Royally Mine: 22 All-New Bad Boy Romance Novellas

by Susan Stoker

  Afterwards, I lay on top of him, breathless and panting, wondering exactly what in the hell had gotten into me today. He shifted underneath me, rolling over so that he lay on his side and I lay on my side facing him, with his cock still inside me, and a self-satisfied grin on his face.

  “Did you enjoy the show? And the uh—after party?” he asked, tracing a finger softly across my face and pushing a stray hair back, tucking it behind my ear tenderly.

  “I think I need an encore.”

  Chapter Five

  Mazi

  I didn’t see Norah for the first three days after we landed in Osei. I had no idea in what capacity she was working at the palace, or if she was even on the premises at all. I watched for her everywhere I went, constantly finding excuses to stroll different areas of the grounds just so I might catch a glimpse.

  Today was no different. Immediately after breakfast, which had been served on the balcony of my suite, I had been summoned to the main conference hall by the king himself. My father. I still hadn’t gotten used to thinking of him that way. I had never known what it was like to have a father, and now that I was on the wrong side of thirty, it all seemed a little late in the game to be learning new tricks. He seemed like an okay dude, for a king.

  He was trying. I was trying to let him try. It wasn’t much, but it was all we had.

  I walked a long corridor, peeking in every open doorway, hoping to run into her. I should have at least gotten her number after we had such mind-blowing sex on the plane. And not just once, either. Six times. Six. It was probably more times than I had ever been with the same woman in my life. In the past, if a woman let me escape without slipping me her number, or insisting I give her mine, I would have considered myself lucky.

  We had both taken for granted that we would see each other around the palace. At least, I hoped that was the case, and that it hadn’t been intentional on her part.

  I reached the conference hall, exactly where Jax had told me it would be, and entered to find Jax and the king already there. And Norah. She was there, too.

  My breath hitched as her head jerked up, startled to see me. Her brows knitted quizzically, and she quickly glanced back at the notebook in front of her.

  My father, at the head of a long but mostly empty table, gestured for me to sit. I took the seat next to him, directly across from Norah.

  The door opened, and a maid wheeled in a cart well-stocked with coffee, tea, water, and assorted pastries. We had all just had breakfast, but it was customary to have an offering at any meeting, I had quickly learned.

  “Son, the kingdom is failing. Our economy is struggling, and tourism is at an all-time low. After a few isolated terror attacks in the village last year, people have forgotten about the beauty that our country holds.”

  I stared at him blankly, wondering why he felt the need to hold a special meeting just to tell me something I had already figured out. Who cares? Norah was here. I would keep him talking and draw out the useless meeting as long as I possibly could, just to be in her vicinity.

  Norah was all business. I could see that. I just couldn’t figure out what her business was exactly.

  When he called me son, I heard her sharp intake of breath and saw her confused frown as her eyes ricocheted back and forth between the two of us. I frowned down at the table. It was coming—the moment when she realized exactly who I was. I knew it would happen eventually. I thought I would have more time with her before it did.

  “I’m only here for a month, but if there’s something I could do to help....” I trailed off, leaning forward, with one eye for the king’s reaction and one eye on Norah.

  “I was hoping you would say that.” He peered at Jax, as if for encouragement, a fact that filled me with unease. What was he about to ask me? And why did he have to do it in front of Norah?

  “I’m sick, Mazi.” The breath left me in a whoosh. Of all the things I had expected, that was not among them. I tried to open my mouth and form a response of sympathy, but I sat there feeling like I had been sucker punched.

  “It’s cancer. I have the best doctors in the land, but there’s not much more they can do.”

  Emotions were at war within me—anger at a disease I knew too well, bereavement at the knowledge that I would soon lose the father I had just gained, and dread at what he was about to say next.

  The words were like an oncoming train, and I was tied to the tracks.

  “You’re the next in line to the throne, Mazi. Osei needs you.”

  I heard the soft gasp of air from the other side of the table as the implication of his words sunk in.

  “Why is she here?” I couldn’t hold it back any longer. “This seems like personal family business.”

  I didn’t look at her when I spoke, and I knew my voice came out hard and biting. I was angry. At everything. All of it. I had been here three days, and suddenly the weight of a country was on my shoulders. And the girl of my dreams knew it.

  “Norah has been hired to be our personal royal family correspondent. She will be here for a year. Her job includes covering any important royal family news, but also creating a buzz around the industry and economy here. She will visit local businesses, take in the beautiful scenery, and write about it all.”

  My gut reaction was to be angry at her profession. I had hooked up with a reporter of all things, during the most sensationally controversial time of my life. The second thought came right on the heels of the first one. She would be in Osei for a year. Suddenly staying didn’t seem quite as big a hardship as it had moments ago. Then I made the mistake of peeking at her. My own feelings were reflected all over her face, only her anger, of course, was directed at me.

  I swallowed the lump that rose in my throat and forced myself to focus on the matters at hand.

  “I take it then, that she’s reporting my presence here in Osei and my relationship to you?”

  “For starters. Assuming, of course, that things work out the way I am hoping, and that you agree to stay and take your rightful place as the crown prince of Osei.”

  “My rightful place? You don’t have any other children?” It was a question I had meant to ask since I got there. There had never seemed a good time.

  “My wife, Irina, god rest her soul, was unable to have children. We were very happy for many years, but…” He stopped short and swallowed. I could see that his eyes were thick with unshed tears. “Children were a blessing sorely missing from our very full lives.”

  “A father was a blessing sorely missing from mine.” With heavy sarcasm, I echoed his words back to him.

  There was so much I wanted to say. So many questions I wanted to ask. And yet, I wasn’t ready to rehash the past, especially not with Norah sitting there taking notes on my most private and personal thoughts.

  I glared down at the table, the decision I had to make heavy on my heart. It wasn’t fair, it wasn’t what I wanted, but I knew there was only one decision to make. I had nothing to lose but my own anger and self-righteousness, and everything to gain.

  I slammed my hand down on the table and stood simultaneously. “Okay. I’ll stay. Indefinitely.”

  And with that, I left the room.

  I was at the end of the hall when I heard her cry out.

  “Mazi, wait!”

  I did not wait. As much as I wanted to talk to her, I couldn’t deal with her anger right now. I had enough of my own. I was going to explode, and I needed to be alone when that happened.

  Unfortunately, she was very motivated to catch up with me. She grabbed my shoulder, and I turned towards her, with anger on my face and tears in my eyes.

  “Not now,” I roared. “I just found my father, and I’m losing him again! He and my mother lied to me my whole life, and now I’m supposed to save a country I’ve spent a grand total of three days in! I haven’t even left the castle.”

  Her eyes blazed, but I saw a flicker of compassion hidden behind the rage. I also saw when she squashed it and chose to go with her instinctual
reaction of anger.

  “You’re a damned prince, Mazi? When were you planning on telling me?”

  “I’m not a prince. I’m just the king’s bastard son. I didn’t tell you because I had no intention to stay. This was supposed to be a vacation, a chance to meet my father, and quite honestly, to tell him where to shove it. I wasn’t expecting any of this! And I certainly wasn’t expecting you!”

  “A likely story,” she huffed, but I could see her anger fading as she struggled to gain hold of what I’m sure she considered to be justified anger at the situation. “You may not have intended to take over the kingdom, but you damn well knew who your father was! You didn’t think to tell me? It didn’t cross your fucking mind to mention, ‘Oh, hey, by the way, I’m going to Osei to meet my father, who just happens to be the god damned King!’ ”

  “No!” I yelled, advancing on her, stepping closer with every step she took until her back was flat against the castle wall. “Why the fuck would I? I haven’t told anyone that, and I had only just met you. It’s not like we spent a whole hell of a lot of time getting to know each other! You got one drink in you, and suddenly all you cared about was getting me to take my clothes off.”

  She slapped me then. I was expecting as much after my tirade, and I welcomed the pain, along with her touch. I grabbed her wrist just as she pulled it back, and pinned it to the wall above her heart, closing in on her until there was less than an inch between our bodies.

  I could smell mint toothpaste and coffee on her breath and the fresh lilac scent of a high-end shampoo. I wanted to kiss her, but her anger had fueled my own, and I still had more to say.

  “Don’t you dare think you have a right to sit there being angry with me for not telling you who I was, or every intimate detail of my life, Miss Reporter! It’s not like we talked about who your parents were, or what you were doing in Osei, or I don’t know, where that bruise on your eye came from!”

  It was a low blow, and she wrestled free from my grasp, swinging her arm behind her, as if to hit me once more. Her violet eyes had a pinkish tint when she was angry, and her full cheeks were adorable with the red blush that graced her cheeks.

  She wanted to hit me again, probably more than once. I wanted to kiss her until we both forgot everything we needed to forget. I won.

  My lips covered hers in a kiss that was deep and punishing. I closed the space between our bodies, and held her wrist tight against the wall with one hand, while grabbing her thick hips with the other. I used the leverage to pull her to me, smirking when my cock throbbed against the crotch of her jeans.

  She kissed me back, using her tongue like a seductive enchantress. When she kissed me like that, all I could think of was how gorgeous those lips would be curled around the tip of my cock while I watched her blow me.

  She knew what she was doing to me, and she used it to her advantage. Before I knew what was happening, her wrist was free, and she slapped me again. At this point, I couldn’t tell if she was still just that angry, or if she just liked it rough.

  I didn’t care. I circled both arms around her waist and lifted her easily, while she shrieked in outrage as I tossed her over one shoulder. Small fists pounded my back as I began the long walk back to my room. Maids, groundskeepers, and security officers stared as we passed, but nobody dared say a damn thing. Apparently, my position in the kingdom had gotten out much faster than I had realized it would.

  At this moment, the fact pleased me, though I knew it would annoy me later.

  “Mazi! Are you crazy? Put me down right this instant, you self-important, Neanderthal bastard! Who do you think you are? You think just because you’re a prince it gives you the right to treat me like this?”

  We reached my room then, and I unlocked the door quickly, still keeping a tight grip across her waist, until the door closed behind me.

  I kept walking until I reached the middle of the massive suite and then, and only then, did I let her go, dumping her unceremoniously onto the newly made bed.

  I had her right where I wanted her. And right where she belonged. Now, I just had to convince her of that.

  Chapter Six

  Norah

  God, he was an asshole. After Brian, he had seemed like a breath of fresh air, but now I knew he was everything I needed to avoid.

  Arrogant.

  Chauvinistic.

  Territorial.

  Jealous.

  Dishonest.

  A fucking prince.

  And hot. Oh fucking God. Every damn thing about him that I hated made him even fucking hotter and more irresistible.

  He was stripping now, out of the fancy clothes he had worn to meet his father. I wanted to get up and run out of his room. To tell him it wasn’t normal to take off your clothes in front of strange women who didn’t happen to be waving dollar bills in your face.

  I also wanted to lick him. His hard dark abs came into view, and all of my self-righteous anger threatened to fade away into nothingness. How was I supposed to focus on all the reasons I should hate his fucking guts when he stood in front of me looking like that?

  I knew exactly what my best friend back home would say if I told her about my current predicament. She would say that a Hot Island Prince was just the ticket. A cure-all for what ailed me and the first step to a brand-new, devil-may-care, grab-life-by-the-horns version of myself.

  She would be wrong. At least where Mazi was concerned. What I had needed was a one-night stand with a hot tourist who happened to be staying around the castle for a few weeks just in case I ended up needing a refresher course.

  What I did not need was a hot, torrid love affair with the fucking crown prince of Osei, who coincidentally also happened to be my boss’s son.

  These were the things I was telling myself in my head. And I just about had myself convinced too, until Mazi ditched his pants, and stood towering over me in only a pair of boxer briefs. There was a reason he did what he did for a living.

  My body flushed and my nipples hardened, straining against the thin fabric of my lace bra. And let’s not even talk about what was going on in my panties. Forget it.

  He knelt on the bed and covered my body with his own. My breathing grew ragged in my chest.

  “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you,” he whispered.

  I wondered if it was a line—something he said to every woman he brought back to his bedroom. I assumed there had been many. Nobody had ever said anything of the sort to me. I was used to being in the background. The wing woman. The third wheel. Forgettable. Disposable.

  When Mazi admired me, I felt nothing of the sort. Under his dark, intense gaze, I felt beautiful, strong, and desirable. I felt empowered.

  When he kissed me, I was weak. His lips closed over mine, and every single one of my earlier reservations was forgotten. I grabbed his head, seizing a handful of the dark silky locks, and crushed my lips against his.

  Unlike our times on the plane, there was nothing tender or exploratory about the way our bodies came together in a cacophony of need and pent-up frustration. Skin slapped against skin as he claimed me and I him. My brain was fuzzy, as I was lightheaded with my need of him. We came together in a blur—our bodies colliding until I couldn’t tell where he ended and I began. Every nerve I had stood on edge, and every touch left my skin hot and tingly.

  The sex was unbelievably hot. The hottest, most intense sex I had ever had. We fell off the bed, and just kept fucking, on the floor, on the desk, up against the wall—it didn’t matter.

  I lost track of how many times I came in a short period of time. Mazi seemed to have that effect on me.

  ***

  It was lunchtime when I peeled my hot, sticky body off his sweat-soaked bedsheets with a satisfied grin. I no longer cared about things like propriety and tradition. I wasn’t worried about what his father might think, or how hooking up with a prince would unnecessarily complicate my life. Being with him was just that good. Somewhere between my third and fourth orgasm, I had decided that the n
ew Norah lived in the moment and didn’t give much thought to the consequences of her actions. I had always played by the rules. It had never stopped me from getting hurt before.

  Mazi was still lying naked on the bed, with his arms folded behind his head and a cocky grin on his face.

  “Still pissed off that I’m a prince?”

  “Only slightly,” I retorted, pulling my T-shirt over my head. “Still pissed off that I’m a reporter?”

  “Depends. What are you going to write about me?” He sat up, and moved his hands in a wave in the air in front of him to form an imaginary headline. “Dancing King: Prince Mazi of Osei, a former exotic dancer, has even better moves inside the bedroom than he did outside the bedroom.”

  I shook my head and guffawed while I retrieved my jeans off the edge of the bed and shimmed them over my wide hips. “Prince Mazi, The Self Important Playboy, who spends his days throwing fits and claiming every ordinary chick he comes into contact with.” Even I knew it was a shitty headline, but I wasn’t prepared for Mazi’s reaction.

  He stood and quickly grabbed me from behind, bending me at the waist. His large hand came to rest on my left ass cheek, and I murmured my appreciation. Maybe I could fit in one more orgasm before lunch. And then he smacked my ass hard! My cheeks flushed, and I shot up into a standing position, whirling around to face him, as I rubbed the sting through the fabric of my jeans. I instantly thought of Brian, and I wondered if I had once again found myself an asshole. This felt different, I thought, as I waited for Mazi’s explanation.

  “Dude! What in the hell?”

  He gently grabbed my chin and tilted my face up until I was forced to meet his gaze. “Don’t ever call yourself ordinary, Miss Norah Baxter. You are anything but.”

  “Oh.” I blushed under his stern gaze. Nobody had ever corrected me when I put myself down. I did it fairly often, and most people just ignored it, or worse yet, offered me unsolicited advice about how I could fix whatever it was they or I perceived as being wrong with me that day. The fact that he cared so deeply over a simple put-down made him different than anyone I had ever met.