Page 30 of Royal Catch
“It’s a delicate situation that can’t be taken care of through royal channels. There’s just me trying to make it right. I swear my intentions are good. I’m only doing what I have to do.”
Like me, she does what she needs to do for the good of her kingdom. Duty, honor, obligation. These I understand; these I value immensely. The walls I’ve always kept around my heart crumble as I finally admit the truth to myself—I’m in love with her. It’s too fast, crazy even, yet I’m strangely unconcerned. I’m lit up inside, alive and aware, completely tuned in to the sheer joy of holding her. The heat of her body through the silky robe, her spicy floral scent, the soft smooth skin of her legs pressed against mine. My God, I’m actually happy.
I kiss her tenderly. “I’ll help you. Tomorrow’s prize will be something of value that cannot be taken from you, only used for the good of your kingdom.” I could give her a jewel right now, but I selfishly want to keep her here as long as possible. Our monarchy has wealth in the form of jewels and some well-placed investments—we’re far from destitute—but that’s not enough to save our economy. Villroy must be self-sustaining to support generations to come.
“Thank you.” She’s quiet for a moment. “There will be only two of us left after tomorrow, so then I guess…after I leave, you’ll marry whoever is left.”
I want to marryher. I want my happiness over hers and that is not honorable. I cannot go against my parents’ wishes while my father is near death. He will side with my mother against Polly. I cannot ask Polly to squash her free spirit and confine herself to the restrictions of the royal life of a queen, especially with the additional burden of our faltering economy. Or can I?
“Do you miss home?” I ask.
She doesn’t answer. Maybe it’s a sore subject.
“I ask because you seem different from your pictures at official events. More free and outgoing now.”
“You looked me up?”
“Yes. I was curious.”
She’s quiet for so long I think she won’t answer, but she finally says, “I don’t miss home. It was stifling. I needed to get away and experience freedom. But that doesn’t mean I won’t do right by them.”
“I understand.” It’s as I suspected. She would not be happy with the rigors required of the queen here in Villroy.
She sighs. “Thank you for understanding and for helping me.”
There’s nothing more to say. We have only this, and I can’t deny myself any longer. I roll on top of her and kiss her. The pleasure of my body finally fully pressed against hers is staggering. She returns my passion, eager, enthusiastic, and I tell myself that nothing that happens between us can be wrong.
~ ~ ~
Anna
This is our last night together. He’ll give me what I need to help Polly. I can never be what he needs as a wife, a queen. I’m just the kind of commoner they’d toss out on their ass—an orphan. I tell myself it doesn’t matter what I do now. I can be me in the dark privacy of Gabriel’s room. We both understand what this is.
He’s gentle with me, so gentle as he pushes me to my back and kisses me. Slow deep kisses, his hands smoothly stroking over my robe, down my arms, my sides, my legs. It’s decadent, and I melt into the mattress. He lifts his head and leans back just enough to untie my robe. I’m wearing a black cotton V-neck slip. I sit up and take off everything—robe, slip, thong—and fling them to the far side of the king-size bed. Ha! King-size for a future king. But he’s not a king to me when it’s the two of us. He’s just Gabriel.
He turns on the bedside lamp, and I blink against the sudden brightness. “I needed to see you.” His voice is gravelly. “You’re beautiful, so beautiful.”
“Thank you.” I look my fill at his gorgeous muscular shoulders, wide chest, flat abs, and hard cock straining against his boxer briefs. “So are you.”
He cradles my face with both hands and kisses me deeply, and then he’s guiding me back to the mattress, his body covering mine. He holds himself up on his forearms, holding most of his weight as he kisses his way across my jaw to the sensitive spot under my ear, letting his teeth scrape there, drawing a hot shiver before continuing down my throat, my collarbone, and then lavishing attention on my breasts, kissing and tasting like he has all the time in the world.
I have never been treated this way in bed. Like I’m precious, a jewel that he wants to discover. I’m warm and languid, relaxed with a man in a way that’s foreign to me. Like we were always meant to come together in this way.
I sink my fingers into his thick hair and give a tug, urging him back for a kiss. He returns to my mouth, and I kiss him passionately. His hand slides up my ribs to my breast, his fingers pinching my nipple. The sharp sensation steals my breath. He shifts downward again, taking my hard nipple into his mouth and suckling. My back arches, each hard suck bringing a delicious tightening inside me.
I spread my legs wide in invitation, needing him there. He seems to understand without a word from me as he shifts to my other breast, suckling hard, his hand trailing down my belly and between my legs. Even then, he’s in no rush, teasing me lightly with his fingers.
I lift my hips. “More.”
He gives me a wicked smile before giving me a pinch that’s an electric shock. I cry out and then he lowers his head, his tongue soothing, licking across my tight bud. White-hot jolts of pleasure rock me with every lap of his tongue.Fu-u-uck. I grip his hair, moaning loudly.
I never want him to stop. Never, ever.
My mind shuts down, my fingers loosening their grip as I float in a haze of pleasure. His mouth is hungry, and then he slides a finger inside me and then another. I moan softly.
He lifts his head, and, worse, he withdraws his fingers, resting them on my upper thigh. “Polly, I don’t mean to be indelicate, but you don’t feel like a virgin. You can be honest with me.”
Think, Anna!My brain scrambles for an explanation other than I lost it in Joey’s Subaru after prom. I can’t fuck this up. This is my one and only chance to be with him. My gut tells me this is not the time to blurt out one hundred percent truth. I want him so desperately.Think!Tampon, maybe, definitely TMI, or maybe gymnastics or horseback riding. I don’t know! I just need him backnow. “Sometimes there’s no hymen or, um, other things can happen to it. Womanly things.”
