17. Madison
MADISON
“Morning,” a gruff voice whispered, warm breath tickling my neck as my eyes fluttered open. I groaned and stretched, finding myself delightfully sore. The kind of sore that came from being up far too late to engage in far too many pleasurable shenanigans.
“Morning,” I said, rolling over into Alistair’s arms, unable to hide my grin.
One hand landed on his delightfully naked chest, stroking the soft hairs there, the other wrapped around his bicep.
I remembered him standing in the kitchen in Dunhope that first morning in all his wet, muscley glory.
Now I’d spent all evening appreciating those same muscles.
And, damn. The real thing was so much better now that I was allowed to be hands-on. I sighed, stroking his abs—pretty sure I’d spent a good fifteen minutes tracing those with my tongue last night. A flutter of desire sparked in my lower stomach at the thought.
“What’s that dreamy look for?”
“Just thinking about licking your abs.”
Alistair blinked once, then he burst out laughing. And he didn’t stop, pulling me tighter against him, rolling until I was stretched out against his chest, shaking with the force of his chuckles.
“I’m not that funny,” I murmured, poking the dimple in his chin.
He kissed the tip of my finger. “How’d you sleep?”
“Like the dead. In the best possible way.” I shifted, my hand drifting across his chest, then down past his navel where a trail of dark hair led me—
“And where exactly do you think you’re going?” he teased, giving my ass a light squeeze.
“Just taking a little stroll,” I said, walking my fingers along that tantalizing trail, tugging the sheets aside to expose the glorious cock that had driven me to the point of madness last night. It twitched in response to my presence.
“Can I interest you in breakfast?” Alistair asked, stroking his hand along my shoulder.
“Mm-hmm,” I hummed, wrapping my hand around his cock, delighting as it responded to my touch. “What’s for breakfast?”
He arched one teasing eyebrow. “Would you like to see the menu?”
“I’m only interested in the chef’s special,” I said, fluttering my eyelashes at him.
He tugged the sheets back up. “I’m sorry, we’ve just sold out of that.”
My jaw dropped and I released him, whacking his shoulder playfully. “You didn’t save me anything?”
“Oh, I saved you your favorite thing,” he joked, pulling the sheets over my head, kissing me in the semi-darkness.
I giggled, loving that I got to see this playful side of him, and let myself get lost in the heat of lips and teeth and tongue until I was panting.
Alistair ran his hand up my thigh, finding my clit, toying with it, unhurried in his ministrations.
It was frustrating as hell, and I absolutely loved it. My eyes drifted closed, soft sounds bleeding over my lips as he finally set a steady, circular pressure.
I tossed the sheets off, coming with a sharp, sudden cry, heaving and breathless as waves of bliss drifted through me. Before I’d even recovered, Alistair climbed out of bed.
“What about you?” I asked, rolling over to appreciate the view of his perfect backside, my heart still pounding.
He glanced over his shoulder, grinning at me. “I was thinking we could move this to the shower.”
I hummed in agreement. I really liked the sound of that.
Plus, I genuinely needed a shower after everything we’d gotten up to.
I couldn’t exactly walk around London smelling like multiple rounds of sex.
I propped myself up on my elbow. “I’ve actually been dying to get in that tub,” I said, pointing to the en suite. “It’s almost deep enough to swim in.”
Alistair shot me a wicked grin. “Perhaps we have time for a shower and a bath.”
“Think you have the stamina for that?” He took hold of my foot suddenly and tugged me across the bed. I yelped and giggled at the same time.
“Watch it,” he growled, leaning over and pressing a kiss to my belly button. My clit throbbed in anticipation. “I perform very well under pressure.”
An hour and a half later, after a sudsy sex session and convincing Kenna to wear something other than princess pajamas, the three of us were seated in the hotel’s swanky dining room.
Tall glass vases filled with floating water lilies rose up in the center of every table while dazzling chandeliers glittered overhead.
Kenna and I both stared up in awe. “I think you should order one of these chandeliers for the castle,” I murmured to Alistair. “Is that the kind of thing you can get delivered?”
He snorted, scanning his emails on his phone. “Where would we put it?”
“The library,” I said.
“My room!” Kenna decided.
“You know what?” I said to her, nodding. “You’re totally right. It should go in your room. I think Princess would like that a lot.”
She beamed at me. Then her jaw dropped as the waitress appeared, setting down a stack of pancakes in front of her, each one bigger than her head.
“Now that’s breakfast,” I said. “You gonna be able to eat all that?”
“I’ll save some for Princess,” she said. “She can eat them when we get home.”
I caught Alistair’s eyeroll. He could deny it all he wanted, but I knew the man was secretly warming up to Princess.
It was impossible not to love her, even if he’d taken his time figuring that out.
Kenna had known right from the start. I thought about the two of them growing up in that castle together, chasing each other up and down the halls.
I chuckled softly, turning to share the thought with Alistair, only to see his eyes flick uneasily around the room.
“Everything okay?” I asked, laying my fingers against the back of his hand.
He plastered on a smile. “Sorry,” he murmured, looking down at the full English sitting in front of him. “I suppose I’m just…anxious. This is the first real exposure the three of us have had to the public at large.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but as I thought about it, I realized he was right.
Yesterday, he’d spent all day in meetings without us.
And Kenna and I had spent all day with Alfie.
No one had any idea we were tied to Alistair in any way.
Then we’d zipped right from the warehouse to the restaurant where we’d had our own private dining room.
Sure, there’d been that one photographer, but for the most part, we’d avoided the public.
Avoided giving anyone the chance to call him out or react to his notoriety.
I could see now that he was visibly braced for this to go badly.
From the corner of my eye, I glanced around the room. We were definitely getting some curious looks. “Maybe we could order room service next time if it would make you more comfortable.”
Alistair shook his head, picking up his knife and fork. “Everyone’s keeping their distance. Honestly, it’s not as bad as I feared. I can handle a couple looks.”
My heart broke for him. While I was proud of him for facing this head-on, I didn’t want Alistair or Kenna to be subjected to anything that made them uncomfortable.
“You want some eggs?” Alistair asked Kenna after he’d eaten through his sausages and black pudding.
“Nope,” she said.
His lips twitched. “Are you going to do more than muck around in your syrup?”
Kenna popped a sticky finger into her mouth, grinning.
“Didn’t you know you can survive on a diet of maple syrup and sprinkles?” I teased, handing Kenna a napkin. When Alistair didn’t respond, I looked up to see that he’d stiffened, his eyes narrowed across the dining room. I turned my head to follow his line of sight.
A man in a sleek suit was striding our way, a steely expression on his face, looking like he had a lot to say.
Fuck.
This might actually be worse than the paparazzo. You expected the press to show up and be obnoxious. Getting blasted by a stranger who you’d never met before…who hated you just because…that was probably a harder pill to swallow.
I glanced at Kenna quickly, wondering if I should just take her and leave. Alistair wouldn’t want her exposed to—
“Mr. Shaw,” the man said, reaching us before I could do anything.
“Sorry to bother you, my name is Brian Marsh.” He sounded American.
“I saw you at the tech conference yesterday, but I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself.
I was hoping we could schedule some time to chat?
My start-up is doing some exciting things in the world of travel tech, and I’ve got a great investment opportunity I’d like to pitch to you. ”
The tension in Alistair’s shoulders released, his expression shifting slightly as he snapped into business mode. I exhaled, glad that all the guy wanted was Alistair’s business experience and pocketbook.
“Nice to meet you, Brian,” he said, shaking the man’s hand. “I’ve got my girls to focus on right now, but I’ll give you my card.”
My girls.
My pulse raced, and I ducked my head, heat spreading up my neck, itching at my cheeks.
Alistair slipped his hand into his jacket pocket and handed over his business card. “Reach out to my assistant, Alfie, and we’ll set something up.”
Brian nodded, thanking him. “Sorry again for interrupting. Enjoy your breakfast.”
“Daddy, I want a card,” Kenna said, pouting as she held her hand out. Alistair produced a business card for her too.
“Here you go, love.” He wiped his mouth and tossed his napkin down, checking his watch.
“Is that you off then?” I asked, a little disappointed to lose him even though I’d had him all evening. “Do you have somewhere to be?”
“No, we have somewhere to be,” he said, smiling conspiratorially.
“What?”
“I don’t have another meeting until this afternoon. So…” He wiggled his eyebrows. “I thought we could spend the rest of the morning playing tourist.”
“Really?” I was almost embarrassed at how eager I sounded.
He nodded. “I’ve got a couple things planned I think you’re really going to enjoy.”
“Daddy, I want to come,” Kenna said.