We lay, naked, in bed together, savouring the moment. I curled round his body, resting my head on the hard muscles of his chest. There was a thrill to knowing that he had a darkness to him. I had felt the force of his passion and I didn’t want to ever give it up.

“There is something that I must tell you,” he said, stroking a hand through my hair in the same indulgent way that another person might pet a cat.

I prepared myself to listen to a list of his crimes. I could feel the bond between us and I knew he felt this same urge. He wanted to tell me about himself, just as I wanted to share my own story with him.

“I told you that my name is Gabriel,” he paused for so long that I sat up to look at his face. I knew that he had broken some law, and I had no problem with that - I know that sometimes the world isn’t straight forward. I didn’t think that I would care what crimes he’d committed, but the way he hesitated made me wonder what was coming next.

“Yeah?” I tried to sound encouraging as I put my hand on his chest, feeling his strong, even heartbeat through his hard pecs.

“I wish I could keep you just like this, with that expression on your face, wide-eyed and innocent.”

His words made me worried. How bad were his crimes? I’d known from the beginning that he was trouble.

“I don’t think what you tell me is going to change anything,” I told him honestly.

“I am the crown prince of the country of Askovia. I have been living in exile for the past two years after my parents were murdered.”

I stared at him in shock. My lips twitched wanting to smile, or laugh. I didn’t know how to react. Surely, surely, he was just joking. He wasn’t really a Prince! He was a mobster and he was just about to carry on talking and tell me the real truth.

He looked back at me, his penetrating eyes were unblinking and his expression was deadly serious.

I shook my head slightly as it dawned on me that he was being completely sincere.

I had vaguely heard of the country of Askovia, and I remembered that it was in the news a few years ago. I only remembered that because the whole story had sounded like something from a fairy tale, with Kings and Queens and Evil Stepmothers and handsome Princes. Except there hadn’t been an Evil Stepmother in the news, but it had been something like that. Something that had sounded just as fantastical.

But, but even though I had actually heard of Askovia, and that it was a real country, that didn’t mean that Gabriel was telling the truth. I don’t think that he would lie to me, not about something so important. It was just that it seemed impossible to me - like he was trying to tell me that the sky was green.

How often does any girl bump into European royalty in the Midwest?

It would be a miracle to simply meet a prince here. But I hadn’t just met a prince. I’d literally been swept off my feet by one. That was definitely something out of a fairy tale - not the sort of thing that happened in real life.

Bartenders don’t get to fall in love with princes.

Because, I realized with sudden clarity, that’s what this feeling was. The way I felt every time I looked at him. The sparks of electricity that went straight to my pussy every time he touched me. The way that my body craved him, like I wanted to belong to him. This was love, this was what love felt like. I was in love.

It should have been a good thing. Love is a great feeling, right?

But princes don’t fall in love with bartenders from Beauville. Maybe if he had actually been a Russian mobster, like I’d first thought, we could have had our happy ending. But now I knew it could never happen between us.

I squeezed my eyes shut, tears already welling up as I ducked down so that he couldn't see my reaction. I tucked my head under his chin, burying my face in his neck so that he wouldn’t see how upset I was.

All that talk of claiming - I’d believed every word. It had been true for me, but now I wasn’t sure if he felt the same way. Had he just been toying with me? I pushed the thought away, my thoughts going back to the other thing he’d just told me.

“I’m sorry about your parents. That’s, that’s terrible,” I said, my lips against his skin, muffling my voice as I swallowed around the lump in my throat and tried to speak in a normal voice, and not to show how upset I was.

His hand went back to petting at my hair.

“It was my uncle who killed them. He wanted to kill me and my brothers too,” he said, and I clutched at him in horror. “Luka has been searching for us ever since. He’ll kill us if he finds us, he’ll kill everyone who has even been seen with us.”

“That’s why you brought me here, isn’t it?” I asked, suddenly understanding. He grunted a deep sound that was probably a ‘yes’.

I had been danger and he’d rescued me.

Had he felt the same instant pull of attraction that I had? I wasn’t so sure anymore. I wanted to leave Beauville with him because just one look from those piercing eyes had made me wet, but it sounded like he was just being chivalrous.

“I’m not going to let Luka get away with what he’s done,” he growled. I could feel the vibration of his deep voice through his throat and chest. “It won’t be long now. I have everything set up, almost ready to go. Soon I will return to Askovia and make him pay for his crimes.”

I swallowed again, it had sounded so ominous when he’d first said that I HAD to stay with him and now, the thought that he had some plan for revenge and would callously send me away, was devastating.

“Tell me about how you came to be in Beauville,” he commanded. Now that I knew he was a prince, I understood how he’d come by that imperious tone. He was royalty, of course, he expected people to just do what he told them!

His arm wrapped around me, pressing my nakedness to him.

No matter how much time we had together it would never be enough. I wanted to tell him about myself, about my life. I wanted to share everything with him, for however long we were going to be together.

“I was working in New York City, just a few months ago. I was an accountant at a big accountancy firm. It wasn’t..it wasn’t what I wanted to be doing with my life, but it was my Dad’s dream so...Anyway, my boss was a jerk. He was always making little remarks about me, and then finally he came flat out and told me that there was only one way that I was ever going to get the promotion that I deserved - if I slept with him!”

Gabriel’s arm squeezed me tighter to him and I saw his other fist clench in anger.

“I said no! I hated my job anyway, but even if I had loved it, the answer was always going to be no! So, I just...I just quit, right there and then! I walked straight out and never went back.”

I sighed, I’d been so angry about everything that happened on my last day in New York, but now, in Gabriel’s embrace, it felt like it had happened years ago, like an open wound that had finally healed over.

“I went home immediately afterward. I was living with my boyfriend, ex-boyfriend, and...Ugh, I guess, he obviously wasn’t expecting me back until later. So he was there, in bed, with his secretary! I was just so shocked. I left New York, I just got on a bus and then another and then another and then...ended up in Beauville. I’ve been here about three months now.”

He kissed the top of my head, and it felt like another mark of ownership. I wished he really meant it like that, but I wasn’t sure anymore.

“Now that you’re mine, that will never happen to you again,” he said, his tone making it sound like a promise. I tried to pull back so that I could look at his face, but he was holding on to me too tightly. I didn’t struggle against him, I liked being where I was, I just wanted to make sure that he really meant what he was saying. His arms were like a metal band, holding me in place and I loved the feeling of his strength. It felt like he would never let go and I never wanted him to.

“Except,” I said, my voice hoarse as I tried to hide how upset I was, “You’re going to be going away soon.”

His other hand reached over to me, stroking down my body, past my hips and then slapping down with an open hand on my butt, spanking me teasingly.

“Do you think that all the things I’ve been saying were just play acting? In Askovia, a man is expected to be honest, to stand by his word. No, I meant every word that I said!”

His fingers dug into my butt, pulling me forward and pressing the soft mound of my pussy into his hip.

“You are mine, Ruby! Just because I have a title that doesn’t change anything. No matter where we are in the world. Never forget that you are mine.”

He pulled me up, his arm holding me in place as he pressed a bruising kiss to my lips.

My eyes squeezed shut automatically as I accepted his kiss. I could feel the force of his words, it was true: he had claimed me. I knew that he had been telling the truth, I belonged to him and I couldn’t be happier.