MattI didn't answer, nor did I take my eyes off the picture."You're not going to relent, are you?" She reached out and brushed her finger across it."No. I wish I could." I moved behind her and ran my hands over her shoulders. It was dangerous to even touch her, but I wanted to hear the story, yearned to know that there was something more than she was presenting to everyone else. She was a woman's woman. The kind of girl who decided she was going to rule the world and fucking did it."I dated the same guy from sixth grade through my senior year of college. I figured we were going to be together forever. The night he called things off was the most painful and yet freeing night of my life. I'd grown comfortable in my relationship with him. There was no passion there and I was suffocating.""But to be rejected by him left you angry?" I pressed my chest to her back and pulled her closer as I breathed in softly."Yes. I thought my heart was going to bleed out that night. I've never cried
EricaThe night before ended too soon, but after the long day, dinner, wine and dessert, my head started to pound. I tried to play it off for a while as Matt and I finished eating dessert, but I had to excuse myself and get to bed shortly after we cleaned up. Whether we would have slept together was a mystery, but one probably best untapped. I would want more than a night of passion, and he was probably like every rich guy I'd ever met.Love 'em and leave 'em was the theme. I wanted to think that Matt could be different, but I'd never seen him in a relationship. Not once since meeting him. There was something to be said about that. No way in hell a hot guy like him wasn't sleeping around if nothing else.My phone woke me the next morning, and damn if I didn't have a remnant of my migraine still messing with me."What?" I grumbled into the phone. Only a few people were stupid enough to call me on Saturday morning before nine, and of course it was the one I hated to hear from most. My b
Erica"No, I'll go with you unless it's a private visit and you need some time to yourself with her.""No, I'd love for you to go. I'll warn you ahead of time that she doesn't care much for me.""What? That sounds crazy. Who wouldn't wanna be around you?" He scoffed."My mother. She prefers my brother, Daniel, who's a lawyer here in Seattle. She thinks art is stupid and doesn't like the fact that I followed my dreams in some capacity.""What were your dreams?" He stood up and moved up behind me, standing a little closer than I would consider comfortable for friends."To do what you're doing. To paint and have my art hanging on the wall in a major gallery." I glanced over my shoulder as he breathed in deeply."Those look so good."I glanced down at the eggs and then to my breasts. "What looks good?"He chuckled. "The eggs look good. You look incredible, but you know that already."I turned to face him as he moved toward the cabinet and pulled down two plates."Why do you assume that I
MattI snuck glances at her as she talked about work and the new project she was working on for my father. Something about being around her made me feel fifteen again. She was alive and full of so much passion that it bubbled up around the edges of her persona. I wanted to reach over and run my hand up her thigh, but the subtle touches earlier that day combined with the kiss the night before were probably more than enough.She knew how I felt about it. The question I'd posed was a serious one. What was I willing to do about all of it? Moving to Seattle seemed the right answer in so many ways, but being away from Damon, and Dad, from Sophia and Bethany? That sounded like hell. All I would have is Erica.She was more than enough, and yet if things didn't work out between us, I would have to pick up and move back to Dallas. Something about admitting that failure left me not wanting to jump too quickly. I could feign that the move was more about working closer to Jonathan or being a part
MattI stopped behind Erica and slipped my hands into my pockets to keep from reaching out to touch her again.She glanced back at me with an uneasy expression. "Thanks again for coming with me.""Of course." I followed her into the apartment-like place. An older woman with a perfect blond bob haircut glanced up from reading a Time magazine and nodded at me and Erica."Is your brother out of town?" The woman's tone was flat and filled with condemnation. I ached for Erica without having to hear more than her mother's greeting. My father had been nothing but overly loving my whole life. I wasn't sure I would know how to deal with one of my parents not wanting anything to do with me, or wanting me to be something different than I was."Yes, Mom. This is my boyfriend, Matthew." She moved to the side as I walked up and extended my hand to the older woman.She shook my hand, but didn't address me. "Why do you wear skirts like that? They make you look frumpy. You have a handsome young man's
Erica"I love this place." I picked up my menu and tried to push down the feeling of unworthiness I always left my mother's house feeling. It didn't matter if I was five or twenty-nine. I still had the uncanny sense that she looked at me like I was one of the greatest mistakes of her life. My father had always gone out of his way to remind me that I was loved and a princess in his eyes, but my mom stripped that warmth away any and every chance she got. I was never enough."The menu looks great. What are you thinking about getting?"Matt's deep blue eyes moved from the menu to my face and the depth in them caught me off-guard. He'd been so good to me over the last day or so, but seeing a different side of him didn't help my desire to push him to stay in Seattle with me. There had to be something bigger or better than me that would convince him that he needed to move. If I wasn't enough for my own mother, then I certainly wouldn't be enough for a complete stranger."I like the hummus an
Erica"You still thinking about my offer?" Matt walked next to me from the parking lot up to the condo. Sleep tugged at me, and a nap sounded better than winning the lottery or falling in love. Funny how it was the simple things in life that pulled me in deep."No, I'm not thinking about it. I'll do it if you think it would help you with your showing."He chuckled and followed me into the chilly house. "This isn't about me, Erica. It's about you.""What about me?" I tossed my purse onto the table and turned to face him. "I don't want to see how you see me. What if it's ugly?""The painting or my vision of you?""Both?" I smiled and took a step closer to him. "You know I have feelings for you. It would hurt too much to see that you found me as commonplace as the next girl.""Right. Because that's the woman I described at lunch, right?" He reached out and caressed the side of my face. "You wanna take a nap?""Yeah. I can take the couch though." I cupped my hand over his and turned my fa
Matt"You ready to go?" I turned from the kitchen sink with a glass of water in my hand, the desire to lick my fingers clean raging through me. I knew she wouldn't appreciate it, or maybe I was being a prick about wanting her to think of me as more of a gentleman than I was. Sex was the ultimate expression of passion and I'd denied myself too long.The sound of her moans accompanied with her writhing on top of me as her body clenched around my fingers had me coming alongside her the second time I brought her over the edge. I wasn't sure she realized the power she had over me, or maybe she was simply being careful not to use it. Either way, I wanted more. So much more. I took a long drink and watched her with the remnant of desire that still danced around my stomach. I wasn't sure it was going to dissipate with her anywhere near me. It was a waste of energy to try and force myself into a calm. My fantasies were within reach. So close."Absolutely." She licked at her lips subtly and wa
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