“Rhys. Oh, God,” Bridget sobbed. “I can’t…I need—”
“What do you need?” I grazed my teeth over her nipple. “You need to come? Hmm?”
“Y-yes.” It came out as a half plea, half moan.
She was wrecked. Her hair a mess, her face streaked with tears, her skin slick with sweat and hot with arousal.
I lifted my head and dragged my mouth up her neck until I reached her ear, where I whispered, “Come for me, princess.”
I pinched her nipple and fucked into her with the hardest thrust yet, and she exploded, her mouth falling open in a soundless scream while her cunt strangled my cock.
Thunder boomed again, closer this time.
I held Bridget’s limp, shaking body up against the beam until she caught her breath. Once she did, I set her on the floor, turned her around, and bent her over.
I hadn’t come yet—the old trick of reciting baseball rosters still worked—and my body vibrated with barely controlled tension.
“Again?” she panted as I slid my cock along her slick folds.
“Sweetheart, I wouldn’t be doing my job if you didn’t come on my cock at least three times tonight.”
The storm broke right as I pushed into her, and rain lashed sideways at us as I fucked her against the wooden beam. Lightning ripped through the sky, illuminating the pale curve of Bridget’s shoulder as she clung to the railing for dear life. She’d turned her head sideways so her cheek pressed against the wood, and I could see her mouth fall open as she struggled to catch her breath between my thrusts.
I wrapped her hair around my fist and used it as leverage to make her take me deeper.
“This is for all the times you didn’t listen.” I squeezed her ass before delivering a sharp slap that made her yelp. “This is for Borgia.” Slap. “And this is for the gardens.” Slap.
My pent-up frustration over the years bloomed across her skin in pink, and a dark chuckle rose in my throat when Bridget bucked harder against me with each slap.
“You like that?” I pulled her head back by her hair until she was looking up at me with tear-filled eyes. “You like getting your ass slapped while I pound that tight royal pussy with my hard cock?”
“Yes.” The word broke into a moan, and her knees buckled.
I hissed out a breath. God, she was fucking perfect. In every way.
I wrapped one arm below her waist, holding her up, and bent over her until my chest pressed against her back. I covered most of her body with mine, shielding her from the splashes of rain as I buried myself so deep inside her I didn’t think I would ever get out.
I didn’t want to. This right here, this was all I wanted.
Bridget. Just Bridget.
“Oh, God, Rhys!”
The sound of my name on her lips as she shattered around me again finally did me in.
I came right after her with a loud groan, my orgasm ripping through me with the force of a hurricane. I swore I lost my hearing for a second there, but when I came back to my senses, everything seemed amplified. The smell of the rain and earth mingled with sex and sweat, the sound of the water pattering against the wood, the coolness of the droplets on my overheated skin.
Bridget trembled beneath me, and I lifted her up and placed her deeper into the gazebo, away from the rain.
“You okay, princess?” My breaths finally eased into something resembling normal as I slid the straps of her dress back onto her shoulders and smoothed her hair out of her face before giving her a soft kiss.
I wasn’t a sweet, lovey type of guy in any area of my life, but perhaps I’d been too rough with her. If I had my way, we would’ve done this in a proper room with a proper bed, but the walls were paper thin at the inn.
Bridget nodded, still shaking somewhat. “Wow.”
I chuckled. “I’ll take that as a good thing.” I kept an arm around her, still holding her up. A fierce protectiveness washed over me as she pressed her face into my chest.
God, this woman. She had no idea the things I would do for her.
We stayed in the gazebo until the rain stopped, which thankfully didn’t take long. I would’ve been happy to stay there forever, but I wanted to make sure Bridget had time to shower and grab some shuteye before our morning call time.
“You don’t have to carry me. I can walk again.” Bridget laughed as I scooped her up in my arms and set off back to the inn. “I don’t know about tomorrow, though. I have a feeling I’m going to be sore.”
“Ground’s wet and it’s dark,” I said. A cloud had drifted over the moon, and I had to walk slowly to make sure I didn’t step in anything I didn’t want to step in. “Better if I carry you, sweetheart.”
She didn’t respond, but she tightened her arms around my neck and pressed a soft kiss to my jaw that made my heart twist in the strangest way.
Then again, nothing about my life had been normal since Bridget von Ascheberg came into it.
29
Bridget
After our night in the gazebo, Rhys and I didn’t get any more time alone during the tour. But when we returned to Athenberg a few days later, we managed to sneak in trysts despite my packed schedule.
The guesthouse at midnight, after everyone had gone to sleep. The supply closet on the third floor of the staff quarters during lunch hour. My favorite rooftop above the kitchen. No place was off-limits.
It was risky, dangerous, and out of character for both of us, given how practical we usually were, but we couldn’t have stopped if we wanted to. We’d waited too long and needed it too much.
It was a crazy ride that would eventually have to end, and while we never talked about the future, we’d come to a silent agreement to enjoy every second we could.
But, as much as I wanted to spend all my days and nights with Rhys, I had other responsibilities, and three weeks after my return to Athenberg, I found myself in my grandfather’s office, waiting for Erhall to finish speaking so I could present my agenda items.
“Let me guess. You have another citizen issue you’d like to bring up. Your Highness,” Erhall added tightly, no doubt remembering my grandfather was also in the room.
I responded with a serene smile. “Yes. That is what we do, isn’t it? Help the citizens of Eldorra?”
Erhall, Edvard, Andreas, and I sat around Edvard’s desk for the king’s weekly meeting with the Speaker. It was my third such meeting since I returned from my goodwill tour, which had been a smash success. Henrik ran a glowing profile of me in the Eldorran Herald, and my public approval rating shot sky high, nearly rivaling that of my grandfather’s.
I personally didn’t care much about ratings, but it was one of the most powerful weapons in my arsenal since I didn’t hold any actual political power. I also took great pleasure in the fact Erhall’s rating was nearly twenty points lower than mine.
“Of course.” Erhall smoothed down his tie, looking like he’d just sucked on a lemon. “What would you like to discuss?”
I’d built on my impulsive decision at Ida’s farm and created an official Citizen Letters program by which Eldorrans could write or email me with their concerns, and I acknowledged every one. The most important ones, I brought to Erhall’s attention during the weekly meetings. He probably wouldn’t do anything about the majority of them, but I had to try.