No way! Are you kidding? My mind screamed."I, uh, sure?"The room was emptying out around us, though Sally was lingering.Charles was grinning at me. "You don't have to say anything. Just look serious and formidable.""That may be a stretch," Sally said, coming over to us. "She's got a rare beautiful but sweet face.""Thank you," I said, looking down, feeling myself blush. "I think?""Charles," Sally said. "Are you sure it's a good idea to put her face out there? Might it not put her in more danger?"Charles thought about it, his blue eyes looking at me with worry."What do you think, Elena? Ultimately it's up to you."I paused. "I think anyone who is unhappy about my reporting already knows what I look like. The person following me is testimony to that.""Someone is following you?" Sally said, aghast."Maybe," I said. "We aren't sure yet but in any case, my identity is already out there. If I'm seen and known by the larger public, though, maybe it will protect me in a way? A random
Twenty minutes later Charles was wrapping up his statement to a silent, transfixed audience. What he was saying was major news, and they couldn't wait to be the ones who broke it."And on behalf of Rafe media and all of Nicolas Middleman's colleagues, we would like to offer our sincere condolences to the Middleman family and to his friends. He will be missed, and I want to assure you we will do everything we can to look into his death and ensure that justice, if it is necessary, is served."With that, Charles thanked everyone for coming. He leaned toward me, covered the microphone and whispered, "You can head to my office now if you'd like. Unless you want to watch me take questions and annoy everyone by giving no answers."I gave a quick nod and stepped away from the warm lights of the cameras, heading toward the office door. But I didn't go in.I paused and looked back, watching Charles stand in front of the audience and answer questions from a nervous, somber room.His demeanor was
I didn't know if he was serious or not, so I said, "Text me, then," over my shoulder as I walked out.I could sense him behind me as I went, watching me walk, and I suddenly had to concentrate so I didn't trip. Even when I wasn't looking at him, his presence was overwhelming.The driver and guard arrived at my cubicle at six, a large scruffy man who smiled down at me."Ready to go, Ms. Laurentia?""Sure!"We chatted cheerfully all the way to my house, mostly about the orphanage piece I'd written. He was interested in it, had known a man who came out of the system and was upset at the thought of there being problems."I'm afraid it's just getting started," I said, and he nodded. "That's why they've called my company in I guess."He made me wait to get out of the car until he opened the door for me, checking both ways down the street before doing so. He followed me to the front door and watched around me as I fumbled with the key."Are you..." I hesitated. "...supposed to come in with m
"I have to go anyway," Cathy said, standing. "I have a date.""Don't go, Cath, I'll tell him I'm with you and that will make him happy. I'm sure it's just that he wants to make sure I'm safe.""I'm not playing, I have a date," she said, mysteriously. "I'll tell you about it later."She gave me a squeeze and grabbed her coat. "Have a good time," she said, wigging her eyebrows.I promise to keep it respectful, came Charles' texts.Is that what I want? I thought to myself, smiling.Cathy is just leaving, I typed back. Come on by.I see her, he replied.What? You're already here?I'm relieving the guard.I went out onto my patio, and sure enough, the guard was checking his blind spot before pulling out into traffic.I hurriedly put the glasses into the dishwasher, thinking it may look bad that Cathy and I were having celebratory drinks when a colleague had so recently died.He knocked, and I opened the doored the door to find him leaning against my threshold."It seemed a good economic mo
"I'm not sure how I feel about your silence?" Charles laughed shortly, looking at me starting back at him, my hands still covering my face."I'm sorry," I laughed. "I'm just so surprised.""How is it you're surprised? After today? I tried to make it obvious to you and give you an opening to say something about how you felt when I kissed you in front of people."I croaked out a little laugh and he smiled back. "You really had no idea?""I thought maybe you were stressed and needed my scent that badly."Charles nodded. "Well, that much is true. But I also wanted to make you feel seen and loved, and overall valued by me in front of the world.""Thank you," I managed to say in a whisper. "I did feel it. I did feel special."He leaned forward and kissed me softly."My love," he sighed. "You have no idea. It's like a weight has been lifted off my chest, to finally come home to you."His strong arms pulled me closer to him. "It feels so right."I put my arms around his neck, feeling his abs
"Finally," I said, reaching for his pants.He let me unbutton, unzip, and then try to move them down off him, but he was large and kneeling on the floor and I huffed in frustration while he raised his arms above his head and watched me."Now you're just laughing at me," I said, looking at his torso. "But I don't care, you're gorgeous."
"That was so fucking good," he said, rising on his elbows to look at me.He brushed hair away from my face and kissed me, his lips continuing to communicate the passion he'd just expressed with his words."My love," he said. "Are you okay?"I looked into his eyes, feeling his warmth still on me, encircling me, protect
"Absolutely not," Charles said."But if I take the security guard, I'll be totally fine."He glowered at me from behind his desk, looking like a displeased boss and less the sexy Alpha in an apron making a delicious cup of coffee from that morning."Matilda is already out there getting some amazing shots," Sally said.
For one moment after I arrived in the garden, the sun blinded me, and then my eyes cleared. Before me spread an amazing event: the wedding of our country's princess.It still hadn't fully sunken that I was that princess.The guests sat in orderly rows of brilliantly white chairs festooned in lovely shades of blue and lavender. I had chosen them because they most reminded me of the moon, and I wanted to honor the goddess at this event, as well. Without her, I would not only not have been at this wedding, but I wouldn't have been alive. She had done so much for me. The least I could do was throw a little recognition her way.I clutched the bouquet in my hand, and Theo hooked his arm through my elbow. “Are you ready?” he asked.“I'm ready.”We took a step toward the altar on the red carpet spread out in front of me, and the music swelled. The quartet played a beautiful melody full of promise and love.I didn't see the people looking at me, specifically, only that all eyes were on me. My
I signed and kept my head tipped back, inviting him to kiss my neck. Charles obliged, working himself inside me with the magic he always seemed to conjure up, driving my excitement higher. My heels fumbled for a place to rest, and finally, I settled for wrapping my legs around him, gripping his hips with my thighs and locking us together.Charles groaned and pulled us as tightly together as possible. And I wouldn't let him go. This left his movements small but the pleasure intense.His rubbing quickly brought me to orgasm, and I tried not to make too much noise and call attention to what we were doing. I really didn't want to be held in contempt for defiling the judge's bench or some such.A moment later, Charles got his release. He stepped back and tided himself, allowing me to do the same.“Now,” he asked with a grin, “Are you ready to go outside and face your adoring public, my princess?”“As long as you're by my side, I can face anything,” I agreed, hopping off the judge's bench.
“Of course,” Queen Yarrow said, “details like training successors aren't left to chance. The king and I already had arrangements made for a royal tutor, assuming that I would get pregnant one day. I'll connect you both with him. Hopefully, you can get started right away.”“So?” I asked the judge. How exactly does this work? What do you mean? She asked, looking quizzically at me. “I mean, what do I do with myself? Where do I go from here? When does all of this happen now?”She said, “The king will be escorted out of Orlune. They're probably already helping him pack. From there, he'll be on the next flight off the vampire kingdom. You get to move straight into the castle if you wish. It's essentially your house now.”“There's no, there's no legal paperwork or anything like that?” I babbled. “It just seems so abrupt.”The judge grinned. “I'll have all of that taken care of taken care of for you. So you don't have to worry about it, your majesty.”“Come, my dear,” Queen Yarrow said, putti
By now, the king’s lawyer had a hand on his shoulder, whispering furiously in his ear. The king gripped the arms of his chair so hard his knuckles were white. And if he could have turned people to stone with a look like a gorgon, the judge and I would already be statues.Still, the judge spoke as if unafraid. “The former king will serve out his sentence off the shifter continent, in the vampire countries,” she announced.A murmur went up from everyone in the gallery at that, but the judge held up her hands. “I chose that location specifically. It has been a standing tradition for generations upon generations that vampires and werewolves do not get involved in one another's politics.”“I would imagine he will find it very difficult to sway anyone into doing his dirty work for him in a country that holds itself neutral. Thereby providing anyone in Orlune that the king feels has wronged him in the safest position that I am able to leave them in.”Further murmurs rose up from the crowd, a
I hadn't even caught my breath when Charles scooped me up in the hardest hug I'd ever gotten from him. It was so hard that it almost drove the remaining air from my lungs.The rest of that morning flew by as Charles and Gwen helped me to avoid questions I couldn't answer from the press while Theo, David, and the other four guards pushed a path through the paparazzi so we could navigate our way back to the safehouse.We decided it was better to stay there than go back to our apartment, yet, at least until we made sure that any of the king's remaining supporters were under control.Gwen wore a mysterious smile on her face for the rest of that night and into the following morning. But I couldn't get her to confess to what she was up to. We'd barely finished breakfast when someone knocked on the door.Gwen hurried to answer it and admitted two people who took my breath away. One of them was Cathy!Since I didn't know the other, I ran straight to Cathy, hugging her as tightly as I could. T
It took me a long time to fall asleep that night, plagued both by worry and growing apprehension over how the next day was going to play out. It could end up being the longest, most brutal day of my life, if I had to spend it waiting and wondering what the jury was going to decide.Worse, what if they took weeks? Months? I’d go crazy before I found myself free from this mess.When we woke in the morning, Charles distracted me by teasing me in every possible way before bringing me to yet another overwhelmingly intense orgasm. I would never have thought that pleasure and pain could be such close neighbors, but he managed. However Charles and I were connecting in bed right now, it was certainly coming very close to more than I could handle.Theo must have told the chef what my favorite foods were because when Charles and I left the bedroom, breakfast was waiting for us. And it was one of my favorites. Belgian waffles with lots of fresh strawberries and whipped cream.I sat down and ate r
I kissed Charles, and he pulled back, eyeing me. “Should we be careful or anything?” he asked. “You know, for the baby.”I shrugged. “It's not like I've been pregnant before, but I would guess not. The doctor didn't say anything about that.”“And you haven't even searched things like that online yet?”I shook my head. “How could I? I've been so busy, not to mention the fact that I'm trying to keep certain people from finding out.”“Then we'll go slow and be careful,” he said.His kisses came soft and gentle, and his caresses all over my body were the same. Keeping secrets from him had been a bad idea. Now that they were out in the open, just these small touches made the connection between us feel so much more real as if I had closed some invisible distance between the two of us.This drove me to smash our lips together, desperately seeking the rest of the connection that I hadn't even realized I'd been missing.He chuckled and pushed me back. “What happened to taking it easy?” he teas
All of a sudden, a whisper of a breeze rippled through the courtroom and around my head, whispering reassurance in my ear. This breeze wrapped itself around me and then swirled out into the courtroom, where it produced an answering wind of murmuring whispers. Suddenly, everyone was shaking their heads, turning toward one another. Members of the jury shook their heads as if trying to clear them.Again, I heard a whisper in my ear, and I recognized the voice of the moon goddess. “Don't fear,” was all she said. And then her presence was gone. But the entire courtroom, everybody in the gallery, the jury, the judge, the lawyers, and even the king had all relaxed.The judge brought her gavel down and dismissed the jury to go deliberate. But this time, I wasn't frightened. The goddess had never steered me wrong yet. And she told me not to fear, that I needed to trust her and the fate surrounding her and me.I scurried out of the witness stand and back to my spot beside Mr. Wilcox. “What was
When I exited the bathroom, the importance of the day hit me in full measure. Today I was going to court. What and God's name was I supposed to wear?Someone knocked on the door, and I wrapped my towel tighter. “In a few minutes,” I called.“Elena?” I recognized Gwen's voice. “I brought you a suit for today. May I come in?”“Yes,” I said.She opened the door and entered the bedroom.“I'm just fresh out of the shower.” I bit my lip, feeling foolish. As if she couldn't gather that by my wet hair. But I seem to need something to fill the silence.She held up a garment bag. “You'll want to look your best today,” she said.I let Gwen dress me, taking comfort in the fact that she knew her way around important functions as a luna. When she finished, she grabbed my face and gave my forehead a kiss.“Do exactly what the lawyers, Charles, and I tell you to,” she said. “I don't want you to leave my son a widower before he's even officially married.”I patted her hands, which still rested on my c