HeroUnleased (3 page)

“Everything and anything.”

“As a princess—”

“Do not even think of taking that tone with me, General.
This isn’t Skandavia. The old rules no longer apply.”

“Be that as it may, but in some cases I will insist that
they be. Princess, you are in danger.”

“Unless it is from boredom, that is highly unlikely.”

“Listen to me.” He squeezed her tight, drawing her gaze to
the intensity blazing in his dark-green eyes. “Hamerkind has the throne, but
not the people. If you were to return, he would lose his control. He has sent
an assassin to make sure you, my brother and myself do not return. I will not
let him succeed.”

Amaryllis melted at the command in his tone. The show of
strength pushed all of the submissive buttons she tried to deny possessing. She
licked her dry lips and shoved aside the desire to kneel at his feet and await
his instruction. “That’s ridiculous. As if I have any intention of returning.
How can this man even think the people will accept my leadership after the way
they treated me like an abomination?” She snapped her teeth together and
squashed the anger that flared at the reminder of her past. “I will tell this
assassin that his services are unnecessary and he will go.”

Lucian’s bark of laughter was so loud, it startled them
both. “Now who is being ridiculous? Bale is a cold-blooded killer. He will not
let you live long enough to draw a breath, let alone form an argument.”

“I do not know this Bale.”

“I do. And he’s dangerous. You need to come with me. I will
protect you.”

“And why should I trust you? You’ve completely ignored me.”

“That is not true. I told you I’ve kept track of you. I’ve
even dined in your restaurant a time or two.”

“A time or two?” Now that was surprising. Why monitor her
whereabouts without letting her know? “Then why haven’t you spoken to me?”

“Because I couldn’t—” He paused, his throat working hard as
he swallowed. “I…didn’t want to intrude on your new life. You’ve done quite
well for yourself, Your Highness.”

“Despite all the odds?”

“Yes.”

“Yet you don’t approve of all my endeavors.”

He glanced around the club again and at the mass of
undulating bodies crowding ever so closer. His lips pressed into a firm line
and he drew her into the curve of his body as if to shield her from their
touch. “Not all of them. You let others take too many liberties where you are
concerned.”

“Liberties?” She laughed and rubbed her cheek against his
slightly stubbled jaw. The scrape sent tiny chills across her skin. “You make
it sound so pedestrian. I like liberties. Come on, General. Haven’t you ever
done anything just for the pleasure, for the pure excitement of feeling your
blood race?”

He opened his mouth to argue but paused when she raised a
brow. “Maybe. In my youth. But never as a mature member of society.”

“Poor Lucian. What is the human saying? All work and no play
makes a man limp and feeble?”

His nostrils flared. “I am neither.”

“One dance, Lucian.” She barely contained her smile. “You
promised me one dance. Don’t do anything but feel the energy around us.”

Amaryllis drew his enticing scent of pine and musk into her
lungs then released a sigh of possibility. Lucian was so uptight, so formal.
What a magnificent sight he would make if he unleashed the primal male she
sensed lurking beneath the layer of responsibility.

The deep throb of bass pounded behind her chest as she let
the music take her over. Lucian easily supported her weight, swaying and
rolling with her movements and the driving primal beat. His steps were smooth,
graceful and in perfect tempo. Liar, he did know how to dance.

He was so warm, his body generated enough heat to make a
fine layer of sweat gather in her cleavage. A drop of perspiration slipped
under the silk of her dress and tickled her skin as it slid down her belly.
With each bob and weave their bodies fused together, surging in a gentle
cadence. She stifled a moan when his thigh slipped between her legs and pressed
against the ache growing in her core.

Oh if only they were naked. She snorted with repressed
laughter, if only they weren’t who they presently were.

Closing her eyes, she pictured another version of Amaryllis
and Lucian. One where he was cuffed to the wall, unable to prevent her from
touching him anywhere and everywhere she desired. Or perhaps she would allow
him to take the lead, letting him wield his authority to drive her to absolute
mindlessness.

The thought of allowing another to overpower her frightened
her as much as it had her near orgasm. She ground her pussy against the firm
muscles of his thigh, her breath grew faster as her stomach clenched tighter
and tighter. His fingers dug into her flesh before he slid his hands lower,
cupping her buttocks as he curled around her.

On the edge of the dance floor, a couple caught her
attention. The woman was fair and light while her male companion was as dark as
cocoa. He had her back pressed to his front, his broad hand a stark contrast to
the creamy skin of the breast he pulled from the bodice of her dress and
massaged with long fingers. Her skirt was hiked to her waist and with each
thrust of his hips, her mouth fell open on a cry. By the strain thinning his
lips, Amaryllis knew the woman was getting a delicious fucking.

Would Lucian ever take a woman so publicly? Say “fuck
decorum” and sate his hungers because he could not wait one more second to have
her howling beneath him?

With that thought her temperature rose as the heat and lusts
of the pressing crowd fed her arousal. The lips of her sex grew slick and her
nipples tightened where they were pressed flush against his hard chest. Along
her thigh his erection lengthened, making her mouth water at the thought of how
he’d feel sliding into her mouth. Gods did she want to taste him. Savor his
flavor and suckle his cock until he lost that tightly leashed control.

The brush of his lips against her neck made her shiver and
her head tip back, ready to accept the kiss she could already feel bruising her
lips.

“Lucian,” she sighed and gazed up into his drowsy green
eyes.

Awareness dilated his pupils as he drew a sharp breath.

“No.” He wrenched her away from him so hard, she stumbled in
her heels. His eyes blazed and his features turned to granite. “No. You cannot
think of me that way.”

Shame exploded in her chest, stealing the rest of her breath
as flames of embarrassment scorched her cheeks. That’s right. He was the
well-respected head of the royal guard and she was the improper princess who
couldn’t control her emotions. She wasn’t allowed to feel anything.

With as much self-respect as she could muster, she threw
back her shoulders and lifted her chin. “You message has been delivered,
General. You are dismissed.”

Pity filled his eyes as he lifted a hand in supplication.
“Amaryllis.”

The sound of her given name on his lips battered her
defenses. “Go, Lucianllanos. I command you.”

His lips tightened and an argument gathered in his eyes, but
he bent at the hips and turned, disappearing into the crowd.

The general may have left without protest, but he would not
be gone for long. He truly believed there was a threat to her safety, and he
was
Llanos
. His honor dictated he protect her. No matter how she might
wish otherwise.

She looked neither to the left nor right as she made her way
to the staircase sweeping up to her private room. No need to see the condoling
expressions on whoever witnessed her humiliation.

Her knees were still weak from Lucian’s embrace, which only
angered her all the more. Despite his protest, he had not been immune to her
closeness. The impression of the solid erection he pressed along her thigh made
it clear he was very interested in blurring the line between servant and
master. What bothered her now was the question of whether he was the stronger
one to put an immediate end to an affair probably destined to end in a flaming
blaze of disaster, or was he a coward for not being willing to take a chance on
the potential of something special.

Didn’t matter now, she rationalized. Lucian was never going
to allow her to get that close to him again, and she refused to waste energy on
bending the unbendable.

With each step toward her convictions, her feet dragged as
if weighted in concrete and not her strappy Louboutins. She had forgotten how
exhausting it was to continually lock down her emotions. What she loved most
about this new world was the freedom to feel what she wanted when she wanted.
Lucian’s rejection was a clear reminder of everything she hated about her
former life, and his reaction stung like a cut from a knife dipped in acid.

The bouncer at the foot of the stairs moved the velvet rope
for her as she approached.

“Do not let anyone unfamiliar up these stairs,” she murmured
to her man. “Use whatever means necessary. That goes for every area of the
club. Spread the word, please.”

“Yes ma’am.”

Just because she was angry at Lucian didn’t mean she was
stupid. The threat was real and she’d take the appropriate precautions.

As she entered the skyloft, the pounding music of the dance
floor faded and was replaced with the rhythmic sound of flesh meeting flesh,
punctuated by a guttural moan.

Amaryllis wove through the various couplings to her throne
of buttery white leather and velvet pillows. The loveseat was so deep, she
could easily lie flat on her back if she so wished.

In front of her a woman was laid facedown over an ottoman.
Dressed only in the studded cuffs that bound her wrists and ankles, she made a
stunning picture framed by the blond drilling his cock into her mouth and the
brunet who took her pussy with hard, quick thrusts that matched his partner’s.

Normally this type of tableau would be exactly what she
craved. Now the euphoria permeating the air depressed her. How she admired the
woman’s ability to let go and not care what people thought about her, not care
that her flanks rippled and breasts bounced. She was in the moment, and
Amaryllis envied her like no other.

The couch bounced as another body flopped down next to her.

“What’s wrong?” her new companion asked.

Ah Jorges. She should have known her best friend would seek
her out at her weakest moment.

“Nothing.” She jumped up, only to pause as her head swam.
Absorbing all the intense emotions swirling around the loft was like a smoker
taking a hit and not exhaling. Without the blessed relief of release, she was
ready to snap, and she didn’t need an audience to witness another humiliation.
Since a princess never hurried, she sashayed toward the balcony.

As she expected, Jorges followed on her heels. “Bullshit and
I think it has something to do with that massive hunk of beefcake I saw you
dancing with earlier. Who is he?”

“Just someone I know. No one special.”

“Puh-leaze. We treat you like a princess because you’re the
best and we love you, but he treated you like royalty. I think I actually saw
him bow. And that dance. You two were ablaze and it spread like wildfire. I’m
surprised more people aren’t fucking on the dance floor.”

The fact that Jorges noticed the heat Lucian denied did not
make her feel better.

She crossed to the floor-to-ceiling windows that allowed her
to see out, but kept others from seeing in, and looked to the floor below as if
through Lucian’s eyes.

A clash of humanity. Dark. Sin spilling from the shadows. A
cave of debauchery and vice where responsibility was dumped at the door and
rules touched with a match to burn to ashes. It was a wonder he bothered to
step across the threshold at all.

She looked to her friend and wondered. Jorges was a handsome
man, vibrant and healthy with wheat-colored hair tipped with gold and laughing
blue eyes. He had a lean, swimmer’s physique and tawny skin. An intricate
scrollwork tattoo, which she knew ran down the length of his torso to curl
around the base of his cock, peeked above the collar of his white t-shirt. It
was a design she’d traced with her tongue many times.

Was that wrong? Was it a bad thing to take pleasure from
another with no expectation of forging a lasting commitment? To engage in an
activity for the pure pleasure of feeling and nothing more? Did that make her
an awful person? An hour before the answer would have been fuck no, but now…

“What have we become, Jorges?” she whispered. “Is all that
we are only about sex?”

“You’re scaring me, Amaryllis. What are you talking about?
You love sex. Shit, you’ve built this entire place in glory of it.” He looked
at her in horror. “Why are you crying?”

“I’m not.” She swiped the tears from her eyes. He had spoken
the truth, mostly. “Was this wrong? Am I a bad person because I encourage
people to explore their sexuality and am not using my money to solve a greater
social issue?”

“Come here, honey.” He pulled her into a hug. “I don’t know
what’s gotten into you, but you’re talking crazy. And believe me, there is no
bigger social issue than people dealing with their sexuality. When you asked me
to design this club, the one thing you insisted on was that anyone who walked
through that door was welcome and should immediately feel at home. Has it
become the number-one sex destination in the northwest? Yes, but that’s because
you’ve done what you set out to do. Make people feel comfortable in their own
skin. Explore the side of their personality they’re too afraid to explore in
their normal environment. That is a gift, Amaryllis. You used to be proud of
that.”

She tightened her arms around his waist. “You’re right. I
was. I am. I guess I was looking too hard at my life through my eyes and not my
heart. Thank you for being a good friend.”

“I love you.” He kissed the top of her head. “You’re my
hero. It makes me sad to see you question your successes. Why do I get the
feeling this bout of self-doubt has something to do with your mystery man? Tell
me, who was that guy?”