The Princess and the Marquess

by Aliyah Burke

  Ciara snuggled up closer to her husband and soaked up his warmth. As his strong arm settled around her and tucked her in closer, he placed a kiss on her head. Heedless of the others in the room, Ciara raised her face to Lucien’s and meshed her lips upon his. She was home.

  Merry Christmas, daughter. We are proud of you. The words echoed in her heart as she leaned up against the man that meant the world to her. Her marquess.

  Want to see more from this author? Here’s a taster for you to enjoy!

  The Monroe Sisters:

  Need You Now

  Aliyah Burke

  Excerpt

  “Sometimes, you just need some dick.”

  Eva snorted, the margarita burning her nose as it exited, making her cough and her eyes water. “Did you just—oh, never mind, of course you did.” She glared across the table at her sister with the vulgar mouth, Tara, as she accepted the napkin handed to her from the third member of the group. She wiped her lips before she dabbed at the corners of her eyes, hoping this incident hadn’t turned her into a damn raccoon with how her makeup was running.

  “What?” Tara blinked her almond-shaped black eyes, appearing unconcerned with her statement and how loud she’d made it. “It’s true, a good fuck can go a long way.” She sipped her Chardonnay and gestured to their other sister, Shai. “Tell her. I mean, she’s a doctor. You’d think she would be aware of the benefits.” Tara flipped her braid back over her shoulder, the pink streak in it vibrant and outgoing, much like the woman herself.

  Shai drained the rest of her extra-dirty martini and put the glass down. “Tara’s correct. You need to get laid. All of us do.” She gestured for another drink.

  Eva shook her head. She was the eldest and these two knew how to test her. “How did we go from my day to talking about a hookup?”

  “Because your day didn’t include one.” Tara toasted her.

  She sighed dramatically. I highly doubt yours did either, Tara. “That would be your logic. And just for the record, counselor, I’m a surgeon, not a regular doctor.”

  “Pretty sure there’s a fucking MD after your name and I’ve seen you put DR in front of it. Or so it was the last time I saw you sign something.”

  Glaring at Shai, she huffed with as much indignation as she could manage to pull off having just choked on a drink moments prior. “No one asked for your opinion, professor.”

  “That’s why I gave it. I am a professor. I interject when all the facts aren’t present. I’m an educator.” Shai flashed a grin, her white teeth stark against her smooth nut-brown skin.

  “Why do I agree to come out with you two?”

  “Because we’re family and you love us,” they responded in tandem.

  “Ask me later about the love bit,” Eva retorted as she gazed around the table.

  Shai, the baby of the family, was the youngest tenured professor at the university. Eva’s parents had adopted her when she was only six months old. Tara had joined the family at age two and held the middle-child distinction. All three of them were thick as thieves.

  Running a hand over her spike cut, she spied a guy standing by the bar, eyes on the three of them. Her heart kicked up a few notches as recognition set in, but she couldn’t pull from her memory banks just where she knew him from.

  “Who’s McHottie?”

  “What?” she asked Shai.

  “Which barfly are you staring at?”

  “None.”

  “The witness is becoming hostile. I believe I should press the point,” Tara added.

  Eva faced her sister and muttered, “Bitch.”

  “Later,” Shai said. “I’ve been thinking about what was said earlier.”

  Eva glanced over at her, eyebrows up in silent question.

  “You know, about you not getting any cock.”

  She covered her eyes. “This is the problem—well, one of the problems—with having a professor and an ADA as siblings, you two are used to having to yell. There is something called an inside voice. You know, where you talk quieter, so the entire bar doesn’t learn about me not having sex lately?”

  “Because that was stated so eloquently and with your inside voice.” Shai’s tone dripped with humor.

  Lord, could the floor just swallow me up? She met the amber gaze of the man across the way.

  From the way his bow-shaped lips had kicked up, he’d overheard the embarrassing exchange. He raised his beer in her direction.

  “Focus, please.”

  Professor tone. That’s what Eva called it. She’d heard Shai use it numerous times in her classes and it never failed to silence the noise even in an auditorium. However, her sibling had a way with people and could easily get them to listen to her. It was a gift.

  “I need a refill for this,” Eva groused, waving for another pink-grapefruit margarita. “Especially since the last bit wasn’t enjoyed as it exited my nose.”

  Her sisters exchanged a look and she realized they’d already discussed this and were springing it on her, tag-team style. As they waited, however impatiently, she allowed her gaze to drift back across to where Amber Eyes stood talking with three other men, also good-looking, but none of them rang the bell of recognition for her. His eyes flickered in her direction more than once and she again scrambled to recall where she’d seen him before. He wasn’t a random hookup, she didn’t do those, but from the way he watched her, there had to be something she was missing.

  “Here you go.” The waiter set her drink in front of her and took away the empty.

  She nodded her thanks and put her attention on her sisters.

  Tara with her hot-pink bangs and the long stripe down along the right side of her glossy jet-black hair. Then her gaze flickered to Shai with her purple streak in her dark brown pixie cut. Yep, trouble in their eyes and sass on their lips.

  “As I was saying,” Shai began again, “we’ve all been insanely busy. I mean, even for us to get here tonight, we’ve had to reschedule this three times. Tara and I have already talked about this and we need to step up and take control of our sex lives. Or the lack of them, as the case has proven to be.”

  “I haven’t found a guy I want.” Eva rolled her eyes at the lie that poured from her mouth.

  Guys led to things like thinking of the future, and that typically meant children, which was where she shut down. She was sterile. Would never have a child of her own the natural way. And while she told herself she’d come to terms with that fact, the truth was she hadn’t. Nor was she ready to try to explain this to a man who she’d fallen for only to have him say no and rip her heart out all over again before stomping it into tiny smeared lumps of muscle.

  Her siblings sneered in response, yanking her from the depressing dark hole she was falling into as if she’d stepped off a building to embrace gravity.

  “It needs to happen for all of us,” Tara took over. “We’re professional women who are dedicated to our careers and have neglected ourselves. That’s unacceptable. We don’t have to give it up. Men find a way to do this, which means obviously so can we. This is what we came up with.”

  Shai nodded. “We each take a week from work. All the same week and pick a beach. We go there, have a room and find some stranger to fuck. A week-long one-night stand, so to speak.”

  “We’re going to the same place?” Eva pushed the instant no from her mouth, her body jumping to life, waving its hands, demanding some one-on-one attention from a person of the male variety. Battery-operated machinery wasn’t cutting it. Neither was the touch of her own fingers.

  “Nope, different ones. If we were together, then we’d be together and wouldn’t be getting laid.” Tara moved her glass to the side and rested her elbows on the table.

  “I can’t just take time off,” she protested.

  Tara glared at her. “Neither can we, but we’re planning ahead, so it’s not just taking time off. It will be considered a vacation—something we are actually allowed to indulge in. Same week. Different locales. A week of hot, guilt-free, min
d-numbing, leg-shaking, can’t-move-a-muscle-after, sweaty-all-over kind of sex.”

  Eva couldn’t deny how amazing that sounded. So long as I can keep my internal commentary shut down about how great he may or may not be with a child. Damn it, she wasn’t supposed to go down this road. She lifted her drink. “Here’s to us and our weeks.”

  “No more arguments?” Shai questioned with a raised eyebrow.

  “Nope, you said it perfectly. We’ve put others before us for too long. Time to take the bull by the horns, so to speak.” She drew her phone from her gold clutch. “Where are we each going and when? Different beaches, but same distance of travel? Like we all head to places in Mexico. That way, we can tell Mom and Dad we’re taking a vacation together.”

  “Agreed.” Tara’s statement was followed within seconds by Shai’s succinct one.

  They had their phones in their hand moments later as they each picked a location.

  * * * *

  Puerto Vallarta

  Eva shouldered her purse and walked off the plane. The sun shone bright through the airport windows, making even this place seem cheery. As she headed for baggage claim, she withdrew her cell phone and sent a text to her sisters, alerting them she’d landed fine.

  She stood with the others and scanned the group waiting for their luggage to come. According to her sisters, all she had to do was pick the guy she wanted and go from there. God, we should have done this before. I cannot wait to get this vacation started. Now, all I need is to find the right one. Hell, it was like a candy store. I pick whichever one I want. No harm, no foul. This is strictly about me and my need to get my world rocked. No strings, no fuss, no muss.

  It didn’t take long to secure her luggage or grab a cab to the hotel. Bag on the oversized chair in the corner, she flung open the doors leading out to the balcony. Beyond the railing, the ocean beckoned. The Midwest just didn’t have places like this. Not that she had an issue with where she lived…it just wasn’t Puerto Vallarta. There were no sandy white beaches with a beautiful blue water outside her window, bringing the sounds of laughter and the scent of the ocean.

  Her phone buzzed and she reached for it, smiling as she found a text from Tara.

  Glad to hear it. Just pulling up to the gate now. Have fun and ride him hard.

  She chuckled and replied with a smiley face. “I would love to ride him hard. Now, I just have to find him first.” She opened her suitcase and tossed the phone to the king-sized bed. “That isn’t going to happen if I’m keeping to myself in the room.” Rooting through her clothing, she found her bikini. “So I need to get down to the sun.” Once it lay on the bed spread, she reached for the first button on her white shirt.

  After she’d changed, she checked her phone again. Still nothing from Shai, and that worried her, so she sent her another text. According to the itinerary, her sister should have landed already at her destination, and it wasn’t like Shai not to send confirmation.

  * * * *

  The moment she walked into his line of sight, Grant Harrison was mesmerized. Her peach bikini made his dick rock-hard in seconds with how her suit curved around her figure. Tiny waist, toned muscles and a sway to her hips he couldn’t manage to tear his gaze from. She carried a small beach bag, not huge and oversized like many of the tourists.

  He slid off the stool, grabbed his drink and trailed her to the edge of the hotel bar as she stepped out onto the sand. She turned heads as she walked by to the water. Both men and women took in the view she offered. Drink finished, he followed the same path she took to the beautiful blue water.

  His mysterious goddess walked along the edge, the water lapping over her feet. As he watched, she relaxed. He could see the stress in her melting away beneath the warm sun. While not as tan as a lot of the women, strolling practically nude, she still stole his breath.

  Heated sand beneath his feet warmed his soles as he navigated to her side. Stopping there, he crossed his arms and glanced down at her. “Beautiful,” he commented.

  A smile quirked her lips. “Yes, gorgeous. Don’t have views like this back home.”

  He didn’t even lift his gaze from her curvaceous form. “Me either.”

  “I was talking about the ocean.”

  “Water is water in my opinion. It’s what goes with it that makes it beautiful.” He had no qualms about being caught staring at her. “Name’s Grant.”

  She angled her body toward him and he dragged his eyes up the front of her bikini, swallowed hard, blinked to see her belly button again and did it once more. High on her hips, the top material dipped low over her chest, teasing him with smooth, pale skin. While not overly huge, her breasts filled out the top in a mouthwatering display of feminine perfection. The dark coral hue smashed into him as if he’d just ingested a plate of oysters and was more than ready to show how good his libido was.

  “Eva. And where is home, Grant?”

  Yes, her lips mesmerized him as well. “I travel quite a bit for my work, but for the moment, it’s in Arizona. For you?”

  “Quad Cities.” She ran her gaze over him, her hunger spilling free. “An area covering Southeast Iowa and Northwest Illinois.”

  Christ, it had been a while for him if this was what his small talk amounted to. It shouldn’t be this difficult. Not to make his intentions known and find out if she was receptive of them or not. He moved closer, the air between them sparking and charging. “And what do you do there?”

  “Work,” she said, her tongue flicking out to dampen her lips. She never took her eyes from him. “Too damn much.”

  He kept his gaze locked with hers. “Nothing more specific?”

  She lifted her hand and settled it on his chest. “Are you here with someone?”

  “Not other than you.” His heart pounded and his dick swelled further. Christ, he was going to puncture his suit if he didn’t get some relief soon.

  “Wife?”

  “Never. Husband?”

  “Not yet.” She splayed her fingers and moved them through his chest hair. “Are we going to stand here and discuss the ocean or go somewhere else?”

  “Somewhere else. My room is right back there.”

  She never looked to where he pointed.

  He snaked his arm around her waist and drew her flush to him, his cock pushing against her. “I’ve wanted to fuck you ever since I saw you walk by me.”

  She looped her arms around his neck, tongue peeking out to hit the corner of his mouth. “Don’t hear me complaining, do you?”

  He lifted her in his arms, wheeled around and strode back to the hotel, staring in her eyes the entire time. Even in the elevator, he didn’t put her down. Not until they got into his room did he allow her feet to hit the floor. Then he kissed her.

  Grant groaned at her taste, a mixture of coffee and mint. When she backed away, he let her, but he kept staring. Her lips turned up in a small smile as she reached behind her neck and pulled. The top of her bikini fell to the carpeted floor of his hotel room.

  Holy shit.

  With a sure push, the bottoms were around her ankles and she kicked them away.

  He gulped some air as he ran his gaze over her once more. From the sapphire tips of her blonde spiked cut to the exposed creamy skin, she was damn near perfect. A landing strip of hair guided his sight to her core. The lips glistened and he knew she was ready for him and he’d not even touched her yet.

  She took a step and closed the distance between them once more. “You seem a bit overdressed for what I have in mind. Let me help you.” Bending close to kiss his bare chest, she worked her way down to his belly button.

  “Wait.” A guttural rasp slid from his mouth seconds before she pulled down his shorts. His cock, long and hard, sprung free, bobbing before her.

  “Hello, gorgeous,” she purred as she curled her fingers around his shaft.

  He widened his stance, breathing faster and shallower. A few cursory pumps prior to when she flicked her tongue over the head.

  A moan fell free fro
m between his lips and he sank his hands into her hair. Closing his eyes ever so brief, he tried to control his urge just to thrust deep into her throat. Opening them, he peered down at her to discover she watched him in return with those dark blue eyes.

  She never looked away as she blew him. Bobbing on his cock, she didn’t allow any part of him to go unattended. From the sensitive head to his balls, she gave each their due.

  Grant couldn’t pull his gaze from her face. There was something amazing about watching a woman happily give head. When his balls drew tight against him, he lifted her from where she knelt before him and carried her to the bed. “Not yet,” he said.

  Her response was dragging her tongue along her lower lip.

  He placed her down gently. His was cock so hard, it ached. “I don’t have much patience right now. I really want to fuck you.”

  She lay back, legs slightly spread, and he settled beside her. “And we’re back to, do you hear me complaining?” A smile. “Although, I have to say, I was enjoying your dick in my mouth.”

  His cock jerked at her words, then again, when she circled him once more with her touch. “Fuck this.” He reached around her to the bedside table and dug in the drawer for a condom.

  The moment he found and grabbed one, she took it from him. Eva rose onto her knees as she straddled him. “Allow me.” The rip of the packet was followed by her tossing it to the side. Eva took him in hand and rolled it down his length. She was up and over him, sinking down, taking him deep inside her body. “Oh, shit,” she groaned.

  Yeah, he was on par with that statement.