‘And effort.’
‘Sure.’ Maximum effort, all hours and every weekend for years. Hell, he still worked more hours than not.
‘I can’t imagine being the CEO of a huge conglomerate.’
He laughed. ‘Yes, but a CEO of a private company can be directive and bossy and not give a damn about what other people think. I can’t imagine what it would be like being Queen of a country where you’re like public property. A figurehead, a role model who everyone looks to for guidance on everything from fashion to foreign affairs.’
‘There’s a parliament, my people vote. I don’t make all the rules myself.’
It sounded to him as if she didn’t make any. ‘And you get a Sovereign Grant, I know. But you still give official assent, right? You’re still the overseer of good governance.’
Jade had spent her life being trained to understand good governance. To understand being good, full stop.
‘Do you have good advisors?’
‘They’re very experienced,’ Jade murmured evasively and took the last bite of the tender meat.
‘And they want you to marry that Leonardo guy.’
She shot him a glance.
‘It must’ve been hard to be separated from your mother and your sister,’ he added. ‘Even with all your women mentors, you must have missed them.’
‘Juno and I stayed in touch as best we could. She visited each year for a while...’ But then Juno and their father had fought and Juno had left. ‘Juno hasn’t been back in years, not ’til now.’
‘What about your mother?’
‘I never saw her again after their divorce.’
His eyes widened. ‘You were how old?’
‘Eight.’
He looked at a loss. ‘Pretty harsh way to deal with a difficult situation.’
His quiet response made her chest ache. She never discussed this, but Alvaro had got under her guard.
‘My father didn’t want to put in the work to find a new way of working as a separated family. He just cut her out, like a cancer or something.’ It had devastated Jade and she knew it had been even harder on Juno. ‘He was so rigid, he refused to even consider—’
She tried to catch back the fear and the pain it had caused her, wanting to shove it back down deep. Thinking about this was pointless; there was no changing it.
‘I know he was hurt too,’ she muttered. ‘Badly. That’s why he reacted so harshly, but...’
She shook her head. She’d never shared this. She couldn’t trust anyone—that had been drilled into her.
‘Why didn’t it work out for your parents, do you know?’
‘Maybe because she wasn’t a princess?’ Jade said sadly. ‘She was Hollywood royalty, so she was used to some similar pressure... But I think maybe they were too different. And too quick to rush into it.’
‘Is that why you think some arranged marriage with a prince would be better for you?’
‘I...’ She stared at him, her breath stolen. But then she lifted her chin. ‘Maybe. I think my country deserves stability within the Crown.’
‘Your country deserves that?’ He watched her. ‘What do you deserve?’
‘My few weeks of freedom,’ she said softly. ‘And then?’ She shrugged. She didn’t want to think about it any more. Not tonight. ‘Every family has its quirks, right?’ she muttered glibly.
Alvaro’s smile twisted. ‘My family is a doozy,’ he offered, as if recognising her regret at revealing any of this. ‘I got some of that “cut-you-out-like-a-cancer” treatment too.’
The woman who gave birth to me...the woman who supposedly adopted me...
What did that mean, ‘supposedly’? And was that when he’d been afraid he wouldn’t have enough to eat? Had he not just gone hungry, but been starved of all those other necessities too? ‘I’m sorry, Alvaro.’
He closed his eyes momentarily. ‘What is it you’re doing here, Jade?’
One truth spilled. ‘Not having people watch my every move. Or have cameras trained on me every time I leave my home. I’m eating all the cheap chocolate. Soaking up the bright Christmas lights.’
‘You don’t have Christmas lights in Monrova?’
‘They’re very refined fairy lights. Traditional and dignified.’
‘You want neon party lights?’ He half smiled.
‘Glow-in-the-dark reindeer? Yes, I do. Why not?’
‘Surely as Queen you can make your own Christmas traditions? Demand all the fluorescence you can stand?’
One might think so, but it wasn’t that easy.
Alvaro’s expression grew serious again. ‘What are you really doing here, Jade?’
She swallowed. ‘I don’t know,’ she admitted from the bottom of her heart. ‘I just know there’s nowhere else I want to be right now.’ She didn’t know why she was whispering, but she couldn’t seem to breathe any volume into her voice.
‘Me neither.’ He reached out to caress her cheek, sliding his hand to cup her jaw. ‘But you know this is madness.’
‘It’s my time for madness.’ But her heart puckered at the swirl of emotion clouding his eyes. ‘You’re not doing this out of pity, are you?’
‘Pity?’ He half choked. ‘No. Not pity.’
‘You’ll have a good time too? It’s not all about pleasing me, is it?’
‘Why shouldn’t it be?’
‘People try to please me all the time. It can be awkward. They don’t quite know how to act around me. They get nervous and it’s... I don’t want this to be like that.’
‘Not going to lie, I’m a little nervous, Jade. I don’t want to hurt you and I do want you to have a good time. But honestly, I’m being more selfish now than I’ve ever been in my life. And I’m a pretty selfish guy.’
She didn’t believe that about him.
‘But I’m not awkward around you. And I think we’re past getting hung up on our respective jobs and titles.’
‘No one’s ever yelled at me the way you did the other morning,’ she confessed with a wry smile.
‘And you snapped right back, which, I admit, doesn’t usually happen to me. But I’m guessing you don’t usually do that?’
‘Not usually, no,’ she acknowledged. ‘It would be rude and abusive of my position. I know I have more power than most people, I need to be mindful of that.’
‘Not with me. Not then. Certainly not now. I’m not awed by your crown, Jade.’
‘I know you’re not.’ She half laughed.
‘I’m glad you’re not too polite to yell at me. I don’t want you to be polite or hold back from me in any way. Not at any time. Understand?’ He stepped closer and she battled to stand in place. ‘So if you don’t usually, if you master your emotions, why did you yell at me? Why did you lose your cool?’
‘Because I was tired, and you were half naked, and I couldn’t get my brain to work.’
‘So to get absolute honesty from you, I just need to strip down and wear you out?’
His smile lifted and all she could do was stare at him. It was impossible, how beautiful he was. And she realised, with slight shock, that he could do anything he wanted with her.
‘I’m going to make love to you, Jade.’
His rough, low promise devastated her.
She swallowed hard. ‘I thought we were having sex.’
He shook his head and the serious determination in his eyes melted the last of her mind. ‘If this is the one night that you get, with a man you actually want, and who you’re giving your virginity to, then you deserve to be worshipped and adored. You deserve to have the best possible experience. So no, we’re not having sex. I’m making love to you.’ He stood up from the table and held his hand out to her. ‘Okay?’
She couldn’t possibly speak now. But she put her hand in his and rose to meet him.
‘
Jade?’
She was trembling. Aching so much for his touch. The kiss was everything she needed. A luscious sweep of passion and security. She slung her arms around his neck and heard his pleased little grunt as he caught her. He stepped her back until she was braced against the kitchen wall. She loved it like this with him so big before her.
‘Jade?’ He pulled back to look into her eyes. ‘I want to know what you’re thinking, what you’re feeling, whether you’re okay. I need to know that, sweetheart.’
But as he spoke, he worked the buttons down the front of her dress free and pushed it from her shoulders, leaving her in just her green silk slip. He fingered the thin straps on her shoulders, tracing one down to the seam at the neckline, and looked. His smile made her so grateful for the support of the wall behind her. ‘Why, Queen Jade,’ he mock-reproved. ‘I do believe you’re not wearing a bra.’
She laughed, finally able to answer. ‘It’s hard enough to breathe around you,’ she muttered. ‘I didn’t want anything constricting my ribs and making it even harder.’
His gaze shot to her face again and he seemed oddly touched. ‘You know you can say “when” any time.’
‘That doesn’t seem fair,’ she breathed.
‘Life isn’t always fair. I think you and I both know that already.’
She didn’t want to think about that right now. She lifted her chin and pressed her full, pulsing lips to his again. Her toes curled in her shoes when he kissed her back. His hands shaped her curves beneath the silk, eventually sliding under the hem and up to the lacy panties she’d specially worn. She gasped as he grazed the strip of silk at the front.
‘I’m a big guy, sweetheart, you need to be ready,’ he said softly as he kissed down her neck and across her collarbones. ‘Getting you there is my job now.’
A wave of anticipation swamped her and she moaned as he skated his fingers across the dampened silk again.
His little laugh was low and searing. ‘You like that idea?’ He growled and nipped her gently. ‘Do you want to know just how big?’
‘Yes,’ she breathed. She wanted to know everything about him. And she ached to feel all of him.
But her eyes closed and she could only lean against the wall for support as he skimmed over her secret parts. And as he kissed her deeply she unashamedly drove her hips against the sinfully tormenting touch of his hand.
‘Please,’ she begged but he kept strumming her so lightly, while his hot mouth softly kissed her sensitive skin and breathed even hotter words against her.
‘You want me inside you, Jade?’
‘Yes.’ Desperately. So desperately. But he still didn’t press harder where she wanted him to. And it was deliberate. The man was an impossible tease.
‘We have all night,’ he promised.
‘That’s...not...long,’ she breathlessly complained, pressing harder against his wicked hand.
‘One night is made up of many, many moments.’ He finally flicked his fingers that touch harder. ‘And this is a moment now, sweetheart. Take it.’
She slammed her hands on his broad biceps for balance, crying out as the orgasm shuddered through her—leaving her body so weak she couldn’t stand.
Alvaro swiftly picked her up and carried her from the kitchen. She revelled in the heat of his chest and the ripple of his muscles against her as he strode with leashed purpose. She took in sharp details, like snaps captured in millisecond moments. Cotton and comfort, white linen contrasted with grey walls and heavy curtains, woollen rugs on wooden floors. Lit by the only lamp on a table beside his bed, his bedroom was large and sumptuous. She wasn’t surprised by that this time; his whole apartment revealed a predilection for sumptuousness. Of his enjoyment for plush, soft furnishings. Like a caveman’s den filled with soft skins—all for warmth and safety and sensuality.
He placed her on the bed, bunched the hem of her emerald slip and lifted it. She lifted her arms and it was gone in a second. Then he pushed her onto her back and slid her panties down her legs, then the shoes from her feet, so at last she was naked on his bed.
He sucked in a breath with a hiss. ‘Do you know what I am awed by, Jade?’
She shook her head.
‘You. Like this.’
Before she could reply he kissed her—brought his body on hers. For the first time she felt the weight of him and it was so, so good as he ground her into the mattress beneath that she cried out.
‘Soon,’ he promised. ‘Soon, sweetheart.’
But he pulled back to only straddle her. Tenderly he cupped her breasts in his big hands, teasing her taut nipples and laughing when she became breathless all over again. He took his time. Gentle, not so gentle, gentle again. The teasing licks of his fingers, hands and lips were like waves creeping further up the shore of her arousal. That sensation grew closer. That desperation a deeper ache within. This time it wasn’t his finger teasing her sensitive, private place. It was his tongue.
She shivered, her knees instinctively rising because this was so personal, so intimate. ‘Alvaro...’
‘Let me,’ he rasped.
And she couldn’t resist the carnal plea in his voice, not when it echoed her own so completely. Her legs splayed and her reward was the slide not just of his tongue, but of his fingers again. Only this time, this time, he pushed one inside her. She gasped and then breathed for more.
‘You’re so tight, sweetheart,’ he growled.
She lay, stunned to stillness as she adjusted to the sensation of having someone so intimate with her, doing that. ‘Alvaro...’
‘I like the taste of you, Jade. I like all of you.’
Heat and delight burnished her entire body, because his words felt more than merely playful. Slowly he worked, in and out and again and again as he softly licked her most sensitive point with relentlessly gentle stokes. Inexorably, his focused care overcame her self-consciousness and the sensations tumbled faster and faster and faster within until she totally tensed. Her hands spread wide and she gripped the sheet. She drew so taut, her hips arched high off the bed. Yet still he plundered and tasted and utterly tormented her until suddenly all she could do was scream.
Endless, timeless moments later the orgasm left her limp and devastated in a splayed heap in the middle of his bed. Yet despite that overwhelming pleasure, she still yearned inside. She still ached. Because she wanted all of him and now she could barely move.
‘Alvaro,’ she called to him with a plaintive moan.
‘I’m here.’ But he stood back from the bed. For a moment he just looked at her, that satisfied twist still on his lips as he blatantly studied her pinkened parts from where the rub of his fingers and the rasp of his stubble had gently scoured her skin.
His muscles bunched. Her mouth dried and she propped herself up on her elbows to watch with fascination as he slowly stripped for her. First his shirt. And it wasn’t only her appetite returning, it was her energy too. And he knew. He knew as he maintained that teasing eye contact and slowly unfastened his belt. Jade’s breath stalled in her lungs as he undid the button of his trousers, half laughing as he had to do a shimmy of his hips to release the zipper given the strain it was under. But Jade could only then stare at the muscular thighs he’d just revealed. She dragged her gaze back up but only made it as far as his black knit boxers. He stepped closer to the bed and reached for something on the table. She watched as he slowly rolled the condom down the straining, rigid length of him. She swallowed and unconsciously rubbed her hands down her tense thighs.
‘Do you want to touch me?’ His voice was hoarse.
Somehow she was kneeling up on the mattress. She’d not even realised she’d moved. And she’d certainly not realised she was audibly panting. But she didn’t care any more. The exhaustion from those earlier orgasms was obliterated by the yearning raging through her blood now. She wanted to touch him, to taste him, to test him. She wanted to
discover everything she could—about him, with him.
He didn’t move as she reached out. Indeed, he seemed to be braced, his feet planted wide apart, his magnificent body strained to take her touch. His jaw clamped but a groan escaped regardless as she bravely planted both palms on his broad chest and began a slow sweep of pure, fascinated inspection. He flinched beneath her touch. She felt the heat, the rise of sweat in his body.
‘You said you were big,’ she breathed. ‘You’re also beautiful.’ And there was a dampness between her legs, an excitement in her pulse that emboldened her more.
She lifted her head. She had so little time. And the desire sluicing through her was so very strong, so very hungry.
His lips twisted as he read the need in her eyes. ‘Tell me,’ he said.
‘Take me, please,’ she asked simply and wrapped her hand around his throbbing girth. ‘I want all of you.’
He put his hands on her waist and lifted her back onto the bed, finally coming to lie with her. She wriggled, relaxing against the mattress and lifting her arms to welcome him against her. He kissed her again—lush and deep and she was so excited.
He gently pushed her legs wider apart, teasing her again with his fingers. He lifted his head and their eyes met. He didn’t ask if she was sure, if she was ready, he already knew. For a moment there was only agreement and pure anticipation between them.
He finally moved, aligning his hips with hers, his breath with hers, his heartbeat with hers. And as he set his lips to hers he met her intent with his in a slow, inexorable slide of possession that made her gasp deep. Instinctively she threw her arm around his neck, holding him near even as he hesitated.
‘Jade?’ he asked.
She saw the strain in his body as he tried to be gentle and go slow with her. But the pressure within, the drive for more, grew until it became undeniable.
‘Kiss me.’ She didn’t wait for his answer. She kissed him, moving her hips against his, breathing hard as she embraced the pleasurable pressure-filled waves of his deepening possession.
Sensation soared as he buffeted against her and she began to understand, began to meet him back, stroke for stroke as she discovered how fantastic this felt, and how she too could drive this. With a smothered growl, he pushed his palms against the firm mattress beneath her and levered up, driving deeper in a surge of unfettered passion. She let her hands slide, gripping his forearms, feeling his muscles work beneath her, against her. She gazed up, awed at his power and strength as he fiercely pushed as hard as he could into her and enjoying the utterly exquisite ride. She couldn’t form words, only sound as she gasped with astounded pleasure and he was the same. Grunting now with every pulse, every pound. And then he collapsed again, holding her more tightly than she’d ever been held, trapping her while at the same time imprisoned within her. She held him so fiercely. They were both shaking, almost violently convulsing as ecstasy overtook both mind and muscle.
The Queen's Impossible Boss (The Christmas Princess Swap, Book 2) Page 8
