Page 18 of The Princess and Her Mercenary

Ndari jumped and whirled around, dropping the empty ice cube tray that she'd found in the freezer.

“You guys didn't think to feed me,” she pointed out petulantly. “Captives do need feeding you know.”

He chuckled. “You ain’t a captive anymore. Remember? You agreed to this.”

She rolled her eyes. “As if I had a choice.”

He shrugged. “Doesn’t matter now. You agreed to stay willingly, so you stay. You ain’t a captive, you’re my guest.”

“Oh good,” she said drily, sticking her hand out. “Then give me some money. I'm going to get some food.”

He frowned at her. “You're not leaving. There's still security issues.”

“What security issues? My brother can't possibly find us here. And we do need food. I don't want to starve to death. If that's your plan, then you can send me right back to the palace. I’d rather starve to death in style, surrounded by my wardrobe and the townspeople who will be forced to mourn my passing.”

He grabbed her hand impatiently and pulled her into another room, the dining room. There was a huge table with six chairs and a chandelier swinging above. It was beautiful. The whole home was beautiful. But even more beautiful to Ndari, was the spread of food on the table.

She grinned and clapped her hands. “Now we're talking.”

On the table there was chicken, mashed potatoes and vegetables. There were pastries, chocolate cake and a bowl of whipping cream. There was every kind of comfort food she could have hoped for.

She didn’t wait for an invitation. Instead, she took the chair that was closest to the food, sat down and piled as much as she could onto her plate. Keane watched for a few minutes as she stuffed food into her mouth like she would never eat again. Then he slid into the chair next to her and started to eat. They fell silent for a few minutes as they assuaged their hunger.

When Ndari's stomach was full, she leaned back with a sigh and looked at him. “This was wonderful. But what's next?”

Those few simple words created a perfect storm of erotic chaos around them. She could feel the heat coming from Keane as he looked over at her. She'd been fed. She was safe. She knew what came next. Her breath caught and her skin prickled with heat. She definitely wanted him as bad as he wanted her, but she didn't really know how to deal with the feeling.

He would have plenty of experience with sex. The guy looked like the ultimate player with his big muscly body and his ‘give no shits attitude’. She knew that work was more important to him than women though, so he wasn't as much of a player as he looked, but she was pretty sure he got around. She’d heard stories of his conquests from the men guarding Jaya. She didn’t know how much of that was exaggeration, but there was usually fire where there was smoke.

And, well, she was experienced too. Mostly just quick fucks with the palace guards. Well, the ones that weren't her cousins. As long as she was discreet, her brother didn't seem to care. And she was discreet. She didn't do it very often. But she was a grown ass woman, and she had needs too. Damn it.

Fucking Keane though... that felt different. Not like fucking, but more like sex with someone she loved. She'd never done that before. Maybe that's why she was so nervous. What if he was better at it than her? What if he got bored quickly? She’d never particularly cared about her skills in bed, so long as she got off. Now, she wished she’d paid more attention to what might please a guy like Keane.

She looked at him. His eyes were narrowed on her. Not in a bad way, like he was annoyed, but more like he was thinking. She figured he was trying to decide which side of sex she was going to fall on and what his reaction to her decision would be. She could see it all in his sea foam green eyes. He didn’t hide the lust, the heat, or the steel from her. She saw it all and it made her want him even more.

What would he do if she refused? Would he force her? The thought made her heart speed up. Not with anxiety, but excitement. The idea of pitting her strength against his, of wrestling with him for sexual gratification. It was hot. She was not one to suppress her sexual desires and she’d always loved those bodice ripper romances where the hero had to overcome the heroine’s resistance. Oh, not in real life, of course. She wanted her men to cater to her whims, to listen to her when she spoke. And if a man ever tried violence on her for real, she would de-ball him at her very first opportunity. But the fantasy of it, the adrenaline rush of being held down and then fucked rough.

It didn’t matter though. The fact was, she wanted him too, and she wasn’t about to put up any resistance. Not yet. She didn’t want to risk him backing down and not fucking her out of some noble intent or something. She wanted sex, she just needed time. A few minutes even.

“Do you mind if I go back to my room for a few minutes?” she asked, looking up at him from beneath her lashes. She knew this move made her lashes look incredibly long and silky. It should make her irresistible. He would have no choice but to give her what she wanted.

“Not without me,” he said gruffly, denying her.

“But I really do need a few minutes,” she insisted. “I need to shower. I need to brush my teeth. I just need some space to gather my thoughts.”

He stepped up to her until his chest touched hers. “Baby, I've given you space. Those months after you left Indonesia? That was your space. You don't need space anymore.” He paused and then added, “Unless your space is big enough to include me. We can have space together.” He looked proud of himself for compromising.

She glared at him. “You don't get to decide if I need space or not.”

He glared back. “That's exactly what I do get to do. Kidnapper’s privilege.”

“I’m not a kidnap victim,” she snapped. “You said I wasn’t!”

“Changed my mind.”

She pushed herself away from the table and stood. He stood with her, facing her down.

“You belong to me and this is how it's going to go. Did you think sex would be off the table? Did you think that you'd come all the way here with me and that we wouldn't have sex?” He seemed genuinely bewildered by the idea, as if he couldn’t wrap his head around the thought of not having sex with an available woman.

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