Reluctantly Royal

by Gillian Archer

  “Not so funny now,” she murmured.

  I hummed in reply as I tried to get my dick under control. But it was no use; Hannah was just too fucking hot in my arms. Instead I brushed the hair off her face. Merde, she was gorgeous.

  She looked up at me with a question in her eyes.

  So I answered it by ducking my head and covering her lips with mine. Her body went rigid for a second, then melted in my arms as my lips coaxed a response from her. Then it was she who was the aggressor. She buried a hand in my hair and held me firmly against her. My scalp tinged with pain, and I’d be damned if I’d let her take the lead either on the dance floor or with our sexual chemistry. My tongue probed the seam of her lips until she opened her mouth to me. I quickly lead her in a parry and thrust motion that I couldn’t wait to repeat with other parts of our anatomy later.

  …Or now, but for the fact that we had an audience.

  It was that last thought, combined with the faint roaring of a crowd, that drew me out of our hormone-induced fog. And I became aware of the fact that the Beyoncé song was over and a rowdy crowd of soldiers at a table near us were cheering on our floor show.

  Hannah registered our audience a second later than I and pulled away, ending our kiss. She buried her face in my chest, her shoulders shaking. I had a second to wonder how I was going to calm her down when I realized she wasn’t crying.

  She was laughing.

  After a beat Hannah stepped away from me, turned, and dropped into a theatrical curtsy to the whooping table of soldiers.

  I shook my head and laughed. My eyes met Nicolas’s across the room; despite the distance, I could read the disapproval in his expression. My chief bodyguard wasn’t as capable as Dimitri at hiding his expressions.

  Not that I gave a fuck.

  I turned to the soldiers’ table and did a little bow of my own, then grabbed Hannah’s hand and pulled her to me just as a new-to-me slow techno song started to play.

  This time Hannah let me lead her as we swayed on the dance floor. She looked up at me with laughing eyes. “I kinda forgot where we were for a second. Good thing we really didn’t give them a floor show.”

  “What was it you said to me a few minutes ago? Wh—”

  “Wanna get your sexy on?” Hannah interjected.

  “No.” I laughed. “But I guess that works, too. I was thinking when you asked me: ‘Who said tonight was over?’ ”

  “Hmmmm.” Hannah smiled up at me. “Well, one, I don’t do public displays of affection. Usually. And two, I never have sex on the first date.”

  “Wait, that’s a lot for me to process in my second language. You’re considering this a first date?”

  “Maybe. I guess we’ll have to see how it goes. It could be our first date. Could be our last date.”

  “No pressure.”

  “Exactly. Just so you know, I’m grading your every move.”

  Christ, she was hot. And challenging. And complex. Somehow I didn’t think I’d be able to figure her out in just one week. A girl like her would take time. Time I sadly didn’t have.

  Hannah rubbed her cheek against my chest. “You’re really good.”

  “I know.” I drew her a little closer to me until I could feel the curve of her breasts pressed against me. “Which part impressed you, though?”

  Hannah laughed softly. “At dancing. Most guys are so stiff—they can’t even do the generic sway thing without breaking out into a sweat, but you’re fluid. Easy.”

  “I should be.” Since our kiss I’d unconsciously moved us into a basic box step, despite the pumping music throbbing around us. “Monsieur Legrand would’ve made me run laps if I couldn’t perform a simple box step.”

  “Who is Monsieur Legrand?”

  “The dance master at Eton. He was a wily old ass. I think if they would’ve let him, he’d have whacked us with that whip he always carted around.”

  “Eton? Isn’t that like a boarding school?”

  “Oui. In England. My brother and I were shipped off at thirteen.”

  “But that’s so young. And in a foreign country, too. How did you cope?”

  I shrugged. It had been scary at first. “I had my brother with me. We were inseparable.” My voice grew husky. “He made everything bearable. And our mum is English, so it didn’t feel like it was so far from home. We spoke the language and were big enough to play at being men. We had it better than our older brother. He was shipped off to Switzerland at ten. Alone. Eton was a cakewalk in comparison.”

  “Oh, my god,” Hannah whispered. “I don’t think I could even fathom being so far from my family. I don’t think they’d let me move so far away. You should’ve heard the crap they gave me when I moved out of the house to my own apartment three miles away. You’d’ve thought I was moving to Timbuktu.” A shadow moved over her face, and she frowned.

  “But that’s good, right? That your family loves you so much? That they want you close.”

  Hannah tipped her head back to look at me in the eyes. “It’s suffocating. They want to know everything. Pry into my life. Want me to report back on what’s going on, daily. I can’t make a move without them commenting. It’s gotten so bad I’m pretty sure they’ve hired someone to follow me around.”

  I could relate, but I couldn’t tell Hannah as much. How could I explain how suffocating my family was without revealing my identity? What possible explanation could a twenty-eight-year-old man give for having such a stuffy family without sounding like either a mama’s boy or the spare to the crown prince?

  So I said nothing.

  Hannah buried her face into my chest again. “This is nice.”

  I hummed in reply. It really was. Nice. And relaxing, except for the hard-on Hannah’s proximity was giving me.

  She sighed. “But sadly, it’s over.”

  “What? Wait, why?”

  “Because my ride is leaving.” Hannah pulled out of my arms for the second time that night, then nodded toward her table.

  I turned and saw that Rachel was standing on her chair, waving at her watch like a maniac. Hannah stepped toward the table, and I grabbed her arm to stop her.

  “Wait, you don’t have to leave.”

  “Yeah, I’m afraid I do. Rach and I have a rule. When we go together, we leave together. We never leave our drinks unattended. And we never go home with a guy we just met at a bar.” Hannah stopped and rolled her eyes. “So, I guess we have more than one rule.”

  “Do hotel rooms count as a home?”

  Hannah laughed softly. “Yes. Unfortunately, I think they do. But I had fun tonight.”

  “Are you still willing to show us the sights, or was that a line?”

  “I am. But given the way Rachel is wanting to get out of here, I’m thinking she and Dimitri had a falling out or something, so it might just be the two of us.”

  Which would make it awkward when Dimitri showed up on our date. Merde, I never should’ve left him alone. But screw it, I’d figure something out.

  “Here, give me your number.” I fumbled in my pockets for the American mobile phone my security team had given me before we left the hotel. I typed Hannah’s number into my contacts and called it so she would have my phone number as well. Because I had no idea what my number was.

  “Are you free tomorrow?” Hannah asked as she held up a finger at Rachel, silently asking for a moment.

  “Tomorrow Friday or tomorrow Saturday?” Since it was almost one a.m., it was a confusing question. Not that my answer would be any different.

  Hannah laughed. “Tomorrow Friday.”

  “I can do tomorrow Friday.” No matter what my entourage said.

  “Great. I’ll text you the time and address to meet up.”

  “Wouldn’t you rather I picked you up? One car. Less hassle.”

  “Dating one-oh-one, meet at a neutral location.”

  “Am I really that scary?”

  “Despite your good looks and charm, you’re still a stranger, and my mama didn’t raise no fool.
”

  I tugged on her arm until she fell onto my chest. She blinked those gorgeous kaleidoscope eyes up at me, and I almost lost my train of thought. “No, she raised a gorgeous, confident woman who is tying me up in knots. I’ll see you later.”

  “Later,” she whispered back.

  Bending down, I took her lips in a scorching kiss that had me wanting to find the nearest horizontal space and just say screw it. Hannah gave a soft groan, and I knew it wouldn’t take much more before I had her looking for the nearest place to fuck.

  “Hannah! Let’s go!”

  Nique ta mère! With a harsh groan, I pulled away even as I mentally cursed Rachel, Dimitri, their parents, and anyone else I could think of.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow,” Hannah said as she took a step back, her hazel eyes dilated and her chest shaking with her breath.

  “Friday.”

  “Friday,” she repeated before giving me an adorably awkward wave then, wincing and fast-walking away.

  I watched her go, my own chest heaving with my breath. It was one of the hardest things I’d ever done, but I didn’t follow her. No matter how much my dick begged me to.

  Hannah stopped at their table, and after a short exchange with Rachel and a quick glance my way, she grabbed her purse, then the two of them were gone.

  I took a minute until I could get both my breathing and dick under control, then walked over to where Dimitri was still camped at their table.

  “So, what did I miss?” I asked as I took a seat across from my bodyguard.

  Dimitri’s face turned red. He opened and closed his mouth, then shook his head.

  I sighed. “I take it you won’t be seeing Rachel again?”

  “I just don’t get women. Rachel was putting out all the signals. She’s in a rowdy bar, drinking, talking about getting revenge on her ex. Clearly she wanted a hookup.”

  “Evidently not.” Given what Hannah told me about her rules, neither woman had been on the hunt for a hookup. “It’s best not to assume things about women. Tends to piss them off.”

  “At least we won’t see them again.”

  I raised an eyebrow. How the hell did he figure that?

  Dimitri rolled his head, and a small pop sounded before he continued. “Clearly I couldn’t close the deal. And neither could you, if your girl is leaving with her friend.” He blinked a few times when I still didn’t say anything. Then he abruptly sat upright. “Not that it’s any of my business, monsieur. Would you like another round?”

  I had to laugh as I raised my arm and signaled Nicolas from across the room. “One, we will be seeing Hannah again. And two—” My lips twitched as I borrowed Hannah’s quirky system of listing things. “Two, we need to work on your social skills. Close the deal? No wonder Rachel left like she was fleeing a serial killer. And third, it’s time to go.”

  Nicolas stopped at the end of the table, and I could see the distaste in his expression as his eyes skimmed the drinks on our table and Dimitri’s flushed face. Given Dimitri’s younger age, I was sure a lecture about decorum and required attention to detail was coming, and I couldn’t say it wasn’t unneeded. Maybe when we had some free time, I’d give Dimitri pointers. He obviously needed help.

  Regardless, I wanted to get back to the suite and get some sleep. I needed to rest up for my date with Hannah in a few hours.

  —

  I don’t think the sun was even up yet when I heard a tentative voice whispering, “Votre Altesse?”

  I groaned and buried my head under my pillow.

  But whoever was in my room was a persistent asshole.

  “Votre Altesse? I’m so sorry.”

  I sighed heavily, my dream of being between a sultry blonde’s soft thighs melted away. “What do you want?”

  “Bonjour, Votre Altesse. I’m so sorry, but His Royal Highness Prince Sébastien wishes to speak with you.”

  Merde, I couldn’t shake my brother even when I was asleep. I rolled over with a groan. “Fine. Tell him to come on in.”

  There was a short pause, then Aristide said hesitantly, “We’re in Las Vegas, Your Highness. Not Monaco. We flew in last night—”

  Whatever he said next was lost to me as I buried my head under my pillow again with a muffled curse. Correction—I couldn’t shake my brother even when I was over nine thousand kilometers away. I held my hand out with my head still buried. “Fine. Give me the damn phone.”

  After a beat Aristide placed his mobile in my hand.

  I shoved it under the pillow and held it up to my ear. “What?”

  “I, uh, that is—Bonjour, Your Highness.” Bastien’s assistant’s stuttering voice met my less-than-polite greeting. “If you’ll please hold, I’ll have Prince Sébastien on the line momentarily.”

  I bit back a groan. Zara was such a delicate girl. She definitely didn’t deserve the ire I had for Bastien. “Zara, I apologize. I thought you were—”

  “Please hold, Your Highness.”

  A few clicks came across the line and then Bastien barked, “Luc, what are you doing?”

  I rolled over onto my back and shoved at the pillow nearest me. “It’s—” I took a second and looked around my hotel room for a clock, but with the drapes shut tight I couldn’t see shit. “It’s the goddamn morning. What the hell do you think I’m doing?”

  “Well, according to your itinerary you should be…” A rustling sound filled the void before Bastien continued. “You should be preparing for your visit with the Meyer Corporation about their interest in building a resort in Monaco.”

  “Was that before or after my scheduled piss break?”

  “You’re not funny, Lucien. You are a rep—”

  “Representative of the Crown. It’s my duty to speak for our people. I got that memo.”

  “Apparently not, because your assistant called hours ago to ask which meeting could be canceled at short notice and which you couldn’t avoid.”

  “I apologize. Aristide misspoke. I’ll clear up the misunderstanding myself.” I shot a glare at the closed door my assistant had darted through the second he handed me the phone.

  “Good. I’m glad you’ve seen reason. We won’t have anymore—”

  “He should’ve canceled them all.”

  Bastien sighed, and I could almost see him rubbing his temples the same way mon Père did when I pissed him off. “Lucien, we sent you there to—”

  “Give the keynote address at the conference. That’s all I signed up for. That’s all I’m doing.”

  “Lucien, be serious. You know that no international visit is as simple as that. There must be a purpose for our citizens to foot the bill of our extravagant trips. You cannot seriously think one speech is enough compensation for a ten-day bender in Las Vegas. So you will meet with the gaming officials, companies, and hoteliers we have scheduled, and the additional business contacts will—”

  “No. I agreed to the keynote speech, and I’ll give the damned speech, but I’m not spending every moment of what you sold to me as a vacation in business meetings. I’ll look over the schedule myself and decide which businesses and officials are vital to our economy and meet with them. Aristide will cancel the rest. But that’s it. You can take your itinerary and shove it up your ass. I’m not your damned puppet. End of discussion.”

  Before my brother could say another word, I hit the red button on the screen and ended the call.

  Then threw the phone at the door.

  “Aristide! Get your ass in here!”

  We had some shit to sort out before my date with Hannah.

  Chapter 5

  I should’ve known I was in for an interesting evening when Dimitri made that chortling sound after he looked up the address Hannah texted me. But I didn’t give it much thought. I was just excited to see her again.

  So when I got out of the SUV and saw the large neon sign EROTIC HERITAGE MUSEUM, I burst out laughing.

  “Your Highness, we should—”

  I cut Nicolas off. “What did I say about titles w
hile we’re here?”

  “Je suis désolé, monsieur. But we should—”

  “Stay at least five meters away from Hannah and me at all times. I don’t need the awkwardness of having to explain you lot while I’m with her.”

  “Oui, monsieur. It would be—”

  “And keep Dimitri out of sight. Have him watch the vehicle or parking lot or something. She knows his face.”

  “Oui, monsieur. If—”

  My phone pinged with an incoming text. “She’s inside.”

  “If you’ll just wait in the vehicle until we get someone inside to sweep the building, monsieur.”

  “You have three minutes, then I’m going inside. Safe or not.” I wasn’t going to make her wait for me any longer than that.

  “Oui, monsieur.”

  I ducked back inside the SUV and shot Hannah a text to burn some time.

  From me: On my way. I think my driver is lost.

  It wasn’t technically a lie. My driver was a member of my security team, and I hadn’t seen him for a few minutes. Knowing Étienne he was probably giving minute details to the management.

  From Hannah: You’re in a cab?

  From me: The hotel hired a car.

  Not gonna lie, I felt a little guilty about that fib. But how could I explain the lurking driver later on tonight? Instead of dwelling on it, I fired off another text.

  From me: What are we doing tonight?

  From Hannah: You’ll see when you get here.

  From me: Why is my driver laughing?

  From Hannah: See above.

  I had to laugh at her reply. Damn, she was cute. I did see when I’d arrived. The thought of walking through all the erotic displays with her had me hard and aching in seconds. Somehow I had to find a way to make my legs function because really all I wanted to do was find a private space with Hannah—preferably with a bed nearby.

  And something told me there’d be plenty of those inside this museum.

  “Everything’s secure, monsieur. We’re ready to go.” Nicolas’s voice jolted me out of my X-rated daydreams and straight into my X-rated present.