“Sterling.” I reach down and grip his hair with my fingers. “It’s happening again.” He growls his response before he sucks my clit into his mouth, his tongue flicking back and forth. I cry out his name again as pleasure courses through every inch of me. My body melts into the bed. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to move again.
I fight my eyes not to close, but it’s all been too much. “Sleep,” I hear Sterling say before he pulls me into his arms and holds me close.
CHAPTER 11
STERLING
I can’t keep my eyes off the princess. Everything she does is turning me on. When she puts a strawberry between her lips, I think of how that could be my dick. When she shifts in her chair, I remember holding her hips tight as she squirmed under my tongue. When she leans forward to pass Birdie the milk, her silk shirt gapes, and I can see the shadow of cleavage.
A sharp, hard blow strikes the back of my head. I nearly bash my forehead onto the table.
“What the hell, Cane?” I shout, rubbing the sore spot and glaring at my cousin.
“My hand slipped,” he says with an easy smile, but his eyes are hard. I guess my staring was too obvious.
Princess gives me a worried glance, but I manage to fire off a wink in her direction when Blake’s looking the other way. She pulls her shirt up and doesn’t hardly move for the rest of breakfast. After the meal, Birdie and Cam take her away, leaving me with Cane.
The minute the women are out of earshot, he lays into me. “Boy, I thought we raised you better.”
I flip a toothpick around my mouth, trying to figure out how to answer him. I can’t say that Princess doesn’t mind me staring at her chest because I’m sure she’s supposed to be off limits. I opt to fall on my sword and let him yell at me.
“She’s real pretty, and I messed up.”
He keeps staring. He probably wants me to say that I won’t do it again, but that’d be a lie. I’ll be looking every chance I get, hopefully with the lights on and her clothes off. I want to know her boobs so well I could draw them in the dark.
“You know she’s not for you, right?”
That gets my back up. “What in the hell do you mean by that?”
This time it’s Cane that shifts before returning his dark gaze to meet mine. In serious tones, he says, “I’m not saying we Justices aren’t as good as anyone, including royalty, but not everyone thinks that way. I don’t want you falling for someone you can’t have. That life is just a miserable one.”
I swallow back a sharp retort as his words hit home. Cane’s been pining over the same girl ever since they were in high school together. Hell, maybe even before that. But it’s all fucked up because she confessed while he believed in the curse and told her that loving him was the worst mistake of her life. He came around quick but then her daddy got injured. Whatever happened wasn’t Cane’s fault, but Astor’s daddy holds a mean grudge and has basically said he’d disown Astor if she kept company with Cane.
This ban hasn’t had any effect on Cane’s feelings. He’s as devoted to her today as ever or so the gossip says. From what I’ve seen, it’s true. He doesn’t date anyone else, and the minute that Astor calls for help, he’s in his Ford barreling down the gravel.
“I hear what you’re saying, but I’m not falling for anyone. We’re just having a little fun.”
He shakes his head, my explanation not pacifying him. “She’s not someone you can have fun with. She’s someone you marry, and even if you wanted to, it wouldn’t happen.”
“Why not?”
“Because her family has plans for her that involve other people with titles in their names and plaques on their doors and seals and shit like that. Her family doesn’t need the money that the Justices have, and we don’t have the titles that they want. Best that you walk the other way when she comes close.”
“I’m not really the type to run away. You all raised me better.” I get to my feet. “I’m not saying I’m marrying the princess, but I’m not saying I won’t either. If I want to, we’ll get it done and to hell with the family.”
“She think that way too?” he asks.
I grab my hat and slam it on my head. “If she doesn’t, then I guess it’s up to me to convince her otherwise.” I stomp down the hall to Birdie’s war room, where I find Princess in the midst of about a hundred bolts of fabric. I battle through reams of silk and chiffon and catch Princess’ hand in mine. “Sorry to steal Princess, but I promised to give her a riding lesson, and if I don’t do it this morning, it’s not going to get done.”
I tug her behind me, not listening to a word either Birdie or Cam are saying.
“I know how to ride,” Princess tells me.
“Yeah? You’ll have to show me.”
“Are we talking about riding horses?”
I swing around and pull her flush against me. “Are you suggesting something else? I thought we could only go so far.”
She peers at me under her eyelashes. “As long as we keep our clothes on, there’s a lot of things we can do.”
My blood heats up. “Let’s go do them now.”
“How about you take me for a ride around the ranch and then we can have some fun?” she proposes.
“Perfect.”
I take her out to the barn and introduce her to Honey, a golden quarter horse from Astor’s farm. She’s gentle and well-mannered. I even produce an English saddle.
“You’re so very civilized,” she teases me as I boost her up onto the horse.
“Yeah. We even got running water and flushing toilets,” I joke, although part of me wonders if she does think we’re backward here. “What kind of horses do you have?”
“None currently. We live in Salerno, which is Southern Italy, and it’s not good for horseback riding.”
“How come you live there and not in your castle?”
“Daddy’s health. Luxemstei is in the mountains, and it’s cold and drafty, and his lungs are bad. The warmer weather makes it easier for him to breathe.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
She takes in a deep breath and gazes at the land beyond the barn. “I think he’d like it here.“
CHAPTER 12
MARIA
“This place is breathtaking.” Everything about the Justice ranch is. I come from one of the most beautiful places in the world, but still I can appreciate the beauty of this land. The images I dreamed up in my head would have never lived up to this.
“It’s something.” I turn to face Sterling, who is staring at me.
I swear this man always has his eyes on me. To be honest, I’m not sure how to handle it. Sometimes he’s looking at me like he wants to strip off my clothes, and other times he seems a bit perplexed by me.
“You want to leave here?” I ask. “Make some more of those mistakes?”
“I’m going off to college in the fall.”
“I hear you can make all kinds of mistakes at college.” I laugh, but he doesn’t. He only keeps staring at me. There’s a shift in the air, and suddenly it feels heavy.