Don't Tell

by Violet Paige

  “You look so perfect like that.”

  My eyes fluttered open and I caught his intense gaze. My core zinged with power. It tingled with electricity.

  He pulled out, rubbing the crown over my lips. “Mmm.” I smiled softly. Lost in the feel of his silky skin.

  I had waited for this night. Longed for it. Tonight, I wasn’t a guest visiting the king for a one-time fling. I was his. I belonged with him, in this bed. Our bed.

  He lifted me from my knees, spinning me toward the sheets. I landed on my stomach.

  “How many ways do you want me to fuck you, Molly?” His voice was low in my ear.

  “Every way.” I panted.

  His palm coasted over my back, rounding my ass. I felt his lips against the small of my back before he spread my legs and descended between them. My hips had a mind of their own as I instinctively positioned myself to give him access to my most sensitive areas.

  He latched on my clit before his tongue circled my entrance. I groaned with the added pressure of his thumb on my rosebud.

  “Ohh, shit,” I whimpered. He had hit every nerve ending with one swift motion. He was everywhere at once.

  He flicked back and forth. My juices flowed freely. I was out of control. My heels lifted in the air as I wiggled my ass toward him.

  His tongue traveled backward until he lapped at the tight ring of muscle.

  “Ohh.” I rocked into him. I couldn’t stop myself from wanting that heated sensation inside. I wanted his tongue deep in my ass.

  He growled, shaking my core with ecstasy. And then he pushed inside.

  “Ahh.” I sank against the heat. It ricocheted. I bucked with every thrust, loving how he felt. Loving how different it felt.

  He pushed his fingers inside my entrance and I knew my first orgasm was taking off. It spilled through me while he fucked me relentlessly with his tongue and fingers.

  “Damon,” I screamed his name into the sheets. There was no gravity. No balance. I was flying as the release took over my body.

  I shuddered with one more beautiful quake and then fell on my stomach.

  Damon crawled on top of me, rolling me to my back. He nipped my shoulder, slowly kissing my throat and neck. He took one hand and then the other, placing them at the top of the head board.

  I looked in his eyes for an explanation. He rose on his knees. He quickly grabbed a pillow and tucked it under my hips then took one ankle and put it on his shoulder and then the other. The glittery shoes sparkled in the air.

  He nudged his cock at my swollen pussy.

  He grinned wickedly as he stretched my entrance with his crown. I had to adjust to his thickness. He made a few shallow pumps, coating himself in my honey.

  I whimpered. I gripped the headboard as he slammed into me with a solid thrust.

  “Oh God,” I cried. He was deep. So far inside me. I was practically lifted in the air.

  He held my ankles as he surged again, this time stroking my walls in one deliciously slow thrust.

  “Fuck, Molly.” His teeth gnashed at my calf. “I can go so deep like this.”

  My knuckles tightened as I readjusted my hold on the bed. “Deeper,” I begged.

  His cock plunged inside me like a heated rod of steel. I bolted toward him, clinging to the headboard. Nothing had ever felt like this. As if our bodies had melted together, daring me to find where I ended and he began.

  His eyes bore into my gaze.

  “You. Are. Mine.”

  I nodded, matching his counterthrusts with everything I had. “Yours, Damon. I’m yours.”

  He sank into me with a powerful thrust and the world spun away. There weren’t people iin the ballroom dancing the night away. There weren’t angry family members or heart broken friends. Only us. Only the universe we made in this bed.

  He kicked my ankles off his shoulders and his bare chest grazed over mine as we found a rhythm together. Our bodies slick with sweat. He kissed me, drawing the air from my lungs. I clawed at his back, climbing him, desperate to tie us together forever.

  His fingers curled over top of mine on the bed. It gave him resistance to bury his cock farther.

  “Ohh,” I moaned.

  “Fuck,” he growled in my ear.

  We were reckless with our lust for each other. Our thirst for each other made us greedy. He pumped forcefully inside me as I sucked and nipped at his edible lips.

  “I love you, Molly.” He breathed heavily. “All of this tonight is because I love you.”

  My orgasm usually spilled through me because of the dirty things he said. But now I was useless to control my body from the purity of his words.

  I rocked into him. Clutching his cock. I wanted him to feel it. To know it.

  “I love you. I love you.”

  It shattered through me A flurry of heat and electricity touched every nerve. My body was his. He had taken me. And I was never getting it back. He groaned as his final release attacked him, pulsing in my depths.

  He thrust as he climaxed, filling me with his hot come.

  “Oh shit.” He rolled on his side.

  I kissed his shoulder. “How was my first assignment as Royal Consort?” I giggled.

  He laughed loudly. “Pretty fucking perfect.” He leaned forward on his elbow. He made a lazy circle around my navel with his fingertip.

  “And the rest of the night? How do you think it went?”

  “Other than the bullshit with Roux, I think it was a success.”

  “That reminds me. You were going to tell me what he meant about the exit fee.”

  He looked at the ceiling. “You don’t want to talk about The Talon now.”

  I propped myself up to face him. His fingers moved to my breast. I loved how he touched me. How comfortable he felt with my body.

  “I do. I want to know.”

  He sighed. “It’s part of the membership. If you break the contract with the tally, in this case that’s you, then members are ejected from the society with a penalty fee. It’s the cost of doing business with Lesage.”

  “You have to pay a fee because of me? How much?” I prodded.

  “Money isn’t a problem. You know that. Don’t worry about the number.”

  “How much?” He was distracting me with his fingers. My body was still zinging from the last orgasm.

  “Five million,” he stated.

  “That’s insane. You can’t be serious about paying that much money.”

  “Would you rather I stay in the society?” He raised his eyebrows.

  I bit my lip. “No, but that seems like extortion. You could do so much with that money.”

  “It’s to dissuade this from happening.” He twisted my nipple between his fingers. He lowered his mouth to it.

  I pulled his head between my hands to steady the impact. I didn’t want him to divert all my attention. It would take about two seconds before that happened.

  “Like Sebastian?” I questioned.

  “Mmmhmm.” He bit at my nipple. “See the problem there?”

  “Yes. But that’s an incredible price to pay.”

  “Membership does have its benefits,” he teased. His tongue raked over the hard point.

  I tried to understand the club. The society. The risk Damon took to be a member. What he was willing to pay for me. My head spun.

  My fingers relaxed, giving him full access to my breast.

  “Oh shit,” I whispered. I spiraled under his control.

  He crawled on top of me. “This night is far from over,” he warned. “No more talk about The Talon. I’m never going back there.” He knelt over me. His eyes smoldered with want.

  “Neither am I.” I tried hard to keep a serious face, but I burst into a fit of laughter.

  “Hilarious.” His hands landed on my waist, twisting my hips until I was pinned on my stomach.

  I could feel the tautness of his thighs as he pressed into me, raising my ass in the air. Every ounce of him dripped with power and strength. There wasn’t a part of his bo
dy that wasn’t toned with athletic precision.

  His disciplined workouts might have been a leftover side effect of the Royal Navy, but when I looked at him I saw more than how hot he was. I saw a man who ran an entire country. Who had the weight of his citizens on his shoulders. A man who fought to find freedom in strange places like The Talon.

  He was willing to give all of that up. For me.

  I had surrendered to him, but he had done the same. We had jumped off the cliff together.

  My palms supported me as Damon pushed inside me, jostling me forward with his strength. Filling me. Connecting with me. Loving me.

  My body tightened with anticipation as he reared back and sank inside me again. I pushed into him, hungry for more. Eager for the friction his body gave.

  “Oh, Molly.” His fingers dug into my flesh as he thrust into me. “Come for me,” he demanded.

  “Ahh,” I cried. How did we keep doing this? Finding a higher cliff to climb. A higher place to jump. How did he keep showing me new ways to enjoy sex?

  My body was ready to detonate around him.

  “Fuck, you’re so sexy like this.”

  My breasts grazed the sheets, bouncing as Damon took me with possession and determination. He fucked me slow and deep, drawing the climax from my core with torturous strokes.

  “Come,” he commanded.

  And I was lost. I convulsed wildly as we both skyrocketed to the highest peak before collapsing in our rapture.

  Damon rolled on his side, tucking me next to him. He kissed me gently on the shoulder. “I do love you, Molly.”

  I could hear the sleepy haze in his voice.

  My eyes grew heavy. “I love you, too.”

  35

  Damon

  The lodestar was thicker than usual. Although, this morning it was the last thing I wanted to read. Molly was naked next to me. I had brought coffee to bed along with the daily briefing. I read the day’s agenda while she slept. I had a hard time keeping my eyes off her body.

  I’d never told a woman I’d loved them. I didn’t think it was in my DNA. But last night I spoke the words with full intention of meaning exactly what I said.

  I was in love with this woman. I realized she wasn’t the one dowager queen or Sutcliffe would have chosen. But like hell if I was going to end up like Sebastian, wanting one woman while hating the one I had.

  Molly stirred next to me. Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled.

  “Bonjour, love.” I closed the lodestar and locked the seal.

  “Bonjour.”

  “How did you sleep?”

  She stretched her long legs. I couldn’t get enough of them. Graceful and strong. Her body was a work of art.

  “I can’t remember.” She giggled.

  I reached for a cup of coffee, handing her the extra one I brought in from the service cart. “For you.”

  She sat forward, taking the mug to her lips. “Mmm. I love waking up like this.”

  “Is it the coffee or me?” I teased.

  “The coffee.”

  I laughed at her coy grin.

  “I only have thirty minutes before my first meeting. Since the vote for the olive groves passed yesterday, there is legislation that has to be reviewed.”

  “Don’t you have attorneys for that kind of thing?”

  “Yes. But I’m a hands-on king.”

  “In many ways.” Her eyebrows lifted over the mug.

  “After that, I’m going to see Lesage. I want to make sure the contract has been ended.”

  Molly eyes were a lighter shade of blue in the morning. It was hard not to stare at how fucking gorgeous she was.

  “Should I go with you?”

  “No.” I shook my head. “That is definitely not allowed.”

  “Ok. I need to check on Brooklyn. I sort of left her last night to deal with that situation. I’m becoming the world’s worst friend.”

  I rested my hand on her knee. “I doubt she believes that. I’m sorry she got mixed up with Sebastian.”

  “But he seemed sincere, don’t you think? The way he looked at her. I believed him. He looked miserable, Damon.”

  I exhaled. I didn’t have a soft spot for him. I never had. We had always competed through school. He resented my position long before I was king.

  “Doesn’t matter. He’s not going to leave Carina, and if your friend heard anything I said last night, she’ll stay away from him.”

  “Maybe it’s not that easy for them.”

  “Love, it is that easy. Carina will destroy them both. If you speak to Brooklyn today make sure she doesn’t go near him.”

  Molly clutched the coffee. “I’m not going to tell her who she can have feelings for. Friends don’t do that. Maybe they have something real. Have you considered it could be serious?”

  My eyes cut to her. “It doesn’t matter if it’s real. He’s not going to leave Carina. Why encourage her if he’s only going to hurt her? The man is married.”

  “Then he shouldn’t have joined the society.” Her voice was angry.

  “You’re annoyed with Sebastian, not me.”

  “Maybe both of you.”

  I leaned to kiss her on the cheek. “While you figure that out, I’m going to sign irrigation law and pay Lesage five million dollars for my freedom.”

  I saw the smile sneak on her lips.

  “Do you have to leave so soon?”

  I looked at my watch. “I have ten minutes. Join me in the shower.”

  She nodded.

  And I realized this was how mornings were supposed to start.

  36

  Molly

  It was strange to have all my things in a new set of apartments. My rooms were joined to Damon’s. On the other side of his spare bedroom was a corridor that connected his suite to mine. I didn’t need a set of rooms, but I realized that while I worked on my dissertation it was nice to have a space to spread out. I didn’t have to worry about Brooklyn stacking up my notecards.

  I had left her a voicemail and sent two texts. She hadn’t responded. I’d try her again after lunch.

  I had two bedrooms, a living room, dining room, an enormous bathroom, and a closet as big as a garage. There was no kitchen. Whatever I wanted came from the royal kitchen. There chefs on staff ready to cook anything the royals wanted, no matter what time it was.

  I opened my laptop. Palace cyber security was at an all-time high. One of the tech guys had to reprogram my laptop with encrypted codes so that it couldn’t be hacked when I was out. As the king’s newest advisor that was a threat that concerned the intelligence force.

  I wasn’t going to tell them I wasn’t an actual advisor. I let them do what they needed and waited to get my laptop back.

  The screen lit up and I clicked on my email. I had poured a second cup of coffee after my shower with Damon. I wasn’t sure how we had mixed being so dirty with clean, but it was a fun experiment. I giggled to myself.

  I deleted a few of the coupons in my inbox. Then I saw it.

  The email popped open and I read it faster than any other message.

  “Oh my God.” I placed the mug on the desk. I couldn’t believe it. I held my breath as if that was somehow going to affect the outcome of the message.

  It had happened. London had accepted my request.

  I read the email again, much slower this time.

  I jumped from the chair, throwing my arms in the air. “Yes!” I spun around.

  Six weeks in London at the XX, locked in a vault with rare texts. It was a career dream. My dream. I could almost smell the pages.

  But oh holy shit. Damon was never going to be ok with that.

  And my stomach flipped, realizing I didn’t know if I was either.

  I was positioned at one end of the dining room table. I decided this was the best place to line up the notecards. I wasn’t going to host any state dinners here. It was unused space, and from what I gathered, the apartments were closed up when there weren’t occupants.

  I looked
up when my new suite manager knocked.

  “It’s ok, Francesca. You don’t have to knock.” I smiled.

  “Ma’am, you have a visitor.”

  “Oh?” I looked down at what I was wearing. Ayla wouldn’t be happy I had taken the day off to be a student.

  “Princess Isabel is here.”

  “Oh.”

  “Where would you like to receive the princess?”

  I fumbled. Was it supposed to be formal? Couldn’t she just walk in here like a regular person?

  “The living room is fine, Francesca. I’ll be right out. You can offer her something to drink.” There was one thing all palace rooms had—a fully stocked bar.

  I left the rows of colored cards and walked into the main room of my apartment. Damon’s sister was waiting for me.

  “There you are.”

  “Hi, Isabel. Sorry, I was working on my chapter orders.”

  She waved her hand in the air. “I’m not like my brother. You don’t have to apologize. I can wait a few minutes.”

  I smiled and took a seat next to her. “Thank you for understanding.”

  “Have you recovered from last night?”

  I almost choked. “Y-yes, I have.”

  “Good. I know my mother was a complete bitch. She’s gone.”

  “It’s not her fault. It was rushed. There was a large audience. It’s ok.”

  “You are way too saintly for this family.” She crossed her legs. I didn’t know if she was planning on staying a while. “After that scene, I didn’t want to speak to her. Damon was livid. She won’t be back until he requests it, which isn’t likely any time soon.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that. Damon has told me a short version I’m sure, but I don’t want to be one more reason she stays away from Freychon.”

  “Believe me, you are not the reason. I’m the only one willing to visit her anymore.”

  “I’m sure you were excited about the olive grove vote. Damon told me you spent time there before our trip.”