“The moon goddess actually showed up at the baby’s birth,” Monk Blythe explained. He sighed and rubbed his face, then recrossed his arms. “I’m getting ahead of myself. I should probably explain how we got to the birth of the child. Because the poor thing certainly didn’t make it to term.“She was close, in her last trimester, but not ready to give birth yet when it was apparent that Queen Rosemary was succumbing to the poison. King James had been slandering her for their entire marriage, telling the entire Kingdom of Orlune how weak and inferior she was. The couple never even announced her pregnancy.“But honestly, Q
With nothing to do to get rid of those flutters except take the test and prove to myself that I wasn’t really pregnant, I climbed from the bed and headed into the bathroom. I did my business, following the instructions and left the test in there, coming back to sit on the edge of the bed and wait until the timer on my phone beeped.“We never really got a chance to finish our discussion,” Monk Blythe said in a low voice. “There were some things that I needed to warn you about aside from just your personal safety. Because even though I’m positive I know who ordered the poison given to the late Queen Rosemary, I don’t know who the actual poisoner was.
Charles stared at me, starting to look worried. “Are you sure you’re telling me everything?” he asked. “Because you certainly don’t look okay. You’re pale and clammy.”“I still feel a little ill,” I admitted. “But I think that’s to be expected given everything.”“Why don’t you take a nap?” He practically pushed me into the bed, pulling back the covers and stuffing me in.He started to undo my clothing, and I pushed his hands away. “That’s not going to happen right now.”
I lowered myself to my knees in front of Charles, crowded up against his legs by the tight space in the spa’s changing room. But there was more than enough room for me to take him in my mouth and begin working his shaft.I slowly circled the head with my tongue, taking care to tickle the rim with my tongue before sucking the whole mushroom-shaped tip with as much suction as I could get. Then, I slowly took the length into my mouth and back out again.He sighed and then groaned, lacing his fingers through my hair, across the back of my head, and guiding a rhythm. I paused at the sound of voices entering the changing area and then resumed working my mouth arou
I was going to have to come to terms with the fact that I was probably pregnant, and this was probably morning sickness. And it probably explained why I’d been so tired. But the hope that I wasn’t still kept tangling up my will to talk to Charles about it.Perhaps the doctor would call back and tell me that these were all just my fears getting the better of me. I was sick and nothing more.Then again, at the very least, Charles deserved to share this with me. And maybe sharing with him would help relieve some of the anxiety that I was feeling.My phone rang out in the be
I followed the mousy man down the hallways of the palace, nerves rippling through me. Behind me, Charles, Theo, and David all followed, their footsteps echoing off the marble floors. That hollowness didn't do anything to alleviate my nerves. Instead, like the noise of their shoes bouncing off the floors and walls, my nerves bounced all over the place, too.The mousey man stopped in front of a set of doors. “Your companions will need to wait here,” he said.Charles reached for me, gripping my hand firmly and giving me an encouraging look. “We won't go anywhere,” he promised.I nodded, words failing me. Once the three were inside whatever room the mousy man had led them to, the door shut, and he continued to lead me on. We wound through back hallways, getting further and further from the entrance to the palace all the time. How far in were we going to go?A horrifying thought occurred to me. What if he was actually leading me toward a dungeon?This must have shown in the speed with whic
“What do you suppose would happen if the population of Orlune thought that one of their numbers might be its lost heir?”“I'd guess some would try to take advantage of it.”I went ahead and said this with as much conviction as I could. At this point, there was no reason to try hiding such ideas from the king. He'd clearly thought of these on his own and seemed to be testing me. I'm sure he wanted to see if I would try to lie my way out of it, and then he could say that I was doing exactly that. Because if I was going to lie to the king about being his heir and try to claim a place within the royal family, why would I tell him that's the sort of plan someone might come up with?“Are you trying to take advantage of me?”His blunt question was accompanied by a direct stare as if he would see straight through me to the truth.“I wouldn't dream of it. I've built a career around trying to do what's best for our country. I know that you need an heir. But lying about it wouldn't serve the bes
We lay on the chaise together for a while, just being calm in one another’s presence, soaking in their scent. As soon as Charles was sure David had fallen asleep, his hands skimmed all over my body, cupping, touching, probing. Each of his touches strategically drew me closer until, without planning it, I found myself on his lap.He pulled my skirt out from underneath me, then carefully undid his fly. He licked the rim of my ear, pausing long enough to whisper, “we'll have to do this quietly.”Charles skimmed his hand up my stomach underneath my shirt. When he reached the lower edge of my bra, he simply wiggled his fingers up underneath the fabric, tweaking my nipple between two of his fingers.I sighed and leaned back into him, tipping my head back against his shoulder and pressing gentle kisses along his jawline.He reached a hand up under my skirt, pressing the fabric of my panties out of the way, and tucked his erection between my lips and inside the fabric. His rod of flesh slid a