by Susan Stoker
His masculine growls and mounting passion were rapidly tearing down her defenses. She became putty in his very capable hands, and she knew, without a doubt, that she wouldn’t be sleeping alone tonight.
One kiss and he suddenly owned her.
***
“Wow, this place is impressive,” Cora said, gazing around the entryway of his luxurious quarters.
In truth, he had one of the smallest sets of rooms available to the royals, but then he was the only bastard of his father’s to live in the castle. Still, he was glad Cora was enthralled by his home. He cared more about her opinion than he ought to, and this sudden realization troubled him.
But he’d already entertained thoughts of spending more than one night with her. Before he’d even kissed her, he had known one fuck wouldn’t be enough. Her spirit captivated him. She was a heady mixture of confidence, femininity, and innocence wrapped in the sexiest fucking package he’d ever laid eyes on.
Cora was the kind of girl he could envision himself marrying. The pretty young women from Ismallia he’d spent time with—most of them daughters of wealthy businessmen or members of Parliament—didn’t enchant him or challenge him as Cora did.
Of course, she probably thought him nothing but a spoiled rich playboy. Why the fuck had she come upstairs with him? He grasped her hands and stared down into her eyes, drinking in their bottomless blue depths as he pondered the reason she’d come with him so willingly. Not that he was complaining, but he’d anticipated having to chase her harder.
“I have to admit,” she said, blushing, “that no one has ever kissed me like that. I hope you don’t think I’m, um, easy, because I’ve never done anything like this before.”
“Fireworks,” he said, waggling his eyebrows as if their kiss had set off the explosives that had marked the end of the wedding reception.
She grinned, but her face soon grew serious. She straightened and had the look of a sharp businesswoman. “You have condoms, right?”
He repressed a laugh, not because he thought there was something funny about practicing safe sex, but because she was being so direct and practical about it. All the women he’d been with before had blushed and stammered, most of them not even mentioning protection until he did. But never wanting to follow in his father’s footsteps and impregnate a woman to whom he wasn’t wed, he was always very, very careful.
“Don’t worry,” he finally replied. “I have plenty of condoms, but if we happen to go through them all, I can send a footman to retrieve more. Anything you desire tonight, Cora, consider it yours.”
Her expression relaxed and she tugged at the pins holding the top half of her hair in a twist, letting the fullness of her long curls cascade in rivulets of gold over her shoulders.
Fuck.
Akeen’s need surged and he had to restrain himself from adjusting his hardening cock in his trousers. Her cheeks were flushed, indicating that however confident she normally was in her day-to-day life, being bedded by a near stranger left her nervous. Once again, he entertained thoughts of pushing her boundaries and defiling her innocence, but only in a way she would enjoy. He wouldn’t take her until she was panting breathlessly and begging to be claimed, wet and aching beyond belief for his cock to pound her to an orgasm.
She took a deep breath, as if to steel herself to be brave. He admired her all the more.
“Just to be clear.” She looked him directly in the eyes, once again the pragmatic businesswoman. “This is only for one night.”
He lifted an eyebrow at her and yanked her closer, until her chest was flush against his. He trailed his hands over her shoulders and smoothed her hair behind her back, reveling in each brush of his fingertips across her smooth flesh. “Why only one night, Cora?” He put his mouth to her ear and noted her involuntary shiver at his increased closeness. “Can you not imagine a future for us?”
Her breath hitched. “This is-is a one-night stand. I don’t think real long-lasting relationships can start with one-night stands. Besides, I just broke up with my boyfriend. I’m on the rebound and not looking for anything more than, well, what we’re about to do.”
“By the time I’m finished with you, Cora, you aren’t going to remember that asshole’s name, I promise you that.”
“So, then you’re in agreement? About this only being for one night?”
Slowly, he shook his head from side to side and placed one finger beneath her chin, forcing her to hold his gaze. “I will agree to no such thing. You’re being awfully bossy, little girl. Keep it up and I might have to teach you a firm lesson.”
He cut off her indignant gasp with another hard kiss.
At first, she fought him, pushing at his chest and making frustrated squeaking noises against his mouth. He tugged on her hair and withdrew to peer into her gaze, delighting in the warring emotions that played across her face. Lust, frustration, and flashes of forced confidence followed by increasing nervousness.
“Do you remember my name?” he asked, giving her hair another tug.
She narrowed her eyes. “Of course, I do. Akeen.”
“Just wanted to double check. Because you’ll be screaming it soon.”
A smirk lightened her features. “Only if you’re really good.”
“Has anyone ever told you that you have a smart mouth?” He traced his thumb over her bottom lip.
“Yes, but I always take it as a compliment.”
With a growl, he scooped her up in his arms.
Then carried her to his bedroom.
Chapter Three
Her heart was pounding. This had to be a dream.
A delicious, wonderful dream.
Akeen’s olive tan skin shone in the light that emitted from the fancy electric sconces lining the room. His hair was dark as the night, gleaming black and wavy. Not close-cut like most of the princes she’d seen, his locks were long enough to touch his shoulders.
Exotic and sexy, powerful and a bit mysterious, he was a far cry from every man she’d ever dated. But oh, how she wanted him. If she regretted this night of passion come morning, so be it.
He placed her down atop the soft covers and immediately came to straddle her, both of them still fully clothed. After capturing her wrists and holding them above her head, he leaned down to trail hot, sensual kisses along her collarbone and neck. Sometimes his teeth grazed her flesh. Other times, his tongue. The combination of a pinch of pain, followed by gentler kisses and licks of his tongue, promised an eventual roughness to which she wasn’t accustomed.
But oh how she welcomed this new experience.
No one had ever held her down and simply taken.
She lifted her hips to press against Akeen’s hardness, then turned her head and gave him better access to her throat. Goose bumps rose over her arms, and her scalp prickled as a rush of endorphins coursed through her. Each touch drove her wild and deepened the relentless throbbing between her thighs.
Outside the huge open window, the fireworks continued detonating in the brilliant starry sky. In between the blasts, the sound of nighttime insects entered with the cool breeze. Cora closed her eyes and soaked in this perfect moment. The longer Akeen kissed her neck, the more her imagination ran wild, with dreamy thoughts of falling head over heels for this handsome bastard prince and spending the rest of her life in the beautiful country of Ismallia, living out a fairytale.
Stop it. This is just one night.
She chided herself for thinking this night with Akeen might lead to more. Even if he was seriously into her, it wouldn’t be fair to him if she couldn’t give him her all. And she couldn’t. Not when her heart was so fragile with heartache. The initial heaviness of her despair over the relationship with Mr. Cheaterpants coming to an abrupt end had finally started to fade, but she wasn’t ready to date again and probably wouldn’t be for quite some time. Her trust had been shattered, and there were days she worried all men were scum. Logically, she realized there were still good guys out there.
Despite his bad boy pers
ona, was Royal Advisor Akeen, formerly known as the Bastard Prince, actually a decent man?
But it didn’t matter. He could secretly be a saint and it wouldn’t matter. In five days, she was returning to America, and it would be a long time before she had enough money saved for a return visit to Ismallia.
Akeen’s lips left her neck. He released her wrists, sat back, and eyed her with a dark, animalistic look that spoke of all the dirty things he wanted to do to her. She shuddered with desire and instinctively parted her thighs, as he wasn’t putting his full weight on her. His nostrils flared and he didn’t break her gaze as he started unfastening his tie. He tossed it to the floor and shrugged off his suit jacket. Next, he unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it from his waistband, but didn’t remove it entirely.
Holy Batman muscles. Her stare dropped to his chiseled, tattooed covered chest. She had no trouble believing he’d thwarted an attempt on the king’s life. Power exuded from Akeen when he was fully dressed, but when partially unclothed, he was truly a force of nature. An inked Greek god among men.
“Like something you see, Cora?”
Heat seared her cheeks and her eyes danced around the room for a long moment, glancing everywhere but at him, before finally returning to his gaze. Her lust-addled brain couldn’t come up with a fitting retort, so she settled on shooting him a dirty look—which, of course, only earned her another one of his cocky smirks.
A thought struck her, making her flush hotter—a man that self-assured probably had a sizeable cock. She gulped past the dryness in her throat and tried to think of something else, anything else, but her eyes nevertheless lowered to his impressive bulge.
Well, hello there.
It appeared he might bust out of his trousers at any second, the material was seriously straining over his increasing hardness.
“Again, like something you see?”
Damn his smug face. Since she didn’t have a witty comeback, she decided on shocking him into silence. Batting her eyelashes, she gave him a seductive look and pushed the thin straps of her gown over her shoulders.
With another flutter of her lashes, she pushed the top of her dress down to reveal the fullness of her breasts. The stiff bodice of the gown pushed her tits up, making them appear larger.
As controlled as Akeen was, the expression of shock only played across his face for a split second before he once again took on the appearance of a serious, confident man who was about to get what he wanted—her.
“You’re being quite the little flirt.” He rose from the bed and grasped the skirts of her gown. “Lift your hips and let me pull this the rest of the way off.”
Her heart skittered with a quick surge of nerves, but Cora obeyed, lifting her hips while he pulled the fabric down. That is, until the tight bodice became stuck around her hips. She flushed and felt like an idiot. The damn dress had ties in the back, and Malia had sent a servant to assist Cora in lacing it up. She wiggled again but to no avail.
Akeen’s lips quirked with humor, but she didn’t think he was laughing at her.
She sighed deeply, rolled onto her stomach, and peered over her shoulder at him. “I assume you’re familiar with these kinds of fastenings? Seems all the Ismallian formalwear for women have these bodices that tie in the back. You rarely see dresses like this in America. Most of the time, it’s zippers or carefully hidden buttons,” she rambled.
With deft movements, Akeen had the bodice loosened in moments. She tried to turn back over, but he stilled her movements and began pulling the dress off her. Heat rushed to her face again, knowing the first thing he would see was her bare ass. All her panties had been packed in the missing suitcase, and rather than go out and buy new ones, she had decided to just go commando for a few days.
“Naughty, naughty Cora,” Akeen said in a faux scolding tone. “Do you know what happens to young ladies who don’t wear panties in Ismallia?”
She tried to turn over, but he crawled partway atop her legs, forcing her to remain in place. He cupped her right ass cheek and squeezed, then gave the same treatment to the left one.
“What happens?” she asked with a laugh. “Do they get taken away and locked in the dungeon?”
He shifted forward and leaned down, hovering over her body while still cupping her ass. His lips grazed her ear. “They get spanked, and then they get fucked long and hard by the bastard prince.” He lifted his hand and brought it down with a light smack, and she giggled and squirmed while he gave her bottom about a dozen more spanks, each only hard enough to sting.
The slight pain wrought from his descending palm coalesced with her growing arousal, making her core throb more urgently by the second.
She was so, so wet, and aching to be claimed by Akeen.
***
Finally, he allowed her to turn over. Flushed and breathless, with her golden locks spread haphazardly around her head, Cora looked like a goddess. She scooted to the side and rolled slightly to rub her bottom, shooting him a playful glare.
His cock swelled harder, and he was suddenly sweltering in the confines of his clothing. He stood long enough to remove every last bit of his princely attire, from his shoes to his dress shirt, tossing them across the room.
The whole time he undressed, he kept his gaze trained on Cora, taking in every inch of her luscious, naked curves.
Her breasts were perfect, large and tipped with dark pink nipples that reminded him of the raspberries that grew on the palace grounds.
His blood heated at the sight of her bare pussy. Ismallian women didn’t usually wax or seek laser removal treatments on their nether areas, but he’d heard American women often had nothing but smoothness between their thighs. He licked his lips, longing to taste her.
“You are so beautiful, Cora,” he said, straddling her. He leaned down to capture her lips in another quick kiss. “So beautiful, and all mine.”
He ran his hands all over her body, worshipping every curve and all of her softness. Aside from a light smattering of freckles on her shoulders, her skin was a creamy white and much lighter in contrast to his own.
A surge of protectiveness for her swept through him when he imagined her returning to America in a few days. The thought of her traveling thousands of miles away from him, by herself, was maddening. He wanted to keep her right here, in his bed, all to himself and safe from any harm that might ever visit her. Not to mention, far away from the eyes of other men. A woman as gorgeous and intelligent as Cora wouldn’t remain single for long, and a murderous rage filled him at the idea of another man looking at her, let alone touching her.
Mine mine mine repeated inside his head.
Grabbing a condom from the bedside table drawer, he tore the packet open and sheathed himself in preparation for what was to come. He wedged his cock between her thighs, but he didn’t impale her immediately. Instead, he dragged the tip of his engorged length up and down her soaking wet slit, reveling in her welcoming warmth and keening moans. She parted her legs and lifted her hips, inviting him to enter her, but he wasn’t finished enjoying her in other ways yet.
Before he fucked her, he planned to taste her.
Staring into her eyes, he said, “I’m going to lick your sweet little pussy now, Cora, and you’re going to be a good girl and keep your legs spread while I do it.”
She blushed but didn’t protest, her lips parting as a tiny gasp left her. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, drawing his attention to her breasts. He kneaded those full mounds for a moment, gave each dark pink berry a quick squeeze, and lowered his mouth to her center, where the enticing scent of her feminine arousal beckoned.
“Spread wider,” he commanded.
With a nod, she acquiesced, inching her legs further apart. Her face was still flushed an adorable shade of pink.
Her sex was swollen and glistening, and he swiped two fingers up and down her slit, drawing her moisture out and over her plump nether lips. A shudder ran through her entire body and she clutched at the covers. The cutest little whimpers escaped h
er throat.
Her clit peeked out from her womanly folds, and he splayed her apart to better expose it. Then he lowered his mouth to lap at her exquisite nectar.
Christ Almighty. She tasted divine.
He moved his fingers to her core and pushed inside. At the same time, he traced his tongue lightly around her swollen nubbin, delighting in her tiny quivers and needy moans.
He pumped his digits in and out of her tightness, driving deep and increasing his speed with each thrust. Swirling his tongue directly over her clit, he created a steady circular motion that made her cry out and writhe beneath him.
Withdrawing his tongue for a moment, he said, “Come for me, Cora. Fucking come now.”
He resumed licking her clit and drove harder and faster into her center, until the sounds of wet thrusts filled the room. She tossed her head from side to side and clutched the covers tighter.
“Akeen, I—Oh God, Akeen!” She came apart, moaning loudly as she gyrated against his mouth. The walls of her pussy tightened around his thrusting fingers, her orgasm taking her under until, at last, she remained still and panting in the aftermath of her pleasure.
“Good girl,” he said, slowly removing his digits from her center. He sat back and stared at her, smiling at her when she met his eyes with a look of immense satisfaction. Watching her come—making her come—had been gratifying for him as well. But hearing her cry his name in the throes of her release, that had made his cock ache all the more.
He’d tasted her. He’d made her come.
Now it was time to fuck her.
He positioned his thick length at her wet opening and met her dreamy stare. She lifted her center, seeking his entry, only to gasp and scramble under the covers when a knock sounded on the door, followed by raised voices and heavy footsteps.
Anger flared in Akeen. Who dared enter his quarters without permission? The door had been locked, and only a select few had access to the keys to the royals’ rooms.