The King's Surprise Bride: A Royal Wedding Novella (Royal Weddings Book 2)

by Vivien Vale

  My own hands can’t get enough of him. I let my fingers draw tiny circles on his muscles, reveling in the moment. I can hear his hear beat loud and clear.

  Despite my resolve to stay awake for as long as possible, my eyelids start to flutter.

  “Don’t fight it, sweetheart,” Carter says.

  Cat-like, I push further into him, making sure as much of our naked bodies touch as possible. And then, as I’m still fighting the weariness, everything fades to a beautiful darkness as I drift off to slumber.

  Carter

  It’s like waking up on Christmas morning as a kid again. I feel that same kind of excitement—that same raw, unbridled energy, like there’s something magical about to happen the moment I open my eyes and rouse myself from my dreams.

  Only this time, I’m a grown-ass man in my own fucking apartment.

  This time, there’s no floozy drunk on eggnog strutting around wrapped up in my father’s robe.

  This time, the present I’m looking forward to is worth so much more than a toy helicopter or a classic car.

  And this time, the angel that belongs on top of the tree is actually nestled here in my arms, still sound asleep…

  And drooling on my chest.

  I smooth her hair away from her forehead and place a gentle kiss on her temple—before she can wake up and ruin this moment for both of us.

  That’s the beauty of June being asleep, naked, in my arms. I can be as sweet as I want to be to her when she’s like this, and I don’t have to hear any fucking sass from her about it.

  Of course, it doesn’t take long for the moment to be spoiled.

  June wakes up.

  Instead of reveling in the afterglow with me, she opens her eyes and bolts upright, instantly disturbing the peace that only seconds ago surrounded me.

  I sigh.

  “What—” she cries just before her frantic eyes find me.

  Luckily, as soon as she sees me, she relaxes.

  “Well, good morning gorgeous,” she says and leans toward me.

  Tempted as I am to watch her overcompensate, for I’m sure that’s what she’s about to do, I grab her by the shoulders and kiss her.

  “Indeed it is, June. Indeed, it is.”

  Hungry for more, she wraps her arms around me, and, for a while, time just slows down. There’s nothing else in the world except her sweetly delicious mouth and my tongue exploring it.

  As wonderful as that is while it lasts, eventually nature calls, and I need to get out of bed.

  I feel her eyes on me as I make my way to the bathroom. My massive cock is standing straight up in the air, as if it’s been summoned into action by some ineffable force.

  Her gasp is beautiful and loud as she takes in the sight.

  When I’m done, I offer her the bathroom.

  “How about a shower?” I suggest.

  “Sounds nice.”

  I meet her with a massive bath sheet, and lead her to the main bathroom. It has one of those massive overhead showerheads and two additional ones coming out of the wall at shoulder height.

  Her eyes widen as she takes in the enormity of the room.

  “This is bigger than my bedroom at my dad’s house,” she tells me, then turns on the hot water without hesitation.

  “Don’t make it too hot,” I warn her, and she grimaces.

  “I can shower on my own you know,” she says and steps into the massive cubicle.

  As if trying to add some weight to her words, she trips on the lip of the shower on the way in.

  Briefly, she’s unbalanced. Her arms flail, and she struggles to find something to grab onto.

  Quick as lightning, my reflexes kick in, and I catch her just before she falls against one of the glass panels.

  I turn her towards me. “You were saying?”

  I step into the shower with her. For a few minutes—more like a few seconds, actually—she’s silent.

  “I would have been alright,” she finally says and turns her back to me.

  Instead of a spoken reply, I slap her on the ass.

  Then I grab some soap and start washing her back. I pay particular attention to those butt cheeks.

  And I’m sure she needs help with her pussy.

  When I’m satisfied she’s clean, I start working on myself.

  Now, it’s her turn to intervene in the bathing process.

  “Excuse me?” she gasps. “You think you can have all the fun around here?”

  Without a word, I hand her the soap. Slowly, she glides it down my back, over my ass and toward my front. Her fingers find my pulsing cock and gently massage the soap on it.

  Suddenly, I think having a shower together may not have been the best idea.

  Instead of reveling in her touch, I turn around, kiss her, and take the soap away from her.

  Silently, I rinse myself off, then I turn off the water.

  She stands there, hands on her hips, and pouting.

  “We’ve got a job to go to, remember?” I ask pointedly while stepping out of the shower.

  With a sigh, June slowly leaves the shower.

  “What am I going to wear today, after...” June doesn’t finish her thought.

  Of course, I know what she’s referring to.

  We haven’t really spoken about last night, about my small discovery about her.

  “I...” I start but am not quite sure what to say. “Your skirt...”

  Her expression brightens.

  “Of course...” She claps her hands. “I’ll wear my skirt and the shirt you brought me last night, at least until...”

  She lets the words hang in the air. She’s probably too embarrassed to tell me she can’t go shopping until she gets paid.

  “I’ll meet you in the kitchen in five,” I say and kiss her.

  My own clothes are in my room.

  When I go to the kitchen, June’s already there. It smells delicious.

  “What are you doing?” I inquire, picking up two mugs.

  She turns and fills them from a freshly brewed pot of coffee.

  Okay, this is nice. I can work with this.

  I grab a carton of milk from the fridge.

  “Sugar?” June asks.

  I shake my head. “You?”

  “Nope,” she smiles. “Sweet enough as it is. At least that’s what daddy dearest always tells me.”

  I chuckle. Daddy dearest sounds delightful. I think I’d like to meet him one day.

  That thought came out of nowhere.

  “Plates?”

  “To your right,” I point, touching her shoulder.

  June picks up the frying pan, and my eyes widen when I see what’s sliding onto the plate.

  “Hope you like omelets,” she says and hands me my plate.

  As she does so, our fingers touch. I feel a warm sensation. She’s smiling.

  “It’s my favorite,” I confess and kiss her on the tip of her nose.

  When I’m finished eating the most delicious breakfast I’ve had in a long time, I make sure to start clearing the plates and washing up before she gets a chance.

  It feels natural to do the dishes since she cooked. The chef doesn’t clean. That’s my philosophy.

  It should be, at least.

  I’m amazed at myself. I can’t recall the last time I washed up.

  Fifteen minutes later, we’re walking to work.

  The second she sits behind her desk, the phone goes crazy. I linger a little longer than necessary, watching her work.

  “No, I don’t think you will need to speak to Mr. Abraham about that.”

  I pause. I try and catch her eye, but to no avail. She’s looking at her notepad.

  “You heard correctly. I know Mr. Abrahams is not interested. Thank you.”

  “What was that about?”

  It feels strange for her to be making decisions on my behalf.

  June gives me her biggest smile before she replies.

  “Some charity, which I think, by the way, was really a fraud, asking
you to donate some money for some weird event coming up.”

  Wow.

  She’s fucking brilliant.

  “Carry on,” I tell her and go inside my private office.

  There are about a hundred meetings I have to go to, several million phone calls to return and, a budget meeting to plan.

  Occasionally, June comes in and gets me to sign things or brings me coffee and a donut.

  At one o’clock, she makes sure I have my lunch.

  To my own horror, there’s barely any time to talk to her.

  When she comes into my office I try and find a reason to touch her. She pretends it’s not happening.

  By the time it’s afternoon, I feel as if I’ve been at work for a week. I can’t recall the last time I’ve had a day as busy as this.

  And I can’t recall the last time I’ve been as productive as I’ve been today.

  “If you wouldn’t mind signing these, please do, so I can get them into the mail before four today.”

  June’s standing in front of me, looking incredibly sexy in that shirt of mine. She’s got it tied around her waist in order to bring it in and not have it hang around her knees like a dress that’s several sizes too big.

  The way she’s wearing it, it could be part of the latest female power look.

  “What are they?” I ask the question to make sure she stays in the office for more than a minute. If I engage her in conversation, I can check out her curves, her lips, and her ass.

  “There are checks for invoices that need to be paid, letters to go with the checks, and then there’s a mail-out you’d been planning to do and invitations to be answered.”

  Fuck.

  I raise an eyebrow.

  “Where’d you learn all this, June?”

  She shrugs. “Back home.”

  I nod.

  “You certainly are a lady full of surprises,” I tell her.

  June puts her hands on my table and leans toward me. The way she’s positioned, I can see the gap between her breasts.

  “You’d be surprised what other skills I have, skills you haven’t discovered…yet.”

  June

  “Sign this.” I slap the expense report down on Carter Abraham’s desk, and he sighs as he raises his pen to the paper. As soon as the last stroke of his signature is down, I whisk it away and put it into the appropriate file.

  “Is that it?” There’s a hopeful, puppy dog kind of look in Carter’s eyes as he asks, and I can’t help but smile with relief as I nod.

  “That was the last of it,” I say. “I think we might actually be done for the day.”

  Carter lets out a deep, pleasurable sigh that makes my ears turn pink as he leans back in his chair.

  “Thank fuck,” Carter swears.

  While I’m not exactly the cussin’ type, after the day we’ve had, I’m inclined to agree.

  “Everyone else gone?”

  I nod again, popping myself up on the corner of his desk and running my fingers through my hair. “We’re the last here.”

  “Then this calls for a drink.” Carter says it with that masculine certainty that doesn’t allow for argument. He produces a bottle of chilled wine from beneath his desk. “Half glass or whole?”

  I exhale with whimsical delight. “Do you even have to ask?”

  Carter’s eyes twinkle with mischief and amusement. “Whole bottle it is, then.”

  He twists open the cork with dramatic flair as I giggle, still perched on the desk with my legs crossed.

  He crouches down and retrieves two wine glasses from the bottom drawer of his very expensive-looking mahogany desk.

  “Do you really have wine glasses in stock just so they can be right on hand in your office desk?” I cackle.

  Carter grins and tosses me a wink. “Always be prepared. That’s my motto.”

  “That’s a wise phrase to live by,” I say in a flirty voice. I relish the refreshing glug sound the wine makes as it hits the bottom of the glass.

  “Say when,” Carter says, eyes on me as he pours in the Merlot.

  I don’t want to get sloppy, so I stop him about halfway up.

  “That’s enough.” I nod to confirm.

  “For now.” He is giving me a deviously handsome smile.

  “You always want to bring out my naughty side.”

  I’m in a giddy mood, and I have a feeling the alcohol currently rolling down my throat and soaking into my bloodstream is going to magnify that state of mind.

  Carter leans in so ridiculously and intoxicatingly close that I can smell his cologne. It fills my nose with desire.

  “Today has been hell,” I admit. I glance outside to the bustling city streets below.

  There’s a siren wailing in the distance, and the lights from the buildings twinkle like stars to illuminate the city in a fuzzy glow.

  “One of the busiest I’ve seen in a while,” Carter admits.

  I heave a dramatic sigh.

  “Well,” I say, raising my wine glass, “cheers to job security, I guess.”

  Carter chuckles, a deliciously sexy sound.

  “To job security and new beginnings.”

  “Ah,” I say with surprise. “There’s a statement I can get on board with. A bright future.”

  “With fantastic sex,” Carter adds.

  The wine is giving me a warm feeling as I giggle. It’s almost as if I can actually feel my inhibitions sliding out the window.

  “The night is young,” Carter states with bold confidence that makes me curl with jealousy.

  Why can’t I have strong self-assurance like him? I watch as he emerges from behind his desk and walks over to the window.

  “It makes you feel so small…” he says and trails off, entranced by the city surrounding us.

  I laugh.

  “You should witness the pastures at night out on the farm back home,” I mention.

  Carter turns to face me, his face etching with curiosity. “What’s it like there?”

  “Worlds away from this,” I chuckle and point out to the vast concrete jungle out the window.

  “I can imagine so.” Carter nods in agreement and glances back outside.

  “It’s amazing,” I blurt out of nowhere.

  Carter looks at me again with intrigue. “How do you mean?”

  Shrugging, I smile with the nostalgia, memories rushing back into my mind as if they were floating butterflies tickling my internal senses.

  “It’s so quiet and serene, it’s almost...surreal.”

  “I would love to visit there someday,” Carter admits.

  We stare at each other for a few brief moments, soaking in and absorbing each other’s energy. The sexual chemistry breezes through us like wildfire.

  “I used to always love lying under the stars and trying to pick out all the constellations.” I laugh. I don’t know why that memory sticks out and feels like a million years ago. “You have no idea how small you feel until you’re out in the wide, open spaces looking up at the night sky with the galaxy spread like a blanket over the earth.”

  Carter stares at me as if he’s glowing with approval. His gaze is spellbound and remains locked on me for so long that I begin to squirm with self-consciousness.

  “What?” I glance at him and chuckle anxiously.

  His captivating and intensely blue eyes finally break away, but they’ve already bore a hole right through me.

  “Nothing.” He smiles and looks down, chuckling softly. “It’s just…I’ve never met a girl like you.”

  “I hope that’s a good thing.” I smirk with playful enthusiasm.

  He takes my hand. It feels strong, burly, and warm.

  “Yes. Take it as a compliment, June. You are a beautiful girl, inside…and out.”

  I blush, and my heart flips. It’s almost as if my legs turn to jelly and the liquid running through my veins makes me tipsy.

  I’m not drunk, by any means. However, the alcohol is definitely breaking my walls, and I can’t control it when I begi
n to naturally let my guard down.

  “I bet it was fun growing up on a farm.” Carter looks at me and gives me a tender smile.

  I shrug.

  “It was nice, for sure. There are pros and cons to it. If I’d had a mother, it would have been a little better, though.”

  Carter’s eyes fill with recognition.

  And pain.

  “Your mother died?” he asks in a faint, barely audible whisper.

  “Yeah…” I say with chagrin. “Of cancer when I was a little girl.”

  “I’m so sorry to hear that.” Carter turns to face me.

  He runs a sultry yet caring hand through my hair.

  Goosebumps spike and prickle my skin at his touch.

  That touch, I can’t describe what about it exactly, but it’s filling me with astounding amounts of sexual heat.

  “I lost my mom, too,” Carter admits, and I see the sorrow flood his face.

  “Really?”

  I don’t know why I’m so surprised. It’s not likely that he would make something like that up.

  “Yeah...” He nods and trails off. “She died while giving birth to me and my brother.”

  I take a moment to search for the perfect words, but they just aren’t coming.

  I do feel sorry for him, too, I really do. At the same time, I just don’t want to talk any more about my mother’s passing.

  I’m not in the mood to dig through those feelings right now. I want to keep the mood light.

  I don’t want to wallow in sadness and drink myself into a pitiful oblivion.

  Walking back over to the desk, I graze my fingertips against his keyboard.

  “I’ve always wanted to be a mother.”

  I let the revealing words slip from my tongue without caution.

  Carter’s eyes are burning a hole through me again, and I’m scared to look up at him.

  “I have the perfect solution for that,” he offers.

  I chuckle at the irony. “Is it simple?”

  I finally meet his gaze.

  He’s trying to be nonchalant about the whole situation, I just know it. He shrugs, playing into the spirit of his personality.

  “As long as we keep it uncomplicated.”

  His grin is infectious, and soon I find myself beaming, too. It’s not because I’m agreeing with his offer, though.

  It’s because he’s so darn cute.