Ruling the Princess

by Christi Barth

  Shit. The moment the words left his mouth, Theo regretted them.

  He didn’t know Princess Kelsey. He didn’t know her story besides as a drunken laugh in a bar. Raised as an American for her entire life, the princess didn’t deserve his automatic ridicule.

  It had been a petty, rude thing to say. Beneath him.

  “How dare you insult my sister?” Princess Genevieve pushed on the arms of her float chair to sit upright, her legs kicking. The kicking combined with the abrupt surge upward upset her balance. She rolled into the water with a splash and a shriek.

  Hell.

  That shriek sent Theo into auto-pilot. Didn’t even bother to kick off his shoes. He just shoved out of the chair, took one step to the pale pink concrete decking, and dove into the water.

  Two hard strokes brought him to the center where the float bobbed. Letting his weight carry him down, he reached out and put an arm around the princess’s chest. A flutter kick carried them both back up to the surface. The whole thing took mere seconds.

  Once their faces were in the air, he shifted sideways, so one arm circled behind her shoulders, and the other went beneath her legs like a chair. “Are you okay? Can you swim?”

  One hand swept the wet mass of hair off her face. Furious violet eyes blazed at him. “Of course I can swim, you fool. Why would I be in a pool by myself if I couldn’t swim?”

  Well, he could go off on a diatribe about entitled people not thinking through consequences of their actions. But Theo went with the simple truth behind his automatic rescue.

  “You screamed when you went under. So I didn’t want to take the time to wonder that, Your Highness. It seemed prudent to act, for safety’s sake.”

  Her wriggling immediately stopped. “You thought you were rescuing me?”

  “I’m fully dressed. I didn’t dive into the water to play Marco Polo.”

  Rather than pushing at him, one arm crept around his neck. “Oh. Well. That was very gallant. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  Awareness shot through him. Awareness of the soft roundness of her breasts against his chest. The pucker of her nipples was noticeable. As was—probably—the tenting of his trousers from noticing her nipples.

  Not just her breasts. The smoothness of her legs over his arm. The heat of her sun-warmed abdomen searing his fingers.

  Actually touching the princess was a hundred times better than looking at her and a thousand times better than he’d imagined.

  “I wouldn’t have overbalanced and fallen in if you hadn’t riled me by saying such a hateful thing about my sister,” she said in a prim, factual tone. “Kelsey and Elias are in love. The fact that he started out as her bodyguard was only a hindrance, trust me. Do not presume to be glib about their relationship.”

  It’d been a shitty thing to say. Nodding, Theo admitted, “It was wrong. Unthinking. Inappropriate. I sincerely apologize.”

  “Good. Because I made the mistake of judging my sister at first without knowing her. And I regret that beginning immensely. It turns out that she’s pretty great.”

  Theo didn’t know what to say. Mostly because he was so distracted by holding the princess. And why was he, still?

  For that matter, why was the princess still hanging on to him?

  Theo flutter-kicked toward the shallow end. “Has it been a rough transition for her? Going from being an independent American to a rule-following royal?”

  Laughter burbled out of the princess. It sounded genuine. Contagious. Just the trill of it made Theo want to smile. “When Elias first found her, Kelsey didn’t want to be a princess. If you’d given her a choice of a hundred jobs—including washing dishes or picking up trash on the highway—she would’ve ranked princess as dead last.”

  “You’re joking.”

  “Not one bit. But as she’s been introduced to the true function of royalty, our responsibility to be role models and inspiration, caretakers to our people, she’s come around. She still fights against protocol and tradition, but she wants to do a good job. And I’m trying to help her get there.”

  That was…not the description of royalty Theo expected from the princess. It for damn sure wasn’t one he’d thought of himself. Although it was the way he thought of the relationship between his family and the people of their duchy.

  It made sense.

  But he didn’t want her to make sense. He didn’t want to agree with her.

  He didn’t want to enjoy holding her.

  It pissed him off. A lot.

  When he stood in belly-deep water, Theo released her legs. But the princess didn’t take her hand from his neck. The length of her body lined up against his now. His erection notched between her legs, keeping her somewhat afloat.

  No way to ignore it. For either of them.

  Her eyes widened, latched on to his. Her lips parted, about to ask a question.

  Theo didn’t want to hear it. Didn’t want to fight about whatever it was.

  So he kissed her.

  He started by licking off the drop of water that hung off her bottom lip. Half wondered if she’d bite him or bring her knee up to squash his balls. But at the first touch of his tongue, her lips parted even more.

  Theo didn’t need to be told twice.

  His teeth nipped at that juicy lower lip. Her whole body jolted against him. Angling his head to the side, Theo took her open mouth. From that first kiss, annoyance no longer drove him.

  No, it was the sweetness of her response that lured him back for kiss after kiss. For the contrast of her water-cooled lips to the heat as they tangled tongues. He kept kissing her to draw out more of those quiet moans that hardened his dick to pure steel.

  One leg curled around his hips. Theo plunged a hand into the water to grab her ass, lift it up. He miscalculated, and his hand went under her suit.

  #noregrets

  He palmed her ass, squeezing its tautness, marveling at the mind-blowing smoothness. Every time his hand kneaded her, she bucked her hips and arched against him.

  One of her hands tunneled up into his hair. Her nails scraped his scalp lightly, sending tingles shooting down his spine. Her other hand yanked his shirt from his trousers. Handling the cling of wet clothes was never easy. Theo was thrilled with her tenacity when her skin finally stroked across his back.

  And their lips, their tongues, never slowed down in caressing, in twisting, tasting, licks and bites that quickly became less practiced and more urgent.

  The slap of the water against the tile broke through his concentration. Theo dragged his mouth down her throat for the thrill of feeling her pulse pound in triple time against his lips. “Princess—”

  That light, pretty laughter cut him off. “I think, at this point, you should call me Genevieve.”

  He knew she meant it as a gift, an honor.

  A knee to the balls would’ve been easier. Because it was a reminder that he wasn’t here to kiss a beautiful woman senseless in the sunlight. He was at Alcarsa Palace to lay down the law to the princess.

  This had been a mistake. A terrible mistake. He’d crossed enemy lines.

  Theo pulled his hand out of her suit, took her shoulders, and pushed her gently away. “Apologies, Your Highness. I overstepped.”

  He hightailed it up the stairs, shoes squishing.

  God, what had he done? Now he’d never be able to forget every sensation he’d shared with the princess. Grabbing his jacket, he turned to give a formal bow.

  And stopped halfway down, frozen at the sight of her climbing out of the pool. Water sluiced down her body. The wet suit was transparent enough Theo could make out the dusky pink at the centers of her breasts.

  His mouth went bone dry. Three long steps took him to a lounge chair. He grabbed the white towel from it and held it out to her.

  Wordlessly, she wrapped it around herself,
tucking the end between the breasts he kicked himself for not having tasted.

  Theo redid his bow, completely bending at the waist this time. “Good day, Your Highness.”

  “Lord Theo,” she responded in a half-strangled voice.

  He draped the jacket over his arm. No point in the footmen being able to notice the erection outlined by his sopping clothes. Theo slammed the gate behind him and hurried into the endless hallways of the palace.

  He definitely had not won this battle.

  The thing was? Theo didn’t think either of them had. And he had no idea how to regain the ground he’d lost.

  Chapter Five

  It was a regular Thursday to the rest of the kingdom of Moncriano. But behind the gates of Alcarsa Palace, it was the Fourth of July (said meaningfully, with arms raised in the air). A celebration of all things American and the strength of the feisty nation of rebels who stood up to their monarch over taxes on tea and religion.

  Genevieve sincerely hoped that nobody outside of the palace heard about this celebration. It could give them ideas. Ideas about how easy it was to topple a monarchy.

  Looking over at Kelsey’s beaming face, though? It was worth the risk of a possible uprising.

  Her sister loved her accidentally adopted homeland. She took great pride in being an American…even now that it turned out she was not, in fact, a legal citizen. And, FWIW, third in line to the throne of another country entirely.

  So Genny and Christian had put on red tees, per Kelsey’s request. They’d twisted crepe paper into streamers and draped it around the topiary bushes ringing the patio. Without letting their sister know, they’d bribed the kitchen staff with an afternoon on the royal yacht to give Kelsey the space to make a cherry pie and numerous other things she insisted were a necessity for an authentic “Fourth” experience.

  It wasn’t just to keep Kelsey’s homesickness at bay. It was important to share in what made their sister happy. And a barbeque topped off with freshly baked pie? Not the worst way to spend an evening.

  No, the worst way would be how Genny had spent last night. After Theo had…well…kissed her senseless.

  She’d tossed. Turned. Done an hour of yoga at one in the morning. And still been tortured awake with a constant feedback loop in her brain of his mouth on hers.

  Her best friend, Lady Ambra Klements, handed over a bottle of water. “Where’s your minder?”

  “I’m a full-grown princess of the realm. There is literally nobody in this entire country who could be in charge of me, aside from the king.”

  “That was my impression, too.” Ambra pointed over to the muscled wall that was Elias Trebanti, hovering over the enormous gas grill. “But the bodyguard told me that Lord Holst has you on a leash for the next two months.”

  “Don’t call him that,” Genny snapped. She’d been running similar interference with a lot of her friends since it became officially known that Kelsey’s former bodyguard was now dating her. The lack of respect pissed her off.

  “Why not?” Ambra asked with a flip of her platinum bob. “That’s his job, right?”

  “In case you forgot, he was given a knighthood. For bravery in saving her life in the shooting. Sir Elias is as much a member of the peerage as you, Lady Ambra. And Kelsey loves him. So please stop treating him like a nameless, faceless staff member.”

  “We don’t usually have staff as guests at your parties.”

  “Well, Elias is practically family now.” Which, apart from the weirdness of him dating her sister, wasn’t actually a new twist of events. “He’s also been at our parties a million times before. Why do I have to remind you that he’s Christian’s best friend?”

  With a wrinkle of her upturned nose, Ambra said, “I keep hoping Christian will realize there are more appropriate men to befriend.”

  “None more worthy.” Genny meant every word. Was their friendship unorthodox? Yes. But did she consider Elias brave and like a brother after all these years? Absolutely. “You’re a horrible snob.”

  “You love it,” Ambra said with a smirk. Instead of a red tee, she’d worn white and simply slicked her lips scarlet. “I say out loud what all that princess training forces you to keep bottled up inside.”

  “Sometimes.” Genny wagged her finger. “But never about Elias. For the hundredth time, cut it out.”

  “No need to pass down a royal decree. Goodness. I just came over to tell you it’s time for the games. Your sister’s waiting.”

  She’d been dreading this part of the evening. “American games. Do you think I’ll have to lasso something?” They giggled as they crossed the bricks to the edge of the wide swath of lawn.

  Kelsey’s blond hair was pulled into two pigtails, secured with blue and white polka-dotted bows. Big burlap sacks were draped over her arm. “We’ll start with the three-legged race then move on to the egg and the spoon.”

  “Will there be prizes?” Christian asked, stretching his way off a lounge chair. “I need to know how serious I should be about kicking ass.”

  “Last fall when we did that 5k race, I beat you by four minutes,” Elias pointed out, sidling up to embrace Kelsey with one arm. “You shouldn’t be looking for a prize. You should be looking to hang onto the shards of your pride.”

  “That race was for charity. I took my time so more of my loyal subjects could bask in being near me.”

  “Astounding. You’d rather sound like a pompous prick than admit I’m faster than you?”

  “Just this once.” Laughing, Christian clapped him on the back.

  “No more stalling. Or trash talking, either. We need pairs with both genders.” Kelsey’s smile brightened as she looked toward the French doors to the palace. “Oh, good. You’re just in time to pair up with Genevieve.”

  Was it Lathan? Elias had asked to invite one of his fellow bodyguards. They were breaking new ground, welcoming his closest friends—who happened to also work for the royal family—into their circle. Although weird and awkward, she and Christian were making the effort. The older generation, not so much. It was a process.

  A practiced smile on her face, Genny turned around.

  It wasn’t Lathan.

  It was more than six feet of infuriating, maddening, insulting, insolent man. Lord Theo looked ready to sail, with navy deck shoes, seersucker shorts, and a white polo. As captain, of course. Genny couldn’t imagine the man deigning to take orders from anyone. Not even to keep a craft afloat.

  One hand on the taut abs she’d glimpsed through his soaked shirt the day before, he performed the requisite bows to all the Villanis. “I’d apologize for intruding, but, well, it’s my job.”

  “Lord Theo. I read your dossier.” Christian strode forward to shake hands. “We appreciate someone so savvy being in charge of our Genny.”

  It would’ve been nice to be a hedgehog so that all her spines could’ve bristled up into attack mode at her brother’s words. Theo, in charge? Hardly.

  Over her dead body.

  Fat chance.

  As they shook, Theo gave another small nod of his head. Like he was loading her brother up with all the deference he’d neglected to toss her way. “It is my honor to be given access to the intimate details of a royal household.”

  Interesting how it sounded like a compliment but in fact was just a pretty turn of phrase that actually made it sound as if Theo was fingering through her lingerie drawers.

  Kelsey waved them apart. “Chat later. We have a specific window for games before the first round of burgers and dogs are ready.”

  Ambra blanched, clutching her throat. “We’re eating…dog? They do that in America?”

  “Hot dogs,” Kelsey quickly clarified while Theo snorted his amusement. “Like sausages. In buns. I know Europeans think Americans are rough and provincial, but no, we do not eat puppies.”

  Christian guffawed. “Ambra, I swear yo
u’re more delicate than an actual princess half the time. And twice as stuffy. Come do the first race with me.”

  Kelsey handed them a bag. Then she thrust one at Theo. “You don’t mind sticking with Genny, do you?”

  “Not at all.”

  Elias laid out the start and finish line with more crepe paper. Kelsey gathered a tray of balloons. And Genny dropped her smile. “What are you doing here, Theo?”

  “I read your schedule for the day. When I saw tonight was blocked off for a private family party, I knew I had to come assess.”

  “Assess what? We’re simply giving Kelsey a nice evening.”

  “I see that.” As he stepped into the sack, his neck slowly swiveled. “No lanterns in the trees. No live musicians.”

  It was three siblings, hanging out on a summer night with their besties. Did Theo expect a string quartet at a barbecue? Just because they were royals?

  “Of course not. This is a special playlist Kelsey’s American sister sent her.” Genny cocked her head, listening. Because she’d been informed there would be a quiz later. “We started with Springsteen, but I think this is America by Thirty Seconds to Mars.”

  “Hmm.” He peered at the table, covered with bowls of chips, dips, and deviled eggs. “No china. No champagne. No hovering staff.”

  For God’s sake. Exactly how big a stick did the man think was perpetually up their collective royal asses? “This isn’t an official event. Just a family, grilling out.”

  One dark eyebrow rose. “That’s an odd turn of phrase. You can’t grill in.”

  Genny’s hand lifted to pat his arm, thrilled to have someone read her mind. But then she remembered who was standing in front of her. One shared thought did not a truce make.

  So she reached for the bag and stepped in, instead. “Agreed. But Kelsey insists that’s what it’s called in Michigan, where she and Mallory grew up.”

  “The decorations don’t look anywhere close to professional.”

  Now they were touching, leg-to-leg, arm-to-arm. More specifically, skin to a whole lot of skin. Even their hands touched along the front edge.