“Sorry.”
“Oh, don’t be. The people of Romerius are happy to be unknown. The people of Monaco envy us slightly.”
“Oh? Why is that?”
“Because they are inundated with tourists now.”
“But doesn’t tourism bring you money?”
“Money is so crass.” Sebastian made a face and I laughed inside. Only someone with money would think that needing money was crass.
I thought back to my student loans and other bills and knew that I wouldn’t turn up my nose at any job or endeavor that was going to bring me money. But then I suppose that was why I was working for his brother. If I had money, there was no way I would stay at a job that made me compromise my own feelings—no matter how hot I thought the guy was.
I changed the subject. “So did you do the homework?”
“Of course. Do you think I want the wrath of my brother?”
“I guess not.” A chill ran through me at his words. I had nearly forgotten that Sebastian and Xavier were brothers.
“What painting did you choose?”
“You’ll have to wait and see.”
“No fair.” He shook his head. “Tell me.”
“Nope.”
“Tell me.” He grinned and reached over to tickle me.
“No!” I squealed as his fingers reached under my arms and tickled me. “Stop.” I giggled as he continued and I tried to pull away. My hair fell in front of my eyes, and Sebastian gently pushed it away.
“You have beautiful eyes, Lola.” He smiled gently and my heart skipped a beat. Was he flirting with me?
“Good morning, class.” Xavier walked into the room, his voice booming. I looked up at him, and he was glaring at me. “I do hope that people remember this is a classroom, a place we come to learn, and not a brothel, a place you go to pick up a whore.”
He stared right at me, and I gasped, shocked at his words and the cold look in his eyes. What was his problem? Was he upset because I’d left him with a hard-on in his house? What had he expected to happen this morning?
“Looks like big bro’s in a great mood again this morning,” Sebastian sighed. “He needs to just get laid or something.”
“He’s single, right?” I mumbled, trying to pretend like I didn’t care.
“Well—” Sebastian started and then stopped as Xavier stared at us again.
“Today, class, we will all be sharing our favorite paintings. I hope everyone has come prepared to discuss their favorite painting.” Xavier’s voice was harsh, and I could tell that he was staring at me in anger.
“My favorite painting is Sunflowers by Van Gogh,” I whispered to Sebastian, avoiding Xavier’s stare.
“That’s so funny. That’s my favorite painting as well.” Sebastian grinned at me. “I guess we must be soul mates.”
“Haha.” I laughed and smiled at him widely. Take that, Xavier, I thought to myself.
“If the two of you are done, can we continue with the class?” Xavier glared up at us. “And, Lola, I need to speak to you after class.”
“Yes, sir.” I tried not to roll my eyes.
“Sorry.” Sebastian made a face, and I shrugged.
“It’s fine. He hates me.”
“He probably wants to tell you that you have bad taste in paintings.”
“Sebastian.” Xavier’s voice was loud, and the class went quiet. “Please have some respect for the rest of the class and keep quiet.”
“Yes, Professor Van Romerius.” He rolled his eyes and then looked at the front of the class. “Who told me to take a class where my brother was the professor?” he whispered, and then we both sat back and listened to the other students talk about their favorite paintings before class ended.
***
“Sebastian, I need to talk to Lola privately.” Xavier stared down at his younger brother as we made our way out of the room at the end of class.
I couldn’t stop myself from comparing them. They were both incredibly handsome, though there was something darker and more masculine about Xavier. He had more of a presence about him. I supposed it was what made him a man and Sebastian a boy. I shivered as I stared at his hands as he pointed them towards the door. I was reminded of his fingers on my skin, and I wanted to reach over and grab ahold of them. Something about Xavier brought out a primal urge in me that I couldn’t resist. If he told me to bend over the desk and pull my pants down, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to say no.
“I’ll see you later, Lola.” Sebastian walked over to me and gave me a kiss on the cheek.
“Bye, Sebastian.” I smiled at him and tried not to blush at his kiss. “See ya tomorrow or something.”
“Out. Now.” Xavier’s voice was hard, and we both watched as his brother exited the room. “You’re playing with fire.” He turned to look at me.
“Excuse me?”
“You’re playing with fire, Lola.” He stepped towards me. “Do you really think I’m going to be okay with you flirting with my brother?”
“What?” My voice grew louder, but inside I was smiling. Was he jealous?
“Stay away from Sebastian.” His eyes looked at me in distaste.
“Sorry. What?” The color left my face as I surveyed him.
“You are not the sort of girl he should be with.”
“Are you joking?” I blinked at him, trying not to lose it.
“I don’t joke, Lola.” He stepped closer towards me and I stepped back.
“You can’t tell me to not see Sebastian.”
“He’ll never commit to you.” He shook his head. “You will never be the girl for him—and not just because you have had sex with me.”
“How dare you bring that up!” I gasped.
“I know you haven’t told him.” His eyes glowered. “You haven’t told him that you’ve known his brother intimately, have you? You haven’t told him that I have possessed your body. That I’ve had you screaming out my name in ecstasy as I’ve brought you to cl**ax after cl**ax.”
I stared at him silently, refusing to acknowledge his words. I shouted inwardly at my body as my stomach did flip-flops and I felt a light pressure building up in my panties.
“You don’t really think he’d be happy being with you if he knew that you have slept with his brother.”
“I’m not going to tell him,” I whispered.
“Do you like him?” he growled, and his face was suddenly next to mine. “Do you want to be with him?”
“No.” I pushed him away from me. “I don’t want to be with him, and I don’t want to be with you either.”
“Liar,” he whispered next to my ear. He grabbed my hand and placed it on the front of his pants. “You feel this,” he whispered as he pressed my hand into his hardness. My fingers squeezed gently, and he groaned as he grew harder in my hand. “You want me as badly as I want you.”
“I don’t want to be with a jerk.” I shook my head. “Just because we slept together once doesn’t mean anything. You’re such an asshole.” I walked away from him and put my hand in my pocket. It felt empty without him filling my palm.
“Where are you going now?”
“To lunch.”
“I will take you.”
“I don’t want you to take me.”
“Why do you always resist me, Lola?”
“Why don’t you get the hint?”
“You’re trying to make me pay for that first night, aren’t you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about?”
“The money was a joke.”
“Sure.” I rolled my eyes.
“It was in poor taste.” His eyes searched mine. “Can we not start over?”
“I don’t think we can.”
“You’re a hard woman to please.”
“I think most women would be hard to please after you’ve called them a slut and warned them to stay away from your brother.”
He changed the subject. “How old are you, Lola?”
“I’m twenty-one.”
“Of course,” he groaned.
“How old are you?”
“I’m twenty-eight.”
“Can I go now?”
He grabbed my hands. “Stop flirting with my brother!”
“Why?” I looked into his eyes with my heart all aflutter.
“He will never marry you. He’s betrothed to someone else.”
“Betrothed?” I repeated dumbly.
“As a prince in Romerius, he has certain expectations.”
“He’s a prince?” My jaw dropped and then my eyes narrowed. “So wait ... Are you a prince as well?”
He nodded. “Yes.”
“And you’re betrothed as well?” My heart stopped for a second.
“I’m never getting married.” He laughed. “Not anytime soon.”
“I see.” I looked away from him.
“They call me the playboy prince.”
“Hence your weekends of fun.” I nodded in understanding.
“Exactly. One weekend, no strings.” His fingers ran to my face. “Though sometimes I make exceptions.”
“Exceptions?” I looked at him then as his finger ran along my lower lip.
“Sometimes I give certain women a second weekend.” He pushed his finger into my mouth. I bit down on it softly, sucking it instinctively. Our eyes stayed connected as I sucked, and then I realized where I was and who I was with and bit down hard. “What the—” he exclaimed and pulled his finger out of my mouth.
“Next time, I’d be more careful who you chose to proposition.” I tilted my head up at him. “You never know when it’s going to turn rough.”
“I wouldn’t mind it being rough with you.” He leaned towards me. “I can be very rough.”
“What?” My cheeks warmed up as he licked my lips.
“I can be so, so rough that I’ll have you crying and begging me for more at the same time.”
“You’re a pervert.” I caught his tongue between my lips and sucked on it for a few seconds.
“It turns you on, doesn’t it?” he whispered against my lips. “You want me to take you right now.”
I gazed up into his eyes and wanted to scream out, “Yes! Yes, I want you to take me!” but I didn’t. The part of me that was still offended and upset by his words was having none of it.
“No.” I took a step back. “It doesn’t.”
“Liar,” he whispered.
“Can I go now?” I turned around so he couldn’t see how much he was affecting me.
“We’re going to the museum, remember?” His tone changed. “You’ll enjoy it.”
“I’d rather go by myself.”
“But there’s no joy in going by yourself. I have to take you. I have to show you all the pieces you would miss.”
“You don’t know what I would miss,” I muttered, annoyed at how excited I felt at spending the afternoon with him.
“Come now, Lola. Let us call a truce for the afternoon.” He pulled me towards him again. “Can we not spend an afternoon together as two friends enjoying art?”
“Fine,” I sighed. “But if you call me a prostitute or warn me away from Sebastian again—”
“Let’s go.” He grabbed my hand. “No more idle talk.”
“You’re the one who ...” I started but closed my mouth as I realized there was no point in my going on about it. I was only going to make myself angry again, and frankly, I didn’t want to think about how rude he was.
I wanted to spend the afternoon learning about art from someone who knew a lot about the subject. It didn’t hurt that I still had the hots for him. I groaned inside as I realized that I still really liked him. I knew it was a mistake to go with him. I couldn’t see this going well for me. I was no match for Prince Xavier Van Romerius.
***
His View
Lola had more spunk than I thought, and she was smarter than most of the girls I normally dated. First, the narcissist comment had surprised me and impressed me. It wasn’t every day that someone was able to teach me something, especially when it came to art.
However, I’d been even more surprised when she’d told me I didn’t intimidate her. She was stronger and braver than I’d thought she was. She was going to make the chase a lot more interesting and a lot more fun. I hadn’t been lying when I’d told her that was making me mad. I was barely able to think about anything other than touching her. It aggravated me that she was making it so hard. Normally, women were all over me. Lola was different. I knew she wanted me, but she was also standoffish. However, she couldn’t fake her reactions when I touched her and kissed her. The way her body trembled against mine told me that she craved me as much as I craved her. Her body’s reaction to me told me all her secrets.
She was too young for me, of course. Twenty-one was too young to know the ways of the world. Especially my world. But I couldn’t stop myself from wanting her. As a prince I was used to getting what I wanted. And I wanted her. I wanted her to submit to me fully.
Chapter 8
“You don’t mind walking?” Xavier gave me a quick smile.
“I’m not a complete fatass,” I shot back at him, though I think my comment wasn’t as strong as it could have been since I was panting a little bit. It wasn’t that I was totally out of shape, but I wasn’t in the habit of walking for miles.