by Mia Carson
“What did you dream about?” he whispered. “Tell me, princess.”
But she couldn’t get the words out, was too lost in his intense touch, his fingers tugging at her nipples until she ground her hips against his.
“All the ways I would take you, princess?” he growled in her ear. “The things I would do to you until you cried out my name?” One of his hands slid down her body and cupped intimately through her thin sweats. His fingers massaged and pressed until Daphne gasped, moving with him. “Is that what you want?”
“For once in my life, I want to choose what I get to do,” she said fiercely.
“You’re a princess,” he argued. “You can always choose.”
“No, I can’t. I’m trapped,” she muttered bitterly. “Always doing what everyone else expects me to do.”
As they stood in her rooms, Matt’s erection pressed against her, she wanted to do what no one would ever think of her doing. She wanted Matt to take her until she begged him for more. All sense of responsibility, of sanity, vanished from her mind as she stared at the tall man before her with so much mystery hidden behind his nonchalant mask. She wanted to bust through it and see what was beneath and hear him cry out her name.
“Daphne,” he said softly, running his hands through her hair. A second later, the moment was gone. He stepped quickly away from her and bowed his head. “The king and queen will be expecting you soon. You shouldn’t keep them waiting.”
Rankled by the easy dismissal, she threw back her shoulders and marched to the bathroom. At the door, she turned back and glared. “If you keep kissing me like that, sooner or later, you’ll have to carry out the promises in the kiss.”
“I have made no promises to you, my lady,” he said gruffly.
“No? That’s not what your body says—nor your eyes,” she added and slammed the door in his face. Her entire body shook with need, and she twisted the knobs on the shower, filling the large marbled room with steam.
Why was he afraid of giving in to what they both clearly wanted? If he was truly the womanizer, why hadn’t he taken her? Or on the rooftop last night?
Maybe he isn’t that man, she realized as she quickly stripped and stepped under the burning hot spray. You called him out on it already. He wears a mask, just like you do.
Her thoughts whirled, and her eyes pictured him standing in front of her, wondering how those tense muscles would feel if bared for her touch. As her loins clenched with need, Daphne’s hands cupped her breasts, her fingers tugging at her already hardened nipples, but it wasn’t her touch she felt on her body. One of her hands moved lower, cupping her intimate parts as his had so recently. She wasn’t a stranger to pleasing herself every now and then, but when her fingers moved as she knew his would have if there had been no barrier, she gasped at the harsh pleasure building in her body as she imagined Matt in the shower with her.
She bit her lip hard as her fingers moved against her folds, slick with want for a man she had never been so desperate to have. A man who saw past the smile and positive speeches to the woman underneath, the fighter who neglected her personal needs.
Needs he could take care of for her, she knew, in ways that would leave her gasping for air.
Hardly a minute later, that was exactly what she was doing as the water poured over her shoulders, teasing her sensitive nipples. Gently, her fingers massaged her folds and clit, pinching it and tugging as he had in her dreams. When it slipped inside, her hand moved faster, driving her over the edge. Her body shook with the brief orgasm, a glimpse into what would happen if they ever came together. She leaned against the wall of the shower until her knees quit shaking, and she managed to wash herself and her hair while her body continued to throb with unquenched desires.
No matter what Matt told her, she was going to find a way to convince him it would be worth it for both of them. One night in each other’s arms, that was all she wanted.
You really think you both can stop after just one night?
The reality hit her hard, but she refused to answer her own question. The answer was in front of her already. When the time came to push him away, she wouldn’t stand a chance.
***
Matt escorted Daphne to the king and queen out in the courtyard. Several other guards circled them, and he joined their ranks, trying to stop his hands from twitching and his eyes from admiring the way her ass moved when she walked.
Damn the man who invented high heels.
He should’ve been used to such sights—and worse—from his nights of seeing women barely covered in crop tops and miniskirts, but none of them compared to Daphne. No one ever would again. She was so much more to him than his princess; she was the one woman who might actually be able to calm his raw nerves when they were on edge. Keep him from lashing out when the world around him was shattered by vivid memories that continually dragged him back to his days as a sniper. That moment in her bedroom, he would have taken her, and he imagined her beneath him as he plunged deep inside of her until she cried out with pleasure.
His thoughts shifted, and he realized what else he wanted to hear from this damn woman. Laughter—genuine laughter as he had briefly heard the other night on the roof. Her real laugh was full of life and the strength she used to fight for her people. It was certainly not the laugh she used while speaking with her parents.
Sadly, he was too far away to hear much, so he contented himself with studying her face instead. Her lips supported a smile, but it didn’t reach her light blue eyes. Instead, they held a calculating look bordering on suspicion and… irritation, perhaps? Matt frowned as his gaze lowered, taking in the mole on her cheek and the gentle curves of her face he wanted to hold again as his lips claimed hers in a long, languid kiss. Her hair was pulled severely back from her face, but instead of making her appear hard, it only gave her the look of a strong royal determined to do whatever she needed to see the job completed. Again, he was reminded of the men he had fought beside.
If Daphne had been in the military, she would’ve gone far. Maybe even advanced to commanding others, but as she’d told him, she was trapped in this life. It didn’t look it from the outside, but watching her with her parents, seeing the way her eyes darkened as the conversation lengthened, made him realize how little he really knew of her life.
Not as if she knows much about your life, either, he mused.
The details of his past remained close to his chest, rarely revealing them to anyone. Even the women he used to sleep with only knew his name. That had been enough to get him through a night, but never any further.
If they learned what he’d done, they would not want to see him again, let alone become a part of his life. Matt tried to accept his fate of being alone for the rest of his life, but Daphne had walked into his life and all his hardened emotions unraveled around him. Part of him wanted to fall apart with her, let her see the real man beneath the nightmares and glares, but at the same time, he wondered if she could really handle a man like him when she appeared to barely be hanging on by a thread. Even sitting with her parents, having a simple conversation, put a strain on her face. Lines appeared at her eyes and forehead while that smile stayed in place. Years of practice, that’s what it would take to have a look like that never falter.
“Ah, Matthias,” Ambrose said as he strode towards him. “Let us walk for a minute.”
“The princess?”
“Their lunch will last a bit longer, I’m sure,” he said. “Come, I want to inform you of a few matters.”
Matt shot one more look towards Daphne, and when her gaze flickered to his, his hands tightened at his sides until he turned and followed Ambrose through the courtyard. “Is there a threat to her life I should be concerned with?” he asked stiffly.
“No, nothing of the sort,” Ambrose told him. “However, there is something I would like you to keep an eye on for me while going about your duties.”
“Of course.”
“Her cousin, Dion Eridian—you met him, I assume?”
“What was your initial impression of the young man?”
Matt didn’t answer right away, and his hands clasped behind his back to hide their sudden twitching. He did not like Dion, and after what he had heard from the others about him, the man was a threat to Daphne in his eyes, no questions asked.
Ambrose smiled and patted him on the shoulder. “You can be honest, Matthias. It is only us.”
“I fear he may cause problems for Daphne later,” he admitted. “His mother, too. I don’t like the way he speaks to her about how she may or may not rule one day.”
Ambrose sighed, and Matt heard the worry in it. “I need you to keep a close eye on him when he’s in the palace, and especially when he’s near Daphne. A few years ago, he had no issue with her taking over the throne, as is her birthright. Now, however, I fear his mind has been corrupted by Agnes, his mother.”
“What do you think he’ll do?”
“Right now, we’re not sure, but his dealings at the docks are being investigated,” Ambrose told him. “Did the others give you any details on such matters?”
“Only that his business might not be as clean as he claims.”
Ambrose nodded to another path and they moved down it, out of sight of the other guards and the royal family. “There has been a steady increase in drugs being sold in the city and in the outlying coastal towns,” he said quietly, his eyes darting about.
Matt’s did the same as he frowned. “You think Dion is bringing them into Apostolos?”
“It’s the rumor, but so far, we can’t prove nor disprove it,” he said. “Dion is rich. Hard to get the facts straight when he bribes everyone at the docks and those bringing in the shipments to begin with.”
“What is it you want me to do exactly, sir?”
“If Dion asks to speak with Daphne again, do not let her sit with him alone. Inform me of everything they speak of,” he ordered. “I would prefer if they did not speak at all, but she is the princess, and I have no control over whom she agrees to have dinner with.”
Matt frowned at the contradiction to what Daphne was able to do with her life but didn’t comment on it. “Of course, sir. I will do what I can.”
“Good man. If anything seems off, let me know straight away. I want this matter dealt with before it gets out of hand and Dion becomes a real threat to the throne. This kingdom would not last if he or his mother took control.”
Matt nodded his agreement, and Ambrose looked ready to dismiss him though he didn’t tell Matt to return to his post quite yet. “Was there anything else, sir?”
“How are you and Princess Daphne getting on? She had a good relationship with Ralph, and I want to ensure she isn’t stressing you out or vice versa.”
“No, not at all,” he replied quickly and cleared his throat when Ambrose raised his brow. “She causes me no stress, and I believe she is happy enough with me as her bodyguard.”
“That’s good to hear,” he announced. “As long as the princess is well cared for, I have no worries. I knew we picked the perfect man for the job. You may return to your post now. I’m sure their talk will be over shortly. She’ll be ready to return to her other business for the day.”
Matt nodded and hurried back the way they’d come. He hadn’t liked Dion the first time he met the royal cousin, but now, he wanted that man to stay far away from Daphne. Would Daphne listen to him if he told her about trouble Dion might be in? Maybe it would be enough to convince her to leave him alone for a while, just until the drug issues were sorted through.
When he returned to the other guards, Daphne was standing, speaking with her mother, but her face was drawn and the smile had vanished. With a raised voice, she snapped, “Why? There’s no reason for her to be against them. She’s part of our educational board.”
“She’s going to try, sweetie. Unless you can find a way to legally stop her from putting a permanent spoke in the reforms. So far, she has three heads of parliament on her side, claiming the kingdom can’t afford your plan, that it will cripple our economy.”
Daphne rubbed her forehead. “It won’t. I know it won’t. I’ve been working on these reforms for two years, Mother. Where did she get her information?”
“Several highly renowned economists,” the queen told her.
“From outside the kingdom? Why would people listen to them over their own?” Matt’s jaw clenched as Daphne’s face fell even more and she tugged hard at her ear. She was watching all her hard work possibly disappear. Matt knew that feeling of hard work meaning nothing. It was always a hard slap to the face. “She only needs a few more on her side and she can kill the reforms,” Daphne muttered. “I can’t believe they would listen to her.”
“And I’m afraid it’s going to work,” the queen said. “Our hands are tied in this matter.”
“But we’re in charge. Why can’t you just simply tell her it won’t happen?”
“We have parliament for a reason,” the queen argued fiercely, and Matt realized Daphne took after her mother the most. “If we start making decisions for our people against what parliament agrees on, we might as well get rid of them altogether. The people need to know that we adhere to the same structure as they do. You know this… You’ve been taught it since birth!”
Daphne hung her head, her arms crossed over her chest as she nodded stiffly.
“Now then, I will need to speak with you once more tomorrow before our trip,” the queen continued more calmly. “I expect you to be in a better mood then.”
“Anything else, Mother?”
The queen’s eyes narrowed. “No, that will be all.”
Daphne turned on her heel and stormed towards the palace. Matt moved to walk behind her but didn’t speak as she muttered angrily under her breath. She tugged hard on her ear the whole way inside, up the stairs, and down the corridor to her rooms. When she reached them, she turned to him and said she needed a moment alone.
Matt considered following her inside anyway, but the pleading in her eyes made him bow his head and say he would be right outside. She closed the doors, and he heard her stomping around in her heels. He turned his back to the doors, ready to keep watch, when a crash sounded from inside her rooms. Hand on his gun, he threw the doors open, ready to fight off an attacker. Daphne, her chest heaving, was surrounded by shattered glass. There was no one else in the room.
“Princess Daphne?” he asked quietly, his eyes roaming from one end of the room to the other. Vases and trinkets that had been there before were now gone. He stalked to the glass at her feet and frowned. “Do you feel better now?” At least he knew he was right about her hidden temper.
She nodded slowly. “I’ll clean this up. Then we can go. I have several parliament members to meet with this afternoon so I can hopefully get them to see reason on their own.”
“Of course, princess,” he said, but she didn’t move. “Why don’t I call for Marie? She can have the servants clean this up. Maybe you should sit down for a minute and collect yourself.”
“Why?” she snapped.
“So when you meet with the parliament members, you don’t chuck anything at their heads, my lady.” He stared her down, and when she refused to budge, he gave her a gentle push towards the table. “Mind the glass.”
“You can’t order me around,” she muttered, and he smirked as she tiptoed around the glass until she reached the table and plopped down in her chair.
She tapped her fingers loudly on the tabletop and watched Matt as he picked up the phone in the room to call for Marie. When he hung up and glanced at Daphne, he frowned. Her face had paled. Her eyes shot to the shattered remains of crystal she took her anger out on and she slumped, very unladylike, in her chair.
“I can’t believe I did that,” she whispered, placing a hand over her mouth. Her eyes widened. “Matt, I’m so sorry. I… I never act like this.”
“Everyone has their breaking point, my lady,” he said quietly, knowing that well enough from e
xperience. “Do you wish to talk about it?”
“No, at least not here. Maybe tonight if you’re willing to come to the rooftop with me?”
His chest swelled at the tinge of need in her words. She was asking for trouble and he knew it, but he couldn’t stop himself from promising he would be there. She stood, stepped carefully around the glass again, and walked to the door slowly, ready to leave. Her posture said she was in no mood to deal with anything else that day, but Matt couldn’t keep her from her duties. She would continue about her day without any regard to taking care of herself nor her mental stability. Whatever her mother spoke to her about had her on edge.
Telling her about Dion today would only make it worse. He decided he would wait until a better time to tell her what was going on with her cousin. Just in case she went off again. There were only so many things in her room she could break as a release.
Chapter 7
Daphne feigned feeling ill for dinner and took it in her rooms to avoid another confrontation with her parents. Matt told her Jeremiah would be outside her door while he ate, but if she needed anything, he would be a phone call away. Her cheeks reddened before he left her, that smoldering gaze of his glancing hard at her face. She hated that he saw her flash of weakness but was thankful the man hadn’t said a word about it the rest of the day.
Now that she was finally alone, she kicked off her heels, poured a glass of white wine from the chilled bottle on the table, and settled on the chaise lounge. She nibbled at freshly caught fish and salad but lost her appetite after a few bites.
When she’d returned from her last meeting of the day, there had been a file on her table with a note from Marie. All the information they had on Matthias was at her fingertips, and she was dying to find out about this man driving her to rebel against every social rule she’d been taught from birth. He saw past the mask she wore every day, and instead of judging her for it and pointing out her flaws as her over-protective parents constantly did, he accepted them with that same heated look in his eyes when he captured her lips with his, pressing their bodies together.