SophiaRolling over, on the verge of dream and wake, I reached my hand out and felt the cool side of the bed, void of anyone other than me.Lazily opening my eyes, my suspicions were confirmed. Last night hadn’t been a dream, but the sexy man who I had made love to was nowhere to be found.I grabbed the note on the pillow next to me and cracked my eyes open against the sunlight streaming in through the window to decipher the words.“Went to see my father. Be back soon.” Luke’s handwriting was fit for a king; it was neat enough that it could have been typed. Most of the male reporters I knew had trouble reading their hieroglyphic scribbles after an interview. That was why I always recorded an interview, along with jotting down notes.I stretched my arms over my head, feeling the small ache in my lower back from the fantastic sex last night. Even with the stiffness, my body was refreshed and ready for the day.Last night, I had taken it to another level with Luke. He had only intended t
SophiaInside Luke’s room, I wasn’t sure what to do while waiting for him. If he was having a private discussion with his mother over me, then I couldn’t go back out there and pretend I hadn’t heard anything.To keep my hands busy, I made the bed and straightened up the room. Our clothes were thrown on the floor, and at that moment, I was glad I came back. If the servants came into the room with it looking like this, they would know what happened between us last night.My cheeks burned with the memory. When the door opened, I jumped and clutched my chest.Luke walked into the room and smirked. “Did I startle you?”For some reason, I couldn’t meet his eye. “You did.”He strode over to me, and before I could say anything else, he kissed me. The strong minty taste of his toothpaste swirled in my mouth, and the scent tickled my nose. I lifted up on my toes to deepen the kiss. Even last night, my mind numbed every time Luke kissed me. He had a power over me, and I wasn’t sure if I would ev
LukeWith the long flight and the time change, Sophia and I arrived in England late in the afternoon. The flight home was much different than the last flight we had together. Previously, she’d been distant and cold with me. Presumably, it was because of the conversation she had with my mother at the banquet, but we were way over that. I hoped she knew Mother’s dislike of her existed only in Mother’s mind. Abir and Father liked Sophia just fine, and I loved her. My opinion was the only one that counted anyway.Even though we’d had plenty to eat on the plane, I was anxious to blot out the last date we had, when she picked up and left for America without another word.Since we slept on the plane, we were wide awake, and I had already called in a reservation for a place near my flat.“What is the dress code?” Sophia asked.“Don’t worry about that,” I said.“Of course, I’m going to worry. I want to look good for you.” She smirked.If we weren’t about to disembark from the plane, I would ha
LukeAfter Katherine packaged all the clothes and I paid for them, I instructed our driver to take us back to the flat to get ready. Dinner wasn’t for another hour, and I wanted to see Sophia in that red dress again.When we reached my flat, my pulse spiked. As much as the palace had been my home for the majority of my life, bringing Sophia to my home in England took our relationship to the next level.Sophia got out of the car, and I watched for her reaction. She looked up at the building then tore her eyes away to glance at me.“Nice place.”I grinned. “The inside is even better.”Her eyebrows lifted. “I can imagine.”I asked the driver to remain outside while we changed. While I wanted to take Sophia inside and strip her down, there wasn’t much time before dinner. I didn’t plan on getting up early in the morning to get back to work, so there was time for us to get intimately acquainted with my second home.I adjusted the hardness between my thighs and walked over to Sophia, taking
SophiaTrying on the little black dress again created a wave of tingling to move across my skin. Seeing my reflection in the full-length mirror in the bathroom showed a whole other Sophia. Surrounded by expensive fixtures, marble tiles, and the sparkling surfaces, I felt like a princess about to meet her prince for the ball.Smearing one of my more daring shades of lipstick and adding another pop of color with my shoes, I felt a little more like a Southern lass. Even in this unreal situation, I had to be myself as much as possible. I didn’t intend on shedding my roots, but the more time I spent with Luke, the more I wanted to be a part of his world.Stepping out of the guestroom, I wobbled on my heels a little. My best friend Matt’s voice popped into my head, along with his smiling face. If he saw me, he would call me out on being a bit of a tomboy. Though going out with Luke, I would have to get used to wearing fancy things. At least in the UK. In Qatar, it was perfectly acceptable t
Sophia“Is that why you came back?” he asked. His eyes were wide, as if he could see through into my soul. I glanced at the empty plate in front of me as if it held all the answers.“I wanted to see you,” I said. It was as honest as I could be at the moment. “It was stupid of me to run away in the first place.”“You’re here now,” Luke said, raising his glass of champagne. “That’s all that matters.”The bubbles popped over the rim of my glass as I lifted it to touch his. I had promised Mr. Fraser an article, and I was going to get him one. I would have to rely on inspiration, though, because at that moment, there was nothing about Luke that I wanted to expose. He’d done so much for me. It was only fair that I repaid the favor by not revealing his family’s secrets to the world. “Have you put any more thought into becoming king?” I asked. I hoped I didn’t sound too much like a reporter, but I was genuinely interested. The last time I left him, he was close to saying yes, but he hadn’t d
LukeI wasn’t sure if it was due to jet lag or how comfortable I felt sleeping next to Sophia, but after a repeat of the other night, we fucked twice before we both passed out, and then neither of us woke until early evening on Sunday.I awoke too late to get any real work done, but I called Maddox to figure out what needed to be done before I left again. Then I checked in with my father, who was still feeling good and energetic.While I took care of those responsibilities, Sophia insisted on preparing dinner for us. Having her in my house, flitting around the kitchen as if she belonged there all along was playing tricks with my mind. This was the life I wanted, but choosing this life was no longer an option for me.I tried to conceal my disappointment at that fact, while keeping it from Sophia. As much as I preached to her about being honest, she didn’t need to know about the worries going through my head. Forcing my insecurities upon her over and over might end this relationship bef
Luke“Out late last night?” I asked, stepping into his office. The food beckoned to me.He grabbed one of the cups, and I took the other. “Not really. You got me up so bloody early that I didn’t do my workout. That usually wakes me up.”“You might be missing a lot more workouts,” I muttered to myself as I took a swig of the coffee.“What’s going on with your dad?” Maddox asked, not hearing my remark.I opened the bag and grabbed a chocolate croissant. The very mention of my father made me lose my appetite, but if I was going to function at all, I needed fuel. “It’s not great.”“Fuck. Sorry, mate.”I nodded at him and forced myself to eat. The normally sweet chocolate tasted chalky in my mouth as I chewed. I had to take a swig of the coffee to force it down my throat.“Are you headed back there soon?” Maddox asked after grabbing a flaky pastry. As he bit into it, the flakes scattered all over his desk. He didn’t seem to notice as all his attention was on me.“Looking to go back this we
LukeWhen a knock sounded on my door a little while later, I glanced at the clock, and my jaw dropped. An hour had already flown by, and I’d checked off several items from my list.“Come in!” I called. Everyone knew that when the door to the study was closed, they were to knock and wait for my approval before entering. It was my sacred space in the palace, and it wasn’t a hard rule to follow. Though, I imagined bending the rules for our child—whenever we got around to having one—since Father had always done so for me.Sophia stood in the doorway for a moment before entering the room.“Hi,” I said to her. “What’s up?”“Do you have a minute?” she asked. Her hands clasped in front of her, as Mother’s normally were. The both of them were turning into clones of each other. I wondered if I should limit their time together or not. The thought made me smile. Neither of them would agree to that. They were two peas in a pod now.“For you? Always.” I stood up and stretched. For the last hour, I
LukeAs I perused the newspaper in front of me, Sophia and Mother discussed some upcoming banquet. Glancing over the top of the paper, I watched my wife of six months calmly eating her breakfast. Tilting my head to the side, I noticed something different about her. I couldn’t quite pinpoint it. I wasn’t sure if it was her outfit; today she wore one of the more traditional outfits of our country. Over the last months, Mother had been an excellent tutor to Sophia, teaching her about our customs, traditions, and the language.Even though Sophia hated when we went full immersion with the language, she loved it at the same time. It worked her brain like her reporting career did. I still felt a little twinge of guilt now and then for taking her away from her passion, but she had a full schedule since we had returned from our honeymoon. We both liked to keep busy, and that wasn’t going to change anytime soon.It didn’t take long for Mother to get on board with the new way of life around the
SophiaHe drove a finger inside of me, and I bucked my hips up to meet him. Falling back against the fluffy pillows, we moved as one, intensifying the pleasure within me. Adding more fingers and that circling thumb, my eyes fluttered closed and moans escaped my lips. If this was what it was going to be like for the rest of my life, I looked forward to every moment spent in this bed with Luke.After the drama that we had to deal with in such a short amount of time, I never felt so relaxed in my life. That part of our struggle was over, and even though there would inevitably be issues with the kingdom and Luke’s reign, there would never be a problem that we couldn’t overcome, especially if we came together like this as much as possible.The idea that I might have missed out on this life with him made me hold him close to me. I sat up, deepening his reach inside of me, and I grabbed his hardness again, thrusting all of my love and appreciation into the movements.His chin lifted, and his
SophiaEvery single point where our bodies touched lit me up inside until searing heat scorched every fiber of my being. Touching Luke’s face, feeling the stubble of his chin under my fingertips, added licks of heat to burn through me. I fell into the pools of his eyes, my love for him wanting to burst out of me. My panties were soaked through as his hand moved up the side of my body. His fingers brushed over the side of my breast. After getting out of my dress last night, I changed into a ratty old T-shirt. The fabric was thin and worn, which didn’t offer any protection from his touches. Not that I wanted any.His fingers lightly touched my neck. He put some pressure on my jaw, and I moved my head to the side. I loved when Luke kissed the sensitive part of my neck. It was one of his favorite moves. At least, from what I could tell.His soft lips touched my skin. With each movement of my body, he left a wake of warm invisible kisses along the way. He trapped my earlobe between his lip
LukeJoining her, the two of us brushed our teeth together. It was nice to get the stale taste of food and champagne out of my mouth. I watched Sophia through the mirror as she watched me. Energy crackled between us, and I could have dragged her into the shower to expend that energy. Knowing we were to be joined by several servants as they brought breakfast in the room for us made me kill the urge. For now.Even though it was the simplest of acts, the idea that I would brush my teeth at least once a day with this woman filled me with the most joy I’d ever felt. I wondered if only the birth of our children would rival that feeling.I finished before her and held her against me while she finished. With a shimmy of her ass against my crotch, I glanced at her. She leaned back against me, lifting her perky breasts higher. Slowly guiding my hand along her middle, I caressed the outside of her breasts.That was when I heard the door open from the other room. My hand froze before I removed it
LukeI never wanted my wedding day to end. Even though it was an intimate affair with under a hundred guests, the party went much longer than most banquets that I’d attended. Sophia and I stumbled into my bedroom in the wee hours of the morning.Even though I celebrated, neither of us drank heavily. I supposed we were almost drunk from the music and dancing, so when we arrived in a quiet and sacred space, the both of us passed out from exhaustion.The one thing I remembered as my eyes closed was the way she looked slipping out of her wedding dress. God, I was a lucky-ass man.***When my eyes finally peeled open, Sophia was already up and facing me. She had a big smile on her face, and her left hand propped on the pillow between us. The sparkling engagement ring glittered in the morning light that streamed through the windows. The night before, I’d barely gotten out of my clothes, so there was no chance I had been able to reach the blackout curtains before falling onto the bed.“Good
SophiaGia smiled and reached up to grab my veil. She pulled it down over my face, and the world turned a hazy shade of white. All but two of the servants dispersed, and Gia walked into the room, closing the door behind her.“You ready to get married?” Matt asked me.“Yes,” I said, lifting my chin. For a moment, I felt like Gia. Since I was to take her place as queen one day, it seemed fitting.A swell of music filtered out from under the doorway and the doors opened. It was a good thing the veil covered the surprised expression on my face. We’d planned for the wedding to be small and intimate, but I didn’t know that there would be more than immediate family at the event. Gia had mentioned some close family and friends that she’d wanted there, and I brushed it off, thinking there would be one or two extra people.All in all, there were only about fifty people, but when their gazes turned toward me, there might as well have been two hundred people there.Matt gripped my hand harder. “J
SophiaSince Gia put together the wedding in such a short amount of time, there was nothing Luke or I could say when it came to the night before the wedding. She’d let go of most of her traditional views but chose to hold on to the one that didn’t allow us to sleep together that night.While I wanted to show Luke how appreciative I was about what he’d done for me, we respected her wishes.After a wonderful rehearsal dinner with the people we loved, I took Matt around the palace while Luke and Maddox went off together. Maddox had mentioned something about the bachelor party, and Gia’s face had paled to the color of the tablecloth. I knew Luke didn’t plan on going out to a strip club—I didn’t think they had those here—but he went off with Maddox anyway, probably to defeat his best friend’s urge to flirt.Matt eventually dropped me off in the same bedroom that I’d slept in when I first came to the palace. We said goodnight, and I thought I saw excitement flash in his eyes when he asked w
LukeThe council members shifted in their seats. I couldn’t be prouder of my mother for standing up for me. It was something I always wanted but never knew that I needed. I didn’t care that she commanded the meeting space where I was supposed to reign. We were a family, and treating the kingdom like that would be my legacy.“When Erol and I chose to adopt a son, it was not something we took lightly. We knew we would change a child’s life and possibly be able to choose the successor to the throne.” She looked over at me and smiled, the way she used to when I was a child. When things seemed much simpler. When had I lost touch with that?“We picked a boy that we felt, in our hearts, needed us as much as we needed him. You all worked with my husband and the previous king. You saw how big of a heart he had for this country. You trusted his choices. Why are you turning your backs on him now? He wanted Luke to become king in his stead. What would you say to him right now, face to face, if yo