So, I did, the orgasm coming hard and fast. Royce let out a primal growl as I shuddered around his finger, his name on my lips and my knees buckling under the intense pressure.
Royce caught me as I fell to the tiled floor, scooping me up and carrying me out of the shower, heedless that we were both soaking wet. He placed me on the bed and after donning his condom, positioned himself above me. “Tell me what you want.”
I reached for him, my legs wrapping around his waist. “You, Royce. I want you.”
He grinned, tenderness in his eyes I had never seen before. “You got me, Anna.”
When he slid into me, I gasped, feeling him fill me to the core. Of all the kings, he was the only one that made me feel this way and I knew it was because we had something more between us. My own worst enemy was now the man who had taken my heart.
It was a crazy existence. “I love you, Royce,” I whispered, not caring what he thought about it. I wanted him to know and after today, I didn’t need to hide myself or my feelings for those around me. I almost hadn’t made it out alive today and that was one regret I would have had, Royce not hearing the words I had been meaning to say for a month now.
He exhaled a breath, stilling inside me. “Pauper, I don’t deserve your love.”
“You have it anyway,” I said, arching against him. “Fuck me, Royce.”
He hung his head before he started to move, drilling into me hard and fast like a man starving. I didn’t care. I wanted to feel this with him, to know that I was still alive after everything that had happened. I moved with him and it wasn’t long before another orgasm hit, causing my entire body to shake. Royce let out a hoarse shout that sounded suspiciously like my name and came with me, before collapsing on top of me.
I didn’t mind the weight, wrapping my arms around his sweaty body as our hearts beat in sync. “Well,” I finally said, once I found my voice. “That was better than any overnight stay at the hospital.”
Royce groaned as he rolled off me, dragging my body with him. “Damn right, it was. That’s first-class service there, pauper.”
I snuggled up against him, feeling content for the first time in a long while. “What now, Royce?”
His hand found my back. “First, we sleep, because I am fucking tired and you could use the rest. Then I get you food and we fuck again.”
I smiled against his chest, feeling the steady beat of his heart against my hand. There was no doubt about it. I was in love with Royce Whitehall and suspiciously, I felt as if he loved me back.
At least I hoped he did. I had asked him once, but I wouldn’t ask him again. He knew how I felt, and it was going to be Royce that told me how he felt, if that ever came about.
Until then, I would wait.
***
The next morning, after a great night’s sleep, I let Max take me to the hospital. “You know,” Max said as we drove down the road. “I could ask you a lot of questions about how you are feeling and shit, but I can see it all over your face.”
I smiled, unable to help it. “I feel great.”
He chuckled, his hand reaching over to touch my thigh. “I imagine you would after what we heard last night.”
I flushed, covering his hand with mine. “Jealous?”
Max flipped his hand over, until we were holding hands. “Nah, I’m not the jealous type. Arthur, now, he had to leave, but as long as you are happy, we are happy, Anna. Royce, well, that fucker does something for you and you for him and there’s no way I’m going to come between that.”
“I haven’t made up my mind yet,” I reminded him.
He grinned, squeezing my hand. “Yeah, well, if you don’t, I will still be here for you.”
Touched by his words, I leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Thanks, Max.”
“Don’t mention it.”
After he dropped me off, I waved goodbye, promising to text him when I was ready to go, and walked to Johanna’s room, my footsteps slowing as I saw a man outside her room, with at least a half a dozen people lining the hall.
It had to be Johanna’s father and his entourage, finally arrived from Prussia.
Squaring my shoulders, I approached him, only to be stopped by two goons in sunglasses despite the fact that they were inside. “No admittance,” one of them said, holding up his hand.
“I’m Anna Komita,” I said, loud enough for him to hear. “I am Johanna’s roommate.”
“Let her through.”
The goons moved aside, and I walked through to where her father stood. “Your highness.”
He waved a hand at me as he placed his cell phone in his suit jacket pocket. “Walk with me, Miss Komita.”
Having no choice but to follow him, I walked with him down the hall and toward the large window at the end, where he stopped. “I hear that it’s because of you that my daughter is in a hospital bed.”
Swallowing, I thought about Arthur’s instructions of how to handle the royal peerage. “Yes, it was my fault.”
He stared at me for a moment, the familiar lines of his eyes causing me to inwardly smile. Johanna definitely got that from her father. “I hear you are the daughter of Alexei.”
I lifted my chin. “I am.”
“I can tell,” he said softly, some of the malice leaving his face. “I can see your spirit, Miss Komita, and your father’s spirit. You also have his eyes.”
“Thank you,” I answered, figuring I should at least acknowledge his compliment. I really didn’t want to be compared to my rapist father, but if that was what I had taken from him, well, he had helped me fight all these years.
The head of House Hohenzollern turned toward the window, his hands clasped behind his back. “I am furious with you, Miss Komita, for putting my daughter in harm’s way and nearly taking her life.”
Tears threatened my eyes. “I know, and it’s my fault.”
“That is not what I have heard from my own daughter’s lips. And the bruises around your neck also say something different. She said you fought for your life.”
My ears perked. Johanna was awake and clearly talking with her father. A miracle indeed. “I never meant for Johanna to be harmed. She saved my life.”
He turned, his keen eyes looking into mine. “And you saved hers. The physician has told me that you keeping the pressure on her wound kept her from bleeding to death. For that I will forever be in your debt.”
A debt to the Prussian ruler. That couldn’t be too bad to cash in one day. “Johanna is my friend,” I said instead. “I was doing what any friend would do for another.”