Royal Engagement

by Chance Carter

  “No.”

  But I couldn’t.

  Alex frowned and rose to his feet. “Do you mind if I ask why?”

  “Alex, we’ve only known each other a few months. The media will go ballistic. I don’t know your family well, but I suspect they won’t be too pleased either. It’s just not a good idea.”

  Alex would his arms around my waist and pulled me close, and I didn’t stop him because it felt so good to melt into his arms once more.

  “I don’t care what the media says. Or what my family thinks.” He nuzzled into the side of my neck. “Tamara, I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life. I would rather ride out the media storm of the century with you than live a quiet, pious life without you. All I’m asking is for you to choose me too.”

  It seemed like such an easy thing to do. He made it sound so easy.

  Then, I realized—it was easy.

  I wanted Alex too. I loved him too. And like him, I was willing to risk everything for us to be together, because the thought of being separated felt a little bit like internal bleeding.

  “Yes,” I whispered into his cheek.

  Chapter 28

  Alexander

  I shot upright, holding Tamara’s face with one hand. “What did you say?”

  “Yes.” She smiled, then giggled. “Yes!”

  “Yes!” I screamed, not caring who heard me. I picked her up in my arms and we swung in a circle, laughing together like children. I set her back on her feet and grabbed the ring, slipping it onto her outstretched finger. It fit perfectly.

  Then I pulled her in and kissed her like the world was on fire.

  “I love you,” I murmured between kisses. “Fuck, I love you.”

  “I love you too.” Her voice was hoarse, breaths heavy. “Now let’s get off this roof. I’ve got a room downstairs.”

  Heat lanced down my spine and I growled in my throat. My cock twitched to life, and I wondered if we’d even get as far as the room. Tamara grabbed my hand and pulled me behind her, swinging open the door and practically racing down the hall. She jammed her finger into the call button. My ring sparkled on her hand.

  The doors slid open and the second she pressed the button for her floor, I slammed my fiancé against the wall and claimed her mouth. She moaned into my lips. I deepened the kiss, spearing my tongue into her mouth to stroke hers. My hands traveled the plains of her body with fingers that had been burning to touch her since I last let her go. Her hips, her ass, her delicate curved waist, all felt like heaven to me. I was home.

  The doors opened and we tumbled out, laughing as we made our way down the hallway.

  When had I ever been this happy? This violently, perfectly happy? Tamara made me feel things I didn’t even know it was possible to feel after the loss of my mom. She made me feel things I didn’t even know it was possible to feel period. She was my savior.

  And now she was mine forever.

  We crashed through Tamara’s door and into the empty hotel room without coming up for air. We found the bed by touch alone, and I lowered her onto it like she was a precious jewel.

  The taste of her mouth, her skin, was so familiar to me and yet so foreign all the same. How had I nearly forgotten the way her lips felt like silk on my neck? How had I let the memory of her eyelashes brushing my cheeks slip my mind? I committed each sensation to memory like I might never experience it again. Her hand on my back, pulling my shirt from my trousers. Her lips feathering down my neck, making my pulse jump.

  Hot desire flooded my balls and I jammed my knee between her legs, hiking up her already short dress until I rubbed against the cotton of her panties. Tamara hissed.

  “Alexander...”

  “Yes, Kitty Kat?” I pulled my shirt off and let it fall to the floor.

  She looked up at me with hooded eyes. Pleading eyes. “I missed you.”

  “I missed you too.” I hovered over her, taking in the curve of her chin and the bottomless darkness in her eyes. Her lips burned cherry red against her caramel skin, tempting and sweet. I leaned in to taste them.

  Tamara’s fingers explored the muscles of my chest. Her nails scraped down my abs, stopping just above my belt buckle, then she cupped me through my pants. I grew harder against her palm, pulsing with need.

  “I want to suck you,” she said, and electricity zapped my groin.

  I rolled onto my back and Tamara straddled me. She lifted her dress over her head and flung it across the room, revealing a plain black bra and panties that made my mouth water. Her tits looked sensational, barely contained in their cups. She smiled saucily and undid the clasps of her bra, setting them free.

  I sat up, sucking one nipple into my mouth, cupping her other breast in my hand and squeezing. Tamara leaned back and moaned.

  I moved to the other breast and hiked her further up my body, grinding her pussy against my bulge. I was shaking with desire. Blind with lust. I grazed my teeth over her nipple and made her jump, then soothed my bite with a kiss.

  Tamara surprised me, shoving me back against the bed with two hands on my chest. She was breathing heavy, lips parted enticingly.

  “I told you I want your dick in my mouth, your royal highness,” she said. “Now sit back and let me suck your cock.”

  “Fuck.” I nearly came just from her dirty talk. “Can’t argue with that.”

  She smirked and unzipped my pants, guiding them and my boxers down my legs and off. She grabbed my swollen cock and it looked gigantic in her tiny hands.

  I held my breath as Tamara shimmied down, settling between my thighs with her mouth poised above the tip. I swallowed.

  She started slow, teasing me by kissing the tip, licking the precum but going no further. Then she took one long lick up the side and I groaned.

  “Kitty Kat...” I don’t know whether it was a plea or a warning. I was powerless to her touch and would’ve done every goddamn thing she said. I just needed her mouth on me.

  Tamara chuckled and licked again, this time on the other side. She zigzagged her tongue artfully and then sucked the tip between her lips. My hands bunched in the sheets.

  Without warning, Tamara swallowed me down to the root.

  “Fuck!” I cried out. Her mouth was hot, wet, heavenly. She bobbed up and down my shaft, massaging my balls in one hand and gripping my shaft hard with the other. Stars exploded behind my eyelids.

  I looked down at her and bit my lip as she stared up at me innocently, like it was a lollypop in her mouth and not a hard dick. I swore again and my head fell back against the pillows.

  Tamara doubled her assault, swirling her tongue around the head each time she came up, then sucking right back down. My knees quaked. I gripped the back of her head by the hair and guided her a little deeper, a little faster. She moaned at my touch and it vibrated down my shaft.

  “I’m gonna come,” I moaned. “Fuck, Kitty Kat. Yes.”

  She moaned again and kept sucking. Tension pooled in my groin, tighter and tighter, until finally...

  I came hard, filling her mouth. Tamara kept sucking, milking my cock for cum and swallowing it. Everything went black, and I soon realized I was squeezing my eyes shut so hard I was making myself see fireworks. My eyelids fluttered open and I my heart jumped when I looked down to see Tamara licking the sides of my shaft, like she needed to get every last drop.

  She smiled at me. “That was fun.”

  “Get up here.” I hauled her up my chest and kissed her hard. “Give me five minutes and I’m going show you just how fun that was.”

  Tamara giggled. “I can’t wait.”

  I bundled her against my chest, enjoying the smell of her hair. “Who do you think we should tell first?”

  Tamara stiffened. “About the wedding thing?”

  I laughed. “Yes, about the wedding thing.”

  “I don’t know.” She looked up at me. “Maybe your family?”

  My family would have the most to say, and it would be easier in the long run to get them out of the way first.
They would likely disapprove, but let them. I didn’t care. I meant what I said when I proposed—no matter what happened, I wanted to be with Tamara forever. They could disinherit me for all the good that would do.

  “That’s a good idea,” I said. “And after we tell your family, we’ll need to make an official statement. I’ll have Edward assist me.”

  “An official statement,” she repeated quietly. “Like a press conference? Am I going to get grilled about this?”

  “Shh,” I whispered, stroking her back. “Relax, my love. Everything’s going to be fine.” I kissed her forehead. “We have each other.”

  “We do,” she agreed. “I just need to remember that.”

  I smiled. I could already see what the papers would say about me marrying the Princess of Nowhere star.

  It looked like after all my complaining, I would marry a princess after all.

  Chapter 29

  Tamara

  “Stop fidgeting,” I muttered.

  Joanne’s hands fell to her sides but she started chewing her lip instead. The PA announced a final boarding call for a flight to Tokyo, and Jo eyed the ticket desk like she was considering making a run for it.

  “Mom and Dad love you,” I said. “They understand that you had a rough time. Besides—“ I flipped my hair from my shoulder with a dramatic flair. “Their other daughter is marrying a prince. I doubt they’ll even remember who you are.”

  Jo let out a bark of laughter and bumped my side. “What would I do without you and your selfless devotion?”

  “Heaven knows.” I nudged her back, then caught sight of a familiar shock of red hair bobbing above the crowd slipping through the arrival gate. “Dad!”

  I waved my hand and he waved back, smiling wide. Mom jumped up beside him to see over the tops of the other heads. They forced their way through to us and I flung my arms around my mom first, inhaling her familiar scent. Cinnamon and honey. No matter what she was doing, whether she was cooking curry or disembarking from a transcontinental flight, she always smelled like cinnamon and honey.

  “Look at you!” Mom said. “You’re wasting away.”

  “I am not!” I argued, just as my dad pulled me in for a hug.

  My sister hung back awkwardly, kicking the ground. She hadn’t spoken to them since before she got on that fateful flight months ago.

  “Come here, Jelly Bean,” Dad said, extending one of his arms.

  Jo rushed into the embrace and soon all four of us were hugging. It was a nice moment.

  Until the first flash.

  “We should get to the car,” I said, grabbing my mom’s bag from her. “The press are everywhere these days.”

  “I feel like a proper movie star,” Mom said airily.

  I laughed. “Come on.”

  I led them outside, where a gaggle of press gathered and started shouting questions at us. I ignored them, as I always did, until I realized there was something odd about their questions.

  I never heard my name once. It sounded like they were yelling for Joanne.

  “Joanne! Are you going to clean up your act?”

  “Do you think your behavior is appropriate for future royalty?”

  “Are you sorry, Joanne?”

  “What the hell is going on?” I asked, tugging my sister beside me.

  She was fighting back tears but shook her head. “I don’t know! I haven’t been out since before you guys got engaged. I’ve been spending all my time with Tristan.”

  I believed her, since things in Jo’s life had improved dramatically since she made things right with Tristan. She was looking at a new major, and even thinking about transferring to study over here to stay close to me. I imagine it was convenient that she could get Tristan in one fell swoop too, but I didn’t hold it against her. They were perfect together.

  “Joanne!”

  “Jo!”

  “Hey! Party girl! Over here!”

  We loaded up into the car and I took the backseat to sit with Jo, signaling our driver to start driving.

  “I’m just going to call Alex quickly,” I said, already dialing his number.

  He picked up right away. “Hey! Did you get your parents okay?”

  “Yep. They’re safely stowed in the car and we’re en route to the hotel,” I confirmed. “Weirdest thing at the airport though... There were all these paparazzi hurling questions at Jo about her partying. Do you know anything about that?”

  “Crap,” he muttered. “It’s worse than I thought.”

  My heart dropped. “Alex? What’s going on?”

  Jo’s eyes widened and she swallowed. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, but I could tell it did little to comfort her.

  “A story broke this morning about her ‘wild partying’,” he revealed. “There were pictures of Jo and Teddy doing shots and wearing stupid hats and stuff like that. Everything they said and all the photos they had were from before the engagement, but the press is packaging it as if it’s recent.”

  “Shit. What do we do?”

  “I’m working on it,” he replied. “I’ve got to go, but I’m glad you got your parents okay. Tell them I look forward to meeting them tomorrow. And tell Jo not to worry, that we’re taking care of it.”

  “Okay,” I said, bewildered. “I love you.”

  “I love you too.”

  I set the phone down in my lap and faced the expectant faces of my family.

  “What did he say?” Jo asked.

  Mom frowned. “What’s going on?”

  I explained about the bad press, and assured Jo that Alex was handling it. “He’s got people to deal with these kinds of things,” I said. “It’ll blow over.”

  Inside, however, I was worried. This was exactly what I was afraid of, but I hadn’t anticipated the press going after my family as well. I needed to see what they said.

  I picked my phone up and moved to the corner of the backseat, Googling my sister’s name. Article after article flooded the screen, each one making rude and outlandish statements about my sister’s suitability for the family. They questioned whether she—and by extension, me—were royalty material.

  It was worse than that, though. They picked apart everything in my life. These weren’t the polite pieces drawn up in the hours after our announcement that commented on my lack of breeding without disparaging my character. These were attack pieces. Bad ones, too.

  Not only had my sister apparently offended the public, but the articles found ways to tear me down too, and there was a unilateral agreement among publications that I wasn’t princess material.

  “Sweetie.” My mom’s hand landed over top of my own, dragging my attention away from the screen. “You need to stop worrying so much.”

  “Who said I was worrying?”

  She smiled knowingly and I sighed, locking my phone and stowing it in my back pocket.

  “Tamara, I’m so sorry.”

  Jo looked how I felt—distraught.

  Unfortunately, I didn’t have the option to look how I felt, and I had the talent to make sure I didn’t. I painted on a fake smile and wrapped my arm around my sister’s shoulder.

  “It’s going to be okay,” I said. “Alex is figuring out our next move, but at the end of the day the press will forget all about this, like they forget about everything.”

  I wasn’t so sure. It was one thing the news moving onto the next juicy topic, but those die-hard royal purists wouldn’t be so easy to convince.

  What if this was the end of Alex and I? I wouldn’t blame Jo, even if this windfall did mean I went back to the States empty handed. It wasn’t her fault.

  If the worst did happen, I wondered if I would find it satisfying in any way to know that I’d been right all along—that we couldn’t work.

  No, I realized. It would be heart-shattering. I squeezed Jo’s shoulder tighter and started telling my parents all the exciting things we had planned for them to celebrate the engagement.

  And I hoped—I hoped that the wedding would still happe
n.

  Chapter 30

  Tamara

  It was one thing Alex telling me he would see me today, but another thing believing it when I hadn’t heard from him since our brief phone call yesterday. I was a mess of nerves and self-doubt. On the outside I kept a veneer of ease and enjoyment, for my sister’s benefit more than anything else, but on the inside my insides felt like they’d been through a blender.

  I expected another disaster any moment now. If there wasn’t one on the horizon, wouldn’t Alex have called me already? I didn’t know how his family reacted to our announcement except that they didn’t take it as well as mine, so was his silence a damning sign of them withdrawing their support?

  “More jam?”

  My mom’s polite offer tore me from my thoughts and I nodded. “Thank you.”

  Across from me, Tristan and Jo were each tucking their lunches of gigantic roast beef sandwiches and a mountain of fries. All I could bring myself to eat was a measly scone, and even that didn’t hold much appeal. My stomach was in knots.

  “This hotel is amazing,” Dad commented, chewing his salad. I winced and hoped he wouldn’t talk with his mouth full when and if he ate with the king.

  Tristan brightened and swallowed hastily. “It has a vibrant history, too,” he said. “The original owners catered to the criminal elite. Lots of hidden passageways and trap doors, that kind of thing.”

  Jo stared at Tristan adoringly. I was amazed when he first met my parents and managed to charm them within moments. I thought for sure my mom would hold out, considering he was one of the reasons Jo hadn’t run back home with her tail between her legs at the first sign of trouble, but a little flattery and she was eating out of his hand.

  I just hoped things went as well when they met Alex. If they met Alex. I couldn’t move the niggling feeling of doubt in my gut that told me something bad was on the horizon. I checked my phone for the fourth time since we sat down. Nothing.

  I loaded jam onto my scone and took a big bite.

  “Was the room okay?” I asked, forcing my way into the conversation.

  Mom’s eyes lit up. “Oh, sweetheart. The room was far from okay. It’s got an Olympic sized bathtub and the fluffiest towels you’ve ever seen.” Her smile fell into concern. “You didn’t have to get us such a grand room. You know your father and I would just as happily stay in a Motel 6.”