“Of course it does. A scent is most effective when layered. Soap, lotion, and shampoo.”
In a rasp so low it was barely audible over the pounding water, he said, “This scent haunts my dreams.”
What?
What was that?
Had the conscientious, overly solicitous, firmly non-flirtatious man revealed his own need? Sadly, Genny couldn’t see his face as he’d dropped his head to soap up her arm.
And ohhhhh, it felt so good.
Truly, Theo couldn’t have planned a better seduction had he tried. The slow, deliberate motion of his hands teased every nerve ending to the surface. The sensual, slippery slide of the soap suds dripping in arcs onto her thigh. The way the wall of his torso supported her back and that undeniable bulge nestled at the top of her butt.
It was heaven.
It was torturous hell.
Being pampered was lovely. Being clean again, rid of the smoke and soot and mud, was divine. But now that they were naked together—or almost, in his case—it wasn’t nearly enough.
And Theo was the one person she knew without a doubt would slough off an imperious command. Not just because he didn’t have anywhere close to the respect and awe the average citizen carried toward royalty.
More because he was above all else a man of his word. Theo’s sense of duty, of honor, ran just as deep as her own. So now that he’d vowed this dual shower wasn’t a move? Genny knew he’d stick by that.
Damn it.
While she reveled in the unhurried, gentle strokes he used, Theo had switched arms and finished her back. He dropped to one knee. “Here. Sit on me. Tilt your head back.”
Wow. Just when she thought it couldn’t get any better. Fingertips digging into his shoulder, Genny sat on his thigh. The crispness of the dark brown hair covering it tickled her. She pressed her legs together, trying not to squirm.
Because while it might not be overtly sexual, Theo supported her neck with one hand and massed water through her hair with the other. And that was nearly orgasmic.
His fingers worked the shampoo through with just enough pressure. The last whiff of smoke swirled down the drain. Her body bowed in reflex to the line of goose bumps that erupted down her spine.
“How would you like to give up your life of numbers? I’ll give you a position as the Royal Wash Gentleman. All you’ll have to do is shower me, just like this, twice a day.”
“You forget, Your Highness, I know your budget inside and out. There’s no line item for such a position. And you can’t afford to create one. My custom services are blow-your-mind expensive.”
“Worth it,” Genny all but purred. Hearing him use her title—while naked—was also surprisingly erotic. Naughty. Compulsively addicting.
Once he’d conditioned and rinsed—ohhh, the man was thorough!—Theo placed his hands at her waist and pushed her up. He dropped his other knee to the white and gold streaked marble, worked up more of a lather with her primrose-scented soap, spread his fingers wide across her rib cage, and then squeezed his eyes shut.
“What’s wrong?” Concerned, Genny clutched his shoulder as panic bolted to burn in her throat. “Theo, did you get hurt and not say anything?”
“No.”
Her hand floated up to flutter at his temple. “Do you have a headache?”
“No.” Water sluiced over his broad chest, slicked down his dark brown hair.
“Don’t drown yourself down there.” She bent over, tugged at the immovable steel of his biceps.
“God, Genny, just…don’t.” Theo’s tight voice still sounded pained—or pissed. Which was the more recognizable emotion to her.
Letting go, she asked, “Don’t what?”
“Don’t bend over. Can’t you tell that it rubs your breasts over my hands?”
How…how could he ask such a question? Genny was sure that a hum of excitement came off of her like the excess energy that buzzed around power plants.
“Yes, Theo. I can tell.” With all the patience of twenty-seven years training could give her, Genny said slowly and with deep sincerity, “Believe me, I can tell.”
“Then cut me a break. I’m using super human control here. Trying my damndest to do the right thing. But I’m at my limit.”
“That’s good.”
His eyes flew open. Their darkness threatened to drown her. And Genny wouldn’t complain one bit about being sucked in. “No, it’s not. I’m a man of my word. I’m here to take care of you, not take care of my base urges.”
He sounded so fierce. As if he was at war with himself. But in the nineteenth century, judging from his vocabulary.
“Theo.” She barely managed to swallow her giggle. “Your ‘base urges?’” Of course she made air quotes with her fingers. The man sounded ridiculous. “Who talks like that? I think it’s only allowed if you’re wearing a suit of armor and riding a horse.” Then it hit her. What was holding him back. The root of the problem. The problem that had stood between them from the start. “Oh, Theo. Are you thinking of me as a princess again?”
“I never stop thinking of you. And your title.”
“Well, stop it. Right now. The princess has left the building. Clocked out. There’s only you and me. A man. A woman. And, at least on my end, enough repressed sexual chemistry to blow the walls off the east wing if we don’t do something about it.”
His chest heaved with ragged pants. “I can’t go back on my word. I won’t break your trust like that.”
Which was precisely why she trusted him with her whole heart. Why, despite coming at so many things from opposite directions, she’d fallen head over heels for him.
Theo would never answer to a royal command. But he might just respond to a heartfelt plea. Genny was desperate enough for him to throw caution—and her pride—to the wind and beg.
“I do trust you. I trust you to hear me when I tell you what I need right now is you.” Deliberately, she took his wrists and pulled his hands up to cover her breasts. “Please, Theo. I’m begging you. Set aside everything that was said and done before this moment. I need you to be with me. To take me. To make love to me.”
For just an instant, his blunt nails dug into her skin as she watched the conflict play across his face. An oval of white framed the thin, tight line of his lips. A deep frown line bisected his forehead.
Then, with just a few more splatters of water, it all washed away.
Everything except the hunger.
Until he reined it all in again. “You’re sure? I mean, you’re injured. Exhausted. I don’t want to take advantage—”
Oh my goodness, his personal code of honor was…well, it was as strong as any in the royal House of Villani, which was saying a lot. It was meaningful and something she’d treasure.
Later. Much later.
“Theo, I begged you once. Which, trust me, is kind of a big deal. Must I really do it again?”
“No.” And then a smug smile full of wicked promise teased open his mouth and sparked heat in his eyes. “I’ll rephrase. You’ll beg for me again, Genevieve, when you’re ready to come.”
That was more like it. “You’re awfully full of yourself.”
“Just as you’re about to be.”
By the time she registered the double entendre, he’d buried his face between her thighs.
Genny’s knees buckled. She would’ve hit the floor had his hands not shot to her waist to hold her up. A cry, a keening wail broke from her lips. Because Theo was lapping at her.
Insistently.
Hungrily.
Like she was a triple scoop of gelato about to melt away and he didn’t want to miss a single bit.
His tongue worked up and down between her innermost lips, over her clit, and then down to roll into a point and thrust inside. Genny couldn’t decide which she liked best.
Thank goodness she didn’
t have to. Theo kept going. She rolled her hips, she moaned, and she pulled at his hair. Not to get him to stop. But because Genny couldn’t control herself. Standing took what little concentration she had. The rest of her movements, her sounds, were pure primal reaction.
Suddenly, her feet left the floor. Theo was standing up, his shoulders beneath her knees. Genny crossed her ankles over his spine and held even tighter to his hair.
And he still didn’t stop licking her.
Once all the way up, he shuffled to the side a few steps and turned so that Genny could lean against the shower wall. Only then did he pull his mouth away. “I didn’t want to risk you worrying about getting your arm wet.”
The sheer amount of strength this took pulled Genny out of her fog of lust. “Theo, you can’t possibly hold me in the air while I sit on your shoulders.”
“Technically, you’re sitting on my face. Which is right where I want you.”
Oh. My. God. This was incredible. He was incredible. Genny couldn’t even label it a dirty fantasy come true, because she’d never once dreamed about this scenario.
She should have, though. Mini-orgasms contracted her inner muscles. They were precursors to what she knew would be something astounding. Because Theo was relentless with his licking. The wet, heavy rasp of his tongue coated her in her own juices as she began to spasm against his chin.
Right then, he stopped. Slowly, Theo craned his neck up to look at her. One side of his mouth quirked. “Ready to beg?”
Wow. Talk about payback for all the times she’d annoyed him over the past few weeks. “Really?”
Theo put a finger in his mouth, licked the tip, then traced it around her pebbled nipple. “Really.”
She might be quite on top, but Theo was the one in control. “What sort of precedent would it set if I have to beg for an orgasm?”
“So you’re already on board with this happening again?”
“Yes, damn it.”
“That’s all I needed to hear.” Theo carried her out of the shower, guiding her down his body. Once standing on the fluffy white bath mat, he peeled off his soaked briefs. His cock sprang outward. Before she could really drink in its glorious size, Theo picked her up once more. “Because once with you won’t be enough, Genny. Ten times, a hundred, won’t be enough. I’ve tasted your sweetness. I know I’ll crave it for the rest of my life.”
He carried her to the fainting couch and laid her on it, legs draped off each side. They were both still wet, but Genny didn’t care. She’d have done him on the floor at that point. She reached for him, but he shook his head.
“Do you have condoms in here?”
“That porcelain vase on the vanity with the gold handles.”
“Classy.” Theo all but leaped across the room. He pulled out a strip of six. Using his teeth, he ripped open the foil. By the time he was back at her side, he’d rolled it over his jutting, thick length.
When he just stood there, Genny clenched her teeth in frustration. Enough was enough. “Theo. No second-guessing. No checking in with me again. We’re doing this.”
“Damn straight we are. I’m just…memorizing the moment. God, you’re a vision, Genevieve. So beautiful.”
How many times in one night could her heart survive being melted by this man?
But Genevieve had learned—the hard way—over the years to not share too much. To not reveal her innermost thoughts. To not give someone else the opening to hurt her.
So she bit back what she wanted to say. Swallowed down the gush of emotion she felt for him. Didn’t admit how deeply his words touched her, how much she craved to declare her own feelings.
Instead, Genny curled up, reached out to drag her fingertips down his washboard abs. “And you are the sexiest man I’ve ever been with. By far. I’m aching to get you inside of me.”
“Your wish is my command.”
His statement, in context with the overall argumentative arc of their relationship, was so laughable that Genny did just that. And she’d remember to her dying day how it felt to be penetrated by his cock for the first time while she and Theo laughed together.
No posing. No worrying about image. They were only two people who were so comfortable and yet so needful of each other. It was magical.
But the laughter dropped away as he braced his fists on either side of her head. Theo stroked in and out with the same rhythmic determination she’d noticed when he licked her. It took mere moments before she hovered on the brink of another orgasm.
Genny scraped her nails down his back, wordlessly urging him closer, faster, harder, more of everything. “I’m not going to last long, Theo.”
“Thank God.” His torso fell onto hers, and the weight of him was so delicious. Theo spiked his fingers through her hair to tilt her head back. “Kiss me, Genevieve.”
That was how she could pour out her feelings. So as his hips hammered back and forth, as their wet skin slapped together, as his cock rubbed against every nerve ending of her core, Genny kissed him. She put everything into that kiss. Her desire for him, her enjoyment of the moment, her frantic need, and yes, even the niggling awareness that she was falling in love with him.
And they were kissing deeply, hungrily, until the moment bliss once again broke over her. Genny’s mouth opened wide on a cry of satisfaction as Theo pounded into her five more times until he, too, groaned out his release.
“If I pass out, it’s from you, not the concussion,” she murmured.
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Please do.” Eyes drifting shut as exhaustion smothered her, Genny said, “Please stay with me, Theo.”
Making the request was a risk. But he was worth it. She only hoped that he would, indeed, not betray that trust and be next to her in bed when she woke up…
Chapter Fourteen
Simon pushed his plate away. “Your Highness, that’s the best steak I’ve ever eaten. And I’m so full, I don’t think I’ll eat for another three days.”
“It’s Christian,” the crown prince corrected for about the fourteenth time, with a swift left/right glance to be sure nobody at the neighboring tables reacted. Fortunately, the restaurant was loud, and their red-leather corner booth had high backs. “We’re just four guys having a night out. No titles.”
“You’re making it more difficult for us to be low-key and undercover,” Elias said. He dropped his knife and pinned Simon with an ice-cold threat of a glare. “Keep it up and I might have to take you into custody.”
“Seriously?”
Elias burst out laughing. Then he ran a hand over his close-cropped dark hair. “No. Relax, will you?”
Maybe bringing Simon along hadn’t been such a good idea. He’d been awestruck by the prince all night. Evidently, he’d followed Christian’s exploits on the polo field for years. Probably couldn’t wait to phone home and tell his father that he’d shared a meal with royalty.
But 1) he’d been invited, and 2) Theo had wanted to use him as a buffer. After all, the relationship he had with Genny was secret. The fact that he’d spent the last three nights in the bed of the prince’s sister was most definitely a secret. Having Christian’s attention split could only work to help it stay a secret.
“Mate, you’re embarrassing me. And yourself. Treat Christian like you did that Japanese prince who shared our dorm for a year.”
Theo could see the wheels turning as Simon narrowed his eyes, remembering. “Akahito was a normal guy. Aside from those vile sheets of seaweed he snacked on non-stop.”
“Exactly.”
Simon drained the last of his Syrah. Then he half-heartedly slapped the prince on the shoulder. “Don’t be daft. You, ah, can’t be undercover in Moncriano. Not ever. Aren’t you on the freaking postage stamps?”
“Only a single run for my twenty-first birthday.” Christian winced. “God, that was humiliating. Luckily,
nobody uses the post anymore.”
Elias held up one finger as he emptied the dregs of the bottle into his glass. “I do. I sent Kelsey a postcard from the Vatican when we nipped over last week.”
“That sounds like it could be a love letter.” Christian winced yet again. With an added, dramatic grimace this time. “What’s the rule? No talking about the dark and depraved thing that is my best friend dating my sister.”
Uh-oh. Theo didn’t like where this was headed. Any talk of dating sisters was dangerous.
Elias waved him off. “It was a postcard of The Last Supper. The stamp had the Pope on it. Nothing sexy at all.” Then he slapped his open palm against the dark wood of the table. “Christian, you’ve got to get over this. Kelsey and I are the real deal. In love. It’d be good if you could take it in stride. Like an adult.”
Christian glanced at his empty glass, shook his head, then grabbed Elias’s and drained it. “I’m working on it.”
Simon jumped back in, evidently over his awe now. Cocking his head to the side, he asked, “You’ve only really known Kelsey as your sister for a few months. Doesn’t that make it easier?”
“You’d think so, wouldn’t you? But she’s always been my baby sister in my heart. Getting to actually bond with her finally, the fantastic woman she grew up to be—that just makes our connection stronger.”
Every word the prince uttered tightened an invisible noose around Theo’s neck. If Christian was that protective of a sister he hadn’t known for twenty-four years, how over-the-top protective was he of the sister who had shared his entire life?
It sure as hell didn’t bode well for shucking their secret relationship status anytime soon.
Not that they could.
His standing, his reputation as royal auditor, couldn’t come with any taint of favors from the royal family. And dating Genevieve was the biggest favor the universe had ever bestowed upon Theo.
She definitely shouldn’t be seen dating someone so openly vocal about his disdain for the royal family. Someone who—to the outside world—appeared to have chosen to stay away from Moncriano for most of his life.
Ruling the Princess Page 17
