by C Lesbirel
“With pleasure. Pete, can you pull over. Addy here wants to hop out.”
His face fills with horror as Pete slams on the brakes and I open the car door, pushing him out as soon as we come to a stop. All three of us fall apart laughing. I throw his pants out after him, and we speed away; leaving him in the middle of nowhere.
We are still belly laughing when we come to a stop a short while later. “This close enough?” Pete asks, pulling over in the beach parking lot near Camelot University.
“Perfect. Thanks for everything, you two. I’ll call you both, tomorrow.” They both mumble their good byes but I don’t stick around to hear them. Instead, I rush to climb the rocky trail up toward CamU where my girl will be no doubt sipping mocktails and giggling in the corner with one of her fancy friends.
Smoothing myself down and taking a deep breath as I reach the grand entrance with its long red carpet, the guy with the guest list narrows his eyes at me as I approach him.
“Addy Alonso,” I say, proudly and he scours the list, putting a tick next to Addy’s name as I pass him and step inside.
Chapter Fifteen
Bella
Throwing my head back in laughter, I double take when Hunter walks into the ballroom. He’s dressed in a black suit, and his narrow eyes are scouring the room, searching for me. He moves to the center of the dance floor until he’s standing directly under the huge crystal chandelier. It’s light falling on all the flaws of his beautifully imperfect face: the lumpy bridge of his nose, where it’s been broken one too many times to ever fully heal, a small scar under his left eye and another above the curve of his right brow. I trace every single blemish before studying his gorgeous green gaze.
His eyes dance as soon as they meet with mine across the crowded ballroom. Over a hundred people, music and lights, glitz and glam all fade to nothing, and all that exists is us.
He moves toward me with purpose and I, him.
Others move out of the way as we erase the space between us and collide into each other, no longer afraid of touching, our locked gaze saying the words neither of us could find.
Silently, our flat palms pressed together, fingers folding around the other, and he dances with me to Christina Perry’s A Thousand Years. It’s a throwback song, but it fits the moment perfectly.
Just like that, we find our song.
He steps first, pulling me with him. He can’t dance, but he steps and sways enough to make me feel like his princess, and when he lifts his arm in the air, holding me only by the top of my finger, I twirl around blissfully into him. My golden gown sails through the air and swishes like a bell as it lands softly around me.
My dad had given me an unlimited budget and my mom had made sure I chose the most expensive, exquisite dress I could. According to her, it was the least he could do. It didn’t go halfway to paying back the years of rejection I’d felt from him leaving me behind, but he was trying in his own way and I appreciate that.
The soft chiffon falls just below my knee, and I show off my gold strappy heels that have two huge butterflies on the back. Butterflies are scattered over the skirt of the dress and in a neat row at the top of the corset. They are my spirit animal. Colorful, unique, and most of all, free to fly.
When the music fades into the next track, he brings our bodies to a stop, but makes no attempt to move us off the dance floor. Other students stare and gossip, but in true Pavee style, he doesn’t give a shit.
Holding my hands, he pushes me backward slightly, extending my arms to fully regard me.
“You look breath-taking,” he speaks softly, so only the two of us could hear.
“What are you doing here?” I blurt out, still in awe that he’s managed to get in through the strict security and the fact he even wants to be here after everything he said back at the hospital.
“I saw your interview,” he states, simply.
“I saw your drawings,” I reply, sinking my teeth into my lower lip in anticipation of his response.
“You were supposed to.” He casually arches a brow, not taking his eyes off me for a second.
“You didn’t see this one,” he adds, reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out a folded piece of paper and thrusting it toward me.
I take it from him, my fingers trembling as I unfold it to reveal a gorgeous sketch of me holding a red rose to my lips, which are colored in a matching shade of red. I let out a gasp at how achingly beautiful the drawing is. “This is gorgeous…”
“It’s how I see you. How I’ve always seen you. As beautiful as the most delicate flower, but even the boldest of roses needs thorns to protect it. Let me be the thorn at your side, Bella. I want to be there, supporting you, watching you bloom into everything you dream of and more. Let me stand beside you and fight off anyone who ever stands in your way. Just like the rose and thorn in the picture, we belong together.”
The words seem alien coming from his usually smartass, ruthless vocabulary but it only makes them mean more to me. I step closer, lifting my palm to cup his square, stubbled jaw.
“I know. I think I’ve always known.”
“You gonna stop runnin’ from me now?”
I nod, my eyes smarting with tears, and I blink to try and stop them from falling and ruining the makeup Harlow had worked so hard on applying.
“I don’t give a shit about the wedding, you know. It was only ever about you, Bella. I won’t stop you reading or writing. I’ll build you a whole fucking library if it makes you happy.”
The tears start falling now, free flowing down my face
“I don’t need a library. I just need you. I didn’t realize how much until you got hurt.”
A new song starts up, and he pulls me toward him, placing his hands on my hips. His grip is firm yet gentle at the same time. Hot tingles begin at the end of his fingertips and finish up in my panties.
As though reading my thoughts, he smiles a boyish grin and cups my elbows, lifting both my arms until they land around his neck. He traces along my upper arm until his hands meet at my neck, then travel down my spine, coming to a stop at my lower back. His fingers gripping just above my ass cheeks and not doing anything to diminish the tingling sensation between my thighs.
I knew what him kissing me felt like, but never me kissing him. My lips burn hot with desperate desire, and he holds back, needing my reassurance that this is real. Slowly, I rise to my tiptoes and plant a soft kiss on his lips. As soon as I do, his mouth devours mine in a kiss so hot and heavy, I clasp onto his neck tighter in fear of losing my balance.
When we eventually pull away, I don’t care about the dance floor, just him.
“I love you, Bella Buckland.” He smiles at me with a shit-eating grin that makes me want to rain a thousand kisses over his imperfectly perfect face.
“Marry me, Hunter Ryan,” I whisper back.
His only answer is to kiss me again, lifting me as he does and spinning us around me in the air.
I didn’t fall in love with him.
I swam.
Sometimes drowned.
Storm waves.
Gentle splashes.
Tantalising spray.
Droplets belonging to something bigger than anything imaginable.
Deep.
Never ending.
I swam until my muscles ached and the only thing that could soothe them was him. (B.B~ Glass Ball night)
Epilogue
Fight Night.
We are all here waiting. Not one of us has spoken yet, the anticipation too much to bear. It isn’t just our families who turned up to watch Hunter take what is his. The entire gypsy community came out to support my fiancé.
Sitting this close to the ring has me feeling slightly nauseous; I am still far from comfortable with watching two men try to annihilate each other, but I need to be here. I want to prove to Hunter exactly what he means to me, and a part of me wants to see him wipe that smug smile from Theo’s lips for good. Hate is not in my nature, but I hate that asshole with every
fiber of my being after what he did to my brother.
Romeo squeezes my hand, as if reading my thoughts. I’d told him not to come; I can’t imagine how hard it must be for him to sit in front of the man that ruined his life in so many ways. But Romeo is a true fighter with a bravery only a few men in my lifetime share. My stepdad being one of them and Hunter another.
“You okay, sis?” Romeo asks as I take my seat next to him.
“Yeah, I think so… it’s just… what if he…”
“He won’t.” I wish I had everyone else’s confidence. I know Hunter can fight, but I also know Theo is brutal, and if he can get away with fighting dirty, then he will. It’s taken me this long to finally be with my man. I’d throw myself into the ring before letting him get seriously hurt.
The entrance music starts up, and I wince at the sight of Theo punching the air. Everyone boos and jeers, but he doesn’t seem bothered in the slightest.
My heart swells with pride when Hunter marches into the ring in his shiny black shorts and matching gloves. Every muscle in his body is tight and toned, and my fingertips tingle in desperation.
Although Hunter had thrown tradition out of the window and moved me in with him before we were married, we are both sticking to the rules and have agreed to save ourselves for our wedding night.
It’s torture on a whole new level.
He has slept on the sofa, night after night, and my mom was overjoyed when I suggested moving the wedding forward and suddenly developed a passion for wedding planning. I want to fast forward the whole charade, skip the fancy dress, and walk down the aisle to the part where we were back is his apartment, undressed and all over each other.
It was still three months away and everything is planned to perfection. I’ve even been in contact with my real dad to invite him and his wife. My stepdad will be giving me away; he’s the only dad I’ve ever known, and I wouldn’t have it any other way, but I’m open to knowing my real dad now. Not because he bought my ridiculously expensive ball gown or paid for my overpriced college fees but because he is trying to get to make amends and build bridges.
My eyes roam Hunter’s naked torso, and I bite down hard on my bottom lip to try to dispel some of the scorching heat now coasting through my veins.
Just before the bell stops ringing and the first round kicks off, he makes sure to wink at me. It makes our parents happier than it made me, or at least, it seems like that as they all jeer and tease me about it.
The first round is close, but by the third round, Theo is definitely getting the better of my man. Hunter had said something about beating him with stamina, but this didn’t look like stamina to me. This looks like Theo beating the shit out of him, and I can’t bear to watch it for a second longer.
The bell rings again and Hunter’s beat-up body sways and sags into the corner of the ring. Pete wipes down his bloody nose, which I’m pretty sure is broken for the hundredth time, and I watch as he shoves something up his nostril to stop the bleeding.
Although his eyes are putty and an ugly shade of reddish-purple, Hunter still manages to throw another wink my way and raise the corners of his mouth to the smallest of boyish grins.
“I love you,” I yell at him. The words fly out of my mouth spontaneously, and his smile widens a little. That’s when I know he’s going to take Theo down.
Round four, the tables turn. Hunter makes out like he’s just been toying with him the entire fight until now.
“This one’s from me.” I giggle with Romeo as my man cages Theo up against the ropes.
“And this one’s from me,” Romeo says with menacing intent as Hunter puts in a sharp left hook to Theo’s head and knocks him clean out.
The crowd erupts into pandemonium, and everyone chants his name over and over again.
“Let’s hear it for the new World Heavyweight Champion, The Gypsy Kiiiiiiiiing,” the referee bellows into the microphone, dragging the last word out, much to the delight of everyone in the crowd.
Both Hunter’s parents are crying. Romeo is beaming the widest smile I’ve ever seen on his usually moody face, and me?
I run up to the ringside and jump in.
Hunter blocks the security guard, who tries to stop me, and pulls me up, yanking me into him. “I’m marrying this girl,” he yells into the microphone. “And you’re all fuckin’ invited.”
What the hell is he thinking inviting the entire crowd to our wedding?
He has to be joking? We agreed the last thing I want is some big fat gypsy wedding.
I’m going to kill him. Literally. But first I’ll kiss him.
Even though he’s covered in sweat and blood, I still squash my face against his for a second. His lips press against mine before he grins and holds my arm up in the air.
The chants of “Roma King” continue, and my heart bursts with pride as they hand him his championship belt.
Every girl pretends to be a princess at one point in her life, and I am no different. I want the fairy tale, but it isn’t the flashy lifestyle and money or fame that drew me to Hunter.
It’s the way he treats me like royalty every single day. He treats me like his princess, and somewhere along the way, I stopped pretending.
The best thing about my happy ever after is that it’s only the very beginning of our story, and we get to write the pages in whichever way we choose.
The End
Read the next book in the series: Ousted Princess
Modern Princess Collection
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Ꮇσԃɛʀռ ᎮᏒᎥɳƈɛss ƈօʅʅɛƈƚισɳ
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ᴏɴᴄᴇ ᴜᴘᴏɴ ᴀ ᴋɪss, ᴀ ᴍᴏᴅᴇʀɴ ʀᴏᴍᴀɴᴄᴇ ʙᴇᴄᴏᴍᴇs ᴀ ꜰᴀɪʀʏᴛᴀʟᴇ.
Blurb.
The prestigious ᴄᴀᴍᴇʟᴏᴛ ᴜɴɪᴠᴇʀSɪᴛʏ comes fully equipped with elitist guys, a castle, and a G
lass Ball, but these self-proclaimed princesses don’t need crowns to prove their worth. They’ve taken love and life into their own hands and written their own fairytale.
The ladies of Cam U are a dangerous combination of cute and badass, full of attitude and imperfections, and coming of age secrets. Follow seven of your favorite fairytale heroines as they find their happily ever after, in these standalone, contemporary romance novels.
T̳h̳e̳ ̳C̳o̳l̳l̳e̳c̳t̳i̳o̳n̳ ̳i̳n̳c̳l̳u̳d̳e̳s̳:̳