His to Princess

by Theodora Taylor

  It’s a lovely spot. But what makes it a popular location is the built-in wet bar. In fact, it’s because of the bar that the lagoon is regularly frequented by high-ranking staff at the end of the work day. And Al is fairly certain he will find Pascal there, having a birthday drink or two with Talia and a few of the other staff members.

  However, when he reaches the entrance—a stone archway wrapped in climbing orchids—he’s very surprised to find Pascal standing at the gate.

  “Bonsoir, Your Highness,” Pascal says, looking down.

  “Oh! Hello, Pascal. I’ve come to wish you a happy birthday…” Aldrich announces, making his best effort to sound like a “king of the people.”

  He ignores the temptation to look for Talia, and instead leans in to give Pascal a celebratory double-cheek kiss. Then they pose together for Matthis who takes the official birthday photo.

  “Very nice, sir,” Matthis murmurs, pocketing his cellphone. He’ll email the photo to the palace photographer who will run it through Photoshop before having it framed and sent to Talia’s bodyguard as a keepsake.

  However, as soon as Matthis has explained the process to Pascal, instead of taking his leave, Aldrich gives Pascal a quizzical look and says, “I thought you’d be having a birthday drink at the bar.”

  “Oh, no, Sir. I don’t drink.”

  Ah. “Then if you don’t mind my asking…why are you here?” he asks. “It’s your birthday, isn’t it? Shouldn’t you be…oh, celebrating?”

  “Thank you, Sir. But I’m not one for birthdays. In fact, I’ve already had this discussion with Madame Talia. Tonight, I prefer to remain on duty rather than allow the night guard to take this particular assignment.” Pascal tips his chin toward the lagoon.

  And that’s when Aldrich realizes, with a thrill of excitement, that Pascal isn’t simply loitering by the lagoon entrance. He’s blocking it with his wide frame.

  “You mean to say…Talia…she’s—” He tries to look discreetly over Pascal’s wide shoulder, but the big man tilts ever so slightly to block his view.

  “Yes, Sir. She is having a swim.”

  “I see.” Aldrich can barely contain his eagerness. “That sounds like a fantastic idea! I think I shall join her.” He makes a movement towards the arched entrance only to be blocked again by Pascal.

  Al frowns at the guard. “I admire your loyalty, man. But please step aside.”

  In what Al can only assume to be a sign of devoted loyalty to his mistress, Pascal doesn’t budge. “Sir, Madame Talia is shy about being seen in a bathing suit,” his face is set in a stubborn expression, “and she always makes me wait here for her when she’s in the water.”

  The mere thought of Talia in a bathing suit makes Aldrich want to toss Pascal to the side of the path. But in the end, he opts for a more straightforward approach—he pulls rank.

  “Pascal, I am prince regent and as such, your commander. Though you are assigned to guard Madame Jeffries, you ultimately serve me,” he reminds the reluctant guard. “I shall ask you one more time: step aside.”

  A tense beat passes, then Pascal very reluctantly moves to the left, unblocking the door. “Of course, Sir,” he says in a rather begrudging tone.

  “Very good.”

  Aldrich makes a mental note to commend the young guard for his dedication to duty. Not many men would have refused the request of the prince. He steps through the portal into the floral scented air of the lagoon. “Pascal, please go and celebrate your birthday. Matthis will take over for now. Be assured you’ll still be compensated for your overtime service.”

  The two guards exchange a glance and Pascal leaves, looking gloomier than someone who’s just been let off work early with pay. Matthis remains at the entrance while Tyson starts to follow him into the lagoon area.

  However, Aldrich raises his hand to stop him. “Take over Pascal’s post with Matthis on the path, s’il vous plait.”

  Tyson acquiesces with a nod, and Aldrich continues by himself, his stomach clenched with anticipation. Despite having seen countless beauties in their bikinis in this very lagoon, he feels like a schoolboy again. His heart thunders faster than it had when he was all but running here at the prospect of seeing the mother of his children having a celebratory drink with her guard.

  When Aldrich gets to the edge of the lagoon, he spots Talia paddling on the far side, past a waterfall and under a wall of tropical plants. He can see her silhouette perfectly in the underwater pool lighting, and the surface sparkles a sexy blue in the night air. As she approaches, doing a lazy breast stroke, he discovers Pascal was mistaken.

  His heart goes from thundering to full stop.

  Talia wasn’t worried about being seen in her bathing suit. She wants to be alone because she’s swimming in the nude.

  “What the…!?!”

  Much splashing is accompanied by a furious, “What are you doing here?!” Talia comes to a stand in the shoulder deep water, looking around. “I thought Pascal was guarding the entrance.”

  Aldrich has resisted his old ways for so long with her, but in this moment, there is no stopping the bad boy grin that spreads across his face, even as he reminds her in a level tone, “Remember, Talia, I am the prince regent. I can go wherever I wish. Do whatever I wish…”

  And with that, he begins to unbutton his shirt.

  “What are you doing?” she demands.

  “I’m coming in,” Aldrich says, stepping out of his pants and leaving his clothes in a heap. Then comes the last piece of clothing…

  “Ah, I really do prefer to swim alone,” Talia says, quickly averting her eyes as she backs up into deeper waters.

  “Talia,” he answers, his voice filled with teasing admonishment. “Did you not hear the part about me being the prince?” He struts across the marble towards the deep end of the lagoon, not the least bit concerned by his own nakedness. “And doing whatever I wish?”

  “Yes, but—”

  Aldrich ends the conversation with a La Royale-worthy naked dive into the deep end of the lagoon. The water rushes against him as he glides deep and long before re-surfacing a few feet away from her.

  She lets out a small squeak when he suddenly appears. He hadn’t meant to startle her.

  “Relax, Talia,” he says, switching his tone from teasing to soothing. “Even though I am Prince Regent and can do as I wish, I will not do anything you do not wish.”

  She crosses her arms over her now ample chest. “You say that, but I explicitly asked you not to come in here with me. And here you are!”

  “Well, anything but that,” he concedes with a half-cocked smile.

  But she doesn’t smile back. “You see, this is exactly why I can’t trust you.”

  “Talia, it is only a swim. Come, relax with me, swim with me, be at peace.”

  “I want to swim alone. I can’t be at peace with you.”

  “Why not?” he asks, wanting to hear he affects her like she affects him. Even if only a little bit.

  But instead of answering his question, she says, “You know, this is just like you, doing something dishonest, then acting like it’s no big deal because His Royal Highness doesn’t have to follow the rules like everyone else—”

  Talia suddenly gasps, her words stopping abruptly as her hands drop to her abdomen.

  “What is it? Are you hurt?” Aldrich splashes toward her, his hands outstretched in worry.

  “No, no, I’m fine.” She squeezes his forearm. “It’s the babies. I think someone just kicked. Really kicked. Before it was just flutters…”

  Talia gasps again. “Oh! There it is again. Here, feel.”

  She guides his hand over her belly but, “I don’t feel anything,” he tells her.

  “Try pressing down just a little.”

  He does as she says, and his own breath catches when he feels tiny little movements like popping bubbles rippling across her belly.

  “That’s them? That’s our babies?’ he asks. Talia nods.

  He stands there, his h
and cradling her belly, feeling for the first time the movements of his children. Not “the babies” or “the heirs,” but his own son and daughter. They’re real. Real people who are now large enough to make their presence known.

  There next to Talia, he realizes their children, who they’ve yet to talk about in any but the vaguest terms, are real.

  If Aldrich wasn’t already in the water, he would tell Talia it feels like floating. But he doesn’t have to describe it, because when he tears his eyes from her bare belly and looks into hers, he sees the same elation shining on her face.

  A small laugh escapes him, and he leans in to hug her. She accepts, laughing. They are together, complicit and bonded till death by the two beings growing inside her. In one stormy night of wild abandon, they’d created something bigger than them both. Bigger than the future king.

  Aldrich bends to nuzzle her neck, wanting to get as close as he can without crushing the little ones. His intention is simply to whisper how happy this moment has made him. To thank her for letting him feel the life she’s carrying inside her.

  But then…

  His lips drag along the skin beneath her ear, and without a second of hesitation, Talia turns her head, giving him access. Her breath is shaky. Like his.

  But Aldrich can’t do this anymore. Can’t pretend they’re just friends, little more than colleagues.

  His other hand goes up to her cheek, and he takes her mouth. Merci à Dieu, she opens up for him. With a sigh, she gives in to a kiss so hot, even though they’re standing in water, it feels like they’re burning.

  Chapter 19

  Et merde! Forget the rebranding plan. Forget winning her over with good behavior. He must have her. Now, in this lagoon.

  No more pulling away.

  No more acting like it doesn’t drive him mad with desire every time she comes near him.

  He kisses her deeper, longer…demanding more and more. And his heart shudders when she meets his demand, one small hand curving around his neck.

  But Talia soon becomes distressed when she realizes that, thanks to her stomach, she can’t pull him in any closer. “Al…”

  He turns her around. Makes sure she’s securely braced against the nearest lagoon wall before he gets in position behind her. Plastering himself to her back, letting her feel him, how much he wants her…

  With a grateful groan, she twists her head to kiss him. Their tongues meet and dance, then she breaks off the kiss with another gasp when his hand reaches under her belly and between her legs. He digs into her neck with his mouth, sucking and nibbling, and his fingers explore. She’s warm and slick inside, and he throbs against her back, becoming harder with desire.

  A second finger joins the first, and she moans, the sound more delicious than the five-course dinner he dined on earlier. He focuses his middle finger on her clit, while she arches her back to rub against him. Aldrich groans. Even the slightest touch from this woman drives him senseless.

  Relishing the closeness, he caresses her belly with his free hand. And he loves the way she responds to his touch, reaching one arm over her head to grab the back of his neck as he hunches around her.

  “Al, I—” she says, but her words are cut off when he drags his manhood across the bottom of her mons, rolling his pelvis as he draws himself back and forth between her legs.

  Soon her breath shortens, and she says, “I’m so close.”

  “Not yet,” Aldrich say, voice rough as he pulls back and takes himself in his hand, positioning his length against her entrance, before he…

  They groan together when he pushes in on one deliberate stroke. Careful, because he doesn’t want to disturb the babies, but with enough force to leave no doubt in her mind about how she will be coming tonight.

  He moves inside her, and is immediately grateful for the drag of the water, slowing him down so he doesn’t move too fast and come undone like a school boy after such a long wait. It feels more wonderful than he expected to be back in her. Warm and tight, with even more softness, thanks to her increased size.

  Not to mention the unparalleled intimacy. After a lifetime of one-night stands preceded by Bernard-delivered NDAs, he now sees what all the girlfriend/boyfriend fuss was about.

  There’s something wonderful about being back exactly where he wants to be with Talia. Taking her, claiming her as his, not caring who’s standing outside the lagoon, or who might see them from the chateau.

  She’s his, and he tips her face towards him to once again claim her lips as he grinds into her from behind.

  The water around them gently sloshes as he pumps into her, stoking his desire, increasing his need with every movement. He reaches around again to rub her clit, and her breathing quickens.

  “Aldrich, Al—” she says against his lips. And arches more so she can deepen the kiss. Only to cry out when he pinches her nipple hard with a free hand.

  “Al—oh my God, Al?”

  “Go, let it go,” he whispers through clenched teeth.

  She’s resisted him for so long, but she finally gives in to his royal command without any protest. Her low-pitched humming bursts into cries of pleasure. And with a course growl, he lets go of her clit to grab both breasts up in his hands. Holding her in place as the orgasm wracks through her body, and finally releasing into her clenching warmth.

  They stand together for a long time after, breathing hard together, coming down. Until finally, he remembers himself. Her state.

  Pulling out, he politely steps back to give her the space he’s been refusing her ever since he entered the lagoon.

  After a pause, Talia takes him up on his invitation, pushing back into the water with a kick off the wall.

  “Okay, I guess you can stay in the pool with me,” she tells him as she floats past.

  He’s fairly certain Matthis and Tyson can hear his laugh all the way from their post. Maybe even a few of the servants at the palace, too.

  But mon dieu…watching her float on her back. Breasts above the water line, belly full of his babies…

  It feels like a miracle to be with her like this, and he remembers then what the royal physician said when she’d reported back to him after her first appointment with Talia.

  “Fraternal twins…this is no surprise. The human body is still a mystery, and from as best I can tell, this might have been your semen’s equivalent of a last gasp. Giving you your best chance to produce an heir before the encroaching genetic disorder took it away.”

  But right now, he wonders if it was something else. The unprecedented forgetting of condoms. He couldn’t help but wonder if his subconscious mind had known all along. What he wanted. Who he wanted.

  He feels himself once again rise below the water line. The previous happy satisfaction of finally reclaiming her replaced by new need.

  He has an idea.

  “Hold on a moment,” he says, wading out of the water to walk to the little hut beside the darkened tiki bar. After a minute of searching, he returns with a large inflated pool raft. He floats it over to Talia, tapping the top of it twice.

  “Allez, hop,” he says, and she understands.

  Talia climbs slowly, if a bit awkwardly, onto the raft, and lies on her back. “This is nice, thank y—”

  This time when he kisses her, she stays floating, and he has complete access to her beautiful body. His hands travel lightly to her breasts, pausing for a caress, tweaking her nipples until she moans in protest.

  But then as it turns out, Talia has an idea, too…

  Her hand travels around his waist, to the front of him where his hardness is returning at the mere sight of her. She grips him, raising her eyebrows. They’ve floated into shallower waters, and the water is now only as high as his thighs.

  Talia rolls onto her side and brings him to her lips.

  Oh, mon dieu.

  Aldrich looks to the heavens as she envelops him in her mouth, sucking and swirling, causing near debilitating waves of pleasure to run through him. He touches her gorgeous body below
him, her soft, dark skin, wet and supple. Then he reaches between her legs, and she lifts one knee, allowing him access.

  Oui, it is as he thought earlier in the day. They make a good team. A very good team.

  As Talia suckles his manhood, he caresses her, exploring every curve and fold between her legs until the air is filled with the scent of her arousal. She opens her mouth to moan, and he focuses three fingers on her clit, gentle but persistent. He circles and rolls, and Talia does the same with her tongue, until he gasps, unable to take any more.

  “Stop,” he says, pulling away and shifting her around sideways on the pool raft. She lifts her knees and rests her feet on his shoulders as he positions himself.

  No asking this time.

  Holding the tops of her thighs, Aldrich watches the curves of her lower lips wrap around his long length as he plunges into her. She exhales hard, and tips her head back. Floating in the water, she’s at the perfect height for him to take her again. With absolutely no resistance.

  He grabs the edges of the pool raft, and creates a recoil to his thrusts. This time he doesn’t kiss her, preferring instead to watch the way her breasts bounce off her belly as she slips into oblivion. Her dark curls drag in the warm lagoon water, her face is so calm, so free. As if she’s been waiting for this, too. The inflatable splashes, and their skin slaps together as he takes her a second relentless time in the lagoon.

  Aldrich recognizes this mastery for what it is. A claiming. A giving. And though no words are exchanged between them, it feels like a thing agreed upon, when they both cry out, reaching their peak as one.

  Chapter 20

  Sex in a lagoon? Totally hot. Doing the walk of shame past Al’s personal guards?

  Not so much.

  “Matthis, Tyson,” Al says as they pass under the floral archway to leave the salt water lagoon. With the dignity of, well…a prince.

  “Highness,” they answer in unison.

  But Talia’s entire face goes hot, and she barely manages to return their bonsoir with a small one of her own, before wrapping both her hands around Al’s wrist and burying her face in his arm.