To Steal a Groom (Royal Billionaire Romance) (18 page)

My headlights wash over a man in the middle of the road. I stomp on the breaks, stopping mere inches short. He doesn’t seem fazed, calmly walking to the passenger side.

“Jesus, Nic, are you insane?”

He buckles himself in like it’s the most natural thing in the world to hail a ride by almost getting run over. “Yes, but that’s beside the point.” Setting my bag on his lap, he sits expectantly. “Shall we?”

It’s like he expects me to argue. I step on the gas, doing my best to hide my satisfaction as he smacks against the headrest.

Nic swears. “With all I did to help you with this mission, the least you could do is get me home in one piece.”

His words make me feel sick. Home for me isn’t a place. It’s Damon, his smiling eyes and welcoming arms. I can’t lose that. It’s all I have.

“What is it?” Nic asks.

“We might have the only copy of that tape.” I swallow. My throat feels awfully dry. “Would you destroy it, if you could?”

“No.” He stares straight ahead. “We didn’t do anything wrong, Grace. This is our proof.”

I wish I could be as confident as him. The rest of our ride passes in silence. I don’t know what’s going through Nic’s head, but my mind is torturing me. Since I can’t remember what happened that night, it fills in the blanks with a reel of imagined debauchery.

As I turn onto the palace drive, I know that Nic’s right. We have to see this tape, if only to spare ourselves the torment of the unknown. I need to find out if I’m loyal, or worthless like my parents.

A lone man stands on the palace steps. I don’t need the headlights to know who it is. My stomach lurches.

Damon waits patiently as we exit the car. My fingers tremble so much that it’s hard to unbuckle my seatbelt. Nic opens the door for me, handing me my bag as I stumble out. I look up at the prince, silhouetted against the ivory palace walls. His face is dark, and I can’t make out his expression. All I want is for him to take me in his arms, but judging by his rigid posture, that’s not going to happen.

Nic and I approach, stopping at the bottom step. Damon watches from on high. It seems appropriate for a prince. I wait in agony for him to say something, anything.

Finally, he speaks. “Natalia made quite the scene when she left. What did you do, Grace?”

I should have prepared an answer for this. Something nice and neat, a lie if necessary, until we could speak alone. But I can’t lie to him anymore. It’s breaking me. Instead of giving him an answer, I burst into tears. I don’t want him to be mad at me. And he’s going to be furious.

Damon rushes down the stairs, gathering me into his arms. I try to push him away, but to no avail. I don’t want any sweetness from him right now. It’s just going to make it worse when his love crumbles to dust.

“You’ll want to hear this in private,” Nic says. “Your quarters, perhaps?”

“Right.” Damon carries me up the steps and into the palace. Nic runs to summon the elevator. My face is buried in my hands, but I can only imagine the scores of onlookers, even at this hour. This will be the talk of the palace within minutes, I’m sure.

The elevator doors slide shut around us. I take in shuddering breaths, trying to pull myself together. If I’m about to face the worst moment of my life, I want to do it with some goddamn dignity. As the elevator glides to a stop, I wriggle out of Damon’s arms.

“I can walk,” I say. At least, I’m pretty sure I can.

Somehow, I make it into the prince’s room. Well, it’s still our room. For now. Nic closes the door firmly behind us.

“All right.” Damon crosses his arms. “I want someone to explain to me what’s going on.”

“Remember the engagement party?” My voice sounds so far away. “That night, Nic and I ended up in the same room.”

“So? He’s my bodyguard. I trust him, with my life and everything else.”

I exchange a nervous glance with Nic. “We don’t remember what happened.”

“What?” Anger, confusion, and pain are etched on Damon’s face. I’ve never heard him use that slicing tone before, and it stings that it’s directed at me.

“Natalia taped us.” I press on, even though I feel like I’m about to pass out. “She wouldn’t show me the whole thing, but she tried to blackmail me with it.”

Damon stares into the distance. I wish I knew what he was thinking. Maybe I don’t want to know.

“Can we just play it, please?” I fish the flash drive from my bag. “Not knowing what’s on here is killing me.”

He doesn’t respond, but Nic opens a panel in the wall. After pressing some buttons, a screen slides down. My stomach drops. A projector. It’s too big, too real.

Wordlessly, Nic takes the flash drive from me and plugs it into the wall. The tape starts to play, and I find that I can’t look away.

There’s a dark hotel room, larger than life on the screen. A light switches on.

“Get her in bed, will you?” Natalia asks off-screen. It seems that this version has sound. I think I might be sick.

Nic and I appear, and we don’t look too good. Not only are we obviously tipsy and disheveled, he has one arm around me as I lean against him. He carefully helps me sit on the bed, his hands grazing my arm.

“Make sure Grace is comfortable,” Natalia says. The door clicks shut, though it’s hard to see at this angle.

“This isn’t the right room,” Nic slurs. “I insisted on inspecting the suite.” He staggers toward the door, and I hear him testing the handle. “It’s jammed.”

On the bed, I sway dangerously. “What’s happening, Nic?”

“I don’t know.” The bed creaks as he sits beside me. He’s close to me, too close as he puts his head in his hands. Only lovers or drunks sit that close. “We may have to figure it out tomorrow.”

“Are you very tired?” I ask.

He nods. “And very drunk.”

“I think I’m okay.” Onscreen, I begin to cry. Silently, I swear at myself. I’ve been doing far too much of that lately.

“There, there.” Nic runs his thumb under my eye to wipe my tears away. The motion chills me. It’s far too tender, too intimate. I want to see Damon’s reaction, but I’m too afraid to turn my head his way. I keep my eyes glued to the screen.

“We’ll sort this out tomorrow,” Nic says.

Oh no. Here it comes, the last moment I remember. Fear makes my stomach roil with acid.

There I go. Projected on the wall, I lean toward Nic, close enough to kiss. Dear god, let it end at that. A kiss I could stand. Any more than that, and I’ll have to hope that the ground will swallow me up.

There’s silence for a wrenching moment. Then I put a hand on his face. No. No! I would bolt from the room right now if I weren’t rooted to the spot. I can see where this is going, and I can’t bear to watch any more.

“Is that icing?” Onscreen, I laugh. “There’s this new invention called the napkin,” I say as I wipe it off the corner of his mouth. “You should look into it.”

Nic lurches forward. “You should look into … your face.”

I laugh. “That was really good. You’re much wittier when you’re drunk.”

“I’m not as drunk … as you.”

“Oh yeah?” I hold up a finger as if I’m about to launch into a rebuttal, then fall onto the bed, asleep.

Nic sways, then stands over me for a moment. He reaches for me, trying to keep himself steady. At last, he pulls over the blankets to tuck me in.

I roll over, thrashing for a bit before pushing my pants out from under the covers. Nic takes off his own pants, rolling them up into a pillow that he sets on the floor. He lies down, and then neither of us moves. There’s only the sound of heavy breathing. The tape runs on for a few more moments before it goes black.

I’m innocent.
Innocent
. I bring my hands up to my mouth, unsure what to do with myself. The relief is making me giddy. I feel like I could run laps around the palace. I didn’t cheat. I’m not like my mom.

But this is what Natalia and Marc have been holding over my head? This is what I’ve agonized over? Instead of letting me be with Damon, they’ve tried to pull me away from him, to twist what should be a happy time into something ugly. They’ll pay for this. I’ll see to that.

“Are you okay?” Damon asks quietly.

Nic has gone, closing the door behind him. Soft light from the projector still plays against the wall.

“I’m fine,” I reply automatically. I sit on the bed before my shaking legs can give out under me.

Damon sits beside me. “You’re not fine.”

“No. You’re right.” I can’t bear to look into his eyes. I’m worried what I might find there. “I thought everything might be over. I thought you’d never trust me again.”

“I trust you with my heart.” Taking my hand in his, he brings it to his chest. “That’s why I gave it to you. I didn’t need to see the tape to know what happened in there.”

“Really?”

“Well, you had me scared for a minute there. But I know you, Grace. Better than you know yourself, it seems.”

He’s teasing me, but my eyes well with tears all the same. I thought I might never again hear that softness in his voice that he reserves just for me.

As if he can sense my thoughts, he wraps me in his arms. “None of that now. No more tears.”

Something releases inside me. Damon trusted me, through everything. I can trust myself to him. Even this part of me that I’ve never given to anyone before.

We don’t waste any time. He unzips my dress, and before it’s even fallen to the floor he’s unhooked my bra.

Damon stands before me, drinking me in with his eyes. “How are you so beautiful?”

I could ask him the same question.

“These are going to have to go, though.” Kneeling before me, he slides my panties to the floor. I feel his breath against my legs as he grips the back of my thighs, caressing me all the way down to my calves.

“Let me take off your clothes,” I whisper. “It’s not fair.”

He gazes into my eyes. “Not yet.” Giving me a coy smile, he sets one finger against my skin, letting it graze ever upwards until it reaches the place where my legs meet. I exhale as he strokes the soft folds of flesh.

“Oh, Grace.”

His words and his expert fingers make me gasp. I can feel myself pulsing for him. It’s almost as if my heartbeat has shifted south. A shudder runs up my spine. He’s making me throb, making me wet for him. I tingle with anticipation. I wonder what it’ll feel like, if it’ll hurt. But then he moves his marvelous fingers again, and the pleasure overrides the last of my fear. I’m not going to let anything keep me from Damon.

His fingers rock me to the core, drawing forth sounds I didn’t even know I could make. I don’t know if it’s been minutes or hours, but my legs have gone weak. Lurching forward, I have to lean on his shoulders for support.

“Grace.” Damon grabs my wrist. He’s panting, and not from exertion. My arousal is fueling his own. This discovery only makes my desire burn hotter.

“What do you want, Grace?”

I close my eyes involuntarily, overcome by his words alone. “Everything,” I whisper at last. “I want everything. I’ve been waiting for you for so long. Don’t make me wait another second.”

I reach down for him, and he lets me draw him up to stand with me. His hazel eyes are intense as I strip him, leaving his clothes discarded in a heap. Running my hands over the hard muscles of his stomach, I glance up at him.

“What are you thinking about?” he asks, his voice taut.

“I’m imagining what your body will look like as you plunge into me again and again.”

Damon lets out a ragged breath. “You don’t have to imagine. I’ll show you.” Scooping me up, he carries me to the bed. Though he looks at me ravenously, he lays me down with care. He straddles me, his hardness pressing against my flesh. I tilt my hips into him, wanting him with a fierceness I’ve never known before.

“Take me,” I say. “Take me now.”

He pins my arms to the bed. “Be patient,” he whispers in my ear. “Good things come to those who wait.” He plants fiery kisses down my cheek, my neck, my collarbone. Each kiss seems to be a mark, a brand, a signal to the world that I am his. He’s hungry for me, and I want him to possess me. I want to be his so badly.

Cupping my breast in one hand, he circles my nipple with his thumb. It firms at his touch. I arch my spine as he puts his mouth to my breast, his hot tongue exploring me. He shifts his attention to my other breast, lightly sucking until he makes me moan.

With one last coy look at me, he plants a kiss on my ribcage, then a trail of kisses down my belly. His lips brush my waist, my upper thigh, and then he’s between my legs again. He parts them with his hands.

“Damon—”

But he’s already buried himself in me, his tongue like a flame. I cry out, unable to control the bucking of my hips or the arc of my back. He slides his hands under me, grabbing me, bringing me closer to him. I can’t escape, and I wouldn’t if I could. The motions of his tongue are languid, but they have me in spasms. I twine my fingers through his hair, incoherent except for when I call his name.

His tongue speeds at my cries, until I’m driven wild. I clutch the sheets, afraid I may tear them apart. My knuckles are white against the black silk.

“Please, Damon. Please.” I’m not even sure what I’m begging for, but I know that only he can give it to me.

He stokes me until fire roars in my veins. I throw my head back against the pillow, giving into the waves of pleasure that crash over me. I’m lost with Damon, spinning through a world of sparks.

At last the fire subsides, though my muscles still twitch unbidden. Damon lies on top of me, grinning at his success.

“Did you like that?”

I take his face in my hands. “Come here.” I kiss him for a long moment, caught in the mix of our scents on his face. We smell right together.

“Have you had enough for tonight?” he teases.

I spread my legs wide, throwing my arms behind my head. “Do I look like I’ve had enough.”

“Oh, no. You look like you haven’t had anything yet. Let’s see if we can fix that.” He lowers himself into me.

I close my eyes, gasping as I feel him enter.

“Are you all right?” he asks.

“Just—just go slow at first.”

He kisses my cheek. “Anything, for you.”

Carefully, he slides into me. I can feel him stretching me, but I’m so wet for him that it doesn’t hurt at all. My breath hitches as he pushes deeper, slowly filling me. He draws back, and in that moment, there’s nothing I want more than all of him inside me. I angle my hips to meet him as he returns, suddenly impatient. Thrusting forward, I gather him into me, all the way to the hilt. It feels so good to be one with him.