Saja wasn't some backwards country where I'd be beaten or killed for having sex, but being the crown princess meant that my future husband would want to ensure that it was his child who would be next in line. That meant my parents, myself and the two bodyguards who'd been with me since I first went to America for college, all had to sign documents stating that I was a virgin.
I grinned despite the throbbing in my temples. That ship had sailed back in Princeton when I'd slept with my best friend. It hadn't meant anything though. My smile disappeared and I climbed out of bed. I didn't want to think about who I'd slept with next. I'd been trying to put those thoughts out of my head since I'd gotten back.
When I walked out of my bathroom, feeling a bit better after a quick shower and brushing my teeth, I noticed what I hadn't before. I hadn't been alone in my bed.
Fuck. I scowled. Who had I slept with last night? I closed my eyes, trying to remember. Most of the last two weeks was a blur. An intoxicated blur.
I'd played the dutiful daughter for two days, but then my parents had told me that they were down to their top three choices for my future husband. That hadn't been a surprise, but then I'd made the mistake of asking if I could meet all three and have the final say. I knew my parents loved me, but the look on their faces had made me hate them for a moment. It had been clear, without a word needed, that my marriage wasn't any of my concern.
I'd known that, of course, and if it hadn't been for what had happened in Paris, I might not have cared. I'd prepared myself. But then I'd met Reed and had experienced a glimpse of the kind of life I could've had. That taste of freedom had infected me and I couldn't seem to get back the same sense of duty I'd once had.
I wanted more out of life.
To my parents' dismay and disappointment, that meant I'd decided to have some fun. The first night, I'd only snuck out and gone to a club. I hadn't known until Kai and Tomas had shown up that my parents had a GPS tracker on my phone. Apparently, that's how my bodyguards had found me in Venice too, except the reception there had been so bad that it had taken them a while.
I pushed those memories aside. I didn't want to think about Venice.
My parents had freaked about my trip to the club, but the family's PR person, Mikkels, had managed to keep it under wraps. Then they'd doubled my guard detail. I could barely go to the bathroom without tripping over one of them.
The body on the bed rolled over and now I could see his face.
Right. Ari. Now I remembered. Well, pieces of it anyway.
Ari was only a couple years older than me and my newest bodyguard. I smirked. He'd done a hell of a lot more than guard my body last night. The flashes of memory I was getting involved a couple bottles of Saja's finest alcohol and a very naked man.
I glanced at the clock. Tomas and Kai would be back shortly, and there was no way Ari wasn't fired. It had been his job to keep me from doing anything stupid. Unfortunately for him, I was smarter than he was.
Since I'd been put under virtual house arrest, I hadn't been able to get out, but I'd managed to find enough alcohol in the house to keep me pleasantly buzzed every night. When I'd met Ari, however, something snapped. I didn't just want to annoy my parents, I wanted to piss them off.
Ari tossed off the blankets, revealing a toned, muscular body. He was shorter than Tomas and Kai, just under six feet, and thinner than them, but he couldn't exactly be called lean. His hair was dark and thick, his shoulders broad. He had strong, masculine features, hazel eyes and didn't resemble Reed in the slightest.
Which is exactly why I'd wanted to have sex with him. I'd needed someone who didn't look like Reed. Someone who would help me forget him. I'd told Reed that I wanted to remember him, and a part of me wanted to hang on, but I'd also learned how painful remembering could be. It might've been easier if it had just been sex, but there had been a connection with Reed I simply couldn't deny.
While I still didn't want to even think about someone chosen by my parents touching me, fucking me, I knew I couldn't keep reliving the memory of my time with Reed. It hurt too much. I needed him out of my head if I could ever go through with this. With the marriage, with training to become queen.
I shook my head. Apparently, last night hadn't worked.
I looked at Ari again, letting my eyes moved down from his chest to where his cock rested on his leg. I was happy to see a used condom on the bed next to him – I hadn't been able to remember if we'd used one – but my attention quickly focused on the thick shaft slowly swelling as I watched.
“Good morning.” Ari's voice was thick with sleep, drawing my attention back up to his face.
I smiled, but didn't say anything. It was clear on his face that he hadn't come to the realization he was completely screwed, and I didn't intend to change that. In fact, I was thinking I might want to at least give him something good to remember after he was fired. I walked towards him, putting a little extra swing into my step. I hadn't bothered to dress and his eyes watched the sway of my breasts as I walked towards him, his cock stiffening with each step.
His hand went towards it automatically and I watched him stroke himself as his cock grew. It wasn't quite as big as Reed's, but big enough to do the job. I climbed up the bed, enjoying the way his eyes were drawn to my breasts. I stopped between his legs and pulled his hand off of his cock.
“My turn.” I grinned at him. I wrapped my hand around him and began to stroke, enjoying the feel of his skin beneath my palm.
“Princess,” he groaned.
I saw something flicker across his eyes as he said the title and immediately tightened my hold. He swore and his eyes rolled back. At any moment he could realize this hadn't been a good idea after. I used my free hand to grab a condom from the side table and ripped it open with my teeth. I rolled it down his shaft, then moved up so I was straddling his waist.
His eyes darkened with lust as he reached up to my breasts. I waited for my body to respond to him the way it had done to Reed, but while his touch was pleasant, there was none of the heat I'd experienced before. I closed my eyes and sank down on his cock, letting out a breath as my body adjusted to him. His hips jerked as I settled and a ripple of pleasure went through me as the motion pressed him against that spot inside.
“Princess.” His voice was strained.
“Shh.” I shook my head. I didn't want to hear him talk, especially if he was going to call me “princess”. I didn't want to be the princess. I wanted to be Nami.
I rocked back and forth, feeling the difference between Reed and Ari. I didn't know what it was, but it just didn't feel the same. I pushed the thought from my mind. I didn't want to think about Reed right now. I concentrated on the friction as I moved, the feel of his hands on my breasts.
As I began to move faster, Ari's hands dropped to my hips, not trying to move me, but just resting there. I opened my eyes, trying not to sigh in frustration. I couldn't remember if he'd been this passive last night, but this definitely wasn't doing it for me. I kept one hand on his stomach and moved the other to the place where our bodies joined. My fingers quickly found my clit and began the familiar back and forth motion I used to get myself off.
His fingers flexed on my hips and he groaned, his face flushing as I felt him come. Damn. I would've thought he'd had more stamina. I ground down against him, putting near painful pressure on my clit until the pressure burst inside me.
My nails dug into his stomach and he let out a gasp of pain.
“I'm sorry,” I said, opening my eyes.
“It is quite all right, Princess.” Ari panted. “I am here to serve.”
The words hit me with an almost physical force. Here to serve. I was his princess. Even if he wanted me, I was still the princess first. Not a woman. Not a person. Just the princess.
I climbed off of him and went into the bathroom without a backward look. I knew when I came back out, he'd be gone, either fired or attempting to explain himself to Tomas and Kai. Either way, I wouldn't see him again. Not that it mattere
d. It hadn't worked.
I was keeping my promise to my parents even though the thought of doing so broke my heart. I wanted Reed.
Chapter 4
Reed
“Where the hell did you go, Nami?” I muttered to myself as I flopped back onto the couch.
One would think in the age of the internet, finding the king and queen of a country shouldn't be too difficult. I had no clue which country I was looking for, but I'd figured I’d start by searching the names she'd said. King Raj and Queen Mara. I'd found nothing.
Had she lied about who she was?
The thought had been circling in my mind for the past two days as I'd searched for her. I'd successfully ignored it up until now, but I'd known that I would have to face it at one time or another. Actually, I admitted, I'd hoped I wouldn't have to face it at all. I'd had this foolish notion that I'd be able to find her in just a few short hours, hop on a plane and go find her. The question would be unimportant.
But I hadn't found her. I'd gone to bed frustrated last night and it looked like I was going to do the same tonight. Now I had that question too.
Was the reason I couldn’t find her because she wasn't a princess? Had she just made everything up in order to get rid of me? It seemed a bit extreme as far as plans went. She could've just said she was married or something like that. Married to some rich guy who insisted on the bodyguards. That wouldn't have been so far-fetched. Claiming to be a princess...now that one was a bit extreme.
She had to have been telling me the truth. I just couldn't figure out why I couldn't find her parents. Maybe I wasn't going about it the right way. I frowned at the laptop. I was a businessman. I knew how to read stocks and the business page. I knew a bit about researching things, but that was pretty much limited to typing stuff into a search engine and spending hours wading through shit. I'd been a CEO. Stuff like that was why I'd had assistants.
I glanced at the clock on my computer. It was night here but still evening back home. I'd resigned my position at the company, but I still had a good relationship with a lot of people back there, including one of my former assistants. Louis had been with me since the beginning, my first hire when I'd taken over as CEO five years ago. He was a couple years older than me, but had never behaved as if I was too young to be in charge.
I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and scrolled down to Louis's number. He answered on the second ring.
“Mr. Stirling!” He sounded surprised, but pleased. “How are you doing?”
“Good, Louis,” I said. “And I'm not your boss anymore, so please call me Reed.”
“You're just on a sabbatical, Mr. Stirling.” Louis's voice was firm. “How can I help you?”
A sabbatical. That was interesting. It appeared my parents hadn't told them that I'd actually resigned. It made sense though. A lie like that would be the best way to keep our shareholders from getting too nervous with Rebecca in charge. It wasn't a surprise that I hadn't heard the story before. I hadn't looked at any business news since leaving Philadelphia.
I wasn't about to correct Louis's mistaken impression. Best to speak to my parents first. With Louis, I stuck with what I needed. “I'm looking for someone. Twenty-two. Princess Nami Carr. Parents King Raj and Queen Mara. I need to know where Nami is from. Which country her parents are king and queen of.”
If Louis thought this was an odd request, he didn't say anything about it. “Is this personal or business, Sir?”
“Personal.” I definitely didn't want him doing this on business time. The last thing I needed was my sister finding out that I was looking for someone, not to mention that, no matter what my parents said, I wasn't in charge anymore. “I know that cuts into the amount of time you can spend searching.”
“I'll do my best,” Louis promised. There was a moment of silence, and then he added, “Do you know when you'll be coming back, Mr. Stirling?”
“No.” I kept the answer simple even though I felt bad about essentially lying to him. I didn't have a plan to go back any time soon, if ever.
“I'll keep you apprised of what I find,” he said. “Good night, Sir.”
I hung up the phone and tossed it onto the couch next to me. I had absolutely no idea what to do now. Should I keep on with my feeble attempts to search or had I pretty much exhausted all of those options? I wasn't even really sure what I was looking for, or what I planned to do when I found it.
If I managed to track down her parents and figure out what country she was from, what then? I had vague notions of some sort of romantic reunion where I'd show up and convince her to give me a shot. I'd charm her parents, show them that I was the right match for their daughter. I was the one who deserved to marry –
Fuck.
I sat up and put my head in my hands. What was I thinking? I didn't want to get married again, especially not to someone I barely knew. I'd done that once and it hadn't ended well at all.
But Nami wasn't Britni. They were as different in personality as they were in looks, which basically meant night and day. Britni was spoiled, petty and arrogant. Nami wanted nothing more than to be a normal person, to live a normal life. She was kind and funny and sweet. She had a streak of steel in her too. A strength of which I didn't think even she knew the depth. I hadn't loved Britni, but Nami...
Dammit!
I slammed my hand on the coffee table. I wasn't in love with Nami. I couldn't be. Not after just a couple days. The problem was, I couldn't come up with another reason as to why she was constantly on my mind. It couldn't be explained away with only lust. I'd had other women who could've quenched it if that's all it was. Not that I didn't want her. It was stronger than lust though. I couldn't even rightly call it desire. It was a need, like food or water or air.
But it wasn't love, I told myself again. I'd thought before that I'd been in love and I'd been wrong. I wasn't going to make that mistake again. No, I'd wait until I found her, see if she was even willing to see if there was anything more to what we had than two nights of passion.
I was still arguing with myself regarding whether or not I was in love with Nami when my phone rang. I sighed when I saw the screen. Mom. I wasn't really in the mood to talk to her, but I'd ignored her previous two calls. Ignoring this one would just be rude.
“Mom.” I tried to keep my voice flat. “How are you doing?”
“We're fine,” my dad answered.
Right. Conference call.
“Reed, you need to come home.”
My heart skipped a beat at the tone of my mother's voice. There was a hint of something that sounded a lot like panic.
“What's wrong? Is someone hurt? Sick?”
“It's Rebecca.” The words were tight.
My heart constricted painfully. I might not have liked her very much, but she was my sister and I loved her for that.
“She's okay.” My mom must've sensed that my father's terse statement made things sound bad.
“Physically,” Dad said.
This couldn't be good.
“Your sister's in a bit of a...delicate situation.”
I wished they'd just get on with it and tell me what was going on.
I heard my father's half-laugh at my mother's words. “Don't sugarcoat things, my dear. Reed, your sister's been having an affair with Benjamin Westmore.”
My first thought popped out of my mouth. “Seriously? He's older than both of you.”
“Not Senior,” my dad said. I could almost hear him rolling his eyes. “Junior.”
“Right.” I felt stupid. “And he's married.”
“Married with kids,” Mom clarified.
“And to make matters worse, Westmore Senior has already sent us invitations to the wedding of his youngest son, Blayne.”
I'd only known Blayne Westmore by reputation, but I had to admit that I was surprised he'd settled down at all. I also had the vague recollection that my parents had been trying to marry him to my sister. That would make tensions between the two families run a bit high.
/> “So don't go to the wedding,” I suggested. “Send an expensive gift.”
“We're not calling for advice.” Dad sounded annoyed. “We want you to come home and take the third invitation. Go with us.”
I stood up and began to pace. I couldn't sit still and listen to this. “You want me to fly all the way home for the wedding of someone I don't know.”
“We want you to show everyone that we're a united family and that we will rise above this little...incident.”
My mom, ever the diplomat.
“I'll think about it.” I couldn't bring myself to refuse outright. The sense of duty to family did run deep. “But I'm not making any promises.”
“We'll have a ticket reserved for you on Friday if you're coming.”
After a couple more moments of small talk, the call ended. I knew they were both frustrated that I hadn't made any promises, but I'd given them the best I could. Besides, I had Nami to think of. I needed to find her before it was too late and she was married.
I paused, sighing. If it wasn't too late already.
I had no idea how fast things like this moved in her country. For all I knew, she could've gone straight from the airport to her wedding. Time wasn't on my side.
However, I thought, being back in the States might give me more resources. I could hire a private investigator to find Nami, deal with him face-to-face instead of making calls from halfway around the world.
I would do it, I decided. I'd go home. Something inside me clicked. This was a turning point, I thought suddenly. Whatever happened, it was going to happen at home because once I'd found Nami – or was told that finding her wasn't possible – I would have to decide where to go from there. There would be no putting it off anymore. My weeks of fun were over and it was time to start looking towards the future. A future I hoped Nami would be a part of.
Because, no matter what I told myself, I was in love with her.
Chapter 5
Reed
When my parents had called to try to coax me into coming home, I'd thought they'd exaggerated how bad things were. By the time I arrived in Philadelphia a few days later, things were even worse. Rebecca had driven our company into the ground. Money was missing. Clients were jumping ship and the only thing that had saved the employees was Julien Atwood.