The sun lit the room with the soft glow of dawn, the colors reminding me of Willa’s hair. Then again, everything for the last few days had reminded me of Willa. How was it possible for someone I’d barely met to have burrowed a place inside my heart? I reached across her pillow and carefully lifted a purple strand from where it lay across her cheek. It was as soft as silk as it slipped through my fingers. Everything about her was soft in all the perfect places.

Except her tongue. That was sharp...unless it was in my mouth.

My fingers trailed down her spine, bare between the straps of the tank top she slept in. Soon, she’d have on nothing.

My dick jumped at the thought.

A few months were all I had to give her, but our cards were on the table—sand running through the hourglass and all that bullshit. We both knew the stakes. A few months to laugh, to taste the joy that constantly emanated from her. She was sunshine in an otherwise dark room, and I was desperate to bask in her warmth for as long as possible.

Laying next to her, the scent of her perfume invading my senses, I wasn’t sure a few months were going to be enough. Hell, we’d already spent almost a week here in New York.

Three cursory knocks sounded on my door before it flew open.

“What the fuck—Mother?” I sat up, the sheet falling from my naked chest as my mother stood in my doorway, her eyes flickering between Willa and me. “Get. out.”

Her eyes flew wide, and her mouth opened and shut like a fish out of water.

“Now,” I commanded as Willa shifted next to me.

Mother paled, but she backed up and shut the door behind her as she left.

“Xander?” Willa asked, her voice sleep-softened and her eyes hazy as she blinked up at me. “Everything okay?”

“It’s fine,” I promised, placing a kiss on her temple. “Just some unexpected family. Stay here, and I’ll take care of it.”

My feet hit the floor, and I pulled a shirt on, grateful I’d spent the night in sleep-pants. I’d needed as many layers between us as possible.

“Do you want me to leave?” Willa asked softly.

I turned to see her sitting up in bed, the sheet clutched to her chest as if she was naked. I wish she was naked. “Please don’t. Stay. Let me sort this out, and I’ll be right back. Don’t move a muscle.”

She nodded, but there was a twinge of fear in her eyes that I needed to alleviate. I crossed the room and kissed her, my lips clinging to hers a moment too long and letting go way too soon. “I like you in my bed,” I whispered against her lips.

Then I left in search of my mother.

I didn’t have to go far. She, Jameson, and Charlotte sat at the dining room table. Well, Charlotte and Jameson sat. Mother was pacing.

“Jameson, Charlotte. Good to see you,” I said as I took a seat at the head of the table.

Coffee appeared at the hand of a skittish maid who kept glancing nervously at where Mother was wearing a path through the carpet. “Thank you,” I told her gently and took the pot before it ended up in my lap. “To what do I owe your early return?”

“To what...TO WHAT?” Mother snapped.

“The news of the Anti-Monarchist riot reached us as we landed in LA,” Charlotte said calmly. She sipped her coffee and raised her eyebrows at Mother.

“We figured we needed to cut the whole trip short,” Jameson added, leaning back in his chair with his hands behind his head. “Want to tell us what’s got Mother in freak-out mode?”

“What’s got me?” Mother yelled. Her eyes flew wide, and she cleared her throat, visually composing herself. “First, you skip out on LA and send Jaime in your stead, and now you have an American in your bed.”

“The American?” Jameson asked, leaning forward.

“Yes, I do,” I told Mother.

Charlotte gave me a thumbs-up until Mother scoffed in her direction. “Jaime, how about we leave these two to their discussion?” she asked.

“You don’t feel this involves you?” Mother asked her. “He’s your betrothed.”

Charlotte tilted her head in a regal way that spoke more of her training and breeding than any gesture could have. “Our parents signed a piece of paper, yes. But neither Xander nor I have indicated that we would ever want to be more than what we are—dear friends. If he can find his happiness, I will be the first to champion it.” She stood from the table, as regal as a Duchess should be, and walked out, her head high.

“Now, that, my family, is how you make an exit.” Jameson shoved back from the table and followed her out, leaving me with my Mother.

“Alexander.”

“Mother.”

She rubbed the skin between her eyebrows and sat in the chair nearest to me. “You cannot go on with this woman.”

“Why the hell not?” I asked, my voice even and calm. “Why should it matter who I decide to sleep with? To spend my time with? It has no bearing on my ability to rule.”

“It’s a matter of public perception! At this moment, there are riots in—”

“One protest—which is legal, I might add—does not a riot make, Mother. The Anti-Monarchist movement is growing, and I’ll deal with it, but panicking helps no one. And it’s not like Willa caused any of it.”

“Willa. That’s her name,” Mother’s eyes narrowed. “Does Willa know how much money you’re worth?”

“She’s not after my money,” I said with a sigh. God, that felt good to say. Willa had wanted me before she knew who I was, or what I was worth.

“Oh, then what exactly could she want from you? It’s not as if you could marry her or make her the next queen.” She crossed her arms in front of her chest.

“My time. She wants my time, Mother, and I’m going to give it to her. Every single second until I’m physically unable to.”

“That’s impossible. We need to return to Elleston and deal with Parliament and the Anti-Monarchists.”

I didn’t utter a word. I’d already drawn my conclusions, and come to the same one she had, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to let her dictate that to me. “We do. And I have no intention of going back alone.”

“Are you saying…” her eyes narrowed.

“I’m saying that I deserve this time. I’m going to spend my life in service to the country I love, the people I love, but until that moment arrives, I’m going to shove enough happiness into my memory to last.”

“You’re being melodramatic, Alexander.” She waved me off. “You will be happy enough as King.”

“I will be fulfilled. There is a vast difference, and if you don’t know that by now, I can’t help you, Mother. This is my life.” I pushed back from the table and left her without excusing myself.

Making my way down the hall quickly, I counted the reasons this fling was a bad decision and still couldn’t bring myself to care. I wanted Willa in my arms, my bed, and my life until I could no longer keep her or she no longer wanted me.

The thing about being born a Prince? I’d never been denied anything I wanted, and I had no intention of discovering disappointment now.

I pushed open my bedroom door and stopped short. Willa was gone, nothing but a notecard on her pillow. Fuck. Even her bag was gone.

Running my hands over my hair, I crossed the distance to the bed and read the note.

I couldn’t stop the smile that spread across my face. Whoever was lucky enough to spend their life loving Willa would never be bored.

A sour feeling struck my stomach. That person would never be me. I shook it off; there was no point focusing on what I couldn’t have.

I threw on jeans and a tee, determined to be as far from Prince Alexander as I could be, and once my shoes were on, I headed through the quiet suite for the door. I opened it to find Oliver there, a bored, resigned look on his face.

“Going somewhere, Your Highness?”

“Cut the shit, Oliver. You know where she went.”

“Room 539.” He hit the button on the elevator.

“You couldn’t keep her here?” I asked as we waited.

“What did you want me to do? Throw her over my shoulder? Tie her to your bed?”

“Either of those would have been acceptable.”

He arched an eyebrow at me as the doors opened in front of us.

After we walked in, Oliver hit the button, and we descended to the fifth floor.

“We need to leave for Elleston,” I told him quietly, voicing what I’d known since last night.

“Today?” He asked.

“Tomorrow.” I hated the word the moment it was out.

“I’ll make the arrangements.” He said as the doors opened on the fifth floor.

He stepped out first, and then I took the lead once his subtle head nod gave me the go ahead. “I swear Oliver, you’re acting like there are assassins on every floor on the off chance I might decide to wander.”

He threw me a little side eye, but that was the only reaction I’d get out of him.

We reached her door, and I raised my hand to knock but didn’t make contact.

“Sir?” Oliver asked.

“Check into her passport, make sure it’s valid, or pull whatever strings you need to to make it so. I’m not leaving her here if I have anything to say about it.”

“Miss Willa?” he asked, his face expressionless.

“Yes.”

He gave me a single nod, and I knocked on the door with sure, steady motions. My path was clearing before me. I had only a few months with her, and I intended to make the most of them.

Willa opened the door wearing a bathrobe from the hotel. The humid air from a recent shower smelled exactly like her still-damp hair. She smiled at me, then looked at Oliver. “Scram.”

He snorted a laugh under his breath. “I’ll be posted at the elevator, Your Highness.” Shaking his head, he turned and left us.

“Still not used to that,” she said, stepping back so I could walk in.

“What? Oliver?” I asked, taking in the room. It was smaller than the suite, of course, but I was all about that king-sized bed in the middle of it.

“No.” She closed the door with a soft click. “The Your Highness thing.”

“Yeah, it’s just always...been there.” I rubbed my hand over my head as she leaned back against the door. The lapels of the robe split so I could see the smooth expanse of skin between her breasts.

“But it’s not here—between us,” she said softly, her eyes wide and expressive. “If you’d wanted it here, you would have told me sooner.”

“I don’t want anything between us. Especially clothes,” I added with a smirk, trying to lighten the moment. Everything with Willa felt raw, intense, too soon and yet not soon enough.

She untied the belt at her waist, and my blood thickened, pumping through my veins. “Let me make this clear,” she said, pausing as the robe parted to her navel, her breasts still covered.

She was like a partially unwrapped Christmas present, and fuck me if I wasn’t dying to rip off the rest of her packaging.

“Yes?” I asked, my throat dry.

“I’m not here for Prince Alexander. I don’t even know him. I’m here for you, Xander. When it’s just the two of us—even if just the short amount of time we have—that’s who I expect. You can hang the Prince crown at the door because there’s only room for two of us. I don’t want him. I want you.”

Her words moved me like nothing else could, and I was across the room before I’d even made a conscious choice. That seemed to be the way it was with Willa—instinctual. Primal.

My mouth met hers in a fury of lips and tongue.

She whimpered as I pulled the sides of her robe open, leaving her deliciously naked in front of me. Yards of smooth skin just waiting to be tasted. Taken. My hands explored her curves as my tongue stroked hers, savoring every whimper and moan. This woman was fire in my blood and silk in my hands.

“I need you,” I growled against her mouth.

“Yes.”

My dick nearly jumped for joy. Grabbing the globes of her ass in my hands, I lifted her against the door, her legs wrapping around my waist.

I skimmed my mouth down her neck, nipping gently at her collarbone until I reached her breasts. Fuck, I loved them. Perfect. Round. So damn sensitive.

Her hands tightened in my hair as I took her nipple into my mouth, laving the bud with my tongue.

“Xander,” she moaned.

I backed up until my knees hit the bed, and then sat. She rose up, her knees on either side of my thighs, and let the robe fall away. She was every fantasy I never knew I had.

She searched my eyes as a small smile spread across her face, and as much as I wanted to deny it, I knew this was more than sex. More than scratching an itch, or a conquest. She felt like a new beginning even though I knew we already had an expiration date.

I needed her under me now.

Gripping her hips, I flipped her over and laid her across the bed, every luscious inch of her open and ready for me. I gripped my shirt behind my head and pulled it off. Damn, I loved that little gasp she made.

“Seriously? You have a body like a Greek God and literally rule a country. I’m not sure that’s fair to the rest of the male population,” she said with a grin as her fingers ran down the ridges of my abs.

“I don’t really care about what’s fair as long as it gets me you,” I answered after I slipped out of my shoes and socks, then slid back over her. The contact of our skin sent a current through my nerves that I felt through my extremities.

“You’ve got me,” she said softly, nearly a whisper.

Our mouths met, and the words were over. I kissed her until her nails dug into my back, coaxing every response I could before moving lower to her breasts. Her thighs moved restlessly along my hips as I settled into the cradle of her hips. She was intoxicating, somehow able to block the entire world out until she became the center of everything.

My lips brushed the skin of her stomach, worshiping the curves with reverence. She twisted under my hands, arching as I neared the apex of her thighs.

“Xander,” she moaned when I swept my tongue through her slit, her taste exploding on my tongue. God, she was sweeter than honey, a flavor as addicting as she was.

Her hands tugged at my hair as I worked her clit over, relentlessly pushing her toward the edge. With every whimper from her lips, my dick grew harder, until my jeans were painfully constricting. I’d never wanted—scratch that—needed a woman so badly in my life. Just Willa.

Her hips bucked, as she rode my mouth, and I slid lower, using my thumb on that bundle of nerves as I fucked her with my tongue. Her muscles went rigid as I pressed in with both, and then she arched, screaming my name.

She shuddered as I gave her one long lick, careful with the hypersensitive flesh.

“I could watch you do that all day.”

Her eyes were gorgeously hooded, the look of a woman who’d been well satisfied. She’d wear that look another four or five times today if I had my way.

“Sounds like a plan,” she agreed as I kneeled between her thighs. She sat up and flicked the button on my jeans. “But not before I get to watch you.”

I stood for a moment and discarded my jeans and boxer briefs before sliding back between her sweet thighs. Fuck, her skin was so soft.

My pulse beat wildly in my ears, my body demanding what I’d wanted to prolong. I skimmed my hands up her curves, cupping her hips, shaping her tiny waist, worshipping her breasts.

“Xander. Now,” she demanded, pulling me into an openly carnal kiss.

Her tongue took every thought from my head as her hips rocked against mine, the friction between us almost to bear. This wasn’t chemistry. That wasn’t strong enough of a word.

This was primal.

Necessary.

Destined or some shit.

The head of my cock nudged her opening, and I fought every instinct to push inside. “Fuck, I need a condom. Hold on.”

She locked her legs around my hips. “I’m clean, I’m on birth control, and I trust you. Condom next time, but if I don’t get you inside me right now, I’m going to combust.”

My head rebelled. I’d never fucked a woman bare.

But Willa wasn’t any woman, and my heart screamed louder than my head. My body overpowered everything and I pushed inside her in one smooth glide. I watched her eyes widen as I thrust home.

My thoughts exploded, obliterated by her.

“Fuck, you’re tight. Warm. Perfect.”

Her whimper was my only answer, but those nails bit sweetly into my ass as her knees rose up to take me deeper.

In that moment, a thought fired off in my brain—I would never find someone who fit me this perfectly again. There was nothing better than Willa.

We locked eyes as I began a slow, steady rhythm. I watched with fascination as hers glazed, passion taking hold of her again, and I concentrated entirely on her pleasure.

Each thrust was measured, my hand reaching between us so my thumb could stroke her clit lightly. Her pussy clenched around me, her body wordlessly telling me how much she liked it.

My world narrowed to Willa, and I lost myself in her eyes, her body, her arms. I wasn’t anything more than Xander because she stripped away all the unnecessary bullshit and left me raw.

My thrusts increased, my body screaming for completion. She met my thrusts, giving back as good as I could give. When she tightened around me like a vice, I groaned and watched her come. The arch of her throat was elegant, my name torn from her lips.

Then I lost it. My hips swung freely, taking her like I’d wanted to since I’d first seen her. Uninhibited, I thrust home again and again until my body exploded in an all-consuming orgasm, spilling into her.

My heart thundered in my ears as I collapsed next to Willa, pulling her with me so I could hold onto her for a few minutes longer. “Holy. Shit.”

“Yeah. That about. Covers. It.” She said between breaths, still catching hers.

“Are you okay?” I asked, cupping her face and kissing her swollen lips gently.

“More than okay. I’m perfect. Stupendous. Pretty much dead.”

I laughed, hugging her to me. This was all I wanted to do for the rest of the day. The rest of my months my… Stop right there. My mind was already trying to make plans that my obligations wouldn’t let come to fruition.

But I had now.

“Willa.”

“Xander,” she said, sarcastically serious as she shifted to fold her hands over my chest and rest her chin.

“There’s unrest at home.”

“I know,” she said, all teasing gone from her eyes.

I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I have to go.”

“Oh.” Her face fell and took my heart with it.

“I know we agreed to these months—”

“It’s okay.” She stiffened and forced the fakest smile I’d ever seen.

I kissed her silent, using my tongue to melt her long enough to listen to my words. Damn, the woman was headstrong and more than her share of stubborn.

Pulling back, I stroked my thumbs over her cheeks as her eyes opened slowly. There was too much worry there, but I knew it was mirrored in my eyes.

There was no way to step gently into this water, so I dove in, head first, eyes closed.

“Willa, I want you to come with me.”

Her eyes flew impossibly wide. “I’m sorry? You want me to go where with you? Lunch? Dinner? The shower, maybe?”

“No, I want you to come back with me to Elleston.”