Suddenly Enthroned

by C R Riley

  “You love no one but yourself. I actually feel sorry for you. What a lonely life you are doomed to suffer through because of that. You are right about me wanting all this, but wrong on why you think I want it. I have no desire for power or all the amenities that will be tossed at me because of who I am now. The reason I want all this is because the man who holds my heart is a part of all of this. I didn’t want to fall in love with him, mainly because I knew that this crème de la crème would be a hard one to infiltrate and make me susceptible to people who are too nosey for their own good. Making my private life really hard to keep private. I understood I was going to have to step out of my comfort zone and deal with crazy nutcases like you; one that believes her shit doesn’t stink. When in reality it probably stinks worse than most and so you have to throw it around, making it land on the rest of us.

  “So, I’m sorry to disappoint you that I don’t portray the white lamb you thought you were going to lead to the slaughter. I’m more like a feral cat that looks cute and weak and easy to manipulate. But corner me and I come out with my claws extended ready to do what has to be done to protect those I love.

  “Now if you’ll excuse us, we need to get some fresh air. Seems the air in this corner has gone a little stale and is making me sick to my stomach.” Larkin spins on her heels and makes a beeline for the side door.

  I am about to follow when I see my siblings gather a few of their friends and mine. They all begin to spread out and cover all the exits. I quickly realize what is about to happen so I jog after my wife and get to her right before she gives up our location.

  Chapter 37

  Larkin

  I am fuming mad.

  I mean like the kind of mad that has a person seeing red. If I stand here one second longer, that feral cat I referenced myself as, will scratch Dalia’s eyes out.

  Now wouldn’t that get all those skeptics talking? Imagine what they’d all say if I got in a catfight with one of their preferred Ladies. My guess would be that most of them would side with Lady Dalia and use my outburst as a reason I was a bad decision of Antonio’s, and the reason one should stick with tradition.

  Almost having reached my destination I start to pick up my speed, when Antonio catches me by the waist and steers me a different direction. “What are you doing?”

  “Shhh.” His hand covers my mouth as he explains, or at least tries. “They are searching for us right now. Stay low and keep your voice down.”

  I notice he is doing his best to keep his large frame below the rest of the crowd, which if you remember is tricky when you are nearly six and half feet tall. The sight of him attempting to be inconspicuous begins to lighten my earlier mood.

  “Who is searching for us? And why don’t we want them to find us?” I quietly ask him.

  We have made it to the back hall where the bathrooms are located. He does a quick glance one way and then the other before shuffling me down the corridor.

  “Quick, in here.” He orders as he pushes open a door and shoves me inside.

  I take a step forward and try to figure out where he has steered me, but it is dark and tiny. “Where are we?”

  “Linen closet. Shhh. Fernando and Sonia were right on our tails.” Antonio slowly closes the door until we hear it click.

  “Etes-vous sur que vous avz vu leur tete de cette facon?” A male voice asks clearly in French.

  “Je suis. Verifier la sale de bain pour les hommes, je vais verifier les dames.” A female voice responds.

  “Vide. Verifier que la porte Fernando.” The voice I now suspect is Sonia’s orders.

  “Vider trop. Il est bloque et je ne pense pas qu’ils ont eu let temps de se faufiler la-dedans avant que nous etions sur eux.” Fernando tells her as he wiggles the door handle.

  My stomach is currently in my throat and I am doing my best not to giggle. Antonio’s ear is currently pressed against the door. Why I don’t know, although it is quite adorable.

  A male voice echoes down the corridor. “Any luck?”

  “Nada. Sonia thought she saw them head this way, but unless they are hiding in the ceiling I don’t see how.” Fernando tries the door again before we hear footsteps click away.

  “Are they …” I start to whisper but Antonio’s hand covers my mouth.

  “Ant.” Fernando taps on the door like he knows we are inside. “We are now even brother. I will hold them off the best I can, however if your brothers get wind that we saw you, they will sniff you out. Good luck my friend.”

  We don’t move right away.

  Antonio gives it a few beats before he opens the door and dares to stick his head out. Then he motions for me to follow him again. We slip back into the main room and slither our way along the wall until we reach the preparation area. Once we are deep inside the large kitchen, I ask why we are hiding.

  “It’s a traditional cat and mouse game. We are the mice and if we are caught, we will be escorted back into the reception. At that point it is the others responsibility to keep us there for as long as possible. The objective is to make it back to our quarters without being seen.” Antonio explains.

  “Fernando let us go. Why?” I ask as he pushes open an outside door and peeks out.

  “I helped Sonia and Fern make a clean get away at their reception. They had been caught twice by that point so I felt sorry for him. Fern respected his lovely bride and had kept personal affairs between them biblical. Sonia was wisely sheltered growing up. Until college she hadn’t lived away from home, and in our world that is a rarity, which is why Sonia didn’t really fit in with the other socialites. As you can imagine when Fern started giving her his attention, they began making her life miserable.” He jerks the door closed quickly, urges me around a corner as he puts a finger to his mouth.

  The door flies open seconds later and a several feet trample inside.

  “Spread out and check every cranny.” Lorenzo instructs everyone. “They have to be in here somewhere.”

  Antonio leans really close and whispers in my ear. “Take off your shoes.”

  I slip off my heels and hand them to him. He places them next to his on a shelf and then peers around the corner. Without saying a word, he grabs my hand and we tiptoe back towards the door, slipping out without being detected.

  Then he starts running and I know I cannot keep up. “Slow down. I’m not going to make it.”

  “Yes, you are.” Antonio stops, spins around and yanks me down at the same time. “Shhh.”

  “Brother.” Esteban’s voice calls out through the darkness. “Isabel and Triana are guarding the garden passages. You will not make it out that way.”

  “Where to now?” I ask quietly.”

  “We aren’t going to the garden passages.” Antonio keeps an eye on his brother and waits. He points to the left where there is a balcony one story above us. “That is our destination.”

  “And how are we going to get to that exactly?”

  He points to the tree just in front of it.

  “You … you want me to climb a tree in this? I could probably climb that tree if I was dressed in jeans, but no way will I be able to do it in this dress.” I enlighten him.

  “You can and you will.” He walks crotched, dragging me along behind him.

  I shake my head disagreeing. “I can’t.”

  The door opens again and the rest of the gang spills out. Suddenly I realize that if we are going to escape our time is limited. So, I do what any person trapped in an inescapable situation would do.

  “What are you doing?” Antonio watches wide eyed with a surprise tone to his voice.

  “Doing what needs to be done. Take off your shirt and give it to me.” I instruct him as I sashay out of my dress. “What? Do you want me to climb that tree or do you want us to get caught and dragged back inside?”

  As soon as he gets a glimpse of my naked breasts, he is shrugging it all off, tossing the leftovers at the base of the tree. Once his shirt is free, he drapes it over my shoulder and drags my mouth to his,
mumbling softly against my lips. “Te amo a much mi reina, tanto maldtita. I love you so very much my beautiful feisty queen.”

  While I would love to stay here and kiss him right now, we don’t have time. I can hear the voices getting closer by the second.

  I slide my arms through his shirt and then shove him back so can I button it around me. It hangs mid-thigh and I am very grateful for that, especially since I will be exposed here very soon when I begin my climb. I have experience climbing difficult slopes and buildings, so this should be a piece of cake right.

  “Okay, give me a boost.” I rise to my feet and look up to see how high the first branch is. “Have you ever done this before?”

  “Yep. I used to sneak in through that window when I missed curfew, we all did. My brothers and I would even sneak out of it so we could play in the garden at night.” He locks his fingers and waits for me to step in. “Okay up you go.”

  I yelp as he practically tosses me up towards the branch so I can grab it. I have no idea how I manage to get up there, but somehow, I do and now I have a dilemma. I can’t really see where I am going, and since I have never climbed this tree, I want to make sure I don’t fall. “Now what?”

  Antonio grins and grabs the branch with both hands, easily wrenching his body up. Then he grabs the next adjacent branch and is up it before I even get a chance to think about how hot he looked doing that. He offers me his hand to help me climb. Together we scurry up the tree and I have to admit I don’t think I have had this much fun in years. The tricky part will be getting from the tree to the balcony, or so I thought. Antonio however makes it appear so simple, he climbs out onto the thick branch hanging over the edge and drops without giving it a second thought. Of course, as soon as I see him do his leap of faith I yelp because I am certain he is going to miss it altogether.

  Gabriela must have heard me because she points us out. “They are climbing the large oak.”

  “Bugger.” Lorenzo shouts out.

  “Is this her dress?” Sonia picks up our discard clothing and glance up. “Nice play.”

  “This will be one to send the guards over the edge for sure. When Isaac or Sir Edward hears you all climbed that tree they’ll chop it down.” Esteban is laughing when he spots us. “Didn’t know the Queen had it in her, or I’d have posted someone here too. I am glad to see she at least covered herself.”

  “Never underestimate me Esteban. I am extremely competitive, so when presented with a challenge I tend to do what needs to be done.” I inform him as I accept Antonio’s hand so he can guide me onto the balcony.

  Fernando joins his wife, wrapping his arms around her as he gazes up at us. “A good woman Ant is difficult to stumble upon. A good woman, who with strip out of her clothing, so she can climb a tree in an attempt to escape with the love of her life, is nearly impossible to meet by chance. I believe the rules of the game state that if you are seen you must rejoin us. However, such a brazen move requires that we extend you a pass. Take your bride and claim the prize she has handed you.”

  “I believe I will do just that.” Antonio informs his friend as he grabs me by my waist and tosses me over his shoulder before he walks through the balcony doors.

  “Don’t you keep these doors locked?” I ask giggling from my tossed position.

  “Yes. I had Gino unlock it when he noticed my siblings acting like a bunch of children.” He struts through a room that looks a lot like the library in his quarters.

  “Are you going to carry me all the way to our bedroom like this?” Reaching down I pinch his butt, because it is after all right there.

  “Yes. If I stop, we won’t make it to the bedroom.” He growls.

  Liking how that sounds, I untuck his undershirt until his skin is exposed right where I want it to be. I have thought about licking him often. I know that is weird but there is just something about this man that has always made my mind think of him as some delicious treat. A treat that should most definitely be licked and savored slowly, so that is what I do.

  My tongue darts out as I lower my head so I can lick his back before I take a healthy bite. I wasn’t sure what his reaction would be, although I didn’t expect it would be to turn his head and do the same to my thigh that is so easily accessible to him. Which only causes me to have a reaction of my own that I’m not sure he expected either. I slide my hand down his back and under his trousers so I can fondle his firm butt. I love his butt in case you forgot; I could spend hours touching it like this and never get bored.

  “Larkin.” Antonio warns me, as the hand not holding my legs finds its way under the shirttails of his shirt and grabs my butt in much the same way. “You are playing with fire mi lunaita.”

  I bite his back again slowly, applying more pressure, all while I dig my nails into his butt cheek. “I like playing with fire.”

  What I didn’t realize was that I wasn’t playing with a small fire that I often have seen burning in a fireplace. I was dealing with a bonfire that was raging and ready to consume anything it touched. Although I figured it out rather quickly when I was yanked off his shoulder and flattened against the wall between the tall bookcases. The only thing holding me up is his solid body, which is now pressed firmly against mine; while he consumes me with a scorching kiss that instantly lights a fire inside me as well.

  I wrap my legs around his waist as my hands try to haul his undershirt off of him. He reaches behind with one hand and does it for me, breaking the kiss just long enough to discard it.

  Now it’s his turn to remove something and he does so in the rawest way ever. His hands grip the button placket of his shirt, and in one swift jerk rips it wide open, sending buttons flying wildly.

  Hottest freaking seductive act I have ever been a part of.

  I drop my arms so he can shove it off of me and then fling my head against the wall. His mouth captures one of my nipples about then and I whimper. I never realized how having a man pay them attention would be so mind-blowing, that it’d stop all rational thought altogether.

  The next thing I am aware of is the sound of his zipper being lowered, as I hear this whirring noise next to my ear. I have no idea what that noise could be or why it is going off now, nor do I care. And I completely forget about it when I come into contact with the tip of his large erection presses against my very pulsing center.

  “Yes please.” I mewl as my fingers dig into his damp hair. “Do it.”

  Antonio draws his head back so he can look me in the eyes. His brown eyes are dilated and there is this passionate glow to them. One slow determined blink occurs before he thrusts the length of him inside of me, and I see stars as my eyes roll back into my head.

  Will I ever get used to that move? I really hope the answer is no, because this is the most transfixing sensation that melts me from the inside out.

  And once he starts driving home something inside of me breaks free. I scream out his name so loud that it makes my throat throb. It’s like I can’t turn it off and can’t believe the loud moans and shrills that are echoing off the walls in here. The acoustic of this space surprises me.

  The noises aren’t just coming from me either; they are also originating from the man pounding into my slightly sore bits, making them burn in a very good way.

  “Mine.” He repeats several times. “You. Are. Mine.”

  I am about to have the biggest orgasm I have had to date, when the door flies open and five men enter with their guns drawn. Light immediately floods the dark room, making sure there is no way we stay hidden. My husband’s body jerks as he achieves climax and explodes violently inside of me, setting my own off while I stare directly at them.

  Franco retreats first as he talks into his wrist, alerting the others of a false alarm. I wonder how often he has caught a King in this position. He worked for Antonio’s father so I’m sure it’s not a first for him.

  Dane and Emmett swiftly follow, doing their best to look anywhere but at the two of us. Guess I don’t have to worry anymore about if they saw me sk
inny dipping, this has to be worse right.

  Isaac utters a few muffled words about not needing to be witness to the two of us going at it like bunnies. Throwing his head up as he verbalizes more in Spanish—I believe it is Spanish—but he is speaking so rapidly that I am unable to follow.

  Gino however stands there the longest as he closes his eyes and wobbles his head. He backs up slowly and flips the light off, while he speaks in an audible voice, a hint of a chuckle hidden in it. “You know this is only going to make him grouchy for weeks. You all triggered the silent alarm in the wall safe. Had I known your intentions were to christen his office, I would have warned the cavalry before bursting in like we did.”

  I glance around the room and realize then that we are not in the King’s quarters, but inside his office where he conducts all official business. As soon as my husband disengages his body from mine, I reach down and grab the shirt he ripped off of me first before tossing it aside. Patting the ground until I find his discarded t-shirt, which is when I realized I am missing my underwear.

  I watch Antonio tuck himself back inside his pants as I ask. “Panties?” I don’t remember him removing them earlier.

  “Shredded somewhere down there.” He blinks a few times.

  And then at the same time we both burst into uncontrollable laughter. Hey if you can’t laugh about getting caught by the men sworn to protect you, then you have a stick too far up your butt. After all laughter is the best medicine and I am pretty sure this will not be the last time something like this happens.

  Chapter 38

  Antonio

  It’s been three months since the wedding that not only united me with the love of my life, but also gave my realm a Queen. If I told you that our lives have been smooth riding since that day, you’d never believe me, and for good reason. Nothing about these last months has been smooth really.