Royal Playboy: The Prince's Choice

by Leila Haven

  The queen continued throughout lunch, explaining the duties the princess would take on and how things would go when Rick made his decision. She had a lovely nature to her, it oozed out and made the lunch more than pleasant.

  When the queen left, we were served dessert and allowed to eat in peace. I turned to Violet. “She makes it sound pretty attractive.”

  Violet was about to burst at the seams. “It sounds perfect. I would die to spend my life serving the country this way.” She paused, looking around before continuing. “I think it’s going to come down to the two of us. I’ve watched Richard with the others and he hardly pays them any attention. You can see it in his eyes.”

  For a moment, I toyed with the idea of telling her exactly what Rick and I have been up to. But that would have just been boasting and it wouldn’t serve any purpose. I bit my tongue so I didn’t talk.

  Violet didn’t notice. “How do you think he’ll decide between us?”

  “I really don’t know.”

  “To be honest, I like you Melody, but I’m going to do everything I can to be the final woman standing. I really want Richard and I’ll fight for him if I have to.”

  She smiled, going back to the sweet girl everyone else saw her as. Now I’d seen her guard down just a little. “I guess time will tell, Violet. Richard will choose whoever he wants to in the end.”

  From the doorway, I saw a hand waving. A few seconds later, Rick quickly popped his head into view. It was just the distraction I needed to leave the room. I didn’t want to talk to the women anymore.

  I excused myself and headed for the corridor. Only a second later I was dragged into another room. Just like the other one, this also seemed to be a sitting room.

  Rick spun me around and pressed me against the wall. “I’ve been waiting hours to get you alone,” he growled against my skin. It tickled, sending a wave of goosebumps down my spine.

  His lips burned against my skin, kissing my neck until I was hot and bothered. All my thoughts turned dirty as my pussy pulsed below.

  “You smell so good. Do you bathe in roses?”

  I giggled. “No. I’m not even wearing perfume.”

  “Well, don’t stop doing whatever you’re doing. You smell delicious.”

  With that, he showered me with more kisses, my skin alight with tingles as joy washed over me. I wanted Rick so badly, I wanted to be naked with him, to writhe together as sweaty bodies, and then to hold each other afterwards.

  He started to undo the buttons on my blouse, exposing my bra and the boobs that were spilling out of the cups. He pulled one out, instantly sucking on my nipple as if it was his lifeline. My back arched, willing him to take more of me.

  Fire burned between my legs, begging to be touched and sucked on like my nipples. I wanted Rick to do it all, to touch it all. That was all I could think of, he was scrambling my thoughts until I was nothing but sensations.

  “Fuck, I love your tits.”

  My eyes flew open as I looked down at Rick ravishing me. His eyes were closed too as he enjoyed the moment.

  I needed to stop it.

  He didn’t see me as anything other than a sex toy. He’d pulled me out of an event just to get naked with me. Again. It was stupid of me to think he really saw me as a viable wife.

  “Stop, Rick. We can’t do this.” I pushed him away and tucked my breasts back into my bra. I redid the buttons while he stood, watching. The hunger in his eyes quickly turning to confusion.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  “We can’t do this anymore.”

  “You already said that, what’s wrong?”

  I took a deep breath as I stepped away from the wall and smoothed my hair. “You still only think of me this way. I’m your fuck buddy… that’s all.”

  “That’s not true,” he shot back after a beat, like he had to think about it first. It confirmed everything I suspected.

  He was never going to consider me wife material. He would always think of me as some fun while he went through the boring process of finding someone to spend the rest of his life with.

  I would never be his princess.

  “I need to leave,” I said with a stupid quiver in my voice. I had wanted to sound so much braver than I did. It was just so difficult when I could see the hurt in his beautiful eyes.

  “Is that what you really want?” he asked, to which I nodded. Stepping back, Rick gestured to the door. “I won’t keep you here against your will.”

  I took one last look at him before leaving the room. From there, I headed straight for the palace gates, hoping they were open. Tears stung my eyes when I realized this would probably be my last time on the palace grounds.

  There would be no further invitations. After today’s event and once all the individual dates were done, the number of women would be cut again. I would put all my money on not being on the next invitation list.

  Thankfully, the gates were open and I charged straight through them. There were no taxis waiting so I kept walking until I could catch the train back to the hotel.

  Aunt Helen was waiting for me, as she always was. She knew something was up as soon as I was through the door. “What happened?”

  I hesitated before committing to my plan. “I’m out of the competition. We can go home today. I’m not going to be the next princess of Illium.”

  Her jaw dropped open. “Oh, I’m so sorry, honey. Are you very hurt?”

  “No, I’m fine. I’m looking forward to going home and leaving all this craziness behind me.”

  “We can make the evening train if we hurry,” Helen said, already heading for her own suitcase.

  She knew not to ask any more questions until I was in a better mood so we packed in silence. I needed to be out of there, away from everything that was driving me insane. Rick was going to dump me so it was much better that I got out first.

  At least I could leave with some dignity.

  We caught the evening train with ten minutes to spare. We were going home.

  Chapter 13

  Richard

  ҉ ҉ ҉ ҉ ҉ ҉

  Four women. That’s all that were left. I’d made the decision and it was easy. The individual dates we’d had were very telling. I finally got to see through the ladies’ facades and see the real them. Or, at least, a glimpse of the real them.

  The next round of invitations were sent out that morning, calling the women to the palace individually again. We were having a combined meeting with my mother, Anna, me, and the ladies. I didn’t envy them having to meet with all of us at one time. It was quite a bit of pressure.

  A maid knocked on my open door and waited to come in. I gave her the nod and she rushed in, handing me an unopened envelope. “This was returned, Your Majesty.”

  “What do you mean returned?”

  “The hotel said she was no longer a guest there.”

  I took the envelope and dismissed her, the maid was only the bearer of bad news, she would know no more. I stared at the name so neatly written on the front: Miss Melody Parker.

  I reached for the phone and dialed the hotel’s number. When answered, I requested her details and was told the same thing as the maid had said. Melody Parker was no longer staying there. She’d checked out yesterday and there were no further details.

  Anger started to rise within me. Melody was still under the request of the palace to stay in the city. She was not permitted to leave yet. If she’d really gone, it was an act she could be arrested for.

  But it wasn’t just the way she flouted the rules that made me angry. Nobody had ever said no to me before. Nobody had ever rejected a chance to be with me. I could have any woman I wanted and she chooses to leave with no explanation.

  That woman drove me insane. She was so unpredictable, so reckless, and so hot there was no way to get her out of my head. There was no way she should have just disappeared.

  I threw the invitation on the desk and stomped out of the room. The sting was firmly felt from Melody’s rejection and I
needed to share the affront with someone else.

  Anna was in her office, as expected, she was rarely anywhere else. “Melody has left the hotel, her invitation was returned just now.”

  “What?”

  “That was my reaction.”

  “But we haven’t released her from her duties. She’s still under the official request from the palace.”

  “I know.” It was good to know I wasn’t the only one that felt like I had received a slap to the face. Anna took her job very seriously, she felt everything I did.

  “Should I have her arrested?” Anna asked, still in shock. None of the other women from the very beginning left without notice. It was a situation we didn’t have a precedence for.

  I slumped in the seat across from the desk. “I don’t want to force her to be here. Clearly she had decided to withdraw from consideration. She just didn’t bloody well tell anyone before she left.”

  “I’m sorry, Richard. I know you thought highly of Melody.”

  I had to stop myself from letting my heart bleed in front of her. I could have let it all tumble out and reveal how deep my feelings for Melody ran. But I was a royal and we didn’t do that. We bottled up our feelings and kept them to ourselves. As long as we could smile for the cameras, it didn’t matter how we really felt.

  “I guess we need to focus on the last three, then,” I replied. “At least the rest of them haven’t disappeared in the night.”

  “That’s the spirit,” Anna said.

  We discussed the remainder of the women but my heart wasn’t in it. All I could think about was Melody and where the hell she was right now. She could have been anywhere in the country.

  She was probably on her way home, but it didn’t really matter. She had made her thoughts on me very clear, she wanted nothing more to do with me. What was the point of pursuing it? Just so I could get rejected in person?

  “The first meeting is in one hour,” Anna reminded me. “We are starting with Violet, of course. I’m sure she will go very well with your mother.”

  “I expect she will,” I replied.

  Violet did do well, of course. So far she had excelled in every meeting and challenge we had set for her. The other women passed too, but they weren’t exceptional. There was a clear winner in all aspects.

  I disappeared afterwards, needing some time alone. There was little more we could do with the women now, it was time to make a decision. Both Anna and my mother would be hassling me any minute now for the magic name so they could start to make more plans.

  Wedding plans.

  They had been discussing them for months, getting everything ready for when I picked a bride. All they needed was the name so they could print the invitations and make the formal announcement.

  Once I muttered a name, everything would be a whirlwind afterwards. I would barely get to know my bride before we were married. We would be too caught up in official duties to actually speak.

  I dreaded it.

  I really did.

  I tried to imagine any of the three women standing beside me for those moments. I tried to picture what they would be like, how they would handle the engagements we would be required to fulfil in such a short period of time.

  All three might have been adequate. They would smile and they would curtsy. They would say the polite things when asked and they would go along with all the plans made around her.

  But would I enjoy it? Would I be able to look over at them and be invigorated and excited by their presence? I guessed it didn’t matter at the end of the day. If it were in the country’s best interest, then that was all that mattered.

  Plus, my parents wouldn’t have to worry any more. My father would focus on his health and rest assured that my succession was cemented. My mother could spend her time with her husband in his final days and they could enjoy simply being together.

  All around, it was for the best. Out of the three, I would choose Violet. That was who Anna and my mother would choose. Everybody loved her so I would have to learn to also. Maybe it would come with time, maybe we could be friends within our marriage. I wouldn’t be the first member of this family to marry for convenience. Just because my parents married for love, it didn’t mean I would get the same opportunity.

  Having made that decision, I didn’t feel as light as I thought I would. I had imagined it would take away the pit in my stomach but it hadn’t. I still felt like shit and needed to blow off some steam.

  Normally I would have snuck out and found a woman or two to take to my secret apartment. This time, that wouldn’t work. If I were photographed, or if the women talked, it would look terrible with my engagement announcement in the next few days.

  I sat in the living room of my wing and stared out the window. I needed to do something because I couldn’t keep still. Running away to the country house wouldn’t help either, I would be needed for the announcements that needed to be released.

  But staying in the palace for one more minute was going to drive me crazy. Someone knocked on the door and I dreaded having to speak with anyone right now. Still, I answered it.

  My mother stood at my door. “Can I talk to you for a while?”

  “Of course.” I let her in and we sat on the couch together. My mother never visited me in my room and I dreaded what she wanted to discuss. I prayed my father’s health hadn’t deteriorated any further. “What would you like to talk about?”

  “Your wife.”

  “I’m deciding, Mother. I’m really trying to work it out, I promise you.”

  She smiled kindly. “I’m not here to hurry you along. I’m here to talk about how you should make the decision.” She paused and I knew better than to prompt her to continue. “You need to listen to your heart and let it tell you which of the lovely women here is the right one for you. As soon as you let your head get involved it will muck everything up for you.”

  “But I need to think logically,” I countered. “I need to do what’s right for the country, for this family. I can’t just run off and pick a bride because of some feeling I have.”

  “That’s exactly what you should do. Darling, I know you, and I know your instincts are very accurate. You won’t make the wrong decision.”

  But that was the problem. There was no clear way for me to know what the right decision was. I couldn’t make a mistake, this decision was for life. The heavy burden was still there, still gnawing away at me even though I thought I’d already decided.

  Mother went to stand, squeezing my hands in the process. “You already know who she is. Your heart would have told you the moment you met her. Just listen and let it speak.”

  I wanted to tell her that I couldn’t hear anything my heart had to say to me but I remained silent. My mother’s intentions were kind, but they didn’t stop the churning storm in my stomach and head.

  At least I no longer felt restless. I didn’t have the energy anymore to go out and get into trouble. Instead, I took a long, hot shower and went to bed.

  * * * * *

  I awoke at five a.m. My eyes shot open and refused to close again. Today was the day Anna and my mother would be expecting an answer. As I laid in bed, I tried to get excited about muttering Violet’s name. I imagined our wedding night and every day after and really tried to look forward to it.

  But the fact of the matter was that I couldn’t. The rest of my life would be adequate. I would have an agreeable wife, we would have boring little children, and then look forward to death at an old age.

  Adequate.

  I felt old just picturing it. There didn’t seem a reason to get out of bed at all. If that was my life, how could I be excited about any of it? I always knew I was born to give my life to my country, but wasn’t there a part that should belong to me too?

  There was no way I could go through with it. My heart was talking to me and it wasn’t saying to choose Violet. She was a nice girl, but my head liked her much more than my heart.

  My heart knew only one woman.

  I h
urried out of bed, knowing exactly what I needed to do. Showering and dressing took too long now I knew who I wanted. It felt like I couldn’t wait another moment to speak with her. I needed to make sure things were okay between us before I spoke with Anna and my mother.

  The problem was I didn’t know where she was at the moment. Melody was still missing from the hotel so I could only assume she had gone home. I didn’t have her address, but I assumed Anna would. She must have needed it for the initial invitations that went out to thousands of girls across the country.