Courted By The Mountain Prince: An Arranged Marriage Romance

by Frankie Love

  19

  I hear her on the phone with her sisters. I rest my forehead against the bathroom door, a towel wrapped around my waist, my heart beating fast. I know I fucked everything up. I had this flash of insecurity, and went back to being the man I’ve always been.

  Right now, though, as I listen to Violet cry, I don’t want to be the man I’ve always been. I want to be more, better.

  I want to be hers.

  I open the door and cross the room to where Violet is curled up on the couch. The phone is still in her hand, and her eyes are rimmed in red.

  “Sorry,” she says, sitting up, wiping her eyes. “I just … I’ll get dressed real quick.” She stands and tries to move away quickly.

  But I grab her wrist and pull her back to the couch.

  “Don’t, Hunter. Don’t make this harder than it already is.” She starts crying again, covering her face with her hands.

  I take hold of them. I want to see her face. I want to see those eyes. I want them to meet mine, because it’s my way into her heart, and I hope it’s her way into mine.

  “I’m such a fucking idiot,” I tell her. “I can’t believe I said those things to you. I said those things out of fear. Here I’ve been, this whole time, thinking you’re the one who’s too terrified to do anything. But it’s me who scared. It’s me who ran the first time things got hard.”

  “What are you saying?” she asks, shaking her head, confused. “What do you mean?

  And I get it. I’ve confused the fuck out of her.

  “I’m sorry. You deserve more of a man, and I mean it. You do deserve that. But dammit, Violet, I want to try be that man for you. I want to be that man you deserve. I don’t know if I’m capable of that, but I want to try. I will do anything to win your heart.”

  I hold her hands, needing her to believe me. I’ve never been more sincere my life.

  “Hunter, you turned on me so quickly,” she says, her voice cracking. “Last night was perfect; I don’t understand what happened. Help me understand. Because I want to believe you. I want to trust you. I want to be with you. But I have to understand you.”

  “I told you before, I didn’t want to be a king. Violet, you are royalty, through and through. You want to help people, make their lives better. You want to give back. You were born to be Queen. I hate that you can’t be Queen of Elexia, and I can’t change that. But I can change something else.”

  “What? What can you change, Hunter?”

  “You can help me rule Cressia with your passion and strength. This country is no island with dolphins and fucking palm trees. I can’t offer you that. But I can offer you majestic white mountains, and sunsets so bright they makes your eyes burn with possibility. I can’t give you a warm island, but I can give you warm arms to hold you. Maybe that could be enough? Maybe I could be enough for you.”

  “Hunter,” she manages before her face is flooded with tears again. “That’s more than enough for me.”

  I pull her to me, wrap my arms around her like I promised I would and kiss her. I kiss her with a kiss she deserves. I kiss her deep, our mouths connecting, and our hearts colliding.

  The blanket around her falls, and the towel at my waist is undone. Our naked bodies are hot as the warmth of this cabin surrounds us—but more than that, the heat of the moment fills us.

  My hands move lower over her ass, and she straddles me on the couch. I move my fingers between her thighs, feeling her already wet cunt, my fingers running up and down her slit. She kisses me deeper, harder. Kisses me like she needs this.

  I plunge a finger into her, my thumb circling over her clit. She rolls against me in pleasure, and I move a second finger into her, moving in and out against her G spot nice and slow, taunting her.

  Her pussy lets me know it wants more and I press a third finger into her; she groans, and I begin to move my fingers in and out of her.

  She pours over my thighs. Her release is fast and furious, like a floodgate opened, and I want to lick her pussy clean.

  I pull her to me and squeeze her ass nice and hard. Her tits press against my chest. My fingers graze along the crack of her ass, my middle finger pressing into her tight little asshole, and she moans as I press the finger deeper into her, filling both of her holes in a way she wasn’t expecting.

  On her knees, she offers me more access to her body. I press my finger deeper into her ass, and continue to finger-fuck her pussy until her wetness is slick across her thighs. Then I pull my hand back and slap her ass.

  “I feel full, in the best way.”

  “I’m going to fill you some more, Sunshine. It’s time you got down on your knees.” I squeeze her ass again with both of my hands.

  She’s on her knees before me, her body excited from my fingering, and my hard cock is throbbing in her line of vision.

  She seems to know what to do; she runs her hands over my shaft, stroking me. One hand rolls over my balls, squeezing them ever so gently. Her head lowers, her mouth widening around my tip.

  I already see pre-come releasing from it, and I watch as her tongue swipes over my head, licking my come. Then she licks her lips, and I swear my cock is full of come. All I want is to fill her mouth with it.

  My head falls back on the cushions of the couch as her mouth takes me. Her lips are tight around me, and she bobs her head up and down, up and down, like a good lover should.

  I put my hand on the back of her head, encouraging her to take more of me. I know she’s tentative because this is all new, but when my cock hits the back of her throat, that’s when the wild animal inside of her will be unleashed.

  I’m right.

  She starts sucking on me harder and harder. She wants more of me, and she pulls me out of her mouth, lets her tongue run up and down my hard ridges; she strokes me with her hand as she lets both of my balls drop into her mouth. She rolls around my length, sucking ever so softly, then puts my cock back in her mouth, sucking me off until I’m ready to explode.

  “I’m going to come, Sunshine,” I tell her. “You ready for it?”

  She doesn’t answer; she sucks me more vigorously. My release shoots from my cock into her warm, willing mouth. She swallows me, but I have more come and she keeps sucking.

  “Let me come all over you,” I tell her.

  She obeys, moves her head but continues to stroke my shaft, as my come shoots ribbons across her gorgeous tits. She keeps stroking me until she’s coated with my come.

  She looks at me and smiles. “You’re still hard,” she tells me. “Does that mean you can fuck me now?”

  I grin, shaking my head at this perfect woman.

  This woman who is mine.

  20

  The drive back to the castle is filled with sidelong glances and laced fingers and nervous laughter. It’s like we had to get through that fight to come out on the other side. The other side of understanding one another.

  Of course talking to my sisters this morning reminded me how far I am from home, and my heart aches for Elexia. But I want to give this a chance, this new life here with Hunter.

  It’s not like I have any other choice … so of course that makes the decision easy.

  Back at the castle, the King is pleased to see us holding hands, and our bright, love-drenched faces. But I lower mine, knowing I’ll blush if I start thinking too much about the way Hunter made love to me.

  Except lowering my face does nothing to hide what we did. Everyone knows what happened back at Hunter’s cabin. Upon our arrival, Jemma walks into the sitting room and hands us a tablet.

  A news story just broke—featuring me, draped in a blanket, gaping at a half-dressed Hunter, who’s in the snow on top of the cameraman.

  Hunter’s fist is raised, and the look of horror on both my face and the cameraman’s face is priceless.

  Well, not priceless—apparently, every story has a price.

  “Not the press we were hoping for, but everyone is excited that you’ll be marrying this not-so-virginal vixen.” Hunter’s father�
��s lips press into a grim smile, as he tries to spin the story.

  “I swear his camera was broken.” Hunter paces around the sitting room, running his hand over his jaw. “I thought the footage was ruined. I should have had security confiscate it, but I was torn up about Violet.”

  “Oh, there’s nothing to be alarmed about,” Jemma says, glancing down at the tablet. “Everyone likes a scandal, especially a few days before a wedding. It actually sells the whole true love angle. It’s a good thing.”

  “So this isn’t going to mess with the public’s perception of Hunter or me?” I ask, biting my bottom lip, mortified that my father and sisters will see that photograph. Heat rises to my cheeks as we speak.

  “Things like this blow over quickly,” the king says. “How many stories about Hunter have you read over the years? Probably dozens or more.”

  “It’s surprising how easygoing you are about this entire situation,” Hunter says, looking at his father. “A week ago you would have been enraged at this image.”

  “Yes, but now I know you’re marrying her. Everything is different. And, hopefully soon enough, there will be a new Royal Prince running around this castle.”

  I swallow, uneasy with all this attention. Realizing I better get used to it if I’m going to be Princess of this country.

  No one would ever have come to Elexia for a royal story. We were impoverished princesses, not exactly front-page material. Now my face is splashed across every media outlet in the world.

  Hunter squeezes my hand, and whispers in my ear. “You want me to wrap you in a sheet later?”

  I blush, feeling exposed. Feeling very far from home.

  The next two days are spent in meetings and trainings and preparations for the big day.

  Jemma has me at a spa where my body is waxed, scrubbed, polished, and shined. My hair is cut and colored, lash extensions are applied, and my brows are groomed with precision.

  My wardrobe is delivered, and the walk-in closet is filled to the brim with velvet capes and fur-lined coats, leather boots and wool dresses, all in hunter green. Most everything I own is that shade, in fact.

  I smile, liking that detail, liking the fact that as Hunter’s wife, I will be set apart as his.

  It feels good to be claimed by someone like this. After all, I could have been sent away for an arranged marriage to man that didn’t want me.

  But Hunter is showing me he wants me, in a million and one ways. With stolen kisses, with long glances, with the way he cups my ass cheek every time he passes me.

  We spend the next two days filled with sexually wrought energy. We can’t sleep together here at the castle; it would be much too obvious and lack the propriety a royal wedding must hold.

  Of course my pussy aches to be filled with Hunter again, but I must admit to liking the way his head falls back when he has to adjust himself after I pull him into a coat closet and kiss him.

  Or when I pull him into a more discreet closet, tear down his pants, and fill my mouth with his cock again.

  And now the wedding is a day away. Sitting in my room, I’m wishing my family could be here with me, but I know that it would look really bad for everyone to fly to my wedding when the rest of the country is in so much need.

  When the phone rings, I recognize my father’s number. I’m grateful to hear from my family, but I’m also a little nervous. My sisters have ignored my calls for two days, and I want to explain that things are better with Hunter, that the wedding is on. I think my family must be ashamed by the photographs of me. I’m a disgrace.

  I’m assuming Father is calling to give me a piece of his mind.

  “Hello, Father,” I say.

  “My darling, Violet, are you well?”

  “I’m fine, Father.” I swallow back my nerves. “I can’t quite believe I’m going to be a wife tomorrow.”

  “Well, that’s what I’m calling about.”

  “Oh?” My stomach drops.

  “Turns out,” he says. “You don’t have to marry him at all.”

  My eyes narrow in confusion, and I try to grapple with the words my father is speaking. They make no sense. “I don’t need to marry Hunter? But that’s what you sent me here for, Father.”

  “It was, yes, but I spoke with your sisters. It appears you had quite a heartfelt conversation with them recently, is that right?”

  “Yes, I did,” I tell him, remembering the tearful conversation at Hunter’s cabin.

  “After the call they were quite upset, and when they told me how distraught you were, it broke my heart. And after seeing the … ahem, photograph of you and him—well, it confirmed that he is not the man for you.”

  I don’t know what to say to that, so I say nothing at all.

  “Violet, you have always been such a responsible young woman. Ever since your mother died, I could always count on you to do the right thing. You never put up a fight; you never argue or resist. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you throw a tantrum in your life. And I think I knew that when I offered you to Hunter.

  “I knew you wouldn’t resist a match with a man who might be less than ideal. Everyone knows Hunter’s reputation, and everyone has seen the spread of you at his cabin.”

  My father’s voice is low and gravelly. He doesn’t sound like the cheerful happy man he usually is, the man who is oblivious to the situation at hand in Elexia. The man who is oblivious to the situation with his daughters.

  It seems like now he understands the weight of the situation.

  Except this time he’s so wrong.

  “I’m sorry I put you through all of this,” he tells me. “That is why I spoke with the king and queen of the country whose prince your sister Iris is betrothed to. The truth is, she’s marrying a man who is perhaps … even less desirable than Hunter. He lives alone in the woods, hasn’t shown his face in public in years. And I drove a hard bargain, but I persuaded them to double the dowry they offered for Iris’s hand.”

  “What are you saying, Father?”

  “I’m saying you don’t have to marry Hunter. You can come back to Elexia, help me rule here. God knows I need your help, and I’ve been too stubborn to ask for it before. You don’t have to marry at all. Iris is on board with this plan. She wants to leave Elexia, and she wants to be married. But you, Violet—you never did. I can’t ask you to do that, to do something you don’t want to do when the thing you want is right here waiting for you.”

  I swallow, caught off guard by this conversation. It’s literally the last thing I ever expected.

  Everything I’ve wanted is being offered to me. An opportunity to rule the country I love, with my father’s blessing, and we would still have all the money we need from the dowry provided by Iris’s alliance.

  “You’re saying I can call off this marriage, and move home and rule Elexia with your blessing, and—”

  “Yes, Violet. You can live happily ever after.”

  21

  The wedding is in one day. One day before this playboy of a mountain prince can recite my vows and pledge my love to Violet forever.

  I sure as fuck did not see this coming.

  I love this woman.

  I love her, and I need her to know that.

  This marriage may be a marriage of convenience, arranged by our fathers and set in motion by two countries, but somewhere our hearts got involved. Somewhere along the line, my heart became hers.

  “Father,” I say, walking into his office. It’s crazy how a week ago when I walked into the same space I was pissed off. I thought he was ruining my life, instead of giving it meaning.

  “How is it going with the wedding preparations?” he asks, standing from his desk and walking towards me. He claps his hand on my back, as I’m now in his good graces.

  I’ll take it. The last thing I want is to cause any problems. I don’t want anything to ruin Violet’s wedding day.

  “I came because I wanted to ask for Mother’s ring,” I explain. “I know we were giving Violet the royal jewels, th
e ones expected of her. And I want her to wear the crown jewels, of course, but I also want her to have something that means something to me. Something sentimental.”

  “You know what you’re asking of me?”

  “I do. I know it’s an item you cherish, so I understand if you can’t part with it. But I cherish Violet, and I want to show her that.”

  “I didn’t think you were sentimental, Hunter. I treasure that ring with all that I am. But of course your mother would have wanted your bride to wear it. She would have wanted it to be worn by the woman who loves her son. Hunter, is this more than a marriage of convenience?”

  “It is, Father. I love Violet, and I believe she loves me, in the truest sense. Sacrificial love and all that. And I know I sound like a sappy ass, talking like that. But it’s the truth. And I believe it’s her truth, too.”

  “Of course you can have the ring, son. There’s nothing I’d like more in the world.”

  I grin broadly at Jemma, who’s helped arrange the proposal. We stand in a small white circular tent. The floor is covered with white sand and a projector has created a 360-degree panorama of the ocean. Potted palm trees and tropical flowers are scattered about, and birds of paradise and parrots chatter around us.

  I can’t give her Elexia at this short notice, but I can give her a promise.

  A promise that I will bring her back to her native land as often as possible, that I will do everything in my power to make alliances with her country, to support the infrastructure that she desperately wants to build there. I promise to support her dreams and passion, and show her ways to love Cressia as well.

  “She’s going to be surprised, Hunter.” Jemma claps her hands, seeing that her work here is done. “I’ll go get her now then?”

  “That would be perfect.”

  Jemma leaves the tent, and as she opens the door I see the sparkling white snow outside. I see the mountains off in the distance, and take a deep breath, inhaling the pineapple-scented air that wafts through the tent. Heaters pump in that perfect 83-degree air that Violet loves so much.