Page 37 of Royal Salvation

His chest felt tight as he looked at her beaming at him, her smile brighter than the sun. She was so beautiful she took his breath away. Her injuries had healed, the doctor had signed her off just this morning. More than that, she looked happy. Her complexion clear, she smiled all the time and charmed literally everyone she met.

His family adored her, and she fit in as if she’d been made for them, helping his mother in the garden and shopping with Caleb and even discussing architecture with John. But it was the way she played with the kids, unafraid to get dirty and be silly, which showed who she really was.

As he walked toward her, taking in the olive skin of her long shapely legs in the red one-piece she wore, he felt his stomach tighten with desire. Never in all his life had he met a more sensual woman. Lucía held nothing of herself back when she was with him, giving him everything. Her response to his touch lit a fire in his veins making him wonder how he’d possibly be able to walk away from her at the end of their time in Cairns.

Sunglasses covered most of her face as she glanced up at him with a smile, the floppy hat she’d bought protecting her from the brutality of the Australian sun. She was sitting with her knees pulled up, her arms hugging them loosely and it made him want to bend down and take her sweet mouth in a kiss that would curl her toes, but with his family watching he kept his need in check.

“You were great. I didn’t know you surfed.”

He flopped down next to her, shaking his head, the water droplets landing on her skin and she laughed batting her hand at him.

“Hey, you got me wet.”

A smirk twitched on his face and he leaned in closer so only she could hear his words. “You get me hard so we’re even.”

The little hitch in her breath had him rolling on his front to conceal the fact he was now hard for her. His dick ached to be inside her, to feel her warm heat squeezing him as she found her release.

“Justice, your mum is right there.”

Her prim manner sometimes made him grin, especially as he knew how wild and uninhibited she was in the bedroom. “She can’t hear, and what do you expect with you looking like a fucking vision? I swear to God, Lucía, you’re the most stunning woman I’ve ever laid eyes on, and the things I want to do to you are probably illegal in about half the world.”

A groan left her lips, and he felt the answering animalistic growl reverberate in his throat. Watching her squirm, her legs shifting as if to ease the ache he knew he’d caused, he felt caught in his own trap.

“Hey, love birds, we’re going to get ice cream. Do you want anything?” Caleb stood over them, his shades covering his eyes, his son Jake hopping from foot to foot in excitement.

“No, thank you, Caleb, but some water when you come back would be nice.”

“Water. Got it, Princess, and for you, my lord?”

Reaper and Lucía hadn’t hidden what they were doing from his family, and he’d explained to them it was a fling, a temporary bit of fun like all his past associations. Yet even as he’d said it, the words had felt bitter in his mouth like a betrayal to Lucía in some way. “Just water, minion.”

Caleb rolled his eyes. “I despair of you sometimes, Justice.”

Reaper watched his brother walk away before his gaze came back to Lucía. She was looking out to sea, a beatific look on her face, and he wondered again how he was going to walk away from her when this was over. The last weeks had taught him that there was so much more to her than the photographer or the Princess. Both lived inside her, but she was so much more.

“Have you heard from Bás today?”

Her question surprised him. She’d seemed content to let him handle that side of it, not asking about the investigation and he’d been glad, because the truth was, it was slow. Glancing around he didn’t see Bishop or Hurricane, nor Valentina and her furry friends, but he knew they were close and watching his back.

“Not today, but he normally calls at night because of the time difference unless it’s urgent.”

Her face angled toward him, and he sat, his erection gone now the conversation had turned to work and her safety. Sitting with his knees pulled up, elbows resting on them, he watched a boat far out to sea as a jet ski sped along the coastline.

“Is there an update?”

He wasn’t sure what had prompted her to ask, and his stomach tensed in a way he didn’t like as if expecting a blow. “From the text messages we found on Felix’s phone we believe he was being blackmailed into divulging information on you, and he was the one that leaked your alias.” He didn’t tell her it was because of the proof they’d found of his obsession and love for the King or that his entire apartment had been like a shrine to King Juan. Yet, as far as they could tell, his involvement had seemed unwilling. What they didn’t know was how the blackmailers found out he’d been about to tell Lucía of his involvement and throw himself on his sword.

“Do you know who was blackmailing him?”

“No, but we have a link to a man from my past. When it originally came up, I thought perhaps the threat was made because of me but it wasn’t.”

Her head swung to him, her face shocked, her skin pale despite the sun. “What? Who?”

He couldn’t take her looking at him like that and not touch her, so he reached a hand out to stroke the skin on her cheek, his protective instincts kicking in when she leaned into his palm like a kitten seeking shelter and warmth. “A man named Parker Richardson, but I knew him as Playboy. He was on my team when I was in the military. He committed a heinous crime when we were deployed. I caught him and I lost it. I beat him until we had to carry him out.”

“What happened?” As if sensing this didn’t end as it should she leaned in close, offering him comfort as he took a walk down memory lane that he most definitely didn’t want to take but with her, it was somehow easier.

“I reported him thinking he’d be disciplined but the only person to have any come back was me. Even though my some of teammates backed me, the ones that didn’t seemed to sway the top brass by saying they hadn’t seen what I had, and Parker’s father was a powerful man. I got a dishonourable discharge for my trouble. I’ve hated him since and the feeling is mutual.”