Behind Palace Doors (Hollywood 3)

“I wish I’d designed a dress that could just peel off,” she told him, reaching behind her. “But I’m afraid there’s a zipper, and you’re going to have to get it.”

She turned, giving him her back but throwing him a glance over her shoulder. “Sorry I wasn’t thinking ahead.”

“Oh, this is my pleasure,” he told her with a crooked smile and a wink.

When his fingers came up to her back and slid to the zipper, she couldn’t suppress the shiver that raced through her. Arousal quickly overrode her awkwardness and doubts that threatened to creep in.

As the material parted in the back, Victoria shimmied her arms slightly so the dress fell down the front of her, leaving her standing in a strapless bustier that lifted her meager chest into something voluptuous and enticing...at least she hoped that’s how he saw her.

Stefan didn’t know which god deserved credit for making Victoria realize that the two of them sleeping together wasn’t a mistake, but he’d graciously drop to his knees and thank him.

“Oh,” he whispered when she turned around. “Had I known you looked that good, I would’ve insisted you go without the dress during the ceremony.”

Just as he’d hoped, Victoria laughed. That rich, seductive sound washed over him. As much as his body wanted hers, he also wanted her to be comfortable. He couldn’t allow any uneasiness to settle between them.

“This royal wedding would’ve been talked about until the end of time,” she joked. “Besides, since I’m the designer, I would’ve looked rather strange coming down the aisle without a gown.”

“Strange?” he asked, tracing the top of the silk material that covered her tan breasts. “No. Sexy as hell and the fantasy of every man? Absolutely.”

Victoria bit her lip but held his gaze.

“Don’t,” he told her. “Don’t think. Don’t worry. Just...feel.”

She shivered beneath his touch, and Stefan wished she knew the effect she had on him was just as potent. He had shivers racing through his body just thinking of what they were about to do. God, he’d waited so long to make love to her and here they were.

Of course, all those times he’d envisioned them sleeping together, he never once pictured her in a wedding dress beforehand.

She inhaled, causing her chest to press deeper into his touch. The rustling of the dress had him pulling back just enough so she could step out of it.

“One of us still has too many clothes on.” She smiled, picking up her dress, and, with great care, she laid it over the back of one of the oversized leather theater chairs. “Normally you’re so eager to show off your body. Are you getting stage fright, Prince Alexander?”

A naughty smile spread across her face. She was literally a sinful sight before him, but he’d never been known for being a choir boy.

“Oh, I’m not afraid of anything.” He wasted no time in stripping down to his black boxer briefs. “I was merely admiring the view of my sexy new wife.”

When Victoria’s eyes raked down his body, pausing at his throbbing erection, then back up to meet his eyes, she bit her lip. Nerves were getting to her and he refused to let her overthink this.

“You were starting to relax. Come on, Tori.” He reached out, sliding his hands up her bare arms and stepping into her. “You’ve seen me in swimming trunks skimpier than this.”

Her eyes locked on to his, her hands coming up to rest on his chest. “True, but this is so much different. I just don’t want this to change us...you know, afterward.”

He kissed her lips, gently, slowly. Kissed his way along her jawline, down the long, slender column of her throat, pleased when she tilted her head back and groaned. He’d dreamed of this moment for so long. Longer than he liked to admit, even to himself. He’d never allowed any woman to have such control over his mind or his fantasies.

“Nothing will change,” he assured her between kisses. “Unless it’s better. And I’m positive in the next few minutes, things between us will get a whole lot better.”

Victoria’s arms circled around his neck as her head turned, her mouth colliding with his.

And that’s when the dam burst. His, hers. Did it matter? He’d wanted her for years, and whether she’d wanted him that long or she’d just decided it in the past few weeks they’d been together he didn’t know, but he did know he was going to have her. Now. Here.

Stefan encircled her waist with his hands, slid them on down to the slight flare of her hips and slowly walked her to the bar in the back of the room. When he hoisted her up onto to the counter, she laughed.