“Oh my f—” One of his hands is back on my mouth as his tongue laps over my clit. It takes two seconds for my legs to shake and my core to clench as my orgasm ripples over my innocent body in waves. He moves up my body, stretching my legs wide.
“You wanna do this?” He brushes his nose with mine, his lips grazing slightly. “There’s no going back.”
“I don’t want to go back. Take it.”
“Why?” he asks, his fingers flexing near my collarbone. His thick tip is pressing against my wet entrance, and all it would take would be one little… I push my hips up and his cock is an inch inside, stretching my tight walls. I flinch. “Why, Duchess?” he whispers against my lips.
I wrap my arm around his neck and nibble on his bottom lip. “Because I’d only ever want it to be you.” He slides inside of me at once, filling me to the brink until I feel my soul seep out of my body and a scream rip out of my lips—
“Duchess!”
Orson? Someone is shaking my shoulders.
“Wake up! Now!”
“What?” My eyes pop open and I’m met with the darkness of the room bar one lamp. Orson is standing over me, his hoodie thrown over his head. “Royce got into a fight with Derek Chambers, we’re going back to your house.”
“What?” I ask, propping up onto my elbows. “Why does it matter if he got into a fight with Chambers!” Fucking idiot boys, and speaking of idiots… that dream was—no comment.
“It matters because Royce fucked him up good and almost killed him. We’re leaving—now.”
“What?” I fly out of the covers so fast and start yanking on my hoodie. “Where’s Royce?” I swipe my hair out of my face and zip it up. He almost killed him? This is bad. Royce doesn’t need another legal stint.
“Royce is fine, he’s already on the boat. Chambers barely got a hit in.”
I didn’t ask why Orson was here and Royce wasn’t. I swipe up my phone and push it into my pocket before we make our way back down to the beach. People have long since left, and the only boat that’s docked in is Royce’s. There are a few people scattered across the shore, asleep, but for the most part, it was just a fucking mess. I feel bad for Orson’s cleanup crew.
Picking up my pace, I run across into the water and jump into the boat, when I see Royce lying on his back on one of the sofas with his arm covering his face. One leg is hanging over the chair while the other is perched up.
“He’s asleep. I’ll drive.” Orson begins untying us when I start up the boat. Storm walks out from below with a pale face.
“What’s wrong?” I ask Storm, who looks more uncomfortable than usual.
He shakes his head. “He almost killed him.”
I run my tongue over my lip, turning my head over my shoulder to cast a glance at Royce, who still hadn’t moved. I’d like to say that I didn’t think Royce had it in him to seriously kill someone, but if you give him something worth dying for, he will kill for them.
I clear my throat, my thoughts on the dream I had just minutes ago. It all felt too real. Way too real. Seeing him so soon after the vivid images that are still fresh in my head is raising goose bumps over my skin and making my heart beat faster than it ever did before.
Storm nudges his head over his shoulder. “I’ll drive. Go do your thing.” I release the steering wheel and inch backward until I’m back near Royce. The inside and outside of the boat is lit up from the neon LED lights, deep blue hues accentuating his figure. His dark jeans, military-style boots tied loosely at his feet, and the hoodie that’s pulled over his head.
“Are you gonna stand there and stare or start yelling so we can get this over with?” He shifts his arm above his head and I finally get the first peek of his chiseled high cheekbones and soft lips. Lips I felt in my dream. All too real. Why the fuck did that feel so real. “Come here.” The way his voice wraps around those simple words is the very reason why my heart drops to my stomach. His tongue flicks out and dampens his bottom lip. “Now, Duchess…”
Finally, I take a seat beside him, blowing out a steady breath of air. His arm hooks around my waist and he yanks me down onto his chest, while keeping me to his side, both arms now wrapping around me as he pulls me in close and buries his nose in my hair. From a distance, if you weren’t in our circle, it would look intimate, and it definitely feels it to me right after that dream, but I know without a shadow of a doubt that to Royce, it would just be a big brother hugging his younger sister type hug.
“Royce?” I whisper, playing with the gold curb chain that hangs around his neck.
“Mmmm?” he growls out.
I chew on my bottom lip nervously. “What happened with you and Chambers?”
I feel his body turn rigid beneath me, and I almost feel guilty for bringing it up. “Don’t worry your pretty little head about it.”
But I do worry. I worry a lot.
“You almost killed him?” I press up from his chest, bringing my eyes level to his. The outline of his features are hard, sharp enough to cut me in half. I’m momentarily trapped in the twisted knots of his gaze, before my eyes drop to his mouth. Soft lips shaped by hard edges.
Without even thinking, my tongue runs over my mouth.
He sucks in an audible breath, and my focus comes crashing back to his. His eyes are on my mouth now, thick brows pulled in.
“Roy?”
He releases his breath as a slow, menacing smirk crawls over his mouth. “Mmmm, you’re just a bit of fucking mischief, huh, Duchess.” He moves closer until his lips are grazing against my earlobe. “You might wanna be careful with the way those pretty little eyes look at me.”
I flinch, crawling off his body. Just as I’m back on my feet, his hands come to mine and I find myself watching his face again. It’s painful how perfect Royce is. I’m sure I always knew it, only things are starting to shift into an area that I’m not sure I’m comfortable with addressing right now.
“Hey!” He yanks on my fingers and my eyes catch his grazed knuckles. Bloodied and spoiled with cracks as deep as the ones forming in my heart. “I was joking, Duchess, you know that.”
“What do you mean?” I murmur, swiping my unruly hair out of my face as the boat slows, pulling up to the dock. “What part?”
I can hear Dad cursing in the background the second we’re anchoring in. Royce winks. “You tell me.” He jackknives up from his position, clutching his stomach. “This is going to for sure give Dad a hernia,” Royce banters, and just as he’s walking past me, I catch the dampness on his stomach. My hand flies out to his arm, halting him. He’s big enough to push me away, but he doesn’t.
“Royce…” I whisper, pulling him backward.
He staggers back, and his face pales. “What’s the matter, Duchess? Gonna finally kiss me now that I’m dying?”
Before I can register his words or take them in, he falls against me, pushing me to the ground, There’s yelling in the background, with Mom and Dad both diving into the boat. Everything is a blur, my world is spinning. Someone is screaming so loud that my ears bleed, and it’s not until I’m tearing off his hoodie to see the stab wound in his stomach that I figure out that, that someone screaming…