Love is in the Heir

by Jenny Gardiner

  Topher reached out his hand in invitation. “Would you like to dance?”

  She smiled and nodded, and he pulled Pippa toward him to escort her to the dance floor as they joined the hundreds of guests around them. For several minutes, they just enjoyed each other’s company, not saying a word.

  When the orchestra started playing “Beyond the Sea,” Topher pulled her closer, his hand around hers, pressed to his chest.

  “This is my song,” he said to her.

  “You have your own anthem?”

  Topher smiled. “Smart-ass,” he said, tapping her on the nose with the tip of his finger. “No. But it reminds me of what makes me happiest: being out on the ocean.”

  Pippa cocked her head. “Oh really? You’re a seagoing creature, are you?”

  He nodded. “Something about the water calls to me. I’ve been pursuing my studies in marine biology, which takes me there often. I feel most at home when I’m bobbing on a boat in azure waters.”

  She nodded. “I understand what you’re saying. It’s like how I feel when I’m helping others. It’s almost like I’m home too in a way.”

  “Helping others?”

  “I work for Zander’s charity,” she said. “I often travel all over the world, whether I’m trying to enlist financial support or simply helping out with a project myself.”

  Topher had no idea that’s what Pippa did. He was relieved she wasn’t one of those trustafarian royals who rested on her daddy’s bank account and shopped till she dropped. Though to be fair, he could easily be of the same ilk. Except that his parents would kill him if he tried that.

  He found himself leaning in and whispering into her ear, “Wow, you’re quite the international woman of mystery now.”

  Pippa shook her head. “Not so much. Just doing my job is all. But I’d love to hear about your travels.”

  Topher’s eyes lit up. “I’ve been doing research on global warming and its impact on coral reefs. Which means I get to sail in beautiful locations all in the name of work.”

  “Not too shabby,” she said. “I could almost be jealous about that.”

  “Maybe you could figure out a way to incorporate your charitable work with it and come sailing with me some time.” Topher lifted his brow.

  Pippa caught her breath. “Me? Sailing with you?”

  Topher leaned back to take in her demeanor. “If it’s something you might enjoy.”

  “Who doesn’t love to sail?” she said. “But I’ve only sailed in the Mediterranean. What’s it like in the Caribbean?”

  He took a breath as he thought about it. “The water is so clear and comes in so many intoxicating shades of blue and green.”

  She smiled dreamily. “I never thought of those colors as intoxicating.”

  “Oh, but they are,” he said. “Imagine looking at water the color of the finest turquoise stones. So pure and so inviting. It warms the soul.”

  “But what about sharks?”

  Topher shook his head. “The biggest sharks you have to worry about there are of the human variety,” he said. “Some of those beach bars, you just never know what type of disreputable men you’ll encounter.”

  They both laughed.

  “Disreputable, eh?” she said, cocking her eyebrow. “But surely you’d protect me from these shark men, right?”

  Topher pulled her in tighter, thinking of how he’d always fantasized about being the man to take care of Pippa.

  “That goes without saying,” he said, his voice warm and rumbly in her ear.

  “So what do you do with yourself when you’re all the way out there in the ocean? How do you while away those long, lonely nights?”

  He laughed. “To be honest, I’ve never had to concern myself with whiling away the hours. After a long day of work, the best I can muster is kicking back with a rum drink, grilling a steak, and blasting some music while absorbing yet another perfect sunset.”

  “By yourself?”

  “There’s always the skipper,” he said.

  “Now that’s not exactly romantic,” Pippa said. “You, a romantic sunset, and the captain.”

  Topher cracked up. “Unless the skipper’s a woman,” he said with a wink. “But seriously, you’ve got a point. Though I suppose some might find it romantic to be with the captain.”

  “What about companionship?” she asked. “Don’t you find it lonely being out to sea so long?”

  To be truthful, he occasionally did. It wasn’t like you could pick up a one-night stand so easily when you were out to sea. Nor did you want to pick up someone you’d regret being stuck with. He tended to keep his philandering shoreside. Not that he philandered much, but still.

  “You ask funny questions, you know that?” he said. “For someone who would barely talk to me for all those years, now you’re concerned about my love life?”

  Pippa paused as if to think for a minute, then broke into a wide grin. She glanced up into his face, and he knew exactly what triggered her reaction.

  “Oh, my God,” he said. “Surely you’re not asking me that?”

  She shook her head. “I wasn’t at first,” she said. “But then I started to think about it. I mean what else does one do when one is away from members of the opposite sex and the need is there?”

  Topher grinned. “That might depend upon whom you’re talking about. I am a man, after all,” he said. “Let’s leave it at that.”

  Pippa’s mind flashed to the Episode, where the boy Topher was deeply engrossed in that very activity. Her face flushed as she recalled it.

  “But,” he added, “if you really want to discuss this, then what about you? What would you do all alone on a boat?”

  She pursed her lips and thought about it. “Depends if the boat has thin walls.”

  He laughed some more. “I’m starting to think I’d love to be your skipper. I’d tell you the walls were fortified if that’s what it took.”

  Pippa fake slapped him. “Why, how dare you, Prince Christopher!”

  “Oh, so we’re going to do it on a dare then?” he asked, pulling her in closer, whispering into her ear.

  Her breathing got heavier as she thought about him all alone on a boat. “I could be persuaded,” she whispered back into his ear.

  It was Topher’s turn for heavy breathing as he pressed himself up against her, leaving no question about where this discussion was going in his mind. “It’s gotten so crowded in here. Perhaps we should continue this discussion somewhere a little more... private.”

  Pippa locked her hazel eyes on to his soulful gray ones. “But everyone would know we’d disappeared together.”

  He shook his head. “We’ll slip off discreetly. You go first, and I’ll follow in a minute. I think you know the way to my apartment.”

  She took a deep breath. “Our secret?”

  He nodded. “No one will be the wiser.”

  Chapter Three

  PIPPA’S heart was racing in her chest as she wandered the familiar-yet-now-silent hallways of the family corridor in the palace. What was she thinking? For that matter, what was he thinking? She had been persona non grata in Topher’s world forever. And now all of a sudden he’s wanting to slip off for, for, for what?

  “Oh, God, what am I doing?” she muttered aloud, staring at the many portraits of Topher’s ancestors gazing down at her. This is Topher! This is me! This is weird!

  Yet she continued to walk quickly, managing to dodge a security guard who was pacing one hallway down from her. She slipped past the room that used to be Topher’s back before each of his siblings got their own separate apartments, a nod to their adulthood. And it made her curious to imagine the difference between Topher then and Topher now. Like she’d said earlier, the man had filled out. Probably everywhere.

  She paused and leaned against a doorway, catching her breath.

  It’s okay, Pips, she told herself. Nothing has to happen here. You can just go in there and act casual. You’ve known Topher since you were both children. He probably
isn’t even going there in his head. He likely just wants to show you pictures from his travels.

  She heard impatient footsteps on the expensive Turkish rugs that spanned the corridor and looked up to see Topher racing toward her. He grabbed her hand and pulled her.

  “Anyone see you?” he asked.

  Pippa shook her head. “Thank God. I dodged a guard nearby, but that’s it. Everyone was busy with the cake cutting when I slipped out.”

  They turned a corner and Topher punched in the security code to his apartment, opened the door, tugged her inside, and then pressed her up against the nearest wall.

  Pippa wasn’t sure if she was out of breath from running or from heightened anxiety about what she was about to do. Or not do. But it was too late to change her mind as Topher pulled her toward him, his hands traveling up and down along her sides as his face neared hers.

  “I have no idea what I’m doing here,” he said, his eyes locking on hers.

  “That makes two of us,” she said. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

  Far be it from her to be the voice of reason, but someone had to be.

  “It’s the best idea I’ve had in a long time,” he said as his lips met hers and he pulled her in close.

  Their hands grappled for skin, his roaming her exposed back, over her shoulders, and back again. Hers grasping beneath his uniform coat, working his shirt out from where it was tucked into his pants. Finally she found some skin, and her hands grazed over his lower back as their mouths clashed, both breathing hard and letting out the occasional moan of pleasure.

  Topher reached for the zipper on the back of her dress only to find no such escape device. Pippa guided his hand around to show him it was on the side, and he deftly took it from there, stripping the zipper down and tugging the dress off in record time as his mouth meandered toward her neck, his tongue winding a trail toward her breasts.

  She stood before him in nothing but a tiny blue thong, feeling extremely underdressed in his company.

  “Hey,” she said in a whisper. “This feels a little uneven here.” She pointed at him and then at her.

  He paused and then took his fill of her as she stood before him nearly naked. His breath hitched.

  “We can fix that,” he said, quickly unfastening the gold buttons of his jacket and flinging it to the side, then pulling off his shirt without undoing most of the buttons. Next went his sword, and he made fast work of his shoes and dress pants as well.

  Pippa looked him up and down, his black boxer briefs unable to contain his excitement. “Now we’re talking,” she said with an impish smile.

  They stood facing each other, her hands roaming over his chest as she kneaded them through the dark hair there while his made fast work over her breasts until he impatiently pulled her closer, settling his mouth over a nipple while Pippa moaned loudly, then made a face when she realized she was making noise which might draw attention to them. Until she realized no one was in this section of the palace, so who cared, and instead let out a louder moan still.

  Pippa stood idly by as Topher continued to suck at her breast, which kept her busy enough, what with her hormone levels skyrocketing. But she felt the need to do something, so she wrapped a leg around Topher’s legs until she lost her balance, pulling him down with her as she fell.

  They both laughed as they landed on the soft Oriental rug, and then he spread her out and beheld her like a prized trophy he had to figure out where to place prominently.

  “If you only knew how long I’ve wanted to do this,” he said, leaning over her and placing a soft kiss on her lips.

  She knit her eyebrows. “You’re kidding, right?”

  He shook his head. “I’ve nursed a crush on you I think since forever,” he said. “A forbidden crush that I never thought I’d be able to act on.”

  She shook her head as if to clear the cobwebs. “On me? Like as in Pippa?”

  He smiled. “Yes. As in Pippa.”

  “But I was the root cause of your life’s torment.”

  “As well as the person I was thinking about when you walked in on me that day.”

  She gasped. “You’re kidding?”

  “Pips, don’t you know how much I mooned over you when I was a kid? I hung on to your every word. I always wanted to be with you and Zander whenever you came over. And then when you started to grow up...”

  “When you were doing that, you were thinking of this?” she said, pointing at herself.

  “Do you have any idea what you wore that day?” he asked.

  “Uh, no.”

  “For starters, one of those clingy, stretchy skirts that barely covered your ass,” he said, remembering every inch of that meager thing. “And the shirt was some nearly nonexistent thing that hugged your breasts and bared your belly, and I could see the outline of your nipples, and honestly, Pips, I was a horny teenager. What the hell was I gonna do?”

  She burst out laughing. “Oh, God. Had I known the trouble I’d get you in, I’d have worn a nun’s frock. I’m sorry about that. I guess I didn’t realize that anyone was paying attention to me or my body.”

  “Paying attention? Are you kidding? I was trying to devise a million and one ways to get those things off of you, all of which were running through my mind at precisely the moment you barged in on me.”

  She pouted. “I guess I should make up for the trouble I caused you.”

  “I wouldn’t object, Your Honor.”

  She playfully pushed him onto his back and climbed atop, straddling his waist. “How’s this for starters?” she said as she leaned over and stroked her tongue against his lips.

  Topher opened up to her readily, and their tongues tangled as she wiggled her way down his body until her center was pressed up against his hard-on.

  “I’d say that’s a perfect place to start,” he said in a whisper.

  “So maybe if I end here...,” she said as she maneuvered herself farther down, her tongue soon stroking his cock, which elicited a loud moan from Topher.

  “Please, God, don’t make that be the end,” he said, reaching down for her. “But if you keep that up, this will all end too soon.”

  Pippa scooted her way back up and teased him, rubbing herself against him as he watched with glazed-over eyes.

  “If I’m dreaming, I hope no one is about to wake me,” he said, reaching his fingers toward where they were nearly joined. “God, you’re so wet. I need to be in you.”

  “What are you waiting for?” she said, grabbing his erection and guiding him inside her. They both moaned.

  “This is what I’ve been waiting for my whole life,” he said as he began to move inside her.

  “Should’ve made a move long ago,” she said, her breathing becoming tighter as she worked her hips in concert with his, pushing and pulling and hitting that perfect spot that had her near gasping.

  “How about we agree to make up for lost time, then?” he said, holding tight to her soft, shapely bottom as he pressed himself deep into her.

  “No arguments here,” she said as she licked a trail toward his neck and to his ear.

  “You’ve found my weak spot,” he said as he rolled her over and spread her legs wide, pressing farther in. He leaned forward with his lips and caught her nipple in his mouth and sucked hard as he pumped faster.

  “God, Toph,” Pippa shouted as she saw stars and lost her breath, coming hard just as Topher groaned loudly and held himself inside her, pulsing as he released in a warm gush.

  Topher sprawled on top of her as they both lay in silence for a minute, catching their breath.

  “Holy crap,” she said, exhaling loudly. “That was so not what I expected when I showed up at this wedding today.”

  Topher rolled over and grinned. “Hope you got your money’s worth. After all, you did miss the wedding cake.”

  “Oh, I think I got a way better dessert,” she said, her finger trailing along his chest. “Lot less calories too.”

  “Well, if you’re looking for a wor
kout, you’ve come to the right man,” he said as he leaned toward her and kissed her.

  “Maybe you’ll need to test my stamina a bit more,” she said with a wink.

  “We’ve got all night.”

  Chapter Four

  PIPPA opened one bleary eye as a bright pinpoint of sunlight sneaking through a gap in the closed draperies practically blinded her. She squinted and took a quick accounting of where she was, and her eyes settled on the beautiful naked chest of His Royal Highness Prince Christopher, Duke of Esmeralda, a man who until twelve hours ago she had presumed she’d never speak more than a handful of words to ever. Who’d suddenly and somewhat bizarrely become a man who’d practically spent the better part of the night buried inside her body.

  She so could not process the concept. This was Zander’s brother! Zander’s brother, whose sexual fantasies had apparently centered around Pippa for years, unbeknownst to her. What was the protocol on this going forward? Would this remain their little secret? One little one-night stand—correction: one big one-night stand—with Topher, who’d grown into quite the handsome and virile young man? Not that she’d had a whole lot of experience with this, but he sure seemed to stay, uh, up for quite a long while. At one point last night she’d wondered if maybe this was his superpower: heroic sexual stamina. In which case she was gonna be sore for a week.

  Surely there would be no future for the two of them. No way could Topher live down the Wanker thing with her doing the wanking.

  Oh, God, she thought. What do I do?

  She was torn. She peered down to where the sheet was draped ever so barely across his hips, right at that sexy juncture where you can tell who’s been doing the ab workout or not. Clearly Topher had, cut as he was, and she couldn’t help but stare in quasi longing, her eyes following that happy trail of hair that disappeared beneath the sheet. All she needed to do was pull the sheet back just an inch, if that. Which would mean that she was signing up for round what? Six? Eight? Ten? She had lost count hours ago. But if she opted for the command performance route, that would mean she’d of course have to face Toph and actually discuss this dilemma with him. The touching him part, she’d do that in a heartbeat. She knew from the past several hours that would be great fun.