The Awakened Prince

by Elise Marion

  Outwardly, she appeared the same to him, but within, his seed had taken root and sprung forth a new life. Her nod and widening smile confirmed it. With a burst of joyous laughter, he crushed her against him and buried his face in her hair.

  “I can’t believe it,” he whispered. “I’m going to be a father.”

  “Akira says the babe should be here by summer,” she murmured, nuzzling his neck and kissing his cheek.

  “Summer … the perfect timing for our new addition.”

  “Actually … there should be two new additions.”

  Serge stiffened, his heart leaping and plummeting all at once. “Twins?”

  Isabelle shook with laughter, sitting upright in his lap. “No, silly! Not that I would know. I mean Damien and Esmeralda.”

  Serge just knew he would need someone to scrape his jaw from the floor … there was no lifting it from its current state. “My brother has told me of no such thing. Does he know about this?”

  “No, so don’t spoil it. I think she plans to tell him soon. The two of you will have children the exact same age.”

  Still reeling from her announcement, he could only stare up at her as she lowered her lips to his once more. She threaded her fingers through his hair and deepened their kiss, gifting him with the smooth slide of her tongue and her heady taste. His hands came up to her back, clutching her tight against him.

  When she pressed a hand to his chest to push him against the back of the chair, he went willingly. He watched with heavy-lidded eyes as she unbuttoned his shirt, then pulled it off over his head. She pressed her hands against his chest, running her fingertips gently over the light dusting of golden hair before stroking over his abdomen.

  His head fell back and his eyes closed as her lips made contact with his tingling skin. Her hair tickled his chest as her lips moved over him and her tongue crept out to taste him, sending jolts of pleasure straight down between his legs. He held his breath as she moved steadily lower, toward the waistband of his breeches and the erection rising up beneath the fabric.

  “Dear God, woman,” he gasped as she opened his fall with one hand, the fingernails of her other tickling his skin from chest to stomach. “You really are a tease.”

  She smiled up at him as she reached out to wrap one soft hand around the hard length of him rising up from the opening of his breeches. He gasped, his head falling back as he closed his eyes and thrust up into her hand.

  “I’m a hussy, remember?” she said, lowering her lips to his tip.

  His breath came out on a moan as she opened her mouth to taste him, her tongue circling his oversensitive head. He gripped the arms of the chair to keep from rearing up out of the seat as she tormented him with her tongue, enveloped him in her warm, wet mouth. Forcing his eyes open, he gazed down at her, hips surging in time with the pulls of her mouth. Her eyelids rested on flushed cheeks, and her hair fell in sensual disarray around her head. With her nightgown falling off one shoulder she was pure, carnal delight, a fantasy come to life.

  And she was all his.

  He fought for control as he found himself spiraling toward the edge. He could wait no longer to have her.

  Pulling her up to him, he gathered her in his arms before standing and carrying her to the bed.

  “What are you doing?” she asked with a laugh as he dumped her unceremoniously onto the bed before reaching for the hem of her nightgown.

  “Taking control of this situation before you drive me out of my mind, you little minx.”

  Isabelle fell back onto the pillows as he whipped the nightgown off over her head. She watched as he removed the rest of his clothes, her gaze moving with admiration over his form. Coming down onto the bed, he parted her legs wide before opening his mouth and pressing it to her center. She jerked and quivered against him, held captive by his hold on her legs as he treated her to the same torture she had exercised on him. Isabelle writhed and shivered, her fingers clutching the bed sheets as he went at her mercilessly with his tongue, stroking, lapping, sucking. He held her tighter as he felt the familiar spasms of her culmination against his lips. His name spilled from her lips as she screamed out her release, her heated flesh quivering against his tongue.

  When the spasms stilled and she was all but limp from her rapture, he came up and lowered himself over her. He pressed his mouth against her ear and poised himself at her entrance.

  “Tell me again Isabelle,” he whispered, remaining just outside her opening and allowing the anticipation to build. “I need to hear you say it.”

  She looked up at him and smiled, one hand coming up to stroke his cheek. “I love you.”

  With a groan of satisfaction, he clamped his mouth over hers and drove home. As he loved her, his heart resonated within his chest. It sang of a future with a wife who loved him, and a child who would adore him. It sang of battles fought and won, both past and to come. As he closed his eyes and reveled in their newfound closeness, it sang of a love that had once been unfathomable, but was now his reality.

  * * *

  Cardenas, Two months later…

  The last snow of winter was finally melting away as spring began to appear. The grass blanketing the grounds surrounding Rothchester Hall gleamed a vibrant green in the light of the sun, and the smell of newly-blossomed flowers filled the air.

  Serge and Isabelle had come to Cardenas for a few weeks’ visit. After receiving word that Tatiana had been found in Ulas, they would soon return to Barony along with Damien and Esmeralda to retrieve her. There had been some sort of scandal, and it would now need to be dealt with. For now, everyone was simply grateful to know she was safe and mostly unharmed.

  Many soldiers and volunteers still worked to rebuild Barony’s villages in their absence. From the letters they had received from Primus, it would seem things were going extremely well. Barony faced a long road to complete recovery, but Serge was confident that it would one day be restored beyond the glory of the days of the Guthrie monarchy.

  He and Isabelle now walked hand in hand over the rolling hills blanketing the palace lawn, the Rothchester family cemetery looming in the distance. Today was Lionus’ birthday, and since they were here, they’d felt it appropriate to pay him a visit.

  Serge held his wife close as he stared down at his brother’s headstone.

  “I miss him,” he said, his voice strangled as he fought back tears. He still struggled with the fact that he had awakened to find that his brother had been dead for an entire year. He hadn’t even had the chance to say good-bye, and wrestled with the guilt of being absent while his brother had lain abed dying from a sword wound to the gut.

  Isabelle leaned her head against his chest and sighed. “I do, too.”

  They stood together in silence for a few moments before she pulled away from his embrace.

  “I have said my good-byes already,” she said. “I think you need some time alone to say yours.”

  Serge’s heart warmed at her understanding. She always knew what he needed, even when he didn’t know himself. He leaned down to plant a kiss on her cheek, and placed a hand against the small mound that had begun to show in her middle—his child, growing and thriving with each passing week.

  “I’ll meet you at the carriage,” he told her.

  When she was gone, he turned back to the headstone to address his brother.

  “You know, I envied you for most of my life. It seemed to me that you had everything; the crown within your grasp, a kingdom full of people who adored you, and a woman who loved you more than anything. I thought I would spend my entire life playing second fiddle to you without any sort of identity of my own.”

  He paused as a lump welled up in his throat. He dashed the tears away from his eyes and sniffed.

  “Now that I am in your position, I feel horrible for those thoughts. I could never imagine how burdened you must have been, knowing that the fate of Barony rested on your shoulders. I understand now why you had to be so uncompromising at times, and why you had to put on a sober f
ace for all the people who looked to you for guidance and leadership. Until I had to be that man, I could never fathom any of it. I hope that someday I will be half the king you would have been; the kind of ruler our father would have wanted me to be.”

  He turned to walk away, but had another thought and retreated back to the gravesite.

  “You should know that Isabelle and I are expecting our first child,” he said with a smile. “We are hoping he is a boy, so we can name him after you. I also hope you can be happy for us, Lionus. I love her with all my heart, and I promise to take care of her for as long as I live. You can rest peacefully knowing that Damien and I are not just fulfilling our duties. We are also living happy, full lives with the women who love us. It is everything Father would have wanted.”

  With a deep, cleansing breath, Serge was finally able to turn away from his brother’s grave. He doubted he would ever return, even on future visits to Rothchester Hall. Good-byes were forever, after all.

  As he walked back to the palace, his mind wandered back to the broken man who had awakened from a coma and found his life in pieces. Despite his many wounds and scars, he knew within his heart that he was now whole—not just because he’d found love with Isabelle, but also because he’d found his true self.

  His wife awaited him in the courtyard, where their carriage was ready to take them on the journey back to Barony. She gazed up at him and wrapped her arms around his waist with a sweet smile that made his heart leap every time she graced him with it.

  “All done?” she asked.

  He looked down into wide her blue eyes and smiled. “Yes, my little minx. I’m all done.”

  “Good,” she said, turning toward the carriage where Damien and Esmeralda awaited them. “Let’s go home.”

  Epilogue

  The morning sunlight streaming through the window did nothing to cheer her gloomy disposition. As Tatiana reread the letter from her husband for the fifth time, her heart broke anew at his stinging betrayal.

  My dearest Tatiana,

  By the time you receive this note, I will be gone. Words cannot express to you the depth of my pain in this moment. It is with deep regret that I must end our short-lived marriage. Please do not despair, my beautiful flower, you have done nothing wrong. The hearts of some men are so very fickle, mine more so than most.

  It is not that I am an unfeeling sort of fellow. After all, you and I did have some tender moments together, didn’t we? I honestly thought in my heart that I loved you and wished to spend the rest of my life with you. I’ve come to see that we have made a terrible mistake. I hope in time you will come to forgive me, and perhaps someday we can be friends again. In the meantime, you should go back to your family. I am certain they will be relieved to have you home once again.

  Your heartbroken and contrite husband,

  Lord Andrew Forsyth

  After reading Andrew’s letter yet again, Tatiana allowed the single sheet to flutter to the floor. How could she have misjudged Andrew so badly? Foolishly, she had lapped up every flowery word he’d said and taken it at face value.

  Tatiana had left her family and stood before a minister to declare her undying love for him. She had given up her life and defied her family for a man who had left her after a few short months of marriage. Shame washed over her, followed by embarrassment, and finally rage.

  As she sat on the bed, staring unseeingly off into the distance, she heard footsteps on the stairs outside of her room at the inn in Ulas. Esmeralda had undoubtedly received her letter and come for her. As her cousin flung the door open, Tatiana steeled herself for the inevitable lecture. For once, she would bear it in silence. It was no more than she deserved for allowing her impetuous nature to get her into trouble. Again.

  As she followed Esmeralda silently down the stairs, toting her valise, Tatiana reached a very critical decision. Once inside the carriage, she turned a deaf ear to Esmeralda as her cousin went on and on about the foolishness of her actions and the inevitable scandal to follow. How on earth would she make a good match now, Esmeralda wondered aloud.

  Tatiana decided in that moment that she no longer cared. The glittering spectacle of the court no longer appealed to her. As she slipped her plain gold wedding band from her finger and allowed it to fall to the carriage floor, she raised her defiant chin and smiled as she gazed at the countryside through the open carriage window.

  She no longer cared if she made a good match, or if another man confessed his love to her or asked for her hand. Tatiana was never going to love again. She was never going to marry. In that instant, the last of the stones composing the walls around her heart fell into place.

  Historical Notes

  Dearest Reader,

  While the kingdom of Barony and its regiment of female warriors are entirely fictional, the concept of women fighting to defend home and country is not as obscure as some may think. I learned a lot while researching historical women warriors in preparation to write this book. As it turns out, ladies like Isabelle have been kicking butt since the dawn of time!

  The character Mudiwa hails from Africa. The Mino of the Fon tribe, were known to the Western settlers as the Dahomey Amazons. The actual existence of Amazons has been questioned over the years, but historically the stories of the Dahomey Amazons are accurate. The women were trained as royal body guards before being militarized. They learned to use rifles after the invasion of the white Westerners. Like Mudiwa, they were forbidden families and children so that they could focus entirely on their deadly craft.

  Hanako hails from Japan. The onna-bugeisha, often called the female samurai, were also real figures in Japanese history. They were trained to defend their homes and family, and were considered part of an elite group. The onna-bugeisha became non-existent once the attitudes about male/female relations changed in Japan. Women were seen as servants and vessels for childbearing instead of equals.

  There are so many other great women warriors in history, including Boudicca of England, Joan of Arc of France, Augustina de Aragon of Spain, and my personal favorite, Hua Mulan of China. Undoubtedly many of you have seen the popular Disney movie about the Chinese girl who joined the army dressed as a man to replace her old and infirm father. Her actual existence is still disputed today; the only record of her is the lyrical poem, The Ballad of Mulan. I like to think that she really did exist; her story, like those of the many others, serves as an inspiration to tough chicks everywhere.

  Thanks for reading,

  Elise

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  Royals of Cardenas Reading Order

  The Rogue Prince

  The Awakened Prince

  The Lady Warriors of Barony

  Wild Gypsy Rose

  The Gypsy Lord (Coming September 15)

  * * *

  The Courtesan (Bonus novella, can be read in any order)

  The Lady Warriors of Barony

  Now Available!

  Click to download

  Three women. Three stories. One Sisterhood.

  With the war in Barony at an end, peace reigns. The lady knights have returned home, unchanged by new titles and lands. But with a rash of kidnappings spreading across the province, the warriors will find themselves torn apart by the machinations of a mad man.

  Book 1: The Hellion

  Ava Longley, captain of the lady knights, never expected to become the target of a murderous madman. When a kidnapper is sent to abduct her, she sees it as the perfect opportunity to bring the mastermind to justice. To mercenary Julian Vincent, Lady Longley is no more than the means to an end. However, when sparks fly between them, Julian is faced with an impossible decision.

  Book 2: Beloved

  After being sold into slavery by her king and washing up onto the shore of Cardenas, the friendless African Amazon, Mudiwa Akua, was taken in by Barony’s female soldier’s regiment. When her
tranquil existence is disturbed and she finds herself on a ship bound for the exotic island of Martinique, Mudiwa faces certain death and possible enslavement for the second time in her life, dredging up ghosts of a past she’d long thought forgotten. When planter Isaac Prideux comes upon her, beaten and half-dead, he takes it upon himself to care for her. He never imagines doing so will shake up his monotonous life so completely.

  Book 3: The Accidental Groom

  After the honored title of onna bugeisha begins to lose its power in Japan, Hanako Kiyomi sees no choice but to flee. But, when her deserted husband comes searching for her, she escapes him the only way she knows how: marriage to a stranger. Lord Garrick Overton has always admired the cool, stoic Hanako from afar. Marriage to the woman he’s desired for years seems like a good idea; until she proposes the marriage be in name only. As he sets out to win her heart, he faces not only a tough task but a begrudged man who will stop at nothing to win back what he has lost.

  * * *

  Their courage will be tried. Their hearts will be put to the test. Can three headstrong women maintain their independent natures while surrendering to love?

  About the Author

  I first picked up a pen with with dreams of writing at the age of 12. Sitting at a little desk in front of my bedroom window, I wrote (by hand with pencil and paper) my first novel. It wasn’t very good, but I’d never been more proud of anything in my life. I’ve been writing ever since, and have found a love of romantic stories both sweet and sensual.

  * * *

  When I’m not wrangling my three rambunctious kids, or spending time with my retired Army husband, I’m stretching the imagination with stories of people from all walks of life (and worlds) falling in love.