Royally Mine: 22 All-New Bad Boy Romance Novellas Read online

  “I hope I haven’t kept you waiting too long.” He reached for her hand as he sat on the bed. He looked so different in his nightclothes, so much more male, that she had to steel herself not to shy away.

  They stared at each other. She wanted to cry out, please do it now, whatever you will do to me, so I won’t have to dread it anymore. But such histrionics would embarrass both of them. Instead she gave him a wobbly smile and said, “So, we are married now.”

  “Indeed. It was a lovely wedding. Everyone had a good time. My family seems to like you very much.”

  She nodded. “All of Hastings has been exceedingly kind and welcoming.”

  “But this talk is so polite. Let’s both admit that we’re exhausted, and that these royal receptions go on for six or seven hours too long.”

  She liked the bold, mischievous way he talked sometimes, and the sparkling glint in his eyes. The servants had built up the fire to burn bright this wedding evening, so he had even more of a golden glow. He’d looked that way all night, until she felt plain and dark sitting beside him.

  And standing in front of everyone for the dancing? That had been an excruciating trial.

  “Thank you for helping me to dance tonight,” she said. “It wasn’t nearly as scandalous an activity as the nuns made it sound.”

  “Scandalous? What is it with these nuns? Dancing’s a great deal of fun when you learn it properly, and it’s good exercise. You got the way of it by the end.”

  He drew her from the bed and into his arms before she knew what he was up to, and led her to the center of the room. He hummed the opening bars of their wedding dance, a tune she’d always remember, and guided her through the steps as he had in the ballroom, using the motion of his body and the prompting of his arms.

  But it was not the same, because she felt undressed in her wispy nightgown, and his bare chest showed at the collar of his dressing gown, just where her eyes rested. He was golden even there, with a smattering of pale bronze fur. How bizarre. How lovely. How different men were.

  “I can tell you’ll grow very good at dancing,” he said, just as she stumbled. Both of them laughed. “It will only take practice, and a few lessons. We don’t outlaw dancing here.”

  He dipped her over his arm and she stared up at him, her neck bared to his gaze. He smiled that strange smile and righted her, and she thought, now he will take me to bed. Her own smile wavered, because she meant to be brave but wasn’t quite managing it. Your body will be his, the sisters had said. Pray to God while it’s happening, and keep your mind pure.

  But instead of the bed, he took her to the window, and pointed out at all the carriages crowded into the courtyard. “No one has left yet,” he said, and indeed, the sounds of celebration still carried from the lower hall. “Do you know that in olden times in Hastings, generations ago, royal wedding nights were witnessed by the king’s council and other invited guests?”

  “What? Witnessed? What does that mean?”

  “It means that when the royal couple went to bed, they didn’t go alone, as we are now.” He looked around the bedroom, grimacing. “The councilmen and guests stayed until the groom had carnal knowledge of his bride, and took the bloodied sheets away as evidence that the royal marriage had been satisfactorily consummated.”

  She shuddered at the word bloodied, and wondered with growing panic what carnal knowledge meant.

  “I know,” he said in sympathy. “And you thought the dancing was embarrassing. Fortunately for both of us, my great-great-grandmother Queen Violetta and her consort put an end to the tradition after their wedding night. They said it was cruel to invade the privacy of newlywed couples in such a way.” He cupped her chin as she bit her lower lip. “The first time a couple makes love should be special and private, whether it’s a royal alliance or not.”

  “So,” she said. “We’re going to do that now? Make love? Is there lots of blood involved?”

  His eyes widened. “Not lots. Almost no blood, darling, if any. I suppose I’d better explain what’s to go on.”

  “Yes, please.”

  And he did, parting his dressing gown to show her how his body was made, and touching her gently beneath her shift to indicate how her body was made, and the place he’d join with her. As his male organ grew in his hand, she thought the entire thing far-fetched.

  “It will be so tight,” she pointed out. “Far too tight to feel pleasurable.”

  “It won’t be tight. Well, only in the nicest way.”

  His eyes had developed a sort of tension as they spoke together. Her body had developed that tension also, a readiness that made her feel wide awake.

  He turned to look back at the canopied bed. “I suppose we must consummate this marriage like dutiful royals. It’s a ridiculous business, isn’t it?”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Is it?” She’d been suspecting so ever since he’d begun his talk.

  He took her face in his hands and kissed the worry from her eyes. “No. A poor joke. It’s a lovely business, if you’ll but trust me. I’ll do my best to make you feel good.”

  “How?”

  “You’re full of questions, Cassy, but it’s too complicated to explain any more, except in the doing of it.”

  She liked that he called her Cassy, since she’d never had a nickname in her life, not until now. It made her feel closer to him. When he held out his hand, she took it without trepidation and followed him to the bed. He took off his dressing gown and draped it over a nearby chair. She stared, she couldn’t help it. How different he looked from her. And yet, how pleasing...

  “Would you like to leave your shift on for now?” he asked, pushing back the covers.

  “I… I don’t know.”

  “It might be nicer to lie together skin to skin, so we can warm one another.”

  Cassandra already felt warm from the blush consuming her body, but the idea of nakedness was appealing, especially with the way he was looking at her, like she was the most enticing seductress in the world. “I suppose I’ll take it off.”

  He knelt up in the bed to help her undo the delicate buttons at the neck. His male member, his cock, as he called it, pointed at her in an off-putting way, but she pushed that thought aside as he caught her gaze.

  He helped her pull the silken garment over her head and discard it, then he moved over so she could lie beside him on the bed. He took her in his arms so she was enveloped in his strength and heat. His fingertips strayed over her shoulders, down to the tops of her breasts.

  “How lovely you are,” he said, and she felt a rush of pleasure. He wasn’t only saying it to be courteous. She was almost sure he meant what he said. She thought she ought to say something complimentary in return.

  “I think that you…” She ducked her head beneath his chin, overcome with shyness. “You are exceptionally kind. And you seem to be very good at this thing we’re about to do. At least so far.”

  Goodness, what a stupid thing to say, but he didn’t laugh at her. She was grateful for that.

  “What you must remember is that it’s very much like dancing,” he said, stroking her hair. “Trust me to lead you. Give your body to the rhythms when they come.”

  “What rhythms?”

  His fingers brushed over her nipples in a light touch. “You’ll see.”

  ***

  Gideon was trying to go slow. He was really, truly trying. The problem was, he’d never gone slowly at anything in his life. He’d especially never gone slowly with a willing woman in his bed. Her dark eyes were wide with curiosity. She trusted him, she wanted him, which fired his blood even more.

  But he must take his time. He must bring her along with him, as Adele had advised. Blasted virgins. Why did they have to be so awful and so desirable at once?

  “Darling, come closer,” he said, drawing her toward him and resting a hand at the base of her spine. She pressed against him, all restless legs and shaky, tentative touch. He kissed her and stroked her back in an effort to distract her from his stiff
cock lying along her belly. She ended each kiss before he would have willed it, and looked in his eyes, searching them in her innocent, hapless way.

  He responded by nudging her onto her back. He held her shoulders down—not too hard—and licked and nibbled the velvet expanse of her skin, dropping kisses over the racing pulse at the base of her neck. She moved against his palms as if to resist, but she wasn’t really resisting. When he released one shoulder to run his fingertips over her nipples, she made a breathless sound.

  “What is it?” he said against her ear. “What’s the matter?”

  “It only feels so…”

  “So good, like last night?”

  “When you do it now…when we’re both unclothed, and so close together…” Her hips inched forward, sending a jolt of pleasure through his cock.

  “I know,” he said, suppressing a groan. “It’s exciting to be so close, and so naked together. That’s the fun of being a husband and wife.”

  He stroked her nipples for several more minutes, thrilling to every gasp and sigh. Her curious eyes went half-closed in pleasure, then opened wide when he pinched one of her sensitized peaks. He held her gaze, smiling. Pinching harder.

  “Oh,” she said.

  “How does that feel?” he asked, returning to softer caresses.

  “I don’t know. How is it supposed to feel?”

  “There’s no hard and fast rule, but I’d like you to feel that you can’t get close enough to me. That you want my mouth everywhere.”

  He wanted to kiss her everywhere. He held her shoulder again, and this time traced her nipple with his tongue rather than his fingertip. It was far more pleasurable to do it this way than over her nightshift. Based on her squirming reaction, she must have felt the same way. Her fingers rested on his hair, then wove into it so he felt an increasing pull.

  Say what they might about virgins and their wedding nights—so far, he was the only one who seemed to be suffering any pain.

  “Sir, do you want…” She could barely speak, as he was having his way with her other nipple. “Shall I put my mouth everywhere on you?”

  “Eventually,” he said. “Not tonight, but soon. Mouths and fingers are a lover’s most useful tools.” He thought a moment, reminded by his throbbing organ. “Well, aside from the more central ones.”

  Her hazy eyes narrowed in confusion.

  “My cock,” he said with some strain. “And your pussy.” He traced a palm down her front to nestle over her soft triangle of fur. He hoped he was going slowly enough. He couldn’t wait another moment to touch the silken recess of her mystery. Her virginity. No, no, don’t plunge your fingers into her. Oh, she’s wet. She’s ready. No, don’t go too fast.

  “Do you ever touch yourself here?” he asked, parting her folds, searching for her sensitive pearl.

  “No. I—it—it was not permitted.”

  She let out a gasp as he found his mark and swirled a fingertip over the swelling flesh. Not permitted? She’d only know that if she’d found her way to this “misbehavior” at some point. The idea pleased him, his virginal princess fighting the temptation to finger her pussy in her narrow convent bed.

  “It’s permitted now.” He demonstrated his assertion with gentle, teasing strokes. Her hips bucked in the same rhythm as his finger, as if he played her like an instrument. He was coming to understand in the course of this slow seduction that she was a very sensitive instrument. He thought, if he learned her nuances well, she could play wonderfully rousing tunes.

  “Mm.” Her hand moved to his shoulder, gripping him. “That doesn’t hurt at all.”

  “Good. That means you’re ready for the rest.”

  He’d been ready ages ago. It took all the willpower he possessed to slide his fingers deeper, to trace them around her slick opening without frightening or forcing her. He held her gaze and slid the tip of one finger inside.

  “Feel how wet you are,” he said, easing his finger in and out. “That means we’re meant to be together in this way. It means that you want me. And this…” He shifted so the head of his steel-hard cock pointed at her opening. “This means that I want you.”

  He gritted his teeth as she moved gingerly upon his finger, her face a mask of concentration.

  “You see how your body is made for me?” he said. “You’re made to take me inside you.”

  “You mean, your…your big thing?”

  “My cock,” he reminded her. “Yes.”

  “Oh.” She let out her breath in a rush as he added another finger. “Well, Sir, I’m not sure it will work.”

  He was quickly reaching the end of his tether. He had to move her toward acceptance, or risk traumatizing his new bride. “You’re stretching for me, don’t you see?” He moved his fingers in and out, through her wetness. “It doesn’t hurt, does it?”

  “Not precisely. But it feels strange.” She squeezed around his fingers and he barely suppressed a hiss of frustration.

  “Cassandra, sweeting, are you ready for me to come inside?” He moved, parting her legs wider, positioning himself over her.

  “Oh.” He could feel her shivering. “Yes. All right.”

  She closed her eyes, going tense. Damn. She’d had too much experience of men as brutes, as bullies, to trust him now.

  “Stay with me, darling. I’m not going to hurt you.”

  He took her hand and held it tight, bracing her as he pressed his cock against her entrance. She was hot and wet, but God, so small.

  “Remember how we felt together before,” he said, dropping kisses along her shoulder, even as his cock ached to drive inside. “Remember how we’re meant to be together? That warm, excited feeling you had?”

  “Yes.”

  Despite her small, frightened voice, he could feel her reaching for those bodily memories. He traced her nipple, then kissed her trembling mouth, widening her thighs with his hips at the same time. He brushed his swollen cock between her pussy’s folds to prime her, and was rewarded with another of those whimpers she gave whenever he stroked her just so.

  He gazed down at her, at her wild, unbraided hair spread over the pillow. His dark princess, the princess he hadn’t particularly wanted, now seemed to him the most exotic, arousing creature in the world. He felt a soul-deep need to breach her virginity and make her his. “Hold tight to my shoulders, Cassy, and I’ll make you my wife.”

  When he finally thrust inside, it was not as violent or as difficult as he feared. He held her hips and aligned his body to hers, and pressed into her slowly, inch by inch, stopping now and again to muffle a gasp with a kiss. He hurt her a little, yes, he could feel it in the tautness of her shoulders, but she didn’t try to close herself to him, or push him away.

  “Yes, darling,” he breathed. “I’m moving inside you. How wonderful it is.”

  “How tight it is.” It was a mild protest, considering how impaled she must feel. He withdrew, thinking grateful thoughts for the generous women who’d schooled him in bedcraft. He would use that knowledge to make this encounter a fulfilling experience for her.

  “Is that everything?” she asked. “It didn’t hurt too much.”

  “It’s not everything.” She was as ignorant in these matters as he was experienced, which made this whole thing very difficult. “We’re just getting started, but I promise it gets better,” he told her. “And the hurting is over, so fear not.”

  ***

  Cassandra squeezed on her husband’s cock, amazed by his reaction, his sharp, intense gasp. “How does it feel to you?” she asked.

  “Horrible and wonderful.” He shook his head, laughed softly, and kissed her chin. “No, not horrible. The wrong choice of word. It’s more like tension.”

  “Yes, I feel that too.”

  It wasn’t bad tension, but it wasn’t comfortable either. He was so large in general, she shouldn’t have been surprised that he would feel large inside her. The only surprising thing was that he’d managed to make it fit. When he moved in her, even a little, her whole body
reacted, and yes, she felt a tension she’d never fathomed before. She wanted to move, but she didn’t know how. She wondered if he felt the same.

  “Goodness,” she whispered as he withdrew from her, then came in again. “This is so…”

  She had no word to describe what he was doing, because it was so new. He left and drove in again, starting a rhythm. What had he told her? Give your body to the rhythms when they come.

  He surged and withdrew, slowly enough to make those sparks and jolts course through her body, but powerfully enough to take her breath. He pushed deep in her, but it didn’t hurt. In fact, it felt exciting. She tried to move as he did, arching her hips, meeting his thrusts with a little twist of her own.

  “Yes, good girl,” he said. “That’s exactly it.”

  His words of encouragement made her bolder, as did his continuing caresses. When he pinched her nipples, she liked it. When he sucked them between his teeth, her body shuddered of its own accord, propelled by some inner demon that desired unfettered passion.

  No. There was no demon inside her. That was how the sisters used to talk, but she didn’t believe them anymore, because Gideon had proved all their lectures and warnings to be false. He wasn’t hurting her. In fact, with each thrust of his male part inside her, she felt closer to him. It was the loveliest feeling, tossing and straining in his arms. There was a tingling deep down in her center, in the place the sisters had warned her she must never touch. It grew stronger, throbbing, aching with a glorious intensity.

  He slid his fingers between their bodies, to the sensitive spot at her center, and her thighs spread wider, opening for his touch. “Please, that feels very…oh…very wonderful.”

  Wonderful wasn’t a good enough word, but it signaled that she didn’t want him to stop what he was doing, and he didn’t. Between his kisses and his deft touch, and the fullness of his cock inside her, she recognized that some finale of sorts was coming. She understood the meaning of consummation, because need and want consumed her as she struggled to reach that peak.