The Princess and Her Mercenary: A Driven Hearts Novella

by Nikita Slater

  Without a goodbye, Keane didn't bother, Keane took her arm and strode to the nearest exit. His man held the door open for them as they left the warehouse and wandered out into the cool Dublin night. Keane didn't say much as they travelled back to the hotel, but she could feel the heat coming off him. Mostly because he still hadn't bothered putting a shirt on and she was leaning against his bare chest. Her ear was pressed over his heart where she could hear the thump, thump, thump of his aliveness.

  When they arrived, he helped her out of the vehicle and into the hotel. Keane ignored the pointed look the concierge gave him, frowning at his bare chest, and pulled her into the elevator. The second the door closed behind them and they were finally alone he pressed his lips to hers pushing her back against the mirrored wall. In perfect sync with him, Ndari's arms were winding around his neck.

  He tugged at her clothes, uncaring of who might see them. Without breaking the kiss, he lifted her up into his arms and stepped off the elevator when it arrived on their floor. Her skirt rolled up her thighs as she wrapped her legs tightly around his waist. He fumbled with the door and finally managed to open it, Ndari still in his arms.

  "Fuck me, Linton. Fuck me right now!" she panted into his ear.

  He needed no other prompt than that. He reached under her skirt and tore her panties from her body, the sting of the fabric against her skin exciting her even more. Wetness gathering between her thighs. She reached between them and shoved his boxing shorts down over his cock, freeing the beast.

  "Want you so fucking bad." He turned them so that her back was against the door, then he pulled her down onto his rigid cock, impaling her until she was so full she arched her back to ease the pressure and gasped for breath. She dug her nails into his shoulders and let out a moan.

  "I want you too," she whispered. "I'll always want you."

  Her words seemed to unleash something inside him, and he was slamming into her like he would never get enough. Her back hit the door repeatedly, but she didn't care; all she felt was the intense building pressure of a monumental orgasm about to take place. It hit hard and fast. She flung her head back smacking it into the door and let out a scream. She didn't care who heard them, she didn't care if the cops came busting through the door because she was screaming bloody murder, she only cared about how phenomenal it felt to be in his arms, fucking like animals.

  As she was turning into a melting puddle of goo against the door, he slammed himself into her twice more and then let out a ferocious shout, unloading jets of semen up inside her. Dammit, no condom again. She was not ready to be a mother yet. She was pretty sure sticky little fingers and Crown jewels did not go well together.

  They made it to the bed in time for a second bout of lovemaking. This time she managed to gasp the word, “Condom,” before he surged inside her. The second time around their movements were less frantic as they explored each other, their bodies coming back to life with a few touches, licks and kisses. The culmination of his fight tension crashed into her desperate and constant need for him, creating the perfect inferno of orgasmic energy.

  Later, as they lay cooling off, Ndari rolled against Keane and gazed up at his face. “We need to start using condoms, Keane. Believe me, I’m just as excited as you to get to the fucking, but the 10 extra seconds it takes to put a condom on won’t kill anyone.”

  “It might,” he grumbled.

  She tweaked his nipple. He growled and slapped her hand away.

  “Fine, we can use condoms for a while. Not ready to be a dad anyway.”

  “My point exactly,” Ndari said with a smile, falling back against the pillows. “As much as I would love an urchin or two in the very far future, I’m not ready to share you, or our time.”

  “Agreed,” he grunted, his gorgeous red eyelashes starting to drift shut. She loved the colour of his hair. It was dark at the roots, almost auburn, but faded out to a bright red, ending in a lighter, almost blond colour at the tips. It was natural and beautiful, and she wished she could bottle it in a kit. She’d make millions.

  "Was your mom upset that we decided not to spend another night there?" Ndari asked.

  "No," Keane said, trailing his fingers over her belly. "Mom is a realist. She knows exactly what her son wants to do with his girlfriend. It's better for everyone that we do it in a hotel room than in that tiny little bed with the paper-thin walls. I think one desecration was enough."

  She giggled remembering how they'd made love in his bed. It had been a rickety little thing, jumping around as Keane fucked her. Now that she was thinking about it, she really hoped Mary hadn't heard them.

  Ndari sighed contentedly, snuggled against Keane and closed her eyes. Life didn't get much better than this.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  The next few days were an awesome whirlwind of spending time with Mary, sightseeing and hanging out with Keane’s rediscovered buddies. His team of mercenary soldiers seemed to get along well with the Dublin boys. Ndari was the happiest she ever remembered being. There were certainly aspects of palace life that she missed, like being catered to hand and foot. But there was also a certain charm in learning how to do things for herself. Like how to plant flowers.

  She was kneeling in the dirt next to Mary out front of the older woman's house. Mary was showing her how to make a trough in the dirt so that she could plant the delicate petunias that they had purchased together at something called a nursery. But a nursery for flowers, not children, which Ndari had never heard of before. Ndari had chosen deep purple petunias, her favourite colour. Purple reminded her of royalty.

  "Not like that, dear." Mary brushed Ndari's hands aside and used what she called a spade to dig the hole a little deeper. "It's best if you make the hole like this and then pile the dirt up the stem. You just want to make sure that the petals are well above the dirt."

  Ndari took over digging the trenches for her row of petunias. "Like this?" she asked.

  Mary beamed at her and squeezed her arm. "Exactly like that."

  After they finished planting the petunias, Mary showed her how to water them gently with the watering can, then how to wipe the dirt off the petals so that they could get the maximum amount of sunlight. Ndari was enthralled by the whole process. She had received many flowers in her lifetime, some of them very rare, some of them very expensive, sometimes enough to fill an entire room if she was being courted by a particularly ardent admirer. But none of those flowers felt quite like the joy she experienced when she planted the cheap petunias in Mary's front flowerbed.

  Ndari sat back on her heels and admired her handiwork, dusting the dirt off her hands and onto her silk Prada skirt. Maybe she would become a botanist or whatever the people who dealt with plants were called. Maybe this is what she needed, a calling in life.

  Mary and Ndari were settled at the table, in the kitchen, each with a cup of tea, when Keane pulled up to the house in their rental vehicle. A couple of his men parked on the street but remained in their vehicles. The security situation made Mary a little uneasy, but Ndari was used to being surrounded by security types so she barely noticed. She tried to reassure Mary by telling her the men were just a precaution. They were used to working with Keane as a team and wanted to be nearby him in case a contract came up. Ndari's explanation seemed to appease the other woman.

  Keane strode into the small kitchen and bent over to give his mother a kiss on the cheek followed by a much more vigorous kiss for Ndari on the lips. She smiled and kissed him back. She loved spending time with his mother, especially since her mother had passed away so many years ago. Being with an older woman who knew things that she didn't, who could answer some of her questions, felt like having a mother again.

  Keane stood behind Ndari with his hand cupped over her shoulder. She glanced up at him. She could sense something different. An intensity. Some of the lightheartedness that he'd exhibited over the past few days had disappeared. Ndari suspected that what she was seeing was Keane's professional side. If she had to guess, playtime was o
ver and it was time to go back to work.

  Keane confirmed her thoughts with his next sentence. "We'll be leaving Dublin in two days. I've been called into work."

  Ndari badly wanted to ask him what the work was. Had a new contract come up? Was it from someone he'd worked with before? Where was it? And last but not least, was he planning on taking her with him? Because Ndari had a few things to say about that. Including that she wanted to stay in Dublin, but she also wanted to be wherever he was. Dammit. She was now in emotional turmoil.

  As if reading her mind Keane squeezed her shoulder and said, "Ndari will be coming with me." Okay, so now she needed to know exactly where they were going, what her choice in luxury housing was and what the shopping situation would be.

  "You'll be coming back?" Mary asked anxiously, her eyes darkening with worry. Ndari wanted to reach out and touch the woman, maybe hug her, but this was between Keane and his mother.

  Keane knelt on the floor next to Mary and took her hand. "I will always come back, mom. I should never have left for as long as I did. But I was ashamed. I was ashamed of the things I'd done and the places I let my life lead me. You taught me to be better than that and I believed that you would be ashamed of me if I ever came back here."

  Tears filled Mary's eyes and she clutched Keane's hand to her chest. "I could never be ashamed of you, son. Over the years I was worried, but the checks you sent helped. Not just the money, but knowing you were still alive to send money. I knew you were out there somewhere, and I never lost hope that you would eventually make your way home." She turned her watery smile on Ndari and reached out to touch the back of her soon-to-be daughter-in-law’s hand. "And it was such a lovely surprise for you to bring your Princess home to me. I'm so grateful to not only have my son back, but to also have a daughter now."

  Ndari felt like her heart was bursting. It was such a strange feeling. Within the palace walls, back at home, such displays of emotion were almost forbidden. One did not express themselves wildly. Of course, Ndari hated traditions like that, and often challenged the systems within the palace. She would do her utmost to pull certain emotions out of her family members. But to feel these emotions herself? It was borderline uncomfortable. Though she wouldn't trade the moment for anything.

  "I think you can count on us being back often, at least a few times a year if not more," Ndari managed to say through a tight throat.

  Mary smiled, though there was still a sadness about her. Ndari thought she understood. She felt a wrenching deep in her soul at the thought of leaving Dublin permanently only to come back for a brief visit. Something told her that she would want more. Something told her that Ireland and Mary and the boys of Dublin could be home for her.

  Later that night, after a hearty meal of roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, caramelized carrots, and everything smothered in gravy, Keane and Ndari headed back to their hotel room. Ndari's belly was full and she was as content as she could ever remember being. She knew it was a combination of things that were making her feel this way. Keane's family, and even some of his security team, filled the void inside. A void that had been empty for a long time from lack of family. She loved her brother, but he had his royal duties to attend, and she usually only got in his way. The rest of her family were cutthroat power seekers. Not people she wanted to associate with.

  "Thank you," she said quietly to Keane, reaching out to touch his arm as he drove. He took her hand in his and placed it on his thigh where he could rub his fingers over hers while he drove.

  "Thank you for what?" he asked, his eyes still on the road.

  Ndari thought it over. She had a lot to be thankful for, but Keane was a man of few words. She needed to be succinct if she wanted to get her sincerity across. "Thank you for giving me the things in my life that I didn't know I was missing until you gave them to me."

  He seemed to think this over and then he squeezed her hand hard enough that it was a little uncomfortable. But she didn't mind, she knew it came from a place of love.

  "From the day I met you, you’ve been giving me the things that I didn't realize I was missing," he said, echoing her own words. "You filled something inside me. Made me want to be a better man. Made me want to reconnect with my past. You've given me something to look forward to in life, rather than just a reckless pursuit of danger."

  This reminded Ndari, she had no idea what his new contract was about. She shifted in her seat and gazed at him. "Can you tell me about this new contract?" she asked hesitantly.

  She didn't know how much of his work would be private and how much he could share with her. Or how much he wanted to share with her. For her part, Ndari wanted everything. Even the bad things, even the things that were hard to hear. Even if it scared or worried her, she wanted to know exactly how much danger the man she loved would be in.

  He seemed to weigh his words as though understanding that she needed to know certain things. Finally, he said, "The contract is in Brazil. A wealthy client that I worked for before. He likes to take on charity cases."

  Ndari realized right away that this was the sanitized version. From here she had a choice. She could be happy in the knowledge that Keane was taking a contract, that he was doing something he loved, some sort of humanitarian mission. Or, she could find out the truth.

  "Tell me please," she asked. "I really want to know. I won't be freaked out, I promise."

  They were stopped at a red light, so he turned to look at her, searching her features, as though wondering if she could handle the truth of his chosen profession.

  "A group of Brazilian soldiers have gone rogue and are killing civilians. Their perception is that the civilians are somehow involved in the drug trade over there. The soldiers have gone vigilante in an attempt to quell the drug trade. I've been hired to stop the soldiers." The light turned green and he drove through the intersection making his way toward the hotel.

  Ndari thought about it for a moment. "So… you'll have to kill the soldiers?"

  "Yes," he said shortly. She asked for the truth and he was giving her the truth. It didn't matter that it was an uncomfortable truth.

  "So, these people that are into drugs, are they drug dealers, are they drug users?" Ndari was trying to feel her way around in a new world. She didn't really understand the mercenary business and she definitely didn't understand the strife and struggle happening in other nations. She was almost embarrassed to admit that she never really had anything to do with world politics. She spent most of her life cloistered in a palace. She guessed mercenaries would have to know about stuff like that, so that they would know what contracts to take.

  "It's complicated," Keane said. "To the soldiers it doesn't matter whether the people are drug users or drug dealers. If they have anything to do with drugs, as far as the soldiers are concerned, they should be dead. My question is, who decides the value of life? Who says that the user is any more desperate than the dealer? There is usually a reason why so many people living below the poverty line end up in the drug trade. And it's not to become rich."

  Keane was giving her a lot to think about. He came across as this big gruff, perhaps less than intelligent, guy. But he wasn't. He was thoughtful. And she suspected he accepted his contracts based on his own conscience. Something she wouldn't have thought about him.

  "But you kill people? Aren't you deciding the value of life by accepting lucrative contracts to take the lives of others?" Ndari asked the tough question, a question that she knew would bother her once Keane was back in the field.

  He shrugged. "Some people just need killing."

  Though the conversation wasn't an easy one and the conclusion was somewhat messy, Ndari was glad that they broached it. If they could talk about the morality surrounding murder, then they could tackle any topic as a couple. Perhaps a somewhat simplistic viewpoint, but Ndari was in a new world with new rules and she was learning fast.

  When they arrived at the hotel, she was ready to let these deep thoughts go and embrace the sensual side of their relations
hip. Whenever they were alone together in a room Keane couldn't keep his hands off her, and she loved it.

  A grin started to stretch her lips as the elevator took them up towards their suite. They stepped off the elevator together but before Ndari could move toward their room, Keane shoved his arm out across her chest and pushed her into the wall. He covered her with his bigger body, pulling his two guns out of their holsters and holding them low and to his side.

  "What's happening?" Ndari asked, glancing around her with fear. What was he seeing that she wasn't?

  "My men." Keane bit out.

  "Where are your men?" Ndari asked, confused. When they left there had been two men stationed in the hallway.

  "Exactly."

  Ndari's heart started to beat harder. Had Eoin changed his mind? Was he coming after Keane with guns blazing? From everything Ndari had seen and learned about Keane and his men, they worked as a team. They were fluid. They almost didn't need words. They knew what their leader wanted, and they executed with precision. They were so good at their job that Ndari hardly even knew they were there. Part of that was conditioning from her palace life, but the larger part was just how good Keane and his team were at their jobs.

  "What are we going to do?" Ndari asked worriedly.

  "I’m going to get you somewhere safe, then I’m going hunting,” he growled, his muscles rippling with unreleased aggression. “We're too exposed out here. The elevator boxes us in. We need to take the stairs, where we can go either up or down, depending on where the threat’s coming from." Keane put one of his guns back in the holster and pulled a big sharp knife. Ndari guessed it was for close quarters combat.

  Ndari didn't want to be separated from Keane, but she recognized that she would slow him down if she went with him. Finding a safe place for her was probably their best option. Keane shuffled her toward the door with the big bright exit sign, the stairs. He shoved the door open but before they could walk through, half a dozen palace guards pushed them back. Oh shit, this wasn't about Keane, this was about her.