Page 62 of Royal Creed

She considers my request for a protracted moment. It should feel strange to establish ground rules for what is essentially an affair. My rational side screams at me to walk away now. That this is a disaster waiting to happen.

But there’s a certain amount of bargaining most addicts engage in as a way to rationalize their behavior.

Like I’m doing right now.

“Okay,” Esme finally answers with a determined nod. “He doesn’t get my body. Only you do.” She edges toward me, lips hovering over mine. “I’m yours to do with as you please.”

“I like the sound of that.” My cock twitches in my pants, my sex-crazed brain thinking of all the different ways I could interpret her words. “I really like the sound of that.”

I’m about to kiss her, but she presses a finger to my lips before I can. “Now I want you to promise me something.”

“What's that?”

I’ll promise her anything so long as it ends with being able to bury my cock deep inside of her. To watch as she comes undone. To hear those little moans of pleasure that drive me wild.

This is the power she has over me.

That she’s always had over me.

She draws in a deep breath. “I need you to promise you won’t fall in love with me.”

I blink, taken aback by her words. I thought she’d ask me to be as discreet as possible in public. Or make sure I don’t let anything slip around Adam.

But this request… I don’t know how to respond.

It’s not a promise I can make without feeling like I’m deceiving her.

“If this arrangement’s to work,” she continues when I don’t immediately agree, “I think it’s best we set…boundaries. And that’s mine. My hard limit, so to speak.”

“Love is your hard limit?”

“In my life, it has to be. There’s no place for love in a monarchy,” she says, repeating the words her grandmother has told her time and again. You hear something enough, you eventually believe it.

And I hate that Esme doesn’t think she can have it all. That she doesn’t think she can allow anyone to love her like she deserves.

But if this is what she needs in order to agree to this arrangement, I’ll give it to her.

Eyes locked with hers, I nod. “I promise not to fall in love with you.”

“And I won’t fall in love with you.”

“Okay.” I pretend the thought of never possessing her heart doesn’t pain me like it does.

“Now that that’s settled…”

She stands, heated gaze trained on me as she hooks her fingers into her shorts, sliding them down her legs. Then she extends her hand toward me. I place mine in hers, allowing her to pull me to my feet.

“As much as I love a man in gray sweatpants, I think they’d look much better on the floor.”

I chuckle, warmth and affection radiating through me.

While I love the sexy and sultry side of Esme I’m lucky enough to see on occasion, there’s something about these lighthearted moments I absolutely adore. Love seeing her smile. Love knowing I’m one of the few people who gets to know the playful woman beneath the glittering jewels and tiaras.

“I’ll always give you everything you desire, princess.” I push my sweatpants down my legs, grinning to myself when she shifts her gaze to my erection, pupils dilating. “Now tell me…”

I loop an arm around her waist, dragging her body against mine. When I slowly circle my hips, her lips part, breaths coming quicker. Gripping her face with a single hand, I force her eyes up.

“What exactly is it you desire?”

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