by Romancing the Crown Series (13-in-1 bundle) (v1. 0) (lit)
She was tense when they sat down to eat, but he soon talked her out of it. It was as if the decision he'd struggled against had released his own tension and given him a natural easiness she'd rarely seen. He engaged her in conversation, made her smile and even laugh and, put simply, charmed her all the way through the meal.
When he complimented her on her part in the dinner, she glanced at her plate, surprised to see that it was as empty as his. The salad, while merely a salad, had been tasty, the baked potatoes delicious with butter and sour cream, the steaks grilled to perfection and the mushrooms and onions caramelized and richly flavored. "We make quite good partners," she said, thinking of their joint laundry operation as well as the jointly-prepared dinner. Upon hearing the words aloud, though, she realized how easily he might misinterpret them and think she was already expecting some sort of commitment from him. Granted, she wasn't overly experienced at this man-woman business, but she was quite certain asking for a commitment was a good way to scare a man away.
Tyler's only reaction was a brief moment of stillness, however, followed by a shrug. "We work well together," he agreed.
She smiled with relief. "Yes, that's what I meant. Shall we demonstrate it once more in cleaning the kitchen?"
"No. We can do that later." Sliding his chair back, he stood up and extended his hand to her. "Come and dance with me, Annie."
Placing her hand in his, she allowed him to draw her gratefully, nervously, into his embrace. The music on the radio was soothing—jazz, all horns and lazy rhythms, easy to dance to, even easier to pretend to dance to. She trembled in his arms but couldn't help it. When he lowered his head and nuzzled her hair from her ear in order to kiss it, she gave a soft groan of pleasure.
"You're a beautiful woman, Annie," he murmured, holding her body close to his, "and I've wanted you from the first time I got close to you. I tried so damn hard to deny it, but I can't…"
Somewhere in there, he stopped moving and slid one hand to her bottom, lifting her hard against his arousal. The other hand he slid into her hair, tilting her head back so he might kiss her. She sensed he aimed for restraint, but there was nothing restrained about his kiss. It was hot, greedy, demanding, and it turned her muscles weak. She welcomed his tongue into her mouth and sucked at it hard, finding that the harder, the more demanding his kiss, the harder and more demanding she wanted it. Fever spread through her, robbed her of rational thought, of self-control and fear and everything except need. Passion. Hunger.
"Tyler," she whispered. "Please…"
He leaned against the back of the sofa and her legs opened instinctively when he lifted her. With his tongue deep in her mouth and his hands on her hips, he thrust against her, hard and hot, stimulating but oh, so unsatisfying. She wanted more—his naked swollen flesh against her naked moist flesh. She wanted his kisses on her breasts and his caresses everywhere. She wanted him inside her.
She needed him inside her.
Abruptly, he ended the kiss with a savage curse, and when she would have pulled him back for more, he held her a frustrating few inches away. His eyes were opened wide, and his breathing was rough and uneven as he stared at her.
"What's wrong?" she asked, suddenly feeling awkward and unsure. He still wanted her—his erection was quite powerful between her thighs—but he looked … stricken.
"I just need—" she shifted position, and he closed his eyes, groaned hoarsely, then looked at her again "—a little control. I don't want to hurt you, Annie, I don't want—"
She pressed a small kiss to his forehead. "Wanting you and not having you hurts, Tyler. Feeling you so close—" she moved again and succeeded in making them both groan "—but not where I need you hurts. Please … I don't want control." Trusting him to support her weight when she let go, she unbuttoned her shirt, shrugged it off, then undid the front clasp of her bra and shrugged it away, too. After sliding one arm around his neck, she brought his hand to her breast, shaping his large callused palm to fit, sliding it side to side so it scraped her nipple and made her breath catch in a gasp.
"I want you, Tyler," she whispered. "All of you."
Please …
* * *
The loft was warm, dimly lit by the lamps below, and smelled of Anna's perfume, shampoo, lotions. Tyler stood beside the bed, gazing down at her, as she slid her delicate little hands under the hem of his sweater. She tugged the garment higher, over his ribs, his chest and finally his head, then tossed it aside. "Now we are even," she said with a nervous smile, then her smile faded as she ran her hands over his chest before pressing a kiss somewhere above his heart.
He threaded his fingers through her hair, gently forcing her head back so he could look into her eyes. "Are you sure about this, Annie? Have you thought it through?"
"I'm very sure." She spoke quietly, with complete confidence, but he pushed for more.
"What will your Prince Arthur say when he discovers you lost your virginity with a red-blooded American commoner?"
"He's not my Prince Arthur and he never will be, so it's none of his business."
"But if you marry him…"
"I'll never marry him."
What were the chances she might marry him? Tyler wondered. But he couldn't find the courage to ask. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
Hooking his finger in the waistband of her slacks, he pulled her close for a kiss, painfully aware of her breasts flattened against his chest, of her fingers stroking through his hair, of her other hand toying with his own waistband. He felt a slight tug and thought it might be the button on his jeans, heard a faint rasp and realized it was his own zipper gliding down, and then her hand was inside the tight denim. With one gentle caress, she robbed the air from his lungs, made his vision go black and caused him to break out in a cold sweat. Her touch created an exquisite mix of pleasure, pain, satisfaction and torment that made his knees go weak and could too easily reduce him to begging.
To counter it, he carefully guided her hand free, then lowered her to the bed, following her onto the mattress. Immediately she reached once more for his groin, but he pushed her hands away, holding them at her sides while he bent to take her nipple in his mouth. He suckled them both, drawing long and hard on first one, then the other, making her tremble and groan with need. At the same time he undid the zipper on her pants and slid his hand inside, stroking the soft bare skin above the elastic band of her tiny panties.
After a time, he raised his head and gazed down at her as he continued the not-so-innocent caresses across her stomach. Her features wore a fiercely strained look—woman in the throes of passion, he thought with a little of the smugness she'd taken him to task for. Her face was pale, with color high on her cheekbones, and her amazingly kissable lips were swollen and slightly parted, tempting him to kiss her once more. Her nipple puckered as he brushed his mouth across it, and her smooth dark skin rippled enticingly every time he stroked her.
"You know," he murmured as he lazily pushed her pants lower on her hips, "I've never made love to a princess before. Or a virgin."
She lifted her hips and helped him shove the garment lower, then kicked them off before opening her eyes and smiling dazedly, sensuously, at him. "It can't be very different. I'm just like every other woman you've ever been with."
Except he'd never loved any of the others. He'd liked all of them, and had even thought he might love some of them, but he knew now he hadn't. What he'd felt then couldn't compete with what he was feeling now. He wanted to stay right there with Anna forever. He wanted to take her fiercely, savagely, so thoroughly that no other man could ever touch her, and yet he wanted to love her so delicately, with such care. He wanted to teach her everything she would ever know about love and sex and satisfaction, to protect her and keep her safe, to have babies with her and live together forever.
When, truth was, their forever might last only a few days.
He couldn't think about that now. He put it out of his mind and grinned at her instead. "Annie, darlin', I don't believe you're like any woman I've ever
known. You're one of a kind."
"Thank you," she said with a giggle. She looked so damned tempting, stretched out in the center of the bed, wearing nothing but a scrap of pale green panties. Her waist was narrow, her hips rounded, her legs surprisingly well-muscled, and she was that same warm brown shade all over. Incredibly soft warm brown. Apparently, she was well aware of how she looked as she raised her arms above her head in a lazy stretch that arched her back, brought her breasts an inch closer to him, made the muscles all down her body quiver, then relax, and raised the temperature of the air surrounding him about twenty degrees.
"Darlin', you're gonna pay for that," he murmured hoarsely.
She smiled sweetly. "Promises, promises."
With his own smile, he returned to kissing her breasts, but this time his hands were busy, too. His fingers stroked across her nipples, down her midriff to her flat belly, slipping between her thighs for an innocent caress. Automatically she brought her legs together, but he merely wedged one knee between hers, pushed them apart, then even wider, and continued to stroke her through the soft, slick fabric of her panties. After a few touches, the satin was damp with her arousal. A few more touches, and the muscles in her thighs quivered and her hips began to move in an unsteady rhythm, rising to meet his fingers. Her eyes were closed, her hair tangled about her head. Her breathing came quick and shallow, and her nipples were hard and straining for his attention.
Finally, when a low whimper rose in her throat, he slid his hand underneath the satin, gliding over damp curls and hot flesh sliding one finger inside her. Her body clamped hard and tight on it, and the knowledge that before long she would be clenching him like that was damn near enough to bring a whimper from him.
"Your body's ready for me, Annie," he said, his voice thick and taut. "Can you feel how hot and wet you are? Do you want me now?"
"Yes, p-please," she whispered.
He removed her panties, then stood up to strip off the rest of his clothes. "And you say I'm too polite. You don't have to say please, darlin'. That's exactly what I intend to do." Opening the nightstand drawer, he removed the box of condoms he'd picked up at the grocery store when they'd bought the steaks for dinner and took one out.
"Oh, my."
The small words drew his attention to the bed, where Anna was openly looking at him. Her face was flushed, and her expression was dubious, to say the least. He tossed the plastic packet on the mattress, then sat down beside her. "Surely you've seen naked men before."
"Of—of course. In films and—and magazines. But I wasn't intending to—to be intimate with them. Besides, I thought … the camera makes everything look bigger, you know." She scrambled to sit up, hugging her knees to her chest. "I, um, don't think that will f-f-fit."
Tyler was perplexed. He hadn't expected this. Yes, she was a virgin, and yes, it was perfectly normal for her to be nervous—after all, even he knew it was supposed to be more pain than pleasure her first time—but he hadn't expected her to try to hide away after getting her first look at his erection. On the other hand, it was a nice stroke to his male ego that she thought he was too big. No matter what anyone said, size always mattered.
He just hadn't thought it would matter this way.
"Trust me, babe, it'll fit perfectly," he assured her as he peeled one arm from around her legs. He set her hand on the sheet next to her hip, then pulled the other arm loose, placing it similarly. "I won't lie to you—this first time might hurt. I don't know how little or how much. I'm kinda new to this virgin stuff, too. I can promise you this, though—it'll be worth it. I swear on my life." He pressed a kiss to her knee as he wrapped his fingers around her ankle, then pulled her leg out straight. "I swear on your life, which I'm sworn to protect with my life." He did the same with her other leg, then stretched out on the bed beside her, leaving wet kisses along her hip to her narrow waist.
She giggled as she slowly slid down to lie beside him. "Papa made you swear?"
"No."
"The Noble Men did?"
"No. This has nothing to do with them. It has nothing to do with a mission or an assignment. It's just you and me, Annie—" he kissed her shoulder "—and I will risk anything to keep you safe—" and the tender skin where her breast just started to swell "—and to protect you from harm—" and the pulse beginning to beat harder at the base of her throat "—and to make you happy." He kissed the full curve of her pouty bottom lip, then thrust his tongue inside her mouth.
Her response was instantaneous and fiery. She sucked hard at his tongue as her hands roamed his body, stroking over his arms, down his back, rubbing his erection with both delicate hands. She rolled onto her back and pulled him with her, positioned him between her thighs and thrust her hips in short, needy strokes against his shaft, taking the tip of him inside, each time taking him deeper. The muscles in his arms tightened as he kissed her with all the force he couldn't use elsewhere, and sweat popped out on his forehead as he shifted his weight to his left hand, then used his right to silently coax her into lifting her legs, wrapping them around his hips, holding her there as he prepared for the one thrust that would accomplish the deed.
"I'm sorry," he whispered against her mouth before pushing hard into her, tearing past the tight flesh and filling her completely. Her muscles spasmed where her body gloved his, and a choked cry made it past her clenched teeth. He held himself utterly still and kissed away two solitary tears that seeped from her eyes. "It'll never hurt again, baby, I swear. I'm sorry … I'm sorry … I'm sorry…"
* * *
Later, still buried deep inside Anna's soft, hot, pliant body, Tyler drew the first breath of substance in what seemed like forever and smelled her perfume, his cologne, their sex. His muscles were fatigued from too much restraint and still twitched in protest at odd moments, and he thought he might have to stay exactly where he was forever, or at least until morning. That was only another… Lifting his head from her shoulder, he squinted at the clock on the nightstand but saw the box of condoms instead.
Aw, hell. He'd gone to the trouble of buying the condoms without Anna knowing, had taken one out of the box, had fully intended to use it … until she'd started moving against him, taking him when he was supposed to be taking her, and all he'd been able to think about was getting inside her, feeling her so tight and hot around him, making love to her… He'd totally forgotten the condom.
Never, since his first time eleven years ago, had he ever forgotten. It was a lesson Kyle and Jake had drummed into him from the time he was fourteen. Always remember, never forget… And he'd forgotten.
It might have been the second smartest thing he'd ever done.
* * *
Anna had paid little enough attention to the tub in the bathroom in the week they'd been guests at the lodge. Though she preferred showers, the tub was serviceable—larger than usual, with whirlpool jets evenly spaced around the sides. Late that Friday evening, she decided long, lazy soaks in the tub held tremendous advantages over quick showers … particularly when shared with Tyler.
He was behind her, leaning back against the high, sloped surface of the tub, and she lay on top of him, her head on his shoulder, her back to his chest, his unflagging arousal against her bottom. The only light in the room came from candles on the counter-utilitarian white candles in tin holders, borrowed from the cabin's emergency stash—and the air was steamy and redolent with the scent of jasmine-scented bubbles.
As usual, Tyler had been right, she thought drowsily. The first time had hurt, though not terribly so. And it had been worth it. And he had fitted perfectly. As if they'd been designed, one for the other.
She couldn't wait to experience the second time.
"Annie?"
"Hmm."
"I, uh … I need to tell you… You need to know…" He took a breath that lifted her a few millimeters in the water, then blew it out again. "I forgot to use a condom." His tone was guarded, giving away nothing of how he felt about his oversight. Was he regretful, disappointed, sorry?
His hands slid lower until they cupped her stomach. "You understand what that means?"
"I was a virgin, Tyler. Not an idiot. It means I could get pregnant."
"And then you would have to marry me."
Her smile faded, along with a bit of the lazy comfort that had seeped through her. Marriage for the sake of a child—could she do that? On occasion she'd considered the prospect of marriage for the sake of an alliance, to support the royal house of Sebastiani, and it had all seemed very cool, logical and—pardon the pun—conceivable. But to marry a man she adored, whom she very well might love, and know that he'd agreed to it only for the sake of his child… She wasn't at all certain she could bear that Better to marry a complete stranger than a man she might love who didn't love her in return.
"Your parents would forbid your brother, Jake, from ever traveling to Montebello," she said mildly, thinking of Joanna, several months pregnant when she married Kyle.
"They'd think those Montebello women are as fertile as they are beautiful," he replied, brushing his mouth over her ear.
"Perhaps the truth would be that those Ramsey men are as virile as they are handsome." She stretched and felt his erection rub enticingly against her. "Can we do it again?"
His chuckle was deep, sweet, charming. "You're a greedy little thing, aren't you?"
She turned so she could see him. "What we had was very nice and exceeded my highest expectations, but … I know there's more. You were holding back, I presume to avoid causing me further discomfort. I want it sweet and gentle and hard and demanding. I want it all."
"It's up to you, babe." Guiding her legs apart, he stroked between them, making her shudder, then eased one finger inside her and probed deeply. "Does that feel good?"
"Oh, yes," she whispered, her entire body suddenly limp, all her sensation centered on that one intimate touch.