Taken by the Prince Read online

  Now?

  Haha, I would love to meet you now, but it is a bit early for my liking. How about this evening? Say, 8pm?

  Eight o’clock? I didn’t think I could wait that long. My fingers hovered over my phone, desperate to type something cute to encourage an earlier time. Instead, I took a breath and decided to give this a real shot by not rushing it.

  8 it is

  Wonderful. I’ll pick you up. Wear something comfortable.

  “Well?” Serene asked expectantly when I set the phone down.

  “We’re meeting tonight at eight.”

  “Oooooooh! How exciting! That means he’s extending his stay in the States for you.”

  My stomach flipped. “Really?”

  “Yes. Last night at the Met, he told me he planned to leave early Sunday morning.”

  He stayed for me? My heart fluttered in my chest, and a silly smile tugged at my lips. He stayed for me. “Jesus, Serene, I’m so excited, but so scared I’m gonna fuck this up.”

  “Relax, sweetie. You two are perfect for each other. Enjoy the ride.”

  I nodded.

  “I must admit, I’m a little jealous,” Serene said.

  “Really? What on earth for?”

  “Well, you’re about to enter the beginning of your honeymoon phase where hormones are peaked constantly, and all you can do is walk around in a haze of lust and wonder when you get to see him again. Jeffery and I are just coming out of it. As much as I wished that crazy cocoon of desire and pheromones had leveled off sooner with us, now that it has, I find myself missing it every now and then. So, I say, enjoy the rush, sweetie. You’re in for a wild ride.”

  Serene and I talked for another hour or so before I headed back to my penthouse. The hours refused to pass quickly. The seconds ticked by like minutes, the minutes like hours before I finally decided to distract myself with a Netflix binge.

  Half a season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer later and I was ready and waiting for Ash to pick me up. At exactly eight o’clock, my buzzer rang, and two minutes later, I was in his arms, hugging him like I hadn’t seen him in years.

  He stroked my hair as I pressed myself into him. “I missed you, too,” he said softly.

  “So, where are we going?” I asked as we settled into the back of his sedan.

  “I thought we’d start with a walk in Central Park,” he said as he pulled me closer.

  I shivered at his touch, his silky voice, at just being near him. “I love the idea, but that’s a little too public for me. The paparazzi—”

  Ash smiled at me, a wide, knowing smile that did silly things to my pulse. “Yes, I thought that might be an issue. I’ve already informed my security detail. They’ve taken care of everything.”

  I grinned and nestled into him. “Perfect.”

  When we arrived, the prince offered me his arm, and we strolled along the main path. We talked about what kind of charity I’d want to shadow, what kind of charities need the most funding, and what he liked so much about the arts-centered charities.

  “Art has a bit of the arcane left in it. There’s still a bit of magic in this world, and I think you can see it best in works of great art.”

  “How do you mean?” I asked, tucking myself into the crook of his arm. I couldn’t get close enough to this man.

  “Well, have you ever heard a song and been instantly transported to another time in your life.”

  “Sure. Swan Lake makes me think of ballet class, All That Jazz reminds me of that awful stint I did off-Broadway...”

  Ash stopped and faced me, taking both my hands. “That’s not what I mean, Charlotte. I’m not talking about songs reminding you of the past. I’m speaking of the ability art has to make you feel like you are truly there again, if even for a moment.”

  I nodded, relishing the way his hands completely enveloped mine, the way his gaze focused so intently on me. “I think I know what you mean. There’s a song that takes me right back to my childhood—summers playing outside all day and falling asleep to the sound of crickets outside my window.”

  He smiled at me. “Exactly. Art can transport you, it can heal you, it can make you feel the whole spectrum of human emotions. And I think that’s magnificent.”

  A shudder ran through me as he drew circles with his thumb on the top of my hand. Fuck, I was in trouble. “I agree. But I’d rather spend my time and money helping people. I’d rather fund a program that provides materials to women in Africa to make feminine hygiene products so little girls can go to school even after they start menstruating. Or build housing for low-income families or dig wells in rural areas without clean water.”

  Ash sighed. “You’re far nobler than I am, Charlotte.”

  Chapter Ten

  Ash

  And that’s what will make you an excellent royal, better than I could ever hope to be.

  “Don’t misunderstand,” she amended. “I applaud your effort and charity work. I’m sure you’ve donated more than I could ever hope to. My calling, my passion, is just different than yours.”

  I smiled. She was worried she’d offended me.

  I kissed the top of her head and directed her attention to the clearing ahead. “What’s that?” she asked as she took in the candlelit picnic I’d orchestrated. Her eyes filled with excitement. “Is that where we’re going?”

  I nodded. “This end of the park is completely empty. Not a person or a paparazzo in sight.”

  She squeezed my arm, and her excitement bled into me, warming me, changing me, showing me a glimpse of how perfect life could be. Then she let go, running off without me.

  When I reached the blanket, Charlotte had already pulled everything out of the basket and uncorked the wine. She poured and raised her glass. “To us,” she said with a grin. “May we always delight in the journey.”

  “Hear, hear.”

  When Charlotte lowered her glass, her expression changed. Gone was the excitement and joy. Her topaz eyes burned with fire and intent.

  I swallowed hard. I knew that look, but she’d have to make the first move. I wouldn’t, not after she so clearly drew her line yesterday. “Kiss me,” she said softly.

  I took a breath, heart pounding in my chest. “Are you certain, my lady?”

  “Yes. Kiss me,” she said again.

  I didn’t ask a second time.

  We crashed into each other. Lips parting and tongues swirling, and oh, holy hell, she tasted like strawberries. I pulled her closer, scooting her to me until she was in my lap entirely. Her legs wrapped around my waist, and her arms hooked over my shoulders.

  I kissed down the line of her smooth, perfect throat, and she moaned, arching her neck and her pelvis into me as I found each sensitive spot.

  Holy mother of god, she turned me on. “Charlotte,” I murmured in the hollow of her throat. “I have to stop before I lose control.”

  “Please,” she said, arching herself into me once more. “I don’t want you to stop. I want you right here, right now, Ash.”

  I groaned as she said my name and pulled away to look at her. Cheeks burning with flush and eyes wide, she panted, “Please.”

  “Are you certain?”

  She leaned in close, her lips brushing my ear. “Yes. I want you to fuck me right now.”

  I growled at her words and took her right there on a blanket in the middle of Central Park.

  I laid her down, ripping off my shirt, and sliding the straps of her sundress off her shoulders. She bit her lip as I pulled the top to her waist, revealing perfectly pert breasts. I devoured them, sucking and licking, nipping and cupping as she writhed and bucked under me.

  “Don’t stop,” she panted, lacing her hands in my hair when I tried to move away.

  I didn’t need to be told again. I worshiped her, caressing and tweaking her nipples as my other hand slid up her leg and beneath her dress. I took my time, tracing the curve of her inner thigh until I was inches away from her center.

  She arched her hips toward me. “Please, Ash.
Touch me,” she breathed.

  I slid a single finger down her slippery lips. “You’re so wet,” I mumbled from between her tits. I circled around her clit, once, twice, three times before she begged me to stop teasing her. I glanced at her, glowing with sex flush, heavy-lidded, and the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. “How would you like to come, Charlotte?”

  “Any way. All the ways. I don’t care. Just please stop teasing me.”

  My cock throbbed, straining against my pants. I wanted so much to feel myself sliding into her warm, wet depths, but I feared I wouldn’t last long. Instead, I thumbed her clit as I put two fingers deep inside her. I leaned close, putting my lips right to her ear as I stroked her inside and out, finding the pressure and rhythm she liked the most. “I want you to come on my hand, Charlotte,”

  “Oh, god,” she moaned as her body contracted around my fingers. She screamed into the night, coming longer than I’d ever seen before.

  I didn’t give her time to recover. While her body still shook, I unzipped and plowed into her. Fuck! “Holy hell, Charlotte, your pussy is divine,” I rumbled next to her ear as I pounded into her.

  She came again, tightening around my cock so hard, she almost threw me over the edge, but I managed to keep my self-control. I had to make her come at least one more time.

  I flipped her over on her forearms and knees, anchoring myself with a hand on her hip and sliding across her drenched clit with the other. It didn’t take long, not like that, before she screamed at the sky again, convulsing and shaking around me until I came too, longer and harder than I ever had with anyone else.

  It took a long time for us to come back down to earth. We laid on the blanket staring into the starless sky for days it seemed, caressing and whispering how amazing the other was. Eventually, we put our clothes back in order, packed up the untouched picnic and headed back to Charlotte’s place.

  “At some point,” she said when we entered her penthouse. “You’ll have to tell me all about those lovely little cakes and pastries in that basket of yours. But that will have to wait until you’ve fucked me again.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Charlotte

  It was happening again.

  I was falling too hard and too fast, and I didn’t give a single fuck.

  “More?” he asked, a bemused smile stretched across his face.

  I was free falling into Ash harder than ever before, and I didn’t care, not when he held my gaze with that amalgam of curiosity, amusement, and desire. Not when I was just fucked like that. Nope, I’d fall just as fast and hard as I like, as long as that meant more of Ash.

  “Yes. More,” I said and tugged him into the bedroom. “You see,” I said, taking off my dress in a single fluid motion. “As magnificent as that was, and it was absolutely fucking brilliant, I didn’t get to enjoy the sight of you fucking me.” I worked away at the buttons on Ash’s shirt, then his pants. “Take off your clothes. I’d like to see that body of yours, Your Highness.”

  He shrugged out of his clothes in a heartbeat, and to my amazement, not only was his cock one of the nicer examples of the male form, it was also rock hard again. I smiled, pulling my bottom lip in as I did. “Now that’s what I like to see,” I said as I knelt to the floor and took him, or as much of him as I could, in my mouth.

  He braced against the wall as I worked my way up and down his shaft, lapping and sucking at him like he was a popsicle.

  “Holy fuck, Charlotte, you have to stop,” he groaned as I sucked on the head.

  I pulled away and asked the question I already knew the answer to. “Why?”

  A darkness filled Ash’s blue eyes. “That mouth of yours is about to make me come again, but I want another go at that sweet little pussy.” Before I knew it, Ash had me off the ground and in his arms. He laid me on the bed and stood over me, staring at me for so long, I had to fight the urge to squirm away. His eyes roved over every inch of me until at last he sighed and said, “By all the gods in all the realms, Charlotte, you are the most perfect woman I’ve ever come across.”

  I sat up, locking eyes with him as heat spread across my cheeks. “That’s maybe the most wonderful compliment I’ve ever gotten.”

  Ash smiled, kissed the top of my head, and pressed me back down on the bed.

  “I’m going to take my time with you,” he said as he pushed my knees apart and knelt between them. “I’m going to savor every last inch of you, Charlotte.”

  His touch was magic on my skin, electric and hot and divine. He tucked his hands beneath me and brought me to his mouth, enjoying me like a ripe piece of fruit, running his tongue along every crease and fold, gorgeous eyes locked on mine until that delightful pressure became too intense, and my eyes fluttered closed.

  I came as he held me tight against his mouth, back and hips rolling into the sensation, drawing every last moment of pleasure I could.

  “You taste so sweet,” he said when he finally set me down. “Are you ready for more?” he asked softly.

  I nodded, and Ash smiled as he ran the head of his cock up and down my pussy. I cried out each time he slid over my clit as electric pleasure shot through my whole body.

  Ash pushed into me, slowly, deliberately, watching me react to his girth. “This is my favorite position,” he whispered as he stroked in and out. “I love seeing you come. I love watching your body react to mine, and I fucking love seeing my cock disappear into your perfect little cunt.”

  I’d never been one for dirty talk. It usually made me laugh or roll my eyes, but the way Ash did dirty talk—with a hushed growl and fiery look—made my insides clench in very, very nice ways.

  I wrapped my legs around him, pulling him so close and deep his body rubbed against my clit. I was going to come, soon and hard, and oh fuck, right now.

  I wailed, my back and neck arched upward as each wave of staggering pleasure pounded into me. I gasped and panted, trying to catch my breath, trying not to drown in the sensation, trying not to die of rapture.

  Ash growled as he spasmed within me. Arms shaking, he collapsed on top of me for a moment before he rolled over next to me. With a single arm, he pulled me close, and I fell asleep totally sated, spent and content for the first time in a very long time.

  The next morning, I woke in an empty bed, the smoky delicious smell of bacon wafting through my bedroom. I grabbed my silk kimono-style robe and went to see what Ash was up to.

  “Holy hell, you’ve been busy, haven’t you?” I said when I saw the veritable feast laid out on the kitchen island. Pancakes stacked high, a mound of bacon, sausage, fried potatoes, and in the center of it all, an artfully sliced pineapple wearing its stem as a garnish.

  Ash smiled at me, a sheepish, embarrassed smile that made him seem boyish and cute. “I may have gone a touch overboard.”

  “My kitchen has never seen so much action or food for that matter,” I said as I sat down at the island and piled my plate high with foods I hadn’t eaten since childhood.

  “I figured everyone likes breakfast, but I wasn’t sure which breakfast foods you liked, so I made a variety.”

  I nodded as I cut into the fluffiest pancake I’d ever seen. “Mmmm. Wow. That’s like eating a cloud,” I said as it melted in my mouth. The bacon was perfectly crisp, and the sausage tasted both spicy and sweet. “Jesus, Ash, if you weren’t a prince, you’d have a fine career as a chef,” I said, shoveling the best fried potatoes in the world into my mouth.

  “I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself,” he said as he munched on a strip of bacon. “I enjoy cooking and rarely get the chance, but if I’m being honest, I was hoping that filling you with carbohydrates and fatty meat would perhaps soften what I have to tell you.”

  I stopped mid-bite, zillions of things racing through my head, each one worse than the next. I tried to push them away, tried telling myself that whatever he had to tell me didn’t matter because I’d already decided I couldn’t have a relationship. Not now at least.

  But the fact that my stoma
ch dropped and my palms were sweaty told me exactly how much I believed I could make good on that promise.

  “Unfortunately, I must return to Tresia today. I’ve extended my trip as long as I dare, but I would like to see you again, Charlotte. I can fly you out this weekend, if you’re free that is. I’d love to show you my country, my culture, my home.”

  My breath caught in my throat as his words settled within me.

  Ash leaned against the island. “We’ll have to maintain a certain amount of discretion, at least at first,” he said casually. “But when we do go public, I know the people will adore you. You’ll be our first American royal.”