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
“Have you known I was still alive before these reports came out?” I asked him.He shrugged. “Not that it matters to you, but I've known since Lupinton. You smell just like the baby that failed.”“Then why didn't you claim me then?” I demanded. “If you knew, why scare me half to death and make it seem like the palace was coming after me?”“Because I had to be sure that I wasn't being manipulated by yet another unworthy woman. If you had known your heritage for your whole life and were simply trying to play me, then I would have needed to eliminate you. There's also another aspect to this that you don't seem to understand, which is that your presence as my daughter makes a mess of things between me and the current queen.”He sneered at me. “It also makes you the Queen's number one enemy. No Luna supports another woman's child to inherit what her own offspring ought to.”“But isn't the current Luna queen barren?”“You're finally catching on. You see how yet another woman has failed me.”
The moon goddess laughed. “You're thinking too much about heavenly matters,” she said. “If the gods and goddesses combine our powers and our talents, fate can be altered. But it's not something we do frequently or at all for that matter. Because altering fate means that nothing will ever be the same again after.”“I don't understand.”“I know you don't,” she said. “Think of it this way. Right now, even though you can see a dozen different choices leading in a different dozen different paths if you make each one, you can still see where those paths lead.”“I guess,” I said hesitantly. “I just need to know which one to pick.”She nodded. “That's the problem. If I interfere with fate and change it, then you won't be able to see what's down any of those paths anymore, and neither will anyone else. Chaos will ensue, at least for a time. You don't wish to plunge creation into chaos, do you?”I sighed. “No. I guess not. I see what you mean, though, where it might take a while before enough d
“Kathy?” My voice shattered that awkward silence.“Yeah, I'm still here,” she said. “I’m just trying to wrap my head around all of this.”“I know the feeling.”“I think I've talked to you less than once a month. I feel out of the loop. I'm not entirely sure what to say to you anymore, especially not about something this big.”“That's not your fault,” I said. “Never, ever think that I didn't call you because you did anything wrong as my friend. You have always been amazing. But with everybody on my case about everything, I just couldn't risk leading them back to you. I hope you understand.”“Of course,” I understand, she said. “I've been worried sick about you for months now. Not that you needed to protect me like that. I’m a big girl and can handle trouble just fine. But I assumed that you didn’t call because you’re always protecting people like that. You weren't contacting me, and since there wasn't really anything that I could do to help you as it was, I decided to just follow along