Royally Mine: 22 All-New Bad Boy Romance Novellas

by Susan Stoker

  Shayla lifted her head from her palm and then hauled herself to a sitting position. With both legs stretched out next to his, she had to set her hand on the bed near his head to keep from falling over. “Cain, that’s insane. We just met.”

  “Yeah, and I already know you’re the one. I knew it before we met.”

  He was certifiable. “The one? That’s for fairy tales. Not real life. My world doesn’t include princes and penthouses. Those are fables. Don’t tease me. It’s cruel.”

  He pushed off the bed and sat next to her. After scrambling back a few inches to lean against the headboard, he tugged her onto his lap sideways and cupped her face with both hands.

  She loved when he did that. It told her she had his full attention. But Lord, the guy already got his one-night stand. Why all this posturing as if there was more?

  “I’ve never been more serious in my life.”

  She stared at him hard. He truly didn’t look like he was kidding.

  After kissing her nose, he continued. “I know it might sound cliché, but my life hasn’t been the bed of roses most people imagine either. It’s a pain in the ass growing up with a father who’s king, and so many brothers and sisters also vying for our parents’ attention.

  “Nannies raised me. If I hadn’t been lucky enough to be born with a twin, I’m not sure I would have survived my childhood intact. The two of us spent countless hours plotting how we might escape.”

  “Who would want to escape royalty?” It seemed preposterous to her.

  “Someone who was never able to leave the damn castle or its grounds to run free. Someone who rarely saw either parent because they were so busy. Someone who didn’t do a single normal thing until moving to Seattle.”

  Why did he seem to be making sense?

  “Shayla, babe…” His voice dipped. “Every woman I’ve ever dated was after me for one of two things—money or notoriety. Until you. I could sense it from across the room the first night I saw you. Just like Cale could see it in Katelin.

  “A sense of purity. Goodness, I guess. You never once tried to lure me into some false web of deceit to worm your way into my life. All I ever got was an occasional glance. And the only way I knew you might be interested was the telltale flush that crawled up your cheeks when you feared I might have caught your eyes roaming my direction.”

  She grinned. “You’re fine to look at. Maybe I just wanted to get in your pants.”

  “And you’re welcome in my pants as often as you want, but I know you aren’t the sort of person who sleeps with random guys.”

  “Not normally. No. But how do you know I didn’t set out to do exactly that?”

  He lifted one brow, smirking. “You arranged for four giant guys to jump you in an alley in order to weasel your way into my penthouse?” he teased. “I mean, if those were friends of yours, they just got their asses kicked and jail time.”

  She giggled. “Not friends of mine, no.” A shudder at the thought of being friends with those assholes shook her body.

  “And another thing,” he lifted a finger, “if you wanted so badly to squeeze a one-night stand out of me, you would have needed to saunter over to my table at some point in the last three months and flirt mercilessly with me while twirling a lock of your hair around one finger. Apparently that’s how it’s done,” he teased.

  She laughed harder. “Good point. But still. We just met. You’re…well, you.” She shook her hand between them, hoping he knew what she meant. “And I’m not your type.”

  He pursed his lips for a moment, as if fighting back a snide remark.

  She continued. “I don’t think your parents would approve.”

  It was his turn to laugh, shocking her. “I truly don’t give a fuck whether my parents approve or not. They’ve long since given up any hope of me or Cale returning to the fold. We love it here in America. We’ve been here for almost half our lives. No, we don’t have total anonymity, but we have more freedom than we ever had in Sistonia. At least we can go out at night, often without being recognized or followed if we’re lucky.”

  That was sort of true. She only knew it because the two of them did manage to frequent The Bar without being hassled too often. Though she’d always wondered why.

  “You don’t have a good relationship with your parents?”

  He shrugged. “Not really. I mean I know they’re proud of me in their own way, but neither Cale nor I ever fit into the royal mold, so to speak. Even as kids we dreamed of escaping to a more normal life.”

  She narrowed her gaze. “You think you live a normal life now?” If he did, he was delusional.

  The chuckle coming from deep in his chest shook her body. She loved the sound vibrating through both of them. “No. You’re right. But at least we sometimes manage to move around undetected, and we don’t spend every weekend wining and dining diplomats and debutantes in our parents’ formal dining room on a long table that seats about two dozen, with servants dragging out a seven-course meal into something of a spectacle.”

  He scrunched up his nose. “My parents even turn the scene into a photo-op for the press, sometimes inviting them into the dining room to take pictures of us while we eat. Somehow, every picture that ended up featured in the news the following day managed to capture me with soup running down my chin or a napkin over my face. Trust me. That shit is exhausting. I’d much rather order a pizza, curl up with you on my couch, and watch eighties reruns.”

  Wow. He managed to make his privileged life sound horrible. She felt sorry for him. Insane.

  “I don’t mean to sound like an ungrateful jackass. I’m not. I recognize that I’ve been fortunate. I’ve just made other choices. And coming to America was one of them.” He squeezed her shoulder, holding her tighter. “Finding a wonderful woman to spend my days with was on my bucket list.”

  “Was? Like until now? Until today?”

  “Yes.” He seriously thought she was the one, and he wasn’t afraid to lay his hand down for her to see.

  She stared at him without saying another word. Why the hell was he working so hard to convince her she meant something to him?

  “I’m not feeding you a line, Shayla. I truly like you. A lot. I can see you’re leery, but give me a chance. You like me too, right?”

  “Of course. But there’s a giant gap between liking some guy I met an hour ago and moving into his apartment on a whim.”

  “What do you have to lose?”

  What did she have to lose?

  “I’ll make you a deal. I’ll keep your apartment and pay the rent on it for as long as you’d like until you believe that I want you in my life. You don’t have to touch a thing. Hell, if it makes you feel better, don’t even go back there. Stay here. Keep your previous world completely separate. I’ll buy you whatever you need or want.”

  “You can’t buy me stuff, Cain. That’s crazy.” She barely ever let a man buy her dinner when she went on a date. She sure as shit wasn’t going to let some prince buy her clothes or makeup. And if he thought she’d let him shower her with diamonds and Louboutins, he was crazy. She wouldn’t even know what to do with them, and she never wanted to feel like she owed someone something in return. Besides, where would she wear that stuff? She’d never be the flashy sort of person Cain deserved on his arm at the theater.

  On the flipside, she didn’t get the vibe from Cain that he cared a bit about money. And furthermore, she’d sleep with him anytime he wanted with no expectations in return. She just had.

  He laughed again. She loved the sound of his laughter. It had a deep, guttural quality that sounded so genuine. “Babe, do you have any idea how much money I make?”

  “Yes. I’ve read about you in dozens magazines and scoured the internet for information. The entire world knows the details.”

  He sobered, rubbing a hand up and down her arm until goose bumps rose in the wake of his fingers. “Then you realize I make more money an hour than you could possibly spend in several weeks of online shopping. Even if you didn
’t leave the penthouse, you couldn’t make a dent.”

  She frowned. “I’m not that kind of woman, Cain. Doesn’t matter how much money you have. I don’t frankly give a fuck. I’d never take advantage of someone like that.”

  He closed the gap between them, shocking her when his lips briefly touched hers. “And that, my sweet Shayla, is exactly why I’m already in love with you.”

  She flinched. Love? She didn’t even know what the word meant.

  Right?

  Chapter Five

  God, she was perfection. Cain prayed Shayla would agree to move in with him before the night was over. If not, there was a good chance he would lose his sanity worrying about her every hour of the day.

  In fact, if anyone had spotted them together on the way to his place from the alley, she was already in danger of being hassled by the press. If she was lucky, that was the only problem she’d already amassed. His greatest fear in life was meeting the woman of his dreams and then worrying about keeping her safe for the rest of their lives. If anyone ever laid a hand on her…

  He shuddered. Worse things could happen to someone he cared about too. Kidnapping for ransom at the top of the list. He’d pay any sum of money in the world without flinching, but what would Shayla endure at the hands of a madman while he was worried sick trying to get her back?

  These were thoughts he had considered many times over the years. Luckily, nothing like that had ever happened to anyone in his family, but there was always the chance.

  He had plenty of people on his payroll whose sole purpose was to ensure his safety, and he would assign detail to Shayla immediately, but he would never stop worrying about her when someone else was in charge.

  Shayla already meant something to him. Too much. He was a selfish bastard for even approaching her and suggesting she come to live in his world. But he’d made his choice, and he could do nothing else but hope she could love him enough to give up her freedom to be with him.

  He could convince her. He had to.

  He’d start by fucking her senseless again to sway her to his way of thinking. When he caught her staring past him, seemingly seeing nothing, he had an idea.

  After scooting them to the edge of the bed, he set her on her feet, stood, and took her hand.

  “Cain?” she asked.

  He led her across the room to the wall of windows and angled her so she faced the Seattle skyline. He straddled her feet with his, threaded his fingers with hers from the back of her hands, and pressed them against the glass along the sides of her face.

  She shivered. “Cain, we can’t stand here naked. Someone’s going to see us.”

  He smiled. “No one’s going to see us. The glass is tinted. No one can see into the room under any circumstances. Not in the day or night, or with the lights on or off.”

  She set her forehead against the window and sighed. “I think it was sexier when I thought someone might see us.”

  He chuckled as he nudged her hair off her shoulder and kissed her smooth skin. “You have a naughty streak.”

  She scrunched up her face, which he could see in the glass that acted like a mirror. “I do not.”

  He trailed his lips to her ear and blew a breath against the lobe before speaking again. “Mmm. I think you’re lying to yourself. After the way your pussy creamed from me holding your hands to the bed, I knew you were kinky. But if you’re disappointed no one can see us…” he teased.

  She tugged her hands from his and twisted around so her back leaned flush against the window. “Don’t be ridiculous. You’re making this shit up now. Reading too much into it to get a rise out of me.”

  He glanced down at his cock. “I’m pretty sure I’m the one with a rise.”

  That sweet, sexy giggle escaped her lips again. Seconds later, with no warning, she slid down the window, balanced herself with her hands on his thighs, and sucked his cock into her mouth.

  He went straight to heaven. He couldn’t even bring himself to move. Thank God his hands were still propped against the glass, or he might have fallen. His entire body succumbed to her charm.

  The way she sucked him in deep and then drew back off with hollowed cheeks…

  He almost came. His fingers ached where he tried to grip the cool glass of the window with the tips. He squeezed his eyes closed and held his breath for a moment.

  When Shayla let one hand trail from his hip to his balls, cupping them lightly, he knew he would shoot off in her mouth at any second. Instead, he jerked his hips back to dislodge from her sweet mouth.

  “Hey,” she protested, glancing up.

  He needed to be careful while she held his balls in her palm. “Stand up, baby.” His voice was hoarse, as if he’d been screaming at a concert for hours.

  She slid back up the window slowly, tempting him with her damn fine tits, the nipples swollen and sticking out, the globes jiggling as she rose to her full height. She gave him a fake pout that almost made him laugh.

  Except there was nothing funny about the state of his cock. “Careful with your fingers there, baby. Gentle.”

  She smiled up at him, leaning her body into his while she fondled his balls. “You worried?”

  Should he be? He wasn’t sure. How many cocks had she held? It didn’t really matter as long as this was the last one. The idea of her toying with another man’s dick made his blood pressure rise. He shook the thought away. She was a grown woman. She had experiences. Not many, he suspected, but enough.

  Jealousy over her past relationships would not serve him well. Better to squelch those thoughts immediately.

  Cupping her hand over his balls, he showed her how he liked to be touched. He gently rolled the sac around and then eased their combined fingers back to his throbbing cock. After wrapping her small hand around his dick, he released her. “I’ve dreamed of a moment like this.”

  “Me too,” she whispered. “Though I didn’t ever picture it in front of a wall of windows this high off the ground.”

  He needed to be inside her again. After peeling her fingers from his cock, he turned her around so she faced the skyline. And then he pressed the length of her body against the glass. Her tits spread out, making him groan.

  In this position, he wouldn’t have to worry about her keeping her hands off him. There wasn’t much else she could do besides flatten her palms on the window and hold on.

  “Cain…”

  Damn, he liked the sound of her saying his name. It would never grow old. “Spread your legs for me, Shayla.”

  She hesitated a beat and then blew out a breath as she parted her thighs.

  “Are you wet?”

  “Yes.” The one word was breathy.

  He reached between their bodies to smooth his hand over the soft globe of her ass and then between her legs.

  Oh yeah. She was wet. He drew his fingers through the moisture and then instinctively brought them to his lips. While he licked her essence off his hand, she squirmed against the glass. “Why is that so hot?” she asked, her eyes widening as she flattened one cheek against the window.

  “Same reason I thought it was hot to watch you suck my cock into your sweet mouth.” When he resumed stroking her folds, she moaned against the window. “Yeah. I love that sound.” He thrust his finger into her and then circled her clit.

  Shayla lifted onto her toes, her breasts riding higher on the glass. “I feel like an exhibitionist.”

  He chuckled into her ear. “All those people moving around down there like ants through an anthill, and you’re pressed naked to the window above them.”

  She shivered against his grip. “It’s sort of hot.”

  “It definitely is.” He kissed her neck, and then he pinched her clit between two fingers hard enough for her to come instantly. For long moments he watched her unravel, her eyes rolling back while he concentrated on the way her body hummed. “So is that,” he added. “Hottest thing ever.”

  When she was able to set her heels back on the carpet, he eased his fingers away fr
om her pussy, took her hips, and stepped back several paces. “Get on your hands and knees, baby.”

  She glanced over her shoulder.

  For a second he wasn’t sure how she might react to him taking her that way, but she slowly smiled. “You’re full of surprises.”

  He winked, leaving her alone while she lowered to the floor. He hoped she found his next idea just as sexy and arousing.

  First, he grabbed a pillow off the bed, and then he flipped on the overhead lights that ran across the ceiling above the wall of windows.

  She closed her eyes to tiny slits at the brightness. “What are you doing?”

  “Look.” He pointed at the window in front of her.

  When she turned her gaze to the glass, she gasped.

  “Now that is sexy,” he stated as he kneeled behind her and tapped her thigh. “Set your knees on this pillow so they don’t rub against the carpet.” He wouldn’t want her to try to balance on the carpet under any circumstances, but with her knees scraped up, it would hurt when he entered her from behind.

  “That’s so…obscene,” she added as she let him settle the pillow under her knees.

  He lifted his gaze to see her reflection in the glass. The effect of turning the lights on was that the window turned into a mirror. She could no longer see out, but she knew what was on the other side.

  “You’re sure no one can see in still?” Another shiver shook her.

  He trailed a hand down her spine, watching the goose bumps rising in the wake of his fingertips. “I would never share you with the world. Trust me. The only person who’s ever going to see you naked for the rest of your life is me. And perhaps the doctors who deliver our kids.”

  She jerked up on her knees at the comment and twisted her torso to look at him. “Kids?”