My hands roamed over his shoulders and down his chest, tracing the rivulets of water as they dripped down his hard muscles. As my finger traced his cut abdomen, I felt the thin ridges along his skin. “What are these?” I asked lightly, finding them all over.
“Swords,” he answered, his voice clearly bothered by what I had found.
My breath hitched. I knew what he had told me about drawing first blood; I just hadn’t expected him to have the scars to go with it. My heart turned over as I dropped to my knees, pressing a kiss to one of the ridges. “What are you doing, pauper?” he asked.
I didn’t answer, slowly kissing my way down his abdomen until I had reached his cock jutting out from his body. Both nervous and eager, I gripped him lightly, hearing Royce hiss in return. There was a thrill that ran through me, having this power over Royce. Whereas Arthur had been my first, Royce was my experiment, a way for me to start on my true sexual journey.
I took him in my mouth, and he groaned, his hands thrusting into my wet hair. “Damn, pauper, that feels good.”
His words flowed over me as I teased Royce, tracing my tongue down the length of him repeatedly until he groaned and pulled back. “You’re killing me, Anna.”
“What else do you want, Royce?” I asked as he helped me to my feet.
He framed my face with his hands, his eyes searching mine. “I want you, Anna. Can I have you?”
“Yes,” I whispered.
Royce reached around my body and turned off the shower, our breathing heavy. “Come on then,” he said, his own fingers trembling as they took mine. I never imagined that anything rattled Royce but apparently, I did.
He walked me into the bedroom, and I fell onto the bed, my body still wet from the shower. Royce’s eyes raked over my body before he reached into the drawer next to the bed, pulling out a condom. “This is proof I don’t want to get you pregnant with my kid,” he said, tearing it open. “I have no other desire but you.”
“Shut up, Royce,” I demanded, reaching for him. “And come here.”
His grin was quick as he slid on the condom and climbed onto the bed, covering me with his body. “I like it when you are feisty.”
I slid my arms around his neck, pressing my own kiss to his lips. “You better make this good.”
“Oh, pauper,” he laughed, nuzzling my neck. “It’s going to be good.”
I gasped as he slowly pushed himself into me, filling me to the core. Royce took his time, growling against my shoulder as I clenched around him. “You’re so fucking wet,” he breathed, biting my shoulder. “So tight.”
“You talk too much, Royce,” I said as my hands gripped his strong shoulders.
“Maybe I am looking for you to make some noise, pauper.”
I dearly hoped so.
Royce settled into a rhythm, his hands gripping my hips and driving into me so that I screamed his name as the orgasm hit. “Yes,” he said, pounding into me. “Damn, pauper, yes.”
“Royce!” I cried out, knowing my fingernails were digging into his shoulders. He was taking me to a place I hadn’t been before, feeling my body starting to turn over to him.
Only him.
It wasn’t long before Royce was shouting my name, his body stiffening and collapsing on top of me. I gladly accepted his weight, feeling his quick breaths on my neck as he tried to recover.
Oh my God. I had just had really good sex with Royce Whitehall.
**
Sometime later, Royce rolled off me, dragging me to his side as he did so. “Damn, pauper, I can’t move.”
Despite my concerns, I snuggled up against his chest, laying my palm over his heart. I shouldn’t have these tender feelings for Royce or even feel this afterglow with him, a king, who was only after my birthright.
Yet with Royce, I felt like I could trust him. Call me stupid, but I did trust him far more than I trusted the other two.
His fingers drifted down my back lightly, tracing circles on my skin. “I found out something about your mother, Anna.”
My breath shuddered in my throat. “My mother?”
He blew out a breath. “Yeah. I had some people look into her former addresses and it looks like one of them was your father’s palace, long ago.”
My heart stilled in my chest. That was yet another link between my mother and my father. I still didn’t know what sort of relationship they had, but I was starting to understand that it wasn’t just a one-night stand either.
“There’s more.”
I looked up at Royce, seeing the frown on his face. “What?”
He drew in a breath, his hand touching my hair. “It was at the same time that Isauros lost her son, Anna.”
Great, just great. Everything kept pointing back to the headmistress, meaning she was the only one who could tell me the entire story.
The story that she had sworn I would never learn.
“I’m sorry,” Royce said sincerely. “Be careful, pauper. She’s not going to tell you anything that will ruin her life in the process.”
I just laid my head back on his chest, feeling his heartbeat under my cheek. I knew that. I was honestly waiting for the day that she just killed me off and was done with it.
For if she didn’t, these kings were going to.
Royce shifted suddenly and rolled me over, rising above me with a concerned look in his eyes. “Tell me you will stay away from her, pauper.”
His concern was touching. I reached up and cupped his cheek. “I can’t, Royce. You know that.
