Chapter 14

14

Hank

"Ready to get out of here?"

We stayed for another two hours after I had my last beer. I had no desire to be stopped for a sobriety test and, according to Jim, the valley had seen an increase in patrols following a drop in revenue for the past few years.

I wondered if that was why Christian wanted to cash out. The Buchanan Winery wasn't doing brisk business as it used to. There was also more competition.

"Yes." She grinned. "This ended up being fun. Now I know what your deepest, darkest secrets are."

We had continued our icebreaker questions while she feasted on an apple cobbler.

We slid out of the booth, a brief chuckle gusting past my mouth. "I don't think any of them qualify as deepest and darkest."

"I'm surprised they didn't tell us to leave," she said. "We've been here for almost three hours."

I left Jill a hefty tip. Part of which was for leading Christian and his cronies away from our table. We outlasted his dinner party; they ate and left within forty-five minutes.

But whether it was from the alcohol or the sugar, this Thala was definitely less uptight. In fact, I'd say she was ready to party, and I wasn't sure how I was going to handle her once we returned to the cabin.

Jesus.

I was not going there. I was in charge of the princess's safety, not getting into her pants.

But she had no idea how sexy she looked eating that burger. When she told me the burger was too big to eat, I had to act nonchalant and not think of what else to put in her mouth.

But as I helped her into the vehicle, I couldn't stop thinking that she was ready for me to show her more. More of life outside royal protocol.

I slid into the driver's side and started the engine. When we left the parking lot, I asked, "What do you want to do when we get back?"

"I'm not sleepy," she chirped.

Glancing at her briefly, I bit back a smile. "Are you sugared up, Princess?"

"I don't know. Maybe. Apparently, I'm not the boring one, since all you had was espresso and water."

"Driving."

"I applaud you for being a model citizen. But back to your question, I think I want you to break into Venusstean Intelligence."

"You sure?"

"How good are you at not getting caught?"

I thought about this for a while. Usually, it wasn't my fault when hacks got compromised. "I'm more than good."

"Then let's do this."

An hour later, Thala and I had settled into the couch with the television providing background noise. There was nothing on the news about Thala or the House of Targen. Garrison went radio silent, so there was no new intel about Petros and the queen either.

Thala changed into pajamas and I was in a T-shirt and shorts. But her effect on me had only increased since this morning. Probably because the kiss in the vehicle wouldn't leave my mind. She was sitting too close, but she had to because I was sharing my screen with her.

I had half a mind to tell her to sit on the opposite end of the couch, but decided to suck it up. At least my laptop was on my lap, covering my cock, which jerked every time Thala moved.

I should have taken a cold shower and jacked one off before I sat down with her.

"So now what?" Thala asked. There was a gentle undertone to her voice that seemed gratingly patient because my brain had zoned off trying to figure out how to fight my attraction to her.

Compared to the dicey situations with female agents before, danger-bonding even, what was happening between Thala and me had been a steady burn since I met her.

I had to remind myself not to read too much into my attraction to her. It was simply a product of the situation and proximity.

I swallowed. "I'm accessing the Venusstean network with the back door I provided you through your account."

"How does this work again?"

She leaned in closer. Thala had taken a shower because she said she didn't want to smell like grilled meat. Mixed with the citrusy smell of our shared soap and shampoo, she gave off a wildness I couldn't put my finger on. But the effect was intoxicating. "This is called up-level hacking. I just needed an entry-level account to move up the chain. You're pretty high up already."

"I have a higher level than Ramsay."

"You sure? Because he is the queen's security."

"And I am the royal guard."

"But you admitted you're just for show." I might regret that comment later, but Thala, being this close, was messing with my better judgment.

"No need to rub it in," she grumbled.

Surprised at her flippant reply, I made the mistake of glancing at her. Her mouth was inches from mine. "Besides…" I wished I had another beer because my mouth had gone dry and I found it difficult to speak. "We need to be looking into Petros and the queen."

"I'm thinking now Petros and Amadea are hiding something from me. It's as if I'm in the middle and they're doing a tug-of-war." The side of her tits brushed my arm. "Check Petros first."

"Would you mind backing up a bit?" I gritted.

Silence. The space between us crackled with a tension I wasn't imagining and it had nothing to do with finding out who was trying to kill the sisters. I became mindful of my breathing. Actually, I was almost afraid to breathe. My mind fizzled on what to do next, because the urge to pounce on her held the rest of my thoughts captive.

"Why?" she whispered. "Am I making you uncomfortable?"

"Yes." I still wouldn't look at her.

"Maybe I'm doing it on purpose."

My brain scrambled. What?

With measured movements, I leaned forward and set the laptop on the coffee table. My shorts showed a clear outline of my cock. I pulled my T-shirt over it, to preserve a level of dignity that I wasn't a teenage boy about to have a blowjob for the first time in his life.

Still not looking at her, I enunciated, "You're playing with fire, Princess."

"Maybe I want to get a little burned."

I jerked my head in her direction. Her chest was rising and falling like mine, but there was uncertainty on her face.

And I was about to obliterate it.

We reached for each other at the same time. I slammed my mouth on hers, satisfied to swallow her gasp. Teeth clashing, I thrust my tongue between her lips and kissed her deep. Devouring. I tore my mouth away, but kept our bodies plastered.

"You're sure about this?"

"Yes," she breathed.

"Fuck yeah."

I was about to kiss her again, but she yanked my hair back to keep my mouth from touching hers. Jaw clenching, I waited for her to say something.

"We can't be anything more…" she said fiercely.

Regret lanced my chest. "I know."

"I want you, even just this once."

"You have me. Now shut up," I growled. I savaged her mouth again as if punishing her. I didn't like how her words made this thing between us feel. Even when I knew it was important to get our expectations right.

She was a princess.

I would become her dirty little secret. But I was going to make sure she would remember every kiss, every touch, every orgasm I couldn't wait to give her. As I trailed my mouth down her neck, my fingers worked on unbuttoning her pajama top. My hand shook as I cupped a breast. Old Hank would make a quip about touching the royal tits, but old Hank was nowhere in sight.

Instead, I was feral and determined to make her scream my name tonight.

"You're not wearing a bra," I muttered against her collarbone.

"I intended to seduce you." Her moan and her admission made me even harder.

"Consider me fucking seduced."

I exposed her perfectly formed breasts to my eyes, and I wasted no time teasing a nipple with my tongue. Her fingers threaded through my hair and she pressed her chest closer.

As I filled my mouth with one breast, I splayed my hand over the other and palmed it. Afterward, I blazed a trail of hungry kisses down her torso.

I got off the couch and went on my knees before her. I pulled her pajama bottoms under her ass, then down her shapely legs. Jesus, she was perfection. Toned but not ripped. Full breasts that were over a handful, just the right amount of softness on her belly, hips, and thighs. All fucking feminine.

"You're making me nervous." Thala laughed lightly. "Second thoughts?"

"Hell no," I growled. "I'm just speechless with all this perfection before me."

"No needless flattering—"

I leaned over and silenced her with a gentle kiss. "I'm not. I just don't want it to go too fast because we only have this one time."

The truth was, I was afraid that once would n ot be enough. The smell of her arousal alone was making me lose my damned mind. It took all my willpower not to fall on her and feast.

"Let's make it count." She wrapped her legs around me and drew me closer. Her hands trailed down my torso and lifted my shirt. I helped her with it by slipping it over my head and tossed it over to join her discarded pajamas.

Through my shorts, she palmed my cock before gripping it through the fabric. I closed my eyes. Christ. I could blow my load right there.

"Inside me," she moaned. She was writhing against the couch, and when I touched her pussy, she was slick, molten, and wet.

Fucking hell.

"Need to eat you first," I muttered.

"What?" She seemed dazed.

I knocked her legs off my waist and went into position between her thighs. A lacy pair of underwear separated my mouth from nirvana.

"Hank. No."

"What?"

"I don't like it," she mumbled.

I wasn't sure I understood her. "You don't like men going down on you?"

"I don't want to fake it with you."

"Is that a challenge, Princess?" The corners of my mouth quirked up in what could be the first surge of confidence. "Because…challenge accepted."

She tried to close her legs, but I kept them spread. "Is it that you don't like it, or they couldn't find the target?"

"You're making fun of me."

"I'm not."

"Why do you think they called me the ice princess?"

I was getting pissier by the second. Not at Thala, but at the faceless men who came before me that made her feel this way.

"Did a former lover spread those rumors about you?"

"There may be truth in it." Her small voice broke me.

I was angry.

I was jealous.

It became my mission to prove her wrong.

"Then let me show you it's a lie." I leaned in and gave her another quick kiss. When I pulled away, I said, "I want you to watch me eat you."

"But…"

"I know I'm already going to love it. The smell of you here?" I stroked the center of her pussy with the knuckle of a finger.

"Hela's hell," she croaked. "Do it again."

So I did, but I quickly replaced it with my mouth because I couldn't restrain myself any longer. Full-on eating her through her panties. Then I pushed the fabric aside and licked her slit. Her arousal dripped on my tongue and the way her pretty clit swelled made my mouth water. She was clawing at my head. Her legs found their way over my shoulders and I leaned into her with the force of my mouth and hunger.

I rubbed my nose against her clit while my tongue flicked, fluttered, and then lapped in broad strokes. I sucked her clit and felt her come. Her shuddering was reflexive. Not faked. I pushed down at the top of her pubic bone to heighten the intensity.

She was crying, cursing, and moaning. I pulled back and slid off her panties. When I leaned back into her, I inserted my fingers into her pussy. She was slick as hell and tight. Fucking tight. I couldn't wait to drive inside her.

We were face-to-face once more. Breaths mingling. I smelled her everywhere. My mouth and the area around it were wet with her juices, and then I kissed her. I continued to finger-fuck her in preparation for my cock. My thumb pressed down on her clit and she screamed into my mouth.

Hugging her close, the ripples of her orgasm trembled through her.

"Still think you're an ice princess?" I asked when she came down from her high.

She smiled crookedly. "I guess not with you."

Satisfaction roared inside me. "Still want to do this?"

She gripped my face. "If you can do that to me with just your mouth…I wonder."

"Say no more," I growled. Thala would be the death of me. Everything about her. Her honesty about what she wanted and her vulnerabilities simply slayed me.

I stood and walked to my duffel and extracted a condom from my wallet. I walked back to her, and she visibly swallowed. She reached for the condom but put the packet down. For a second, I wondered if she was going to back out. Instead, she tugged me closer. She lowered the band of my shorts over my ass, down my thighs. At this point, I wasn't sure if I was breathing. Her concentration seemed intense. It was as though she was memorizing every line of my body.

I stepped out of my shorts and kicked them away.

My cock was erect between us.

With no hesitation, she leaned in and swirled her tongue around the tip.

I hissed.

I was not gonna last.

I grabbed a fistful of her hair and growled, "Not right now. I need to be inside you."

A smile played on her lips, and the defiance in her eyes was my undoing. "But it's a beautiful cock."

"Princess," I warned.

Before I blew my load all over her face, I flipped her down on the couch, pushed her legs apart and drove inside her. We caught our breaths.

Her pussy hugged my cock like a glove two sizes too small.

"You feel incredible," I gritted out. Jesus, she felt… "Fuck, condom."

I loathed to withdraw, but I did, and the suction of her pussy was torturous. I grabbed the condom and ripped it open with my mouth and, with shaking fingers, sheathed my cock.

I fell back on top of her. Her eyes scorched me with the fire in them.

This time I slid inside her, inch by agonizing inch. I dropped my forehead to hers. "You're exquisite."

"I've never felt a man bare before," she said, her voice tinged with wonder. It made my cock swell harder. "I like it."

"Not this time, Princess," I told her.

I started pumping. Slowly at first. Despite the idiotic way I lost control and drove inside her without a condom, the reality of doing so tempered my frantic need to get inside her.

I watched her face carefully while I was dangling on the edge of exploding. If I dwelled too much on how I felt her bare, I would prematurely come and embarrass myself.

I was going to be the best she'd ever had.

I was going to make this good for her.

Fuck good.

I was going to make her see stars.

While she gripped my cock, I watched her face as I moved. Her eyes were barely open and her head was thrashing from side to side.

"There…" she moaned. "Harder, Hank." She rounded my ass with her legs, cleaving me closer. "Harder. Gods. Just…just…"

I pounded. The couch was too soft, and I had a hard time bottoming out. With my cock buried deep inside her, I hauled her up. The first time wouldn't be on the floor. Thank God, it was a short distance to the bed.

I lowered her to it and resumed pounding her. I went deeper. So deep, I gritted my teeth.

She was going to come again.

"I'm close," she moaned.

"I got you," I rasped. "Let go, Princess." My hand went between us and I stroked her clit. She released a gasping cry that snapped the thread of my control.

A sensation tingled up my spine until finally, I exploded inside her. I continued to drive, milking every drop until I was spent. Ripples jerked my muscles as the vestiges of my release waned.

She bore my weight for the slightest second before I found the strength to prop myself up on an elbow.

A sheen of sweat beaded her forehead as I imagined the same on mine. My skin was still on fire. I could hear the pulse in my ears and in my chest.

I took in her glow. Her sated eyes. Her cheeks flushed from her orgasm.

A small smile played on her lips.

"You good?" I murmured.

"More than good."

I hated pulling out, but I had to take care of the condom. "Be right back." Entering the bathroom, I pulled off the condom, tied off its end, and tossed it into the trash. I contemplated my next move. I stared in the mirror. She was a princess, and I was Hank Bristow, a commoner. Are we going to resume our separate sleeping arrangements?

Deep down, it felt wrong on so many levels. I realized when I crossed the line I didn't think of the consequences.

When I returned, she was in the same position I left her. Naked and freshly fucked. Her body was a work of art. I wondered if there were statues of Amazonians in Venusstea. She could totally model for it. But right now, I wanted to be wrapped around her while I slept.

I thought about the royal protocols.

Fuck it. If I could only have her once, then I wanted it all.

"I want to hold you." It wasn't a question. It came out a demand.

Her brows drew together. "You want to get into bed with me?"

A rumble rose up my throat. "If you're worried that's too intimate… Princess, I had my mouth between your legs. I don't know how much more intimate we can get."

"Okay."

There was uncertainty in her tone. Something told me it wasn't because of who I was, but because Thala hadn't been in this situation before.

Without waiting for her to reconsider, I climbed into bed, dragged her into my arms, and, with a bit of physical persuasion, had her draped all over me.

We lay there not saying anything, just being in the moment with each other. My fingers found something to do. I twirled her hair.

After what felt like an eternity, she said, "This feels nice."

"This is called cuddling," I deadpanned.

She pushed up against me and I slackened my arms around her just a tad. She had a merry glint in her eyes and damned if I didn't put that wide grin on her face.

At that moment, the grumpy princess was not present.

Mission accomplished.

"I know what it's called, silly man."

"I'm silly?"

"Sexy," she said, and it could be my imagination, but her flushed cheeks pinkened even more.

I smirked. "Thank you."

She lowered her eyes and traced circles on my chest.

"I've never cuddled before," she said.

"Against the rules?"

"Not really, though it's understood that a man shouldn't spend the night until matrimony," she sighed. "It's more from the disappointment. It's enough that I have to fake it most of the time."

"No man has ever made you come?"

"Let's be clear." She finally untangled herself from my arms and sat up on the bed to hug her knees. "I've only had two lovers in my life and all of them were before my twenty-fifth birthday."

"You haven't had sex in four years?"

"I was nineteen when I had my first. It wasn't pleasant, but I wanted to get rid of my virginity. Purity wasn't a requirement for marriage. It was almost a curse since we considered men our equals. After that, rumors spread that I was frigid in bed. Not that I blamed my first lover. He probably could tell I faked it. Then the following man did the same. But it got much worse."

I sat up in bed, blood shooting up quickly to my head. "Names."

She laughed lightly and looked at me. "What are you going to do?"

"After I'm done with them, the world will know that they couldn't find a woman's clit, even with a magnifying glass and a map with a giant X marking the spot." Unfortunately, this was nothing new. I'd had girlfriends, both the romantic and friendly kind, who lamented that many men couldn't figure out the anatomy of a woman's pussy. Selfishness was the main reason because they didn't take the time to find out what gave their partner pleasure. "C'mere."

Without waiting for her to comply, I dragged her back into my arms and leaned against the headboard. "I hope I've convinced you you're not frigid. You're very responsive."

"I'm worried."

"Worried about what?"

"That you're the only man who can give me pleasure like that."

I thought back to my intention of being the best she'd ever had, and I felt a combination of guilt and mercenary satisfaction. "What if I am?"

"I don't want to think that far yet, but I can't wait to see if it was pure luck."

I barked a laugh and hugged her closer. "Princess, is that another challenge?"

We stared at each other, and mischief and heat gleamed in her eyes.

"Maybe," she whispered.