by B. B. Hamel
What would my people think of me if I made this decision?
Maybe it was better for them to think anything rather than to get killed.
“Your Highness?” Hardcourt asked.
“Send in a small contingent of the Secret Police,” I ordered. “Do not put the city under martial law. Impose a curfew, and that is it. Wait for further commands.”
He nodded. “At once, Your Highness.” He stood and left the room.
I watched him go, a sinking feeling dropping through my body.
I FOUND myself wandering the halls again late into the night, and I knew exactly where I was headed.
No need to pretend. No need to try to deceive myself. I was heading to Bryce’s room.
I stopped outside her door. It was late, and I knew she’d be asleep, but for some reason I was compelled to knock, not even to see her body, but mainly to hear her voice. I’d just made a momentous decision in my reign, and I had no clue how history would view me.
I needed a familiar comfort, and I couldn’t think of anything better than Bryce.
I knocked on her door softly. After waiting a few minutes, I knocked louder.
“Who is that?” I heard her say, sounding sleepy.
“It’s Trip. Sorry I woke you.”
There was a pause, and then the door opened a crack. Bryce stood there, looking worried. She wore a plain white T-shirt and cotton shorts. I could see her breasts outlined clearly under the thin shirt, and I felt my cock stir.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
“Yes,” I said. “I just wanted to talk.”
She bit her lip. “I was asleep.”
“I know. Want a drink?”
She sighed, opening the door. “Okay. Come in.”
I stepped inside, closing the door behind me. I went over to the side table in the middle of the living room and grabbed a bottle. I poured myself a glass of whisky and another for Bryce, and then I handed her a glass. I knocked mine back in one go, and she sipped hers.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“I just did something,” I said, pouring another drink.
“Come on, Trip, it’s late.”
“I guess you haven’t seen the news. There was another shooting in Stehen.”
“Oh no,” she said softly. “I’m so sorry, Trip.”
“The democrats, they’re getting bolder. They managed to escape my forces in the south somehow. We still don’t know how, exactly. I suspect locals are helping them.”
“What can I do for you?”
“Nothing,” I said simply, crossing the room. I looked out the window at the moon-bathed rolling fields and felt empty.
“What choice did you make?” she asked.
“I imposed a curfew in Stehen, and I sent in my Secret Police. Just one group of them, but still.”
“Secret Police?” she asked. “Is that bad?”
“In some ways,” I said. “They’re going to crack down on the city and impose the curfew. They’ll also hunt any rebels in the area. The Secret Police can be . . . brutal, Bryce.”
“Tell them to be less brutal,” she said.
“That’s not how it works. I need total control of this. I need to act, and act now. We’re losing.”
She frowned at that. “But it sounds like you’re doing something bad to your own city.”
“In some ways, yeah, I am. I’m taking away their freedoms in exchange for their safety.”
“Trip,” she said, coming toward me, “is that a good idea?”
“I don’t know,” I said frankly.
“You’re their king. You’re responsible for them.”
“You think I don’t know that?” I said more harshly than I wanted to. I sipped my drink, taking a deep breath. “I’m doing this for them. I’d rather they hate me than be dead.”
She put her hand on my arm, and I felt a thrill run down my spine. “Maybe you’re saving them, but at what cost? If you make them want the rebels to win, you could be hurting them more than you realize.”
“I considered that,” I said.
“But you’re also taking away their freedom. Isn’t that something you hate about the democrats?”
“Yes,” I said, “but I’m not like them. I’m not some violent tyrant, despite what you Americans might think.”
“I don’t think that,” she said, a bit taken aback. She moved her hand from my arm.
I wished she’d put it back, but I realized the moment was dead and gone.
Dead, like all those people at that concert, people who just wanted to enjoy a night out but instead got killed. All for what, for politics?
“No,” I said. “I made the right decision. I need to crush these bastards, and soon. I can’t let them keep killing my people and sowing fear in their hearts.”
“I understand, but I don’t want you to make a decision that will hurt your people, or yourself.”
“I’d never hurt my people,” I said simply, and then I threw back my drink. “I should go.”
“Wait, Trip.”
“Good night, Bryce. Sorry to disturb you.”
I quickly strode out of the room and shut the door behind me.
I didn’t feel better. I shouldn’t have gotten upset with her like that, but what did she understand? It was easy for her, an American, a foreigner, to criticize. It was easy for her to talk big about her American idealism.
But we weren’t Americans. We were Starklandians, and we were different from them. We had our own ways of doing things.
I didn’t like the Secret Police, but they were effective. Right now, I needed something brutally efficient and effective.
No more being the kind king. I was going to be hard, because that was how I was going to put an end to this conflict.
I wandered the mansion for the rest of the night, my mind far, far away.
25
BRYCE
Of course I opened my stupid mouth. I knew that man was stubborn as hell, and I knew he wouldn’t be happy if I pushed him right away. I couldn’t help myself, though. I just had to say something.
In my defense, I was sleepy. He woke me up from a dream about his body pressed against mine, and I found that I was completely wet already. It was more than a little crazy to see him standing at my door after that. He looked so tired and stressed; I couldn’t help but let him inside.
Plus, I had hoped he wanted to do more than talking. I wasn’t ashamed to admit that I wanted a piece of the king that night. I had been more than a little thrown when it seemed like he wanted to discuss politics instead.
The poor man. He had the weight of the country on his shoulders, with a civil war raging and his civilians dying. I wanted to help him, bring him some comfort, but I didn’t know enough about the situation to say the right thing. I was a stranger in these lands.
But he shouldn’t get so annoyed with me. He should realize that I didn’t understand what was happening and that I’d interpret the situation through my American perspective.
The next day, I got up early and wandered out of the house. I didn’t want to run into Trip, so I decided to go for a walk. He was probably sleeping anyway, but I wanted to play it safe. I got a little coffee in a paper cup and carried it down the path.
It was a bit chilly in the morning, and a thin mist hung over the green, dew-covered grass. I was the only person for miles, or at least that was how it felt. Truthfully, there was a security guy following nearby, hanging back to be respectful, but watching over me. I thought it might be George again, but I couldn’t be sure from a distance.
I hiked up along a short incline and down toward the stream. I was wearing running shoes, tight black jeans, and a gray zip-up hooded sweatshirt. My hair was up in a messy bun, and I didn’t expect to see a single person, which was what I wanted.
I needed to think. I needed to figure out what the hell I was doing here, in Starkland, following Trip around on his crazy trip.
I’d been invited originally to potentially marry
him. He needed a popularity boost, and they thought I might make a good suitor. Okay, that was fine. I understood that. Trip had people taking care of that sort of thing for him, people like that minister Lynette. I doubted he’d had much say in that decision.
Now, though, things were different. We’d been together and we’d survived together. I was beginning to feel a closeness with him that I couldn’t describe, despite the two of us coming from completely different worlds. He was the king of some foreign European country, and I was just a normal American girl. You didn’t get much more different than that.
But we had something in common. We had a shared desire. Maybe it was a desire for each other, or maybe it was just a desire to touch each other. Either way, there was a magnetism there.
Despite how much of a cocky jerk Trip could be. He had a good heart, and I knew that deep down. Maybe he pushed boundaries a little too hard, but he got away with it most of the time.
I found myself walking along the stream, mud sticking to my shoes. I smiled to myself, sipping my coffee and enjoying the early morning air. I crested a small hill and saw the copse of trees up ahead.
I stopped, hesitant. That was a special place, I knew. I wasn’t sure if I should go in there without Trip.
But something compelled me. I wasn’t sure what it was, but something pushed me forward.
I continued down along the stream, toward the magical forest. I got that feeling again as I walked amidst the Aspen trees. I felt like I was in a magical world, and in a lot of ways I was. I’d never been so close to real power before, but now I was sleeping in the same house with it and talking to it in the middle of the night like it was no big deal.
Trip was real power, or at least his position was real power. He held it so gracefully, like it meant nothing, but he was the king after all. It terrified me, but it also excited me more than I wanted to admit. Trip was a man who could create and destroy, and he could do so easily.
I moved farther into the forest and then suddenly stopped in my tracks. Standing not far away was a man wearing black. Fear gripped my chest as I had a flashback to that night.
I stared at him and didn’t move a muscle. Slowly, the man turned toward me and nodded.
It took a second for me to realize that it was Al, Trip’s bodyguard.
I took a deep breath, steadying myself. It was only Al, standing out in the woods. As I looked around, I realized that Trip’s entire team was spread out around me. They were impressively good at being unobtrusive, to the point where I didn’t even notice them.
But then it hit me: If Trip’s men were here, that meant Trip was nearby.
I had a deep, stabbing nervousness in my stomach. I had gotten away from the house to avoid running into Trip, but somehow I had stumbled right into his private spot.
I took a deep breath, steadying myself. I wasn’t backing down. I might as well go right for it and be a freaking big girl instead of acting like a scared child. He was just the king after all.
Scratch that. He was just Trip.
I continued forward, knowing where I’d find him. The security team let me through, each man nodding to me as I looked at him. I continued on past them for another few minutes, the aspens getting denser and denser until I spotted Trip up ahead.
He was leaning up against the tree with the swing tied to it, his arms crossed. He was looking out over the stream as it wound through the forest.
“I thought that was you,” he said as I approached.
I stopped. “How’d you know?”
“I heard you coming a mile away,” he answered, laughing. “You stomp like a giant.”
“I do not,” I said. “I glide. I’m a lady.”
He grinned and turned toward me. The grin slowly disappeared. “Look, I was an ass last night. I’m getting sick of apologies, so I won’t make one.”
“You were an ass,” I agreed. “Apology accepted.”
He laughed and looked back at the stream. I walked up and stood next to him, my hands wrapped around the cup of coffee.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?”
I nodded. “Yeah, it is. It’s not weird that I came here, right?”
“It’s not private or anything,” he said. “I don’t mind if you come here.”
“Thanks.” I leaned up against the tree, inches away from him. “I’m surprised you’re awake.”
“I find it hard to sleep during a crisis.”
“That’s probably not the worst trait.”
“Maybe. I can think better when I can actually sleep, though.”
“Good point. Wouldn’t want the king to make some horrible decision while sleep deprived.”
He frowned and looked away. “Exactly.”
“Hey,” I said, reaching out and touching his arm. “I was just kidding.”
“I know,” he said, looking back at me and smiling. “I know. There’s just a lot going on.”
“How are things?”
“About the same as last night. You know, when I drunkenly got annoyed with you.”
I smiled softly. “Yeah. I remember.”
He stared at me for a second and then looked back over my shoulder. He made a gesture.
“What was that?” I asked.
“I just sent my team back to the estate,” he said. “And your man, too.”
“So we’re alone out here?”
He nodded. “We are.”
I felt that nervous spike again. I realized that I was dripping wet, and I had been since I saw him standing out here. He was wearing a pair of perfectly fitting jeans and a tight, simple T-shirt that made his muscular chest look incredible.
He turned toward me. I pressed my back flush against the tree.
“What now?” I asked him.
“You know what now,” he said, coming close to me. He took my hips and pulled them against him. I gasped softly.
“No,” I said. “I don’t know.”
He smirked and moved his lips up against my ear. “Say it,” he ordered.
“I can’t.”
“Your king commands you.”
I opened my mouth but didn’t know what I was about to say.
26
TRIP
I could feel my cock hard against her as I pinned her against the tree.
“I want you,” she said simply.
I smirked at her. “I know you do.”
And then I kissed her. I kissed her hard, my lips pressing against hers, starving for this moment. It felt like this was the first time we’d been alone since that night we were almost killed, even though we’d been alone a few times since then. This was the first time it felt like she was really with me and not worried about something else.
Or more that it felt like this was the first time I was really with her. My mind had been everywhere but Bryce. Not in this moment, though. I wasn’t letting this moment pass me by.
I pulled her hips against me harder as I kissed her, my tongue and lips working against hers. I ran my hands down her body and slowly found the button of her jeans. I unfastened it and pulled her zipper down. I began to kiss her neck.
“Right here?” I asked.
“I don’t know.” She gasped as I slowly pushed my right hand down her panties. She was dripping wet, absolutely soaked. I smiled to myself.
“Tell me you want me to fuck you right here in this forest.”
“I need it,” she whispered.
“I know. You need this thick cock between your legs. You’ve been dripping for it since that night, haven’t you?”
“Yes,” she gasped. I pushed two fingers deep inside her soaking pussy. “Ah shit, yes.”
“You fucking bad girl. You want the king’s cock right here in the open, where anybody could see us.”
“We’re alone,” she gasped. “They left.”
“They did,” I agreed, grinning. “They absolutely did.”
I worked her pussy, her back pressed against the tree. Her hands gripped my muscular arms as my fingers fucked her pussy, pr
essing deep inside her. I pulled back and rubbed her clit. She stared at me, her mouth hanging open, and I just grinned at her, loving the way she fell into it. She couldn’t stop herself even if she wanted to, and we both knew it. The girl was practically panting as I worked her soaking pussy.
She pressed her hand on my chest and pushed me back. I let myself be moved, and she dropped to her knees. I grunted as she worked my jeans open, tugging them down. She wasted no time and pulled my briefs down along with them. I watched, starving and intense, as she took my hard cock in her hand and slowly licked me from root to tip.
I groaned as she took my cock into her mouth and began to suck me. I let her do the work, my hands on her head and in her hair as she sucked my cock, working my thick shaft. I took her and let her roll up and down my length, loving the way her tongue worked my skin.
“Work that fucking cock,” I said to her. “Go ahead. Don’t be fucking shy. Suck that cock like you’re starving.”
She moaned, working me faster. I pressed her down, pushing my cock down her throat. She groaned, taking my thick cock into her mouth and throat. I gasped and took her, fucking her mouth slowly.
She pulled back with a deep breath, staring at me. A thin line of spit followed from her lip to my cock, and she took it with her hand and then worked it into my tip. She began to jerk me, biting her lip.
I took her head and pressed my cock back between her lips. I wanted her to suck that big fucking cock so badly, wanted her to suck me surrounded by these trees. It made me so fucking hard that she wanted me here and wasn’t backing down.
She was taking it to the next level, and I groaned as she jerked me while sucking me. I pressed her down and held her there. She moaned, and I grunted my pleasure and then let her go. She gasped and moaned, jerking my cock off.
I pulled her to her feet and pressed her back against the tree. I yanked down her jeans, not wasting a single second. I got her panties off and tossed them aside. Her pussy was beautiful and dripping wet right there in the open air.
