Seduced (Royal Expat Series Book #1) Read online

  “Wow,” Matilda said. “How did you manage to meet him?”

  “Long story,” Damian said. “You meet a lot of people when you travel a lot.”

  “I’d like to hear it sometime,” Matilda said. “He’s an incredible artist.”

  “Yeah,” Damian agreed. “I love this place.”

  “I’m sorry,” Matilda said. “I don’t want to force you to leave if you’d rather stay.”

  “No,” Damian said forcefully. “I want to travel with you. There’s so much I want to show you.”

  “Are you sure?” Matilda asked hesitantly.

  “I’m sure. Have you picked a direction yet?” Damian asked with a warm smile.

  “How about west?” Matilda asked.

  “Good choice. That leaves the whole country open to us,” Damian grinned.

  “And let’s—let’s go somewhere you haven’t been before,” Matilda suggested. “I want us both to discover something new together.”

  “That’ll be hard to find,” Damian teased, “but I’m sure we’ll manage.”

  He started packing his bag; he only carried one small suitcase, obviously used to travelling with minimal possessions.

  “I have a tent and things in my car,” he explained, “but I don’t need too much in the way of material things.”

  “Are you ready to go then?” Matilda asked. She was anxious to leave the place behind now. She had emailed Sylvie to explain that she would be leaving, and she’d decided to call her parents a little later. After all, provided Colin didn’t contact them—which he shouldn’t, with the knowledge that she could expose his many crimes—they wouldn’t know anything was amiss for a few days at least.

  “I’m ready,” Damian said, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her. “Let’s start a new life together.”

  -

  Once they were in the car, it was as if the whole world was in front of them.

  As they moved away from the city, the road stretched, wide and endless, before them.

  “Do you know where we’re going?” Matilda asked.

  “West,” Damian replied with a smile. “Until we find somewhere new, where we’ve never been before.”

  Matilda’s spirits were high, and the feeling of Damian’s hand wrapped around hers as the miles faded away behind them was like an anchor.

  He talked about his family, and about the friends he had made during his travels. He asked her questions about her life and family, and she tried to answer them as best she could without giving away the fact that she was a royal—somehow, she still clung to the fear that he would reject her if he knew. Tomorrow, she decided. Tomorrow she would tell him the whole truth. But for now, she just wanted to be happy. Wasn’t it her turn to enjoy a little bit of freedom and happiness?

  “It’s getting dark,” she pointed out, as the sky began to dim and the red sun sank behind the horizon.

  “Do you want to stop?” Damian asked.

  “No,” Matilda said. “I never want this day to end.”

  “Me neither,” Damian said. “I don’t want to close my eyes and find that this was all a dream.”

  They carried on along the road, until it slowly emptied of cars and turned into countryside on either side of the road.

  “Where are we?” Matilda asked.

  “Somewhere in the middle of Kentucky,” Damian replied.

  “Ooh, fried chicken!” Matilda said enthusiastically; they had been so wrapped up in each other that they had completely forgotten to get food, and it was now around 3 in the morning.

  Damian laughed. “Yeah, I guess they do pretty good fried chicken here,” he acknowledged, “but you really need to go further south for the best.”

  “I’ll settle for any kind,” Matilda said.

  Damian smiled, and caressed her face.

  “Let’s go and grab something, then, and maybe we’ll find a place to crash for the night.”

  He pulled off the highway and drove down a series of smaller roads, all equally deserted. After about 15 minutes, he pulled over. Matilda sent him a quizzical look.

  “I don’t think they have any fried chicken around here,” Damian confessed. “It looks like it really is the middle of nowhere.”

  “Just you and me?” Matilda asked, an idea forming in her mind. Damian glanced up at her and caught the mischief in her eyes. He grinned, catching on immediately.

  “Lost in the wilderness,” he agreed, pulling her onto his lap, where she straddled him, eagerly wriggling into a comfortable position, her legs spread directly over his crotch.

  “Nobody around,” Matilda whispered, leaning in for a kiss.

  The kiss was lingering and intense, and the warmth of the contact travelled straight down to Matilda’s groin, awakening her arousal. Damian’s arms snaked around her to pull her body flush against his. She rubbed herself against him, delighting in the hard muscles of his chest.

  He groaned as she shifted on top of him, and she felt the evidence of his growing arousal pressing insistently against her pussy. She ground down on top of him, the friction sending bolts of arousal jolting through her even through the constricting material of her clothing.

  Warm hands pushed up her t-shirt, and she pulled it over her head, secretly pleased that her pert, full breasts were level with Damian’s face. He lavished attention on them, showering them with kisses, nuzzling the soft swell of her cleavage above her blue lace bra.

  She popped open the bra, shrugging it off and tossing it into the back seat, allowing Damian full access to her bare breasts.

  She moaned and arched towards him, throwing her head back in ecstasy as he took her nipples into his mouth, one at a time, and bit down gently. She was floating on a sea of sensation as he worshipped her body. His warm hands rubbed up and down her back, and she could feel the moisture pooling in her panties as her arousal increased.

  Not wanting to be outdone, Matilda grabbed Damian’s cock through the material of his shorts, rubbing and teasing him to full attention. He was thrusting shallowly upwards against her hand, and she felt a rush of power as she saw how aroused he was by her.

  She tugged his t-shirt over his head, needing to feel his skin got against hers. As her breasts rubbed against the hard muscles of his torso, she felt her skin sizzling with the heat; her whole body was alive with the fire.

  She was aching with desire by now, her pussy slick with juices and throbbing steadily with the need to be filled, stroked, thoroughly and roughly fucked by Damian. But she wanted to take this slow—wanted it to last as long as possible.

  She explored the hard contours of Damian’s body, enjoying the flex of his muscles as he ran his hands over her soft curves. The way his broad shoulders and muscular arms felt beneath her delicate fingers was amazing, like the bold ripples of the ocean’s waves.

  She moved down to explore the toned flesh with her lips, leaving gentle butterfly kisses across the plane of his chest and trailing down to the line of hair above his pants.

  Had there been space. She would have unzipped his pants and continued downwards, taking his straining member between her lips and sucking hard, but in the confines of the car, she had to content herself with shimmying back up to meet Damian’s lips in a series of heated kisses.

  “I want you,” Damian murmured in her ear as they broke apart, fighting for breath. “I want you so god damn much.”

  Matilda’s entire body was crying out for him, too. It was like they were both bewitched by the same spell, and nothing but each other’s bodies could calm the urge which was erupting within them with the force of a volcano.

  Matilda wriggled out of her pants, holding her hot, wet pussy over Damian’s crotch, where she could feel the huge bulge of his erection aching to be free. She ground herself against him, too desperate for contact to wait, and gasped at the sensations which shot up through her body. She needed more, and harder, but Damian held her still.

  He moved his hand down between her legs, gently probing her moist heat, his fing
ers bathing in her juices as he stroked her enflamed lips.

  She moaned, and arched closer, wanting his fingers to writhe and thrust inside her, but he was exploring slowly, teasingly. He ghosted over her clit, and she let out a startled cry as a flash of fire swept through her. It was too good. She needed more.

  He slowly sank his fingers into her soft, wet heat, and she groaned at the sensation of his long digits caressing her walls.

  He thrust once, twice, hooking his fingers so that he grazed slowly down her slick walls, stimulating the flesh so that she was panting with desire.

  Then he withdrew his fingers, coated in her juices, and she whimpered at the loss, feeling empty and almost wild with lust without his delicious contact. He met her hazy eyes with his own slate gray ones, his pupils dilated, and slowly took his coated fingers into his mouth, sucking slowly, swirling his tongue around to lap up every drop of her essence.

  The gesture was both embarrassing and strangely erotic to Matilda, and she found herself both blushing and staring fixedly as Damian drank in her wetness. As he finished finding every last ounce, he leaned forwards to kiss her, and she tasted herself on his tongue. She felt the heat sweep through her as the flavor of her own arousal hit her taste buds.

  “You taste so delicious,” Damian murmured. “I didn’t want you to miss out.”

  If Damian’s kiss hadn’t done it for her already, his words would have destroyed the last tiny particle of restraint that she still had left. She needed him inside her—now.

  Unzipping his pants, she helped him to push them down over his thighs, exposing his large, eager erection to her greedy eyes.

  She caressed the tip for a moment, admiring his thickness, before lifting her hips and impaling herself on his engorged cock.

  Both of them gasped at the sudden sensation of completeness. It had been so long that Matilda’s thighs were quivering, the feeling of him filling her almost too overwhelming.

  He began to thrust up immediately, and the angle had Matilda reeling, clinging onto the thick muscles of his arms as the only way to anchor her body as her spirit soared. His thrusts were long and deep, and every nerve inside her cried out in delight as his cock hit exactly the right spot. Gooseflesh covered her arms and a flush crept across her chest as shivers of ecstasy ran through her body. Her orgasm was so close, but she wanted it to last forever. She clenched her walls down on Damian’s cock, engulfing him completely, trying to slow his thrusts, to make it last longer.

  He let out a tortured groan, and lifted her bodily, slamming her entire fragile form back down on his eager cock again and again. She let out breathy screams as he thrust into her with all his force, bringing her orgasm closer with every thrust. Finally he pulled her down with all his strength, holding her tightly, filling her with his thick, white seed just as she came hard, her entire body shaking from the power of her orgasm.

  As her vision returned and her breathing came back to something resembling normal, she could still feel him inside her. His arms wrapped around her tightly and the scent of their sex filled the small car, their lust fogging the windows. The world, with all its drama, no longer existed to them as they held each other in the small vehicle, trying to keep that glowing aftermath going forever.

  -

  Matilda didn’t know how long they just sat there, holding each other and basking in their closeness, their bodies tired, sore and contented from their steamy lovemaking session, but when she was roused groggily from her light sleep, it was getting light and her skin was sticky, her joints aching from staying in the same position for so long.

  “How long were we out?” she groaned, as she felt Damian shift and stretch beneath her. She made to move off him, but he grabbed her tightly, giving her a long, lingering, spine-tingling kiss before lifting her up and setting her down in the seat beside him. They both began rummaging around for clothes, and Matilda had a struggle trying to fish her panties off the back seat whilst simultaneously trying to maintain her modesty.

  “It’s around 7,” Damian said, peering out the window to check the position of the sun. “So only a few hours. Let’s try and get back on the road and find a restaurant or a diner or something—I’m starving.”

  It only took them about 20 minutes to find a likely diner in a small town. After ordering enough food to leave an entire army lying on their backs and groaning, they settled into a small booth with their coffee, chatting about small things; where to go next; what the strange creaking sound in the car might be; and where they might be able to go and shower.

  The food arrived quickly, and Matilda’s eyes went as wide as saucers as she took in the vast stacks of pancakes, the soft, buttery biscuits, the heaps of thick sausage gravy and the crispy bacon piled high at the side.

  “Haven’t you ever seen an American breakfast before?” Damian teased, taking a bite of bacon and crunching enthusiastically.

  “Not like this,” she admitted.

  “What do you eat in England, anyway?” Damian asked curiously.

  “Bacon and eggs, maybe baked beans,” Matilda said. “Our pancakes are thin, though, and we eat them with lemon and sugar. Anyway, most people just eat toast or cereal for breakfast.”

  “Sounds terrible,” Damian said, giving a mock shudder. Matilda laughed and threw the bottle of syrup at him. He caught it deftly, and began slathering his pancakes with the sticky condiment, giving Matilda an incorrigible grin.

  When the plates had been cleared away and their coffees refilled, Damian once again raised some of the subjects that needed to be discussed.

  “So, are you ready to tell me everything that happened?” he asked her seriously.

  “I guess,” Matilda said reluctantly. “I just…I don’t want you to hate me.”

  “How could I ever hate you?” Damian asked, his handsome face frowning in concern. “Matilda, I can’t believe even for a moment that you could possibly do anything wrong.”

  “Not on purpose,” Matilda confessed, “but I made a big mess of things. I did something stupid, and now we’re both paying for it.”

  “Trust me,” Damian said sincerely, taking her hand and raising it to his lips for a gentle kiss. “I won’t judge you. Everyone makes mistakes. I just want to know what sort of demons you’re fighting.”

  Matilda took a deep breath, thinking over everything which had happened over the last few weeks. It was true that she hadn’t done anything wrong—or at least not anything she hadn’t been forced to do—but she was still reluctant to share everything with Damian. He thought of her as such a pure person. Would he reject her if he knew the ugly truth?

  She knew in her heart that she and Damian had a strong connection. She only hoped that it was strong enough for him to overcome the issues which were surrounding her.

  “I told you about Colin—that he was threatening me,” she said dully.

  “More than threatening—I can still see the bruise on your face,” Damian said, anger coloring his voice.

  “Well, what I didn’t tell you was that it’s all my fault,” Matilda said, casting her eyes downwards. “I was too careless.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Damian. “It’s never your fault if a jerk tries to beat you up.”

  “He wanted me,” Matilda confessed. “Part of me knew it. He got jealous when I talked to you that first night; it was obvious even to me that he was attracted to me, and I just blew him off.”

  “So what?” scoffed Damian. “That bastard is nowhere near in the same league as you. He can want all he likes, but he can never have you.”

  “But he couldn’t accept that, and I was too stupid to realize it,” Matilda confessed. “Damian—he followed us. Every time we met up that first week, he followed us. He took photos of us together to blackmail me with. He even—he even caught us together in the pool by the War Memorial.”

  Damian’s face had turned darker and darker as he listened to her speech, and his hands were balled into fists on the table, his knuckles white as he tried not to smash so
mething.

  “How dare he?!” Damian exclaimed. “How could he invade your privacy like that. Matilda, you should call the police on this man—now!”

  Damian’s expression was so fierce that Matilda was frightened for a moment, but she stood her ground, trying to get Damian to understand.

  “He’s very trusted by my family, and if my family ever found out about those photos, they’d be sure to disown me. My father is very strict, and my family is very well known in England. If the photos went public, their reputation would be in tatters.”

  Damian looked as if he was about to explode, and Matilda looked miserable down at her hands. She had really blown it now. He must know exactly how weak she was.

  “Why didn’t you tell me all of this?” Damian asked.

  “I don’t know,” Matilda admitted. “When he first started blackmailing me, he made sure I couldn’t see you. After that, I guess I just wanted to fix it myself.”

  “You’re so stubborn,” Damian said. “I’d have helped you out however I could.”

  “Just knowing you were waiting for me was enough,” Matilda said. “The night I left—was it really only last night—I managed to get some evidence on him. Now if he ever tries to use the photos I can expose him as a blackmailer. If he knows what’s good for him he’ll forget the whole thing and I’m free to be with you.”

  “That’s good, at least,” Damian said. He looked as if he wanted to ask what evidence she had, but the look on his face caused him to hold back. “But I still worry. Matilda, is this life really what you want? I don’t stay in one place for long, and I like my life the way it is, but you have so much going for you. You’re smart, attractive and you’ve got a lot of options out there ahead of you. Do you really want to give that up to be with me?”

  “I don’t know what I want out of life,” admitted Matilda. “I used to think that I wanted to change the way the world worked. I wanted to make government better, give people a stronger voice. Now, I know that world is full of people like Colin who are out to manipulate people like me. So I don’t know. It’s a difficult question.