Reluctantly Royal

by Gillian Archer

  “Yes.” Her eyes were lit with more emotion that I could decipher, but I took her at her word and slowly thrust inside her body. Hannah gasped at the intrusion, so I froze to give her body time to adjust. Her hands clung to my back as she whispered, “I’m okay.”

  “We’re in no rush, mon chou,” I whispered back despite the insistent pounding pulse that had become my entire dick. All he wanted to do was thrust himself to oblivion, but I wanted to make sure Hannah was along for the ride. She had at least one more orgasm due to her. And about a zillion kisses. After a beat, her body relaxed some and I sank the rest of the way inside her. The moist, gripping heat of her had me grinding my teeth and calling upon all my self-control. She felt so good. So perfect.

  But Hannah’s needs came first. I bent down and took her lips in a hard, passionate kiss, and after a second my body moved of its own accord. Retreating. Thrusting. In. Out. Hannah’s breath caught, and I slid my hand between our bodies to help her. My fingers found that tiny bud of nerves, and I gently caressed it. Circled it again and again as our bodies moved against each other. Thrusting. Seeking. Then Hannah cried out.

  “Luc!” Her body shuddered around me as she found her release. And a few thrusts later, I followed her over the peak. My shout came out garbled. I buried my head in Hannah’s shoulder as I pumped the condom full of my come.

  I lay atop of Hannah waiting for my pulse to calm down. My weight still supported by my arms, I nuzzled her neck like a cat looking for some affection. Ironic, I know.

  Hannah’s hand came down on my head as she softly caressed my hair. “That was…I have no words.”

  “Adequate, I hope.”

  “Beyond. It was earth-shattering. Life-affirming, even.”

  “And utterly draining. I hope you’re all right with some cuddling and maybe a little nap before round two.”

  “Considering I’m two up on you in the orgasm count, I suppose that’s acceptable.”

  Hearing the unmistakable challenge in her voice, I lifted up and gave her a challenging look. “We can always do you again while we wait for me to recover.”

  Hannah groaned and tried to close her legs against me and yelped. “No! I was joking. We can wait.”

  “If you’re sure.” I dropped my head back down on her shoulder and kissed the exposed skin I could reach there.

  Hannah shivered. “I’m sure. Besides, I’m a little…tender. It’s been a while.”

  “For me as well. Hence the two-pump-chump routine. Are you okay?”

  “It was hardly two pumps. And yes, I’m fine. It’s nothing a few kisses wouldn’t cure.”

  I rolled over to my side and took Hannah back into my arms as I set out to kiss all her aches and pains away.

  Chapter 11

  “Your Highness? I’m so sorry to wake you…Oh.”

  “What is it, Aristide?” I muttered as I rolled over in bed, but my momentum was stopped short as I rolled into another body. Hannah. She murmured and snuggled up against me.

  “I’m so sorry, Your Highness. I had no idea you weren’t alone. When you’re, ah,” Aristide paused to clear his throat, “finished, your brother would like to speak to you. The Sovereign Prince said it was most urgent that you phone him back.”

  In the distance a door closed, but all I could focus on was Hannah’s rigid body next to me.

  “Your Highness?” She sat up and shoved her hair off her face with one hand. “Your brother, the Sovereign Prince? Is this a joke?”

  It was at that point I realized Aristide had spoken in English. Not French. I didn’t even have time to figure out why he’d do something like that before Hannah sprang from the bed and began pawing through the clothes on the floor.

  “You’re a prince? Oh, my god. Oh, my god.”

  “Wait, Hannah. Let me explain.”

  “What’s there to explain?” Hannah stood up, gloriously and unselfconsciously naked, displaying every inch of skin that I’d spent all night licking and kissing. “You’re a prince who lied to me for three days to get me into bed. You’ve had your fun; we’re clearly over, so I’m gonna go home and pretend like this weekend never happened.”

  “You’re going to go home and try to forget me? What the hell does that even mean?”

  “I don’t know, okay? I don’t know what to do. The guy I was starting to fall for turns out to be a goddamn prince, so forgive me if I don’t know how to react.” Hannah sat on the edge of the bed and buried her face in her hands. “You lied to me.”

  “I know, mon chou. I’m sorry. You don’t know how sorry I am.” I reached out a hesitant hand and rubbed it down her back.

  “Why? Why would you do that, Luc?” She made a sound that was halfway between a sob and a laugh. “Is Luc even your name?”

  “Yes. My full name is Prince Lucien Arthur Beauregard Mathieu Greiner. But those close to me call me Luc.”

  Hannah looked up at me, and the anguish in her eyes made my heart stutter. “Was anything that happened between us real? Did you mean anything you said?”

  “I meant all of it. Everything I said. Everything I did. I just…I know this is hard to understand, but my life is so fucked-up right now. I wanted to find someone who appreciated me for me. Someone who didn’t want or expect anything from me other than what I was willing to give. And it’s not like you told me everything about yourself.”

  “Wh—that’s not even remotely the same thing. This is literally the definition of who you are. You lied about your identity, your job, your ‘coworkers.’ You lied about everything.”

  “Yes, and I’m sorry for that. But honestly, I didn’t expect this between us to go this far. For it to become something more.”

  Hannah scoffed. “Don’t even. You had every expectation of sleeping with me.”

  “I did, but you knew I was from Monaco. Did you honestly expect this to last beyond the week I’m here?”

  “I, uh—well, no. I mean I hoped we could…I don’t know.”

  “This was only ever supposed to be a weekend fling. Have some fun with a woman who knew the score, someone who enjoyed life and lived it to the fullest. That was why you attracted my attention that night at the bar. You were vivacious and gorgeous and didn’t have a care in the world. You were living the life I wish I could have. It was magnetic.”

  Hannah gave a harsh laugh and grabbed the sheet, pulling it around her body. She grabbed her clothes with one hand while holding the sheet up with her other. “You poor little prince, life is just so hard when you have the world at your feet.”

  “I LOST MY BROTHER!” The room reverberated with my shout. “I lost my twin! The other half of my soul. Don’t tell me you know what that’s like. He died and my life turned upside down. I had to step into his shoes and be the person I never expected to be. The spare. The one waiting in the wings in case my other brother dies. So forgive me if I didn’t want to share that with the woman I’d just met.” I pushed off the bed and stood at the opposite side, facing Hannah. Bending down to grab my pants, I murmured, “Not that it’s something you would ever understand.”

  “Because I’m not royal? Because I’m just a dim-witted commoner with no care in the world?”

  “I didn’t say that.” This conversation was spinning out of control, and I didn’t know how to get it back. “Hannah, please. I just—”

  “I’m not the carefree girl you think I am. I’m just as much of a mess as you, if not more so. I don’t have a job. My family is an overprotective nightmare. I might—” She broke off and shook her head. “Everything in my life is not all sweetness and light, so clearly we’re not who the other one thought we were. We were both lying.”

  “Hannah, Christ, I’m so sorry. Wha—”

  “No. We’re not doing this. You were right. This was a fling, and the fling is over. Go back to your palace and your princely worries about shit people like me would never understand. Thanks for the lovely evening and the shitty morning.” Hannah swept off majestically toward the bathroom and slammed the door shut
behind her.

  Before I could get across the suite, I heard the telltale click of the bathroom’s lock. I pounded a fist again the door. “Hannah, we need to talk!”

  “We don’t need to do shit! Besides, I think we’ve talked enough. I’m going to get dressed, and then I’m going home. You can go fuck yourself.”

  “Hannah, please!” I pounded again, but she didn’t answer. I was giving careful thought to forcing my way into the bathroom when Aristide cleared his throat at the bedroom door on the opposite side of the room.

  “Je suis désolé, Votre Altesse.”

  “Oh, so now you can speak French.”

  It was barely noticeable, but Aristide flinched before he spoke. “Pardon, monsieur. You said earlier it was rude to speak in French in front of your, er, guest.”

  I tilted my head. “That would imply you knew Hannah was in my bed, as you were speaking English before you so shrewdly discovered her.”

  “Non, monsieur. I uh, erm…”

  “Je m’en fou. I don’t give a fuck. You’re fired.”

  “You can’t fire me. I’m employed by the palace. His Highness himself hired me.”

  “Fine, consider yourself reassigned. You are no longer my assistant. Nicolas will arrange your flights home.”

  “But—”

  “GET OUT OF HERE BEFORE I THROW YOU OUT!”

  I registered his quickly retreating footsteps as the bathroom lock clicked. I ripped open the door before Hannah could open it herself.

  “Oh!” She jumped back, now clothed in her outfit from last night. It was a bit wrinkled from the night before, but that wasn’t what caught my attention. I couldn’t look away from the tears glittering in her eyes. “Excuse me.”

  “Hannah, we need to talk about this.”

  “Actually, we don’t need to do anything. You got your one-time fling with the carefree local, so this lowly commoner is going to go home where she won’t bother you.”

  “Argh, you’re so aggravating.”

  “So everyone tells me. Excuse me.” Hannah bumped her shoulder into me as she attempted to walk around me but stopped short when I wouldn’t move. “Luc, don’t do this, okay? You’re right. There can’t be anything more between us, so why bother pretending?”

  “Give me a chance to explain.”

  “As you so adroitly put it, there is no us. We were a fling. We flung. Now it’s time for everyone to go back to their own realities.”

  “Of course there’s an us. I just meant that it didn’t start out that way. We were supposed to be a fling, but you made me feel so much more. I want—”

  “That’s just guilt talking.”

  “No, it’s not. When we were looking into the mirror last night, I said you were too good for me, and I meant it. I have feelings for you. I don’t know how we’re going to make this thing work between us, but I want to try. I want to be there for you.”

  Hannah shook her head. “It can’t work. You’re a prince, and I cut hair for a living. Hell, I’m an out-of-work cosmetologist. So no, it’s not going to work. It’s ridiculous to think it might.”

  “We can do anything we want to. Just please, give me a chance. Let me try to make this right. Come, we’ll talk over breakfast. Aristide—well, I guess I can order us something from room service.”

  Hannah opened her mouth to say something, then seemed to think twice. She bit her lip as she watched me, then after a moment, she nodded slowly. “Fine. But only because I’m hungry. I’m not agreeing to a relationship. Just breakfast.”

  “It’s a start, I suppose.”

  Hannah shook off my guiding hand, so I led the way down the hall to the salon. Where another scene waited for us.

  “I don’t care what you say!” Aristide shouted at Nicolas in French. “That fucking pretender prince doesn’t have the authority to fire me. He can’t make me go.”

  “It’s nice to finally hear how you really feel, Aristide,” I said silkily in French as I stepped in front of Hannah, shielding her from whatever was to happen next.

  “Like I care what you think. You’re just a little soldier playing at politics. You won’t be able to maneuver through this week without me. You can’t make me leave.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Your replacement is already on his way. And since this pretender prince doesn’t need two assistants, Nicolas will escort you out.”

  Nicolas jerked his chin at me and grabbed Ari by the arm.

  “Oh, and Ari, I’m sure you signed an ironclad nondisclosure agreement when the palace hired you. We will enforce it if you choose to do anything…foolish. Nicolas, please have someone monitor his packing and make sure he is taken care of for his flight home. We wouldn’t want him to have any difficulties.”

  Nicolas firmly escorted a still-protesting Ari out of the room. After the door slammed shut, I turned to Hannah with an apologetic smile. “Je suis désolé. Some personnel issues.”

  “What the heck was that about?”

  “I just fired my assistant.”

  “For walking in on us?” Hannah’s eyes widened. “It was an accident, Luc. Is he going to be okay? How will he get home? Or get another job after being fired by a prince? This is just another example of how we will never work. You fire people with the blink of an eye. I could never—”

  “It wasn’t an accident.” I cut into Hannah’s babbling. “Ari has always addressed me in French, but suddenly, the morning I have you in my bed, he speaks in English. And I’ve told him countless times to call me Luc, or monsieur if he was uncomfortable with being on a first-name basis with me. He did neither. I believe the whole scene was orchestrated on purpose. I’ve suspected for some time that he was spying for someone within the palace. Now I just have to suss out who.”

  Hannah bit her lip as she looked at me with wide eyes. “Is this a regular day for you? Firing employees? People spying on you? This is your world?”

  I inclined my head as answer. To be honest, I was afraid if I said the words she’d use them as a reason why this wouldn’t work between us. “Come, let’s order some breakfast and discuss all this once our bellies are full.”

  After we ordered our food, we were interrupted again by a knock at the door. Knowing it was too soon to be our food, I left Hannah sitting on a sofa as I crossed the room.

  As if my morning couldn’t get any worse, I opened the door to find Dimitri. I really liked the guy, don’t get me wrong, but he was another lie that I’d have to explain to Hannah.

  Fuck me.

  Could this day get any worse?

  “What is it?”

  “Nicolas wants someone in the room with you while he and a few others escort Aristide to the airport.”

  “Of course he does. Come in. We might as well get this out of the way now.” I held the door open for Dimitri to enter, and Hannah gave a cry of delight when she saw him.

  “Dimitri!” Hannah rushed to my side. “It’s so good to see you. Have you heard from Rach…” Her words faded away as she looked from me to Dimitri to the earbud visible in Dimitri’s ear. Then she swung her angry eyes back in my direction. “Was it all an act? Something to reel in the clueless girl you really wanted?”

  “No, I wouldn’t—”

  But Hannah cut me off. She swung around to face Dimitri. “Did he feed you lines? Did he tell you to say the foot rash thing?”

  Dimitri’s face slowly turned a bright shade of red. “I—ah, no. That was all me. He didn’t even tell me to hit on Rachel. We saw the two of you across the room and I really liked her, and Monsieur, well…” He paused and looked at me uncertainly. I gave an aggrieved sigh and shrugged, so Dimitri went on. “Monsieur liked you, so we approached your table. The only thing he made me do that night was dress down to fit in at the bar. The rest—the foot rash thing—was all me.”

  “Oh.” Hannah turned to me and bit her lip. “I’m sorry I assumed…It’s just, I don’t even know what to say. This whole thing is so crazy. So Dimitri is your…”

  “Dimitri is part of m
y security team on this trip. Although when we’re back home in Monaco, we both serve in the Compagnie des Carabiniers du Prince, a branch of our military. Pretty much the entire point of the division is to protect the royal family and other government officials. My position is mostly ornamental.”

  Dimitri leapt to my defense. “Oh, monsieur, I wouldn’t say—”

  “Thank you, Dimitri.” I lifted a hand. “But Hannah deserves to hear the entire truth from me. Can you please let room service in when the food arrives? Merci beaucoup.”

  Leaving Dimitri at the door, I escorted Hannah back into the main salon. “I think we’ve had enough drama for one morning, don’t you?”

  Hannah collapsed onto the sofa with a soft laugh. “Don’t blame me. I think it’s you. Drama seems to have a way of finding you.”

  I looked at Hannah with a sober expression. “You’re not wrong. Again, I’m sorry for not telling you about my title. At first it was just a lark, but then…then we became something more, and I didn’t know how to tell you. I’d hoped that it wouldn’t be a deterrent. No one has ever been repelled by my title before.”

  “That you know of.”

  “No. Ever. Everyone in my life has always wanted something from me, something from being close to a prince. The only time in my life I was ever allowed to be just a man was when I was in the military. There I got to be Lieutenant Luc Greiner. Hell, when we were away on maneuvers most of the foreign soldiers didn’t even know I was a prince. That was the life I wanted to lead. That was the future I’d planned for myself.”

  “And then your brother died.”

  I gave a Gallic shrug. “And everything changed. I was back in the palace. Back in the world of politics and ribbon-cutting—and back-stabbing assistants, apparently.”