Luke“Of course I do. Which means I don’t want to see you suffer, either. These American women, they have grand dreams of being wealthy and living the good life.”“Don’t generalize,” I said. “You haven’t bothered to get to know her at all, so making assumptions won’t work on me. You and Father raised me right, and I found a woman that understands me and still wants to be with me.”“For now,” Mother said. “Until things get difficult. There is more to being a queen than both of you realize.”“You can show her, teach her. She wants to get to know you.”Mother scoffed. “She cares nothing of this place. This isn’t her home country. It’s ours. She needs to have the passion of someone who’s lived here and wants to continue to see our country thrive.”“So, if I went out there and plucked a commoner from the streets, you would give me your blessing?”“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said. “The match needs to be beneficial.”“There it is,” I said.“There what is?”“You want to pick out the woman. Jus
SophiaUnpacking our suitcases took all of ten minutes. The trip to England had been a short one, and we hadn’t taken much along with us.After staring at the bed for too long, I was anxious to do something while waiting for Luke. I knew he wanted me to remain nearby for when he was finished speaking with Gia, but without doing anything, my stomach was a bundle of nerves while my mind whirred with endless possibilities of how the conversation would end.I kept imagining that Gia would come into the room and demand I leave the palace and her son alone. Needing to distract myself, I went off to explore the palace for a little while. Besides, if Gia was going to try and find me, keeping myself moving would delay that confrontation.There was a flurry of activity in the main ballroom. I wasn’t aware of any event happening at the palace, so curiosity got the best of me.Wandering into the room, the servants huddled around a table. The clinking of silverware filled my ears as I got closer.
Sophia“Don’t think about it then. There’s no use worrying over nothing. As long as you treat her well, the both of you will end up quite happy. I’m sure of it.”“I appreciate that, coming from you,” he said. “If only everyone would make it easier on you and Luke.”“That would be nice.” I wondered if he could hint that to his mother, but asking for that would be putting Abir in the middle of our issues. I wasn’t going to drag anyone else into that mess. It was already crowded with too many people.“Here it is,” Abir said, holding out his hand in front of him.The new fountain was massive, reaching up at least ten feet in the air, and the pool width was at least three times the size of me. We were far enough away from it, but still, the water spray peppered me in the face as the water crashed down over the oblong-shaped pool. The stone was black and slick with water. It was a really beautiful fountain and only enhanced the look of the garden as a whole.“It’s breathtaking,” I said.“Fa
LukeThe sense of calm that I’d felt in Father’s office stayed with me as I walked the halls of the palace, back to my chambers. When I arrived, Sophia was nowhere to be found. Checking my watch, I realized I’d spent more time away from her than I’d originally intended.Before going out to search for her, I wanted to change into something more comfortable.By the time I finished, the door had swung open, and Sophia stood in the doorway.“Hi,” I said. “Where did you go?”“Just took a little walk around the palace. Apparently, the servants had a lot of questions for me.”“What did they say?” I asked. The servants normally kept to themselves, but I imagined having an American woman in the palace was a novelty for them.She shrugged and sat down on the edge of the bed. “They asked about my life back in Dallas. They were much more excited about it than I was about living it.”“Most of them were born into this position. The palace is all they know.” I crossed the room and planted a kiss on
LukeI wasn’t sure what to expect when we arrived at dinner. The four of us hadn’t sat down together in quite a while. The last time we did, Mother forced Sophia to flee from the room after showing her true colors. I hoped that the conversation we’d had earlier in the day held some weight.Taking Sophia’s hand in mine, we entered the dining room as one unshakable force. Nothing was going to come between us, and I wanted to show Mother that. The sooner she realized it, the sooner we would be able to move on.Mother sat next to Abir, to the right of the head chair that I was supposed to occupy. Finding that spot empty was strange. We hadn’t had a proper meal in that room since Father died, and after the conversation about Sophia, the weight of the moment crashed over me.Sophia’s hand in mine gave me the strength to hold in the myriad of emotions swirling through me.I pushed her chair in as she sat. Then I took my place at the table.Mother still held her chin high, but her eyes were g
SophiaLuke’s distraction techniques totally worked for me. After a tension-filled evening with his mother, the night ended up better than I expected. I wanted to talk more about why he thought we were leaving, especially after his mother started being less mean to me, but the way he made my body feel took up even more of my headspace.My head fell back against the bedpost as Luke’s mouth and hands roamed my body. It was amazing to me how quickly he could turn me on. Only in a matter of seconds, it seemed. I pushed my fingers through his hair and held the back of his head as I drew his lips closer to mine. I hesitated for a moment, our lips brushing together, a tingling sensation fizzling just inches from his mouth. A searing hot heat flickered throughout my body, and I could barely take a full breath.Luke’s fingers pulled down the collar of my shirt, exposing my breasts. He kissed the top of them before his other hand popped open the clasp. My breasts were free, and he didn’t waste
SophiaHis hot breath puffed against my skin, and my heavy breathing matched his. Electricity coursed throughout my body, and even though the bedpost dug into my back, I didn’t want to move from that spot. We fit together so perfectly. I knew when we finally came together, it would be an epic event. One that I could barely wait for.Luke thrust so hard into me that I couldn’t help but cry out when the wooden post heaved against me.“We’re going to break this thing,” I said.Luke glanced up as if debating on whether or not he cared.Shifting slightly, he lowered me to the bed. While I loved how he felt so close to me, my back thanked him for the reprieve.He scooted me to the edge of the bed and lifted my legs up, holding them out on either side of him. If it were possible, he pushed even farther into me.I cried out as he went to the limit, stretching me until I couldn’t take it anymore.His eyes were heavy and lidded, his mouth slightly open as he slowly moved in and out of me. He ca
LukeThe afterglow from the activities of last night made Sophia’s face shine brighter than ever. Every time I was intimate with her, my fondness for her grew. Would there ever be a cap on that, or would I love her so much that I would always feel the urge to burst with love at every moment?It wasn’t a terrible feeling, and I welcomed it as it pushed down the dark swirls of fear for what our future held within the kingdom.The question from last night lingered in my mind. She seemed ready and willing to get married as soon as possible, but I did notice hesitation in her eyes. Did she want the big fancy wedding? I had enough money to make that happen, but she didn’t have much family around. So, why did she brush it off? Maybe she was hurt that I hadn’t predicted what she wanted. I supposed I’d have to have the conversation again with her, but I had to do one thing first.Sophia stood next to the intricate coffee machine down in the kitchen while one of the servants pushed buttons acro