry!”
I turned and saw that everyone from the elevator had whipped out their phones and were snapping pictures of him. Letting out a shriek, I jumped into a vehicle and he followed.
“What the hell was that?” I gasped as the people started surrounding the car.
I saw the eyes of the driver glance at us in the rearview mirror. They grew wide as he suddenly realized who he was dealing with.
“Prince Carter!” the driver cried. “What an honor it is to take you to your destination!”
“If I promise you a generous tip, will you promise to leave us alone for the duration of the ride?” Carter asked through clenched teeth.
“Certainly, sir.”
“To the royal palace, then.” Carter turned to me. “He’ll only be able to take us as far as the outer gates of the property. That’s where my ID comes in.”
As we pealed off, I craned my neck and gazed out the rearview window, wondering how such a famous man could have gone unnoticed in New York City for years.
“Wait. How long did you live in New York?” I asked curiously.
“Almost a decade. I visited home on occasion,” Carter said. “This is the first time I’m worried that I may be here for good.”
“Interesting. Very interesting.” I didn’t know what else to say. “You know,” I said, lowering my voice to a purr, “I would much rather be in bed with you right now, doing everything we didn’t get a chance to do at the hotel.”
For some reason, Carter made me want to behave like a sex kitten. And I wasn’t just doing it for his amusement. It came naturally to me when I was near him.
“You and me both,” he sighed.
“So what’s the plan?” I asked. “While you’re attending to your royal stuff, what am I supposed to be doing at the palace?”
Carter opened his mouth to speak, but glanced at the driver and thought better of it. He silently pulled an ad off the back of the driver’s seat and turned the paper over.
“You got a pen?” he asked me.
By some miracle, I did.
Carter spent the next few minutes scrawling instructions while I stared out the window at the passing scenery — green mountains, farmland, and a few lakes. The land was so bumpy that this car ride was actually making me feel a little nauseous.
When he finally handed me the sheet, I read and re-read what he had written, trying to make sense of it. I felt a tightness in my chest.
We’ll pretend that you’re the cousin of Duke Henry of Medralla, and we met in New York. Although you have noble blood, you were raised in the U.S. and have never set foot in your home country. Sound good?
“Are you serious?” I asked, crossing my arms. “Who’s gonna buy that?”
Carter shrugged. “Look, they tend to frown on giving commoners access to the royal palace. And as you said the other day, Gwen’s a nobody. But Lady Gwendolyn will make a good impression on my father.”
Gwen’s a nobody. The words stung. Carter had no idea how much it hurt to feel useless, to struggle with the rent each month, to get laid off for no good reason. I may have put myself down at dinner last night by calling myself a “nobody,” but he didn’t have to go out of his way make me feel like shit.
“Fine,” I said coolly, crumpling the paper into a ball and shoving it in my purse. “I’ll lie. But only because I don’t want you to get in trouble. By the way…is there anyone who knows who I really am?”
“Just my brother, Blake. He’s the only one I’d ever trust with that kind of information.”
“I see.”
I noticed that we had arrived at what appeared to be the end of the road. Carter compensated the driver generously and we got out of the car.
“You wait here,” Carter murmured.
We were standing on the edge of a property surrounded by gigantic stone walls. The only entrance was a huge, wrought iron gate. A tough-looking armed guard stood nearby, scowling at us from behind his shades.
Carter walked up to the guard and flashed his ID card and said, “I also received clearance for my friend, Miss Gwendolyn Beckett. She’s the cousin of Duke Henry.”
The guard looked me up and down sullenly. He said something into his walkie-talkie and I heard a muffled voice say, “Access granted. I’m about to let them in.”
The guard lowered his shades, revealing a face that was far friendlier than I would have assumed. “Welcome home, Prince Carter. And welcome to the palace, Miss Beckett.”
I was charmed. Slowly, the gates opened for us. Carter grabbed me by the hand and pulled me inside before they slammed shut again.
“See that?” Carter said, pointing to a large stone building in the distance. “That’s the palace.”
I squinted. “Uh…I think I see it. And how are we going to get there?”
“Wait for it…” He sounded excited.
Suddenly, I heard the sound of an engine revving. A blood red sports car appeared in the distance, zooming towards us at an alarming speed down the long road that led to the royal palace.
The car’s brakes squealed as it came to a stop. A man emerged. He was just as tall and good-looking as Carter, except maybe slightly younger.
“Gwen, this is my brother, Blake,” Carter said.
The two brothers hugged each other, and then Blake shook my hand and smiled at me warmly.
“Welcome to Ocauria,” Blake said.
“Wonderful to meet you, Blake.” His presence immediately put me at ease. I could see why Carter trusted him. I noticed that he spoke with a hint of that unusual local accent, while Carter’s manner of speaking was totally Americanized. Ten years living in the U.S. would do that, I supposed.
“All right, everyone get in the car,
” Blake said. He turned to me and with a sly wink, he added, “It was a birthday present I got a couple months ago. You like it, Gwen?”
Carter playfully punched his brother in the shoulder. “Hey, don’t flirt with her. She’s all mine.”
I climbed into the backseat and rushed to put on my seatbelt. Carter rode shotgun. As we zipped off towards the palace, I realized that Carter had way too much power over me. He could tear me down by jokingly calling me a nobody; mere minutes later, he could build me again up by acting like a possessive boyfriend. I wished I could ignore his words. I hardly knew the guy, but in a matter of a few days, he’d completely changed my life.
There was no denying it. I was falling for Carter. Hard.
12
Carter
“Do I look okay?”
I slipped my hand around Gwen’s waist and whispered in her ear, “Baby, you look great.”
“No. I’m serious. Do I look good enough to meet the King of Ocauria?”
“Just stick to the script and you’ll be fine,” I muttered.
Blake had gone off to play badminton with one of his butlers shortly after dropping us off in front of the palace. One of the guards took Gwen’s luggage and offered to bring it to the guest suite where she would be staying. Gwen had turned to me suddenly and murmured in disbelief, “I get a whole suite all to myself?”
I was pleased that Gwen was pleased. I had asked a lot of her today, and I wanted her to be comfortable while she was here.
Fortunately, we were left alone for a little while. Most of the staff was occupied with planning a royal ball set to take place next Saturday, which was lucky for me, since I wasn’t in the mood to explain myself right now. I took the opportunity to give Gwen a brief tour of the magnificent Grand Hall and the famous Royal Ballroom. Then I knew it was time to meet with Dad once and for all. I couldn’t put it off any longer.
“What about your other brothers? Are they around?” she inquired.
Playboy Prince: A Royal Romance (The Brothers of Ocauria Book 1) Page 5
