Matt"So what happened?" Erica glanced over at me as she ran her hands over her grey skirt. It stopped just above her knees, leaving plenty of tanned flesh for me to covet."They had my reservation, but had overbooked the hotel. It's weird that they wouldn't stop booking people when they ran out of rooms." I rolled my eyes and chuckled as she buckled up. "We're going to Landralla tonight. I've only been once and it was forever ago. You okay with that?""Oh yeah. I love their sea bass. It's juicy and melts on your tongue." She glanced over at me with a pseudo-innocence that had my body reacting violently. Maybe spending half the weekend with the woman who played center stage for all of my fantasies was a bad idea. Nothing good could come of it but me capturing the sounds of her moans for replay later when I was back in my own world."Sounds delicious. Hey, I was thinking, if you want to take your friend tomorrow night to the concert, you should. I didn't mean to-""No way. I'm glad you
Erica"Is he okay?" Jonathan asked me as he leaned back in his chair. The gangly artist was exactly what one would expect of an art dealer. His shirt was every color of the rainbow and his dark hair was slicked back. His wife was cute, but lost to a game on her phone. It was almost comical, at least it was before Matt got a wild look in his eyes and bolted for the door.Maybe I'd overstepped my boundaries."I think so. Let me go check on him." I got up and walked through the restaurant searching for him. Worry wrapped in fear danced through my stomach as I reached the front door. What was I going to do if he'd left me there?"Hey. I'm right here." He turned to face me as the wind picked up from the water and blew his blond hair about."You okay?" I walked toward him, wanting to reach out and touch him, but knowing that it was probably better that I didn't."Yeah. I just felt a little overwhelmed. I've wanted to share my art my whole life, but it needed to be on my terms, you know?""O
Erica"The woman is right." Jonathan moved back as his wife rejoined us. "And I think the same could be said about me. I love to share my art, but people are quick to take advantage of anything they can. Show it to those that will appreciate it most, and then when you're well-known and wealthy... show it to everyone who will look.""I like that." Matt nodded and offered me his arm. "You ready?""One more thing." Jonathan lifted his finger. "What are your plans on moving up here to join us versus staying in Dallas?""I haven't decided yet." Matt's eyes shifted back toward me. "It's still up in the air. This pretty woman right here is trying to talk me into coming to work for her at my father's firm.""Oh, interesting." Jonathan tilted his head to the side and studied me. "Please do tell me that you're involved in the advertising for McKenzie and Bryant. I love their slogan so much. It was done by a world-class artist.""Erica did that for us." Matt ran his hand down my back, resting hi
Matt"All right, so show me how to make the delicious brownies, and promise me that they're completely calorie free. I'm trying to watch my girlish figure." I shook my head like I had flowing hair and enjoyed the sly smile on her face far more than I should have."Let's just go on a run tomorrow morning and we'll be set." She bent over to pull a pan from under the cabinet, giving me a great view of her rear."You should go change. Get out of your work clothes and put on something comfortable." I moved up to the counter and took the pan from her. "Tell me what to do and I'll get the dessert going.""You haven't changed yet." Her eyes moved across me, leaving me to feel more exposed than I thought possible. My need to run was driving through me at breakneck speed, but the promise of having a little bit of fun with someone I'd fantasized as mine wasn't going to let me take one step in the opposite direction. I was stuck. Time to own it."I'll change in a minute. Go do what I told you to
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
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