Royal Command (Royal Watch Book 2)

by Stacey Marie Brown

  If someone told me when I was living in the palace I would end up training under one of the most brilliant woman vets I could ever hope for, caring for orphaned and injured animals in a conservation reserve in South Africa, two years into my degree to be a vet, I would have called them crazy.

  From that moment in the hospital when I decided to jump on this roller coaster and leave Great Victoria behind, I had no idea the ride it would take me on—good and bad. Since then, I’ve had moments of pure bliss and excitement, as well as devastating pain and loss.

  My hand ran over the empty spot next to me in the bed, a deep sigh huffing my lips, shoving back the sudden rush of grief. Rolling over again, my mind reached back to memories I tried to avoid. Pain chased you down no matter where you hid in the world. The death of someone you loved could find you anywhere. It had only been six months, but it still felt fresh, sitting on me like one of the rhinos outside.

  Reaching over, I picked up the clock on the nightstand, the numbers telling me it wasn’t even six a.m. yet, the heat already stifling.

  Welcome to December in Kruger, South Africa. Christmas Eve.

  Two years ago today, I was engaged to a prince, living in a palace. It was the day everything changed.

  Out here, I didn’t hear much about the royals. People’s lives were consumed with getting food in their bellies and clean water, not being murdered, raped, or dying of a disease, making royal drama a faraway world. But when I went into a bigger town, I saw a magazine with Theo on the cover, suggesting he had gone off the rails, making himself front-page news with drinking, drugs, and sex scandals of his own. It tore at my heart, knowing I might be the reason. Whatever he was going through, I wished him the best. He was a good guy; he just needed to find his way again. The guilt of what I did to him would always haunt me, but when you lose someone, perspective shifts, and you realize how little all that bullshite meant.

  Titles. Galas. Etiquette. All of it was empty and meaningless.

  Lifting my arm, I touched the picture on the nightstand, tracing over the figure no longer here, the ache in my heart flooding tears into my eyes.

  His death was my fault too…

  “Hey…” A husky voice came from behind me, boots tumbling onto the wood floor as they were yanked off his feet, the bed creaking with weight as a body curled in behind mine. “You okay? We lose an animal? I saw Ebele…”

  “No, they’re fine.” I twisted my head, peering up into a set of wolf eyes glowing in the bright morning light, his face covered with dirt and deeply bronzed from the sun. Everything in my chest loosened, the sensation of peace and joy filled me like a bloody Christmas song. I reached up, touching the heavy stubble on his chin.

  Lennox Easton. Bugger all…I was even more in love with him than ever.

  Through all the tribulations we went through because of my dodgy past, there was never a day I regretted taking that leap with him. He was my rock, my best friend. He read me better than anyone, challenged me, made me laugh, and gave me so many orgasms, I was surprised I had any brain cells left in my head. He added so much happiness to my life and pushed me to follow my dreams to become a veterinarian, no matter how long it took online. I was getting hands-on experience here. Dr. Mekena treated me more like an assistant doctor than she did a subordinate. She even let me watch her do surgeries and walked me through as she did them. Out here, it was all hands on deck. They didn’t have the luxury to have an extra pair of hands stand idly to the side because they didn’t have a certificate yet.

  “I was just thinking…”

  “Uh-oh.” He laid me on my back, crawling between my legs, his fully clothed body pressing into mine. “Do I need to put a stop to that?” He smirked, his fingers softly trailing down my side, sliding underneath my tank.

  “Possibly.” My hands skated up his muscular arms, the man even more fit now, feeling grime coat my palms, my eyebrow raising. “You are filthy.”

  “Yes, I am.” He winked cheekily, his mouth capturing mine, kissing me so deeply, my back bowed up into him.

  “I hated waking up to you gone,” I muttered, our breaths already speeding up.

  “Got called out at three a.m. Zuri spotted poachers camping by the river, waiting for daybreak to shoot the animals coming to drink.” His lip lifted in disgust, but he quickly returned to kissing me. I relished the feel of his lips dragging down my neck, and I tipped my head back, my legs curling around him.

  Lennox had found his calling here like it had been waiting for him his whole life. His extensive military training made him the best security and bodyguard around. He protected us from wild animals if they got into camp or when we went out into the reserve, but more from poachers and drug runners willing to kill if we got in their way. Since arriving, I had been shot at over a dozen times. This kicked in my PTSD, the bombing sometimes flaring up like a volcano. But talking about it with Lennox and calling it out when it happened seemed to ease the night terrors.

  One time, a group tried to sneak into our camp to murder us, while others went after our animals and medicine. Lennox was having none of it.

  The story of the lone white man taking on so many assailants like some superhero spread far and fast, turning him into some kind of legend. Men from far-off villages were trekking here daily to train with Lennox, wanting to become part of his army protecting the reserve and caregivers.

  Not all were happy about this new group of warriors who roadblocked their way to a profit, but the team was thrilled to have Lennox and money came in from the corporations to pay for him and his men. Zuri was Lennox’s righthand man, and together with over a dozen men, Lennox’s security business was growing quickly into a thriving company. It also was nice that Zuri’s brother was a local policeman.

  I couldn’t be prouder of my man.

  “You get them?” I gasped as his hands tore the tank over my head, his mouth covering my breast.

  “Let’s say the police station has three Christmas gifts tied up in a bow waiting for them on the steps,” he muttered over my skin, directing his mouth to the neglected breast, sucking and flicking at my nipple.

  “Oh, god.” I arched into him, my finger tugging off his t-shirt, breaking our connection for a moment before we crashed back into each other with even more hunger. Our sex life only seemed to be getting more intense and passionate. And louder. But here, sex did not embarrass people like it did in uptight Great Victoria, where even showing emotion was frowned on. That place was grey and dull.

  I lived in color now.

  My hands tore at his trousers, yanking them down his hips. Our skin sticky and hot, our bodies moved together in sync.

  “Bloody hell, Spence. I still can’t get enough of you.” He yanked down my knickers, his fingers sliding through me, pumping into me. My teeth dug into my bottom lip as I groaned. Our need for each other skipped to feral and desperate. “I apologize, Duchess…this might be quicker than I’d like. You know how I get after a night like that.”

  I did, and I loved it. Hunting and fighting poachers got him all riled up and full of testosterone, which needed an outlet.

  One I happily provided. “Good. Screw foreplay…I want you inside me now.”

  He hissed at my directness, his hand pushing up my leg as he thrust into me, pushing my head back into the pillow with a loud gasp, his deep moan filling the space under the netting. Euphoria lit up every nerve, stealing my breath, forcing noises that could rival the animals outside.

  Clutching my hands, he pinned them above my head as he rocked into me, pushing in deeper, my body matching his fevered intensity.

  “More…god…Lennox. Don’t stop,” I cried out, feeling the buzz of my release coming.

  “Remember, Duchess…I don’t plan to. Ever.” He growled, repeating a phrase he said to me our first time together. “Mine.”

  Yes. It was. And everything else that came along with it.

  He hitched my leg higher, slamming into me, hitting even deeper, one hand grabbing the headboard, using i
t to thrust harder. The bed creaked, shifting loudly over the wood floor, the tent shaking with our intensity.

  “Fuuucck…” Lennox hissed through his teeth. Freeing one hand, he rubbed at my core, spiraling me out of my body. A boisterous cry broke from my lips as I broke apart, shattering in pieces. He bellowed over me, his hips pushing so deep I started to shake, my body overloaded with sensations as we both came crashing down to earth together, his body collapsing on mine. Our heavy breaths mixed, skin dripping with sweat, our gazes locked on each other.

  “Good morning.” He grinned down, his mouth brushing mine.

  A smile reached my ears. “Good. Morning.”

  “Now I definitely need to take a shower before my shift.”

  “I can join you.”

  “No. I think we scarred Noah and Amelia last time when they caught us.” Noah was one of Lennox’s new guards from Australia, and Amelia was an American girl in her later twenties who was also doing the same thing I was. We had become really good friends.

  “Like those two weren’t going in there for the same thing.”

  “She says they’re only friends.”

  Lennox snorted, his body sliding off mine, flopping onto his pillow. “We’ll see after the party tonight.” He arched his brow. “You know how holiday parties can get.” He stuffed an arm under his head.

  “And birthday parties,” I countered. The night of the holiday party, my entire world had started to change, but the night of the King’s birthday, my life totally changed. All because of the man lying next to me. “You said to me that night to tell you to walk away, to stop…would you have if I did?”

  With his free hand, he reached over, touching my face.

  “Not a chance,” he rumbled. “I was already long gone when it came to you. I was just trying to give you an out.”

  “I don’t want an out…ever,” I said softly.

  A strange expression flittered over his face, his lips pressing together, giving way to a moment of muteness between us, fluttering a twinge of fear through my stomach.

  “What?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t know. You got weird. Anything wrong?”

  “Nope. Everything is perfect.” He shook his head, a smile widening his features, feeling a little forced.

  “O-kay. I better get moving. You get some sleep.”

  “Yeah.” He tossed my pillow over his eyes with a groan. “I only have a few hours before I need to head to the airport to pick up Landen.”

  I hopped out of the bed with an excited chirp. Landen had decided to spend Christmas with me this year. He was bringing his “special friend,” and it sounded like things were getting really serious between them. I couldn’t wait to see him. Over the last couple of months, after losing his father to a heart attack, he had been going through some rough patches.

  Grabbing my bathroom stuff, I headed to the toilet, the morning sun already beating down on me.

  My family had also gone through a lot of these past two years, but I felt they had finally found peace when Uncle Fredrick died. The doctors said that stress probably killed him. How could I not think it was my fault?

  Even with Lord William nullifying their loan with him, my family couldn’t keep up with the bills, and the house suddenly became a hotbed of paparazzi, curious travelers, bitter Theo fans, and hungry press looking for a tidbit. When Oliva got bullied and beat up at school, my parents decided it was enough. Fredrick and Lauren, being blackballed from society, felt they had no reason to stay. They all decided to hand over the estate to the bank and leave the country, moving to America. Nara and John stayed on the property, hired to keep it up as they opened it to the public. She kept me updated, saying the place was packed, everyone wanting to see where the infamous Spencer Sutton grew up. She’d laugh and tell them shocking stories of my life there, like how messy I left my room, or when I nicked extra cookies. I loved that woman.

  My mother’s distant cousin lived in New York and encouraged my family to visit. They did and ended up staying. America was vastly different than Great Victoria. What was seen as a scandal and snubbed there was greedily welcomed in the U.S. They loved the seedy rumors and drama surrounding my family. My going from almost a princess to the salacious video and decline made them practically famous there. They were suddenly the toast of New York, not an embarrassment, because any publicity in America was seen as a good thing, especially if it was scandalous.

  They finally seemed happy, making friends and always going off to social gatherings. Then Uncle Fredrick died, which sent Aunt Lauren into a tailspin. Now she was suddenly gallivanting off to Thailand and taking yoga classes in Nepal, turning her back on her social clique and instead going to Cambodia for Christmas with a spiritual guide.

  While everyone thought she lost her mind, I was the only one who thought she might actually be trying to find herself again. The person she lost when she chose to stay with Fredrick, turning her back on her heart.

  I almost made the same mistake.

  Making a detour to Ebele’s pen on my way to the shower, her trunk lifted in greeting as she ran in circles, chirping excitedly at seeing me, I realized I would have lost more than my heart.

  I would have lost my soul.

  “This is beautiful, Ava.” I circled the main dining room, the place decorated with lights, homemade ornaments, and cut out streamers the kids in the village created themselves. The tree glistened from the corner, packages sitting underneath, waiting to be opened. But hardly anything under them was bought from a store. Homemade or done by the local women in the village, presents were special here. It was not about the pile or how many you got. It was all about the sentiment inside.

  Christmas music blared from speakers, which we’d be singing throughout the night, enjoying each other’s company. This was home for everyone who worked at the animal sanctuary. We were a family. I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else than with these people I had grown to love so much over the last year. I called my parents earlier, speaking to them and Olivia, getting them to promise to come here next year.

  Feeding and checking up on all our orphans and hurt animals, the day had sped by, and now I had come in to help Ava and the others set up.

  Ava was like our house mom. Married to Zuri, she was the cook and was the happiest, most joyous person I had ever met. The woman was like a living Santa Claus, her aura so pure, you wanted to hug her all the time, hoping that pureness would rub off on you. Every day and every minute, she always spoke about how much she had to be grateful for. People here had so much less, and they were ten times happier and more appreciative of what they did have.

  “Thank you.” She smiled, and even under her dark skin, you could see the blush of my compliment curling up into her eyes. She motioned me over. “Come. Come. Try my holiday punch.”

  “Uh-oh. I heard about this stuff. Dangerous.” I took the cup from her, the smell of alcohol already burning my nose. Lennox and I didn’t get to spend the holiday here last year, meeting Arthur and Mary in Spain instead. But I had heard all about it, making me wish we had.

  Tipping it back, it tasted sweet and strong, my eyes watering as I hit my chest. “Wow. That’s good,” I rasped out.

  “Think you’ll need it. Calm your nerves.” Ava refilled my cup.

  “Calm my nerves?” I replied, waving as Amelia, Dr. Mekena, Noah, and a group of other caregivers and guards strolled into the large open room.

  Ava winked, walking away.

  “Okay.” I took another sip, turning to my friends. “Mel.” I hugged Amelia, already feeling warm from the potent punch. “You have to try this.”

  “Oh, god…that stuff had me dancing on top of the piano last year.” She brushed back her blonde hair, taking a full cup off the table, her sweet round face pink from being outside…or it was from the tall, strapping Australian watching her from the other side of the room? “Think I even wore my skirt on my head as I sang YMCA.”

  “I bet you’ll be wearing
your skirt on your head again, but for completely different reasons.” I nudged her playfully, her gaze following mine across the room. Her cheeks flushed red, her head jerking back like she had been caught red-handed. “We’re just friends. He doesn’t like me like that.”

  “Don’t think he’d agree. We’ll see by tomorrow. Christmas always has a way of bringing out the truth.”

  She peered at me, understanding my meaning. She knew about my history and who I was. Most here did, but no one cared, which made me love all these people so much more.

  “Take it from me. Don’t push away what you want because you’re scared. It has a way of still finding a way back and blowing up in your face.”

  She rubbed my arm, empathy oozing from her. “But look what you have now. And you and Lennox…we all know how amazing you two are together because we hear it at least two or more times a day.” She bumped my arm back.

  A blush heated my face; still, I couldn’t let go of the odd moment with him earlier. “It took a lot of heartache and pain, but yeah, I wouldn’t give any of it up, because it brought me here. I love everything about my life now.”

  “Speaking of your sexy man…” She tipped her head to the doorway, Lennox strolling through dressed in grey cargo pants and a black shirt, his hungry gaze landing on me from across the room, robbing the air from my lungs, forcing me to squeeze my legs together.

  “Fuck that man makes my panties drop.” Amelia shook her head, laughing.