His Forbidden Princess (Dirty Royals Book 3)

by Vivian Wood

  The Queen Mother frowns. “Erik wasn’t stupid enough to let a bunch of paparazzi snap his picture, Annika. That was you. And you did it after I specifically told you not to cause any commotion.”

  Annika scrunches up her face, pulling the remaining chair out and plopping down. “It wasn’t my fault. The photographers used trickery to force us to run out of the house.”

  The Queen Mother arches a brow. “So? How can you not expect something terrible to happen when there is such an easy opportunity?”

  Annika looks offended, her button nose wrinkling up. “I’m sorry, what? Are you saying that you expect me to suspect everyone at all times?”

  The Queen Mother's expression grows pinched. She turns to me, smiling coolly. “I’ve decided that until Stellan’s wedding, you should be pulled off of your duties as Stellan’s private secretary. Instead, you will be in charge of making sure that Annika stays out of the newspapers.”

  Annika makes an outraged noise. “No way!”

  My heart thumps hard against the wall of my chest. My eyes widen slightly. I must’ve heard her wrong. “I’m sorry. Say that again?”

  The Queen Mother shoots me a glare. “The royal family needs you to help make sure she stays below the radar.” Her lips thin. “If it makes it any more appealing, we could perhaps attach a title to it. Let’s say… if you are able to successfully keep her out of the papers for three months, you’ll get…” She pauses, thinking. “A duchy or something like that. Doesn’t that sound good?”

  I’m stunned. It’s a generous offer, to be sure. My neck grows hot when I think about never working for Stellan again…

  We wouldn’t be equals, but we would both be titled gentry. My hands form fists as I think it over.

  “Umm, excuse me!” Annika waves her hands. “You can’t be serious right now. I do not need a babysitter. And I especially don’t need… him.”

  Her whiny tone would hurt, if I actually gave a fuck about her feelings. Lucky for me, I don’t.

  I scoot forward in my chair. “Tell me more about what you are asking. I would only have to keep the princess under control until the wedding?”

  The Queen Mother shifts her position. “Yes. For three months. Keep her from creating any new drama of any sort. Let the media focus their attentions where they should be, on the King and Margot.”

  I consider her words for a moment. “I see.”

  Annika shoots to her feet. “You can’t really be thinking about taking Momse up on her offer, Erik.”

  I cock a brow at her, frowning. “You don’t control what I do or say, Annika.”

  She makes a frustrated noise, throwing herself back into her chair. “For fuck’s sake.”

  “Annika!” the Queen Mother scolds.

  I sigh. “She’s not wrong though, Your Royal Highness. I know I don’t have a lot of say in the matter, but if I have any sway at all… I don’t want this assignment.”

  Annika’s brow pulls down. She huffs.

  The Queen Mother levels me with an icy glare. “I don’t care what you want, Mr. Moen. You might have been raised as Stellan’s equal, but you are not. You are, at best, a step above the maid that cleans my rooms.”

  Annika goes silent, her brows rising. For a moment, I’m stunned too.

  I glower at the Queen Mother. “If you don’t mind me saying, that is a very simplistic view of the world you have.”

  That earns me a nasty glare from her. “It’s honest. And it’s not as though I was asking you to do it for free. I’ll pay you quite handsomely, if that is indeed your issue.”

  I grind my teeth. “It’s not.”

  Annika looks between us. “Momse, you have to realize that this is a bad idea. I mean, Erik is just… so stuffy and boring! He’s a control freak. You can’t expect me to just go along with this scheme.”

  The Queen Mother stands, running a hand down the skirt of her white dress. “Annika, my dear. You have been disappointing my expectations for most of your life. You would do best to sit down, keep your mouth closed, and be a little more demure. That’s good life advice for you generally, but in the next few months? It’s not an option.” She slides a glance at me. “For either of you.”

  Annika crosses her arms, wearing a pout on her glossy pink lips. “I think you’re being ridiculous, Momse.”

  The Queen Mother scoots past Annika, heading for the door. “I don’t care.” She pauses in the doorway, looking back. “This is what the royal family needs right now. It has given you both so much… so try not to disappoint my expectations.”

  With that, the Queen Mother exits, her head thrown back regally. I raise my brows, unsure how to respond to that.

  Sure, the royal family has done a lot for me. They fed me, put me through the finest schools. I served as a major in the military because that was the rank assigned to Stellan. And for the past three years, it has allowed me to slowly amass my personal wealth while acting as Stellan’s right hand.

  But also… fuck that.

  Annika looks at me, scrunching up her face. “She is such a bitch. Momse acts like Stellan walks on frigging water… meanwhile, she is so high-handed when she deals with literally anybody else. I can’t stand it.”

  Leaning my elbows on my desk, I rub my temples. My headache has only intensified since Annika and the Queen Mother stepped into my office, that’s for sure.

  “I have a very bad feeling about how the next three months are going to go,” I murmur.

  Annika stands up, surveying my desk. She picks up my coffee cup and takes a sip out of it. Then she wrinkles her nose.

  “Ugh! That coffee has turned to ice.”

  I stand up, pissed off, and pluck the coffee cup from her grip. “Jesus, Annika. Learn some fucking boundaries.”

  She heaves a sigh. “You’re just going to have to accept me for who I am. Get used to it.”

  Glaring at her, I put my feet back up on my desk. “You know what? I’ve been treating you like a princess. But I think from now on I’ll treat you like the brat that you are.”

  Her eye roll is unmistakable. “Great, then join the club. The rest of my family treats me like either I’m impossible to control or I don’t exist at all. So… welcome. Get cozy. Because no matter what happens in the next few months, I’ll still be the only princess of Denmark.”

  Then she turns on her sky-high heels, strutting like a model on the runway. I watch her walk away, biting my bottom lip.

  I can’t help but look at her legs and ass as she goes, which I know is exactly what she intended. But the fact that I grow hard at the sight of her tanned inner thighs…

  That definitely makes me feel like a fucking pervert. I’m too old, too common-born, and too sensible for this… this attraction that I feel.

  I close my eyes and sit back in my desk chair, sighing.

  The next three months are going to be dark. I’m as sure of that fact as I’ve ever been of anything, ever.

  4

  Annika

  I measure most days by the number of toffee hard candies I need to get through the day. Some days are good; they only register as a four-candy day. That’s the sweet spot, no pun intended.

  But today? Today is definitely a ten-candy day. I unwrap another piece and pop it in my mouth, savoring the sweet caramel flavor of the toffee. I try not to focus on the fact that every piece of candy is a few extra carbohydrates as well as surplus calories.

  I have bigger issues today.

  “I can’t believe this is happening,” I mutter, glaring out the window of the SUV. The city has long since fallen away; now I look out at the coastline, little bits of scrub brush clinging to the sandy ground. Below that I get glimpses of a seemingly endless beach and restless ocean waves.

  Erik looks at me from the driver’s side seat. “This beach vacation has been on the books for three months. Stellan has been going on and on about it. Were we supposed to stay in Copenhagen just because you can’t behave yourself?”

  I glance back at Kalindi, who is asl
eep in the back seat, sprawled out with her mouth open. Lucky her; she doesn’t have a frigging babysitter on this trip.

  I scowl, scrunching down in my leather seat. “Lower your voice,” I whisper. “Kalindi is asleep. And for your information, this is not about me behaving myself. I think you know that, though.”

  He snorts. “Ja, okay.”

  I scrunch my face up. “Aside from being an uptight stuffed shirt, you are also a total jerk. Just in case you were wondering how I feel about you.”

  He gives his head a slow shake. “I wasn’t… and now that I know, I still don’t care.”

  I glare at him, crossing my arms. “Fine.”

  He looks unimpressed. “We are almost to the beach house. Can you just shut up until we arrive?”

  I direct my glare out the window. “Sure thing, oh Benevolent and Great Dictator.”

  He just shakes his head but doesn’t comment. I stare out my window and watch the massive mansion that we are heading to appear over the horizon. It is extremely Scandinavian in design, appearing as a sleek black block. When I can make out the details, I see a lot of chrome and glass, with almost a third of the house taken up by soaring windows and skylights.

  Most importantly, there is a whole huge patio set between the house and the beach. It’s an outdoor barbecue, a number of wicker chairs, and picnic tables. All surrounded by tall posts, from which twinkly lights and colorful lanterns are strung.

  It actually makes me smile and lifts my mood a little. We have been coming to this particular beach house since I can remember. I will have a good time here, hell or high water.

  Kalindi stirs just as Erik pulls up to the front of the beach house. She yawns. “How did we get here so fast?”

  I glance and her, wrinkling my nose. “You slept through most of the drive. That’s how.”

  Her cheeks glow pink. “Ah. I guess I needed to catch up on my sleep. Being on the medical track at university is slowly but surely draining my life force. I pulled four all-nighters this week alone.”

  I scrunch my face up sympathetically. “I’m glad you got some rest, then.”

  Erik gets out of the SUV, stretching his big arms out over his head. I get out too, my gaze taking in the mansion again. Three stories and excitedly modern looking, I see the brick fireplace running through the entire house. Erik is unloading the bags from the back of the SUV and piling them on the ground.

  Kalindi yawns again and takes a few steps toward the dark wood front porch. I take a step toward the house.

  “Hey!” Erik calls out.

  Kalinda and I both look back at him, surprised.

  “I’m not your manservant,” he says in an irritable voice. “Get your own bags.”

  Shoving a hand through his sandy hair, he picks up his duffel and stalks past me.

  Rolling my eyes, I head to grab my own bag. Kalindi trails after me as I follow Erik up to the front door and inside.

  Everything is hushed inside the neatly decorated house. The clean, modern lines of the main living room are to my right. To my left is the formal dining room, it’s light oak furniture somehow still looking right.

  Erik disappears down the hall and I can hear him clattering up the stairs. I follow him, hoping that a room that overlooks the ocean is still available.

  “Are we the first ones here?” Kalindi asks as we climb the stairs.

  “No. I think we are the last, actually. Stellan and Margot got here yesterday. The rest of my brothers and their guests came in earlier today.”

  I sprint all the way upstairs and down the hall, pleased to find the room I wanted still open. I call down the hallway. “Come in here! There are two beds.”

  Tossing my suitcase on an empty double bed, I go over to the floor to ceiling window and push the heavy privacy drapes aside.

  The whole beach is right there below me, the patio the only thing separating me from the beach.

  I see a clump of Løve boys down on the beach. Stellan stands and stretches. Margot’s bright pink hair bobs around next to him as she sits on a beach blanket.

  “Whoa,” Kalindi says.

  I turn to her with a frown. “You’ve been here before, Kal.”

  She tosses her suitcase on the second bed, admiring the view. “That doesn’t make the view any less spectacular though, does it?”

  A smile tugs at my lips. “No. You’re right about that.”

  She tilts her head at me, an empath to her very core. “Are you still trying to figure out what cause to champion?”

  I give her a rueful smile. “Yes. Everybody just expects me to know what charity to back. But none of them really make sense to me. Not even the fashion-based charities. Like… okay, your whole marketing thing is about how everything you make is made out of recycled plastic bottles. Good for you. But I’m not your shill.”

  Her brow wrinkles. “I can point you in the direction of some great medical causes.”

  Heaving a sigh, I turn back to the beach. “Maybe later. You know, it’s too bad we came down so late. The sun is already beginning to set.”

  “Yeah. Wait… did you take your little green pill?”

  I shoot Kal a look. “Yes, mother. I took my crazy pills this morning. No burgeoning mental breakdown on the horizon today. Besides, I’m at a lower risk for having panic attacks way out here. The press isn’t around.”

  She smiles. “I’m just checking up on you. You know me. I’m a mother hen until my last breath.”

  I shoot her a rueful smile. “Thanks. I mean it. But you can hang up your stethoscope for the weekend, Dr. Kal. It’s time to have fun and kick back.”

  She wiggles her arched brows at me. “There is a hot tub, if I remember correctly. We should definitely get in that thing as soon as we possibly can.”

  “Umm… we should definitely go do that, right now.” I change into my barely-there bright pink bikini and head downstairs. The hot tub is on the tiny back porch and currently unoccupied.

  I lean down and turn on the levers controlling the hot tub. As I do, Erik strolls by on his way out to the beach.

  Our gazes catch. His eyes widen a fraction as they slide down my body. He stumbles for a second, taking me in. Then he yanks his gaze away from me, scowls, and trots off.

  My mouth opens. Of course, Kalindi wasn’t here to see what just happened, so there isn’t an easy way to know… but I’m pretty sure that Erik was just attracted to me. He may not like my personality, but my body appeals to him on some level.

  I look after him, watching his tautly muscled frame. He’s wearing a sleeveless gray t-shirt and swim trunks that are clearly designed for men with normal proportions. His tanned knees and hairy, toned thighs are on full display.

  I cock my head, thinking about it. I guess I feel the same way about him, now that sexual attraction bubbles to the surface. I know I like to tease him about it… but I think there might be a real spark between us, somehow.

  I get the distinct feeling that he would rather die than admit it to me, though.

  Kalindi comes out onto the back porch, two flutes of sparkling rosé clasped in one hand, a bag of snack chips in the other.

  I take one of the glasses from her, taking a grateful sip. “Mm. Oh, this is just what I needed.”

  She dips a toe in the now bubble-filled jacuzzi, letting out a loud sigh of pleasure. “Oh, that’s nice. I’m getting in.”

  I climb in too, taking another sip of my wine. Copying Kalindi, I sit down facing the beach. My gaze slides over to the figures on the beach, finding Erik again without even really meaning to.

  He stands away from the crowd, watching Stellan and Margot with a blank expression. I can’t help but wonder what is going on behind that placid mask he always puts on.

  I lean back, enjoying the heat and the bubbles that surround me.

  “What do you think of Erik?” I ask. It just sort of pops out of my mouth, unheeded.

  Kalindi frowns as she opens the bag of chips. “What?”

  I feel myself redden sligh
tly. “I mean… you know. Do you think he’s attractive?”

  She arches a slim eyebrow. “Do I? Of course. I’m not blind. He’s a true Scandinavian. That fetching hair of his. Well, he doesn’t have blue eyes. But his eyes are certainly interesting. They’re piercing. He has Viking blood, I’m sure of it.”

  I push my cheek out with my tongue, setting my glass of wine on the deck. “I always wonder what he is thinking about.”

  Kal looks thoughtful, turning her gaze to the beach. “Yeah, he is definitely hard to read. But that’s part of what makes him attractive, I think. He’s handsome and mysterious.”

  She munches on a chip. I reach for one, crunching down on it. It’s salty and tangy and delicious, dissolving on my tongue.

  “Hey, remember what we were talking about last weekend?” I ask.

  She squints. “You’re going to have to be more specific.”

  I bite my lower lip. “About… my… issue? I’ve been so coddled and protected my whole life that…”

  Kalindi’s brows rise. “Are you talking about how you are still a virgin?”

  I blush to the roots of my hair. “Ja.”

  She sighs. “I’ve told you this a dozen times. I’m a virgin too. There is literally nothing wrong with it. I’m… saving myself.”

  I pull a face. “For whom?”

  She rolls her eyes. “I don’t know. For marriage, I guess. Anyway, that is not the point. The point is obviously that you shouldn’t be in a hurry to lose your virginity.”

  I roll my shoulders, loosening some knots. “I wouldn’t say that I’m in a hurry… but don’t you think Erik would be sort of perfect? He’s hot. And I get the feeling that he’s been with enough women to do it right. Omigod, and can you imagine the look on Momse’s face if she found out?”

  Just picturing how sour she would look fills me with glee. My mouth curls up at the corners. “She would die. After all, it would be because of her meddling. Sort of, anyway. And she secretly like… can’t stand him. It would be so funny.”

  “You are terrible!” Kalindi says, wrinkling her nose. She laughs though.