Chapter 15 #2
His eyes blazed a hot blue as he picked up another morsel. “Spicy strawberry crostini with goat cheese.”
“Spicy?” she asked.
“Just a tap of jalapeno,” he said. “And a touch of honey.”
“Sold.” She leaned forward again to receive the round of toasted bread. This time, he brushed his thumb over her bottom lip with a sensual stroke.
“ Delicioso , both the food and you,” she said, holding his gaze. “Now it’s my turn to choose.” She grabbed a toothpick that held a perfectly curled shrimp. “What’s this one?”
“Pickled shrimp. It also has a little punch. You’ll like it.”
“No, this is for you.” She stretched across the table to offer it to him.
He pulled it off the toothpick with his even white teeth before kissing her fingers.
“And this?” She chose a tiny double-decker sandwich.
“Two kinds of tomatoes with bacon mayonnaise.” He leaned in to take it, but she snatched it back.
“It sounds so good I think I’ll eat it.” She popped it into her mouth, licking a smear of the fatty mayonnaise off her lips. The bursting freshness of the tomatoes contrasted with the smoky bacon and the rich silk of the mayonnaise. She groaned at the exquisite flavors.
“You could be thrown into the dungeon for taking food from a royal,” he said, a sinful smile curling his lips. “Or perhaps I should just throw you in the pool.”
“You’re on crutches, so you couldn’t throw me.” This time, she offered a sandwich to him.
“All right, I will lure you into the pool.” He brushed his lips on the inside of her wrist before he bit into the sandwich. Delicious shivers danced up her arm.
“Lure me into the pool to do what? Drown me?” She ate a pickled shrimp. It tasted of lime and garlic and the sea.
“That would be a waste.” His voice was pitched to a low caress. “I have far more pleasurable plans for you in the pool.”
Her entire body flooded with heat, and she pressed her thighs together as it curled low. “Maybe you could use a stuffed date to lure me there right now.”
“You’ve lost your appetite?” His smile grew more sensual.
“There are all kinds of appetites.” She pushed back her chair.
He stood up and grabbed his crutches. “I’m afraid you’ll have to carry the date.”
As he started around the table, she caught a flash of movement from the door the servers used.
She pivoted toward the pool to realize it was in plain sight of every window in the back of the house…
and there were lots of giant windows. A vision of the ten bodyguards leaping out of the SUVs in front of the house rose in her brain.
There were a lot of people milling around the property.
Even though she wouldn’t see them, they would see her and Raul cavorting in the pool.
That doused her excitement like a bucket of water from a frigid mountain stream.
“Um, maybe this isn’t such a good idea.” She threw Raul an apologetic glance. “You have a lot of staff.”
He stopped and heaved an audible sigh. “They will give us our privacy, I assure you.”
“What does that mean?” She scanned around again but saw no one.
“How do I put this delicately?” He stared at the ocean for a moment before turning back to her. “I am human, as you know too well. I enjoy human pleasures. The people who work here understand that and turn away when necessary.”
So he had brought other women here. No surprise, but jealousy still stuck its claws in her.
“Are you ever truly alone?” she asked as she tried to banish the feeling.
“My position requires protection.” He shrugged. “The trick is to focus on the person I am with and forget everyone else. And I am laser-focused on you.”
He braced his crutches so he could kiss the side of her neck. “Mi corazón,” he murmured, his warm breath whispering over her skin.
Arousal flashed through her once more, and she told herself that most of these people would never see her again. “Okay, Su Alteza Real, you may carry out my sentence for stealing your food.”
“Sometimes I love being the prince.” He gave her a toe-curling smile and nodded to the pool. “Criminals first.”
She ran her hand down the front of his jeans and squeezed the erection she could feel there, enjoying his gasp before she headed for the nearest chaise longue.
She stripped off her shirt, jeans, and sneakers before remembering his injury and turning to find him seated on the next chaise longue, yanking his shirt over his head.
The flexing muscles of his back made the dragon tattoo dance, and she watched in appreciation until he went to work on his jeans.
“Let me help,” she said, walking around the lounge chair.
“Gladly.” He worked the jeans down to the tops of his thighs, and she pulled them the rest of the way off, leaving him in boxer briefs tented by his cock.
His mussed hair gleamed in the sunshine, which painted the ridges and valleys of his muscles with light and shadow. Centuries of kings marrying beautiful women—and queens choosing beautiful men—had created the gorgeousness of Raul.
“Being royal pays off in a lot of ways,” she said before she did a running dive into the turquoise pool.
The water was the perfect temperature, of course—cool enough to refresh but not shock. It felt like silk against her near nakedness. Fortunately, she did not mind swimming in pools or even rivers, but the ocean? Diablos, no! A quiver of fear ran through her.
She surfaced and smoothed her hair away from her face to watch Raul walk to the pool’s edge with barely a limp.
His thighs flexed, and he traced a perfect arc into the pool, coming up in front of her.
With his hair slicked back, the sharp elegance of his cheekbones and jawline stood out.
Water beaded on his smooth skin before running in rivulets over his shoulders.
“God, you’re beautiful,” she managed to whisper despite her lungs refusing to draw in air.
“You stole my words.” He cupped her face and pressed his lips against hers, the warmth of them contrasting with the cool water.
And then their bodies came together, and she couldn’t believe the water wasn’t boiling around them.
The wet lace of her bra added friction when her tight nipples pressed against the wall of his chest. She put her arms around his neck and bounced up to wrap her legs around his waist, bringing his cock against the ache between her legs.
They groaned in unison before she remembered and leaned back. “Did I hurt your ankle with my weight?”
“You weigh nothing in the pool,” he said. “And I wouldn’t care anyway.”
Running his hands down her arms, he found the front clasp of her bra and unhooked it, the lace cups floating on the water. As he slid the straps off her shoulders, he walked toward the side of the pool where the water flowed over the edge.
“Put your elbows on the lip,” he commanded, boosting her up slightly.
As she leaned back, her breasts came out of the water. He bent to draw one nipple into his mouth, rolling his tongue around it before he sucked hard. The exquisite sensation shot straight from her breast to her clit, making her inner muscles pulse. “ Ay, Raul, again!”
He moved to her other breast, the motion shifting his cock against her so that she gasped at the shocking pleasure. And then gasped again as his mouth did wicked things to her nipple.
“I love how you react to me,” he said, his lips brushing her skin as he spoke.
He circled his hips, his cock massaging her clit from all angles, and she felt her arousal build toward the peak. “Inside me,” she said before she groaned. “Oh no. No condom.”
“You underestimate me.” He reached behind his back and produced a condom with a hot grin. “I tucked it in my waistband when I took off my jeans.” He kissed her, his lips warm and firm. “I would never be near you without one.”
“You are truly a prince among men,” she said with a gasp of a laugh.
“More a Boy Scout. Always prepared.” He put the packet between his teeth and unhooked her legs from his waist to yank off her panties.
“Allow me.” She took a breath and submerged, tugging his briefs down to his ankles. As he shook them off his feet, she floated up to kiss the tip of his erection and cup his balls. Even underwater, she heard his shout.
And then he seized her shoulders and pulled her up to take her in a hot, openmouthed kiss, the edges of the condom’s envelope pressed into her upper arm where he held her. “ Dios mío, I want to fuck you for hours,” he growled.
“Whoever climaxes first loses,” she said.
“And what is the penalty?” He ripped the envelope open and rolled on the condom underwater.
“The loser has to bring the winner to orgasm.” She let her eyelids half close in a sultry look. “If necessary.”
“I will not lie.” He lifted her again to brace her elbows on the pool’s lip. “This will be the hardest battle I’ve ever fought.”
She let her legs float up to spread her thighs open around his hips.
“En sus marcas. Ya!” she said, closing her eyes as she felt the tip of his cock against her.
She waited for the push inside, but instead he stroked down the insides of her thighs and up again, his fingers flicking against her clit.
Sparks of delight ricocheted around her belly.
“You’re cheating.” She lifted her head to glare at him.
“You set no rules for the engagement.” He slid two fingers inside her and flexed them, his grin pure devilry.
She arched hard, which drove his fingers deeper. “Ay-yi-yi,” she shrieked as her orgasm hovered. She clenched her teeth hard to fight it.
“All right, I will play fair,” he said. “But only because I am so noble and not because I am desperate to feel you around me.”
“Yes, yes, yes!” she panted as he slid slowly inside her, letting her feel the stretch and length of him. “So good,” she whimpered as her muscles rippled.
He did another hip circle, making his erection shift inside her. She struggled against the zing of sensations before she clamped her inner muscles around him to fight back.
“Ahh,” he moaned, his head falling back. He pulled out and then drove back into her.