Secured Mail by Kate Pearce Read Free Book Online Page A

the young prince.” He glanced at the bedroom door. “I doubt the king will let the queen out of bed for a long while. Be prepared to call the nanny woman if the baby needs anything.”
    Harlan’s soft laugh stopped him at the door. “Are you running away from us, Sven or are you so enamored of Ms. Cooper that you can’t bear to be from her side?
    Sven clenched his fists. “I am going to meet with Mr. Matt Logan to discuss increasing the security patrols around the wall.” He held Harlan’s gaze. “Is there anything else you want to say to me?”
    Harlan closed his mouth and shook his head. Bron followed suit.
    “Good, then I will see you both later. Let me know when the king emerges. I need to speak to him.”
    He resisted the temptation to slam the door and moved swiftly down the corridor.
    His steps slowed when he reached the main hallway. He did have a meeting with Matt Logan but it wasn’t for another half an hour. Should he seek out Ms. Cooper and try to make things right with her?
    31

    Kate Pearce
    His feet took him out of the house and into the extensive gardens behind the property. Fingers of white fog drifted over the high wall, wrapping themselves around the treetops and diluting the weak power of the sun. Sven shivered in his thin cotton shirt. He missed Valhalla’s hot dry air, the shimmering purple desert sand and the two suns. The San Francisco fog, which moved with a speed that surprised him, was not to his taste at all.
    If he found Ms. Cooper he would probably just make things worse. He wasn’t used to sharing his feelings with anyone, let alone a woman. The queen insisted it was important but he had yet to be convinced. Showing an enemy that you were vulnerable could never be a good thing.
    He spotted a secluded stone bench under an arch covered with fragrant yellow flowers and headed for it. Intellectually, he knew women weren’t the enemy but he had protected his heart for many years and somehow they had come to seem like that. He buried his head in his hands. The sweet scent of the early blooming flowers reminded him of the lushness of a Valhalla evening, the welcoming scent of a woman’s body. Ms.
    Cooper deserved to be loved and cherished as did all women. What chance would a man like him have with her anyway? He wasn’t even sure if he was capable of sustaining a loving relationship.
    The trouble was, he wanted her badly. Just thinking of the taste of her sex made him hard again. He sat back and absently rubbed his palm over his erect shaft, enjoying the caress of his leather pants and zipper on his rapidly hardening flesh. Would Ms.
    Cooper like his cock? She’d seemed impressed when she’d touched him last night.
    Sven groaned and cast a quick glance around him. The garden was deserted and he knew that none of the security cameras were aimed at this part of the property. He couldn’t go to his meeting with a hard-on. With more haste than grace, he unzipped his pants, grunting as the metal teeth grazed his skin. He closed his fist around the base of his shaft and pumped hard. Pre-cum soon made his movements easier as it coated his working fingers. He imagined Thea Cooper’s mouth closing around his cock, her teeth nibbling at his heated flesh.
    He’d been rough with her last night and she’d taken everything without complaint.
    With a moan, he flexed his shoulders where the small burn from her embedded fingernails still lingered. What would she do to him in the throes of her pleasure when his cock was buried deep inside her? Draw blood, he imagined, mark him permanently as her own, let him bite and take in return.
    From the corner of his eye, he caught a flash of movement in one of the second-floor windows in the security center. Thea’s startled face appeared briefly and then disappeared. Sven smiled. Sometimes the gods were kind. He hadn’t anticipated an audience but he was more than willing to perform. He angled his body toward the window and started to move his fingers