Chapter 20
ADDISON
Louis leads me through a part of the grounds I’ve never explored. The path narrows as we move farther away from the palace. The manicured gardens open up to wild grass and vines twisted by centuries of wind. Moonlight filters through the branches and casts silver across the dirt under our feet.
“Should I be concerned that you’re leading me into the woods at night?” I ask.
“Terrified,” he says, reaching his hand out and pulling me closer to him. Our fingers interlock as we walk, and I love how much bigger his hand is than mine. “The prince thing is a cover.”
“Explains the charm. Very Ted Bundy of you.”
He laughs and rubs his thumb across mine.
We’ve been walking for at least twenty minutes. My calves are starting to burn from the downhill descent when I hear the soft rush of water. With each step we take, the sounds get louder until we push through a curtain of hanging vines.
I gasp when I see a waterfall pouring down a rock face into a pool that almost glows under the moon.
The water is so clear that I can see smooth stones at the bottom.
The air smells like wet earth and flowers.
Fireflies drift lazily around the edges, blinking in and out, like the universe scattered stars out for us.
“Wow,” I whisper, looking around. “This feels like a fairy tale.”
“It does. I found this place when I was twelve.” He stands beside me, watching my face instead of the water. “I was hiding from my parents and got lost in the woods. I ended up here and sat on that rock for three hours, watching the falls.”
“Does anyone else know about it?”
“Not that I know of. Only me.” He pauses. “And you.”
This is another one of his sanctuaries. He turns to face me, and I can’t help but study the angle of his jaw.
“I want to share it all with you.”
I don’t have words for what that does to me, so I kiss him instead. His hands come up to cradle my face, and he kisses me back, like we have all the time in the world. Maybe tonight, we do.
When we break apart, he’s smiling. “Can you swim?”
“Yes.”
“Would you like to join me?” he asks, pulling his shirt over his head and tossing it on a rock nearby.
I swallow hard, my mouth going completely dry as my eyes trail down his body. “I, uh … yes.”
Moonlight traces over the muscles on his stomach, the definition in his shoulders, and that trail of dark hair that leads down to that perfect V.
“See something you like?” he asks, catching me staring.
“It’s adequate.” I smirk.
He kicks off his shoes. “I’ll remember you said that.”
His pants come off next. I try to keep my expression neutral, but I fail because he’s hard and looking at me like I’m the only cure.
“Your move, Addison.”
I hold his gaze as I reach for the hem of my dress and pull it over my head in one smooth motion. I’m not wearing a bra, and I watch his expression shift from smug to hungry in a single breath. I hook my thumbs in my panties and slide them down, stepping out without breaking eye contact.
“Checkmate,” I say.
“Fuck.” The word comes out strangled. “You’re—”
“Adequate?”
He closes the distance between us in two strides and kisses me hard enough to steal the air from my lungs. “Fucking gorgeous,” he says.
His hands are everywhere—my waist, my hips, cupping my breasts, like he can’t decide what part of me he wants to touch first. I press against him and feel the length of him against my stomach.
“Jump in,” he manages against my mouth. “The water is warm.”
“At the same time?”
He pulls back, grabbing my hand. “On the count of three.”
“One, two, three,” I say.
We take off running, jumping in, holding hands.
We land in the pool, and Louis doesn’t let go of me until we’re back at the surface, laughing and sucking in air. The water is warm, and my body relaxes as we tread water.
One of Louis’s hands slides around me, and our mouths slide together. My arms wrap around his neck, and when we’re like this, the world and everything that comes with it feels a million miles away.
“This. Us. It feels good.” I meet his eyes. “I’ve built my whole life around being independent. My art, my career, my identity. None of it ever required anyone else. And now I can’t imagine going back to who I was before I met you. That terrifies me.”
His thumbs trace circles on my hip bones beneath the water.
“You want to know what scares me?” he asks.
I nod.
“That I’ll fail you. That you’ll give up everything for me, and I won’t be able to protect you from the shit that comes next. My family, the council, the press—they could try to destroy you. Not because you’ve done anything wrong, but because you’re not what they planned for me.”
“I know what I’m agreeing to,” I say.
He cups my face, tilting it up so I have to look at him. “You shouldn’t have to deal with the shit that follows me everywhere. You deserve someone who can give you everything without conditions or complications. Being with me makes you a target, Addison. Most people can’t handle that.”
I grip his wrists. “I’m not most people.”
“Even if it costs you everything?”
“Even then.” I exhale slowly. “It’s going to make a hell of a story.”
“Anything for the plot, right?” he says, winking.
“Anything for the adventure,” I tell him. “Anything to be with you.”
He kisses me, and this time, it’s much slower, like he’s trying to memorize the shape of my mouth and the taste of my tongue. I melt against him. The warm water swirls around us, and I feel heat from the inside out.
His mouth trails down my jaw to my neck, and I tip my head back, giving him access. Louis is kissing and sucking and gently nibbling my skin until I’m practically squirming against him.
“Louis.”
“I love the way you say my name.” He moves lower, kissing my collarbone and then the swell of my breast. “Like I’m yours.”
“I want you to be.”
“I am.”
His mouth closes around my nipple, and I gasp, my fingers digging into his shoulders. When we’re alone, everything feels more intense. Louis sucks harder, and I whimper as I thrust my fingers through his hair.
“That sound,” he groans against my skin. “I want to hear it again.”
He switches to my other breast and works me until I’m grinding against him, desperate for friction.
Louis guides me toward the edge of the pool, where the rocks form a natural shelf above the surface.
He lifts me onto it so I’m sitting with the water at my knees.
He’s standing between my legs, looking at me with lust in his eyes.
“I’ve never met anyone like you.” He brushes wet hair from my face.
“I haven’t either.”
I pull him up to kiss me, and he comes willingly, one hand braced on the rock beside my hip, the other sliding between my thighs. When his fingers find me, I’m wet and wanting.
“Always so ready for me,” he says against my mouth between kisses.
“You love it.”
“Fuck, I do,” he admits.
He slides his fingers across my clit, building pressure, watching my face with fierce concentration. I try to keep my eyes open and stay present with him, but the sensation is overwhelming. The sound of the falls drowns out everything except my desperate breaths.
“I want to taste you,” he says, pulling my ass closer to the ledge. “Please.”
“Yes.”
I lean back on my hands as he parts my legs. The first stroke of his tongue makes my hips lift off the rock, and he groans against me like I’m his favorite thing. My fingers thread through his wet hair because I need something to hold on to while he takes me apart.
He’s deliberate, knowing what makes me gasp and my thighs shake. When he slides his tongue flat against my clit before circling it, I moan loud enough for it to echo. One hand grips my inner thigh, spreading me wider, while the other moves two fingers inside me, curling forward.
“Louis.” His name comes out like a prayer.
He responds by sucking my clit into his mouth. The combination of his fingers and his tongue is destroying me, and I’m climbing too fast, the pressure building low in my belly.
“You taste so fucking good,” he mutters against me before his mouth is relentlessly back on me.
I look down at him because I want to remember this forever. The crown prince of Montclaire on his knees in the water, completely focused on my pleasure. The moonlight catches the wet strands of his hair. When he glances up, our eyes meet, and the intimacy of the moment pushes me over the edge.
The orgasm crashes through me, and I cry out his name as my body shakes. He works me through it, gentling his touch as I come down, pressing soft kisses to my inner thighs.
“Come here,” I manage, still catching my breath.
He climbs up my body and kisses me deeply so I taste myself on his tongue. I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him closer, wanting to feel him everywhere.
I reach between us and find him hard and ready. “I need you inside me.”
He positions himself at my entrance and pauses, forehead pressed to mine. “You’re mine.”
“I’m yours.”
“Yes, you fucking are.” He pushes inside, and we both exhale at the connection.
He fills me, and for a moment, we breathe together. When he starts to move, everything falls away.
His thrusts are deep, and I savor every moment—the warm, smooth rock beneath my back; the night air on my skin; the weight of him above me. I wrap my legs around his waist and pull him deeper.
“You feel so good,” he groans against my neck. “So fucking good. Like you were meant for me.”
I dig my nails into his shoulders as he picks up the pace. The angle is perfect, and every thrust hits the spot that makes me see stars. I’m already climbing again, still overly sensitive from his mouth.
“Right there,” I gasp as he fucks me. “Keep going.”
The sensation is too much, and I’m shaking beneath him, right on the edge.
“Let go for me.” He exhales.
The orgasm rips through me harder than the first. I clench around his cock, and he groans, his rhythm slowing. After a few more deep strokes, Louis buries himself to the hilt, pulsing inside me as he fills me completely.