Guarded King (Empty Kingdom #3)

Chapter 60

CHAPTER SIXTY

CHLOE

R oman’s quiet as he drives back to his place from Westchester.

Lunch was lovely once my nerves dissipated. Everyone was welcoming, even his mom, who I was most worried about.

He seemed relaxed and happy as well, the sight of which always buoys me. The beautiful house and grounds had my fingers itching to pick up a paintbrush. It’s an urge I’m still getting used to after suppressing it for years.

It wasn’t until Roman ignited my passion for him that my passion for art was reignited. Now, apart from spending time with him and Dad and Carol, as well as Lola and Sophie, it’s the thing I look forward to the most.

These days, the once seemingly impossible dream of being an artist like Dad seems a lot closer than before.

That thought triggers another. This week has been a whirlwind, and I’ve been so distracted that I haven’t even considered asking before now. “How much did you actually buy Dad’s painting for?”

He glances at me, then quickly back to the road. “He didn’t tell you?”

“No. I’d just finished reading the Forbes interview when he told me. I was on my way out to see you, so I may have had other things on my mind.”

I smile at him, savoring the upward tilt of his lips.

“Before I tell you, I want to be absolutely clear—the price I paid had nothing to do with his connection to you. I would have paid exactly the same if I’d seen it hanging in a gallery without knowing who the artist was. I love that fucking painting.”

My pulse speeds up. “You’re freaking me out. How much did you pay?”

He clears his throat, looking adorably nervous, a rare expression for such a confident man.

“Six hundred and fifty thousand.”

All the air escapes my lungs. “What?”

Hands tightening on the steering wheel, he side-eyes me. “Your dad is incredibly talented. I leased the painting first to make sure it fit well in the foyer, and to make sure it was available for the Forbes photoshoot. Once I confirmed how incredible it looked hanging there, though, I had to have it for good.”

I blink at him, my heart beating a rapid tattoo in my chest. “You know that’s life-changing money, right?”

“I’m aware. He deserves to have his life changed. No more worrying about treatment costs. No more worrying about his daughter working to pay his bills. No more pressure. He can live his dream again.” He shoots me a look. “And you can figure out what yours is.”

I drop back against the soft leather of the car seat, focused on steadying my breathing.

“Are you okay?” he asks.

“Just a little in shock. But I’m happy. For him and you.” I smile to myself. “And I still get to see my favorite painting all the time.”

“You never did tell me why it’s your favorite.”

Warmth blooms inside me like it does every time I look at the piece. “When Dad was painting it, I’d sit and watch him. One day, when he’d almost finished, he asked if I wanted to add my own personal touch to it.”

Roman’s eyes flash my way. “What did you add?”

I grimace, hands clasped in my lap. “You can’t laugh. Remember, I was still young.”

Brow arched, he focuses on the road again. “I’m not going to laugh.”

“If you look very carefully at one of the top windows of one of the tallest skyscrapers, you’ll see a tiny couple kissing.”

He laughs, damn him.

I narrow my gaze at him. “I was brought up on Disney movies. On princes and princesses and happily ever afters. What else would I paint? Skyscrapers are the closest thing we have to castles in New York.”

“I fucking love it,” he says. “A prince and princess finding love in a Manhattan castle. Is that why he chose that name?”

“Uh-huh.” I smile at the memory. “I said I was worried they might be lonely in their castle with no one else around. He told me that the prince and princess’s kingdom might look empty, but as soon as the new day dawned, it would be full of all the people they loved.”

One corner of his mouth turns up. “I can’t think of anything more appropriate to hang on the wall of King Plaza.”

A laugh bubbles out of me. “It’s bizarrely perfect.” By the time we get back to his apartment building, any tension he held when we left his mother’s house seems to have eased.

Since we’re in his personal car, we park in the garage under the building, though there isn’t even a glimmer of concern that he’s doing it because he wants to hide me away. Not after he’s already walked me through the foyer of his building with our hands joined for everyone to see. He even kissed me openly while we waited for the elevator to arrive.

He kisses me again now as we ascend to his penthouse. Already, he’s made a habit of putting his hands on me as often as he can, and I do the same. And as always, by the time we get to the top, I’m ready for more of his touch.

He backs me across the living room, never taking his hands or his mouth off me. Once we get to his bedroom, he doesn’t waste any time stripping me out of my clothes, then shucking his as well.

“Lie down.” The intensity in the way he’s looking at me is unlike anything I’ve seen from him before. It sends the best kind of shiver down my spine.

As soon as I’m on my back on his big bed, he picks up his discarded pants and pulls the leather belt from its loops.

My heart lurches and my breath stalls. He’s not going to ask to use that on me, is he? I’m not very good with pain.

As if he can read my mind, his expression softens. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. I have no intention of marking your pretty skin with anything but my mouth.” He holds the belt up. “Will you let me restrain you? Just your wrists, nothing else. And I’ll untie you the minute you tell me to.”

Oh god. My hips squirm at the idea of being restrained and at Roman’s mercy. I don’t have to even think about it. I know I’m safe with him. “Okay.”

With a smile curling his mouth, he leans over me, taking my hands in his and looping his belt around my wrists.

“Keep them over your head.”

My pulse flutters at the base of my throat as I do what I’m told.

Once he’s bound them together, he steps back and assesses me. “So beautiful.”

I arch my back at the admiration in his voice.

Angling over me, he grazes his lips over mine once, twice, before pressing deeper. His kiss scorches through me, and when I moan, he growls his approval.

His mouth moves to my jaw, then my neck, and his hand slips between my legs.

I gasp in response to the sensation, and he focuses on my face, watching my reaction as he runs his fingers over me. He trails them softly over my inner thighs, then slides them into my slick heat, circling my entrance, before slowly dragging them up and down—but never with any pressure where I need it.

I angle my hips, desperate for more, but he only pulls away.

“ Roman .”

His eyes flare. “Don’t move, and I promise I’ll make you feel good.”

I lace my fingers and press them into the mattress, waiting with bated breath as he dips back into me.

“You’re fucking dripping, sweetheart.”

When he strokes his finger over me again, my thighs quiver.

“This perfect little cunt needs to be fucked badly, doesn’t it?”

I squeeze my eyes shut and stifle another moan.

With his warm hands pressed into my inner thighs, he pushes them apart, leaving me wide open for his perusal.

“Hmm. Which hole should I fuck tonight, do you think?”

My eyes fly open, and I get lost in his dark stare.

“Does the thought of being fucked in the ass scare you?”

Pulse racing, I wet my lips. Does it? Maybe, but not as much as I thought it would. Not when it’s Roman.

“No,” I whisper.

His jaw clenches. “Fuck, Chloe.” He crushes his mouth to mine again, a kiss that sends flames lapping over my skin. A kiss that promises so much—pleasure, passion, tenderness.

“Soon,” he growls. “I’ll take your tight little ass soon. But I want something else from you tonight.”

He shifts, moving down my body, sliding his hands under my thighs and pressing his tongue against my entrance, dipping the tip in before slowly licking all the way up and sucking my clit into his mouth.

I try unsuccessfully to suppress a low whine.

He does it again and again until I’m writhing under him. As I find myself dangerously close to the edge, he stops, sits back, and reaches into his bedside table.

My body deflates at the loss of his touch, and when he pulls an item out, all I can do is stare at it.

It’s long, slightly curved, and appears to be made of glass orbs fused together, gradually tapering from one end to the other. The size and shape of it leave no doubt as to its intended purpose.

I swallow. “Is that… Is it glass? That seems a little… dangerous.”

He chuckles. “It’s tempered glass. It won’t break. But it will feel very, very good inside you.”

He runs the cool tip over my heated flesh, sending a shiver rippling up my spine. When he circles it around my entrance, a breath shudders out of me. But when he pushes it slowly inside, I gasp at the sensation of the smooth, hard, rounded end of it stretching me open.

If Roman hadn’t positioned himself between my thighs, my natural reaction would have been to slam them shut. But since I trust him, I take a deep breath and relax. Right away, my body begins to adjust as my nerve endings spark to life again.

With his focus fixed on my pussy, he pulls the glass dildo out slowly, then pushes it back in, the cool ridges rubbing deliciously against me.

My eyes roll back in my head. God, I’m going to lose my mind.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were planning on moving out?”

I blink up at him in confusion. Before I can formulate a coherent thought, he twists the toy so that the end slides over my G-spot, and I moan.

“I-It’s just an idea at the moment.”

He returns to sliding it in and out, maintaining the perfect rhythm. With each movement, pleasure builds and coils deep inside me. But without any stimulation to my clit, it doesn’t go anywhere.

“You’re going to move in with me,” he says. “If you’re not living with your dad anymore, I want you living with me.”

He pushes into me with a little more force to punctuate the command.

“ Roman .” I shudder. “It’s too soon for us to live together.”

One finger brushes over my clit with the slightest pressure, and tendrils of need tighten in my core.

“Please,” I beg, head thrown back.

Another thrust, another brush of his finger. “Look at me, Chloe.”

With more effort than it should take, I force myself to focus. His eyes are dark, the intensity burning through me.

“Move in with me.”

I bite my lip. “It’s too soon.”

He dips his head and flicks his tongue over where I’m begging to be touched, and I cry out.

“It’s not too soon. You know it just as well as I do. You belong here, in my bed, in my home. Our home.”

My head spins, but my heart screams at me to admit the truth. I do belong here. With him.

His tongue finds my clit again, swiping across it with just enough pressure to have me teetering on the edge without pushing me over. My body’s wound so tight by now that I’m trembling.

Too desperate and needy to fight what we both want, I release a ragged breath. “Yes, okay. When I move out of Dad’s, I’ll move in here.”

His eyes flash with triumph. “Good girl. Now show me again how pretty you are when you come.”

Still working me over with the toy, he sucks my clit between his lips. Instantly, I explode. As the orgasm slams into me, my back bows off the bed. Heat and pleasure radiate from my core in a tornado that steals the air from my lungs.

The hard pulse of my channel around the unyielding glass buried inside it feels so incredible that my climax seems to be never-ending. And through it all, Roman sucks and licks me.

Weak, shaky, I ride out the sensation. When I feel silky strands between my hands, I realize I’ve moved my arms and I’m clutching at his hair.

Gaze meeting mine, he gives me a lazy grin, his mouth and chin wet. He gently pulls the toy out of me and holds it up.

At the slickness, the evidence of my pleasure, my cheeks heat.

He touches the tip to my lips. “Taste how sweet you are.”

I hesitate for just a moment, then open for him.

Slowly, he eases the smooth glass end into my mouth and across my tongue. I’ve tasted myself on his lips before, so I don’t flinch. Instead, I keep my eyes locked on his and suck, hollowing my cheeks.

His pupils dilate. “You’re so fucking sexy.”

I shiver at the dark tone of his voice. He’s been controlled so far, playing me to get what he wanted, but his control is fraying, and I love it.

Releasing the toy with a pop, I hold my hands up. “Can you take this off? I need to touch you.”

He makes quick work of the belt and the minute I’m free, my fingers are roaming over the smooth skin of his shoulders, the ridges of his abs, the trail of hair that leads to his hard cock.

He grips my wrist before I can wrap my fingers around him and presses a gentle kiss to the tender skin on the inside of it.

Butterflies flutter and twirl around my stomach. “Roman?”

The emotion in his expression makes my heart stutter.

“I love you,” he says, his voice raw.

The sincerity there tightens my chest. “I love you too. So much.”

“The minute you smiled at me in that elevator, I was lost.” As he speaks, he presses his erection between my legs.

I let them fall open, welcoming him.

“You showed me what love feels like when I’d given up on ever experiencing it.” He pushes inside me.

Breath catching, I grasp his biceps.

He lowers his head, his hair tickling the base of my throat as his lips move against my skin. “You changed my life without even trying.”

Tears prick the backs of my eyes as he rocks into me. I thought I wanted him to lose control, but this… this slow, tender lovemaking, the way he’s confessing his feelings, how he’s felt from the start, is more beautiful than I can comprehend.

The pleasure builds with every thrust, with every murmured word, and so do my emotions. He brackets my head with his forearms, our gazes holding.

As I reach my peak, tears spill over my lower lashes. I can barely breathe as my orgasm rolls over me in a tumbling wave.

Roman’s eyes burn into me as he sweeps the tears from my temples with his thumbs. “You’re so beautiful.”

His movements turn erratic then, and he drops his forehead to mine as his big body shudders and he comes inside me.

Our breaths mingle, our hearts beat in sync, and our mouths hover a fraction of an inch apart.

Here, surrounded by him, filled by him, I’ve never felt safer.

I cup his cheeks, loving the faint rasp of stubble against my palms. “I can’t get enough of this with you.”

His chest vibrates against me. “Then I hope you’re ready for what comes next.”

I tip my head back, my brows drawing together. “What comes next?”

Mouth pressing to mine, he kisses me slowly, softly, the sensation so perfect it makes my toes curl.

He’s smiling when he pulls back. “Forever, sweetheart. What comes next is forever.”