by Leila Haven
“You can go first,” I said once I’d set up the board. “You know how to play, right?”
“Of course I do,” she snapped back. Her pieces were black, she moved one and waited for my turn. We played back and forth, taking pieces until there were only a few left on the board.
At that point we were about equal. The following turns would be the pivotal ones. As we played I had noticed the ladies losing interest in our game. One by one they returned to the tables and continued eating, drinking, and talking in small groups.
It was unimaginable to believe one of them was going to be forced upon me as a wife. No doubt Anna would cut some more away after this party, limiting the numbers I had a choice from.
“I win,” Melody said while I was lost in my musings. I looked down at the board incredulously.
“No, you’ve cheated.”
“I did not.”
I studied the board and traced her pattern to the current position. She was right, she had bested me. Nobody had done that in more than ten years. I was unbeatable in checkers.
“How did you do that?” I asked.
She shrugged. “I’m good. You’re not so much.”
“I demand a rematch.”
“I don’t think your fans would like that. They’ve already been shooting daggers at me.”
I looked back at the ladies and the sly glances they were directing our way. They may have appeared to look like proper ladies, but they all had claws.
“Maybe not then,” I said.
We left the board and returned to the others. All I wanted to do was steal Melody away so we could get to know one another better.
Naked.
Some of the best conversations I’d ever had were carried out naked.
I needed to find a way to get away from the ladies and Anna. “How about we all go for a tour around the gardens?” I suggested. “There are plenty of beautiful sights that you all have yet to see.”
Anna wore a look of disapproval but she didn’t say anything. Speaking against the reigning prince in public like this would not have looked good for her. She could save it for later.
One of the girls – the one starting with M again – took my arm. “Why don’t you give us a guided tour, my prince?”
“Certainly, let’s be off.”
I managed to shake out of her grip near the roses, pretending I needed to answer my cellphone. I hung out next to the hedges while the women went along. Melody was at the back of the group a few steps behind. Probably as some form of protest.
The minute I got a chance, I grabbed her hand and pulled her along, making a shh sign with my finger over my lips as we moved.
I knew these gardens better than anyone else, including the groundskeeper and gardener. Diving around the bulb plants and through the ornamental vegetable garden to reach the higher standing bushes.
Twirling around Melody, I gently pushed her against the door that led to the secret garden. She was puffing from the running, her cheeks pink and full from the exertion.
Her lips were plump as I kissed her. She opened her mouth to me almost instantly, beckoning me inside and deepened the kiss. I wanted her so badly, every part of her.
My tongue explored her mouth, slipping in and out with the kiss. She tasted like the chocolate custard we were serving back at the party, a delicious sweetness adding to her sexiness.
She moaned as my hands explored her figure. One held her wrists above her head, making sure she couldn’t go anywhere. The other found her boob and cupped her gorgeous tit. Her nipples were already hard underneath the fabric, tight little buds that needed to be tweaked and squeezed and sucked on.
It was a pity she wasn’t wearing a dress.
I would have hiked it up and fucked her right there in the garden.
I wanted every part of her. Having sex with the woman once wasn’t enough, not nearly so. When we’d been in the limo together she had driven me into a frenzy. Her body was a playground and I never wanted to leave it.
It was impossible to get enough of this woman.
My hand went down the top of her playsuit, slipping into her bra and feeling the soft skin of her breast. Her nipple was exactly how I thought it would be – tight and hard for me. I toyed with it, stretching and tweaking the little bud until she moaned again.
“I want to fuck you so much right now,” I breathed against her neck. I left a trail of kisses from her mouth down to her collarbone. Her skin smelled sweeter than the surrounding flowers.
I needed her.
All of her.
“I think I’d let you,” she said, laughing.
“Are you wet for me?”
“Check for yourself.”
With a challenge like that, how could I refuse? I pulled her leg up to my hip, wrapping her around my body. Her shorts were loose, it was easy for my fingers to snake up them to reach her panties. I slipped underneath the fabric, feeling her hot pussy instantly.
She was wet.
This woman responded to my body as easily as mine did to hers.
“You’re drenched, baby girl.”
“You did it to me.”
I laughed. “I sure did. What else would you like me to do to you?”
She looked at me seriously, fire in her eyes. “Make me want to scream.”
Another challenge that I would easily rise to the occasion for. I started stroking her clit, warming her up even more for me. Her hips undulated, pressing herself harder against my finger. I could feel the desperation in her movements.
Melody closed her eyes, letting the feeling take over her senses. I loved seeing that calm, yet urgent look on her face. She enjoyed sex as much as I did, enjoying being lost in the feeling of two bodies bringing one another so much bliss.
I stopped stroking her with my finger and found her entrance. My finger easily plunged inside, her cunt was drenched with her juices. It was so tempting for me to tear off her clothes and shove my cock deep inside her.
But this pleasure was about her, not me. It didn’t matter that my cock was twice its normal size and about to explode in my pants. I would have to deal with my massive erection later. This was my chance to show her I wasn’t just here for my enjoyment.
Her hips moved to match the thrust of my fingers as they fucked her. Her hole was hot and tight, so perfect for my cock it was driving me wild. My erection was as hard as possible and desperately wanting to bury itself inside of her.
Each of her breaths came in little gasps, so goddamn sexy that they mesmerized me. I wanted to bite on her lips, suck on them until she was groaning and wild with desire.
She chewed on her own lip as the orgasm grew close. Whimpering with need, her body completely was turned on and raging with heat. I stopped pumping her but kept my fingers inside. With my thumb I rubbed her clit, hard. It didn’t take any more to plunge her over the edge.
Her climax peaked and her body went rigid with the occasional pulse while she was lost to the sweet relief and happiness that only an orgasm could offer.
I remove my hand from her cunt and pulled her close to me, allowing her to be swept away with the intense joy while we embraced. Rubbing her back as she folded against me, I could feel her trembling and weak.
If she felt my raging cock between us, she didn’t say anything. It was painful as it swelled with nothing to relieve it. If I didn’t deflate it soon everyone was going to know what we had been up to.
We stayed there for longer than we should have. Anyone could have walked into the garden area to see us locked in an intimate position. If they got even closer they might even notice the huge bulge in my pants.
Melody recovered enough to stand on her own two feet and we parted. Her eyes were sparkling and I was proud that I could do that to her. “Is there a bathroom where I can clean up?”
“Yes, I’ll take you there,” I replied.
“No, it might seem too obvious. Just tell me where it is and I’ll go.”
She was a stubborn woman which only made me wa
nt her more. “It’s down that pathway and then turn left. Go into the first door you see and the bathroom is on the right.”
She nodded, taking in the instructions. “You should get back to the party before they notice you’re missing.”
They would already be noticing that but I wasn’t going to point it out. Suddenly, I didn’t want to be separated from her. It seemed wrong just to go our own way now. “Stay after the party,” I said.
She started shaking her head, her tousled hair still managing to look gorgeous. “You need to get to know the other women. You shouldn’t be focusing on me.”
How could she say that after what we just did? I’d fucked her with my hand and she had let me. Now she was ready to call it a day? It didn’t make sense.
“I want you to stay.”
“And I’m saying I can’t.”
We had a stare off but this was one fight that didn’t seem winnable. I was the bloody prince of the country, I didn’t have to beg women to be with me. If she expected me to throw myself at her feet, she was sorely mistaken.
“Fine,” I said. “I’ll see you back at the party after you’ve freshened up. Remember, nobody is allowed to leave until the party is over.”
I walked off before she could say anything else. I’d given her a peek of my cards and that’s all she would get. I returned to the main gardens where the women were all standing around in small groups. They spotted me like a vulture would a corpse.
Yet it was Anna who made it to me first. She stole me away to go for a walk around the rose bushes. “Where have you been?”
“I had a phone call to make.”
“Liar. Melody Parker disappeared too. Tell me that was a coincidence.” She was halfway between angry and annoyed. I could either make her worse or better, there was no way to tell which way she could fall.
“We went for a walk. Just an innocent walk, that’s all.”
Anna looked around pointedly. “And where is she now? Huh?”
“She had go to the restroom so I showed her where it was. I’m sure she’ll be back here any minute now.”
She sighed, a trait I seemed to elicit out of women. “She wasn’t supposed to be on the guest list today. I was surprised when you forced me to issue an invitation.”
I shrugged nonchalantly. “I like her, Anna. Surely I should have some say about whom I spend the rest of my life with?”
“She’s not appropriate.”
“I will decide that.”
And I would. Nobody would tell me who I should marry. Nobody else would have to deal with that woman on a day to day basis. Nobody else would have to share a bed with them. The palace may have been searching for a princess, but I was looking for a soul mate.
The decision would be mine.
Chapter 10
Melody
҉ ҉ ҉ ҉ ҉ ҉
I hoped I didn’t wear that just-got-fucked looked. The restroom had everything I needed to freshen up so at least there were no traces of what Rick just did to me. There was only the mental mess he left in my head.
It would take him longer to recover from the incident. The way his cock pulsed against my belly when we hugged… I bet he walked with a hunch all the way back to the group. A part of me was glad he was all hardness without a release. It would serve him right for using me in that limo. He deserved to suffer for ignoring me afterwards.
My legs were still a little shaky from the orgasm. It was powerful and rocked me down to my core. He might have been an asshole but he sure knew how to finger a girl. If I concentrated, I could still feel his fingers in my pussy, stroking long and hard.
But we weren’t just playing here. He was on a quest for a wife and I was his plaything to pass the hours. He would win a wife while I would be sent home to resume the life I had left. The woman he chose would be the big winner, not me.
He never considered me a real contender, which was why he was so happy to play with me. I was like a mistress back in old times, the one that would only ever be used for sex and nothing else.
I wasn’t going to let that happen anymore.
I was not a plaything.
Rick was speaking with the ladies when I returned. He was laughing and joking, being as charming as he always was. He still had a sizable bulge in his pants but it wasn’t noticeable unless you knew to look for it. At least he was probably uncomfortable with the tightness in his pants.
I joined two other women as they talked about the weather. Clearly, they’d run out of conversation starters. “These gardens are beautiful, aren’t they?” I said. I refused to talk about the warm weather, I wasn’t that boring yet.
They looked at me, assessing me up and down before one of them spoke. “I like the roses but it’s such a pity they have to come with thorns. Don’t you think?”
“I don’t know, maybe the thorns make them a bit more interesting,” I replied.
She arched an eyebrow, not being able to retort back quick enough. I looked around the women to see Rick animatedly talking with the others. His whole face was alive while he made them giggle.
Rick was going to marry one of these women. The numbers would be dwindled down until he found a wife and the palace would rejoice with the news.
I would not be one of those women.
But a part of me really wanted to be.
Perhaps if I’d never let Rick fuck me in the limo he would consider me in the running. I’d ruined my chances when he groped me and I’d let him. I had let myself become his little fun on the side plaything.
The game was over for me.
I watched Rick out of the corner of my eye for the rest of the party. When it was over, I was actually relieved to be getting out of there. I wanted to be alone so I could mope in private. Putting on a happy face for these people was killing me inside.
The women were starting to file out when I felt a gentle tapping on my arm. I expected it to be Rick, but when I turned around, it was the queen.
She smiled politely at me. “Excuse me, my dear, would you mind sparing a few minutes to have a quick chat?”
How on Earth did you say no to the queen? “Yes, certainly, Your Majesty.”
She led me into the palace, an iron grip on my arm the entire way. I was certain she was about to tell me to leave her son alone. I was going to get the talk about remaining silent and to go home without incident. I would agree to whatever the woman told me. It would be treason to do anything else.
We made it through the long, decedent hallways to reach a small sitting room. The large bay windows peered out over the gardens where the party was held. A cup of tea, half drunk, on the table told me the queen had been sitting here not that long ago.
“Please, sit down, my dear.” She took the seat on the right, I took the one on the left. It was so quiet in the room I could hear my own breathing. “How did you enjoy the party today?”
For a panicked moment, I wondered if she had seen Rick and me getting dirty in the garden. He promised that nobody could see, that it was a blind spot, but now I wasn’t so sure.
I had a lump in my throat when I answered. “It was lovely, thank you.”
“My son likes you very much,” she said. Everything she did and said sounded so elegant. I was in awe of her. It would take a hell of a princess to be able to take over her role.
“He’s very charming,” I replied.
“My son doesn’t give his heart away freely. He has always been the sensitive kind, holding his cards so closely to his chest that one would have to pry them away to see how he really felt.”
That didn’t sound like the man I knew. He only had one emotion and that was horny. And he gave that away freely to any woman with a pulse.
The queen continued without needing an answer. “I see him with you and he lights up like it’s Christmas. It is very easy to tell how he feels about you.”
“We’re just friends. I’m sure he doesn’t think too much about me outside these parties.”
“It sounds like you don’t have
reciprocal feelings.” She was looking at me now, staring deep into me like I was stripped bare and she could see everything. I had to force myself not to squirm.
“It’s not that, so much. I don’t want to be a princess. That position does not appeal to me.”
“No?” she said with surprise, and then laughed. “I’ve never heard anyone say that before. Now I can see why he likes you so much. Tell me why it does not appeal to you.”
