Reluctantly Royal Read online

  Hannah groaned low in her throat and arched toward my mouth.

  I pulled back and blew on her wet skin. “You know, I don’t think we got nearly far enough in our language lessons for you to be proficient in the language of love. Do you remember what we call these gorgeous babies?”

  “Uh, no. I don’t care. Luc, just keep—Ah!”

  “Tsk, tsk. That’s no way to pass this class. What kind of French teacher would I be if I let you get away with that? Now repeat after me. Joue avec mes seins.”

  I waited until Hannah groaned out the phrase.

  “Very good. We’ll have to work on your accent, though. You just told me to play with your tits.” I smiled as I nuzzled at her breasts. Capturing one nipple in my mouth, I teased it with my teeth and tongue while I tortured the other with my fingers, pinching and working it until she shuddered in pleasure.

  Hannah moaned. “Is there a phrase to tell you to shut the hell up and get to the good stuff?”

  “Uh, no. This is the good stuff. The very, very good stuff. The stuff I dream about when I’m not with you. Christ, your breasts are so spectacular. I could spend all day just tweaking your nipples.”

  “I swear to God, if you don’t get at least one hand near my pussy, I’ll take care of it myself.”

  As interesting as that statement was—and I made a mental note to circle back to it—I gave in. But not before I stretched our lesson further. “Repeat after me. Prends soin de ma chatte.”

  Hannah’s attempt came nowhere near the actual sentence, but I didn’t give a damn. I abandoned her breasts and kissed my way down her abdomen. This time she didn’t have any ridiculous fears about her weight. She just clearly wanted me to get to “the good stuff,” judging by the way she threaded her fingers in my hair and shoved my head down. I didn’t fight her as I worked my way south, kissing every bit of exposed skin I could reach. After nudging her thighs apart with my shoulder, I burrowed in and gently kissed each thigh. Hannah shivered as she stared down at me with lust-filled eyes. She softly brushed a lock of my hair off my forehead, then groaned as I rasped my teeth against her thigh. A wave of goosebumps broke out on her leg, and I kissed every last one.

  “I swear to God, if you don’t—” Hannah broke off in a gasp when my nuzzling worked its way to her sex.

  I delicately licked the seam of her lips dividing her sex, and moisture immediately met my seeking tongue. I made a sound deep in my throat and licked harder. She tasted sweet and musky and so good I didn’t think I could ever get enough. I pushed her left leg up and out so I could get a better angle. Using my other hand, I gently teased the folds of her sex. Soon Hannah was panting and squirming. I followed her with my mouth, kissing, nuzzling, licking, thrusting. Hannah whimpered and I felt the muscles in her legs tighten. Her sex gripped my fingers as she went over the edge. Spasms shook her small frame, and her chatte greedily milked my fingers.

  I closed my eyes as my dick throbbed impatiently against my thigh. As if it had a mind of its own, my cock arched toward Hannah’s throbbing sex, and it took everything inside me not to slip inside her just then. After a few anxious—on my part—moments, Hannah collapsed on the bed and my fingers slipped out of her sex.

  Hannah groaned and arched on the bed, the very image of a contented cat who had a belly full of milk. My cock pulsed against my thigh, reminding me of how little action he’d gotten today. Hannah smiled at me with heavy eyelids.

  “I take it back. You are really good at that. I’m sorry I insulted your manhood.”

  “You did? I don’t remember you saying anything like that.”

  “Ah, must’ve thought it but didn’t say it.” Hannah’s smile grew wider. “God, I feel good. But you look a little…needy, still. You up for more?”

  “I think that’s my line. And I’m gonna take your nudge as a yes.” I leaned over and grabbed a condom from my wallet. After ripping the wrapper open with my teeth, I rolled the condom on and was back between Hannah’s legs. With my hands bracing myself over her body, I hovered above her. “Are you ready for more?”

  “Oh, yeah.” Hannah gasped as my cock slowly slid inside her.

  I bent my head and almost kissed her before I remembered where I’d been. I gave her a half smile. “Pardon.”

  “For what? Not moving? You know there’s something you can do about that.”

  I took the hint and withdrew until just the head of my cock was inside her, then pushed back in. Hannah sighed like she’d been waiting for that all day. I smiled to myself and picked up my rhythm. Her sex gripped me in a pulsing warm embrace when I slid out of her that had me groaning in appreciation.

  “Oh, Christ, mon chou. You feel so good. I can’t, I don’t think—” I ground my teeth as I fought the urgent demand of my cock. I couldn’t come until Hannah had at least one more orgasm. In desperation, I leaned down and kissed her as my hand found her clitoris. I softly caressed the pulsing nub as my mouth demanded more from her.

  Hannah broke our kiss as she gasped for oxygen. “Oh, God. I can’t. I—” She groaned as shudders rocked her body and her sex milked my cock.

  I couldn’t take it. The greedy, demanding motions of her body had me following her over the edge. I dropped my head and pumped my hips again and again, until the only sound in the room was the wet slap of our bodies, and then my roar of triumph.

  I collapsed on top of Hannah, since my arms could no longer hold my weight. Tucking my arms around her, I rolled onto my side and took her with me until she was prone on top of me. I sagged into the soft mattress, spent, with the biggest smile on my face.

  “Mmmm,” Hannah murmured against my throat. “See how much fun we have when you don’t fight it?”

  “Oui, mademoiselle. From here on after I am your slave. Anything you want, I will get for you.”

  “I like postorgasm Luc. He’s so happy and malleable. I bet I could ask you for anything and you’d get it for me.”

  “Quite possibly.”

  “Like a pony?”

  “Might be hard to fit into your apartment, but I’m sure Étienne would figure it out.”

  “Hmmmm, true. Maybe a miniature horse instead?”

  I laughed as I kissed the top of her head. “If you’re this devious now, I shudder to think what palace life is going to do to you.”

  Hannah froze against me, and I cursed myself for speaking without thinking it through. I’d barely got her back into my arms and here I was pushing for more. Maybe later tonight I could’ve asked her. After the banquet. Not now, while we were still recovering from our orgasms. I wanted her to know it was a sincere, well-thought-out request. Not something I’d blurted out in a postorgasm haze.

  Fuck me.

  “What palace life is going to do to me? Why would…I don’t even know how to break down that sentence.”

  “I didn’t mean to ask you like this. I’d planned to ask you tonight while we were eating bad chicken and surrounded by strangers. Not when we were lying in bed all loopy from orgasms and endorphins.”

  “Ask me what?”

  “To come home with me. To Monaco.”

  Hannah sat up and pushed her hair off her face. “You are insane. Do you not remember our conversation downstairs in the parking lot? What am I going to do in a palace? I don’t know any French. I have to be here. I have to find another salon to work in.”

  “It’s not insane. And why do you need to find another salon? You hate your job. Come to Monaco with me. We’ll look into colleges for you together, figure out what you want to do with the rest of your life.”

  “That is no way to build a relationship. I can’t just mooch off you and your family. I need to be able to stand on my own two feet.”

  “You wouldn’t be mooching. You’re an invited guest. Besides, it’s not my family—it’s me. We’ll stay at my house, and I won’t pressure you to meet my family until you’re ready. We’ll do it on your terms but my euro. How does that sound?”

  “It still sounds like too much, too soon. We�
�ve only known each other a few days, not even a week, and you want me to just pick up and go to the other side of the world? It’s insane, Luc.”

  “It’s not insane. I want you. I’m falling for you.” My heart pounded in my ears, but I had to get the words out. This was too important. “For the first time in my life I want to be in a relationship. I want you to have anything you need, be able to reach for the things that’ve been beyond you because of circumstances. And I want to be next to you when you make your dreams come true.”

  Hannah looked at me with shining eyes. Her lips quivered as she fought her tears.

  “Because that’s when the sex will get really good.”

  “Oh, my god, Luc.” Hannah slapped my arm in annoyance. “You say the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard in my entire life and then you follow it up with that bullshit.”

  “It’s not bullshit—it’s the truth. You think what we have now is amazing? Wait until you graduate college. Graduation sex is ah-mazing.”

  “Are you seriously comparing hypothetical graduation sex with me to whoever you slept with when you graduated? While we’re literally naked in bed? Really?”

  “I didn’t sleep with anyone when I graduated university. I got falling-down drunk with my brother because I knew it was the last night we would be in the same place for a long time. The next day I was hungover and on the train to Basic Training. But that last night with Julien, that was one of my best memories of him. We were both young and dumb and so fucking carefree. That can be you, too, Hannah.”

  “I’m glad you had that with him. I love my brother; I couldn’t imagine losing him. I mean, it’s not like we’re twins, I know it’s different, but he’s been my big brother my entire life. He put off college, too, so he could help my parents with my medical expenses, because that’s what family does. That’s what my family does. I can’t just pick up and move to the other side of the world because you’re good in bed. We’ve only known each other less than a week. It’s insane.”

  “But it feels right. Where’s that girl I met the first night? The one who threw caution to the wind and decided to spend time with a stranger? You live for the moment, and that’s all I’m asking you to keep doing. I’m not asking for a commitment; I’m just asking for more time. We live on opposite ends of the world. One of us has to compromise for this to work, and unfortunately I can’t give up my job. It’s kind of a permanent position—at least until Bastien has a son and the kid makes it to maturity.” I could see the indecision in Hannah’s expression so I relented. “Just promise me you’ll think about it. I still have a few days in Vegas—you can give me your answer later. The decision is completely in your hands. Promise me you’ll think about it.”

  “I’ll think about it,” Hannah dutifully whispered back.

  “Thank you, mon chou.” I kissed her quick and hard on the lips. “I’m leaking all over the sheets. I’ll go take care of the condom, then—”

  “Then you’ll get your assistant working on dresses for tonight. I can’t believe I only have a few hours to find a dress and get ready for a formal dinner. What are you standing there for? Go! Get moving!”

  “Oui, mademoiselle. And might I just say you look gorgeous when you’re all frazzled. Ooomph.” The first pillow hit me in the stomach, but I dodged the second. I laughed all the way to the bathroom.

  Chapter 16

  The banquet was as boring as I thought it’d be. If not for Hannah’s presence, it would have been torturous. Then again, Hannah made everything better just by being there.

  She stayed by my side the whole night sparkling in the blood-red dress that skimmed her body and showed off her graceful curves. The whole dress selection process had been a treat for both of us. Me, in that I got to sit back on a cushioned sofa like a pasha waiting on his harem—only in my case it was one gorgeous, scantily clad blonde twirling around the room in different gowns and lingerie combinations. To be honest, my favorite was the garter belt sans bra, but apparently my vote didn’t matter for shit. Something about the lines not working with the clingy dress she’d chosen—whatever that meant. I still put the garter belt aside for later. I couldn’t wait for her to put it on and not take it off.

  I couldn’t remember what combo was on under tonight’s dress, and the anticipation of seeing it later was killing me. Was it the lacy thong she had done an exaggerated bump and grind number in? Or that oppressive silky girdle thing that had me reaching for a knife to cut her out of it? It didn’t look like she could breathe, let alone eat a meal while wrapped up so tight. I’d put my foot down and said hell, no, but given how much my opinion didn’t matter—see above—she could very well have put it back on. Either way I definitely knew she wasn’t wearing a bra, given the way my fingers skimmed her naked back all night long as I led her from one person to the next during the little meet-and-greet before dinner.

  My fingers brushed over the surgical scars on her exposed back as I thought about Hannah’s accident. To go from sixteen and carefree to bruised and broken and wondering if you’d ever walk again—I couldn’t imagine. And it’d sounded like her high school years after had been hell. Physical therapy. Trying to catch up in school. Her parents scraping by to pay their bills. Her friends going on with their lives while she’d been in horrific pain. No wonder she’d become a live-in-the-moment kind of person.

  She was such an amazing woman.

  I’d been worried she’d be either bored or intimidated being surrounded by so many strangers—and with us sitting at the head table, most of those strangers were well-to-do or famous. But Hannah took it all in stride. When the owner of the hotel personally greeted us, Hannah shook his hand with a smile and asked after his wife and children. When A-list Hollywood actor Jamie Buckland was seated next to her, she smiled and talked to him about playing pool. I wasn’t sure, but I thought she even invited him up to my suite later to play a game. She didn’t meet a single stranger all night.

  And they all fell under the spell of her sparkling eyes and easy smile. She was easy to talk to without being vapid or overly complimentary. More than one man gave me the once-over, like he was considering the competition. Not that I was all that worried. Hannah made it clear that she was with me—although not nearly enough or as obviously as I would’ve liked. I was considering tying her hair to my belt like a caveman, just to keep her admirers away.

  But I also wanted to protect her against the potential media attention. I needed to keep my distance because if I wasn’t careful, everything about her life would be plastered in the media the second someone saw the opportunity. There were a few cameras here, but most seemed to be promotional crews for the convention. And yet I couldn’t stop myself from keeping her close, rubbing a hand across her back, twining my fingers through hers. I was so enamored; there was no denying that we were a couple. It was just a matter of time before the media exposed us. I needed to be more careful. When we finally got a moment to ourselves as we sat down to our dinners of bloody steak and rubbery shrimp, I brought up the thing that I’d been worrying about before tonight.

  “I was concerned tonight might be uncomfortable for you.”

  Hannah sawed away at her steak with a dull knife. “Oh? Why’s that?”

  “Just all the people here you don’t know. It’s not exactly my idea of a good time. I didn’t want you to feel uncomfortable, especially with all the famous people.”

  “You’re famous, and we get along just fine.”

  “But you didn’t know that when we first met.”

  “True. I thought I’d take the same approach with this tonight. I meet strangers every day with my job. I’m kind of an expert when it comes to small talk.” Hannah laughed in a self-deprecating way.

  “Don’t sell yourself short. You have almost all the skills required to be a royal. What you’ve just described is ninety percent of my job as a prince.”

  “And the other ten percent?”

  The master of ceremonies interrupted our conversation. “Our keynote speaker toni
ght, His Royal Highness Prince Lucien of Monaco.”

  I placed my napkin down and pushed away from the table. As I walked behind Hannah’s chair, I leaned down to whisper in her ear, “Doing whatever the hell you want, whenever the hell you want.”

  After kissing her cheek, I stood and approached the podium. The master of ceremonies gave me an awkward bow when I would’ve shaken his hand. Our little dance over, I took my place at the podium and smiled at the still-clapping audience. As their applause slowly died, I thought over the speech Aristide and the palace approved and mentally chucked it out the window.

  “Thank you for that lovely welcome. And thank you to the lovely Commonwealth Hotel and Casino for sponsoring the event and our party this week. It is truly a global destination for debauchery and vice. Believe me, I would know.” I paused as a few people chuckled. “My home is a place many in Europe think of when looking for a destination for debauchery and vice. Monaco is fairly well known for being the rich kids’ playground—at our beautiful beaches and elegant casinos. But for me it’s always been home. That one place where you’re always welcome and the people love you unconditionally. Or at least it was before.

  “Last year we lost the best person I’ve had the good fortune to meet, and a man I was blessed to call my brother. Julien was the most patient and giving and strong man ever to be born to the House of Greiner. If circumstances were different, he would be the one here giving an impassioned speech and not boring you all to tears as I am. He would be up here actually reading the prepared speech about the beauty of our country, and the new partnerships we’d like to forge with the companies represented here, as well as the hopeful legacy of the House of Greiner.