Page 30 of Royal Trouble

Desperate for acceptance. To feel like they belonged.

Spurred on by his desperate kisses, she rolled her hips, and he wedged a thigh between her legs, simultaneously holding her up and pinning her to the wall. Then his hands were on her ass, squeezing and kneading and teasing as she rocked against his thigh, savoring the delicious friction their bodies created.

She moaned as Xander trailed open-mouthed kisses across her jaw and down her neck, his hands skating over her hips and settling on her breasts. He cupped them firmly, thumbs circling her hardened nipples as naturally as if they’d done this a thousand times before. Waves of pleasure spiraled through her body as his lips returned to hers, biting and sucking with renewed vigor.

Everly snaked an arm around his back, determined to offer him the same comfort he’d given her, a temporary escape from a world that took too much and didn’t give enough in return. She stretched up onto her tiptoes, deepening the kiss when his tongue parted her lips. In the distance, the opening notes of Valeria’s national anthem began to play, but patriotism was the last thing on her mind as she ran her fingers through Xander’s silky hair and stroked his neck, drawing him closer.

He groaned and pulled back, lowering his forehead to hers. “Bloody fucking hell.”

“What is it?” she asked, still reeling from the sudden loss of contact. She needed his lips on hers, dammit.

“Duty calls.” He raked a hand through his hair, pushing the golden locks back from his forehead. “If they’re playing the anthem, it means Their Majesties have arrived and they’re about to present the royal family. Of which I am a member,” he added, seeing her brows knit together in confusion. “I’m sorry, Evie. I’d much rather stay here and pleasure you, but unfortunately, I have royal duties to attend.” Xander shook his head, a wistful smile curving his lips. Disappointment crushed her like an anvil. “I never thought those words would pass my lips. Certainly not for a garden party.”

That made two of them.

She pressed her fingers to her swollen lips as he straightened his tie. Okay then. This was really happening. It had to be a first. “You’re really serious about cleaning up your image.”

Xander looked up, his eyes saying, “You doubted me?” though his lips said, “Trust me, I’m as surprised as anyone.”

Doubtful, because on a scale of one to one hundred, her surprise level was hovering somewhere around eleventy billion. It was hard to say if she was impressed with his determination or disappointed he was blowing her off.

Don’t be an asshole. Not everything is about you. There are literally eight thousand people outside expecting him.

“Well, then. I guess we’d better get you back to the party.” She smoothed her hair and gestured for him to lead the way, doing her best to ignore the throbbing between her legs. Which was only slightly easier than pretending her pride wasn’t bruised and battered.

It was ridiculous. She knew it was ridiculous. She ought to be thanking her lucky stars the king’s entrance had stopped things before they got out of hand. She had no business thirsting after the wayward prince. There was no future in it. Not that she wanted a future with him, because life at court? Hard pass.

Still, she couldn’t deny his kisses had lit a fire in her belly. One that wouldn’t be easily snuffed out.

Xander stopped suddenly, and Everly, lost in thought, plowed into him from behind.

“We may have a problem,” he said, turning to glance back at her, lips set in a grim line.

Before she could ask what kind of problem, he strode to the cellar door and twisted the wrought iron knob.

Nothing happened.

Her heart sank. They’d left the door open. She was certain of it. In fact, she was pretty sure Xander had left the keys in the lock.

He gave another hard tug on the doorknob, this time planting his foot against the wall for leverage. The wooden door didn’t budge. He turned to her with a sheepish grin. “It would appear we’re locked in. One of the staff must’ve come down to fetch wine and found the keys hanging in the lock.”

She giggled, her sexual frustration finding a new outlet. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say the universe is conspiring against you and your new leaf.”

A smiled tugged at the corner of his lips. “If it was easy, I suppose I’d have done it years ago.” He reached into the breast pocket of his tux and pulled out his phone, holding it up in the air. “No signal. We’re too far underground.”

Okay. So they were locked in the wine cellar. Alone. With no way to contact anyone. Everly worried her bottom lip between her teeth. “So what do we do now?”

…

Bloody hell. How was he supposed to be on his best behavior when he was locked in a room with a beautiful woman, who was looking at him like she wanted him to finish what he’d started just moments ago? Would it always be this hard to resist temptation?

Everly looked up at him from under her lashes, and he knew without a doubt that yes,shewould always be this hard to resist. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but there was something about the American beauty that made his pulse thrum with desire. Maybe it was her snarky, take-no-prisoners honesty. Maybe it was the fact that, like him, she’d had a rough go of it growing up. Or maybe it was the fact that he hadn’t had sex in over a month.

Hell, it was probably a combination of all three.

Not that it mattered, since Their Majesties were going to have his head for missing Liam and Elena’s official presentation to the court. His absence would no doubt cause speculation, but there was nothing he could do about it now. It seemed fate was giving him a pass on the garden party, and he was going to make the most of it.

“We have two choices,” he said, slipping out of his jacket and tossing it onto one of the bottle racks. Might as well get comfortable. They were going to be stuck down here for a while. “We can go back to the tasting room and get sloshed.” He paused and rolled up his sleeves. “Or…”