Dirty Royal: A Bad Boy Royal Romance (8 page)

I turn back to the door just in time to see what appears to be a contingent of personal stylists and attendants, all sharply dressed in starched white shirts and dark bottoms, briskly entering my suite with purpose to their step. At the head of the line are two tall women, one brunette and one a fiery redhead, carrying what looks like a thin suitcase between them. When they open up the case and start setting up its contents on a side table, I see that it’s a massive collection of every kind of makeup imaginable. They’re followed closely by three ladies, each of whom are rolling a different rack of clothing into the room. Behind them are two young women who must be massage therapists because they immediately get to work setting up a treatment table.

“What is all this?” I say, once I can pick my jaw up off the floor.

“This is your team of personal attendants,” Claire says nonchalantly. “You can have any or all of them here any time you choose.”

“My
team
?”

“Yes. Prince Alexander was explicit in his orders that you were to be provided with the very best team of professionals that Saintland has to offer.” Claire beams at the hive of activity buzzing at full throttle around the room, and then looks me up and down. “I imagine that after your trip yesterday, you’ll want to enjoy a shower. When you’re done, you can begin your massage. The nail technician should be here by then, and after that, we can go over style options—.” At what must have been a befuddled look on my face, she laughs, waving her hand towards me dismissively. “Just hop into the shower, Ms. Reeves. We’ll be here when you get out.”

This is one part of royal life that I could definitely get used to.

For the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon, I am pampered shamelessly. The suite’s bathroom itself was a damn work of art—gleaming marble surfaces, a shower with three different faucets, and tilework that belongs in an art show—and after I emerged from the shower, scrubbed clean, my skin lightly scented by the hotel’s fragrant soap—a combination of vanilla and orchid that’s absolutely divine—I received the most sensual, relaxing massage of my life.

The beauty team went to work after that. I had my hair cut and styled. My makeup was applied so flawlessly I could hardly tell I was wearing any. They steered me through the decision process for choosing the perfect evening gown, shoes and accessories for an evening out. As busy as I was with all the fussing and attention, though, something was missing.

The one thing that nagged at me throughout the day was the silence. No calls from Alec. No texts from Alec. But he was all I could think about. My entire body throbbed with an aching need for him. After that mind-blowing kiss, it was unfair to leave me alone, fucking
yearning
for him. At several points throughout the day, I found myself rubbing my thighs together under my plush robe, trying to release some of the pent-up frustration centered between my legs.

“Is Alec—Prince Alexander—planning to visit me today?” I ask Claire in between my manicure and wardrobe selection.

“Oh, I’m sure he is,” she says with a sly grin. “I imagine he’ll be here as soon as his daily agenda allows.”

He can’t get here soon enough.

Just before seven, the team disperses, scattering into the hallway as if they’re all responding to an alarm that I can’t hear.

Claire is the last one to go. “I’ll be back tomorrow,” she says in an eager tone, just before she pulls the door closed behind her. “Have a wonderful evening, Ms. Reeves!”

I haven’t caught my breath from the day’s activity when there’s a double knock at the door.

I scramble anxiously to open it, even though I’m feeling slightly ridiculous wearing a silky red evening gown that’s cut low, showing off my cleavage to its best advantage, with a slit on the side of the skirt that allows my legs and satin shoes to peek out seductively. That is, I feel self-conscious until I see Alec standing there, dressed to the nines in a black tuxedo. When he sees me, his eyes light up with a lustful spark and he bites down on his lower lip.

“You,” he says softly, “are the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen.”

My heart beats heatedly in my chest and I smile at the sight of his. I lunge towards him, throwing my arms around his neck and pulling him into the room. Before I realize what I’m doing, I’m kissing him passionately no longer able to control the fire that’s been up steadily smoldering in my system throughout the day for this man. When Alec comes up for air, he’s laughing. “No, no, you insatiable vixen. We can’t waste all these people’s hard work.”

“Yes, we can. We can do anything. You’re the prince, remember?” As I speak, I start planting kisses down the length of his neck, but I feel him tense as I get the last few words out.

Still, he smiles down at me tenderly, a hint of lust still shining through. “Won’t you let me take you out first? I think a proper date has been a long time coming.”

Chapter 16

Alec

Jessica is stunning in the red gown, and when she locks her arms around my neck and presses her mouth against mine, it’s all I can do not to slam her down on the bed, strip off that sexy dress, and fuck her senseless for the rest of the evening, dinner plans be damned.

But I resist. I realized after leaving my father and brother yesterday that I have two pressing goals that need to be tended to immediately.

First, I need to show Jessica the very best of everything that Saintland has to offer. One could argue that I do that each time we’re in bed together, but there is more to our country than my glorious princehood.

Equally important is demonstrating to my asshole father and dickhead brother that Jessica is not some mail-order date or rent-by-the-hour companion. I am committed to exploring a long-term relationship with her. The last thing I’m going to do is either stay away from her or send her away.

That’s assuming I’m even capable of sending her anywhere that isn’t right by my side
, the voice in my head observes.

She didn’t answer when I knocked at the door. Claire reported to me earlier that Jessica only woke up when she’d been knocking for several minutes, so she must have been exhausted from traveling.

That was cold goddamn comfort. It was painful walking back to the town car in the chill evening air, my cock rock-hard anticipating all the things I had planned to do to her gorgeous body.

So now, even though I want to lock the door behind me right now and fuck her until she’s incoherent with pleasure, I instead escort her down to the lobby and usher her into an even finer car from the royal fleet. It’s a black Rolls-Royce Phantom, and even Nate can’t hide the joy he takes in driving it.

I’m perplexed. Jessica still looks mildly disappointed.

The tension is thick as we ride through the streets of Sainthall, and it doesn’t help that Jessica, with a wicked grin, slides her hand over the front of my pants, cupping my visible bulge before she gives my cock a squeeze. She keeps her head turned toward the window.

“Oh, what’s that?” she says innocently, as she strokes me through my pants, pointing with her other hand toward an art gallery with an interesting facade.

“An art gallery,” I say, my voice hoarse, as I clear my throat.

Nate intuitively knows to keep his eyes facing forward on the road the entire drive.

We pull up a few minutes later in front of the Diamond Circle, without a doubt the highest-caliber dining establishment in all of Saintland and many of the surrounding European nations. Ultra-wealthy members of high society come from all over the continent to eat here.

I precede Jessica out of the car; she steps out gracefully, only looking a little surprised when cameras start flashing.

I slip her hand into my elbow and pat it, leaning down to speak softly in her ear. “I’m sorry I didn’t prepare you for the press on the way over—it slipped my mind.”

She beams up at me, her cheeks a little flushed, and I know her panties must be soaked already. “I can’t imagine how you could have forgotten.” Then, because she continually finds ways to surprise me, she turns and gives the photographers standing in a group next to the red carpet runner leading into the building a little wave. They go wild, whistling and calling out questions, which she ignores.

Once we’re inside, being led to our table by a uniformed waiter, I say in a low voice, “So you’ve encountered the press before?”

“I should have mentioned it,” she says casually. “Our mutual friend Christian has been known to attract some attention from time to time.”

A woman who can handle media attention with grace. Damn. The more I learn about Jessica, the more perfect she seems.

As we make our way through the restaurant to the best table in the house, I pause every few steps to nod in greeting to one citizen or another. As we move through the tables, I notice there’s a wavelike hitch in the conversation. The citizens of Saintland want to remain casual in my presence, but they’re a little starstruck, too—likely by Jessica and not me.

The waiters begin their dance, bringing sparkling glasses of wine and plate after plate of delicacies, and Jessica delights in it all. It doesn’t take long for us to run out of small talk, but there’s something I’m dying to know before this budding relationship goes any further.

“Jessica,” I say, and she finishes a bite of scallop and looks up at me, her eyes glittering with happiness in the candlelight.

“Yes, Prince Alexander?” She giggles a little after she says it, and I can’t blame her. It must seem so strange to an American to have fucked a member of royalty.

“What made you reconsider?”

“Reconsider what?”

“Your no-strings policy.”

She puts down her fork, her face turning serious, and then she glances around to make sure no one is within earshot. After taking a deep breath, she speaks. “That…that’s a rule I set for myself after a bad experience I had with a guy.”

I notice the worried reaction in her eyes, and I reach for her hand, covering it with mine. “You don’t have to—.”

“No. No, we’ve come all this way—.” She looks to the side and bites at the inside of her cheek. After a moment she looks me straight in the eye. “I was in a relationship for two years with a man named Michael. He was…he wasn’t a good man, and he had a lot of anger issues. He was volatile and vindictive and awful, and I stayed with him because I was afraid of starting over. I don’t know why. Shit, I— She censors herself, glancing around at the dining room. ”I’ve always made a point of being independent. The moment I feel something’s wrong in my life, I make a plan to change it. But with him…” Her voice trails off, and she looks down at her plate again. I notice she is trying not to let me see her tremble. “He terrified me, but he also made it seem like leaving him would be a fatal mistake.”

I remain silent, but it’s hard to keep my lips pressed together, to keep the words in my mouth. My chest is filled with rage, thinking of this man, thinking of what he must have done to frighten a tigress like Jessica.

She blows a breath out through her perfect lips and her eyes are sad. “After I finally got up the courage to leave, I swore to myself that I’d never go on a second date with a man who didn’t seem a hundred percent worthy of my time. Since then, nobody has cleared the bar. Until you.”

I can’t help smiling when I hear that.

“I don’t know how—how to say this more plainly, Alec,” she says, her voice soft, her eyes locked on mine. “I’m going out on a limb with this situation. I’m taking a big risk by being here with you. But I feel, deep down, like there’s something between us that’s going to make the gamble worth it.”

The conversation has turned heavy, turned deep, yet it doesn’t make me want to turn and run in the other direction. It makes me want to hold Jessica tightly in my arms and kiss her until every terrible memory is wiped away with passion.

Instead, I keep it simple. “I feel that, too.”

Her face breaks into a wide, dazzling smile, and she squeezes my hand. “Well, thank God,” she says with a laugh. “That would have been so unbelievably awkward if all you wanted were a few all-night sex-fests.”

It’s so incongruous—the opulent setting, her perfectly coifed hair, her flawless makeup, her sexy gown, her stunning smile—that I burst into laughter, causing heads to turn to look at us.

That’s the moment when I know: this is the start of something very, very real, pure and true.

All I have to do now is keep my father from destroying it.

Chapter 17

Jessica

After dinner, Nate drives us back to the Northern Crown, and Alec takes me up to my room while the Phantom idles outside.

The moment the elevator doors close behind us, he’s on me, his fingers tracing my jawline, our lips fused, his tongue dancing with mine in my mouth, tasting me deeply.

He tears himself away without a word when the doors open onto my floor, and practically drags me by the hand all the way to my door. His impatience is mirrored in the frenetic beating of my heart, and I feel breathless with desire.

Inside my suite, he kicks the door shut behind us and lifts me up in his strong arms, making a beeline for the bedroom.

He throws me down onto the bed and, though I want to laugh, I moan instead as he tears—literally tears—my dress off my body, ripping the red material in two.

“I need you right now,” he growls, and it hits me then that teasing him in the car on the way to the restaurant must have made lingering over our meal nothing short of torture. Now it makes sense why he seemed distracted on the ride back, and his usual collected cockiness nonexistent.

“Fuck me,” I plead, and he stares longingly into my eyes, breathing deeply. Without further hesitation, he rips my lacy panties from my hips and flings them to the side of the room.

He leaves me to unfasten and remove my bra while he strips off his own clothes, and I lay back on the bed, taking in the glorious sight.

His body is unreal.

Chiseled abs that taper down his happy trail to a narrow waist, and muscled arms that can lift me effortlessly. A handsomely carved face that begs me to lick its cut lines, defined cheekbones and kissable lips that beg to be touched.