Code Name: Tiara by Sawyer Bennett
CHAPTER 12
Camille
The plane levels off over Miami, and its aquamarine waters disappear behind us. Jonesboro, Arkansas, here I come.
I’m not sure why I felt a bit melancholy as we drove over the Seven Mile Bridge on our way back to the mainland. I had the option of taking either a helicopter or small plane back to the Miami airport to the jet, but I wanted to make the trip across that amazing bridge one more time. Something deep in my gut tells me I will never come back here again. I suppose the melancholy stems from the fact that yesterday may have been one of the best days of my life.
The Keys are beautiful, and the private island of Sunset Key was no exception. But I’ve been to beautiful tropical destinations before. Hell, I live on a beautiful tropical island. So it wasn’t necessarily the setting that spoke to me so much as I didn’t have one responsibility to live up to yesterday. I slept in, ate whenever I wanted, read a book, and napped by the pool. It was the most refreshed I’ve felt in a long time.
The icing on the cake was the amazing dinner Jackson was thoughtful enough to make for me. He even joined me for a glass of wine while we talked.
Of course, I couldn’t help but push his buttons a little.
But truly… he brought it on himself.
Jackson asked me what I did for fun, and once I pondered that question, I realized I really don’t do anything for fun. It was a sad realization, but still, I couldn’t help but tease him—although I don’t think he knows I was teasing—about having a random one-night stand with a hot guy as being on my list of fun things to do on this trip. He’d offered me skydiving or driving race cars, and I chose an orgasm.
Though he was thrown off for sure, he didn’t take the bait. He schooled his expression, and I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. He just shook his head as if amused so I changed the subject.
It’s a shame, really. While I would never, ever have sex with some random dude I’d just met, I would absolutely have a one-night stand with Jackson if he was interested. Sex is personal, and I have to respect and genuinely like the person if I’m even considering being intimate. I have both of those things with Jackson, not to mention the attraction. I know he feels it, too, because he admitted it in a roundabout way at his mother’s house.
Jackson wants to be on the up-and-up. His job is important to him, and apparently, they have some code of ethics he’s determined to adhere to.
So be it. I made my last play with him at the dinner table, and his failure to take it means he’s just not interested.
Maybe I should consider a one-night stand. Safely, of course. Marius would help me make it happen when I return to Bretaria. It could never be done in our regular social circles, but Marius could take me to one of his underground spots since he knows some of the best. There are secretive places to go, places where you can live your wildest fantasies, including a sex club.
Yeah… if I really want to get laid, Marius can make it happen. I add that to my mental bucket list.
Better yet, maybe I can take a trip somewhere. Marius would be glad to tag along. Someplace where I’m not recognized, which is basically anywhere in the world. While I’m probably the wealthiest royal on the planet, and from the smallest country after Monaco, there are not many people who even know what Princess Camille Winterbourne of Bretaria looks like. We could go to Croatia. Or Greece. The men are super hot in Greece.
I can go incognito, and there’s no doubt my dad would agree to another trip. I think he’s willing to give me as much time away from the island as he can because once I turn twenty-five, the responsibility starts in earnest. I know Jackson thinks I live a constrained life because of my duties between the crown and the ruby mines, but he truly has no idea what I’m in for once I reach my birthday. At that point, I’ll start learning the inner dynamics of both the monarchy and how it rules in conjunction with parliament, as well as running a multibillion-dollar company.
My parents want me to experience some fun before I really take on the mantle of burden coming my way. That doesn’t even include their not-so-subtle attempts to get me interested in a person to marry. And once I fall in love, rest assured I’m going to be pressured very quickly to consider getting pregnant and producing the next in line to rule behind me. It’s just what royals do.
A tone chimes indicating we’re high enough I can take off my seat belt. I’m actually in the private entertainment suite that sits behind the main cabin. Farther back is my private master bedroom if I want to rest. I move from my club chair, plop down on a leather couch that runs the length of the entertainment suite, and focus my attention out the window at the scenery below. It’s a patchwork of various shades of green, which is a testament we’re still over the warmer lower states that stay green in winter.
I settle back against the wall, settling a cushion against my stomach and swinging my legs onto the couch. I prop one leg over the other and wrap my arms around the cushion as I stare out the window, musing about what my one-night stand would look like.
I definitely think the way to go is to make another trip. I like the sound of Greece, and I haven’t been since my parents took me on vacation when I was thirteen. Except when I go this time, I’ll have to make sure my dad doesn’t hire Jameson for security. Not that he would. My understanding is the only reason they’re involved is because the US government insisted upon it. But on the off chance he’s so impressed with their job on this trip, I don’t want him hiring them again.
It’s best I go on with my life and stay away from Jackson Gale. He’s just going to have to be a fantasy, and let’s be honest, he’s probably not even that great of a fantasy to begin with. He’s hot, confident, commanding, and pushes all my buttons, but that doesn’t mean there’s not a hundred guys better than him out there waiting for me.
And who knows? Maybe I’ll fall in love with one.
Oh, who am I kidding? I’ve never been the type who would let Marius hook me up or who’d find a hot, random Grecian. I just don’t have it in me. Wishful thinking at best.
“Those look like some deep thoughts.”
I hear Jackson’s voice from the doorway that separates the main cabin from the entertainment suite. My head jerks his way, and I find him casually leaning against the doorjamb, hands tucked into the pockets of his jeans.
“Not so deep,” I reply.
Absolute truth.
Thinking about Jackson and sex and one-night stands and bucket lists… it’s about as shallow as it gets.
“Got a minute to talk?” he asks somberly.
I swing my feet off the couch and sit a little straighter. I give him a tentative smile and motion him in. “Of course. Have a seat.”
Jackson glances over his shoulder into the main cabin, and it seems that he makes eye contact with somebody. Probably Paul. He then gives a short nod, which tells me that Paul knows he’s back here to have a conversation.
Not surprising, though.
Jackson steps all the way into the entertainment suite and closes the door behind him.
Now that is surprising.
In a million years, I can’t think of what type of conversation we’d need to have outside of the eyes and ears of Paul and the flight attendants. A tiny flutter of apprehension laced with curiosity stirs in my belly.
I expect Jackson to take a seat on the other end of the couch or in one of the club chairs opposite me. Instead, he leans back against the door he just closed and once again puts his hands into his pockets. For the very briefest of moments, something flickers across his face, and he seems a bit unsure of himself.
Very anti-Jackson, so my apprehension ratchets up a few notches.
But then that look is gone, and maybe I only imagined it. He’s staring me directly in the eye, a firm set to his jaw. “We need to talk about your little plan to have a one-night stand somewhere during the rest of this trip.”
My mouth hangs open. Surely he has to know I was teasing. But as I take in his stiff spine, the tiny muscle ticking at the corner of his jaw, and the slight layer of ice over his beautiful eyes, I can tell he doesn’t know I was joking. I can also tell he’s pissed.
Which I actually find amusing.
Jackson Gale is bent out of shape at the thought of me doing something he cannot. The power that comes from that knowledge almost makes me giddy.
He’s going to regret bringing this up.
I settle back onto the couch, comfortably drawing my feet up and tossing the cushion to the side. I give him a sweet smile. “Exactly what did you want to talk about with regard to my desire to have a one-night stand?”
“That you’re not going to do it,” he says adamantly. He then pushes off the door, turns away from me, and reaches back to the doorknob as if the conversation is over and he’s ready to leave. As an aside, he says, “Don’t even plan on it.”
I’m stunned as he turns the knob. He’s actually going to leave after laying down an ultimatum he has no right to deliver? I’m no longer amused and instead highly pissed off.
“You can go to hell, Jackson,” I snap as I lurch off the couch.
His hand falls from the knob, and he turns to me with an incredulous look on his face. He’s actually shocked that I’m refusing to obey. I can tell it’s not a position he likes to be in.
“What did you say to me?” he asks, his teeth almost bared like a feral animal ready to strike.
“You have no right to tell me what to do,” I sneer. “That includes who I decide to fuck and when. If I decide to take a different man every night, I’m going to do it. And while you won’t be invited into my room to watch, you are more than welcome to press your ear against the door.”
His expression darkens and his eyes flash with fury. I know I’ve crossed a line, but rather than being scared by his reaction, a thrill races up my spine. Jackson takes one long stride across the suite and comes toe-to-toe with me. I have to tip my head back to look up at him as he practically snarls in my face. “You are not a whore to go spreading her legs for some random guy every night. You can do better than that, Princess.”
I step back and laugh with condescension. If he intended to hurt my feelings, he missed the mark. I rake my eyes down the length of him and back up again before I sneer, “And who might volunteer to do better by me? Certainly not you.”
He doesn’t respond. I can tell I’ve put him between a rock and a hard place. I’ve thrown down the gauntlet once again and basically dared him to make a move. If he doesn’t, he better be ready to leave me the fuck alone.
After the silence stretches, I murmur quietly, “Maybe Paul will do it for me? He’s a very handsome guy. I don’t think he has the same scruples that you do.”
Jackson’s hand strikes out faster than a snake, and he grabs me by the back of my neck. My knees go weak from the domineering move, and a long sigh whispers past my lips.
Jackson’s hand tightens on my nape and he pulls me closer, his face again hovering over mine. “You will not solicit any man.”
“Any man?” I whisper.
And that is when I see his surrender.
“Any man other than me,” he growls, the words rumbling out of his chest.
Then he crashes his mouth down on mine, and it’s the hottest, deepest kiss I’ve ever felt in my entire life.
If he gives me nothing else, this is absolutely enough.
That’s how good the kiss is.