SophiaWe said our goodbyes, and the two of them left without a second look. Abir took Alda’s hand as they walked down the hallway together.“Oh my god,” I said. “How cute are they?”Luke turned from the hallway to face me. “He’s head over heels for her.”“I’d say it’s mutual,” I said. “When I was sixteen, I never felt that way for someone.”“Never?” Luke asked.“Unless they were on the movie screen and out of my league, sure. Those were crushes. Whatever Abir and Alda have is for life.”“Like you and me?” Luke asked.He puckered his lips, and I met him halfway, melting into his kiss. “Like you and me.”Even though we were years ahead of Luke’s brother, finding what he and Alda had was the dream. I couldn’t wait to spend the rest of my life with him.Luke stared into his mug as if he were trying to conjure something from it.“You know you can talk to me about anything, right?” I asked him.He shook his head and blinked as if coming out of his own mind. “What?”“You seem distant today,
LukeUnlike last time, I didn’t leave Qatar without speaking to Mother or the council. At least they wouldn’t think I was doing anything rash. If they thought I was running away with Sophia to marry her, all hell would break loose.I spoke with Mother first, informing her that she would be rid of Sophia for a few days while I attended to Maddox and the business. I hadn’t heard from my friend for some time, and I wanted to see him again. To Mother, it probably appeared like I didn’t trust him, but she could think what she wanted. I had a life outside of the palace, and she didn’t. She would never understand.“Feel free to come back here alone,” Mother said before walking away from me.She always liked to have the last word, and in an effort to not leave in a shitty mood, I allowed it.I contacted Qadeem and informed him of my trip. The council had a small hand in the oil business, and in the years I’d run it, they had no issues. Going back there would only improve relations with our cl
LukeFocusing on Maddox and the business would distract me for a little while. And of course, there was always Sophia’s body to make my mind wander.I lowered my gaze to her chest. The shirt she wore was wide open at the neckline, showing off the top of her breasts. How I wanted to touch the smooth, silky skin. I knew what bra she had on, a cream-colored one with lace at the top. I wanted to tear it away from her body with my teeth.“Luke?” Sophia’s voice broke through my thoughts.“Yes?”“Where did you go?” she asked.“Nowhere. I’m here.”She pressed her lips together.I hadn’t convinced her. “I was thinking of what you were wearing under that shirt.”She blinked in surprise. “You were?”My tongue darted out and dragged over my bottom lip. I grabbed my wine glass and sipped from it. “You’re rarely far from my mind.”“I just thought…” she trailed off.“What?” I asked, concerned that I’d offended her somehow.“You’ve been distant since the first day we were at the palace,” she said. “I
SophiaThe feel of Luke’s lips against my skin set it ablaze. A numb, light feeling took residence in my brain as Luke dragged his lips over me. He peppered my jawline with kisses, and each press of his lips caused another electrical pulse to zip through me. My chest ached with the pounding of my heart.I was sure he felt my throbbing pulse under his kisses.My hands moved of their own accord, unbuckling his belt and popping the button of his pants. His rock-hard cock sprang up as I shimmied his briefs down. Grabbing him, he sucked in a breath. I stroked his length, needing him to feel what I felt at that exact moment.He captured my lips again and sucked hard on my lower lip, dragging his teeth across it.Opening my eyes, I caught the flash of desire in his. Locking gazes, I slowed my hand and forced him to watch me touch him.The hairs on my arms stood up as a wave of tingles washed over my skin. In his eyes was my future. I wanted to show him how much I appreciated his love and how
SophiaWith the same idea, he removed the rest of his clothes, and as he pulled the condom over his very-ready cock, I admired his broad chest and chiseled good looks. How the hell did I ever get so lucky to have this man in my life? While the riches and title might have been enough for some women, there was nothing compared to the deep connection that Luke and I shared. I wouldn’t have cared if we’d met as two normal people in any other situation. I would still care for him the way I did. His kindness and generosity meant more to me than expensive hotel rooms and the future possibility of being the queen of a country.Though our surroundings were nice. I had to give that to him.I hooked my finger at him, and he dropped down to me.“You sure you don’t want to do this on the bed?” he asked.“I can’t wait that long,” I said, grabbing him and guiding him inside of me.He groaned and pulled my butt closer to him as he filled me to the brim. He slid in so easily, both of us completely rea
LukeComing out of a dream-filled sleep, I opened my eyes. It was still dark in the room, courtesy of the blackout curtains I’d closed at some point in the night. A sliver of light peeked through, and I knew it was at least morning.Turning over, I checked the clock on the side table, and it was nearly seven in the morning.Sophia stirred and rolled over to face me. Her eyes were still heavy from sleep. “What time is it?”“Time for me to go,” I said, holding back a groan. I didn’t want to leave her, but coming to see Maddox and how the business faired in my absence was the main goal of the trip.“No,” she moaned, barely opening her eyes. She reached for me, and I pulled her close and kissed her. She melted into me, and I had to extricate myself from her before we had a redo of the night before. I planned on fucking her again later, but I would never leave if I didn’t do it now.“I’ll be back as soon as possible.”“Okay,” she conceded and snuggled into the pillow.“What are you doing t
LukeThe interior of the office was exactly how I left it. I wasn’t sure what I expected. A pool table perhaps? Maybe a stripper pole? But other than Maddox’s jacket hanging by the door, I could have sat down at the desk, and nothing would have changed.In the short time I’d spent in the building after coming back, my mind wandered once again to the possibility of never accepting the position as king. Only then would I have Sophia and the job that I loved. I could live my life out as the company’s owner and be happy with that.Why the hell did Father have to die? And why was Abir the way he was? I loved them both, but at that moment, I couldn’t help but feel like I’d lost everything for the both of them.“You told me you were coming in, but you never told me why,” Maddox said, leaning next to his desk. “What’s going on? Everything okay in Qatar?”Raking my hand through my hair, I nodded. “Everything is fine.”“Come on, mate,” Maddox said, indicating the chairs in front of his desk. “
SophiaLuke left the hotel room around seven-thirty, but I couldn’t force myself out of bed until nearly eleven. I felt like I was judging a competition for who could make the softest bed. Out of all the hotels we’d stayed at and the palace, this one was the best. It didn’t help that I was sore as hell, and the mere idea of moving made me groan in protest.I wasn’t sure how long we would be staying in England, but I wanted to make the best of it. I called room service for breakfast and took a long shower. By the time I came out, my breakfast was already in the sitting area of the room.My skin crawled thinking that someone was in the room while I was naked in the bathroom, but I quickly got over it when the amazing smell of bacon filled my nose.Flipping on the television, I ended up on BBC News while I ate my breakfast. Sitting back on the plush couch, I kicked my feet up and enjoyed the momentary solace. While I wished Luke was with me, I hadn’t had much time alone since he scooped
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