Keeping My Prince Charming (6 page)

“It’s the first step of the games.” Xavier’s voice was bleak. “It’s where you decide whose touch turns you on the most.”

“What?” My eyes bulged as I gazed at him. “What?”
“It’s the first game to reach the inner circle.” Xavier’s eyes stared into mine. “And you won’t be touched by any hands.”

“What do you mean?” I said, frowning, not understanding.

“He means that Xavier’s fate is in your hands, Lola.” Stephan smiled and walked toward the door. “What you decide tonight will determine how far Xavier gets in the Society of Brothers.”
“Xavier?” I asked him softly. “What is he talking about?”

“Tonight we find out if it is really me you want, or if you crave another.” Xavier’s eyes looked at my lips and he turned away from me and sighed. “We see if you pass the test.”

“What is the test?”

“Let’s go now, and you’ll find out,” Stephan said from his spot by the door. “Unless you want to back out now, Xavier?”

“No,” Xavier said firmly as he looked back at me. “I want to know exactly who Lola wants and who she’s going to choose.” He looked at me again and then walked to the door. I followed behind both of them, my heart racing. I didn’t know what was going to happen next and for some strange reason that didn’t scare me. For once in my life, I was going to ride out the wave and let it take me where it wanted to. I didn’t even feel guilty. Xavier was the one who had put me in this position. Xavier was the one who wanted us to continue. At this point, it was out of my hands. He’d taken me into his world and I was about to find out just how deep and dark it could get.

Chapter Nine

Xavier

I could still see Lola’s lipstick on Stephan’s lips. Bright red and smudged. My blood was boiling and I was mad at Lola and myself for what had happened. I should have known that Stephan would want to take part this year. He always had something to prove. He always needed to be number one. He always had to prove that he was the man. He wanted to be the King of kings. The Prince of princes. The one we all looked up to. He wanted to prove that he was capable of taking over the society. He wanted to be in the inner circle as badly as I did. And I knew he was willing to do everything that he could to end up as the final winner. I’d known that Stephan would want it badly, but I hadn’t thought he’d seen me as his biggest competition. I had known as soon as he’d focused on Lola, though, that I was the one to beat. I was the target. This wasn’t between Casper and me. This was between Stephan and me. And that made me uncomfortable. I knew that Stephan had charms that Casper couldn’t even dream about. And I knew that he had a way of luring women into his web. He was the pied piper of women and I needed to make sure that he didn’t have Lola following behind him. I needed to make sure that I was the one she chose. Not only because that was what I needed to make it to the inner circle, but also because my heart would never be the same if she chose someone else.

Chapter Ten

Lola

Xavier, Stephan and I walked in silence down the long corridor and down a flight of steps. The walls were adorned with paintings and as I looked at them I realized they were likely portraits of Stephan's ancestors.

"That's my great-great grandfather, Wilhelm, and next to him is his father, Frederick." Stephan smiled at me as he caught me staring at the paintings.

"They look so serious," I said simply and then paused. "Is there a reason why they all had those beards?"

"You don't like the unkempt look?" Stephan winked at me as he teased me and I could see Xavier tensing as he walked beside us.

"I've just never seen any royals look so..." I paused as I tried to find the way to voice my thoughts diplomatically.

"Common?" Stephan asked and his blue eyes laughed as I nodded, feeling embarrassed. I'd been about to say that they reminded me of hillbillies that I'd seen on
Duck Dynasty
, but I was glad I'd kept my mouth shut. He most probably didn't even know what
Duck Dynasty
was and it was likely that he and Xavier would just think I was some American hick; which, to be quite honest, I was. And proud to be. Kinda.

"Are you feeling okay, Lola?" Xavier abruptly changed the subject and looked at me.

"I'm fine." I nodded, but in reality I was far from fine. In reality I was over my head. "I don't suppose I can make a quick phone call, can I?"

"Phone call?" Xavier looked perplexed and I could understand why. This was neither the time nor place for me to be asking to make a call.

"Is there some sort of emergency?" Stephan looked concerned and it struck me that it was odd that he was the one who cared more about me or was at least acting like he did.

"No." I shook my head. "I'm just worried that my best friend, Anna, has wondered what happened to me as I haven't spoken to her in a while."

"Then you must call her now." Stephan stopped. "It will have to be quick because they are waiting for us in the main room downstairs."

"Oh, I don't have to call if people are waiting for us." I looked at Xavier then, to figure out what he wanted me to do.

"Call." His eyes pierced into mine and he nodded slightly. "Nothing is so important that you can't call your best friend to let her know you're okay."

"My, my, you must be a magic woman." Stephan grinned at me. "Nothing would have stopped Xavier last time he was in this position."

"Last time?" I said as my stomach dropped, though I already knew what Stephan was going to say.

"Yes, when he was here with Violeta." Stephan said her name distastefully. "Why, that was the most drama we'd ever had at one of these balls."

"Why was that?" I asked, not able to look at Xavier.

"It's not really my place to say." He looked at Xavier's scowling face. "I assume that it still hurts."

"Hurts?" Xavier looked amused. "No, it doesn't hurt."

"I suppose it's more a pride thing." Stephan nodded. "I know if my date fucked my cousin at an event I'd taken her to and let everyone watch, I'd be pretty sore myself."

"Violeta did what she had to do." Xavier shrugged. "I don't fault her."

"Hopefully it doesn't happen again this year," Stephan said casually. "That would really burn."

"I'm not worried." Xavier's voice was harsh and he leaned forward and grabbed Stephan's shirt and whispered harshly, "There’d better be no game-playing with Lola. Everyone had better stick to the rules or heads are going to roll."

"I always stick to the rules." Stephan shook him off and smiled. "I'm not Casper. I don't need to break them."

"What rules? What are you guys talking about?"

"Xavier hasn't told you about the test?" Stephan sounded surprised, but I could tell by the look in his eyes that he was faking it. He was a good actor, though. I could almost believe that he cared about me and what I was going through. Almost, but not quite. The simple fact was that he had no reason to care about me. He didn't know me. The fact that he'd kissed me showed me that he was going full force. He was trying to woo me hard. I just didn't really understand why. Was this really just a macho thing?

"Test?" I glanced at Xavier and he pulled out his phone instead of answering me. "Call Anna and talk to her," he said. "Then come back and tell me if you want to stay."

"What's the test, Xavier?" I asked him, but he remained stoic.

"It's a test of passion and desire," Stephan said. "It's a test of lust and want."

"Oh?" My eyes searched Xavier's, but still he didn't speak.

"It's a test to see if Xavier is really the man to turn up your fires." Stephan's eyes burned into mine. "Or perhaps he was just the man you met first. Perhaps you are more suited to someone else. Perhaps your sexual journey will take a different turn." He licked his lips deliberately as he spoke and I turned away hurriedly and walked a few yards away to make my call. I listened to the phone ringing and ringing and I was so scared that Anna wasn't going to answer.

"Hello," she said sleepily and I almost fainted in relief because I was so happy to hear her voice.

"Anna, it's me, Lola."

"Lola," she almost screamed. "Where are you?"

"I'm in some palace in Germany, I think," I whispered into the phone. "I'm not sure what I've gotten myself into."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I think these rich people are freaks. They have sex games and sex clubs and women seem to be disposable to them."

"What are you talking about, Lola? Is Xavier there?"

"Yes and he's wonderful, Anna. He told me he loves me. He told me that he thinks that I'm the only woman he's ever loved."

"So why don't you sound happy?" Anna said softly. "Shouldn't you be jumping for joy now that you have your Prince Charming?"

"There's more," I sighed. "He doesn't believe in true,everlasting love an
d
—
well, there's someone else."

"Someone else? Not that guy, Casper?" Anna gasped. "Sebastian told me about him."

"No, not Casper." I peeked over my shoulder and saw that Xavier and Stephan were both staring at me.

"Did you see Sebastian, by the way?" Anna asked. "I think he was flying over today."

"No," I said quickly. "Look, Anna, I can't talk long, but I'm confused. I think I might be attracted to this other prince."

"Another one?"

"He's German and captivating and he kissed me and I hated it and loved it at the same time."

"I thought you loved Xavier?"

"I do," I breathed out, my heart racing just thinking about him. "I love him deeply, but there's something about Stephan that appeals to my primal side."

"You want to fuck him?" Anna said crudely and I blushed.

"No, of course not," I said quickly and honestly. However, that was only a partial truth. It was true that I didn't want to sleep with him, but a part of me that I hadn't known existed until tonight thought that it could be wild and exciting to just think about the possibilities of what could happen.

"So what's the problem, then?"

"I think I'm caught up in some sort of sexual maze and erotic mastery, Anna. I think I'm caught up in some sort of late night almost erotic kinky shit and it's scaring the hell out of me."

"What scares you the most?" she asked me softly and I sighed as I answered her.

"I'm scared by the fact that I'm as turned on as I am appalled. Does that make me a crazy person?"

"No." Her voice was warm. "That makes you human. That makes you real. That makes you as complicated and fucked up as everyone else on the planet. Listen to me, Lola. Think of this as your own personal sexual revolution. I know you're feeling guilty because you have the hots for another guy, even though you love Xavier. But Xavier has been an asshole to you in the past, Lola. If he truly loves you, then he'll have to understand whatever is going on."

"I'm scared, Anna. I wish you were here."

"I wish I was there as well. I want to meet the man that can tempt you away from Xavier."

"He's not tempting me away, Anna. He's just making it hard for me to think straight."

"Wet panties will do that to you." Anna laughed and I groaned.

"I have to go," I said hurriedly. "Thank you for being you."

"Have a good time, Lola. Remember that if you feel uncomfortable at any point, just leave. If push comes to shove, call me collect and I'll get you a ticket so you can come back to London."

"Thank you, Anna," I said and hung up the phone. I took a deep breath and turned around and hurried back to the men. Both Xavier and Stephan were looking at me as if I were the last woman on Earth and it made me feel a thrill of power and sexuality that I'd never wanted to own before.

***

We walked into a large room with couches on one side and a glass wall on the other side. There were four other men waiting in the room, including Casper, and three other women, including Violeta. I wasn’t happy to see Violeta and Casper in the room standing there, looking nonchalant. I checked out the other faces in the room, but I didn’t recognize any of them from the parties I’d attended with Xavier previously.

"Welcome, everyone. My name is Charles. I'm a member of the Dutch royal family and the inner circle of the Society of Brothers." The tall man with the long nose looked very pleased with himself and I couldn't help but stare at the smirk on his face. "I'll be the proctor today." He laughed. "I will go over the rules and placements and then we shall start."

"Are you feeling okay?" Xavier asked me quietly as we listened to Charles talking. "What did Anna say?"

"She said to stay as long as I feel comfortable." I made a face at him. "Honestly, I don't know if I'm okay and I don't know if I'm comfortable, but I want to do this for you. You want to make it to that inner circle, right?"

"I do." He nodded solemnly.

"Then let's get you there," I said and tried to ignore the feeling of warmth that had spread through my body as I'd noticed Stephan staring at me. “Let the games begin,” I said under my breath and I closed my eyes for a few seconds to stop myself from staring back into Stephan’s penetrating gaze. I had no idea what was going to happen next, but I knew I was more excited than I should have been, given the circumstances.