By Royal Decree: Royally Romanced

“Grazie, signorina,” he muttered.

“You are most welcome. What is good to eat?”

“Here, the fish.”

“Ah, of course.” No concerns here that the fish had sat in the back of a delivery truck for a dangerous amount of time. “You like pulpo?”

His eyes lit up and he nodded. A fellow octopus devotee. She loved it, too, but hadn’t wanted to order it in front of Giorgio since eating the chewy seafood was less than sexy.

“Okay, why don’t you order pulpo and whatever else you think is good.”

The octopus was cut into rounds and deep fried. Renata and Paolo chewed their way through an order. Really, she didn’t understand why people hated octopus. When it was fresh, it was almost tender.

“Good octopus, right, Paolo?”

He nodded.

“Does your boss like octopus?”

He finished chewing and gave her a considering look. Probably he’d been pumped for information before about Giorgio, but decided his master’s preference for invertebrate seafood was not a state secret and nodded. The few days she’d spent with Giorgio were much more juicy than his eating habits but she wouldn’t be one to blab.

The soup was tomato based with seafood and herbs with fresh garlic toast rounds plopped right on top and the main course was a whole fish cooked with white wine, lemon and herbs.

“He like this soup,” Paolo offered. “We make this at home.”

“It’s very good.” She noticed how Paolo never mentioned Giorgio or Vinciguerra by name and figured it was part of security. “What else do you eat at home?”

“Our part is more del nord—north. We like polenta, sausage, much butter and crema. Meat roasts and risotto. Good food.”

It was the longest speech she’d ever heard. Food was close to his heart. “You should write a cookbook for recipes from—” She’d almost slipped and mentioned Vinciguerra. “From your home.”

He made a self-deprecating sound. “Nobody need a cookbook. Everybody know how to cook.”

“Oh, no, we don’t.” Renata had to be the only Italian-American girl in New York who could goof up a pot of pasta. “Think about it. Everybody thinks Italian food is spaghetti and meatballs. You could do something different.”

“Okay, signorina.” He was humoring her.

“Look at me, Paolo. Does New York need another dress designer?”

He shrugged in puzzlement.

“I’ll tell you—it doesn’t. But I didn’t care. And now the, um, other signorina has a nice dress and is very happy.”

“Yes, is true. She tell me so. And tell me, and tell me.”

Renata snorted with laughter. Ol’ Paolo had a sense of humor after all. “I’m glad to hear it. A beautiful girl.”

“Si, si.” They smiled at each other at their mutual fondness for Stefania.

Renata took a sip of coffee but declined dessert, having filled up on the delicious focaccia in addition to the rest of her meal. If she stayed in Italy much longer, she was going to get a shape like her grandmother, who resembled a Magic 8-Ball in her black dresses.

Ah, well, all the walking and romping around with Giorgio would help. He’d shown no signs of slowing his pace, so she was running out of new lingerie to show him. She’d passed a pricey boutique earlier—maybe that was the place to go.

She set down her cup. “One more stop and then we can go back.”

Paolo nodded placidly, as if it were his life’s dream to follow her around Vernazza like some giant shopping cart with arms. There was a brief tussle when she tried to pay for lunch but apparently having a woman pay for his meal was more humiliating than carrying her packages. Renata gave in, figuring Giorgio would reimburse him.

She found the place she was looking for a couple blocks away. Paolo gave the display of bras and panties in the window a wary look.

“Don’t worry. You don’t have to go in.”

“Grazie, signorina.” He parked himself against a wall across the way where he could see the entrance.

Renata walked into the shop and immediately saw a bunch of possibilities. Racy, demure, corsets, nightgowns, garters, lace, satin…she pulled out her phone. “Hey, Flick, I’m standing here in a lingerie store and don’t know what to buy.”

“Something sexy, of course.”

“Well, duh, but what?”

“What did you bring with you?”

“A bunch of fancy bras, all my garter belts and a corset.”

“Okay, so you’ve got the slutty look covered, let me think.”

Renata made a sound of protest at the “slutty” bit but in the end had to agree.

“How about the total opposite?”

“They don’t sell flannel nighties here, Flick.”

“Not that. You’d sweat to death. How about a nice demure pure white nightgown, as in the ‘please be gentle with me, it’s my first time’ look.”

“Ah, the virginal wedding night, but isn’t that a bit cliché?”

“No more so than running off to Europe with a hot Italian guy. Trust me, ‘Virgin Princess’ is the way to go.”

Renata snorted. “Guys do love that, even if they know better.”

“It lets them pretend they’re breaking new ground, so to speak.”

“Okay.” Renata moved to a billowy rack of white garments. She pulled one off the rack. “Honestly, Flick, this first one here looks like I should be fleeing the manor on the moors in gothic-y terror as the brooding lord chases me.”

“That’s the idea, dummy. If the gothic-y chick has any sense, she’ll pretend to twist her ankle on a rock and let Lord Longmember catch her.”

“Really, Flick. Lord Longmember?” she muttered into the phone.

“Or Laird Lang-member, if you prefer the Scottish fantasy. What’s under his kilt gives new meaning to the phrase auld lang syne.”

Renata groaned and reached for another gown. “Hey, this looks promising.”

“Send me a pic.”

Renata hung it back on the rack and took a quick picture and emailed it to Flick. “What do you think?”

“Positively diaphanous.”

“Yep.” The nightgown was a sheer white silk with blousy three-quarter sleeves and a satin ribbon fastening the neckline. The gown was cut on the full side but that didn’t matter since it was practically see-through. “You have to buy it. ‘Oh, milord, I do not understand all these strange new feelings in my forbidden places. Are you ill? You have the strangest swelling in your trousers. Ooooohh.’” Flick made a noise as if she were about to swoon.

Renata cracked up. Her aunt Barbara loved books like that, and Renata had “borrowed” them when she was younger just to read the racy parts. Hmm, maybe that was where she got her taste for hot, dark and handsome upper-crust men. On the other hand, Giorgio would be to any woman’s taste. Yum. “Okay, I’ll get it. Never hurts to change things up a bit.”

“Wear your hair down with some hanging in your face so you can peep from behind it like that blonde starlet. What was her name?”

“Veronica Lake,” Renata answered promptly. “Cool, Flick.” She’d enjoy this—and of course so would Giorgio.

“Thank you,” her friend said smugly. “And about my gigolo? What flight does he arrive on?”

“Sorry, I can’t in good conscience send a poor innocent like that into your clutches. How about a nice ceramic vase?”

Flick’s response would have shocked a real gigolo but only made Renata laugh. “Okay, no vase. I’ll find you something else.” Renata spotted the saleswoman who had been lurking nearby straightening piles of panties. “I’ll let you know how it goes.”

“And in excruciating detail,” Flick warned her. They said their goodbyes and Renata carried the nightgown to the counter to pay for it. After mentally calculating the euro-to-dollar rate, she winced but put it on her credit card. She probably had enough cash from Giorgio, but that was her present to him.

The saleslady wrapped it in a white box with matching white satin ribbon. Renata supposed that made sense since it looked like a wedding present. She tucked it under her arm and rejoined Paolo outside. “Ready?”

“Of course, signorina.”

She sighed. “You can call me Renata, Paolo.”

The look of horror on his face made her fight back a smile. It was practically the first real emotion she’d seen from the man since they’d met.

“I cannot do that, signorina. Much disrespect for you and disgrace for me.”

“Really?” She tipped her head to the side as they started down the narrow cobblestone street. “But I am not exactly in a position of respect here—traveling with the, um, boss.” She’d almost forgotten and said “prince” in public.

Paolo shook his head. “He say I will serve you as I serve him. Molto rispetto for him—and you.”

Renata nodded. Feudalism was alive and well in the Italian culture, even in her own watered-down New York version. What the guy in charge said, went. If you showed disrespect for someone the boss approved of, you showed disrespect for the boss. She got it.

“Do you think the boss will be finished with his business now?” She had something in mind for an afternoon siesta.

“Si, signorina.” Paolo turned a corner through narrow houses and led her back up several narrow sets of stairs.

She was pretending not to gasp for breath when she heard an annoying male voice with a thick Italian accent catcalling. “Eh, bella ragazza! Give me a kiss, red-hair girl.”

Renata looked around, pissed off. She had enough hooting and hollering at her living in New York, and the Italian version was just as bad.

“Come up here, pretty lady, and I show you good time, huh?” That was followed by several loud smooching sounds.

She tipped her head back and was about to give the man an international gesture when she saw Giorgio grinning down at her from the terrace. “What do you say, gorgeous?”

“I say, ‘Okay!’” She opened the door and climbed the stairs to the second-floor living room. She gave Giorgio a quick kiss and made a beeline for the bedroom. Renata the Innocent Virginal Maiden was about to make an improbable and unprecedented return.

10

“IS THE SIGNORINA ALL RIGHT, Paolo?” Renata had disappeared into the bedroom with an armful of packages and hadn’t reappeared yet. Maybe she’d gotten a bit of sun or was unpacking her finds.

“She seemed fine, signor. Although she did ask me to call her by her first name.” Paolo looked as if that request were enough to doubt her mental capacity.

“And you complied with her request?”

“Signor!” Paolo appeared torn, as Giorgio knew he would. His natural formality and knowledge of what was proper conflicted with obeying a request from his prince’s current lady friend.

Giorgio let him stew for a second before letting him off the hook. “You of course told her why that was not possible.”

“Si, si, I did.” Paolo would never slump with relief but relaxed slightly.

“Americans are very informal, as you know. It can be quite appalling how much personal information they share with each other on merely a short acquaintance.”

He nodded eagerly. “That is so true, signor. The other drivers I met in New York…” He winced. “I am not a dottore, signor. Why do they think I want to know about their prostate problems?”

Giorgio winced, as well. “Paolo, you’ve had a busy day. Why don’t you have a glass of wine at the trattoria across the street? The signorina and I will be staying in this afternoon.”

Paolo nodded and left. Giorgio headed to the bedroom. He wasn’t sure what awaited him on the other side of the door, but was eager to find out.

He tapped on the door. “It’s me. May I come in?”

“Of course.” Her voice was sweet and soft, and he grinned in anticipation as he twisted the doorknob.

“Mamma mia!” The exclamation escaped him just before his jaw dropped.

Renata stood next to the four-poster bed wearing something that looked like it had floated down on a cloud. She raised her hand to delicately stroke a post and the thin white silk outlined the curve of her breasts, the thrust of her nipples. He could see nothing but was seeing everything. And that up-and-down stroking was enough to drive him mad.

“Do you like it, Giorgio?” She tipped her head and gave him a coy look from behind the curtain of her luxurious auburn hair.

“What do you think?” He stripped off his shirt and yanked his belt loose.

She ducked behind the other side of the bed before he could finish undressing. He moved opposite her once he was naked except for his boxer shorts, ready to dive across if need be. “Why don’t you come here and let me show you how much I love it?”

She gave him a wide-eyed look. “I need you to show me so many things.”

“Ohhhh.” He nodded in understanding. She was taking things in a different direction, aiming for a little role-playing with her in the lead role as Innocent Virgin. Although the droit de seigneur, or right of the lord to de-flower local lasses, never existed in Vinciguerra and was largely mythical elsewhere, the blood of his conquesting ancestors surged in his veins, his cock hardening even further at the bawdy suggestion.

“I am Giorgio Alphonso Franco Martelli di Leone, Hammer of the Lion and Prince of Vinciguerra,” he informed her, using his formal family name and all his royal hauteur. “Your duty is to please your prince—and obey whatever he orders you to do.”

Her eyes flashed at the obedience part but she lowered her head. “Yes, Prince Giorgio.”

“Come here.” He thought about snapping his fingers but figured he was pressing his luck.

She glided to him. The afternoon sun slipping in through the shutters totally illuminated her body. Her breasts swayed over a narrow waist and round hips.

“I should rip this gown down the front for you daring to wear it in front of me. It is against the law to appear in the Prince’s bedroom with clothing on.”

She muffled a snicker.

“But since it is so sheer, I will make an exception for you.” How far was she willing to go for this mutual fantasy? If she balked, he’d stop, but if she didn’t… “Put your hands behind your back.”

Renata complied but her expression was confused. He grabbed a necktie from the back of the chair and wrapped it loosely around her wrists, then to the bedpost. Her eyes widened, although she didn’t protest. In fact, her breathing quickened and her nipples hardened against the silk.

He moved close so her gown brushed his body, the silk resting on his erection. Oh so close to shoving up the nightgown and taking her how his ancestor would, with thoughts only for his own pleasure, the smoothness of her thighs, the hot, wet tightness of her flesh enveloping him as he pounded deep inside her. And to do it again whenever he felt like, to have her ready and willing at any time of the day or night. The good old days…he bit back a groan.

“What are you going to do, Prince Giorgio?” Her words held a challenge and he answered it.

“Whatever I want.” He smoothed his hands over her breasts, admiring the plump weight as he stared at the dark round nipples showing through the fabric. “And before long, you will beg your master for his touch, his mouth, his cock.” She inhaled sharply at his promise.

He covered a nipple with his mouth and she pushed her head against the bedpost, arching her back. “Oh, Giorgio.”

He worked the tight nub with his tongue and teeth, the silk a flimsy barrier to his determination. She gave a little gasp and he smiled in pleasure. Her breast felt different under his mouth, cool and wet at first but then hot as his breath and her skin heated the fabric.

He moved from one breast to the other, leisurely exploring their curves through the intriguing veil. Renata wiggled in his embrace, a bead of sweat trickling down her neck between her breasts. He licked the salty trail until it fell below her neckline.

Giorgio sat back on his haunches. What would his ancestor do? He gave her a long, slow grin and put his hands on her neckline. “I will buy you another.”

“Another what?” Her dazed eyes widened and she squealed as he ripped the nightgown right down the middle. “Giorgio! Do you know how much this cost? The dollar-to-euro conversion is terrible this week!”

“I will buy you, ten, twenty of them,” he swore as he followed that intriguing droplet of sweat down her belly to where it pooled in her navel. Ah, just right for his tongue.

“And I thought bodice ripping was the stuff of myth and legend,” she quipped, breaking off into a long sigh as he licked her belly.

He had no idea what she was talking about since he was dizzy from her scent, intoxicated from the feminine musk rising from her arousal. He gently spread her folds and dabbed his tongue onto her clit.

She stopped a scream and sagged against the bedpost.

“Here.” Not wanting her to fall, he lifted her onto the mattress, and raising first one leg over his shoulder and then the other, supporting her weight. Her hands were caught loosely enough to take any pressure off her shoulders.

Once she was comfortable, it was time to go to work pleasuring her. He returned to his previous position and opened her wide to him. She had an attack of uncharacteristic shyness and brought her legs together.

“None of that.” He stroked her breasts until her knees fell apart.

“Giorgio,” she sighed his name. “This is so…so…” She stopped, unable to find the words for her thoughts.

“Arousing? Sexy? Incredibly hot?”

She swallowed hard. “Yes. This is amazingly erotic. I feel like the lord of the manor is preparing to ravish me.”

“Good. Then you have the right idea. You will be ravished.” He bit her smooth neck, careful not to mark her white skin. “Totally.” He suckled one nipple to a plump red peak, pleased at her moans. “Completely.” He nipped the other, tugging until it swelled to match. “And quite thoroughly.” He dipped his tongue into her soft, sweet belly button, so glad she had pale, lush feminine curves instead of a stringy boyish build.

She raised her hips in invitation, which he accepted, staring at her again. She was beautiful in her feminine secrets, medium pink like the inside of a conch seashell, her hidden pearl peeping out as it swelled with arousal.

He inhaled her musky scent eagerly. He couldn’t stop remembering how she had gone up in flames under his mouth in his limo and had been eager to see if she would respond like that again. Her thighs quivered in anticipation.

“Do you know how pretty you are here?” He traced his finger around one petal, then the other, purposely avoiding her clitoris.

“No, I never thought much about it,” she panted. “But you can show me your appreciation in one very special way.”

“Oh, I will.” He kept up his lazy tracing, spreading her juices freely. She plumped up even more under his touch, darkening to a deep rose. “In many special ways.”

He slid a finger inside her passage, smugly noting how she instantly pulsed around him. He leisurely thrust in and withdrew, mimicking what he would do later with his cock.

A second finger joined the first.

He rubbed a slightly raised slick spot and she gave a short scream. “Oh, my God, Giorgio! What is that?”

Thrilled that he was teaching her new ways of pleasure, he kept fucking her with his fingers. She attempted to move him along faster by wiggling her bottom, but that made him stop, increasing her frustration.

“Gently, sweetheart. You are always so impatient. Must be that New York temperament of yours.”

She strained at her soft bonds. “You can’t just tie me up and tease me like this. I want you to make me come now.”

He inspected her carefully. She was frustrated but not frightened by their sex play, and he had noticed her pussy dampen and her nipples tighten with lust every time he mentioned the neckties.

“Dammit, Giorgio.”

“Careful, my innocent maid. I may tire of your complaints and decide to quiet you.”

“What with? Another one of your fancy silk ties? Why did you bring so many on a vacation?” Her breath was coming faster and harder the deeper they fell into the fantasy.

He laughed. “Why would I use a silk tie? There are much more pleasurable ways to fill your mouth.” He deliberately rubbed his cock along her leg.

She stared at him, wide-eyed, a fresh slick of moisture running over his fingers. An answering drop soaked into his boxers. He desperately wanted to open his shorts and show her exactly how he could fill her mouth, her hands, her pussy…having her tied up and screaming with pleasure as he took her until his cock exploded.

Merda! His civilized veneer was paper-thin around this woman. With her hair falling down over her magnificent breasts and her nightgown in shreds, she was arousing his previously dormant pillaging and ravaging urges. The Princes of Vinciguerra had long been a hard-fighting, hard-loving lot but he thought modern life had stamped those characteristics out over the past several decades.

Apparently not. He counted to twenty in Latin and calmed down enough to move back between her thighs.

This time, he didn’t stop once he’d rediscovered her G-spot with two fingers and watched with strained satisfaction as she climaxed quickly, pulling at the ties in ecstasy. Red-faced, sweaty and gasping, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

He knew she had more response left, so he stroked her clit experimentally. Plump and swollen from her powerful orgasm, it quivered under his touch.

And under his tongue.

He inhaled her scent greedily as he buried his face deep. Her clit rolled easily in his mouth, pulsing as he sucked her gently. She sobbed his name when he rolled his tongue around her passage, dipping inside it as if it were filled with sweet nectar.

“Oh, Giorgio, yes!” Her hips bucked under him, and he scooped his hands under her round ass to hold her still for his mouth. His cock was twitching and jerking like mad; a flick of the wrist and one quick thrust and he could possess her lush, moist pussy with it. She would eagerly submit to him and probably immediately climax, squeezing him in her hot depths as he pulsed within her.

But he would wait. Just a little longer. He gave a long groan of frustration and she pushed against his face, crying out as he rubbed his lips over her. Her legs trembled and she sucked in a deep breath. He sucked hard on her clit and she shrieked her release, thrashing into him as he penetrated her with his tongue, aching to do the same with his cock.

He held on to her until she stopped shaking and sobbing.

“Giorgio,” she whispered.

He raised his head and gazed up at her, worried that it had been too much for her.

But then she smiled at him, and a wave of affection passed between the two of them.

“Renata, are you all right?”

“Fantastic.” She rolled her shoulders and he quickly undid the ties.

“Are you sure?” he asked anxiously, trying not to get distracted by her satiated nudity.

“Absolutely. You high-handed princes know how to show a maiden a good time.” She stood and ran her finger down his chest, swirled it into his belly button and then stopped right above his waistband. “And now it’s time for the maiden to show the prince.” She snapped his waistband.

He gulped. For the first time in known history, a Vinciguerran prince would be the one getting ravished. Thank God for modern times.

RENATA STIFLED A GIGGLE at the look that passed over Giorgio’s face, half relief and half nervousness. “Sit.” She pushed him toward the upholstered chaise and he sat like a king on his throne.

His black silk boxers were strained to the limit in the front. A quick flick of her finger and his erection popped free. Wow, that was sexy-looking, his desire too much for even his clothing to contain. His pupils dilated and then contracted as he stared at her in silent anticipation.

She dropped to her knees in front of him. “Let your loyal subject please you, Your Highness.” She deliberately put her hands behind her back as if she were still bound.

His mouth opened in shock at her submissive posture. “Renata, no.” No, her ass. He’d been fighting his desire to dominate, take her, penetrate her, so much he’d been shaking.