by Eden Finley
“You’re suggesting we date while Xander’s away?”
“Exactly.”
It took all of a few days to work out sharing Xander with Delia would never work. I wanted her almost as much as I wanted him, and we were working on the emotional connection. If nothing else, I already saw her like a best friend. We’d stay in her room talking and laughing, and when it was just us, the rest of the word didn’t exist. She wasn’t in contention for a crown, and I wasn’t paid to watch over her. Another good thing was our bonding didn’t revolve around Xander. We were making our own bond, and I knew that would be necessary if we were going to make our relationship with Xander work.
Xander had been gone three days so far, which was both good and bad. It gave us time to work shit out, but the bad side was we both felt it was wrong to do anything past kissing, and it was getting harder to restrain myself around her.
Roman:
Our girl is torturing me.
That was an understatement. As part of my royal guard duty, I had to escort her to a luncheon, and the whole country club was buzzing with royal wedding fever. The possible future queen sat at a table a few feet away from me while I tried to be invisible pressed against a wall.
Instead of answering everyone’s questions about her relationship with the prince, she was teasing me by eating things. And drinking things. With her lips, damn it! I’d never taken much notice of them before today. You know, except when she was sucking me off.
I groaned. Fuck, I was horny. Even her ugly polka-dot dress made me want her. I knew what was underneath, so it didn’t matter how she covered it up.
She was an awesome girl—laid-back and non-judgemental like the other girls in her social circle. She wasn’t how I imagined a lord’s daughter to be.
The amount of women I’d wanted to punch today for bitching about her was getting to me. I didn’t expect my protective and possessive side to come out so soon with her.
All these women thought she was too innocent and pure and boring; nothing like the type of girl Xander went for. It was a testament to Delia’s façade that these women had no idea what she was truly like. She was fun, bubbly—always laughing, always joking. Her laugh was infectious.
My phone vibrated in my pocket.
Xander:
Fuck her and get it over with, man.
Roman:
It feels wrong to be with her without you.
Xander:
You’re going to have to get used to it because I’m going to be busy a lot when I’m king.
Roman:
Touché
Xander:
Take photos.
Roman:
Bad idea, dude.
Xander:
No faces. Please? I’m dying over here.
Roman:
With France being a third-world country and all?
Xander:
Doesn’t matter how beautiful a place is when the only place I want to be is locked in a bedroom with two certain people.
Roman:
Are you sure it’s okay to go for it while you’re not here?
Xander:
I wouldn’t say so otherwise. Do you find it weird I’ve been with D without you?
Roman:
No.
Xander:
Ask D if she cares. I bet she won’t. Go for it. And seriously, pics or it didn’t happen. I’ll see you in three days.
Three more days? I couldn’t wait that long.
“Whatcha doin’?” a woman’s voice said beside me.
I startled and shoved my phone in my suit pocket. The attire was the only thing I hated about being part of the royal guard. Give me tactical wear over suits any day. “My job,” I said.
“Right. You’re here protecting the prince’s girlfriend, right?”
I stiffened and eyed the woman from head to toe. Her black, conservative dress could’ve meant she was a socialite or a reporter. Her blonde hair was down and styled, but that didn’t help me differentiate between the two possibilities. “Are you a reporter?”
“God no. I’m Beatrice. Cordelia and I go way back. We went to finishing school together.”
Of course, you did. I didn’t know what to say or what she wanted, but I couldn’t be rude. “Oh, right. Okay.” That seemed as good a choice of words as any.
“So, she really is his girlfriend?”
“That’s a question for Lady Hillington herself. Or Prince Alexander.”
Beatrice placed her hand on my forearm, her blood-red nails digging into my suit jacket. “But you’re her bodyguard, aren’t you?”
“Yes. Why?”
I was saved when the most beautiful girl in the world appeared at my side. “Roman? I need to go to the bathroom.”
“You’re so much of a princess you can’t pee alone?” Beatrice asked.
“Not a princess yet,” Delia singsonged and walked off.
“Sorry, duty calls.” I declawed my arm from her clutches and followed Delia.
She was waiting for me outside the restroom. “You should go in first. Make sure there isn’t anyone in there waiting to attack.”
“Are we talking terrorists or more bitchy women?”
She visibly deflated. “At this point, I think I’d rather the terrorists.” She stepped forward and whispered. “They’re terrible, aren’t they? They think I don’t know they’re all bitching behind my back? Why do people suddenly think I’m deaf?”
I wanted to reach out and touch her—soothe her—but I couldn’t. We would never be able to be seen together in public. “I’ll check the bathroom and be right out.”
As soon as I stepped over the threshold though, Delia’s petite body ran into the back of me.
“There’s no one in here. I’ve been keeping track of everyone coming and going,” she whispered.
I stared at her over my shoulder and watched as she flicked the lock. “What are you doing?”
“You seriously have to stop eye-fucking me out there.”
I choked on a laugh. “I can’t help it.”
Delia stepped forward. “Then do something about it.”
I hesitated.
She pulled her phone out of her small purse. “Go on. Read the message.”
Xander:
Go fuck our boy. He needs it. He may need some convincing though.
“He knows you better than you’d think.”
I stepped closer to her. “I want to. Fuck, I want to.”
“I want you as well.”
“Are you sure? You don’t have to, I mean.”
She averted her gaze. “We need this. We need to know that we could be together for each other and not just for Xander.”
And we were done with the convincing portion of the day. I almost bowled her over with how fast I charged her.
She laughed but corrected her footing just in time for my mouth to devour hers.
Delia
The prince’s hands were soft—pampered—but Roman had callused fingers from working out. There was no way he had biceps that large without hitting the gym on a daily basis. And as his hands moved over me, those rough fingers made my skin break out in goose bumps. Pleasure hummed through me everywhere he touched. His mouth worshiped me.
His jacket was already discarded, and my fingers made quick work of his shirt buttons. As soon as the last one was popped, he let his shirt fall to the dirty floor. He gripped my hips and lifted me, carrying me to the nearby row of sinks and sitting me on the bench.
“You’re so beautiful,” I said, running my hands over his broad shoulders and hard torso. I realised how idiotic I sounded, but in my defence, it was if his body was sculpted from marble … but with a tan. Damn.
“Back at ya, babe.” He dived back in, his body against mine as I wrapped my legs around his back. His mouth kissed the fuck outta me, and a hard bulge moved against my core.
“Clothes,” I choked out. “Need them gone.”
“In a hurry to get this over with?” He laughed. Taking a step
back, he undid his suit pants and shoved them down his thighs to his ankles, along with his underwear.
“Need you,” I panted.
“Your turn.” His hand slid under the skirt of my dress and up my thigh until he reached where my panty line should’ve been. “No underwear? Are you trying to kill me?”
I leaned in and whispered in his ear. “You know why these functions are so fun? Because everyone out there would never imagine a girl like me was going commando while planning to seduce her bodyguard in the bathroom.”
“Fuck, that’s hot.”
He sank to his knees, and I ached for him—for his mouth. So, what did he do? Fucking teased me with it. His tongue was feathery light, and his touch even more so as he mercilessly trailed his mouth up my inner thigh. My hips rocked, trying to get him to bury his face where I wanted it.
He chuckled against my skin.
“Xander was right. You’re an evil fucker. We’re on a time crunch here.”
That made him laugh harder, and his shoulders shook in between my legs. He lifted his head and watched me as two of his long fingers slowly entered me. “As I recall, someone claimed she never begged. That true?”
Ah, shit.
“Because by the strangled noise you’re making, honey, I think I’m about three seconds away from hearing the word please fall from your lips.” His fingers continued to torture me.
I hated begging but hated the need for release more. It usually took a lot longer for a guy to get me to that point. I counted to four to prove a point. “Please.”
Roman smirked. “You counted to four just to be stubborn, didn’t you?”
“Not at all,” I lied.
“Liar.” He finally put me out of my sweet misery when his mouth landed on me, and his fingers picked up their pace.
I hoped the walls of the bathroom were as thick as the castle’s, or I was sure everyone could’ve heard the moan that ripped from me.
“Need to be quiet,” Roman whispered.
I had to bite my lip to stifle my moans, but Roman didn’t stay with me for long.
“Hang on, baby. Not going to let you come until I’m inside you, and I need a condom.”
I reached for him. “No, you don’t. Xander made me get tested before I came to stay. And I have an IUD. Palace didn’t want a surprise future king or queen from a summer romp.”
“I’ve been tested,” he said.
“I trust you.”
Roman’s eyes softened. His large hands pulled me forward and off the bench until my feet hit the ground. “Turn around.”
I did as he said. “Mm, I like bossy Roman.”
“Better hold on, sweetheart.”
My fingers gripped the edge of the bench.
His body covered mine, and his hard cock dug into my back. Lips landed on the back of my neck, and his hot breath warmed my skin. “This is going to be hard and fast. You ready for that?”
“Yes,” I hissed.
One hand trailed down my front and up my skirt. Fingers massaged my clit, while the weight from my back disappeared as he straightened up behind me. He lined up his cock and thrust inside. “Fuuuuck.”
I agreed with the sentiment in the form of a gasp. He was fully seated but unmoving.
“Thought this was going to be fast,” I taunted.
“It will be if I move right now.”
I laughed.
“Fuck, laughing isn’t helping, sweetheart.”
“How about this?” I asked and rocked my hips back.
He groaned. “You’re as evil as me.”
“But it’s fun.”
“Yeah, it is.” Roman moved inside me. His grip on my hips hardened to the point of pain, but I welcomed it. “I can’t wait to share you with Xander.”
The thought of Xander joining us made my inner muscles clench in arousal.
“Or maybe you’d rather watch Xander do me.”
That image was almost too much. “You’d let him do that?” I asked in between panting.
“It’s Xander. I’d let him do anything.” Roman started a punishing pace, and my body started trembling. “Goddamn, you feel good.”
“What about him? Would he let you do that to him?”
“Xander doesn’t do that.”
“How do you know?”
“I had to listen to Xander have sex for two years. Pretty easy to work it out when it was always the other guys begging him to go harder.”
“Fuck, Roman.” I couldn’t hold out anymore.
“You close, baby?” His fingers pinched my clit, sending me over the edge. My knuckles turned white from gripping the bench too hard, but it gave me the right leverage to take Roman pounding into me from behind.
It didn’t take long for him to lose his rhythm and shudder his release inside me.
His head dropped between my shoulder blades as he tried to catch his breath. “I needed that. You’ve been driving me crazy for days.”
“Glad I could help, but we should get back out there. God forbid one of these ladies need the bathroom.”
As if on cue, someone tried to open the door.
Roman pulled out of me, making quick work of putting his clothes back on. I only needed to straighten my dress and use the paper towels to clean up a bit.
“Can we please go back to the palace as soon as possible?” he asked. “Knowing you’re walking around out there without underwear is going to open you up to an assassination attempt because there’s no fucking way I’ll be able to concentrate on my job.”
“Deal. I want round two.” I laughed at the tortured sound that escaped Roman. But my smile fell when I ran into Beatrice when I unlocked the bathroom door.
The evil glint in her eye let me know nothing good would come from her catching me in the bathroom with Roman. “Slumming it, future queen?”
I scoffed. “Roman was helping me with my heel. The strap broke.”
“Right,” she said and glanced down at my feet. “I believe that as much as Prince Alexander being interested in someone like you. So, what’s the deal? Are you his beard? Are the rumours about him true?”
Roman’s domineering presence came behind me. I didn’t have to turn to know he was there. “I can assure you Prince Alexander is smitten with Lady Hillington. So much so my job has been threatened if anything happens to her. Which includes being ambushed by jealous women.”
Beatrice’s mouth dropped open.
“Now, if you’ll excuse us, Lady Hillington needs to go back to the palace. Her shoe broke.”
Beatrice’s eyes fell to Roman’s shirt. “You missed a button.” She pushed past us and entered the bathroom.
Roman leaned in. “Her word against ours, hon. No need to panic.”
I nodded and headed for the exit.
“It’ll be fine,” Roman said on the drive back to the palace. “She’s a ditzy socialite who wants the crown. But we, uh, probably shouldn’t let ourselves do that again. In public, I mean.”
“I know. That’s not why I’m quiet.”
“Then what is it?”
“I wanted to tell her she was right. About us.”
Roman’s lips pulled into a tight line. “That’ll never be able to happen, D. It’s one of the reasons I didn’t want to start this. I was worried about having to be in the closet for the rest of my life. It’s not like I can take you to the pub with my friends and be all ‘Oh, by the way, I’m in a relationship with the future king and queen of Ashwick.’”
Xander and I were assholes. “I never thought about that. Xander probably hasn’t either. I think he’s got tunnel vision when it comes us. He’s so desperate to get what he wants, he’s overlooking the issues outside the palace.”
“I never said I wasn’t willing to do it,” Roman said. “If I thought I couldn’t handle it, I wouldn’t have agreed to it. What we could have is enough for me. For me to serve on the royal guard and be with two people I care about? To watch as those two people shape the future of our country? Yeah, I think it’d be wor
th not being publicly recognised.”
“How patriotic of you.”
“I was in the military and am now in the elite royal guard. I live and die for my country.”
“I still want to poke Beatrice’s eyes out and tell her to back off for talking to you.”
Roman’s lips twitched. “That’s the reason behind the bathroom romp? Jealousy?”
“My whole life, I’ve felt like I didn’t belong, you know? I don’t know if it has to do with the fact my real father was a farmer or that my parents were both distant to me growing up. That only got worse as I got older—especially when my father found out I wasn’t his. I pretended to be someone else for so long I didn’t know who I truly was anymore. I was a robot. I put on proper dresses and behaved appropriately. And then—”
“One day you snapped and started going to sex clubs and blowing dukes in bathrooms?”
I gasped. “You know about that?”
“It’s true? Holy shit!” Roman laughed. “It was a rumour I heard, but I didn’t realise the girl in question was you. I used it as an example of the shit you must’ve got up to when you hit your rebellious phase.”
“Even through that phase, though, I still felt like I was pretending. Like I didn’t belong. I can play the sex vixen, and I can play the innocent librarian type as Xander calls it. I’ve been lost my whole life and have no direction. Yet, the only thing that makes sense to me is something that isn’t considered normal. Being with you and Xander … it’s—”
“Just because it’s not common doesn’t make it wrong.”
