Page 26 of Her Royal Master
“She’s a keeper this one, no?”
Something hard twisted in my solar plexus.
In this moment, I never wanted to let her go.But I wouldn’t be keeping her.
We’d be back at shore soon, and she would collect her money and her things and run off to write her precious story.
I needed to detach myself from this fucked up situation before any more damage was done.Not to my reputation—I didn’t give a fuck about that.To my heart.
~.~
Chelsea
Isaw the way Darius went quiet after his crew guy had called me akeeper.He’d turned back into the dark and brooding duke of the tabloids, a scowl squatting squarely between his brows, his square jaw firmly set.
Damn.I guessed this was it.We’d be parting soon and we wouldn’t be exchanging cell numbers.There’d be no postcards, no staying in touch.He would think I planned to betray him and he’d hate me.
He led Shadow and me back to his room.I’d hoped we’d shower together, but he sent me in alone with a curt, “Take a shower.”
I stood in the spray of water, wondering why it felt like a concrete block had been placed on my chest.Guilt and grief mingled together with the water, coating me with a dark gray aura that didn’t wash off.
When I emerged, Darius and Shadow were gone, but a Post-it note on the door read, “Do not leave this room.”I put on another one of Darius’ t-shirts and looked around the room, looking for anything that gave me deeper insight into the duke.
Darius returned thirty minutes later with a tray of food, which he plopped unceremoniously on the bed.“Eat.”
I took the covers off the dishes, my stomach rumbling for what looked like a spinach omelet, fresh fruit, and pastries.
Darius leaned against the wall, folded his arms over his chest and stared.
I ate a few bites in the silence, but the tension became too much.I re-covered the plates and set the tray on the floor.“It’s, ah, a little hard to eat with the Devil Duke giving me the death ray glare.”
“You write anything about my cousin, or what you know happened on this yacht with him and his friends, and my family will destroy you, signed NDA or not.”His accent was thicker when he threatened.“I don’t care what you write about me.My story doesn’t matter.But I won’t let you ruin Kaspar.”
“I won’t ruin Kaspar,” I croaked, horrified he believed I would.Of course, I’d given him every reason to think it.“I promise.”
Nothing in his expression changed.He still considered me with the hard, measuring stare.
“I won’t ruin you, either.”
His lip curled like he didn’t believe me.“You can’t ruin me,” he scoffed, moving from his place of holding up the wall and pacing the length of the room.“And you still refuse to tell me who you work for?”
I looked down at my hands.“I’m sorry.”
He let out a puff of what sounded like exasperation and tunneled his fingers through his thick, wavy hair.“Fine.”He looked at his watch.“Well, I have two more hours with you, so let’s see if I can make them meaningful.Strip.”
No more hesitation.When he gave an order, I obeyed.I pulled the shirt over my head and tossed it on the floor, then stood up, facing him.
Despite the hardened expression he wore, desire flamed in his eyes when they fell on my body.“On your knees, baby.”
I lowered to a kneeling position at his feet, hungrily eyeing the bulge of his cock in his still-damp shorts.He unbuttoned them and shoved down his boxer briefs to free his erection.
I licked my lips, keeping my eyes lifted to his face, and the way lust coated his expression, gave me a kick of power.
“Take it in your mouth, American.But don’t use your hands or I’ll have to bind them.Understand?”
I bobbed my head.“Yes, sir.”
“Good girl.”
