Royals of Danovar: The Complete Series Read online

  “You have much to learn yet, my dear pupil.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “Speaking of that,” she said casually, “I’ve decided I’d like to give you head.”

  He nearly choked on his inhale. “What?”

  “Head. A blow job,” she clarified. “I want to test a theory.”

  He shifted in his seat. “A theory?” he managed. The idea of her mouth on him was hot as hell, but he was used to giving, not receiving. Letting her give him head felt more intimate than anything else they’d done together, somehow.

  “Yes. I’ve been doing research,” she said. The yarn tightened more around his hands. “And I think it might be a good way to ease me in before we…go further with my lessons.”

  “Well,” Eric said, “when you put it like that, how could I refuse?” Internally, though, he was as nervous as he was turned on. He’d never had a woman give him head without giving her pleasure in return. It made him feel strangely vulnerable.

  She didn’t waste any time. Leaving the yarn tight around his hands, she put the bag full of blankets on the floor and knelt atop it. She peered at the bulge of his swiftly hardening cock, that intense look on her face that she always had when she was concentrating or turned on—or, in this case, both. Her focus made his heart beat faster in anticipation, and when she lifted her hands to touch him through his pants, he had to stifle a groan. She stroked up, teasing him lightly as she unbuttoned his pants and pulled down his fly. She reached into his boxers, her soft touch the perfect counterpoint to his aching hardness, and pulled him out. Then she leaned back and drank in the sight of him.

  “I can’t wait to taste you,” she said, and the reverence in her voice made him feel like a god.

  She took him in her hand, wrapped her fingers around his length, and squeezed lightly. He groaned. Seeing her like this, so willing to try something new for him, it felt like a gift. She licked her lips as she played with him, watching his face to judge when he liked something, moving from his cock to gently run her fingernails along his balls. Then she smiled at him, bent her head, and licked him from shaft to tip.

  He dropped his head against the back of the chair, forcing himself to hold still instead of thrusting the way he wanted to. This was her first time doing anything like this, but apparently she was a fast learner, because the way she was swirling her tongue around him and then pulling back to blow cool air on his tip was nearly driving him to the brink already. And then, her eyes on his, she took him in her mouth.

  His hands curled into fists as tightness coiled at the base of his spine. He yanked his hands out of the yarn, swiftly pulled her hair tie out, and tugged her braid loose. He wrapped her hair around his hands and it was as silky and erotic as he’d imagined, and he used it to guide her as she moved up and down his length, her mouth covering him and her hands working at his base. She pulled out, ran his tip along her lips, made a satisfied noise. The vibration of it felt amazing. Her hair fell forward the next time she dipped to take him as far in her mouth as he would go, and the tight wetness of her mouth and the silky softness of her hair brushing against his balls nearly did him in. Unable to help himself, he moved with her, thrusting as gently as he could manage.

  She moved one hand off him and slid it between her legs, touching herself beneath her skirt, and the realization that she was enjoying what she was doing as much as he was pushed him further. She looked up at him as she did it, those intense brown eyes smoky with pleasure.

  “Fuck, you’re so beautiful,” he said, entirely at her mercy as she licked and blew and kissed and stroked. She moaned low in her throat as she touched herself, and it sent him over the edge. “Anna,” he growled, everything within him tensing, spiraling upward, “I’m going to…”

  She took him into her mouth again.

  He shouted and arched, pouring into her, fisting his hands in her hair as he spent himself. Then he dropped back into his chair, dazed and boneless, as she quickly went to clean up. She returned a moment later, looking sex-mussed and gorgeous, her hair wild over her shoulders.

  “That was amazing,” he said weakly. “You’re amazing.”

  She smiled. “I’m a quick study,” she said smugly, the look in her eyes showing how turned on she was by what they’d done.

  His hands were shaky as he cleaned himself up, trying to figure out what exactly had changed between them—because something had, he’d felt it. Her mouth on him, her gaze locked on his while she touched herself… it meant something. He just wasn’t sure what. But one thing he did know was that she’d given him something precious, a gift he never could’ve imagined.

  He had to find a way to pay her back.

  10

  Anna leaned back in the front seat of Eric’s fancy convertible, looking up at the stars. They were dazzling tonight, stretching far into the black, no longer hidden by the light pollution of Danovar’s capital city. Eric was taking her on a “nerd date” to the rural area of the country—he’d installed an app on his GPS that gave them an audio tour of the constellations that were spangled above them, and had driven her out to this beautiful overlook to enjoy the night sky.

  She gave him a sideways glance. He was enjoying himself, she could tell, but something was different. Something had been different between them ever since she’d given him head. She appreciated him letting her try something new on him, letting her prove to herself that she could have an intense sexual connection with a man if she let herself. She’d wanted a repeat event tonight, just to make sure she got in some extra practice—she always had been an overachiever—but he’d wanted to take her out instead. And even though she was having a good time, she was a little worried he thought he had to use this date to pay her back for the blowjob.

  This nerd date, she reminded herself, not a date-date. Because they weren’t dating. Even though she was starting to catch herself wishing they were. Dating Eric for real would be impossible; they were too different, and even if he truly thought she was as beautiful as he claimed, he’d had plenty of experience with beautiful women before. She was nothing new.

  But still, the wanting was there—the wish for a real relationship. It was dangerous, and she pushed it out of her mind before it could settle.

  “You don’t have to pay me back for anything, you know,” she told Eric, interrupting the GPS’s description of Ursa Major.

  He smiled over at her, but it looked a little forced. “I’m not,” he said, then put the car in gear. “Wait til you see what I’ve got planned next. You’re going to love it.”

  She buckled her seatbelt back up, frowning as she glanced at the time on the dashboard. “Just how long is this nerd-date?” she asked. “We’re already hours from the city—are you going to be awake enough to drive back tonight?”

  “We’re not driving back,” he said mysteriously, pulling out onto the main road.

  Half an hour later, she saw what he meant. “Whoa,” she said, standing in the lobby of the most fantastic bed and breakfast she’d ever seen. It was decorated like an old-time night club, but everything was in black, white, and varying shades of gray. She felt like she was in an old movie—and then she recognized the piano and the bar, and realized that was exactly how she was supposed to feel. “Is this… Casablanca?” she asked in awe.

  “Yep,” said Eric proudly. “This B&B is one of the best in the country, ranked at five stars. Every room’s décor is inspired by a different great love story.”

  She spun in a circle, taking it all in. Holy moly—this place was incredible. “Which one is ours?”

  “All of them.”

  She stopped spinning and blinked at him. “What?”

  “All of them,” he repeated. “I rented the whole place for the night. You want Romeo and Juliet? You got ‘em. Prefer Pride and Prejudice? Second room on the left.”

  She gaped down the hall, unable to form words for a moment. Over the last few weeks, Eric had been simply Eric to her: a generous lover and tutor, sweet and funny, gentle and sexy. But at momen
ts like these, she remembered that she was with Prince Eric, one of the country’s favorite royals, who had enough money and connections to rent an entire five-star B&B for the night with only a few days’ notice. And he’d done it all for her.

  To pay you back for the blowjob, whispered a little voice inside her. She wanted to shut it up, but she was nothing if not rational, so she forced herself to consider whether that might truly be his only motivation. Because if it was, she couldn’t accept it. She’d given him pleasure the other day because she wanted to, because she’d wanted the experience and also just because she’d wanted to give him this gift, but if he viewed it as a pay-for-play situation she didn’t know if she could continue to learn from him.

  She scanned him carefully, taking in all the details. He stood with his hands in his pockets, a pose that always made her want to lick him like a lollipop, but his normal grin looked a little uncertain, and he held his shoulders a bit stiffer than normal. He was uneasy. He was paying her back.

  But then she remembered something she’d overheard yesterday from Anderson, who loved to gossip. He’d said that Eric had gotten in trouble with some members of Parliament for skipping a meeting with them after his plane had landed—because he’d chosen to be with her instead that day. And he hadn’t even truly had a reason to come to the lab right then. He had all the memos, all the updates already. He could easily have waited another day or two, but he’d blown off important senators because he’d wanted to see her more.

  She remembered something he’d written in one of his first memos: were I attracted to you I might find excuses to be around you…I’d focus on you to the exclusion of other people around me who might merit my attention more.

  A smile spread across her face. He might think he was paying her back with the stargazing and the B&B and the whole thoughtful nerd-date thing, but in reality, he was thrown off his game by the growing attraction between them. He felt it too, the way things had changed, the way the two of them together was suddenly all that was important in the world, and it scared him as much as it scared her. And somehow, that made her fear disappear completely.

  She took his hand, smiling softly, a thrill running through her. Eric wanted her. He really did think she was beautiful, and amazing, and all those things he’d told her. He didn’t care that she was inexperienced, he didn’t think she was too serious or intense, he wasn’t scared off by her confidence in her professional life. The way he accepted her, the way he looked at her like he saw her—it was everything she’d never known she’d always wanted.

  “Come with me,” she said, and opened the first door she came to. It was decorated in Renaissance-era paintings and furniture, romantic in its soft hues and artistic furniture. The lights were on a dimmer, and when she flicked them on, they cast the room in a warm golden glow.

  “What are we doing?” Eric asked, trailing behind her.

  She turned. She took his hands in hers, and looked him in the eyes. “I want you to make love to me,” she told him. “I want you to be my first time. Not as my tutor. As my lover.”

  Stunned, his head tilted back. “Anna,” he said, his voice heavy with wanting and uncertainty. “I…Are you sure?”

  “I know you were trying to pay me back with tonight,” she said, and when he started to shake his head she leveled a look at him. Sheepish, he shrugged. “But it’s not necessary,” she continued. “Because what we did in the lab the other day, I did that because I wanted to. And I enjoyed it too. But the truth is, it changed something between us, and you know it as well as I do. I want to explore whatever that thing is. Together.” Her newfound confidence faded suddenly, and she swallowed. “That is, if you want to.”

  He lifted her hands and kissed the left, then the right. His lips lingered, brushing across her skin, making her shiver. “Anna,” he said, “There is nothing I want more.”

  “You’ll have to take the lead,” she whispered, her eyes still on his mouth. She licked her own lips, which felt full and swollen with her need for him.

  He stepped in close, pulled her neatly tucked-in shirt free, and slowly unbuttoned it. His fingers brushed against her stomach, her chest, her neck. When he undid the last button at the hollow of her throat, he dipped his head and kissed the spot, and she caught her breath. His hands wandered, finding her bra—lacy white this time, somehow perfect for tonight, which felt pure and new—and sliding torturously against her nipples. His hands went lower, to her flowing skirt. His fingers whispered across her waist, her thigh. He pulled the fabric up, slipped his hands beneath it, followed her thong around and down until he was cupping her ass. “So perfect,” he murmured, squeezing lightly.

  Overwhelmed by her need to feel him on her, she tried to press herself against him to hurry him along, but he pushed her back against the bed’s footboard, caught her wrists and put her hands on the wood. “No,” he said, “this is special. I want it to be worth remembering. I want to take it slow.”

  She didn’t want to take it slow. She wanted him inside her, right now, but when she tried to move he pinned her wrists against the bedpost again.

  “Don’t make me go find the yarn,” he said, a twinkle in his eye, and she acquiesced.

  His hands moved below her skirt to her ass again, cupping, squeezing—and then his fingers dipped lower, moving her panties aside and brushing against the spot that was already wet for him. She gasped and spread her legs wider, giving him access as he rubbed her, right there, traced his fingers across her and lightly dipped the tiniest bit inside. She moaned at the way it felt: just the right angle, just the right pressure, just the right feeling of naughtiness to drive her mad in the best way possible.

  “You like that?” he said, dipping his head to sear her neck with a kiss.

  “Yes.” She had to focus on the word, push it out.

  He moved one hand, pushed her shirt open until her chest was bared to him, tugged the fabric of her bra down and suckled her. The bedpost creaked under her grip as his fingers kept rubbing her, teasing her, while his mouth worked at her nipple. “How about that?” he asked.

  “God, Eric, yes. I…I need…”

  “Tell me what you need.”

  She shuddered all over at the feel of him. That was what she needed—him, all of him, right now. She moved her hands off the bedpost and grabbed the hem of his shirt, pulling it up. He cooperated, letting her tug it off, baring that gorgeous chest for her again. She ran a hand, and then her lips, across his griffin tattoo. She splayed a hand across his abs the way she’d wanted to ever since she saw him in the MRI machine, marveling at the dips and ridges. Then she unbuckled his pants. His cock was stiff already, just waiting for her, and she reached for his boxers.

  He moved before she could, though, and pulled her shirt and bra the rest of the way off. He slid a hand to the back of her skirt, unzipped it and let it fall to the ground. Then he hooked a finger under her panties and they were gone too, and she stood naked before him.

  He stepped back, giving her a long once-over. The awe-struck expression on his face when his eyes met hers again was like wine, intoxicating, addictive. She’d thought she would be shy when this moment finally came, but she’d never felt bolder in her life. She advanced on him and pulled his boxers off, her hands lingering as she pulled the fabric over his cock.

  Eric groaned and then, fast as a flash, had her pinned to the wall, his lips hard on hers. She opened her mouth to him eagerly, lifted her knee so his length rubbed against her need. The friction was amazing, better than anything she could’ve dreamed of on her own. She lifted her other leg too, wrapped them both around Eric’s ass, ground herself against him. He groaned again and carried her to the bed. With one hand, he yanked his pants from the foot of the bed, dug in his pocket, and found a condom. He rolled it on with a quick movement and then they were exactly where she wanted them to be—her legs spread wide, more than ready for him as he hovered over her, his powerful biceps bunched from holding his weight, his heavy cock pressing at her entrance. She g
asped and squirmed, desperate for him.

  He hesitated. “Anna, sometimes…the first time, it might hurt.”

  She shook her head. “I’ve ridden horses for years,” she whispered, her throat thick, her mind barely able to process speech. “It won’t hurt.”

  Relief eased his features. He framed her face with one hand and kissed her. “Are you ready?” he asked, trembling with the strain of holding himself back.

  “I want you inside me,” she answered, squirming against him again, “right now, Eric, right now. Do it.”

  He finally moved then and his cock pressed against her folds, then slid into her. She exhaled sharply and then moaned at the sensation of fullness, at the way he eased into her inch by inch, at the feeling of being somehow compete and needing so much more, so much harder, so much faster. He went still, giving her a moment to accommodate his length. “Fuck, Anna,” he gasped, dropping his head, “you’re so wet, so tight, so perfect.” He reached down, found her clit, rubbed it between his fingers the way he had that day on the pool table. She wrapped her arms around him, held on tight, arching her back and impaling herself as deep as she could on his hard length, reveling in the feel of his cock and his fingers right where she wanted them.

  “Yes,” she whispered. “Oh, yes, this is it, this is exactly…exactly…” And then she couldn’t speak anymore, because he started moving inside her. He pulled nearly all the way out and then slid back in even deeper, moving one hand to her ass, lifting it to just the right angle as he plunged balls-deep into her again. He started moving faster, unable to help himself, whispering her name over and over as he took her. She dug her heels into the bed, mindless, needing more, and slung one leg over his ass again. There, right there, it was perfect. Her hands tightened on his back as his hand gripped her ass more roughly, holding her in place against him as his thrusts got harder, faster.

  “Cum for me,” he ground out, watching her face as she bucked and moaned. “I want to see it. I want to see you cum on me.”