Royally Screwed Part 3

"You're cursed?"

"With good looks, with charm. You name it." She rolled her eyes but he didn't notice. "And sometimes it leads women to chase me. And when I don't let them catch me, they find other ways to get close." Sebastian was constantly finding women in his bed, sitting at his desk; some of them much too h.o.r.n.y for their own good, or conniving. His thoughts flashed to Violetta, standing barefoot in his bedroom, telling him that Anton wasn't the one she wanted, just the one she'd caught.

"You'd have to drop some serious money to bribe your way into a Prince's room. You have admirers that ardent? I'm not sure I buy that."

He smirked. "Indiscriminately lucky, remember? You don't see anything worth having?" He gave her a long, meaningful look that had her rolling her eyes again. "Come on, let's go look. I bet the Do Not Disturb sign's already on the door."

"You just want me up in your hotel room."

"Of course. Though that doesn't mean it's not true."

"Fine, I'll take that bet. And what if there isn't anyone in there? What do I win?" she asked, following him to the elevators.

He shot her a truly delicious grin. "Me."

"So nothing good then?"

"That does not seem like the appropriate grat.i.tude for someone I just saved," Sebastian said as they boarded the elevator.

Kat scoffed. "Saved? I took care of him just fine remember. I didn't need you to save me." She'd never needed anyone to save her. She was the savior in her story; always had been, always would be.

"No, but you wanted me to."

"Did I?"

"Of course. You just don't know it yet." And he'd make sure that cretin was fired so she'd never need saving again. He leaned over her, effectively pinning her against the wall. "Rescuing gorgeous women is my princely specialty. Just one of the things I do very well."

"Am I going to get a demonstration of the other things you do well?"

"Very well. Do very well," he murmured against her lips. But the elevator doors opened and interrupted before he could complete the kiss. He pushed back from her but she didn't move, just bit her lip and stared. He smirked, grabbed her hand and pulled her down the hall.

"Hmm, interesting," Sebastian said as they stood outside his hotel room. There was the Do Not Disturb sign, just like he'd predicted. "Shall we?"

"I'll believe it when I see it." She watched him slip the key out of his pocket and wondered at this Prince. How had he managed to get her up to his room? This had not been part of the plan. Then again neither had Donahue.

He swiped the key and pushed the door open, letting it swing wide. And sitting there, on a wingback chair, posed for maximum effect with the hotel robe slipping off one of her shoulders, was the b.i.t.c.hy blond from the party. Kat couldn't manage to hold back a smile as she saw her eyes get wide like saucers then narrow at her. "You were right," she said, slipping an arm around the prince's waist and putting on her own show. "Anywhere else we can go?"

Chapter 4.

"Switch rooms with me," Sebastian said the minute Sergei opened the door. His eyes travelled quickly to Kat's face, swiveling down to take in her catering uniform, and he looked a moment like he might protest. He met the prince's gaze and must have resigned to what he saw there because he just nodded and took the key being offered.

"You didn't tell him your room was already occupied," Kat said as he bowed her over the threshold of the vacated room.

"I'm always looking out for my countrymen and he's always prepared," Sebastian responded with a laugh. Kat heard the door close behind her and her heart started racing. What was she doing? Shouldn't she be getting home to check on her brother?

She turned, to tell him just that, but he was standing there, so close. Maybe he saw the indecision in her eyes, maybe he just couldn't last any longer without getting laid either way his hand came up to caress her cheek, pulling her close, capturing her mouth in a kiss almost drunk with pa.s.sion.

"This wasn't how this was supposed to go," she murmured when he came up for air, his teeth sc.r.a.ping hungrily against the side of her neck.

"Really?" he whispered against her collarbone, "Because it's pretty d.a.m.n perfect so far." A shiver of desire skirted across her skin, the words sinking right down with it.

"I just wanted to play with you," Kat protested, "and leave. Knock you down a few pegs after hearing all night you think women swoon with just a wink. Be the one doing the leaving for once."

"And how's that working for you?" he asked, his breath unsteady, his mocking gaze boring holes into her. She couldn't stop a smile skirting her face at his question. "You needn't worry. I have no intention of mistaking you for all those other women. I know a diamond in the rough when I see one."

She laughed. "That's a line if I've ever heard one," she pointed out, even though it was working.

"Doesn't mean it's not true."

"Indiscriminately lucky," she murmured to herself, taking a step away and catching a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror as he laughed. This wasn't part of her plan. h.e.l.l, a night with a prince wasn't even part of her fantasy, didn't even exist on any realm of impossibility. Was she drunk? Was she just some blackout waiting to happen? She looked for the answer to that in her reflection and saw something else.

The alcohol wasn't driving her, just pushing her to deviate from the plans laid out in front of her, the ones that gave her the structure she craved but also imposed the restraint she didn't. Blaze was always telling her to color outside of the lines, to follow something other than the straight lines of her day printed across the notebook in front of her. Did she want this? Him?

She switched her gaze to him. His hands were braced on the wall, bookending the mirror as he watched her. Everything about his pose was idle his body leaning in but not too close, the ragged breaths slowing, his eyes questioning. He was waiting for her to make up her own mind. He would let her leave if she wanted to, no pushing or protesting. That, more than anything else he could have done or said, convinced her.

Kat turned and took a step towards him, arching her body into the curve of his, no s.p.a.ce between them from knee to neck. Her lips barely cleared his shoulder and she had to stand on tiptoe to whisper in his ear. "A diamond in the rough, huh? Prove it to me."

"My pleasure, princess," he murmured.

"That's the surest way to get me to change my mind." Kat stepped away from him, finally shedding the stuffy vest she'd been in all night.

"What?"

"Calling me princess," she said. "Or honey. Or sweetie. Or sugar. I'm not royalty and I'm not food. You wanna get with this you have to at least remember my name." She dropped down onto the end of the bed and sunk into it. How nice it must be to sleep in fancy hotels where there was never stray a mattress coil poking through. She hadn't had a good night's sleep in decades it seemed.

Sebastian laughed. "Now what was your name again? Jane was it?" he joked from across the room, perching himself on the end of the dresser instead of approaching the bed. "Ann? Cindy? m.u.f.fy!" He pointed proudly.

She rolled her eyes at him and just shook her head. "So says the Duke of Cornwall?"

"You are different, aren't you?"

She was used to hearing that didn't even wince. "You say that like it's a bad thing." She held his gaze as she lazily kicked off her shoes. One landed a foot from him, the other dropping right down into his lap, garnering her an impressed smile. "Isn't different what you're searching for on that string of one-night stands you boast about."

"Who says I'm searching for something?"

"Aren't you?"

He gave her a devilish smile and her heart started racing. A rush of adrenaline, danger, excitement she read all of that in his stare. "You know, you could be right." He rose and approached her, dropping down just barely out of her reach. "I have been searching for just the most perfect pair of legs." His hand started at her bare heel and slowly rose, sweeping up her calf, over her knee, across her thigh before tracing its way back.

"Then your search is over," she said. "I may have nothing else, but great gams I got."

"I don't know," Sebastian sighed thoughtfully, "There's just too much packaging here to tell what kind of gift it is." He slipped his hand up her pant leg, stroking bare flesh. She was suddenly feeling flushed.

"Well, why don't you unwrap it and see?"

"Only if you wrap them around me when I'm done."

"My pleasure, princess," Kat joked. Sebastian's laugh coupled with the slow stroke of his hands raised her blood pressure a few more degrees. A stray thought rose up was she really doing this? but she didn't have any attention to give it as she watched Sebastian move. He was rising above her, blocking out the light from the lamp, casting her view in shadow. His fingers brushed against her stomach, slipping under the waistband of her pants just enough to get at the inside fastener. Never one to just sit idly by, Kat unknotted his tie just enough to lean forward and run her teeth across his Adam's apple.

"You're one of those people that saves the wrapping paper, aren't you?" she whispered as he took his time, slipping her slacks from her, leisurely brushing his fingertips across every inch of her skin as it slid into view.

"What?" he asked curiously.

"Never mind." She brushed the comment away, feeling self-conscious as he looked at her with quizzical eyes. Didn't any of his other women talk? Did they really just melt into a puddle at his half-c.o.c.ked smile? Did the rich and famous really live cheesy romance novels? Frankly, it would explain a lot . . .

"Have I lost your interest already?" he questioned with a grin, grabbing her chin and turning her face towards his.

Kat shook his hand off and pushed him to the side, moving to straddle him. "But, it's just getting interesting." They kissed, Sebastian's teeth sc.r.a.ping against her lip before his tongue darted out to taste her. He devoured her until it wasn't enough. The searing heat of her mouth was intoxicating but he wanted to feel every inch of her rubbing against his skin.

He dropped his lips down to her exposed shoulder and the rough stubble on his cheek sc.r.a.ped against her neck. She liked it. The thought of his cheek rubbing against her chest, her stomach, her thighs had her out of breath. They were still wearing way too much clothing for that. Her shirt went first, then his. "Finally out of that d.a.m.n uniform."

"I kind of liked it," he said.

"Next time you can wear it then."

"Whatever turns you on." She laughed and he captured it with his mouth. His skin was hot and she wondered if she stayed so close if she'd burn, get set ablaze. It sounded like a lot of fun to her.

Kat's hands caressed his long, lean torso, tripping slowly over his muscles. His tanned skin was at least two shades darker than hers and she was momentarily mesmerized by the stark contrast of her against him. The tip of his tongue against the back of her neck brought her back to the moment.

And then her hair was tumbling out of the bun she'd hastily thrown it in earlier. A reflex ingrained, she couldn't stop herself from bringing her hands up to shake the chocolate locks out, not realizing she was tousling like a model getting ready to strut a messy runway. A s.e.xy, windblown look she wasn't even trying for.

He laughed. "You did that on purpose," he said, having to swallow around the lump in his throat before he got it out.

"You like?" she questioned him with a confident smile. Sebastian couldn't remember seeing anything s.e.xier, could only nod as he wound a hand into her hair, pulling her close for a demanding kiss. And another. And another. "How about this?" she murmured against his lips as her hand fell against his hip and drifted slowly down between his legs.

"That works too," he said, his voice half groan, half laugh. His hand tumbled out of her hair and wound around the side of her neck, letting him pant against the smooth skin of her clavicle, caress it with his tongue. And then with his teeth as her hand slipped through to make contact with his bare skin, eliciting a surprised gasp from her that had him smiling satisfied into her neck.

Their lips came together again, crashed together, as he scrambled to get closer. He ran his hands down her back, pulling her hips into his, fitting them together like a puzzle. His need strained against hers, the slow rhythm of discovery, and he wasn't sure how much longer he could take the teasing. He wanted to stamp his mark against her skin, taste her now, then spend the rest of the night slowly memorizing every inch of her. "You ready to storm the castle?" he asked, laying quick, hurried kisses against the swell of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, suddenly in so much more of a hurry.

"You're forgetting something," she murmured. Her voice didn't sound at all like her own did Kat even know this girl? Sebastian stopped and looked at her with genuine puzzlement clouding his features. She leaned back, amused, and gave him a pointed look down the end of her nose as she squeezed him purposefully. "Armor."

"Oh," he said in a high squeaky voice that had her laughing. He shifted to the side and raised himself off the bed slightly, trying to get into his back pocket. Kat took the opportunity to slip closer, rub her hips against him again, and distract him from his task.

"Not nice," he groaned as she smiled, throwing her hair over her shoulder. He was already too close to becoming undone. "You might just have to pay for that," he said with a wicked glint in his eye.

"Bring it on pretty boy." He finally had his wallet out and she s.n.a.t.c.hed it from his hands. She scanned the contents, raising her eyebrows at the sheer volume of gold cards cluttering it up. He could buy up her whole block if he wanted to, including all the people that lived there too.

"Who's that?" she asked, turning it for him to see the picture she was pointing at.

"That," he said, as he grabbed the wallet, slipped the condom out and tossed it unceremoniously behind him, "is my twin sister."

Kat grabbed the condom from his hand and sat back on her haunches to open it. "She's pretty."

Sebastian shrugged his shoulders and took a long look at Kat. The light was being kind to her. At the party he wanted her because she was forbidden now he wanted her because she was breathtaking. "What's this?" he asked, slipping his hand over her thigh and placing a finger against a hole in her underwear.

"Urban chic," she replied, "It's all the rage with the lower cla.s.s." Kat hoped he couldn't see her face redden with embarra.s.sment. Not that she was planning on sleeping with a s.e.xy stranger when she got dressed this morning but still. But then she wasn't caring so much since Sebastian was using her sloppiness to advantage, slipping his finger inside of her folds.

She let out a quick yelp of surprise promptly finding the spot that would have brought her to her knees if she wasn't already on them and using the knowledge expertly. His voice was in her ear, whispering things that made her want to laugh and moan all at the same time.

"We're even," she croaked, need thrumming against her skin, pushing his hand away. She didn't want his hand. "Prepare to be dressed for battle."

Sebastian flipped her over, switching positions and pinning her down against the pillows. The rest of his clothes tumbled to the floor and Kat drank in the sight of him. She reached out, running a palm against the long length of him. When she ran her thumb against the tip, he threw his head back and groaned, the sound sinking into her skin and making her bold. She straightened and kissed him, their tongues curling together, as she sheathed him with slow, expert touches.

And then she was no longer in control, on her back and pressed deeply into the sheets as he divested her of the rest of her clothes. She closed her eyes, couldn't bear the sight of him. But she could feel him, that cheek and those lips making one languorous trip down her body already on the brink of mindless need she wanted to scream at him as he skimmed over her swollen b.r.e.a.s.t.s, her ribs, her stomach.

On his way back up, his lips gently feathering her belly b.u.t.ton, she couldn't take it any longer. Her hands slipped into his hair and pulled him roughly towards her. He laughed but she drank it up, biting determinedly into his bottom lip to show she meant business. She wrapped her legs around his hips, as promised, and tugged him closer.

"What's my name?" she asked suddenly.

An amused smile flittered across Sebastian's face. He leaned in close to whisper in her ear, a necessity to be heard over the racket of their labored breathing. "Kisa," he murmured in what sounded like Russian. "Kat," he clarified, switching back to English as he took her, took everything she offered with one long, slow thrust.

She arched her back, dragged her nails down his to pull him closer, bit him to stop from calling out as he moved with agonizing slowness. And then quicker, faster, until she was taking flight, barreling towards the sensations of rightness, not caring how far behind he was. One last irreverent thought ran through her head shouldn't hotels have less squeaky beds? before she gave in and relinquished up all of her carefully guarded control.

Chapter 5.

Kat padded across the room, barefoot. She grabbed the first shirt she saw and slipped it on. "You're not wearing your uniform," Sebastian said as she walked over, a smile in his voice as he looked up from his paper.

"Can't," she murmured as she folded herself into a chair and grabbed for a piece of toast. "You stretched it out." They shared an amused look before his eyes drifted back down to the paper.

"You never struck me as a New York Times man."

"Sergei tests me. Says princes should at least know what the headlines are. Like anyone's going to ask me, the Royal Rebel, a question other than 'was that really you with Paris Hilton at that club last night?' I pretty much just check the hockey scores. But at least I open it."

"Paris Hilton?" Kat raised an eyebrow at him as she spread strawberry jam.

"I do have some standards," he scoffed with a shake of his head.

"You'll do complete strangers but not a gorgeous hotel heiress?"

"That girl's too ditzy and skinny for words. Looks a little bit like a horse too. Plus she's been pa.s.sed around more than germs in the schoolyard."

"Very deep," Kat replied.