A Bodyguard For The Princess (A Bad Boy Romance) (16 page)

When his fingers moved the straps aside, leaving her shoulders bare, Daphne moved against him, wanting to turn and face him, but he didn’t let her. “Not yet,” he growled in her ear.

Melting from his touch, Daphne could do little but let him hold her. His hands went to her wrists and brought her arms up, draping them gently back and around his neck.

“Just hold onto me.” His voice, rough with his own need, caused Daphne’s thighs to clench, and she knew her panties were wet, crying out for the touch she understood she would never be able to live without.

One warm, callused hand slipped down the front of her shirt, cupping a heavy breast, while the other moved across her stomach, massaging from one side to the other and moving her back against him. His erection was prominent against her back, growing more with every move he made. Her eyes slid closed when he tugged at her nipple. Painfully slowly, he unbuttoned her jeans and slid the zipper down all the way.

Daphne sucked in a breath when his fingers inched through her curls beneath her panties and found her soft folds. He groaned in her ear, his hips grinding against her rear as he squeezed her clit. She flinched into his touch.

Her blood was on fire when his fingers slid solidly back and forth between those wet folds, spreading her until she whimpered for him. Daphne’s arms slipped, but Matt stopped his touching until she put them back. Her hands wanted to grip his length hard and take him, much as he did her. Those damn fingers slid up inside her, barely at first, blocked by her jeans, but it was enough to make her chest heave and her heart pound in time with his beating against her ear. He growled something, but the words were lost in her heavy moan.

“Matt,” she whispered as the tension rose within her body, twisting her madly in his arms.

“Yes, princess?” he asked against her neck while his tongue licked from her shoulder to her earlobe and back again. “Tell me what you want, love.”

What did she want? There wasn’t a way to put it into words, so she moved her hips harder against his hand. Matt got the message and shifted his hand until it cupped her and his palm pressed against that burning bundle of nerves. A moment later, he tore a cry from her lips as the intense but brief burst of pleasure shot through her body.

As he held up her quivering body, he whispered in her ear, “Still mad at me?”

“If you don’t let me touch you, I will be,” she replied, dazed. Her arms fell to her side, but not before Matt quickly relieved her of her tank top and bra. He tugged her jeans over her hips, and when she was completely naked, his eyes caressed every inch of her until her whole body screamed for him again.

The need must have reflected in his eyes. Matt set his holster and gun aside, tugged his shirt off, and before he could even get to his jeans, Daphne pulled him down for a kiss, demanding all he had to give. Her fingers fumbled with his jeans in her haste, but once she undid them and slipped her hand inside, she grinned. He swelled the second she touched him, and when her hand moved tightly from the tip to the base, he cursed, his hands tightening in her hair as his tongue delved deeply into her mouth. But when his hand went from her head to between her legs, he groaned, and Daphne was flat on her back in bed before she even realized what happened.

Propped up on her elbows, she watched with hungry anticipation as he kicked off his jeans and moved to the bed, a predatory look on his face making her warm from her burning loins up to her tingling nipples.

Neither said a word as he climbed up, his knee spreading her legs, and he pressed against her. Daphne drew him down for a kiss, and the moment their lips met, he thrust deep and hard inside her. Their bodies shook together at the immediate jolt of desire being satisfied. Daphne’s hips lifted to meet his, gasping as the heat grew to a burning inferno deep within her. Matt lowered his mouth to her nipples, sucking hard as his other hand slid down her thigh, gripping her hip tightly, but he didn’t go faster, and each drag out and back in left Daphne dizzy.

How did either of them think they could live without the other and the attraction growing with every passing second? He said he needed Daphne to silence his inner demons, but she needed him to keep her grounded. Stop her from losing that last shred of control.

As she gasped his name, close to release, he pulled out, flipped her over, and lifted her back up onto his lap. With his arms securely enclosed around her body, he brought her back down on him as he kissed and nipped her neck and shoulder. Daphne cried out as pleasure swarmed her and even more when his hand snaked down her stomach to her clit and tugged. The heat from his chest spread from her back to the rest of her body as the room spun around them.

“Jesus,” she whispered, “Matt… I can’t… oh God!”

“Let it all go, Daphne,” he grunted. “Just let it go.”

His fingers pinched her clit again as he drove hard into her. Daphne was torn apart, shattered into a hundred pieces. Matt growled a curse in her ear, and she felt his warmth spill into her as he kissed along her neck, his chest heaving behind her. He turned them so they fell back on the bed.

When she turned to face him and was able to catch her breath, even though her limbs felt like jelly, Daphne scooted closer and kissed him. “I think we could use that wine now.”

“I second that idea,” he grunted. “I’ll get it.”

“Great. I’ll go run the bath,” she said with a seductive grin when he shot her a look that promised she would not regret a thing about tonight nor any night after.

***

Sun streamed in through the open balcony, and Daphne breathed in the fresh morning air, completely at peace with the world around her for a change. With her parents absent from the island, even if only for a day or two, the walls didn’t seem so closed-in. She wanted to stay there, watching the water, and feel the sun’s warmth on her face, but sooner or later, she would be called from her room to perform her duties as a princess.

Except today, there was more to it than that. Two strong arms closed around her, and Matt kissed the top of her head as she leaned back into his embrace.

“What the hell am I going to do about Dion?” she asked quietly.

“Nothing, for now,” he told her. “Ambrose will tell me today if they found anything last night, but if there’s no proof, then legally, there’s nothing you can do to him. Yet.”

“So I’m just supposed to let him keep spreading rumors about me?”

Matt turned her around slowly. “No, but like I said, you do nothing for now. Let me see what I can find out. I have a contact in the city. I’ll call him, see what he knows. If nothing else, I’ll let something slip that Dion is involved in more than just drug allegations.”

“A smear campaign. This is one of those days I wish we didn’t have a damn parliament, and I could just snap my fingers and make him disappear,” she mused and tugged her ear until Matt pulled her hand away gently. “Sorry.”

He took her chin in his hand, frowning, and kissed her. “Don’t ever apologize to me, Daphne. We all have our ways of coping.”

“Yeah, and what’s yours?”

“For the moment, it’s you,” he admitted.

She grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer for a kiss. “Just don’t push me away again. It won’t be good for either of us.” A look she couldn’t read passed over his face before he kissed her again, and she tugged at his lip until he growled and his hands bunched in her shirt.

“We have to go,” she whispered sadly and stepped back.

“Of course, princess,” he agreed formally, even if his eyes continued to gleam with promises of what he’d do to her later. “We shall go whenever you’re ready.”

Daphne smoothed her blouse and straightened her skirt. Today should’ve been a nice break from the stress the king and queen caused her by hovering nearby all the time. Instead, she was stressed over her worrying about Agnes and Dion. To think that her cousin told people she was on happy pills to cope with her sister’s death. It had happened so long ago, and she’d managed to get over it just fine without any drugs. But no one would know the truth, not unless she got out there and told them herself. Despite what Matt told her, it was hard not to want to repair her reputation. Between her parents and Dion, she wasn’t sure who was more at fault.

Matt waited patiently by the doors to her rooms, and once she’d taken a few deep breaths to keep her hands from shaking, she moved towards him. He opened the door for her to walk through, and Daphne led the way out, Matt trailing behind her as he always did, but this morning it wasn’t his heated gaze she felt on her back. Instead, his worry for her current predicament pushed against her, and with it, the dangerous undertone of the man she was quickly falling for. Matt didn’t scare her, but she knew he would scare anyone dumb enough to come after her or her throne.

The first order of business was to meet with the stubborn members of parliament dragging their feet on her education reforms. She reached the small conference room, but the man who stepped out the door was not one she’d expected to see.

“Dion? What the hell are you doing here?” she snapped before she could catch herself.

Immediately, Matt moved forward to stand by her side, and she saw his hand slip to his exposed holster. He still wore his clothes from the day before. There’d been no time to change. “Is there a problem, princess?” he growled.

“I should think not,” Dion scoffed as he straightened his suit jacket. “Princess Daphne, are you not happy to see me this morning?”

Daphne bit her tongue but didn’t smile, not this time. “Of course. I was startled. My mind is occupied on other matters. What, may I ask, are you doing here this early? You’re not part of this meeting today, nor is your mother here.”

“No. No, she’s not,” Dion said quietly as he looked from Daphne to Matt standing so close to her side. “Is it a casual day?”

“Excuse me?”

Dion nodded at Matt. “Your bodyguard is out of uniform. Curious.”

Daphne frowned and fought the need to tug her ear. “Not at all. What my bodyguard wears is none of your concern. Now, what is your business here, Dion?”

He shifted, his gaze remaining on Matt as he said, “I had a few things to take care of with the gentlemen of the parliament and hoped to meet with you today, cousin. If you have time. I know how horribly busy you are these days with trying to bring our sweet little kingdom into the future.”

His mocking tone hurt, but not as much as it would have if Matt hadn’t been at her side. “I’m sorry,” she smiled as politely as she could manage. “But until the allegations against you are cleared, I cannot discuss any matters with you outside of the weather.”

“Surely you can make an exception.” He sneered. “We’re family, after all, are we not, cousin?”

“If I make an exception for one, I would have to for another. The answer is no, Dion. Good day.”

“Daphne, really,” Dion snapped, but Matt stepped between them, pushing Daphne safely behind him and out of Dion’s view. “What do you think you are doing?”

Matt straightened, and by the way Dion’s face paled slightly, she knew exactly what look he had in his eyes. “The princess wishes for you to leave. You will do so, or I will have you forcefully removed as I did your mother.”

“How dare you speak to me like this?! I am the cousin of the princess, nephew to the king and queen!”

“Yes,” Matt said darkly, “and that is all you will ever be as long as I am here. Good day, Dion.”

Dion huffed loudly, yelling about how inappropriate the household staff had become, and marched down the hall. Daphne deflated slightly, clasping her hands tightly together to calm her nerves.

“And I thought it would be an easy day,” she said with a sigh.

“He won’t get to you,” Matt promised. “I’ll be right outside when you’re finished.”

Daphne wanted so badly to jump into his arms and kiss him, but she couldn’t. When he stepped aside, his hand brushed hers, and that one touch was enough—for the moment. Her head held high, she waltzed into the conference room and called the meeting to order.

***

Dion reached the end of the hall and glanced back. Daphne stared longingly into Matthias’ eyes, and he brushed against her before she went inside the conference room. Matthias took his place next to the door, hands clasped behind him, and glared down the hall at Dion. He nodded, turned on his heel, and hurried through the palace.

These halls he’d roamed as a child were so much more magnificent as an adult. It should have been his throne, not Daphne’s, but life had taken an unexpected turn and his father died before his grandfather could pass over the throne. It was the only reason Calix, his uncle, had inherited it and thereby Daphne.

Daphne. So protected all these years, she didn’t even know what went on in her own city. He grinned, slipping his hands causally into his pockets as he turned towards the outer courtyard.

“Sir,” another guard at the palace said as he approached from the other end.

“Good morning, Orion, good morning indeed,” Dion said lightly.

“Sir? You seem in an awfully good mood for having the docks raided last night.”

He gritted his teeth but shrugged. “Yes, well, minor setback, and they didn’t find what they were looking for.” He glanced around to be sure they were alone and leaned in closer. “What can you tell me about this Matthias?”