“I guess you would know more about these types of things.”
“For the record, what I’ve felt with you, I’ve never felt with anyone else. Not physically or emotionally.”
She gasped. “Really?”
“Really.” He pulled her flush against him, his cock still aroused and hopeful. “God, what is it about your damn lips. I just can’t resist them.” He pulled her in for a demanding kiss. Their arms shifted to wrap around each other, while their legs and bodies tangled below. When she started to grind against him, he groaned and pulled back.
With his face buried in her neck, he whispered, “You’re sore, baby. Let’s go take a bath instead.”
“I’m all right.”
“And I know better.”
“So, you know my body better than me, do you?”
“Yes, I do,” he said in a low voice. When his cock twitched, he reluctantly pulled away from her and slid from the bed. He laughed when he saw the pout on the face. “Come on, Princess. Time to start the day.”
***
Arianna took Finn’s outstretched hand and got out of bed. They walked, both naked, to the bathroom where Arianna was surprised to see a tub of steaming, fragrant water waiting. “When did you do this?”
“Just before I woke you up,” he said as he tested the water temperature with his hand and nodded.
She smiled; it had been a very pleasant way to wake up. “You’ve had a busy morning, haven’t you?”
He cupped her cheek. “I almost didn’t want to wake you. You looked like my own private angel sleeping beside me.”
“Why did you wake me then?”
“I promised I would before I left. I keep my promises, Arianna.” He placed a sweet kiss on her lips and then lifted her into his arms.
“What are you doing?”
“Helping you into the bathtub,” he said as he carefully stepped in himself and eased down.
“I could have gotten in myself.”
“But then I wouldn’t have had the pleasure of your naked body in my arms, would I?”
When they settled in, her back against his strong chest, she asked, “How much longer can you stay?”
“Not much longer,” he said as he pushed back her hair and used his nimble fingers to twist it into a messy bun to keep it from getting wet.
“I guess reality couldn’t stay away forever.”
“Neither can I, it seems.”
“What do you mean?”
“This is probably the wrong time to bring it up.”
“You can tell me anything, as long as it’s the truth.”
He waited a few long moments before responding. “Arianna, are you still be considering Henry’s proposal?”
Reality crashed like a wave of cold water over her and she shivered. Finn rubbed his hands down her arms, which did nothing but remind her of the choice she faced. “I don’t know,” she said.
“I know you have a lot to consider, with your family and your country, but will you give me some time to find the information your brother needs? Just a little time before you make a choice you may come to regret?”
In the breaking dawn of day, she had to admit that Henry’s proposal didn’t appeal to her. If she were honest with herself, it had never really appealed to her, except as a way to prove herself to her family and country. It would also have been a very good way to hide her true self even longer, something that seemed impossible after what she and Finn had shared last night.
If only marrying Finn were an option, she realized, she may not have had so many qualms about it.
“I’ll give you time, Finn,” she said, and felt him release a breath on her neck. She turned, some of the water sloshing over the side, and situated herself against him. “I have to admit that Henry’s proposal doesn’t look that great to me this morning.”
Finn’s brows furrowed in concern, and he cupped her face. “I didn’t sleep with you to change your mind, or seduce you into something you don’t want to do.”
“First of all, I believe we slept with each other.” When his lips quirked she continued. “Second, I know you didn’t. I don’t believe you’re that kind of person.” Her fingers toyed with his glistening chest hair for a moment before she said, “It’s hard for me to trust people after what happened to me.”
“I know. I understand that.”
“It’s going to take me some time, but I know you mean well. If Alex trusted you enough to tell you what was going on, that’s good enough for me. Right now, anyway.”
He gave her a soft kiss on the lips and brought her head down to rest in the curve of his neck. She couldn’t help but notice another part of him twitching underneath her and she wiggled against him.
He growled in a low voice. “Don’t move around so much.”
“I’d like you to move around a lot more.” She leaned up and whispered in his ear. “Especially inside me.”
“You’re dangerous.”
“Only with you,” she admitted and slid her wet body against his. Finn’s eyes closed as his head tilted back. She used the opportunity to taste the cleft in his chin and his long, lean neck. The stubble on his face would surely leave a mark - on her face as well as down below where he pleasured her earlier - but she couldn’t bring herself to mind.
“Stop, baby.”
“No,” she said simply and gripped his cock under the water.
With a gasping breath, he said, “Princess.”
“I want you, Finn,” she said as she guided him to her entrance and then pushed down over him. The both gasped.
“You feel so good inside me,” Arianna whispered, a little bewildered. She may have only been with one other person before Finn, but she never expected sex to feel like this.
“Fuck, baby. You feel goddamn amazing around me.” With heavy lidded eyes, he watched her rise and fall against him. His arms were draped along the rim of the tub, while her hands used his chest for support.
“Touch yourself,” he rasped and she blinked. “Show me how you touch yourself.”
“I don’t,” she said unconvincingly.
He huffed a laugh. “All that heat inside you needs a release. I think it’s sexy, baby. Show me how you do it.”
As a blush swept over her cheeks, she swallowed. With wide eyes, a little unsure, she shifted her hands from his chest to her own, filling them with her full breasts.
She closed her eyes as she continued to ride him, kneading her breasts and toying with her nipples at the same time.
“I want to see your eyes,” he whispered through the steamy air, his hips shifting slightly as his cock grew even larger inside her.
She opened her eyes and, keeping one hand on her breast, she lowered the other one below the water line. She touched where their bodies met before shifting to find her clit.
She bit her lip to keep from crying out as she toyed with her nub. Usually, it took several minutes of concentrated effort with a vibrator to orgasm, but not with Finn.
Her muscles clenched inside her, close but not quite there. She gasped and pleaded with herself, begging herself to come as she often did while alone. She drew out the torment as long as she could until she could see Finn’s jaw fraught with tension and his hands fiercely gripping the edge of the tub.
She gave him a pleading look and he said, “Now, baby. Now.”
With a few shuddering gasps, she exploded. Her body clenched around his, over and over and over again, and her hands went to his chest once more for support. His hips pumped into her in earnest, hard but not rough. She collapsed against him as soon as he finished.
He kissed the top of her head. “Are you all right? Was that too much?”
She shook her head. “It was lovely.”
He smiled. “It was fucking hot, is what it was.”
“You like to curse, don’t you?”
He brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “Does it bother you?”
“No, actually, it doesn’t.” For some reason, his loss of control, w
hether in words or physical expression, simply aroused her.
The distant sound of a ringing phone broke into their secluded bath.
“It’s my phone,” Arianna said with sigh as she sat up. “It’s Alex. I can tell by the ringtone.”
“Then I’d better leave before he decides to pay a visit. Will you be all right?”
She nodded. “Will you be at breakfast later?”
“Wouldn’t miss it,” he said and gave her a swift kiss.
They untangled their bodies and Finn stepped out to dress while Arianna took a quick shower. When she reemerged into the bedroom dressed in a robe, she noticed all of her clothes were now draped over a chair.
Finn stood near the secret entrance clad in his suit again and was checking his own phone. She had to admit, he looked sexy in that suit but she much preferred him naked. The thought made her blush.
“What’s got you so red, Princess?” he asked with a gleam in his eye.
“Nothing,” she said softly.
“I bet that’s not true.”
When she walked over to him, she wrapped her arms around his neck. “You’re right, it’s not true. I was thinking about you naked.”
“Funny, I was thinking about you naked, but those kinds of thoughts are dangerous when I need to leave.”
She pulled his mouth to hers, taking a long, heady kiss to last her through the day. When she pulled back, she said, “I’ll see you soon.”
“Count on it,” he said in a husky voice. He gave her a last look before he pulled away and disappeared into the secret hallway.
Finn disappeared not a moment too soon, as a knock came to her door right after he left. Arianna quickly fixed the bed, hoping to make it seem less ‘passionate’ and then glanced frantically around the room for anything that might give her away. She noticed Finn had left his cufflinks on the night stand, so she quickly scooped them and dropped them into the pocket of her robe.
After a last look, she went to the door. “Who is it?”
“It’s Alex. Open up, will you?” Alex rushed inside the moment she opened it. “What took you so long?” he asked with a grim expression.
“I was in the shower,” she said, her wet hair providing evidence of her statement. “I thought I heard you calling. What is it?”
“You never called me back last night. You’re lucky Rebecca talked me out of storming into your room last night.”
“Yes, you are lucky that Rebecca talked you out of it. She seems to be the only one besides Papa who can keep you sane.”
Alex ignored her last comment. “Why are you happy that I didn’t barge in here? Were you with Henry?”
“No, I was not,” she said as she put her hands on her hips. “You can ask the guards if you don’t believe me. Henry walked me to my door and left.”
Alex grunted and Arianna knew she’d won the argument. “So, how did it go last night?”
“Stop glaring at me and I might tell you.” After she gave him a stern look, he ran a frustrated hand through his hair and nodded.
“Good,” she said and indicated for him to sit down. After she took a seat herself, she said, “It went okay, Alex.”
“Just ‘okay’? Not good or great?”
Arianna fiddled with the tie to her robe. “It was okay. He seemed to be singularly focused, but I don’t know if it was towards me.”
“Did he talk to you about his proposal?”
She nodded. “He seems to think it a foregone conclusion that I’ll accept, but I just don’t know.”
“You don’t want to do it?”
“I don’t know.”
“You seemed very sure of yourself yesterday.”
“Yesterday was a different day. For the record, I was never sure of myself about this. I did want to go through with it, to help Valleria, but now I’m not sure. I suppose you’re disappointed in me.”
“Let’s get one thing straight here and now. I have never, nor will I ever be disappointed in you.”
“You can’t say that with such authority, Alex. I could screw things up for you. I’ve done it in the past.”
Alex muttered a curse. “You made a mistake before. Hell, so have I. So has Papa, and all of our siblings. We’re human beings, for Christ’s sake, of course we’ll make mistakes. That doesn’t mean any of us will stop loving or believing in you.”
Her eyes welled up despite her efforts to hold them back. “Thank you, Alex.”
“Don’t thank me for being your brother. I quite enjoy it, you know.” She huffed a laugh while she brushed away some loose tears.
“Now, tell me,” he said as he looked her straight in the eyes. “Can you see yourself with Henry? Forget everything else. Can you see yourself as his wife?”
“I don’t know.”
Alex nodded. “I’m working on getting the information through other means. I don’t know if we’ll be successful. However, you should know that no matter what happens, this marriage need never take place.”
She knew the answer but asked anyway. “How are you getting the information?”
“I suppose it won’t hurt to tell you, but keep the information to yourself. We’ve got our own Vallerian spies looking into it, but Finn’s also helping us.”
“You trust him, don’t you?”
“More than Henry, that’s for sure.”
“Then I’ll follow your lead, Alex.”
“We’ll have to be careful at breakfast today. I’ve already told Henry that we won’t even entertain the idea of a marriage until Papa meets him.”
“So, what’s the plan?”
“I need to head back to Valleria today, and I’d like you to come with me. Mama and Papa’s fortieth anniversary ball is tomorrow night. I’m going to invite Henry to come for the ball and meet our parents then.”
“And if Finn finds the information we need before then?”
“Truthfully, the Vallerian spies we’ve sent to gather information could have it even before Finn. But, if that happens, we’ll deal with it when the time comes.”
Arianna nodded. “All right. Like I said, I’ll follow your lead. Will you invite Finn to the ball, too?”
Alex quirked an eyebrow. “Would you like to?”
“If we did, he’d be closer to you if he found out what you needed.” And closer to me, she didn’t add.
“I don’t know that he’ll be able to come, but I think you’re right that we should invite him. In fact, we’ll make it conditional.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ll say Papa wants to meet them both before making a decision.”
“If you think that’s best.”
“I do. Here’s what I propose we should do at breakfast,” Alex said and proceeded to outline his plan. After a few tweaks, Alex left Arianna to finish getting ready.
It would be a long few days.
Chapter 11
As soon as Finn had made it back to his room, he had quickly showered and changed before leaving the palace entirely. He only had a short time before breakfast, and he had promised Arianna he would be there.
He made his way quickly through the quiet streets of the capital. With the days growing shorter, more and more shop owners and vendors had switched to winter hours: opening late and closing early. No one was around, which was just what he needed.
Finn parked a few blocks from his destination and jogged quickly to a small café, barely open with only one person behind the country setting up a display of morning pastries. Finn slid in the door, which chimed his arrival.
“Jacob,” Finn said.
“Finn,” Jacob said with a tone of surprise. Jacob was one of the few people who didn’t call Finn by his title, even in endearment. There was too much history between them for that. “To what do I owe this visit so early in the morning?”
Finn glanced around. “Are we alone?”
Jacob’s eyes narrowed. “I take it this is not a visit to taste my newest pastry?”
“No. This visit involves your old life
.”
Jacob nodded. “Let’s head to the back. I’ll lock the doors. Where did you park?”
“A few blocks away, in front of an office building.”
Jacob nodded and went to lock the doors while Finn proceeded to the back. Jacob’s office was small but organized and functional. As a former spy for Brazenbourg, Jacob was used to making the most of small places and little amenities. Though Jacob had left that life long ago, some habits were too engrained.
Arianna & Finn (Royals of Valleria #3) Page 14
