Page 9 of Royal Bastard

4

Henry

I watched Evie go with a heavy heart. Her touch had been so natural and unforced. It was a touch of appreciation and thanks, but I wanted it to be more. Over the last month we’d worked together, I’d found her to be kind and sweet, and devastatingly beautiful. I let her go tonight, but I’m not sure how much longer I would be able to control my desire for her.

She was all that was sweet and innocent in the world and I knew a woman like her would not know anything about the kind of sex I wanted to have with her. I knew she’d been married and that she had children but there was such an innocence about her it drew me to her. The fact that you could be married, and still be the innocent was amazing to me, but I knew it could happen.

I’d never been in love, and I’d never had a long-term relationship, most of my liaisons have been with women with the same kind of goals as me. Women who knew how to suck a man’s dick and enjoy it. Not prostitutes, just women who wanted sex and then wanted the man to get out as fast as he wanted to leave. The kind of women that didn’t want entanglements and declarations of romance and love, just a quick fuck and then to get back on with their lives. Evie was not that kind of a woman.

We were both busy doing our jobs and for most of the day it wasn’t hard to ignore her presence in the office. There were two instances when it had proved very hard to control myself. The first was when she’s near me. When I was in the same room with her I wanted to pull her to me and taste her lips. I would stop if she protested, but something about the way those innocent eyes of hers gazed at me told me she wouldn’t protest. It was those eyes that led me to problem number two.

She plagued me in my dreams. They were just the normal sex dream, but they lasted for hours on end and left me sweaty and tangled in my sheets. I was helpless in these dreams, helpless to say no, and I could not get enough of her. She did things in those dreams, things those innocent little green eyes of hers would never dream of doing. I wanted her to do them so fucking bad.

I clenched my hand and walked away from the door. I’d really needed to go over that speech, the event was only two hours away, but I couldn’t stand to sit there and not touch her. I’d sent her home to save her from me.

I’d tried my best to not touch her, she was too good for a man like me, for a man with so many demons. But fuck, how I wanted her. I kept up a mantra: three months. In three months you can fuck her silly, you can make her beg to have your cock, but for now just let her do her job and move on to the next one. Part of it was the fact I was her boss, and one of the main contributors to the program. I could just see the headlines and videos that would appear on the giant screen in the city center.

I didn’t need to draw that kind of attention to myself, so I kept up the mantra, a mantra that proved very hard to maintain. Those two words, “three months,” were repeated over and over in my brain and they soon lost their power. When it came to Evie, my normal stone-cold persona was blown out of the water.

There was also the fact I was not my father. I might be his son, but I was not him. I wouldn’t string a woman along only to abandon her when a better option came along. My father had left my mother for a kingdom, which was a huge opportunity, I’ll admit, but still. He’d never even spoken to me. I was thirty-five now, and in all those years, my father had never spoken to me once.

I’ve spent my entire life in an attempt to atone for another man’s sins. I would not create even more heartache to put out into the world. It just wasn’t going to happen. Not if I could help it anyway.

As I settled into my chair, I considered the dilemma for the millionth time. Evie was the kind of woman you married. The kind you taught all of the naughty things to while encouraging her to fly, but still the kind of woman you married. I couldn’t promise her that, not because of who I was, but because I was afraid of making that promise only to break it. I wasn’t known for faithfulness or my romantic qualities. I didn’t think I could offer either of those things to a woman.

No, my past had broken something inside of me. Something I was afraid would never be fixed. As sweet and nurturing as she was, I doubted Evie could fix it.

I swore as I reached into my desk drawer and pulled out a bottle of whisky. I needed to calm down. I had to get through the rest of the evening.

* * *

Alana is an evil,malicious, cow and when she comes back to work, I plan to tell her exactly that. How could she call in sick when she knew I had to spend the entire day preparing to go to trial with a client? She knew that meant Evie would be with me all day. I’d seen the way Alana had looked at us both over the last couple of days. There was speculation in her gaze, and if there was one thing Alana could not resist, it was playing matchmaker.

She’d put couples together throughout our building and now she was trying to do it with me. Fuck!

I paced in the office, gulping like a man drowning, and fuck me if I wasn’t. I was drowning in panic. How could Alana do this to me?

I got through the rest of the day and before I knew it Evie knocked at my door.

“Hi Henry, are you ready for me?” The woman of my dreams stood in the doorway peeking from behind the open door.

“Yes, I’m ready.” No, no I wasn’t ready. I’m not an animal but I am also not stupid. Being alone with Evie was not a good idea. I could only hope she could control herself better than me.

She came into the office and settled in the chair in front of me. She had on a navy blue pantsuit today that suited her shape well. It suited her so well I had to look away. I shuffled through the papers on my desk and then turned to my laptop. We did have work to do so I made myself act like the grownup that I was and got down to business.

“I’ll need printed copies of those last two files and I have to sign one of them.”

“I’m sending them to the printer now.” Evie tucked a lock of blond hair behind her ear as she typed.

The sun was on its way down and slanted through the window in the office to highlight the features of her face. I wondered if she knew how beautiful she was.

It wasn't just that she was beautiful, though she really was a spectacular woman. I think what fascinated me the most about Evie was how I felt around her. I felt protective, like I was the champion she needed. In between the desire and the need to touch her was the need to protect her. I knew her backstory and I had the utmost respect for her.

Many would have given up in her situation, but she just kept pushing forward. I stood as she left the room and walked over to the glass wall. The sun was setting, and it was a gorgeous evening outside. I watched people go past, my mind on where they were headed, what was in the bags they carried; on anything but the woman that would soon walk back into the office. She’d gone to collect the printouts but she’d be back soon enough.

Three months, I told myself. Three months and you can kiss her until you both die from suffocation, but you have to wait three months.

“Hey, here’s the prints. What has your attention?” She smiled and came to stand next to me.