MattTwo Months Later"Please tell me again why the hell you two made me come to this." I glanced over at Erica and back at Bethany. It was mid-January in Dallas, which beat Seattle for sure, but being out and shopping for wedding dresses with two very girlie girls had me wanting to fake diarrhea."Because we need a male perspective. Come on. It's going to be fun, and you're my only sibling. Jeez." Bethany slipped her arm into mine. "And Erica is here because the two of you are inseparable.""And because you need someone with an eye for the arts." Erica wagged her eyebrows and slipped her arm into my other one. She glanced up at me, stealing my heart for the millionth time. "Are we inseparable?""Yeah. Especially when we do it like dogs. You know, they say that-""Matt!" They yelled together and let me go."Gross. Good grief." Bethany slipped her arm into Erica's as they walked to the dress shop, leaving me standing on the sidewalk by myself.I pulled out my phone and texted my brothe
EricaFive Months Later"So much has changed, has it not?" Erica stood encircled by my arms as we watched Damon and Bethany leave their wedding reception."It has, but it's been amazing." I moved back as she turned in my arms and glanced up at me. "Is everything ready for Kendal?""Yeah." He smiled and glanced around, his expression that of a little boy at Christmas. Kendal Tarrington was like a part of the family to Damon and Matt. His life had been such shit lately, but he'd finally found his way out of the dark hole he'd fallen in. He was going to propose to his girlfriend Dana, and we were all in on it.I was happy as hell for them, but I couldn't help but feel a little jealous too. I wanted my ring and my date. Matt and I had been together for almost eight months but had been in love for years."Let's get where we can see." I forced my wayward thoughts away and reached for Matt's hand, pulling him toward the dance floor. "So sweet!""Yeah. It's so good to see Kendal happy." Matt
MattTwo Months Later"Come on, baby. We're going to be late." Matt stood at the bedroom door and gave me a look. "You don't look so good.""What?" I turned around in the mirror, the black dress I'd bought fitting me great. "I love this thing. You don't?""I love everything you wear, Erica." He walked into the bathroom and picked up the little blue stick I'd peed on minutes before. "I meant that you look pale. When the fuck is this thing going to show us what's up? We're going to be late.""We'll look at it when we get home." She moved out of the bathroom, leaving me standing there, staring at a pee-stick."What? We're supposed to go all night and not know if you're pregnant?" I put it down, cursed the universe and walked out."Yes. I'm not pregnant. I keep telling you that.""Damon said you probably are." I grabbed her purse. "Your tits are sore, you're barfing all the time, and you've not let me make love to you in three days!""Three days." She put her hand on her hip and gave me a
LukeThe building was quiet that morning, which I liked. England pretty much shut down during the holidays, so the only sound was my footsteps on the marble tile as I walked in the direction of my corner office.I checked into the other offices, but I didn’t hear the regular clicking of fingers over keyboards or anyone on the phone chatting about numbers or negotiations with other companies.I closed my eyes for a moment and took it all in. I preferred it silent, but the hustle and bustle of people moving around the building meant that we were making money. Every time someone hung up the phone, I could almost hear the ring of a cash register.For now, I reveled in the peace, knowing it wouldn’t last for too long. I wouldn’t allow it.Celebrating Christmas wasn’t important to me in a religious sense, but I appreciated the lights, the decorations, and the sense of joy that filled everyone around me. A lot of people spent time with their families during the holidays, but I couldn’t relat
Luke“What is it, Maddox?” I shouted, more from him startling me than actual anger. “I told you, I’m not—”The door crashed open, and it was definitely not Maddox.“Father,” I said, straightening my spine. Tensing all of my muscles was a reflex whenever I was in his presence. Years of living in the palace with dignitaries and other royalty visiting our home had drilled the mannerisms into me so hard that they transformed my body within seconds.King Erol Shamon walked into my office as if he owned the place. Technically, he did but he rarely came to England unless something was wrong. He didn’t need to check up on me, though. So, why was he here?He glanced over my desk and then narrowed his eyes at the closed curtains. He untucked his hands from the folds of his bisht and strode to the windows to pull the curtains open.“What has brought you here?” I asked, annoyed at my formal tone. I was the boss of the company, and I had earned respect from my employees. But in the face of my fath
SophiaThe bubbles from the champagne tickled my nose as I downed my second flute. The flutes were plastic, so not regulation sized. The news never slept, so we were having the New Year’s party at the Dallas Post for employees and their significant others. The location was ideal, but the budget wasn’t quite there. Springing for cheap champagne and noisemakers was the extent of the party.Still, it wasn’t as if I had anything better to do. I was always looking for a story that would give me the promotion I deserved, but so far, I had failed to find something truly electrifying in my six years as a journalist.One great story could make my career, so I picked up any scraps of news that I could and wrote every article as if it were my last story.My boss, Mr. Fraser, always said, “You’re only as good as your last piece.” I lived by that motto to the fullest. My last piece was something I wanted to get past: a piece on the insect infestation at the local animal shelter. I had imaginary fl
SophiaMr. Fraser’s eyes darted between us as if he didn’t quite believe me. How did he expect me to keep up with a relationship when I was always in the office when he arrived in the morning and hours after he left at night?“I see,” Mr. Fraser said. “Sophia, I know it’s almost midnight, but may I have a word?”Matt downed his glass of champagne and grimaced. I stifled a laugh and the urge to tell him that I told him so. I should have had him sneak something in, but I was sure the car service from the airport wouldn’t appreciate stopping at the liquor store on the way to the party.“I’ll leave you to it, then,” Matt said and winked at me before heading in search of more booze.“He didn’t have to go,” Mr. Fraser said, staring after Matt.“Matt knows how important work is to me,” I said, smacking the head on the nail a little harder. If I were any more obvious, I’d need a piece of cardboard and a string of lights with the words “PICK ME” in big bold letters.Mr. Fraser smiled, but it d
LukeFor the entire flight to my childhood home, I sorted through emails on my laptop, desperate to keep the conversation with Father as infrequent as possible.But as king, he had other duties to attend to. While he locked himself in the suite on the private plane, fielding whatever issues were ailing the country that he ran, I did the same with my work. I wasn’t as productive as I would have been at the office, with the constant turbulence and the staff’s eagerness to cater to my every need, but I did get enough done to feel somewhat accomplished by the time the plane landed.As the plane touched the ground, I drew in a sharp breath, and a sinking sensation weighed in my gut. The plane slowed, and the moment the “fasten seatbelt sign” turned off, I clicked the buckle open and stood up.The door to Father’s suite opened a few seconds later, and he strode past me with his staff right behind him.I hadn’t bothered to change into the more traditional clothes that Father would have prefe
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