He shifted back against the smooth cavern wall then, in an act so unself-conscious she wondered, fleetingly, how many women he’d brought up here over the years. She didn’t kid herself into thinking she was the only one. Prince Kristos might have been the younger brother of the royal pair of heirs, but he was fierce and hot-blooded, and his body—God, his body. He’d been so worried about her reaction to his brutal scars, but how could anyone not be impressed by the evidence of his strength, his intensity, his dedication to his country? He was a walking dream come true.
And she was in his arms.
“Do I want to know what you are thinking?” Kristos’s gaze was hard upon her again, and Em tilted her head back.
“Maybe I was wondering what was taking you so long,” she said, laughing as his eyes widened in surprise. “Marauding prince, visiting maiden, magical lake, disappearing swimsuit…”
“It definitely seems like a situation to be taken advantage of.”
They both seemed to shift at the same time, and then the hard length of Kristos’s shaft nudged up against her, exactly where he needed to be, and her body was more than ready for him despite the strangeness of the water all around. As time seemed almost to suspend in place, he slipped in and out of her body slowly, adjusting perfectly when she sighed and angled herself to take more of him inside. Still, with another shift he seemed to shudder, and he clamped his hands on her hips, closing his eyes and tightening his jaw with such focus and concentration that it took her a moment to realize why.
No condom.
She closed her eyes as well so he wouldn’t see her surprise—or the completely non-PC sense of triumph that surged through her. They weren’t using protection. And she was always the careful one, with all those dotted i’s and crossed t’s. She chose her boyfriends with equal care, and what they lost in the excitement department, they made up for in the safety zone.
But Princess Emmaline Aurora Grace didn’t have to worry about things like safety. Not with a vaunted prince of the realm.
“Are you worried, Emmaline?” Kristos murmured. “I won’t let things get that far.”
“Oh, really?” she teased, though hearing him speak her name in his heavily accented voice made any ideas of safety completely unappealing.
“Really. But you, on the other hand, should feel free to go as far as you’d like.” He shifted her weight to one side and slipped a hand between them, chuckling as she tensed.
“You don’t like to be touched?” As he spoke, he pressed his fingers against her sex, just above the point where their bodies met. At the unexpected pressure, her body constricted around him, heightening the sensation and causing her to suck in a shaky grasp.
“I like—yes. I like to be touched, God—stop that.”
He chuckled. “I’ve always been very proud of my understanding of English, but you lost me there.” He drifted his fingers over her thighs and back to the center of her, brushing her clit and moving on despite her sharp intake of breath. As he continued the slow underwater exploration of her body, he swelled within her, his hips thrusting smoothly and rhythmically, carrying her higher on a tide of need. When he returned a third time, he didn’t stray.
Em bent up to him as he pressed his fingers home, his shaft seeming to thicken further, and the delicious pressure building within her suddenly became too full—too great. Too much to manage with the strange buoyancy of the water and his fingers right there, the sensation of him surrounding her body, becoming one with her in every sense of the word. She shattered in his arms like cheap glass, and he held her, his legs braced, his arms locked, his jaw working. His rough gasp of urgency made her feel like the most powerful woman in the world as she clenched around his shaft, the crash of water streaming all around them.
“Emmaline!” Kristos managed, and her head snapped up again, her dazed eyes finding his. Instantly, she realized he was shaking—his body practically vibrating against hers.
“What’s wrong?” She immediately tensed up, and his hands gripped her so hard, she suspected they’d leave a bruise. “What did I—did I do something wrong? Did I hurt you?”
“Move…very slowly. Backward.”
Awareness flared through her. “So I do have some effect on you.”
“Some,” Kristos gritted out. “More than you will want if you are not very, very careful.”
Em considered that. The tiniest, most perverse corner of her mind urged her to be even wilder, more dangerous than she had been already, but she instantly rejected the thought. She slid backward until she felt Kristos’s shaft slip free of her body, but when he turned away from her to sag against the cliff wall, panting like he’d just completed a marathon, she wasn’t about to let him recover so easily.
Taking advantage of his heaving lungs, his shivering distraction, Em moved behind Kristos, then curled her hand around the hard planes of his hips. Before he could shift, her questing hand found his shaft. When she wrapped her fingers around it, he straightened, as if suddenly realizing he was trapped.
“Emmaline.” His voice was harsh.
“What—you don’t like to be touched?” She threw his own words back at him as she drew her palm along his shaft, but as Kristos sighed in tight frustration, she wanted—needed more. She needed him inside her, whatever way she could get him. Em looked beyond him to the fall of water.
“Kristos? Would you do me a favor?”
His laughter sounded wrung out. “Anything.”
“Close your eyes?”
Frowning as she turned him, he nevertheless closed his eyes and allowed her to move him away from their ledge, splashing deeper into the shimmering pool as they neared the curtain of the falls once more. One of the large stones had been worn to a slant under the torrent, and as mist billowed up all around them, she treaded water, pushing Kristos forward. “Open your eyes now.”
He did, his hands bracing on the rock as water cascaded down, his gaze confused as it locked on hers. “What are you doing?” he demanded. But when she moved his body up against the rock, farther out of the water, he understood her intentions, and he grinned. “This is me granting you a favor?”
“I like it when you grant me favors.”
Power pounded through her with the same force of the water crashing around them. Kristos moaned in a guttural sound of pleasure as she positioned herself in front of him, pressing close, lifting herself out of the water to take his shaft into her mouth. It was still thick and heavy, and she thrilled to the realization that she had done this to him, that without a doubt he wanted her, at least for now—even if only for now.
Because now was enough, she decided. Now was more than enough.
Em slipped Kristos’s shaft into her mouth, then completely withdrew, freeing him to press her lips to the inside of his thigh. She watched his muscles spasm beneath his skin, saw the clenching of his fist, but to his credit, Kristos neither stopped her nor urged her on. He let her explore his body as he’d explored hers, as if he could wait the rest of the day for her to finish him.
If she didn’t put her mouth back over his cock soon, he was going to explode.
Kristos tightened his jaw and fought to keep from swearing as Emmaline traced kisses he could barely feel over his thighs—and then his eyes almost crossed as she laved his sac with her tongue, the pressure of her hand coming up to carry its weight as she shifted higher again. Her feet must have gained purchase somewhere, because as she fitted her mouth once more over his cock, she lifted her right hand as well, her fingers encircling the base of his shaft in a tight hold.
That about did it. He’d already been wound up by plunging into Emmaline without protection, the feel of her body filled with his better than he could have imagined. And now, what she was doing to him…
Emmaline seemed to sense it too. She began to move in a sensual rhythm, taking him so deeply into her mouth that her lips touched her fingers, then moving back and forward again, back and forward, until the blood pounding in Kristos’s head matched the thudding
of his heart.
This sure as hell wasn’t the first time a woman had placed her mouth on him, and yet he felt like he might as well be a frantic teenager the need built in him so quickly. Then again, a few short minutes earlier, he’d watched her break in front of him with a kind of transported ecstasy that he’d never seen before. It was as if she’d allowed herself to think of nothing but the sensations she was feeling, sensations he had caused—had felt as he’d filled her to the brink, her body as tight around him as her mouth was now. A mouth that was hot and wet and perfect and—
He convulsed with a ragged cry, Emmaline and his need and desire all fusing together for an impossibly long moment of crystal clarity. It was quite possibly the best orgasm of his life, or of anyone’s lifetimes, anywhere. Dizziness swamped him, his sight flaring with pinpricks of light, his heart pounding in his ears. He felt like he’d died and gone to heaven.
Hell, maybe he was dead.
Either way, he wasn’t going to be found lying dead on this goddamned rock. With the last of his strength, he pushed Emmaline off his body and slid, almost boneless, into the crystal pool.
After a long moment of blissful weightlessness, a soft giggle somehow reached his ears through the fog. Kristos pawed the empty water, reaching for Emmaline, knowing she would be exactly where she most needed to be. On his second swipe, his arm encountered her shoulders, and he pulled her to him, still refusing to open his eyes.
“Are you treading water in your sleep?” she asked in a mock whisper. “Do they teach you that in your military?”
He opened one eye. They were both moving in the water almost lazily, the combined strength of their legs keeping them afloat. “Our military training is very specific. Anything that allows us to come in contact with beautiful women, we consider to be a tactical advantage.”
“I’ll bet you do.”
She looked so impossibly perfect that he was tempted to show her a few more of his training maneuvers, only his body felt like it had been shot full of some kind of drug. If he’d had to walk right now instead of merely float, he didn’t think he could have managed it.
Instead, he drifted, reveling in the feel of Emmaline as she sighed and snuggled close. He’d met this woman only a day before. In another day’s time, he would return her to her friends. In two, he would see her—probably for the last time—at a ball where he was supposed to play host to the daughters of allies and family friends who actually thought they wanted to marry him.
It was all completely insane. But for now, he didn’t have to worry about any of it.
“Kristos.”
He looked down at Emmaline, his heart shifting oddly at the frank admiration in her eyes as she gazed at him. “What is it, koukla mou?”
“Why do you love it so much, specifically? The work you do in the military?”
He could deflect the question, he knew. There was no reason for her to know, none for her to pry, and her natural reticence would flare up immediately if he showed the slightest irritation. But he found that he wanted to share something more with this woman, some piece of himself that was his alone to give. He tightened his hold on her, turning them both in the water.
“My entire existence is made possible because of Garronia. Because of all who have come before me. I owe my life, the lives of every one of my family and friends, to people I will never meet. Serving in the military, pledging my life to ensure the safety of my country, it’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do, to honor those who’ve fought before me. The thing I was meant to do.”
“You’ve suffered a lot because of it, though.”
“I’ve not suffered anything.” His arms firmed around her body, but she didn’t try to break away, didn’t try to shut him down, even though the conversation was perhaps not what she expected. “The scars on my back were the exit wounds of gunshots I took on a day where a third of my unit died. They and their families were the ones who suffered. I lived. My leg was clipped by shrapnel in another firefight, but I walked away from that battle too. Others didn’t. Still others remain in harm’s way even now, while I come home to a castle filled with photographers.” He didn’t fight the snarl in tone as he said the last word. “To smile and dance and bow. I have no purpose here. I will never have a purpose here.”
“So why are they asking you to do it? Isn’t there anyone else who could serve as prince? A cousin or—”
“Frederick.” Kristos grimaced, imagining Cyril having to train the crown cousin in matters of diplomacy. Then again, how did it make more sense to allow Frederick to rise within the military ranks, where he could cause real damage versus just upsetting some minor diplomat visiting on holiday. Still, even as Kristos imagined that possibility, he saw again the weariness of his father, the almost manic cheer of his mother. They believed Kristos’s role was as a figurehead. How do I know they aren’t right?
“Frederick, then.” Emmaline leaned up and kissed Kristos firmly, her bright manner instantly pulling him out of his gloom. “He’s probably a handsomer Prince Charming anyway.”
Kristos barked his laughter as Emmaline darted away from him. They splashed once more through the wall of water and angled back toward the ATV, Emmaline’s voice so filled with joy that he didn’t wait for her to order him out of the water to reclaim her clothes. Their bags were suspiciously close to the water’s edge, and he shook his head as he pulled on his shorts, not bothering to look for Dimitri. The guard was many things, but subtle wasn’t one of them. His reasons for coming on this adventure had nothing to do with testing equipment, Kristos knew, and everything to do with not letting another prince out of his sight.
How long had Dimitri stayed up, sleepless, in the days and weeks following the disappearance of Ari? How much had he blamed himself for not anticipating that the crown prince of Garronia would take off in a plane filled with experimental gadgetry, not willing to wait for his bodyguard to return to escort him?
It had been a long, hard year for Dimitri, and one devoid of happiness. Kristos was not about to make things difficult for him now.
Well, not any more difficult than the man deserved on general principles.
He returned to the edge of the water, setting down the bag and tossing Emmaline’s shift to the rock. “It will dry fast if you want to dress in the water.”
“Such a gentleman.” Emmaline snagged the shift and pulled it over her head as she scrambled out of the water, giving Kristos only the briefest of glimpses of her bikini-less hips as she did. She finished dressing as he lay back on the rock. “What will you do when your neighbor accuses you of littering his property with partial bathing suits?”
Kristos shrugged. “He’s used to it.”
They sat there talking a good half an hour more, a surprise to Kristos, since he damned well knew that Dimitri was near. Still, he would take it. By the time the bodyguard did finally arrive, coincidentally just as Emmaline was pulling out food for their lunch, the sun was high in the sky. It was another gorgeous summer day, so typical of June in Garronia, and Emmaline seemed to have come alive—as if the water of the Estral Falls had worked their magic on her, finally drawing her out. Then again, how was he to know that this was not her natural way? Perhaps her nerves and embarrassment were a shield until she felt comfortable, but once she let her guard down, she was laughter and sunshine and music.
Even now, she was looking at Dimitri as if he was some kind of superhero. “You’re the actual captain of the guard and a bodyguard? How do you do both?”
“Poorly,” Kristos put in as Dimitri waved him off.
“He is jealous. The Crown sees fit to put me where they have the greatest need. I am currently stationed in the capital city and have had to slow my pace to keep this one out of trouble for the past year. Now that he is moving into his royal status, I will be able to focus on my own men.”
Kristos snorted. “You’ll be able to focus on my useless cousin, you mean. So don’t get too comfortable.”
They stayed longer than they intended
in the beautiful sunlit park, though Dimitri’s eyes continually scanned the horizon. Still, no one disturbed them. It looked like the place hadn’t been visited in years, though Kristos knew that wasn’t true—he’d come here himself recently, after all. But their mood grew increasingly more somber as they drove back through the heavy forests, and he felt an uneasiness creep over him that was only partly due to Dimitri’s vigilance.
Something didn’t feel right suddenly. Something was coming up on him too fast.
Emmaline seemed to notice it too. She chattered brightly for half the way home, demanding to know the history of Garronia, its greatest accomplishments, and the prowess of its military. She stared wide-eyed when he explained that some of the people in the mountains never ventured down to the sea, as if defining the borders of their tiny kingdom would somehow shatter their understanding of their place in it. She nodded sympathetically when he talked about the brain drain of universities calling Garronia’s best and brightest students abroad—some of them only to return many years later as tourists to their own birthplace. She made him see Garronia through the eyes of a newcomer, which made him love it all the more.
But even she fell quiet as they broke out of the forest to the more well-used track that led onto Theo’s land. Evening had fallen on the mountains, and the night pressed close, but the sounds of the darkening forest were lost to them as the ATV ground its way along. Then the trees cleared for a moment, and Emmaline turned her gaze to the chateau.
Her eyes flew wide. Behind him, Dimitri cursed.
“They’ve lit it up like a signal flare.”
Without saying anything further, Kristos angled back into the forest, killing the engine as they stared at Theo’s home. A helicopter with its call letters slashed across it in English and Garronois circled the area, shining a light down on the beautiful mountain home.
“I don’t suppose that’s the GNSF coming to check in on us?” Emmaline’s hand was tight on the roll bar of the ATV, though they’d stopped moving.
Courted: Gowns & Crowns, Book 1 Page 13