The Sinful King (Naughty Royals 1)

“If he tries to shake yours, then yes.” He eyed me curiously, then added, “Don’t take offense if he doesn’t.”

My brows shot up. I tried to picture what Prince Elias would look like now. Unlike his brother, Aramis, who was always in the spotlight, Elias hadn’t been seen in years. If the rumors were true, he was too busy preparing for his future role as king to attend any of the usual events. It wasn’t that he wasn’t doing things, more so that the things he was doing weren’t being documented and reported on. Once in a while, you could catch a grainy photo of him arriving or leaving an event or more likely, a halfway house he spent a lot of time helping. Of course, that deed too, came with rumors of its own.

Somehow, as I stood there, I felt some of my tension slip away. That was, until I heard footsteps approaching and I was right back to a tense ball. The man in the black suit came into sight first, followed by Prince Elias, who was far more gorgeous than any grainy photo could ever encompass, and definitely far more man than I could remember from that night so many years ago. For a moment, I second-guessed myself. Maybe this wasn’t the man I’d lost my virginity to after all, but then he spoke and my heart took a life of its own, galloping from my chest to my ears.

“Etienne,” he said, “I wasn’t expecting you.”

“I’m not really here for a visit,” Etienne responded. “I’m helping out a friend with this basket.”

Prince Elias, who had definitely already seen me standing here, but had made it a point not to look at me, now turned his attention toward me. Despite my galloping heart, I tried my best to paste a nonchalant smile on my face.

“Hello.” My voice was so weak and low and pathetic. I licked my lips.

“Hello,” he said, not taking his eyes off mine. They were dark and I still couldn’t see their color from where he was standing, but I knew they weren’t brown like mine. “You’re the niece bringing my basket?”

“Yes, sir.”

“It’s her first time in charge of it, so if she got anything wrong, take pity on her. She’s not much of a rule follower.” Etienne chuckled lightly.

“I followed all of the instructions perfectly.” My face whipped in Etienne’s direction momentarily before I looked at Prince Elias again. He walked closer to us, finally closing the gap between us, and effectively making my insides haywire again. “I . . . I think the basket is perfect.”

“I’m sure it’s fine.” He reached for it and took it from Etienne’s hands, his attention now on its contents. “Looks right to me.”

“It’s a lot of champagne,” I said, then swallowed. There were two bottles of Dom Perignon in the basket, which I thought was entirely too extra for anyone, but I definitely shouldn’t have pointed it out.

“Do you want to stay a while?” Prince Elias asked Etienne, ignoring my statement.

“I would, but I can’t. Mira is waiting for me in London. I have a flight to catch and Addie is driving me to the airport.” He slung an arm around me and pulled me closer.

“Right. My brother mentioned he was meeting with you over there,” Prince Elias said, his gaze sliding over to me. He lifted the basket. “Thank you for bringing the basket on time.”

“You’re welcome. Same time tomorrow.” I smiled and pinched Etienne in the back so he could speed this up.

“Will you be here all summer?” Etienne asked.

“I’ll be here a while. Traveling in and out, but I plan on getting a lot of rest while I’m here.”

“Right. You should get as much of that as you can.” Etienne lowered his voice. “My thoughts are with all of you.”

I bit my lip. I knew they were talking about the king’s declining health and I really had nothing to add in this scenario. I was the daughter of a man who was completely opposed to all things in the monarchy, especially the way the king and his family ran things. They were traditionalists in every sense of the word. Had it not been for the pushback that happened when my father was growing up, a movement he had a lot to do with, from which the cabinet was born, the king would still be the sole leader of France. So, I had no room to speak when it came to this. Instead, I focused on looking at him while he was speaking to Etienne. He really was so incredibly good-looking. And tall. And fit. He was wearing khaki pants and a white short-sleeve button-down that framed his toned physique perfectly. He had a swimmer’s body. A surfer’s. With broad shoulders and muscled arms that weren’t bulging, but just right. My assistant, Joss, was all about body-building-type bodies. I preferred Prince Elias’s body though. And his lips. On mine. Making their way down my body. Between my legs. I forced myself to look away to fight the blush I felt creeping. I needed to get out of here.