Dressed and staring in the mirror, Mari was overcome with her transformation. She looked like…a princess! For tonight’s engagement dinner, Mari was dressed in a full length empire waist gown of emerald green with gold trim. The neckline, while not cut exceptionally low, was overflowing with her newly endowed breasts and thankfully was shirred around her expanding tummy. Smiling, she knew that Ki would not like her breasts showing so much, at least not in public. She grabbed a shawl, and rushed out the door, hoping she had time to stop by the kitchen and grab a snack before meeting Ki.
As Mari entered the kitchen, she paused taking in the sounds and smells. It was like coming home. The smell and hustle and bustle remind her of working at Obie’s. She spotted a tray of finger sandwiches all ready for tonight’s festivities. Mari moved in to help herself while listening to Chef Omar. He sounded very upset.
“Excuse me, Chef Omar is something wrong?” Mari could see that the counter tops were filled with baking supplies.
Chef Omar looked around nervously, “Miss Roe, may I get something for you?”
“What’s wrong? I know you are upset about something.” Her concern touched Chef Omar.
“Well Miss, it seems the pastry chef is sick and is unable to complete the cakes and desserts needed for your wedding tomorrow. Please do not concern yourself. We will find a solution to this.”
“Is there no one else that can do it?” Mari knew that it was wrong that she felt a flash of excitement.
“No one on staff at this time has any experience with western cakes. Prince Ki ordered the wedding cake and the other desserts to be ones you are familiar with. Most of the cakes have been baked. It is just the finishing of them that we are unfamiliar with.”
Taking a deep breath, Mari knew that she was getting ready to do something that Ki wouldn’t approve of. “Okay. Here is what we are going to do. I will be back tonight after dinner. I will need as many people as you can spare to help me. I will finish the cakes myself. But Chef Omar, no one must know about this.”
Dinner and dancing were spectacular. Mari had never seen such elegance. Ki, true to his word, never left her side, introducing her and including her in every conversation. Dancing in his arms was wonderful and frustrating at the same time knowing that Ki would not be sharing her bed that night.
“Love, how are you feeling? You look tired.” He was not happy at how drained Mari looked. He knew that he needed to get her to bed. Unfortunately, it would not be his bed tonight.
“I suppose I am. I had a very full schedule today. Oh Ki, I can’t wait to see Ella tomorrow.” Mari tried to hide her yawn from Ki. She didn’t want this night to end.
Ki twirled her to the edge of the dance floor. “Come love, we will say goodnight. Tomorrow we start our life together. You will be mine,” pulling her into his arms, he pressed his lips to hers in a searing kiss.
“And, you will be mine. I love you Ki,” Mari had never felt so cherished or so loved.
Turning in his arms to leave, Mari looked across the ballroom at Zahir. “Ki, what happened to Zahir’s lip?”
“I have no idea love” with a very satisfied look on his face, Ki took her hand and led her from the ballroom.
After a mind blowing kiss at her bedroom door, a very unsatisfied Ki made his way to his office. He might as well get some work done. There was no way he could fall asleep now.
Mari changed quickly into slacks and a blouse and then made her way back to the kitchen. After checking in with Chef Omar, Mari took a few minutes to assess the situation and then assigned tasks. She decided to take on the tiered wedding cake first and gave the others her recipes to start baking the additional layer cakes that were needed.
“Okay, Chef Omar, crank up the tunes and let’s boogie!” The confused look on Chef Omar’s face at her request sent Mari into a fit of laughter. The excitement of baking again carried Mari through till the wee hours of the morning.
As she put the finishing touches to the last layer cake hours later Mari sent everyone else home. Chef Omar, grateful for all that she had done, teared up, as he thanked Mari.
Slowly the kitchen cleared as each person completed their assigned tasks. Finally, Mari was alone in the quietness of the kitchen finishing the last chocolate layer cake. Looking around the room at all they had accomplished, she was filled with a great sense of accomplishment. With frosting spatula in hand, the last thing a very tired Mari knew was that she did it, and it had been so much fun.
Chapter Eighteen
“What do you mean Miss Roe is gone? I left her in her room last night,” Ki couldn’t believe it. Mari’s assistant Tierah stood in front of an irate Ki while wringing her hands, “Yes, Prince Kiliad. I went into Miss Roe’s room to begin preparing her gowns for the day and found the bedroom empty. The bed had not been slept in.”
A terror as cold as ice entered Ki’s body thinking of her being kidnapped. He picked up his phone. He ordered a search party. Ki tried to think of where she could have gone. His phone began to ring. “Yes,” he released a relieved sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose to control his emotions. “No, don’t wake her. I will be right there. Stand guard and do not let anyone enter.”
Ki made his way to the kitchen while trying to calm his nerves. The only thing he could think about was putting her over his knee for a sound spanking. What could she have been thinking to spend the night in the kitchen? That was when it occurred to him, the kitchen was the place Mari and her mom were the closest. Mari went to the kitchen when she needed to feel comforted.
How could he have been so blind? Her life had been uprooted from everything familiar to her. Add to that the rushed wedding planning and dealing with a surprise pregnancy, it was no wonder she went to the one place that she knew she could seek comfort.
Ki walked past his guards and entered the kitchen. He was stunned at the number of cakes littering every surface. There had to be hundreds. Walking further into the room, the wedding cake he had made especially for Mari stood beautifully decorated and awaiting the moment when they would cut it as husband and wife. Ki finally let out the breath he had been holding. He found Mari safe, and fast asleep, bent over a table with a spatula still in one hand. Chocolate frosting dripped onto the worktable, and a partially frosted cake was in front of her.
Judging by the smile on her face Ki could only imagine what she was dreaming. Ki kept the table between them for safety. If she just did what it looked like she did… she had a lot of explaining to do. “Mari love, it’s time to wake up.”
Mari slowly woke from a delicious dream of Ki sending her into orbit with his kisses. She smiled at him still in the throes of passion, “Good morning my love.”
Opening her eyes and seeing a fuming Ki in front of her confused Mari at first then, “What’s wrong Ki? Oh…OH!”
The cakes! She must have fallen asleep. She jumped to her feet forgetting all about the spatula in her hand. She could only watch in slow motion as chocolate frosting cascaded in a perfect arc and landed precisely on Ki’s face.
Mari gasped at what she had done. She watched in fear as the frosting slowly slid down his face. She cut her eyes to his and couldn’t help herself when she saw the dumbfounded look on Ki’s. She tried her best not to, but it was just a losing battle. Giggles erupted followed by irrepressible laughter.
Amused, Ki watched as Mari doubled over laughing. Not wanting to miss out on all the fun, Ki couldn’t resist. Reaching into the frosting bowl for a finger full, he delicately painted Mari’s face in return, sending them both into peals of laughter.
Wrapping his arm around her, he pulled her close and was going in for more, Mari decided she had had enough. She stopped laughing just long enough to get a word out, “Uncle!”
“Your Uncle is not going to help you now Mari!” This sent Mari into another fit of laughter. Evidently Uncle did not translate. “No…no…no. Uncle means I give up. You win.”
The solemn look in his eyes silenced her laughter. “Yes, Mari I will always win.”
He kissed her gently. “With you by my side and your love in my heart, I always win.”
Placing her hand over his heart, she looked deep into his eyes, “I love you Ki.” Feeling her nipples harden, a searing heat rushed to her core. Mari slowly moved her hand to his shoulder reached up on her tiptoes and licked the chocolate from her favorite place on his neck. “And, I find that I have an overwhelming craving for chocolate…and Ki.”
Kissing and licking the chocolate off his face inflamed them both, “I need you now Ki!” He said a silent thank you to pregnancy hormones.
Mari ripped his shirt open to get at the chocolate coating his chest, “Don’t even think about teasing me.” Pushing him back onto the table, he hurriedly helped her eliminate the barriers between them.
“I don’t need careful or slow.” In a near frenzy, Ki kissed and licked the frosting from her face and body, nipping and biting her sensitive nipples, sending Mari into a mindless need to have him inside her. “I need you inside me. Now!” Ki had always followed orders perfectly.
Wrapping her legs around his waist, she felt him fill her. Mari found an intense rhythm that brought them both to a swift and explosive climax.
Breathing heavily, Ki looked around lost, unable for a moment to comprehend where they were or, how they got on top of the kitchen worktable. The chocolate cake that she had been working on was now flat and unrecognizable. Most of it was pressed into his back. Looking up into Mari’s satiated eyes, “Mari,” he tried to catch his breath. “What was that?”
Mari’s breathless body, still connected to Ki, began to calm. Her breathing slowed. She then looked at her position straddling Ki, unable to grasp the enormity of what just happened.
She squealed and pushed him back, and then jumped down from the worktable, “Ki, you’re not supposed to see me before the wedding!” Mari grabbed her clothes, brushed the chocolate cake from her arms and legs, and then jerked her slacks on. She ran to the door while trying to slip her blouse on. Finally, she found both arm holes. With her shirttail flying, Mari breezed out the door calling over her shoulder, “You really need to get cleaned up, Ki, or you will be late!”
Dazed from the whirlwind Mari just left in her wake, Ki surveyed the room from his prone position on the worktable. Cakes were everywhere. Chocolate frosting covered not only the worktable but also his naked body, which had just experience the most extreme sex he had ever had in his life. And he was still clueless as to why Mari spent the night in the kitchen making cakes. Throwing his head back, he laughed until tears of joy filled his eyes.
The guards posted outside the kitchen door smiled hearing their Prince laugh so heartily.
Chapter Nineteen
Walking down the hallway of the palace, Ki reflected on how his life had changed in the past year. Exactly seven months ago today, Mari had become his wife and his life. That day he stopped at Obie’s to grab a bite to eat turned out to be the luckiest day of his life.
Remembering the wedding day cake fiasco brought a smile to his face. Mari had worked well into the early morning hours and finished all of the desserts for the reception. Even the wedding cake he ordered specially for her was completed by a very sneaky, adorable Mari. But, what happened after, well that slowed his steps and caused him to make some adjustments to his slacks.
Laughing to himself, he wondered what Chef Omar thought when he came in and found one less worktable in his kitchen. Ki ordered his guards to dispose of the table. He knew he would never be able to go into the kitchen again and see that table without remembering what happened.
Ki made sure his staff gave Mari full access to the kitchen anytime she wished. He even contracted a kitchen similar to her own in the States to be constructed in a corner of the palace kitchen. It was not unusual for him to find her sitting around her kitchen table chatting with Chef Omar and Tierah as they enjoyed a cake or cookie she had made.
Soon after the wedding, she realized that her worries about his people accepting her were groundless. While taking her on a tour of the city, he had to leave her to take a phone call from his staff. When he returned Mari was not where he left her. Instead his bodyguards pointed to a restaurant. Ki was stunned when he walked in. She had an apron tied around her expanded waist and an order pad and coffee pot in her hand. It seemed she had gone in to get something to eat, but discovered they were short staffed. His every read harem girl pitched in to help them through the lunch rush. Ki couldn’t help but chuckle when he remembered the owner’s expression when he realized who their new waitress was. Just like at Obie’s, everyone loved her gentle manner and genuine caring. He had sat in the back and just watched as she won over his people one cup of coffee at a time. When he saw her tire, he had quickly taken charge and carried her back to their vehicle. He did not give her a chance to talk him into letting her stay longer. She did have a way of convincing him to bend to her will.
Now entering their suite, Ki was in awe as he watched the love of his life nurse their son. As he leaned against the doorway, taking them in, his heart was happy and complete. Mari’s pregnancy had started off roughly. She lost entirely too much weight due to pregnancy sickness. But, after reuniting with him, she had thrived and simply glowed in her pregnancy. Her cute snacking habit had helped, of course. Anticipating her movements in order to keep her in snacks proved to be a great game for the palace staff with everyone getting in on the fun. Seeing that she was happy and well-loved was a job that he had relished.
“Hello my love.” Looking up she smiled when she saw her husband in the doorway. Mari’s heart still fluttered at the sight. Her life had changed in so many ways in the past ten months. The struggles in her past made her appreciate every single moment of every single day, and especially appreciate the man standing in front of her.
Mari, now had a mom to love her and a dad that thought she was pretty neat, too. Her brothers-in-law had become very dear to her, spoiling her almost as much as her husband did. Ki’s mom had become Mari’s best friend and partner in crime. It was really hard to decide who was the most nervous during the birth of their son. Mari ended up having to comfort all four boys between contractions until mom ushered the three brothers out of the delivery room.
“Come, your son wants to spend time with his daddy before his bedtime,” handing Kaden to his daddy, Mari saw Ki’s eyes lock onto her bare breast. She reached to fasten her blouse.
“No, don’t. Leave it. You are beautiful,” Ki gently patted Kaden until he heard a tiny burp. His son’s eyes grew heavy, fighting to stay open.
“Ki, do you happen to know what day this is?” Mari blushed to her roots from the searing lust shooting from his eyes.
“Of course, I do. Today is our seven month wedding anniversary, the day that my life became complete.” After lowering a sleepy Kaden into his bassinet, he lingered to watch as he slept, patting his tiny bottom. Ki knew that nothing could be more perfect.
“Yes love, that is one thing that happened today. I also had my follow-up doctor’s appointment.” Ki’s back straightened as he slowly turned and walked to the couch with a knowing sly smile.
“Does that mean what I think it means?” Ki pulled her into his arms and kissed her with all the built up passion from the past weeks of frustration. Her tongue slid over his neck and sent him over the edge.
“Yes, it does,” Mari left his arms and rounded the couch to retrieve a bowl. “And look what I have for our celebration.”
Hand over his heart, Ki gasped for breath, “Mari is that…did you…chocolate frosting?”
With one eyebrow raised, Mari gave Ki a saucy smile and took his hand. “Yep, and I know just how to use it, too. Come to bed my love, I have some decorating to do.”
THE END
Recipe
Mari’s Better Than Sex Cake
This is the recipe for the infamous “Better Than Sex” cake featured in Obie’s Bar and Grill. While Mari would have made her cake from scratch and whipped her own cream, I have found that the below recipe receives rep
eat requests from family and friends.
Should you attempt to make this divine concoction beware…
It is addictive and oh so bad for you!
DISCLAIMER: I am NOT responsible for the calories.
INGREDIENTS:
1 Box of Chocolate Cake Mix – The type with pudding in it is best, I think.
1-8oz Jar of Caramel Sauce – I find the type in the jar is thicker and works best.
1-8oz Jar of Fudge Sauce – Same thing here. Use the one in a jar if you can.
1-large tub of Whipped Topping
4 large Candy Bars – Your choice.
Make the chocolate cake according to the recipe on the back of the box and bake in a 9X13 pan. This is where Mari would make it from scratch.
After the cake is baked, let it cool for about 30 minutes. You want it to still be a bit warm for the next part.
Poke holes all over the cake. I use a meat fork so the holes are big enough to let a lot of yummy sauce drip down in them.
While the cake is still somewhat warm, drizzle the caramel sauce, and then the fudge sauce, over the top of the cake. It has to be in that order. Why? My theory is that the caramel is not as thick as the fudge and it seeps further down into the cake. This is an unproven theory.
Next, spread one large tub of whipped topping over the top of the cake. If you are like Mari, whip the cream yourself.
Crush four, or even more, large candy bars of your choice. My choice is the toffee ones or the peanut butter ones. I leave them in the wrapper and use my rolling pin to crush them. Sprinkle the crushed candy bars over the top of the whipped cream. No whipped cream should be showing. Sneaky, huh?
NOW comes the hard part.
Cover the cake well with plastic wrap and let it sit in the refrigerator for at least a day. While that has never happened at my house, it really is better if you can let it sit for a while. It depends upon your willpower.
Sweet Surrender: Mari & Ki (A Royal Vow Novel Book 1) Page 10
