by Madison Faye
Chapter 7
Emilia
“Well, that was an…interesting night.”
I turned the car off, and silence filled the garage. I glanced at Vi.
“That’s one word for it,” I mumbled.
She frowned at me. “You’ve been quiet since I bumped into you at the ball.”
“Just tired,” I muttered quickly, stepping out of my dad’s old vintage sports car. Vi followed, eyeing me over the roof.
“You gonna tell me where you disappeared to back there?”
My face reddened, but I pursed my lips. “Nowhere. I told you, I—”
“Yeah, you thought you saw a guard coming towards you after I went to get drinks and you panicked and ran. So you keep saying.” She arched a suspicious brow at me, but I shot it right back.
“Hey, you disappeared too, lady.”
This time, it was Vi’s turn to blush.
It hadn’t been easy to track my friend down after I’d run from Rian’s throne room. There I was worried that I’d just left her hanging, but it turns out, she’d never made it back from getting champagne either, even if she was keeping her mouth shut about what’d happened.
Eventually, I’d found her in a side hallway, panting and red faced when she’d spotted me.
“Um, speak?”
She quickly shook her head as we hurried out of the garage for the main house to change out of our gowns before Marta and the hags got home.
“Hell no, you first.”
“Not a chance,” I said quickly, my mind racing at the memory of what I’d done, and of the man I’d done those things with.
“Em, come on. You’ve got this crazy look on your face, your cheeks are all flushed, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you went and got laid when we got separated back there.”
My lips pursed hard, and the blush crept over my face without any chance of me stopping it. Vi’s eyes went wide, and her hand suddenly shot out to grab my arm, stopping me cold.
“Hang the fuck on. Did you get laid?”
“At a royal ball?” I wrinkled my nose. “Of course not, God.”
She peered at me suspiciously. “I think that’s bullshit.”
I laughed nervously, pushing past her to head down the stairs to my room in the basement. She followed behind.
“Think whatever you want, I was just trying not to get busted by hiding out.”
“Yeah? And when you were hiding, did you just happen to fall into a some sort of magical hickey-potion that left those marks on your neck?”
My hand flew to my neck, the gasp catching on my lips. Vi smirked, giving me that sort of “caught ya” look she was great at.
“Vi—”
“Hey, hey,” she grinned, holding her hands up. “You know I’m not judging. I’m just curious why you’re being all cagey about it.”
“I’m not…” I sighed. “Forget it, Okay?”
“Yeah, not likely, but I’ll drop it for now. How about that?”
“That works,” I grinned. “Thanks.”
“Yeah, don’t expect the same mercy later when I grill you about what the heck happened to you tonight,” she giggled. She turned and started to pull her gown off, lifting it up over her head to pull away. Her long dark hair tangled in the dress, pulling up with it and suddenly baring her neck and shoulders.
My eyes went wide.
“Oh now what is that? Hmmmm?!” I marched over to my friend, spun her around, and jabbed a finger at her neck. I grinned triumphantly. “That is totally a hickey!”
Vi’s face went red. “No, it’s just…”
“Oh please, tell me what it is,” I grinned at my best friend, relishing turning the tables on her. Suddenly, my eyes darted across to the other side of her neck, and my brow shot up.
Holy crap, she had two sets of hickey-tracks creeping up each side of her neck and collarbone.
“Good God, did he get bored with one side and attack the other?” I snorted.
Vi fumbled over her words, blushing furiously. “No, it’s not like that.”
I laughed as I tugged on some sleep shorts and a t-shirt. “What, were there two of ‘em or something?”
The room went silent, and slowly, my jaw dropped. I whirled back to my friend, seeing the wide-eyed look of something hot and wild on her face, her cheeks bright red.
Okay, what?
“Vi?” I whispered.
“Em…” She bit her lip, her look wild. “Can we drop it?”
“Um, no, we most certainly cannot! Did you for real get hickeys from two different people tonight?”
My friend looked down, biting her lip. Slowly, she nodded.
I hooted, my jaw practically hitting the floor. “Okay that is WAY crazier than kissing King—”
I snapped my mouth shut, but it wasn’t fast enough.
Stupid, stupid mouth.
This time, it was Vi’s turn to stare at me like I’d just showed her proof of aliens.
“Hang the fuck on!” she squealed. “King fucking RIAN? Those hickeys are from the fucking King??”
How the hell was I even going to pretend to lie at that point? And to my best friend?
“Vi,” I swallowed. “Look, you can’t say anything!”
“How in the hell does that even happen!”
“I don’t know!” I moaned, slumping down on my bed. Vi whistled, pulling a sleep shirt on and dropping down next to me.
“Holy. Shit,” she said incredulously, whistling lowly as she shook her head. “This is huge.”
That’s not the only thing, I somehow stopped myself from saying as I blushed furiously.
“You seriously kissed King Rian.”
I nodded. “In his throne room.”
Vi barked out a laugh, shaking her head incredulously.
“And it was more than kissing….” I mumbled.
She yanked her gaze to me, her eyes wide and a grin over her face. “Really?”
I nodded.
“Can I tell you a secret?”
I choked out a laugh. “Please.”
“Mine was more than kissing too,” she whispered.
My jaw dropped. “And there were two different guys? Holy shit, dude, you had quite the night.” I frowned. “I mean, did the second one know about the first?”
“Uh…” Vi’s face went red.
“Vi?”
“Yeah…” she said slowly. “Yeah, he knew.”
“Wow, that’s—”
“Because it was at the same time.”
This time, I swear my jaw hit the ground.
“Details. Now,” I whispered. Vi shook her head.
“Later? I promise, after what you just spilled, I owe you. I just need to wrap my head around tonight first.” She grinned. “I mean, my best friend is going to be Queen. That’s a lot to take in.”
I rolled my eyes. “I am not going to be Queen, Vi.”
“You sure about that? You know that this whole ball was for him to find someone.” She waggled her brow at me. “Sure sounds to me like he did.”
I bit my lip, looking away. “It wasn’t like that.”
“Says who?”
“Me, I guess.”
She smiled. “I think we’ve both got a lot to think about.”
I nodded.
“We’ll talk tomorrow?”
“Yeah,” I mumbled. “We’ll do that.”
Vi hugged me goodnight before she headed back upstairs for her quarters off the kitchen.
I hid the gowns back in my closet before I slid under my covers. My heart raced, my pulse pumping like fire through my body as I replayed the night’s events. I mean holy shit, there was so much I wanted to know about what the hell my friend had gotten up to. But it was my own crazy night that took over as I turned off the lights.
I’d kissed King Rian.
No, that was putting it too lightly. I’d freaking lost myself in King Rian. Hard. This wasn’t just about the way he’d touched me, or kissed me, or tied me to his throne and te
ased me. This wasn’t about the fact that I was still aching for that gorgeous, huge cock of his.
No, this was deeper than all of that.
It’d happened like lightning — something I’d never seen coming that hit me out of nowhere. But I knew there was no denying it. I’d fallen that night, and I’d fallen hard. It was crazy, and I knew that’s not how love was supposed to work, but I knew what I felt.
I sank into the covers, memories of his hands on me coming rushing back. My own hands moved to where he’d slid his hands over me, and heat trembled through me. Slowly, I peeled my t-shirt off and kicked off my sleep shorts and panties. Naked under my covers, I shivered in ecstasy, the thoughts of what I’d done rushing back.
I squeezed my thighs together, and instantly, I could feel the slick, wet heat blooming between them. I lay back, my hands trailing over my body. My fingers teased my nipples like he had. My hands slid down my tummy and my hips, just like Rian’s had. I spread my legs, remembering how he’d pushed them apart and slipped them over his shoulders.
My fingers teased over my bare slit, and I gasped quietly in the darkness, remembering his tongue on me. His royal, filthy tongue.
Fingers spread my lips and slid inside, curling deep as I groaned in pleasure. I closed my eyes, pretending I was back in that throne, pretending it was his hands on me. In my fantasy, we weren’t interrupted. In the fantasy, I tried to imagine what it would feel like to feel that thick cock sliding into me. How good he’d feel giving me more than I’d ever even dreamed of.
My fingers plunged in and out, the wet sounds of my eager pussy filling my bedroom as I imagined Rian tying me to his throne and fucking the hell out of me with every inch of that gorgeous cock.
The orgasm hit me hard, and I turned my head to bury the scream in my pillow as the wave crashed over me.
I sank into the sheets, my heart still racing as I tried to catch my breath.
It’d certainly been a night, Vi had that right. But slowly, the regret and the sadness took over. It’d been a hell of a night, but I knew that’s all it’d ever be.
Nothing had changed. I still wasn’t a princess. I was still an imposter at that ball tonight, and I still wasn’t what a king like Rian was ultimately looking for.
So, I knew what I had. A memory. A lovely, amazing, scorching hot memory that I’d never forget. But, I knew that’s all I’d ever have with King Rian.
I closed my eyes that night without the slightest clue how wrong I was…
Chapter 8
Rian
“Cheers.”
Xavier clinked his glass to mine. Hayden raised his from his chair by the large window of my study that overlooked the central courtyard of the palace.
“So,” Xavier stroked his silvered beard and took a sip of his bourbon. “Was the night a success?”
I rolled my eyes, slugging back some of the amber liquid. “You know tonight was nothing I wanted any part of.”
He and Hayden chuckled.
“Well, you made that fairly well known when you disappeared for most of it,” Hayden snorted. “You going to let us know where you went?”?
“No.”
He smiled, shaking his head. “Well, did your absence prove fruitful in the point of the whole ball tonight?”
“You mean did I find my Queen?”
“You were gone too long to not be gone with someone,” Xavier said evenly.
I frowned. “Where I was is my own business.”
Hayden shook his head, chuckling. “For fuck’s sake, man, did you at least get laid so you can stop walking around with a stick up your ass?”
I glared at him. “As I said, where I was is my own—”
“That’s a no to getting laid then, huh?” Xavier grinned at me.
Dicks.
Only close friends of mine like these two, or Adam and Shane could talk to me like this. But the thing is, they were right. Well, half right. I knew I’d been walking around with a stick up my ass, though it wasn’t because I wasn’t getting laid, as they’d put so eloquently. I was King — “getting laid” would have been as easy as snapping my fingers. But, that’s not what I’d been after, or what I’d been missing.
I’d wanted more than that. I’d wanted something real — not a woman for the night, I wanted a woman for a lifetime.
…And I was pretty sure I’d found her that night.
I’d found her. I’d kissed her, I’d lost myself in her, and tasted her, and made her come for me. And then, after all of that — after getting so close to what I never thought I’d find — I let her get away. I’d let her run from me. I’d chased, of course, after I’d snapped out of it. But that time, it’d been in vain.
She’d run, and I’d lost her. And I didn’t even know her name.
I sighed. Fuck it. I didn’t even know why I was putting up these walls for some of my closest friends.
“There was a girl tonight,” I said, my voice measured and heavy. Xavier’s brow went up, and my older friend stroked his beard again, sitting back against my desk.
“Oh?”
Xavier was like a brother to me. Well, a far older brother, but a brother nonetheless. We’d both lost someone in the coup that almost claimed our kingdom. Though, by the time she’d turned to terrorism, Xavier’s ex-wife Shana was already a far different person than the one he’d married. Just the same, I knew he’d been burned by what happened. I was happy for him these days, now that he’d found the love he’d always wanted in Lola.
Hayden, also alone for longer than a man should be, had also found the second half to his heart in Callie. He’d seen what he wanted and he’d taken it, heedless of the ramifications or the dangers. Callie had been betrothed to another king, King Milton of Robling. A dangerous, cruel, scheming bastard.
Hayden had plucked Callie away from him though, on the very day she was supposed to marry the piece of shit. I admired him for that. Hell, I envied him for finding what he’d been after and claiming her as his own.
I swore silently in my head at myself. Fuck. I had found what I wanted, but I’d let her slip away from me.
Hayden nodded slowly. “And who is this girl?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know.”
Xavier sighed. “We’re here to listen, man. You don’t have to—”
“No I mean I really don’t know,” I grumbled. “She never told me.”
“Why?”
“I have the same question,” I growled, shaking my head as I slammed back the rest of my whiskey. “I was close…” I muttered quietly. “Fuck, I was so close to having it all.”
Anger burned through me — at myself, for allowing her to run from me.
“She ran. I don’t know why. It was like she was scared to tell me who she was.”
“Maybe she’s married,” Hayden said quietly.
“No,” I shook my head. “No, it wasn’t like that. It was like she was worried about something. That if she told me, I wouldn’t like it. I had her in my arms. I told her I wanted to make her my Queen.”
Xavier whistled. “And you meant that?”
“Fucking right I meant it,” I hissed, my jaw clenched tight. “But then she ran, and now she’s lost.”
The room went quiet, the three of us sipping our drinks.
“Either of you have any idea where Shane and Adam went, by the way?” The brothers were supposed to be staying over at the palace that night, but I’d lost track of them throughout the night.
Hayden frowned. "No, actually. I expected to find them hitting on half your guests, but they were conspicuously absent right after you disappeared with your mystery girl.” He smirked. “Oren was losing his shit, by the way, when they realized you were missing.”
I smiled. “Well, I suppose it’s a good thing that my Captain of the Guard is so worried about my well being.”
…Even if I was still sore about him knocking on the damn door and shattering what was happening with my mystery girl and me.
I poured us all another drink
before sinking into my own chair. “So, it’s over,” I growled. “Oren reported that one of his men saw someone matching her description driving out of the south gate in a ’76 Mustang.”
Xavier snorted. “Your mystery girl has fantastic fucking taste. Color?”
“Cherry red.”
He grinned, shaking his head.
“Whatever it was I found with her tonight though, it’s gone. It’s lost.”
“Fuck that.”
I arched a brow at Hayden. “Pardon?”
“I said Fuck. That.” He shrugged. “You’re the King.”
“It doesn’t make me a sorcerer.”
“It does make you capable of finding someone who not just anyone would be able to find,” Xavier mused, eyeing me.
I mulled it over for a second, nodding. “I’m being a pussy just letting this go, aren’t I?”
Xavier grinned. “As a Duke of Bandiff, of course not, Sire. As your friend?” he winked. “A huge pussy. Go fucking find her, asshole.”
I stood, nodding slowly as the plans began to form in my head.
“She drove,” I mused, my brain switching gears from sulking to sleuthing. “It means she’s at least marginally local. Definitely in Bandiff.”
Hayden nodded slowly, a smile creeping over his face. “Good man.”
I strode to my desk and buzzed for Tomilson. It was late, but I knew he was up.
“Your Highness?”
“I need something done, Tomilson.”
“Done, Your Highness?”
“It’s about tonight, and a potential Queen.”
“Ahh, wonderful, Sire!” Tomilson squeaked. “I assume this is about the Princess Jin, who I can assure you was quite keen to arrange a second meet—”
“It’s about a woman whose name I don’t know.”
The speakerphone went silent. Hayden and Xavier grinned.
“Pardon, Your Highness?”
“I met a girl tonight, Tomilson. And she’s going to be my queen. I don’t know who she is. I don’t know where she’s from, but I’m going to turn this kingdom upside down and fucking shake it until I find her.” My jaw clenched. “I’m issuing a decree.”
“Your Highness, if I may—”
