“Would you care for anything to drink, Ms. Collins?” The impeccably dressed flight attendant asked as she stopped in front of my seat. Xander’s family naturally had a private jet, and while I couldn’t deny the luxury in having an entire seat to myself, I hated that he was an aisle away.

“I’d love a whiskey and ginger,” I blurted, rubbing my palms on my jeans. I thought choosing denim over yoga pants would make me appear more put together, but even the flight attendant’s starch-pressed pencil skirt and blouse put me to shame. The woman’s hair was a gorgeous, silky brown, and I seriously wanted to know how she made it look downright shimmery.

Jameson, Xander’s brother—who sat across from him and in a double seat, the beautifully stunning and equally intimidating Charlotte right next to him—laughed at the same time Xander’s mother cleared her throat. Xander had said Jameson went through women like I did M&Ms, but he looked pretty content next to Charlotte. I wondered if there was anything happening between him and the family friend who looked more elegant than the queen herself.

The queen sat directly across from me, a sleek table the lone thing separating us. She’d selected her seat before Xander could sit in front of me, and had likely made the choice in an effort to apprise every single thing I did—or at least that is what it felt like under her hawk-like gaze. Moving hadn’t been an option unless I wanted to make my discomfort obvious.

Now, she watched me with something like disgust, but nothing severe crossed her delicate features. I could see it in the slight way she held her chin tipped up, the way her legs were perfectly crossed and her shoulders were in the proper position. She’d never approve of me—I slouched, a bad habit of spending hours in front of a computer screen or hunched over a notebook. I had colors in my hair, and I hadn’t washed it this morning, happy to braid half of it back and leave Xander’s scent all over my body.

A warm ripple flew across my spine at the thought of him devouring me as he had last night, and I shifted in my seat. His mother, still staring at me, twitched her lips in something like victory, and it was enough to make me question why I agreed to this trip in the first place.

“On second thought,” I said, returning my focus to the sweet attendant who had waited patiently through the silent exchange between his mother and me. “Make it a double, please.”

Jameson snorted, and Charlotte playfully backhanded his chest, a genuine smile on her lips. She was beyond gorgeous…the woman was regal, but the spark in her eyes as she sat next to Jameson made her practically sparkle.

Talk about being the awkward duckling in a room...ummm...airplane full of swans.

The flight attendant shuffled away to take the rest of the family’s drink orders, and I finally was able to see Xander. I’d half expected him to be covering a laugh like Jameson—they were identical twins, after all, but Xander was pure strength and hard lines where Jameson was one-hundred percent wild and loose. Those two were yin and yang.

Xander wasn’t laughing.

He wasn’t even smiling.

Those dark brown eyes were fixed on his mother, but they were distant. A muscle in his jaw tensed as he was somewhere else, lost in his head.

Likely reconsidering why he asked me to come with him.

I had taken a few hours before I’d agreed, though my instincts had screamed yes.

I mean…why not?

Why wouldn’t I rush off on an adventure with this gorgeous man I couldn’t get enough of? Why wouldn’t I want more time with a man who had a direct link to my laugh button…among others?

Because he’s a prince and you’re just…you.

My heart had won in the end, my brain accepting the rationalization that I could at least use the trip as inspiration for a book in the future.

I gazed at him now, his muscles taut like steel cables attached to them from above, some puppet master not allowing him to relax. I wished he would’ve let me buy my own ticket, and meet him there like I’d originally suggested, but he wanted me close. Safe. His family would deal with it, he’d said.

When I realized he wasn’t going to give and look at me like I silently begged him to, I sighed, sinking further into the supple leather of the chair.

Charlotte flashed me a sympathetic look, and if the queen wasn’t sitting right across from me like a strategically placed lioness between her cubs, I might’ve ventured over and asked her what she thought of all this. Her response, if anything, might help me get a better handle on what was in store for me once we reached Elleston. Charlotte had known the family forever, and maybe she’d help me navigate the waters for my short stay, or perhaps, she’d toss me to the sharks…though I didn’t get that vibe from her. Plus, since she’d been in the family for years, then she likely knew who Xander’s betrothed was—maybe she could give me the scoop on her as well.

I knew I had an ally in Jameson, as he constantly tried to bring me into the conversation or joke with me when I made a blunder—which was often—but it wouldn’t be enough to convince the queen I wasn’t a threat.

I should’ve stayed home.

But I couldn’t.

I couldn’t let Xander leave. Not after last night. Not after he’d knelt before me, the man, not the prince, and taken me for his own. It was the single most mind-blowing experience of my life, and it wasn’t just the orgasms. We’d connected on another level. Somewhere that exceeded titles and positions and purposes and was simply, exquisitely us.

But the time would come when I’d have to leave. Get back on a plane and return to the real world. For now, like we’d agreed, I’d take what time we had, and enjoy the fantasy a little longer.

“Here you are, Ms. Collins.” The flight attendant set the heavy glass of whiskey on the table in front of me.

“Thank you,” I said, instantly scooping it up.

I swirled the single orb of ice in the amber liquid, bringing it to my nose to inhale the rich notes. A sip revealed this wasn’t a commercial flight’s brand of whiskey, and I grinned. It wouldn’t be. Nothing around this family would be normal, and I’d willingly signed up to be a walk on role. One of those quirky characters who would get the viewing audience a few laughs before never being seen again. Perhaps that is how the paparazzi would paint me if they snapped me at all. It would be better than the evil-slut version—it always seemed to be one or the other with them.

I took a good, long gulp, allowing the burn in my throat to chase away the dark thoughts clouding my mind. None of that mattered. I glanced at Xander, who was now focused on a newspaper.

He mattered.

“Nervous flyer?” His mother asked. Her tone was as soft as silk, but there was a bite underneath the surface.

“Nope.” I licked a few stray droplets off my lips, savoring the flavor. “Are you?” I eyed her untouched glass of Chardonnay.

She chuckled, but the sound was clipped like she couldn’t let the restraints off either. If she wasn’t glaring at me like I was trying to ruin her life, I might have felt sorry for her. “You are aware that the royal family is required to travel a great deal, yes?”

“Your first car was a G-6.” I nodded. “I get it.” I refused to gulp the top-shelf liquor, so I sipped. And then I took another one. “Do you have a favorite place? I love Ireland. I’ve only been once but I’ve been meaning to go back.”

Xander’s gaze finally locked with mine, and I had a hard time reading him. Something like pride and pity mixed together. I didn’t know if I wasn’t supposed to be making small talk with the queen, or if I should even bother, but…what else was I supposed to do?

Maybe I should open my laptop and continue editing the latest Shayla Scotch book.

I snorted at the thought, laughing behind my drink.

“Is my home so amusing to you?” His mother asked, and I sucked in a sharp breath.

“I’m sorry?”

“Elleston is my favorite place,” she said, and her sharp tone implied she’d already stated as much.

“I imagine coming home is the best feeling in the world.” I tried to recover. Lord, I would likely spend every second in this woman’s presence trying to recover.

“Yes,” she said, taking a fast sip of her wine before gently placing it back on the table. “It is. Especially when so many people depend on us.” She eyed Xander, who didn’t pay her any attention because his focus was on me. Intensely so.

“I can’t imagine what that is like,” I said, hoping she knew how much I respected her and her family’s position. I wasn’t here to rock that royal boat. I was only here for Xander. Because he wanted me here. Because he needed me. For the time being. “Having so many people depend on you,” I continued.

“No,” she said, folding her hands in her lap. “You can’t.” The words had a finality to them that tightened my chest more than our climbing altitude. “What is it like writing books for children? Do you find that sort of work challenging?”

“She’s won awards,” Xander said before I could open my mouth. I cringed at the quick way he needed to validate my profession. God knows what his mother would have thought if she realized what really paid my mortgage.

“Awards?” His mother chuckled, not at all impressed. “From who? Dr. Seuss?”

I mentally rolled up my sleeves. It was one thing to not like me for the colors in my hair, or the way I ate pizza for breakfast, but no one…not even a queen, would knock my dream job.

“He gave me a gold star,” I said, the perfect smile on my lips. I rolled the orb in my glass, never breaking her gaze. “But, awards, while amazing, aren’t why I do what I do.”

“Is it because you found yourself unfit for a real job?”

“I’m sure you remember a book from your childhood,” I said, ignoring her. “I can remember the first time my mother handed me a hardbound copy of The Complete Tales of Beatrix Potter.” A true smile took over my fake one. “I remember the way it smelled, the way it felt in my hands, and the joy I found between the pages. I remember the power the words gave me, the fact that I could read them independently and feed my mind knowledge from a source outside of my parents. I remember what it was like to relate to the characters, to find pieces of myself in all of them and their struggles. It was a connection with another world, and yet, it grounded me in reality. Some of my most favorite memories as a child come from the adventures I had in books, and I can revisit those friends whenever I feel like it. Those early works shaped my mind, primed it for the demands of adulthood, and being part of that...offering children a similar experience…” I sighed. “Well, it’s a dream I’ve had since first reading Potter’s animal tales.”

Xander’s deep, rich eyes were wide and churning, and it worked a flush over my skin. I’d gotten carried away.

She started it.

“I was reared on the classics,” she finally said, and my shoulders sank. “I don’t recall anything with pictures.”

It was going to be a long ass flight.

Three hours later, after the queen had lost the battle with herself and fallen asleep, I unbuckled myself and stretched. Xander was focused on his iPad, hard at work. He’d told me he was still trying to help out with the caseload he’d left with his lawfirm, so instead of interrupting him directly, I slipped a note onto his lap, and flashed him a smile as I headed toward the restroom.

The walk felt great after being seated so long, and butterflies flapped in my stomach. The thrill was from the feel of Xander’s eyes on me, and the words I’d left on the note. It seemed an old school form of communication between us, but it was ours. And it was a dangerous game we played—especially with his mother sharpening her fangs for me—but I couldn’t stop now.

It only took a few movements before the door flew open, and Xander slipped inside. His massive frame filled most of the space, his broad chest grazing mine. Heat flared across my skin as he wrapped his arms around me, the move so natural compared to the tense version of himself he’d been the whole flight.

“You’re incredible,” he said. “I apologize for subjecting you to my mother this way. I wasn’t thinking. I should’ve chartered our own jet.”

I raised my eyebrows, thinking of what we could’ve done without an audience and hours of time to kill.

He traced my bottom lip, leaning down. “Where did you just go?”

I smirked, shifting my hips to brush against his. “You. Me. A couch in the sky? The possibilities would’ve been endless.”

He fingered the loose strands of my hair, the braid shifting on the top of my head. “I love the way your mind works.” He pressed his forehead against mine. “I’m sorry about Mother.”

“Don’t be,” I said. “She’s trying to protect you and your country.”

“She’s being spiteful and not listening to my wishes.” A deep sigh rattled from his lips, and I ran my hands over his coiled muscles. I pushed, forcing him to spin until his spine was against the wall. “Elleston is more important to her than listening to reason.”

“Xander,” I said, curling his name around my tongue. “I didn’t ask you here to talk royal politics. Or to talk about your mother.”

He cocked an eyebrow, running his hands down my sides. “No?”

I shook my head and nibbled his bottom lip before sinking to my knees. “Now,” I said, slowly unzipping his slacks. “I’m not on my knees because you’re the prince of Elleston.” He hissed as I freed him from his black briefs. God, he was glorious, his length filling my hand. “I…” I flicked my tongue over the tip of his cock, and he growled. “Am here…” I swirled my tongue around him like he was the most delicious ice cream cone in the world. “Because you need to relax.” I sucked him into my mouth before pulling him back out. I glanced up at him, flipping my hair over my shoulder. “And because I’ve smelled you on me all day, and I simply can’t wait a second longer.”

Something primal flashed in his eyes, and he opened his mouth to speak, but I took him between my lips, and all that came out of him was a sweet hiss. He leaned his head back for a moment, but soon his eyes were on me again, watching me consume him.

My heart raced as I spared glances up into those dark, churning eyes, all the while pumping and sucking and savoring him. This man was power, and not because of his title. He owned me with a look, with a smile, with the frantic way he gripped my hair as I slid my tongue around him. I wanted him inside me so much I wiggled on my knees. But this was about him, and I wanted him to know I wasn’t here for anything more than that.

Just. Him.

Not for a country. Not for a throne. Not for anything more than the electric heat between us, and our unrelenting need of each other.

I lightly grazed the edge of my teeth over his tip, licking off the savory taste of salt, before plunging.

“Willa.” He sighed my name, sending a shiver right down my center. God, I wanted to reach down and touch myself, relieve the ache between my thighs, but I needed both hands to hold on to this man. “Willa, I—”

“Yes,” I moaned around him, giving him full consent to have his release.

“Fuck.” He hissed, hardening to the nth degree between my lips as he spilled inside my mouth. I swallowed, devouring him the way he had me last night. Taking him all in, and relishing it so much I shook.

After a few seconds, I tucked him back inside his briefs, carefully zipped him up, and stood. His eyes were wild, but his muscles were loose.

“Willa,” he said again, drawing me against him.

“Xander,” I said, slightly breathless.

He reached downward, his hand between our flushed bodies. I stopped him. “No,” I said. “This was about you. Not me. I don’t—” He cut my words off with a kiss, stroking my mouth with his tongue with such passion it made my knees weak.

“If you don’t want this,” he said, pressing his fingers over my jeans. “Then that is one thing.” He sighed. “But if you think I’m letting you walk out of here, after that…you’re crazier than I thought.”

I gasped, releasing his hand. “I’ve never wanted anything as badly as I want you, Xander. But I didn’t do that for anything other than wanting you to know I was here. That I see the pressure you’re under, and that I want to help you.” I pressed my lips together, holding back a whimper as he kissed the seam of my neck. “I know things will change once we land. I know they’ll get more…difficult. I just wanted to give you something before the madness.”

He chuckled against me. “You are my madness, Willa.”

He flexed his fingers in my grasp, and I released him. In one smooth motion, he captured my mouth with his and plunged his hand beneath the hem of my jeans.

“You’re soaked,” he said.

I arched into his hand. “You do that to me.”

“Damn.” He rolled his fingers against me, and I shuddered. “If I could, I’d sink inside you right now, until there wasn’t an ounce of space between us.” He slid his fingers through my wetness, tracing the line of my seam, torturing me.

“Kind of…hard,” I said between breaths. “Not. Enough. Room.” He’d reduced me to near incoherent responses as he kept moving his hand against me. I greedily shifted, begging him to fill me.

“When we’re home, we’ll use every space in my room.”

I trembled as he said home and slipped a finger inside me at the same time. My hands flew to his shoulders, gripping him as I shook. He slid another finger inside, the heel of his palm lightly pressing against my clit. Teasing me.

“This?” He said between kisses. “Here?” He demanded an answer as he stroked me, but I was beyond words. I clenched around him, writhing against his hand as he made love to me with his fingers. “God, you’re so wet. So tight. Perfect.” He increased his pace but lightly moved his palm over the hyper-sensitive bundle of nerves, working me into a frenzy of aching tension.

“Xander.” I keened, trying like hell to stay quiet when all I wanted to do was scream.

“Yes.” He smirked, and pushed the heel of his palm against my clit, giving me the pressure I needed as I shamelessly rode his hand. My orgasm rippled through me, jerking and melting my muscles at the same time. Thank God he had one arm around me, holding me up, or I would have been on the ground.

“Oh. My. Go—” He swallowed my moans, his tongue stroking my mouth in sync with his fingers. I shuddered around him, flying apart despite holding onto him with all that I had.

“Willa,” he said, after I’d caught my breath.

There was barely an ounce of space between us as he slipped out of me, careful with my electric flesh. He sucked the pads of his fingers, and I swear the action almost made me come a second time.

“Delicious,” he said, the word so raw, so real, so unrestrained. This was my Xander. The one who had the ability to unravel me in a way I never knew existed.

“Good evening,” the captain’s voice sounded over the loudspeaker, and I jolted against Xander. “We’re about twenty minutes from Rhyston. Please make sure to fasten your seatbelts. Flight attendants, please prepare the cabin for its initial descent.”

We shared a charged look—one that was equal parts anticipation and fear. Rhyston was the capital of Elleston according to my quick google education.

“I can go out first,” I said, hoping like hell his mother had slept through the announcement.

“No need.” He hurried to open the door, his warm fingers intertwined with mine as he tugged us out of the restroom.

We made our way back to our seats.

Luckily, Charlotte was asleep against Jameson’s shoulder, and the twin had enough strength to not look my way as I sank into my seat.

Unluckily, the queen’s eyes were blazing as she watched every single motion I made.

I had two choices: cower in shame under her stare, or own who I was…as I always had.

I straightened my spine and smiled. “Can’t wait to see the castle.”

That time, both Xander and Jameson laughed.

The queen…did not.