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“You know what the sad part about that is?” he asked, dropping his voice even lower than before.
She licked her lips. “What?”
“I haven’t seen you naked in a long time—but damn, you have no idea how badly I wish I had. I haven’t able to get you out of my head the last three days.” Reaching through the door, he skimmed his knuckles over her shoulder, next to the strap of her tank top, dipping down her arm gently. “If you’d let me, I’d touch you, caress you, kiss you, taste you. Everywhere. But this time, I’d go slowly. Cherish every inch of you intimately, as I should have the first time we were together, until you’re crying and begging me to make it stop. And I will. Make it stop. I promise.”
She sucked in a breath, cheeks pink, and reared back. “Stop saying those things. Someone will hear you.”
“Then let me in, so I can say them in the privacy of your room. Because I won’t stop.” His heart pounded harder at the need he saw burning inside her. “I will never force myself on you, or coerce you in any way, but
you can be damned sure I’ll use every fucking chance I have to let you know how badly I want you. Once wasn’t enough. It will never be enough.”
Letting out a small laugh, she tossed her hair over her shoulder and whistled through her teeth. She put on a good show, trying to pretend his words didn’t affect her, but he could see the truth of it in the way she stood, and the way she avoided his gaze, and her quickened breaths. “You’re ridiculous. And just so you know, that…what you just mentioned…was a one-time deal. Never happening again. But you can’t stand out in the hall talking dirty. It’s weird.”
“If you say so.” He gripped the doorjamb. “We had so much fun when we were kids. I’d like a second chance to show you that we can, at the very least, be friends.”
That wasn’t what he wanted. No, his head was filled with thoughts of her in his bed, writhing beneath him. But he wouldn’t push. It was enough just to spend time with her…
For now.
“Yeah, I don’t think so,” she said slowly, shaking her head. “I don’t particularly like the man you’ve become, and I choose instead to remember the boy I knew…before you left New York.”
She hit an arrow straight to the heart with that. What did she think he’d done?
Frustration at her attitude warred with his desire to make her see he wasn’t this monster that she made him out to be. He was just a guy who made a few stupid mistakes as a kid. “You liked me in that hallway, before you found out who I was. You liked it when I fucked you against that wall, hard and—”
“Oh my God, shut up.”
He nodded once. “Okay. But can you at least try to put yourself in my shoes?” he asked quietly. “I told you, I don’t sleep around, and it’s for this very reason. I don’t enjoy detaining a woman to make sure that the condom I’ve been carrying inside my wallet for three years did its job. And—”
She pressed a hand to her stomach, looking a little green around the face. “Three years?”
“Yes.” He cleared his throat and glanced over his shoulder to make sure the guard was a respectable distance away. “That was the last time I…well, you know. I date a great deal. It’s sort of expected. But like I’ve said, I don’t sleep with everyone I date. This antiquated law of ours is a pain in the ass and puts a damper on a guy’s sex life.”
She laughed. “You—a young, attractive prince who could get anyone in this country in his bed—haven’t had sex for three years?” she practically shouted.
Hell, the whole country probably knew now.
“Shh,” he said, glancing toward the guard again, who quickly gave them his back. “Please. Let me in so we can talk privately. I beg you.”
She raised her brows. “Beg?”
“That’s right. Beg.”
“Wow.” Whistling through her teeth, she stepped back, finally releasing his foot from the prison he’d stuck it into. “That must’ve hurt.”
Glancing down, he wiggled his toes. “A little.”
“I wasn’t talking about the foot.”
He shrugged. “My response still stands.”
“Interesting,” she said, eyeing him. “And honest.”
“I’m a straightforward man. If you ask me a question, you’ll get an honest answer.”
Nodding slowly, she watched him more closely. “Why are you so honest?”
“A ruler can’t afford to get caught in a lie. I’ll never lie to you, Alicia. I swear it.”
