SophiaWere we back at this again? Hadn’t he realized I’d waited hours for him? The least he owed me was five minutes.Though, he was a prince with apparent secrets to hide. He owed me nothing.He turned away from me, but I kept on him, desperate not to let him out of my sight. His skin was so smooth, enough that I wanted to run my hands across the surface. He was the opposite of his partner. Dark-skin and clean-shaven. His lips were full and totally kissable.I inwardly scolded myself. My thoughts were so inappropriate, it wasn’t even funny.“Did you speak with Maddox?” he asked me.Hearing him speak to me like a normal person—even though there was still an edge to his voice—showcased his accent a little bit. It wasn’t as formal as Maddox’s; it had a little bit of something else to it. Damned if it didn’t make my knees weaken a little more.“I did.”“If you came here to do a piece on the company, then he would have given you everything you needed.”“My editor wants to get to know you
LukeThe next morning, I was relieved to be back home and back on schedule. I got ready to visit the cafe closest to the office. It wasn’t just convenience, even though that was a significant factor. But the pastries were out of this world. Much to my Mother’s dismay, I was born with a healthy metabolism. I barely worked out and didn’t get the male pooch no matter what I ate.Remembering the night before at the pub, the fish and chips had been ace. And the conversation between Maddox and me had smoothed over any ruffled feathers. He didn’t pry into the business with my father, and I was able to enjoy the time spent with my friend outside the office.He was still flying high about landing his big clients, and I wasn’t going to ruin his fun. His dating life was more exciting than mine, and we’d spent most of the time talking about one girl he wanted to take out over the weekend. When he offered to hook me up with one of her friends, I said I’d consider it. Which was enough to keep him f
LukeI stayed until the sun nearly set on the horizon. Every time I stopped, Sophia’s face popped into my mind. What was it about that annoying woman? Sure, she was gorgeous, but she was also a vessel for her newspaper to get a story about me.Every time I caught myself thinking about her, I started a new project or set of emails. Before I knew it, it was almost seven at night.I had no plans with Maddox, or anyone for that matter, so I never felt as if I had to go home at a certain time. Which was why I liked to stay in the office as much as I could. It made the sting of loneliness a little less sharp.Closing up my office for the night, I walked down the empty hallways. The automatic lights came on as I tripped the sensors. Everyone was gone for the night, and for some reason, that made me feel lonelier than ever.I had a huge house to go to, but no one in it was waiting for me. I’d traded relationships for success. At the same time, I had no other option. Any relationship I had was
SophiaAs I said I would, I called Mr. Walters’s office first thing in the morning. He wasn’t getting away from me now that I was so close. Showing up to his business later in the day had worked to my advantage. I didn’t have to sit there all day like I knew he thought I would. If I followed him to his favorite cafe—information given to me by Maddox—he would know I would follow him to work.I hadn’t talked to his employees. It was a lie. Though I did try. None of them wanted anything to do with me. Whether that was because of his influence or not, I didn’t know. I knew he was stubborn. I didn’t need anyone to tell me that.As much as Matt said I had charm, my charm was the cute and annoying type. One thing that made me so successful—minus a promotion—was my persistence, which worked well up against stubbornness.To my surprise, his secretary had the information to give me.“Reservation at Chez Vous at seven-thirty,” she said. “The reservation is under Mr. Walters.”At the very least,
SophiaA gust of cold air filled the small lobby area, and I glanced at the door to see Luke Walters standing there.I ground my teeth together as the coat check boy handed me my jacket.“You aren’t leaving?” Mr. Walters asked.I handed the coat back to the boy. “Not anymore. It’s nice of you to show up.”He crossed the room, unwrapped his scarf from around his neck, and took off his jacket, handing it over. “My apologies. I didn’t have your number to call you. But when I make an appointment, I stick to it.”“I think our table is still available,” I said.“It better be,” he said. “I have a standing reservation here for clients.”I chewed on my lip. That was why this was so easy for him to set up. I tried not to feel let down a bit by that revelation. This meeting wasn’t about me. It was about business to him, and I needed to get into that mindset as well.Sitting down at the table, Mr. Walters was a complete gentleman, pushing my chair in and all.The same waitress returned, and she w
LukeI worked most Sundays, but after traveling home and dealing with the sexy yet pesky reporter all week, I slept in for a change. Well, my sleeping in was until seven, but I lounged around in bed for another hour, answering work emails and texts from Maddox on my phone.The comfort of my soft duvet was enough to make me dread getting out of bed. Having a four-thousand square foot flat for just me had never seemed so lonely. I wasn’t about to fill my bed with strange women, but it would have been nice to wake up next to someone every once in a while.I thought of Sophia Holmes. I imagined her slinky red dress from the night before crumpled on the floor at the base of my bed. Her heels tipped over next to them and whatever undergarments she wore tangled up in the bedpost. The Dallas Post had done their job well sending her, but still, her motives were unclear.I had a feeling she wanted to cover me rising to the throne, but she seemed entirely comfortable to talk about the company. M
LukeTheir controlling nature was one reason I wanted to leave the palace. Did they honestly think I wanted to go back there and live out the legacy that they chose for themselves?“Yes, he did,” Mother said. “If you want to talk about it—”“I don’t,” I said.“No need to be rude,” she said after a pause. She had a hell of a temper behind the scenes, and even from hundreds of miles away, I felt her silent fury.“I’m sorry, Mother. I don’t intend to be rude. I only wish to be given the time that Father allowed. It was a surprise to have him show up. I need the time to think about it if I’m going to leave the life I’ve known for a while.”“I see,” she said, although I knew she didn’t. Neither of them did.“You will be the first to know when I make my decision, either way.”She made a small disapproving sound.I could almost see her face, her lips pursed and her eyes accusing. Neither of them saw our family’s place in the kingdom as optional, but I did. Being king was sort of my birthrigh
SophiaI dreaded the “check-in” phone call that Mr. Fraser scheduled on Monday afternoon. I had nothing to give him, but I couldn’t lie. If I told him I had the story, he’d want to see at least a rough draft before sending me home right away. I bet the hotel wasn’t cheap and keeping me here when I was “finished” wouldn’t help the company’s bottom line.I had to tell him the truth, no matter how hard it would be.My eyes darted between the phone and the small digital clock on the side of the bed. I wished it would just ring. I didn’t think I had enough fingernails to last me the next few minutes. I placed my hands on my lap, pressing them against my thighs. Bleeding from the fingers wasn’t going to help me write a story.I had spent the majority of the day on Sunday, and earlier that day, researching more about Luke Walters. If he wasn’t going to allow me to interview him, the least I could do was start my article with some background. I hated using other sources when the center of my
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