The way both of them stared at me I suspected the specifics of my title wasn’t their concern.
“And, yes, I’m staying, and I have been toying with the idea of abdication.”
Tiber groaned and mumbled something about losing his job. For the first time since my sister was six years old, I saw a tear roll down her cheek. She never cried. I often wondered if my parents replaced her heart with one made of steel.
“It’s the twenty-first century. Why does Cambria even need a royal family? Perhaps we should petition the government to end the title. Our parents don’t want their titles, I don’t want to be prince, and it’s obviously upsetting you, Cali. Why not?”
My sister wiped the tear off her cheek and straightened. “Because it would break Cambria’s heart. The royal family exists because the people want us to rule. If they didn’t, that petition would have been taken up by the government years ago. I never thought these words would exit my mouth, but brother, it is our duty to rule over Cambria.”
I stared in surprise at my sister’s speech. She sounded more like our father than herself. Had I done this to her? Had I pushed her to care more about the rules than about having fun?
If I thought anyone would support me on dissolving the title, I was sure it would have been Cali.
“Fine, so we won’t end the royal family. But I can’t be prince. The life I discovered here is worth fighting for. I can’t give it up. Grace trusts me. Even her brother, Alex, is warming up to me. I’m one of the group. For once in my life, I don’t feel like an untouchable outsider looking in with wonder.”
Cali sighed but nodded in agreement. She understood because she felt the same. We both used to wonder as kids if our friends only liked us because of our titles.
I still wondered about that with every woman I dated. But Grace had no idea I was a future prince. She had money herself. I knew with all my heart that she liked me for me and not for the crown I could one day place on her beautiful head.
“Well, boo-fucking-hoo.”
My eyes widened in surprise at who that statement came from. Tiber stood by the fireplace with his hands on his hips.
“Tiber . . . You cursed,” my sister said. Her hand flew to her chest and her eyes widened in surprise.
“Yes, I did. And you know why? Because this trip has been a fucking disaster. An utter failure. Nico has run amok and you . . . well, I won’t bring up the Halloween problem here, Duchess.”
“Did something happen when you left the party on Halloween?” I asked.
“It’s not important.” My sister’s answer came a little too quickly.
“She’s right, it isn’t important. Because she’s not thinking of abdicating. You are, Your Highness. So why not let everything go to pot, including my language.”
Tiber was losing it. I knew explaining all of this to them wouldn’t go well, but I had no idea Tiber would take everything so personally.
“So, let’s say the duchess and I head back to Cambria at the end of the month, in time to prepare for the holiday festivities. Only to stand before the Prince and Princess of Cambria and explain that you don’t want to play duke anymore.”
I cleared my throat and tried my best to rub at a kink in my neck. “There’s no need to be rude.”
Tiber stepped forward. “How am I being rude, Your Highness? Please, explain it to me. Because what I see is a man running away from his duties because he’s having fun scrubbing floors.”
“I told you I’m not a scullery maid. I’m a waiter.”
“What you are is a duke. No matter how far you run or what mask you wear, you were born to be the duke and eventually, the Prince of Cambria. Remember when we were ten and we got lost in the woods at your parents’ estate in Germany?”
I nodded, remembering how I hated going there every summer. Every person I knew went to the Mediterranean or a beach locale for their holidays. Yet, my family vacationed on the side of a mountain that was colder than where we lived. We couldn’t even vacation like normal people.
“How could I forget? I thought we’d have to forage for food and find a cave for shelter.”
“Exactly.” Tiber’s face lit up. “But you took charge. I remember thinking you’d make a wonderful prince one day. I was scared and hated being cold, but you didn’t complain once. You made a plan and we set out to find food. Luckily, it led us to the groundskeeper’s cabin and we ended up safe. But my point is, you acted like a leader, even then. You aren’t meant to be a waiter, Your Highness. You’re meant to be a prince.”
Even if Tiber was right, I hated the thought of leaving behind the new life I made in Chicago.
“Just because I have a natural instinct to take charge doesn’t mean I’d make a good prince. There are so many people in this world with that ability, but they can’t all be princes or princesses or leaders of their countries. And even if they could, it doesn’t mean they would be good at it. Look at my father. Cambria had never had a better prince in its history. The people love him, and other royals admire him. Some people say he’s the reason Cambria has such a good tourist industry, because everyone wants a glimpse of the famous Prince of Cambria. But what about me?”
My sister tilted her head. “I don’t understand, Nico.”
“We both know there’s no way I will be as good as Father. He’s great and even he’s abdicating.”
I turned from them and walked over to the window which looked out onto the street below. We were only two stories up and I could easily make out the corgi a woman walked on the other side of the street.
“But it’s not just about the title, is it, Nico?”
My shoulders slumped. My sister knew me too well. We might as well have been twins with her ability to know what I was thinking.
“No, it’s not.”
I heard her move across the room, her heels clicking against parts of the wooden floor not covered in an oriental rug.
She placed her hand on my shoulder. It was gentle, warm, and a part of me wanted to go back in time to when everything was simple.
But then I wouldn’t have met Grace.
“You love her, don’t you?” Cali’s voice was soft but held concern.
Turning, I looked down into my sister’s emerald eyes.
“Yes, I love Grace. And I don’t think I can ever walk away from her.”
SEVENTEEN
Grace
Dirty Dancing
“Hurry, for the prince shall find us. Did you bolt the door?” I asked with my legs spread and my panties hanging on the end of my foot.
He groaned and whatever Nico was doing with his fingers caused my eyes to roll back into my head.
We were in my brother’s penthouse, in one of his many bedrooms.
Alex and Aria were on vacation on an island in the Pacific for the next two weeks until Thanksgiving. My brother owned the island. It was one of the many things I had discovered about our family over the past year and a half.
I told him that made him a king, but he said it wasn’t big enough to qualify as a country. Which sounded made up to me, but he left it at that.
“You’re rather hungry this evening, peasant boy. But I’m hungry, too. I sure could go for some sausage,” I moaned the last word.
Nico was really getting into this roleplay we were doing. It was a great way for me to control all the dirty things that would spill from my mouth when we had sex.
At home, which was my place, I said all the filthy things. But at my brother’s place, I felt the need to keep my mouth in check—even if he wasn’t here.
Nico came to live with me a week ago, after Halloween, and I have never been so sexually satisfied in my life. He should have worn a rabbit mask for Halloween because he humped me like one.
“Oh, God, that’s it, peasant boy, make me come.”
Nico had a magic mouth. His lips and tongue, combined with his fingers, caused me to beg at least once a day for him to go down on me. I had a Pavlovian response anytime his lips moved; I would start to c
ream myself.
My thigh muscles clenched and I grasped his head as I came. I sucked in my lips, moaning.
Nico lifted his head. His lips glistened and his eyes were hooded as he stood. Within moments, his pants were down by his ankles and he held out his cock like the most delicious offering.
“And I got you a gift.” He held up his hand, his palm facing me with something large and blue protruding from his middle finger.
Made out of smooth silicone, it came to a rounded point and was only about two inches long.
“What’s that?”
The corner of his mouth curved up, and he said, “Suck my cock right and you’ll find out.”
I was ready to come again. Everything the man did was sexy. From his huge cock to his ripped body to his ability to make me feel like a beautiful princess every time he told me how lucky he was that I was in his life.
“Oh, peasant boy, feed me your sausage.” I wrapped my fingers around the base of his cock and slowly but firmly pulled.
He groaned and a bead of cum appeared on his tip. I gazed up to find his green eyes studying me as my tongue swiped at the his cream.
His head fell back when I kissed and sucked on the tip. He tasted salty, but the combination of the tiny bit of cum and his flavor made me ravenous. I wanted to tease him more but was sucking him into my mouth within moments.
“Oh, Grace, you feel so good.”
I pulled his cock out of my mouth with a pop. “It’s princess, remember? The roleplay?”
There was hesitation in his eyes. “I’m not into the whole prince and princess thing. It feels too . . .”
“Farfetched?”
Before his eyes slid to the side, I noticed some doubt. Maybe Nico didn’t like the roleplay sex idea at all. Was he only doing this to make me happy?
“Not quite that, but in a way.”
“We don’t have to roleplay. We can just do the normal stuff . . .. But I have to warn you, I can’t control what comes out of my mouth when I’m about to orgasm.”
He turned his head toward the door as if he expected it to open. It wouldn’t. My brother wasn’t here, not even his security guy, Bradley.
“How about we are both peasants?” Nico gazed back down at me. “You’re the scullery maid instead of the princess.”
I don’t know why that seemed hot—two lowly people getting it on in a penthouse—but my clit twitched at the thought.
“What made you think of a scullery maid? It’s rather specific.”
I came up with peasant boy on a whim, but he put more thought into it. I guess I was wrong—maybe he was into the roleplay after all.
Nico shrugged while staring straight ahead. “Just popped into my head.”
I smiled. “Okay, peasant boy. I don’t think you got what it takes to make me come. A scullery maid like me must have things a certain way.”
“Then turn around and bend over, maid, because this peasant boy has a little trick up his sleeve.”
Standing from the edge of the king-sized bed, I did as Nico said. My sweater was hanging low and I tossed it off because I knew Nico always made me sweat when he fucked me. Placing my elbows on the navy-colored bedspread, I wiggled my ass at him.
I felt the tip of his cock move up and down my wet folds. Wiggling my behind, I arched my back, hoping he’d push inside. Then I felt something hard in my folds which began to vibrate. He moved that up and down and when it neared my clit, I almost came.
“Oh, peasant boy, you’re doing so good.”
Right after I said that, he pushed his hard cock into my core. It was swift and I tightened.
“Uh, fuck.” I arched my back and automatically bounced back and forth on him.
“Here comes the best part, maid.”
That vibrating device he had in his hand moved to my ass. It slid around and around my hole before he pushed it inside.
I gasped, my eyes widening, and I knew it wouldn’t be long before I came.
“Yeah, oh yeah, peasant boy. Fuck me.”
Nico pounded into me the way I liked—hard and rough. The bed screeched as it got pushed. I should have worried that we were making grooves in the floor, but I was too far gone in bliss to worry.
“You’re such a dirty maid. You’re so wet. I can feel you dripping down my leg, you need my cock so bad.”
“Yes. Yes, I do.” Nico rode me so hard that my face was pressed into the mattress. “Make me come. I love it when you fill me.”
He pushed whatever was in his hand completely inside me. My eyes rolled back into my head and I couldn’t speak. Only guttural groans came out of me as Nico worked his cock deep inside.
I lifted my hand as my climax crested. I could hear Nico mumble that he was coming, but I was too far gone to say anything. The vibrator in my ass caused my orgasm to continue.
My body shook. Nico pulled out, yet I was still coming. He was moving behind me, but I had no idea what he was doing until I felt his lips on my pussy. He was eating me as I came again and again.
That didn’t help ease my orgasm; it only made me come harder. He finally pulled that thing out of my ass and my climax began to recede.
I lay draped across the edge of the bed, my legs too much like jelly to stand. When I caught my breath, I asked, “What was that thing?”
“A vibrating ass plug. I got it especially for you.”
“You did good, peasant boy. You did good.”
He lifted my limp body and placed it gently on the bed. Nico left the room, but I was too tired to ask where he was going. If I died at this moment, I’d die happy.
After a few minutes, he returned with his usual wet cloth. But there was something else in his hand. I couldn’t tell what it was as he tried to hide it behind his back.
“Lie back. Let me take care of you,” Nico said.
He always did this after we had sex. He cleaned me and if I was hungry, he’d get me food. Nico wasn’t a good cook—I taught him everything he could make. His parents failed to teach something as basic as cooking. He didn’t even know how to microwave a hot dog.
But that didn’t stop him from trying.
When I thought of him, I swear my heart was about to explode in my chest. I had never felt this way toward anyone before. We’ve only been together for a week and I’d only known him for a month, but I wondered if this was what love felt like.
After he finished cleaning me, instead of crawling into bed beside me, he kneeled down beside the bed. I started to get up as I said, “Did you drop something?”
“No, please. It’s not something I lost. It’s something I found.” Nico lifted a black velvet ring box and when he opened it, a gold band with a huge ruby in the center sat nestled in white satin.
When I say that the jewel was big, I mean like the size of a marble. That thing could knock out a tooth.
It obviously wasn’t real. How could a guy who escaped his country with not much but the clothes on his back and a job that didn’t pay, afford a real gold ring with a ruby?
While some of the clothes I had seen him in did strike me as pricey, I wondered if he had money back in Cambria. But, at some point, his money would run out. He didn’t strike me as the type of guy to throw most of his money at a very expensive ring. It must have been costume jewelry.
“Grace, I had no idea what I wanted until I found you.” He took the ring out of the box and held it up in front of me. “This may not have been what you expected when you imagined a man proposing to you. And I may not be what you thought and can only hope when you learn everything about me that you don’t see me as the world does but as I am now. On my knees before the woman I love.”
My sight began to blur as tears filled my eyes. I didn’t care that the ring was a fake or that he was in hiding from his country. Nico was the sweetest and most caring man I had ever met. And I was pretty sure I was falling in love with him.
“There are some things you need to know about me, and it involves this ring. Because it’s from my family and if you choo
se to wear it, then it means—”
“Yes!”
He gazed up at me with confusion in his eyes. Nico was so focused on his speech and the ring that I wondered if he forgot I was there.
“What?”
I nodded my head wildly. “Yes, I’ll marry you and wear your abnormally large family ring.”
Maybe the ring was real if it was a family heirloom. But there’s no way it could be a ruby. Probably garnet or a cheaper jewel.
Nico stared at me with an open mouth. Was he surprised at my answer? Did he really not realize how amazing he was? He looked like a movie star, yet acted like a chivalrous knight. What was not to love?
“But, Grace, I haven’t told you about—”
I waved him away and plucked the ring from his fingers. I slid it onto my left hand ring finger and took a moment to admire its beauty and how well it fit.
“Wow. This is amazing. Your family’s got great taste. And now that we’re engaged, why don’t we get some practice in when we need to expand the family.” I wiggled my eyebrows.
Nico gave me a lopsided grin as he was still a bit dazed by my quick agreement to his proposal.
Perhaps we should know a little more about each other before agreeing to spend the rest of our lives together. But I learned a lot about the other guys I had been with, and all but one were average men with nothing in their background that would have me suspect they’d use me up and throw me away so easily.
Maybe it was time I took a risk with a guy who was different. I found a guy who wasn’t using me and treated me like a princess. When a person discovered a diamond in the rough like that, they should grab it and never ever let go.
EIGHTEEN
Nico
Risky Business
“Well, aren’t you a prince,” the woman with short gray curls said with a smile as I helped her into the booth.
“What? Who told you?” I stiffened and she nearly fell as I let go of her arm right as she bent over to sit.
“Whoa, uh . . . nobody?”
She gripped the table, and I helped make sure she was comfortably in the booth before I straightened. I had been on edge for the past week.
Royal Disgrace (Cake Love Book 5) Page 10