I arched a brow, adjusting my boob back into my bra, then slipped into my pants. “For your trophy room?”
He handed me my tank top. “For when I stroke my cock and remember having to decide between tasting your pussy and watching your face when you come.”
Wetness pooled between my thighs at his filthy words.
A smile quirked his lips. “Ready again so soon?”
Good grief, did he have a moisture radar on my vagina?
He worked the buttons on his shirt. “God, I’m going to enjoy the fuck out of you.”
I slid the tank top over my head and pulled myself together. “You’d have to let me touch you first, and so far, we’re zero for two.” I pinned him with a stare.
Why won’t you let me touch you? Why won’t you give me your secrets?
Sutton jutted forward, pinning me against the wall again. “You think I don’t want you to touch me? That I don’t want your hands and that smart fucking mouth all over me?”
“Do you? Because you act like I don’t know my way around the male anatomy.”
His body pushed into me, forcing the small of my back against the wood trim on the walls and my breasts against his chest. His mouth curled into a wolfish grin. “Say the word, little sheep. Tell me what you want.”
My choice of vocabulary had nothing to do with being prude and everything to do with manners. He wanted dirty? I could give him dirty. I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth and leaned up on my tiptoes, close enough to whisper in his ear. “Your cock.” The sound of his hard swallow encouraged me to keep going. “I want you to feed it to me until I choke. Then I want you to fuck me like you hate me. Because that’s what this is, right? A hate fuck?”
I dropped back down to normal height and met his eyes. My pulse shot into overdrive as I waited for his reply.
“No. That’s not what this is,” he said, his voice low and sure. “And I promise I’m going to give you everything you want and more. So much more.”
“Then what are you waiting for?”
“I’m not going to fuck you in this hallway, Katie. Or in the library. Or anywhere but my fucking bed or yours, because your moans, your screams…” He closed his eyes and tilted his head back, inhaling a breath through his nose as though he were savoring his next words. After a second he opened his eyes and trapped me in his intense gaze. “That goddamn face you make when you come. Those are for me. Only me.”
“A bit hypocritical, don’t you think? Considering what just happened… where it happened.”
“I lost control. I started something I didn’t have the power to stop. I won’t do that again.” He looked tortured, at war with himself over who he wanted to be and who he was supposed to be. I knew that look because I saw it every time I looked in the mirror.
I immediately felt bad for judging him. I no longer saw an arrogant prince who refused to be touched by his father’s enemy. I saw a man holding on to the last sliver of his self-control.
“So, what now?” I asked.
He took a step back and all the air returned to my lungs. “Now we go see my father,” he said as he fixed his tie.
My eyes dipped to the obvious bulge beneath his zipper. “What about that?”
He chuckled then adjusted himself through his pants. “That’s nothing. My dick’s been hard since the moment I laid eyes on you.” He nodded down the Great Hall, his eyes sparkling with his smile—the first genuine one I’d seen on him since we met. “Come on. I’ll give you a tour along the way.”
I smiled back and followed him down the hall, cherishing the moment but knowing it was too good to last. I was screwed. So very screwed. We both were.
He led me past the Ambassador’s Room where I knew the royals held all their galas. We passed a massive staircase leading from the Grand Entrance on the ground floor to the first floor.
Sutton caught me peering in through open doors and archways as we walked past rooms with extravagant furnishings, marble paneling, and painted ceilings. I knew from listening to kitchen chatter that the royals employed a lot of people, but outside of the kitchen I never saw any of them. I never saw anyone walking the halls or heard echoes of conversations as they walked past the library. Hundreds of employees, and they all appeared to be ghosts. Like now. Endless rooms and miles of hallways and there was only us. It felt… lonely.
“There are three-hundred and thirty-five rooms in the castle,” Sutton said as we passed yet another empty room with even more lavish furniture and no one to sit on any of it.
I knew Thornebridge Castle was big, but three-hundred and thirty-five rooms? What would anyone possibly ever do with that many rooms?
He grabbed my hand and pulled me into the next room we passed. “Eighty-nine bedrooms, and I’m going to fuck you in every single one of them.”
Okay well there’s that.
I doubted even the slightest chance of that happening, but it was pointless to argue. Even if it were a possibility, eighty-nine rooms meant a lot of sex. My ladybits might not be mentally prepared to handle all that.
“This is the Collection Room,” Sutton announced when we stepped inside.
Glass display cases filled with silver vases, medallions, and rare gemstones lined the gray marbled walls. He dropped my hand and let me explore the room. I ran my fingertip along an intricate gold design engraved into the marble on one wall, tracing the outline of the cross in the middle of a shield. On top of the shield was a crown and on either side was a lion. A thin, wavy banner at the bottom read in honore et fide.
“My great-grandfather’s coat of arms.” Sutton’s voice startled me. “It’s twenty-four karat gold.”
I kept staring at the design even though the mere sound of his voice at my ear made it nearly impossible not to look at him. “And the words? What do they mean?”
“In faith and honor.” He sounded proud.
“That’s very royal.” Sutton laughed and the sound of it sent a tingle up my spine.
I realized that was the first time I heard him laugh. There were so many things I still had to learn about this beautiful, haunted man. What did he do for fun? Did he have friends? How did he sound when he came? Would he hiss or growl or throw his head back and shower me with filthy words? The anticipation of that moment had me buzzing out of my skin.
As if he had a secret track to my thoughts, Sutton stood directly behind me, sucking up all the air in the room. His chest dusted my back as he stood dangerously close.
I pointed at a large wooden ship on a fancy table in the middle of the room to keep from pressing my butt against his crotch. “What is that?”
He pulled his body away from mine and stepped around me, looking at the flawlessly detailed wooden replica. “That’s the King’s Vessel. When my ancestors first came to Torryn, there was a huge battle. The land was nowhere near what it is today. There were even fewer roads, making it harder to get from one side of the island to the other. After a hard rain, the mud bogged down the horses and made it hard for them to travel. The soldiers would leave their horses and make the journey by foot. They spent days, weeks sometimes, wandering around until they died of exhaustion or heat stroke. So, we took the battle to the sea, surrounding and protecting the island on all sides. No one got on or off without facing one of our ships.”