AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Besides, the Crown Prince had told Benedetto to bring Amelia home, whatever it took. Okay, Anton wouldn’t have had this in mind, but Benedetto wasn’t going to fail his friend.
Acknowledging, in the back of his mind, that he was simply making excuses to justify his weakness, he nonetheless allowed himself to succumb to temptation, figuring he’d sort out the consequences later. After.
‘Are you sure we don’t know each other?’ she asked, huskily, momentarily piercing his fog of desire.
‘We’ve never met,’ he responded, though it didn’t quite answer her question. She’d clearly recognised his name—undoubtedly her brother had mentioned him at some point over the years. But theirs was not a personal connection. Or at least, it hadn’t been.
‘Okay.’ She tilted her head back, giving him better access to her throat, and he took it without hesitation. Now it was Benedetto’s turn to groan as he brushed his stubble over her skin, so soft it was like velvet, feeling her purr.
Her dress was simple—elasticised across the torso in a style a woman would probably know the name of—with no straps, so it was the easiest thing in the world for him to tug at the side and lower it. She gasped as he revealed one of her perfect, neat breasts, the darkened areola taut and firm, so he was drawn like a moth to a flame to pull the nipple into his mouth and suck on it, harder perhaps than he’d intended, so she bucked against his leg in surprise, her whole body jerking with the strength of her physical response.
‘Do you want me to stop?’ he asked, dark anger in his voice—an anger that was directed at himself, for having insufficient willpower.
She shook her head quickly, but her eyes were huge, a look of awakening in them that had him briefly questioning her experience with men. ‘You’re not a virgin, are you?’ After all, he had to draw the line somewhere, and he had no interest in being Anton’s sister’s first sexual experience.
She shook her head again and relief surged through him.
‘But I’m—I haven’t—’ She grimaced. ‘Never mind.’
He did as she requested, thrusting aside whatever she’d been about to say and instead giving himself full access to her body, pulling the dress down on the other side so he could lose himself in her breasts, her nipples, exploring them hungrily with his mouth and then his hands, enjoying the way her pupils dilated when he squeezed her nipples as he rolled them, the way she bit down on her lip as he palmed her breasts, her hands desperately running over her body when he pulled away, as though she were on fire and needed extinguishing.
It was all getting away from him.
He should stop this. The boat had to be out of the marina by now. She was his ward for the next week, the time it would take to sail to Catarno. He had to take control of the situation. Didn’t he?
‘Please,’ she whimpered, the fire raging out of control. He understood; he felt it too.
‘Please what?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘What do you want from me, Amelia?’ he demanded, eyes latched to hers, so he saw something shift in them, a frown tugging on her lips.
‘I want—what did you call me?’
His heart thumped against his chest as he belatedly realised his mistake. He’d used her christened name, rather than what she went by now.
Pride stopped him from lying. His arousal was straining hard against his trousers, his whole body was taut with need, and yet he stood straight, dropped his hands to his sides and regarded her as though nothing had happened between them whatsoever. Even when desire was threatening to turn him to mush, making him want to forget everyone and everything but her, he held onto sanity just long enough to know he couldn’t lie to her. Not when asked a direct question.
‘It is your name, sì?’
She flinched, confusion and betrayal writ large across her face. ‘We have met,’ she said, lifting her fingers to her lips. ‘You know who I am.’
She was so shocked she didn’t even think to draw her dress back up, so Benedetto had the vantage point of her feminine form, mottled pink by his stubble and the desperate need of his touch.
‘No,’ he said, crossing his arms over his chest simply to stop himself from reaching for her. She looked so hurt, so crestfallen, it was impossible not to feel sorry for her.
Benedetto had to remind himself of everything he knew about Amelia: her spoiled, overindulged ways, the only daughter of parents who doted on her, the fact she’d cast her family aside and disappeared into the ether, hurtfully ignoring almost all their attempts at contact. He hated women like her, who had no loyalty nor respect for other people. ‘And yes,’ he finished, interested in her reaction.
Her eyes swept shut, her lips parted, and her features were so defeated, her expression so haunted, it was impossible not to experience an overarching sense of compunction for his place in all of it.
‘Why? How did you find me?’
‘You are not so well hidden away, Princess,’ he responded.
He’d never been into role play but apparently when it was a real-life princess that was a different matter. Out of nowhere, he had an image of her in a palace, and he her concubine, existing purely to service her needs, and felt a thrill of something that surprised him. Benedetto had never needed a woman for longer than it suited him. He’d never really been wired to seek relationships, but after those awful days of grief and loss, he’d known he wouldn’t again risk that kind of pain—nor emotional connection. He didn’t deserve it.
‘So what was all this?’ She gestured to the boat and then, belatedly realising she was half naked, she pulled up her dress, shielding herself from his view so he wanted to cry out in objection, to reach forward and remove the dress altogether. ‘Why am I here?’ she demanded, and then her eyes widened as she looked around, lifted a hand to her lips. ‘Oh, my God. The boat’s moving, isn’t it? Why is the boat moving?’
