He smiles slightly. “Your body is so tense, everything’s so tight. When’s the last time you had a proper day at the spa?”
I drop my head back and laugh throatily. He seems to think that ordinary women routinely set aside time for self-care. Like that’s a thing. “A day at the spa? Xavier, I barely have enough money left over for nail polish after I’m done paying my bills and setting aside savings for tuition each paycheck.”
“You don’t treat yourself the way you should, Sadie.” His eyes go hard. He’s angry all of a sudden.
“I take care of myself just fine.” Now I feel defensive. Well, so much for relieving my tension with this massage.
Xavier drops his hand from my shoulder and leans an elbow on the edge of the tub. For some reason, he’s getting really pissed about this. “You don’t get to complain about not having enough money when you won’t even cash your damn scholarship check.”
We both stare hard at each other. I don’t like the feeling taking root in my belly.
“I’m not going to just cash a check from a random foundation I’ve never heard of before. I have to do my research. To make sure it’s legit. The damn charity doesn’t even have a website. How do I know it’s not some scam?” I just watched my dad get pulled into a whole lot of trouble for getting into a business deal without doing his homework. I’m not going to do the same thing.
“You’re being silly. Of course it’s not a scam.” The words roll off his tongue with vitriol.
My eyes narrow on his face. I don’t remember ever telling him that I didn’t deposit the money. “How do you know I didn’t cash my scholarship check?”
He looks away and swallows hard. His Adam’s apple bobs but he doesn’t say a thing.
A feeling of nausea snakes its way into the hollow of my gut. “Oh fucking Christ, Xavier! Did you set up that foundation?”
He still won’t look at me.
This is bullshit. “I told you I don’t need a bailout.”
His eyes turn to mine. Blazing. “And you don’t have to be superwoman.”
“It’s not your job to save me, Prince Charming.”
A growl rips free from him when I call him that. “Why couldn’t you just cash the fucking check, Sadie? It was very simple.”
“It wasn’t very simple. It’s called due diligence. Maybe if you’d paid attention in business school, you might be familiar with the concept.”
“Oh you’re a fucking smartass, aren’t you? You must feel great about how smart you are when you’re sitting in this dank apartment every night eating ramen soup.”
“Fuck you!” I flick soapy water at him. I lean my weight on the rim of the bathtub, ready to get out. “Next time you set up a fake charity to exercise unwelcome influence over my life, don’t forget to give your fake charity an online presence. We’re in the goddamned twenty-first century, for crying out loud.”
His arm plunges into the bathtub, banding me against the edge of the porcelain, barring me from getting out. “You’re so fucking infuriating, Sadie!”
And his mouth crashes down on mine. His tongue sweeps past the gates, plunging deep, twisting with mine, brushing away my arguments. I feel my body going lax again. His free hand goes into my hair and angles my head the way he wants it. Meanwhile, my arms go around his neck. I pull him close. His body moves willingly, landing in the tub with a big splash. And he keeps kissing me and kissing me and kissing me until I don’t even remember why I was mad just a minute ago.
He’s on all-fours in the narrow bathtub. He reaches for a condom from the box on the edge of the sink. “Turn over. Get on your knees,” he commands huskily.
The water weighs down the fabric of his boxers. He pushes the sopping material down his thighs. I flip over beneath him and come face-to-face with the cracked subway tile lining the shower wall.
Kissing on my neck, he enters me from behind. My eyes spin into my head at the delicious penetration. “I never even realized that sex was possible from this angle,” I groan.
He chuckles against my spine. “I didn’t either. But with a girl like you, we’ll make it work.”
God, he feels so good in me, filling me, stretching me, stuffing me to the hilt.
“I don’t want your fucking money, Xavier,” I grunt, slamming my hips back to meet his hard thrusts.
His fingers crawl up the front of my throat, clenching softly. His teeth scrape up the back of my neck, electrifying my system. He groans against my skin. “Shut up and take this cock.”
23
sadie
I’m in the office working on the proposal for the new Broken Cupcake locations when Nat comes in with lunch.
“Hey.” She offers me a smile as she sits in the chair opposite my desk.
I throw her a quick glance as I’m typing up the interim report. “Hey.” I’ve been enjoying the hell out of doing this research. The market is hot. The Broken Cupcake concept would work wonderfully outside of Copper Heights, if the data is to be believed.
“Is it busy out there?” I ask, slanting my head toward the front of the shop. The lunchtime rush should be over but sometimes a few customers straggle in late.
“Oh, it’s nothing the other girls can’t handle. Is tuna okay?” She waves a plastic-wrapped sandwich in the air. “Or do you want ham?” Then she waves another.
She just said the magic word. I slam the laptop shut. “Ham. Gimme, gimme, gimme!”
She laughs and passes the sandwich across the table before unwrapping her own. Leaning back in her chair, she takes a little bite. “So, I didn’t hear from you all day yesterday. What were you up to?”
I bring my lunch to my lips to hide my grin. “I was getting boned,” I confess bluntly and throw in a casual shoulder shrug before taking a hearty mouthful.
My best friend starts choking. She coughs until her whole face turns red. “You were what?”
I roll my eyes and push my water bottle across the table to her. She’s such a damn prude. “I was getting boned, Natalie. Having sex. Being banged into oblivion and back.” Still not able to control my smile, I chew down on my bottom lip.
She grabs tissues from the box on the edge of the desk. “You’re such a dirty, dirty girl. Banging your landlord.” She whispers it, scandalized. After a beat of silent chastisement, her stern frown melts into a Cheshire grin. She leans forward, both elbows on the desk, her lips parted in anticipation. “So…how was it?”
My heart pounds at the mere thought of it. “It was…it was…it was more than just sex, Natalie.” I reach across the desk and grab both her hands. “It was profound, intense.” I search for the perfect analogy to describe the experience. “It was like, like a spiritual development workshop. For my vagina. And his penis.” I’m gushing like a fool and I don’t mind one bit.
She falls back in her chair laughing. “Well, wow.” She scrunches up her nose like she’s embarrassed to ask. “Does he have a big—y’know…?”
A body long shiver visibly runs through me when I think of the stiff tree trunk hanging between the man’s legs.
Both of Nat’s eyebrows dart up. “Damn—that answers my question.” She takes another bite of her sandwich. “This is really surprising news because the last we left off, you didn’t seem so sure about going out with him.”
I shrug. “I wasn’t…but then we started talking and we started kissing and…the chemistry was just there, y’know. I can’t explain it. We both wanted to fight it. He had his walls all the way up. But at the end of the day, the attraction was too strong to resist.”
A thoughtful look comes over my friend’s face and she hesitates to ask. “So, was it a one-time thing or are you guys together or just hooking up or…”
My stomach gets all tied up over the question. “We promised each other it was just a fling. …”
And because she’s my best friend, she immediately reads the expression on my face. “But now you’re wanting more…”
It’s not like me to be this invested in a guy. I’m not the
kind of girl who automatically needs to jump into a relationship just because I happened to bump uglies with a dude. I’m usually just fine with casual sex. But this time…with this man…
I pull in a sharp breath. I try to reason with her, with myself. “He’s not staying in Copper Heights forever.” My shoulders drop with resignation. “Plus, he’s a fucking prince. How realistic is it for me to expect something more from him?”
She huffs, her nose wrinkling with contempt. “You could totally bag a prince,” she says with confidence. A little laugh comes out my mouth. Her eyes flash, severity radiating from her gaze. “Does he know how you feel?” she asks sympathetically.
My shrug is helpless, pathetic. “Talking about it won’t change things. It’ll only make everything more complicated…I just need to get out of my feelings. And have fun while he’s still around.”
Nat looks worried about me. As usual. Her forehead is creased, her eyes are narrowed.
I reach out and shake her arm. I singsong her name. “Natalieee. It’s okay. It’ll be fine.”
“You sure?” she asks skeptically.
“Yes, it’ll be fine. And fun. I mean—how many girls do you know can say they had a royal shag? Or ten?” I imitate Xavier’s sexy accent when I say that.
Finally, she laughs. “Okay… as long as you don’t get yourself hurt…”
I throw both of my palms up innocently. “Nobody gets hurt. I swear.”
She sighs with resignation. “Well, I love you, hun. You deserve to have some fun. With a damn prince.” Leaning over the table she throws me a wink. “And I think your vagina deserves all the spiritual development workshops it can get.”
“Vagina Dearest couldn’t agree more.”
24
xavier
You're staring at me."
She snuggles lazily against her pillow. Her comment sounds more like an observation than a complaint, really. I grin and brush a strand of dark hair from her eyes. "You were staring at me first."
Her fingers lock around my wrist. She drapes my arm across her waist beneath the covers. God—she's soft. My touch scrapes up her spine, caressing her smooth skin. "There's nothing else to stare at." She shrugs faintly.
"You could stare at the ceiling." I nod my chin at Ethel’s homage to the masculine crotch.
Sadie chuckles, throwing a quick glance at the mural. "I enjoy having a scrotum in my face as much as the next girl but that is a bit much." She scrunches up her nose. So fucking cute.
I sigh, getting closer. “So, we could stare at each other..." I brush my nose against hers. My fingers move down her tailbone and through the seam of her luscious arse. She doesn't even flinch. "...Or if that makes you uncomfortable, I have a few ideas for other things we can do."
My dirty, dirty girl groans and presses her arse into my palm. "Mmm…I have a question?”
“What is it, sweetie?”
“Will that accent of yours ever stop making me wet?" Her voice goes low and needy as her eyes flutter shut.
My thumb presses just a little bit harder against her puckered anus. I drop my tone to match hers. "I say we run a scientific experiment to find out. Let's lie in bed all day and I'll whisper naughty things in your ear and we'll document the results. Maybe I’ll pull some strings and have it printed in a scientific journal or something."
Flipping onto her back, she looks up at the ceiling and laughs. "That idea sounds absolutely amazing…but I have to go to work today."
"You don't have to work today.” Am I pouting? I think I’m pouting.
She brushes her lips over mine. “Yes, I do.”
I growl, frustrated that her barely-above-minimum-wage job is going to get in the way of us enjoying each other. Again. “Take the day off. Call in sick and I'll pay you back."
She scoots away from me, to the edge of the bed, clenching the blanket to her naked chest as she goes. Leaving me completely exposed. "I'm just gonna go into the bathroom and take a shower and pretend you didn't just offer me money in exchange for sex. M'kay?"
Ouch!
She glides through the doorway, her footsteps a little stomp-ier than usual. "Didn't mean it that way!" I call out after her.
She responds by rolling her eyes as she presses her fingers to her lips then smacks her supple behind.
Kiss my arse.
I would gladly spend my day fulfilling that request. If only she'd let me. I hear the bathroom door slam shut and the water turns on.
Lying back with both hands behind my head, I grin. And try to avoid looking at the ceiling, of course.
Man—life is good. Being with Sadie feels good. I can’t remember the last time I smiled so much or laughed so much. I can’t remember the last time I felt so protective of a woman, so determined to keep her happy. The highlight of my day is her range of facial expressions—The way she grins when she talks about her job. The way she tries to pout when I do something to get a rise out of her. That little smirk that pinches her face when she pokes fun at me…The way her eyes flutter and her lips part when she comes apart on my cock.
My entire day revolves around her, around being with her…because at the back of my mind, I know my time is running out.
I've been increasingly worried about the Queen’s health. As much as I'd like to pretend that the world outside of these four walls doesn't exist, the reality is that Grandmum’s time is running out, too. I have duties to her and to my country. I can’t avoid them forever.
When I call Thomas for an update on her health status, the prognosis seems bleak. "She’s been bedridden for days," my secretary tells me. "She called for her doctor. I believe he's seeing her as we speak." He clears his throat. "Your Highness, I think you should prepare yourself for the worst."
My gut sinks when he says that. She's been getting sicker over the weeks that I’ve been gone. They've run a million tests. They've brought in specialists. They can't quite figure out what's wrong. I think the doctor has chalked it up to old age.
I prop myself up on the mountain of decorative pillows surrounding me. I hate the words that come out of my mouth next. "She should step down. Give up the Crown and focus on her health." I know that my grandmother’s abdication would bring me closer to the Throne and pile a heap of responsibilities onto my shoulders that I’m just not suited for or interested in. But it’s what’s in her best interests.
Thomas scoffs snidely. "From what I hear, that's what your father has been advising her as well.” Even though I can clearly read the insinuation in his tone, he spells it out anyway. “Unlike you, your father is very eager for a taste of power.”
That's no secret. Edmund has always been a power-grabber but lately he’s become completely tactless about it, carrying himself as if his mother were already six feet under. I've been keeping up with the news articles out of Ridgeland.
"The bastard," I mutter under my breath and scrub a hand down my face.
"Your Highness, if I may…”
I’m pretty sure I already know what he’s going to say…I exhale heavily. “What is it, Thomas?”
“I think that you should come home. She's your grandmother and if anything should happen to her, you'd regret that you weren't here to say goodbye."
The truth of that statement slices straight through my chest. I know he's right but I don't want to admit it. When I arrived in Copper Heights, I was being a coward. I was trying to hide, not only from the sins I've committed and the people I've hurt, but also from the life I was born into—the obligations, the duties, the privileges. I was searching for a simpler life.
But now my reasons for wanting to stay here are entirely different.
Sadie’s screechy singing-voice filters into the bedroom. She’s a terrible singer. But that never stops her from bellowing at the top of her lungs. She literally thinks she’s the next Stevie Nicks.
This girl has flipped me inside out. I barely even recognize myself. I'm happier. I'm better now that she's around. How will I manage going back to the life I was living bef
ore? I need her so much.
Eager to evade Thomas's guilt trip, I hastily put an end to the conversation, telling him to keep me apprised of the state of the Queen’s health. I toss the phone across the mattress and drag my hands down my face.
The bathroom door opens and Sadie waltzes into the room, dancing to music only she can hear. Beautiful, carefree, brave. Dammit, Sadie. I’m falling for you and that definitely wasn’t the plan.
Oblivious to the turmoil in my head, she dances right past the bed and snatches her T-shirt off the headboard. She shimmies her body as she slides it over her head. I lie there watching her, melancholy wrapping around my heart. She makes a come here gesture with her hands, inviting me to her exclusive party. The offer to wrap my arms around her and feel her body moving against mine is tempting but I refuse it anyway. “I think I’ll pass,” I tell her.
“You sure?” she teases, strutting closer to the bed with a devilish glint in her eyes. Her fingers crawl up and down her thighs as she moves.
Fucking temptress.
I’ll show her.
I grab her by the waist and pull her down onto the mattress. She yelps as she tumbles. I flip us over so that I'm on top, completely dominating her. She kicks up her feet, protesting. With a hand between her legs, I spread her thighs apart to make room for my hips. I want her to feel how hard I am for her. I grind against her and she’s so willing. Always so willing and wet for me.
Sheathed in a condom, my cock is angled at her entrance, pulsing with the need to join with her. Her fingertips play across my collarbone. My name evades her lips on a whisper.
And I forget that a world exists outside of these walls. Because she's the universe. Her eyes are brighter than the stars. Her body sprawls out beneath me like a landscape. Her touch is lightning on the surface of my skin. She's the universe.
She smiles and I'm captivated. My heart is her prisoner. I'm a bloody monarch. I literally have a kingdom at my feet, unspoken power at my fingertips. Yet all I want in this world is to stay locked in this room with this girl.
Rich Boy: A Royal Landlord Romance (Blue Collar Bachelors Book 5) Page 17