Royally Protected (Protector's Promise Book 2)

by Holly Jaymes

  When I rose out of the water again, I looked up at the sun, squinting my eyes against it. An image of his face floated up in front of me. What did I exactly feel for this man?

  I splashed the water around me, drenching my hair in it, making sure every inch of my body was soaking wet. It was cool, and I never felt this relaxed before. It didn’t matter that I was completely naked, I didn’t feel exposed. I relaxed and enjoyed the calmness.

  After a little while I heard a rustle of leaves and a breeze through the bushes, and suddenly my calm feeling was gone. I felt like I was being watched. I didn’t know what it was, but I looked suspiciously around me everywhere.

  Immediately I regretted this decision. I feared that there could be someone with a camera. It could be either the paparazzi or a member of staff at the resort, either way, there were going to be naked photos of me everywhere on the internet in no time.

  Shuddering, I wrapped my arms around me. Even though the sun was shining strongly down on me, I suddenly felt cold. I was about to step out of the water, and rush for my clothes, but then somebody was stepping out of the shadow of the trees, and a small cry escaped me.

  I was crouched in the water, making sure most of my naked body was under water. I still had my arms wrapped around me. Instead of someone with a camera, it was Bas who stepped out in the clearing. Thankfully he did not have a camera.

  Neither of us said anything for the first few moments. I was just thinking about him, so seeing him now felt surreal. Also, the fact that I was utterly naked contributed to the strangeness of the situation. However, Bas’ eyes were focused on my face. He wasn’t gazing down at my body, not yet at least.

  He was in his usual well-ironed shirt and pants, his hair neat, and he was cleanly shaven. I could smell his expensive cologne.

  “I didn’t mean to startle you, and you should know, I wasn’t following you either,” he said in a deep growl. I could feel my breasts rising and falling. My nostrils were flared. I should have been ashamed that he was seeing me like this.

  “How long have you been watching me?” I asked, keeping my chin up.

  “I just got here, and then I couldn’t walk away. I should have,” he said, his eyes finally drifting down to where my breasts remained submerged under water. Slowly, I started to pull my arms away from my body. He couldn’t see anything yet, but I didn't feel like hiding anymore. He had already seen me.

  I raised myself up from the crouched position. I noticed his eyes drift over me. The water reached my hips.

  Now he saw my breasts, heaving, my dark nipples taut. He said nothing, just stared at my body for a few moments before he started to take his clothes off too.

  I could feel the tightness in the base of my stomach. The excitement was rising inside me. I didn’t know for sure what was going to happen next, but the anticipation alone was killing me. I bit down on my lip as I watched him strip.

  One piece of clothing after another. The shirt came off, then his pants, then his underwear. Bit by bit, Prince Sebastian was revealing himself to me too. He had rock-hard abs and a chiseled athletic body. He had a tattoo on the left side of his arm which was something else I wouldn’t have expected from him! His cock was hanging between his muscular thighs. He knew how to look after himself, and I was amazed by him. I was getting hot even though I was standing in water.

  Bas still said nothing, neither did I. When he eventually stepped into the water my mouth parted slightly, watching him walk towards me. He came to a stop right in front of me.

  "Great day for a swim," he said as moved my hair behind my shoulder gently.

  Something was being silently said by the way we held our gazes on each other.

  “Do you want this too, Ava?” he asked in a low growl. Couldn’t he see how much I did? My hands were shaking on my side because I wanted to touch him.

  “Yes,” I replied in a whisper. He searched my eyes like he wanted to make sure I was telling the truth. Then, before I knew what he was going to do, he reached for my bare waist and pulled me towards him. I nearly fell on him but our lips met. My mouth opened to let him in and within moments his tongue was inside me, exploring my mouth. I moaned, sinking, melting, falling but he had a tight grip on me.

  How had this happened? How were we both naked here?

  The kiss was hungry, and we were devouring each other. I've wanted this since I first met him on my walk in the woods when helped me up from my fall. Did he want it since then too?

  I wrapped my arms around him tightly while he kissed me. He was angling my head in every way possible, claiming me deeply and then his hands slipped down to my butt, and he was jerking me up.

  I knew what he wanted me to do. Smoothly I jumped, and he caught me. I wrapped my legs around his waist, and now he was carrying me out of the water. Our mouths remained stuck to each other’s like with suction. It felt like electricity was running through my body.

  I had never experienced power and strength like this before, and it was more than just through his body. He had the strength of his royal heritage running through his blood. I could feel it now as he walked out of the water.

  Slowly, pulling his mouth away from me, he started to lay me down on the grassy clearing on the bank close to my clothes. The water on my body was beginning to dry in the sun.

  I was stretched out on the grass, and Bas was stretched over me, above me so he could look into my eyes too.

  “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you, Ava,” he said, and I felt myself give way.

  Chapter 10

  Sebastian

  I knew I was enamored with her. I should have just walked away when I saw her taking her clothes off to go swimming, but I couldn’t look away. I wanted her.

  When I stepped out into the clearing, and she saw me, I was sure she wanted the same thing. The kiss proved it. We melted into each other. Now it felt like we were just one body.

  I was stretched out over her, naked, just as naked as she was. Ava Morrison was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Every inch of her glistened. Her skin was the color of coffee. She opened herself up to me. When we kissed, there was something primal and animal that came out of me. I wanted her now. While she was peering straight into my eyes, I could see she wanted me too.

  I lowered myself further down to her so that our bodies were pressed together. She was stretching her legs out around me, making room for me to wedge myself between her thighs.

  I rose my hand up to her breasts. They were the perfect fit in my hand. I squeezed her nipple, and she moaned, then I lowered my head down and took it in my mouth and sucked. She tasted like the stream and like fresh snow, clear and clean. My mouth traveled down from her breast, down her slender flat stomach and the further down I went, the more her body trembled.

  I touched her there with my hand first, looking up to meet her beautiful brown eyes. Her lips were parted, she was waiting for me to make her feel something.

  Her pussy was small and tight between her thighs. My fingers slipped down the slit, and then I teased her clit. Ava hissed, raising her hips up towards me. It was all I needed to see to know she wanted more. Keeping one firm hand on her hip and pinning her to the grass, my other hand played with her pussy. Ava chewed down hard on her lip, moaning as my fingers slid and slipped thrusting into her pussy, her tight delicious pussy. I needed to be inside her. This was not going to be enough.

  “Bas! Please!” she said in another hiss, just when I thought she was going to come. “I want you inside me.”

  I stopped thrusting my fingers and shifted myself, so I was over her, at level with her face again. Ava was looking up at me, our eyes were trained harshly on each other. The only thing either of us cared about right now was the pleasure of being with each other.

  I wanted her from the moment I saw her on that walk, and now she was mine. I possessed her in some way, and she had given herself up to me. Nothing else could ever feel this good.

  I lowered myself down and slowly at first, my cock pa
rted her folds as I entered her. I wanted to take it slow in the beginning, just glide over her smoothly. Ava was clutching my shoulders tightly. I could feel her nails digging into my skin, but I didn’t care. It felt amazing.

  She had the ability to set me free because I felt free with her.

  But now I wanted it more intensely, and I started thrusting harder. In and out, my cock was filling her up. I could feel myself reaching deep, and she moaned with every thrust.

  And then she squealed, and I knew she was coming. Her cheeks were red. She threw her head back as far as possible, exposing her long slender neck to me. I reached down, burying my face between her breasts and I thrust even harder. I couldn’t stop now. I knew what was going to happen.

  I exploded inside Ava, filling her up with my seed. She wound her legs tightly around my waist now, keeping me in position while I pounded her. Our bodies were moving together. She felt so soft and warm. I thrust, and I groaned till there was nothing left to give and then, breathing hard, I glared down at her.

  Both our chests were rising and falling. Ava was staring up at me like she was seeing me for the first time. Her cheeks glowed, just like her eyes. I hoped that she didn’t regret this.

  After a few moments of silently glaring at each other, I rolled over and stretched myself out on the grass beside her.

  My cock was still throbbing. No other woman’s body had felt this luscious to me before, but I couldn’t find the words to say it. I didn’t even know what to say. I was afraid of saying the wrong thing in the situation and offending her.

  Maybe this wasn’t what she wanted at all. Perhaps this was one colossal misunderstanding, and she was going to burst into tears? Had I taken advantage of her?

  All things considered, I wasn’t exactly an expert on women. I couldn’t claim to know what they thought and liked, but with Ava somehow, I felt like I did know her, but I could have been wrong.

  Now we were just lying there on the cool grass, staring up at the sky, our chests rising and falling, still out of breath. Neither of us had spoken, and that was okay.

  Strangely enough, I could have laid in the grass like that with her forever and not gotten bored. I didn’t know what it was about her that made me feel this way, but I knew this feeling was different.

  Chapter 11

  Ava

  I couldn’t believe what just happened, especially after I had made all those grand promises of never putting myself through a casual hookup again. Of all the people I could have engaged in something like this with, it had to be a British Prince?!

  I was laying still beside him on the grass, feeling hot and cold, happy and upset all at once. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to feel. Embarrassed? Angry? Upset? Afraid?

  I had no idea what his future intentions were going to be. I didn’t know what I wanted to do next. I had never felt this lost after sex before. Usually, it was a pretty straightforward thing. I either wanted to keep seeing the guy in question, or I did not.

  With Bas, I knew ‘seeing him’ in the traditional sense was out of the question. It didn’t matter what I really wanted to do. So I had to try and not pay attention to the fact that he made me feel good or that we just had fantastic sex. Instead, I needed to focus on what our next steps were going to be, sort of like a business transaction.

  We were both lying on the grass, staring up at the sky for a while now. Someone had to make a move so I decided it would have to be me.

  Slowly, I sat myself up on the grass and reached for my clothes with one hand. I didn’t have to worry about wetting my clothes anymore. Other than my hair, I was dry. While I slipped my bra and blouse on and started rolling my panties up, I could see Bas getting dressed from the corner of my eye too.

  My brown cotton skirt looked crumpled now, but I had other more important things to worry about. For my hair I just let it be. I found my sandals and put those on too. I would just have to try and slip into my room at the resort, hopefully, unnoticed and not raise any untoward questions.

  By the time I was fully dressed again, it seemed like Bas was finally ready to talk.

  “Listen, Ava, I’m sorry to make things awkward between us.”

  I turned to him, running my fingers through my straight damp hair. His hair was a little wet too, and now he stood there in front of me in all his masculine, powerful glory, rolling his shirt sleeves up.

  “You didn’t force it. I wanted it too. I was fully aware of the potential of awkwardness,” I said, and Bas looked at me and nodded.

  “But look, it doesn’t have to be like that. If you want, I can get on the first flight back to England, leave you alone to the rest of your holiday,” he suggested. I shook my head.

  “You don’t have to do that. I only have a few more days of my vacation left anyway.”

  “Right.”

  “We can just stay out of each other’s ways, and it should be fine.”

  “Good.”

  Bas dug his hands into the pockets of his pants. Now, seeing him fully dressed again, and feeling that desire, being filled with that wishful thinking reminded me again of how out of reach he was. It was hard to imagine that this man was just inside me. This man had given me the best orgasm of my life.

  He must have seen my cheeks flush and he knew what I was thinking.

  “I don’t want you to worry about this,” he said, and I nodded and shook my head at the same time. I had never felt this self-conscious before!

  “I’m sure, just like myself, you don’t want this to get out.”

  I shook my head again.

  “No, of course not. You don’t have to worry about me bragging or anything,” I said, fumbling a little with my word. Bas sighed.

  “That wasn’t what I was thinking. I didn’t take you as that kind of girl.”

  We smiled at each other, but it was an awkward smile. It was not the kind that we exchanged when we had our long chats earlier. I just couldn't believe that the spark of a friendship we managed to build in the most unlikely place, and now we had to let it all go.

  “I’m glad we’re on the same page,” I forced myself to say, and Bas nodded.

  “Yes.”

  I brushed my fingers through my hair again and then started to walk past him.

  “Hopefully I’ll still see you around for the rest of your stay, and if I don’t, I will totally understand that too,” he added as I walked some distance away. I nodded, but I couldn’t add anything to that.

  He was going to be okay with it if we never saw each other again.

  That was not how I felt. I didn’t know how I was ever going to forget meeting him or how I would ever get this out of my mind. He was going to be embedded in my mind forever. Didn’t he know that?

  I walked away hurriedly because I wasn’t sure what I would end up saying if I remained there with him for a moment longer. It was too early, too quick to have feelings for someone, right? I knew nothing about him. I was acting foolish!

  I didn’t know where I was going, hopefully, headed in the right direction. I didn’t even have the courage to go back and ask him for directions back to the resort. I just wanted to get away from him because I felt so weak. I should have known I was putting everything on the line when I slept with a Prince. I should have known this was not going to be an ordinary experience.

  Chapter 12

  Sebastian

  I waited some time at that spot by the stream until I was sure that Ava was gone, then I hurried to make it back to the resort where I could lock myself in my room safely.

  Just some time ago, when she was right there in front of me, in all her beautiful glowing glory, I felt like the luckiest man alive. I was in awe that someone like her would even want to be with me. I usually attracted a certain kind of woman, but Ava was good. She was kind-hearted and beautiful, generous and uncomplicated. I had never met a woman like her before.

  But now, back in my room again, I was pacing around the place. I couldn’t sit still. I was worried about whether I was wrong about
her. The truth was that I didn’t know her at all. Everything I thought of her was just a presumption. What if she was like all those other women I had known in the past?

  There was no guarantee that we were on the same page. There was every possibility that she might turn around today and get in touch with the papers to tell them exactly what happened here today in the secrecy of a ski resort in Aspen.

  Fuck!

  I roared. Alone in my room.

  Even though my four staff were right outside my bedroom door, I kept them shut out. I somehow managed to escape them when I went running into the woods earlier. I knew how angsty they usually got when they couldn’t find me. They wanted to make sure everything was alright, and I wanted to be alone.

  So I refused to let any of them in my room.

  I still wasn’t sure if I just created another new problem for myself or not. Of course, that had not been my first impression of Ava. In fact, the more I got to know her, the more I discovered how beautiful she was inside and out. But all that could have been a carefully arranged lie. How could I trust her?

  How could I trust anybody?

  It was a curse I was born with because I was born into this family. I was never going to be able to form normal and regular relationships with anybody. Even people in my family, people I should have been able to rely on wanted something from me. Most people were just waiting for the opportunity to cut me open and hang me up to dry.

  I sat down with a thump on the edge of my bed, with my head in my hands. A few months ago, I wouldn’t have cared which woman said what about me to the media, but now I did. I knew what was at stake. I was well aware of the fact that I had repeatedly over the years disappointed my family and now they were on the verge of giving up on me.

  I heard my phone ringing. I’d left it on the bureau before I left the room in the morning, just so that I wouldn’t have to listen to it ringing all the time.