It was over before I even knew what was happening. One second, my lips were pressed tight to his, my whole world spinning off its axis. And then the next, he was gone — pulling away, his eyes blazing with fire as he slowly shook his head, turned, and stormed away, leaving me gasping for more.

“Hey, sorry about the car.”

“Huh?”

I turned, blinking at my friend in the dim light of the big home theater in the lower levels of the manor. We’d been watching Chocolat — obviously the best Johnny Depp movie of all time — but I’d barely been paying attention. Or, at all, actually. All I could concentrate on was thinking back to before I’d stumbled down here in a daze — to Xavier.

I’d crossed the line. Well, we both had, but it didn’t matter who was to blame, we’d both gone crashing over it. And it was consuming every part of me — his kiss lingering on my lips as I sat in the dark, burning with heat.

“My car?” Faith made a face. “Did I park it weird or something?”

“Um, what?”

She sighed. “The Duke, when he came home, he seemed—”

“You know you can just call him Xavier.”

Faith, ever the well-mannered good one of our little group of friends, scrunched up her nose. “Okay, well, he seemed pissed when he came home.”

I blushed in the darkness.

“No, that was…” I shrugged. “It was nothing.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah.”

I shivered, thinking of the way my heart had jumped into my throat as he crashed into my bedroom, that look on his face sending fire through every part of me. And then his eyes drinking all of me in, with me neither able or wanting to do a thing about it.

“Wait, do you have a new car by the way?”

“Oh,” Faith quickly looked back to the movie screen. “Sorta.”

“Sorta? You sort of have a new car?” I grinned quizzically. “Faith, you can’t ‘sort of’ have something. I think it’s like being pregnant. You either are or your not. You’re not sort of pregnant.”

Faith blushed deeper. “Okay, no one is pregnant.”

“Pretty sure we’d have to be getting laid for that to happen.”

Faith’s face turned a shade darker.

“So, the car?”

“Yeah it’s this whole thing,” she mumbled, brushing the question off.

I wasn’t one to let up though.

“Um, go on?”

She sighed. “It was a gift, okay?”

“From?”

My friend groaned. “No one, okay? Can we just drop it?”

I knew Faith’s parents, and while loving, they were definitely on the stricter side, especially when it came to Faith. They certainly weren’t the type to get her a freaking red sports car, princess or not.

“You know I’m not going to let this go, right?”

She groaned again. “Yeah, I know. Later, okay? I got some things to figure out.”

“Well now I’m even more intrigued.”

She grinned at me, her face flushed as she chewed her bottom lip. I always liked teasing my friend, and in this case it was even better since it took my mind away from the huge thing that’d just happened upstairs in my room.

Well, it sort of took my mind away from it. Kind of. Not really.

“Does this have anything to do with that tattoo you’ve been trying to hide all night?”

Faith gasped, yanking her sleeve back up over her wrist and covering the little rose tattoo she’d been trying to keep out of sight all night.

“I—”

“Oh, are you going to tell me it’s fake?”

She frowned.

Faith, Princess of Devoney, along with Callie, the Princess of Arbor, and Riley, the Duchess of Irin, was one of my best friends. But where Riley and I trended a little to the wilder side, Faith and Callie were always a little more reserved. A little more of the good girl type I guess you could say.

…A new sports car and a tattoo weren’t exactly keeping with that for Faith.

“Okay, fine,” I threw my hands in the air, sighing. “We’ll let it go.”

“Thanks.”

“For now.”

Faith grinned as I winked at her.

“I am sorry I missed Xavier getting all pissed though.”

“Why?”

Faith bit her lip and raised a brow at me as her face reddened. “You know why.”

I felt the heat creep up my neck. Oh, I knew. We’d all joked about this before, at a sleepover. My friends had all joked about how unfair it was that “my dad” was so hot.

“He’s NOT my dad.”

“Yeah and good thing,” Riley giggled.

“Okay, gross?”

“Please, you think he’s gross?”

I’d blushed back then when they’d been teasing me, because I knew then what I certainly knew now. I knew even back then that I was hiding all sorts of filthy, forbidden thoughts about the man whose roof I lived under.

So, yeah I knew why seeing Xavier mad was a thing to see. Because somehow he got even more attractive when he had those storm clouds around him. I shivered, thinking about that look just now upstairs. I remembered him storming into me, putting his hands on me. And then our lips crushing together like something I’d been waiting for for years.

A breath I’d been waiting to inhale.

Water I’d been dying to drink.

The forbidden fruit that’d been tempting me for way too long.

He’d kissed me, he’d pulled me into his body, and I’d melted. Everything in the world had stopped on its axis. And then he’d pulled away, given me a hard, lingering look, and left.

Just like that.

And now all I wanted was more.

* * *

Faith left late, and even though I’d made a big show of yawning when I’d walked her out to her frankly gorgeous new red sports car, I wasn’t tired.

I was very awake.

Xavier catching me the other day had lit something inside. That fire had kept spreading, and now, it was out of control. I couldn’t wait anymore. I couldn’t pretend that someday he’d just wake up and notice me in the way I wanted him to.

This life I lived here at his manor and under his care was cushy, but I couldn’t keep letting that deter me. I knew the risks. I knew I might say something, or do something and it’d be the wrong move and I’d be out, or whatever we had now would be ruined. But I had to take that leap or I’d go crazy wondering what if.

And besides that, the kiss said it all. The kiss was the dare, and now, it was time for me to act.

* * *

My pulse pounded in my ears as I stood outside the door to his garage. Xavier liked to fix old cars, which was funny for a man like him of the position and means he had.

…But also insanely attractive.

There was something about the combination of his being both this cultured, well-mannered, powerful royal — a Duke of an entire country — but also this rough guy who could roll his sleeves up his muscled forearms and get his hands dirty that was insanely hot.

The hallway outside the garage door was dark. My skin tingled under the thin silk robe I wore. He’d given this to me for Christmas the year before — this thigh-length red silk bathrobe. I’d probably looked too deep into it then, but now — wondering for nights on end what it “meant” and if it was him trying to tell me something, even if it was just a robe. But now, I didn’t care.

Now he was going to see me wearing his gift.

And nothing else.

I knocked, my knuckles rapping on the heavy wood.

“Yeah.”

The knob twisted under my hand, and I pushed it open and stepped inside. Xavier was wearing dirty jeans and a white undershirt, on his back on the floor, lying on one of those mechanics’ wheely things. He slid out from under the old powder-blue muscle car he was working on — his “project car,” he called it.

“Lola.”

His voice was tight, and I could see the chiseled muscles of his shoulders and arms clench. His fierce gaze tingling right through me, like I was wearing nothing at all as he looked at me.

“What are you wearing?” he said quietly.

“A robe.”

“I can see that, honey.”

I moved closer to where he was on the floor on his back, next to the old car. Xavier’s jaw tightened, and I watched, pulse pounding as his eyes slowly lost the battle and slipped down over my robe-hugged body and bare legs.

The fire flickered inside of me.

I moved even closer, and I watched his muscles ripple, hands tightening to fists on the edge of the car frame. And then I moved even closer, and when I saw his eyes flicker and that fire spark behind them, I knew he could see what I’d wanted him to see.

…That under the robe he’d bought me, all there was was me.

And oh, he could see alright. From where he was laying on the floor, I could see that his eyes had a clear view up under the thigh-length robe to my bare, pink pussy.

“What is it?” he said thickly.

“Earlier…”

“What happened earlier, Lola,” he shook his head, tearing his eyes away from me in a way that almost stung. He closed his, taking a deep breath.

“That can’t happen.”

“Why not?” I said quietly.

“You know why not,” he growled, jumping to his feet. He wiped his hands on his ripped jeans, that jaw of his clenching. “Because I— fuck, Lola you know why not,” he hissed.

“You think I’m too young.”

His eyes flashed. “Yes.”

“I’m old enough.”

Xavier groaned. “It’s not right.”

“Why not?”

“Because,” he growled, the muscles of his shoulders and neck bunching as he clenched up. “Because you’re my…you’re my—”

“Your what?”

His mouth shut, the silence settling over us as he held my gaze fiercely and shook his head.

“You kissed me,” I whispered.

“And I fucking shouldn’t have.”

“I disagree,” I snapped back.

My gorgeous, older guardian glowered at me, leaning against the car at his back with his bare, muscled arms folding over that chest that I just wanted to lay my head against.

“Why are you here, Lola?”

“I wanted to apologize for the other day.”

Xavier bristled. He knew what I was talking about. “I don’t want to think about the other day.”

“But you have been, right?”

His eyes darted sharply back to mine.

“Watch it.”

“I’m not wrong though, am I? You were thinking about seeing me like that weren’t you?”

Xavier stood, his arms dropping back to his side and his hands clenched into fists as he took a step towards me.

“You need to watch it, Lola.”

“Did you like seeing—”

“I fucking hated seeing you with him!”

The garage went silent as his roar echoed through it, both of us feet apart from each other, pulses racing. It felt like we were standing on this cliff’s edge, in the dark, and even if I had no idea where the bottom was, all I wanted to do was jump. With him.

“Why?” I whispered.

“You know why,” Xavier muttered back.

“Tell me.”

“Fuck, Lola—”

“I only had him over because I couldn’t have what I really wanted!”

“Yeah?” Xavier roared back. “And what’s that?”

“You know.”

“I know what you think you want, but trust me—”

“No you trust me,” I hissed. “I’m not little girl anym—”

“Trust that I have noticed.”

I gasped as something in him broke, and he suddenly crossed the distance between us in two steps, until he was standing right in front of me, our bodies inches apart.

“What are you really doing in here, Lola?” he purred.

“I wanted to apologize.”

“You have.”

Not yet I haven’t.

I took a shaky breath. “Earlier, when you came into my room…” I swallowed, my whole body tingling.

This was it. This was me jumping into the darkness right off the edge. My eyes dragged up to meet his steely cool gaze, and I felt a shiver tingle through me.

“…Did you like what you saw?”

Fire flashed behind his eyes, his body tensing as he drew a heavy breath. A second that felt like an eternity slipped by.

“You know I did.”

His voice was edged in steel, quiet, but so fucking powerful that I all but whimpered at his words.

“Maybe you want to see more,” I breathed, my voice shaking.

“Careful, little girl,” Xavier groaned through clenched teeth, his whole body tensed like he was fighting.

“I told you, I’m not a little girl anymore.”

And here’s the plunge.

“See?”

I locked my eyes with his, yanked open the ties to the robe, and with one motion, let it shrug off my shoulders and slip to the floor.

Xavier was silent, his eyes trembling as they held mine, before suddenly, they broke. His gaze dropped, and I watched that fierce look bloom over his face.

“Fuck,” he hissed quietly.

“I’m yours.”

His eyes darted back to mine, his face hardened, and suddenly, he snapped.

I gasped as he yanked me into him, my body molding to his firm, hard, muscled frame as his lips kissed me hard. I moaned, melting into him and feeling my heart jump into my throat as he whirled us. He pushed me back until my ass hit the side of his project car, metal and chrome on my bare skin as his powerful hands held me tightly by the hips.

Xavier kissed me hungrily — fiercely, with nothing held back. His hands slid up my hips to my sides, teasing over my skin and sliding around to my back. He slid one up my spine, tangling into my hair and tugging it, making me moan lowly into his kiss. His other hand slid down, cupping my soft ass as his rock-hard body pressed into me.

I whimpered, my tongue dueling with his as my own hands wandered down his body. I pushed his undershirt up feverishly, shoving it up his muscled, grooved body — the raw masculine feel of his hard muscles and hair pressing against my skin.

He pulled away just enough to yank the garment off and toss it away before he groaned and dove back into me, hands gripping me tight as his rock-hard body pressed against me. Fuck, he was so hot. This muscled, perfect body. Forget it being “for a man his age,” Xavier was in ridiculous shape for a man half his age.

I moaned as I felt his thick, throbbing bulge against me, pulsing against my bare slit as he moved between my thighs. I gasped, kissing him harder and rocking my hips to feel his cock twitch against my little pussy.

“I— I want you to take me,” I blurted out, gasping as I broke from our kiss to look him in the eye.

“Lola, honey—”

“I’ve…I’ve always wanted it to be you,” I whispered.

Xavier groaned, moving in to kiss me again, his hands tightening on my body and sending a thrill through me.

“You’ve never been with a boy, have you.”

I shook my head, and then whimpered as I felt his hand tighten on my hip. It slid over my skin, making my breath catch as his fingers teased across my hip bone, and then over my stomach. He lingered at my belly button, making my belly cave slightly before his fingers walked lower, and lower, until my jaw started to go slack.

Oh God…

When his hand pushed deep between my legs, and his fingers slid over my slick, dripping wet pussy, I melted against him. Xavier’s whole body tensed, moving into me as he groaned lowly into my ear.

“Someone’s been a bad girl.”

I moaned as his big, thick fingers stroked my pussy, teasing over my entrance and then up to roll over my aching clit. I was wetter than I’d ever been, my slickness coating his fingers as he teased my nub.

“So fucking wet,” he growled into my ear, his teeth nipping at my earlobe, making me whimper loudly. “Did this pretty little pussy get all wet for me?”

“Yes,” I choked out, panting as his finger started to move in slow circles around my clit.

“Yes Daddy.”

We both froze.

There was that word again, tumbling from my lips. And just like before, there was that raw, unstoppable heat that came with it — that illicit, filthy, undeniable lust that came with that word coming from my mouth.

Xavier and I locked eyes, and right there, I knew it struck the same chord in him as it did in me. We froze for one second, and then we crashed together.

I moaned as he kissed me hard and deep, his fingers rolling over my clit again and again, like he was demanding the orgasm from my body. He pulled away, sucking at my bottom lip and making me whimper before his mouth moved to my neck. He groaned into my skin, one hand tangled in my hair and the other one moving between my legs, stroking my slippery, soaking wet pussy over and over again.

I gasped, losing myself entirely as I slid my hands down his muscled abs to his belt buckle. One hand kept going, and when I felt his throbbing cock bulging at the front of his dirty jeans, I felt a tremor of raw lust flash through me. I yanked at his belt, turning my head to capture his lips with mine as I started to tug his jeans open to get to what I wanted.

“Fuck, wait.”

Xavier growled, pulling away from me. His face was red, his eyes ablaze as his muscles rippled with his breath.

“Lola, wait.”

“No, please—”

“Not like this,” he growled quietly. He stepped back into me, his hands sliding up my sides again. But this time, it was as if he had a little bit more control than before as he looked down into my eyes.

“When I take you, I’m taking you like the princess you are, angel,” he whispered. “When I take you, it’ll be on a bed of silk with jewels draped over your perfect skin.”

I bit my lip, starting to look away when his hand cupped my jaw, staying me and keeping my eyes looking at him.

“But that doesn’t mean I’m done with you,” he groaned, his voice gravelly and smoky in a way that lit a spark inside of me. “That doesn’t mean I’m not going to make you mine right the fuck now.”

I gasped as he picked me up from the edge of the car, sliding us towards the open driver side door. He lowered us, setting my bare skin down on the soft, warm leather of the vintage seats.

“Lay back,” he growled, crouching low and kissing me hungrily. I moaned into him before he pulled away and gently pushed me back across the big bench seat. His eyes and his hands slid down my body, his gaze locking on my pussy as his hands slid between my thighs and started to push them apart.

“Spread those pretty legs for me, baby girl,” Xavier growled thickly, his muscles bunching and his jaw rippling. His hands opened my legs, pushing one up so that my knee draped over the steering wheel. I blushed, feeling so exposed, and so open, and so, well, naked, like I’d never felt before. And suddenly self conscious. Suddenly. I remembered that he was so much older than me, and that he’d probably been with so many other gir—

“You are perfect, angel,” he whispered, his eyes locked on me as I focused mine. “Completely fucking perfect, and totally fucking mine.”

He moved in, and when his lips started to kiss their way up the inside of my thigh, the whole rest of the world melted away…