Queen

by Daya Daniels

Fidgeting, Vesper gifts me with a smile. “Good morning to you as well…”

  I step closer, towering over her, peering down into her mischievous features. “What could possibly interest you behind this door?”

  “Oh, nothing.” She gestures with a hand. “I was just passing by and I thought I heard something.”

  When her words cease and silence overtakes where we stand, I hear it…

  Fucking…

  With my brows knotted, I observe Vesper’s smirk.

  She stands a little straighter.

  I back away. “I don’t like people snooping around my castle.”

  “I was just curious.” She regards me with a haughty expression. “Besides, this place is so big, Your Majesty, I enjoy wandering around it and discovering all the interesting spaces it holds. Even beyond the gates is quite wondrous.”

  “So is the moat.”

  She holds my gaze. “Yes, so is the moat.”

  The cool air which floats through this massive corridor wraps around us.

  Tilting my head to the left and then the right, I look into Vesper’s eyes. I cannot say I am happy with what I see, but after all, this woman is soon to be my sister-in-law. Her existence alone paves my way directly to Briar’s heart.

  “Do you love my sister?”

  “Of course.”

  Gnawing on her bottom lip, she looks away from me and then her gaze finds mine again. “Good, because I do not think she would survive another broken heart, Your Majesty.”

  And nor would I…

  “Briar is very dear to me.” Her sigh is dramatic. “She is a good person.”

  Unlike you.

  “Please do not educate me about your sister’s attributes which I am already fully aware of…” This woman offends me. “I have seen the far corners of her heart. I have tasted her tears. I have moved heaven and hell to make her smile.”

  A sly grin curves up on Vesper’s face. “You would do anything for her?”

  “Yes, anything.”

  Her eyes scan me. “Very well then.”

  I grunt.

  The fucking behind this door goes on and on and on.

  We pretend not to hear it.

  “Then, I wish you both all the best.” Bouncing on her toes, Vesper’s smile is huge. “May I be dismissed from your presence, Your Majesty?”

  Stepping to the side and with the sweep of my arm, I allow her to pass.

  She takes easy strides ahead.

  “Vesper.” I twist around to face her.

  “Yes, Your Majesty.” Innocence which doesn’t belong there sweeps across her features.

  “If I ever catch you snooping around my castle again, I will ensure that you see the darkest part of it.”

  Vesper freezes for a moment and then offers me a terse nod. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

  I do hope my message was received loud and bloody clear.

  Briar

  THERE WAS NO KNOCK on the door—no warning—no announcement of the King’s arrival…

  I simply rounded a corner, and there he was, standing in my chamber with his back to me, loitering in front of the window and looking into the distance beyond. He doesn’t come here often because I always ensure I go to him. Besides, he has been occupied and often is in the council chamber embroiled in deep discussions with Hamilton.

  Alexander’s hair is pulled away and off his face and secured in a knot. And everything he wears this morning is casual which indicates that his presence was not required in the royal court this morning. His schedule seems to be clear…Hence, I suppose, the very reason he is here in my chamber now.

  I could never be more grateful that Vesper had only moments ago taken Anna to get something to eat.

  Eyeing over the man I am soon due to marry, I become more at ease...

  His presence swallows up all the air.

  His silence causes my brows to crash together.

  He appears to be deep in thought.

  “I am surprised to see you.” I stride his way and then practically leap into his arms when he extends them. Unable to help myself, I press a greedy kiss to his lips. My legs wrap around his waist and my hand smooths his soft beard when I peer into his grays and find that they look fresh which tells he has managed to find a bit of rest.

  Alexander eases me down to the stone and keeps his eyes on me as he smooths my hair with a hand.

  We remain that way for quite some time just staring at each other.

  “I’ve missed you.” He smiles.

  “I’ve missed you too.”

  “Why did you not come to me last night?”

  Because I had to care for Anna.

  “I felt it was best that you get some rest.”

  A chuckle shakes his chest. “Did you?”

  “Yes.” I giggle.

  His lips crash down on my skin as he disrobes anxiously.

  I fall into the kiss and find myself helplessly grabbing at him, tongue delving into his mouth and breaths rapid as his large hands clutch me. “I thought we would wait to be joined in that way again until we are married.”

  Offering me a charming smile, his forehead falls to mine and his grays capture me and won’t let me go. “I don’t want to wait, Briar.”

  Neither do I.

  “I’ve been without you for long enough since we have returned to this place.”

  My hand brushes over his cheek.

  Shifting, his gaze softens, and nimble fingers make quick work between us, unbuckling and unfastening.

  Something between a giggle and a gasp leaves me when my back hits the wall, his weight planted firmly against mine. My thighs part wider, wanting and needing, and my dress is shoved up to gather around my waist.

  To the left of me the courtyard comes into view…

  Life here at Berkhamsted Castle moves along as per usual. The servants rush around. Matron Rhodes speaks to a carriage driver. Charlotte lingers near a cart which is overflowing with fruits and vegetables, likely making a selection for tonight’s dinner.

  They all work.

  Just as I did…once upon a time.

  A yank on my dress returns me to this moment...

  Another tug.

  A groan pulls me back under the spell of Alexander’s powerful gaze.

  His hands are all over me working me out of my garments and down to my bare skin.

  I do nothing to stop him…only wait to receive all which I have missed so much.

  Alexander’s cheek is planted to mine.

  His warm sweet breaths skate along my skin.

  My mouth falls open, tongue desperate to feel the wet slide of his against mine.

  We are together, together, together—joined.

  A gentle kiss is pressed to my lips and those lips of his dance across my jawline, sucking and nibbling, consuming me and then they settle near my ear. “I don’t want to wait, Briar.” His whispers urge my body to quake. “After all…” His teeth nip at my lobe. “I’ve been waiting for you all my life.” His nose nudges my chin and my head is lifted with the movement when I am forced to peer into his eyes.

  “And I for you.” A melancholy smile settles on my lips.

  I have struggled.

  I have loved and lost.

  I possess a heart which has once been filled again with hope by the magnificent man who holds me up.

  And I know it will always be this way.

  Us.

  Together.

  Strong.

  Ruling the very country we love more than life itself.

  Warm bare thighs settle between mine. Eager hands clutch my waist. I am anchored against the wall with no place to go. All that I have been holding back trickles from me and down my thighs like a welcoming wild river of lust which is begging to be explored by only a brave man. Only a man who could withstand these rapids should dare traverse my waters. And Alexander is everything and more. He-is-the-man. The only one.

  My top lip
curls up.

  My insides ache.

  Expelling a savage groan, Alexander quakes and then a jolt moves through his body and I swear the energy is injected into mine. With a rut of his hips, all the air is stolen from my lungs. When I catch my breath, I wail. He fills me. Parts me. Conquers me. Forces my insides to meld around the swollen shaft of his cock.

  A desperate gasp leaves my lips.

  My fingers attempt to find purchase at his shoulders.

  But I am weak.

  Eyes fixed on mine, thighs shaking, Alexander lowers jussst a bit and then without warning he sends my body toward the ceiling with a grunt. He ruts against me. Eager hips crash into mine over and over. The force sends sweat racing down my temples and embarrassing sounds to rip from my chest. I am a mess!

  Desperate for him—his touch, his lips, his flesh…I am at his mercy and wrapped up in the force of him.

  Be strong.

  Be strong.

  Be strong.

  “I feared this moment.” His eyes are wild with desire. “I fucking feared this moment.”

  There is no misunderstanding his words.

  The first time was an exception…him allowing me to move at my own pace.

  But this time…

  This is what it will be like. This is what he is like when his desire to conquer roams free…

  There is no stopping him!

  His stroke becomes tortuously slow. His cock slides along my walls, tickling and tugging, slipping over every nerve ending there and leaves an unmistakable trace of itself behind. Marking me. Making me his…My body chases what it does not want to do without and what it will never forget.

  My walls part but it is no match for this man’s cock which he plows into me with.

  A tear trickles down my cheek.

  My hair is everywhere and falling over us in waves.

  A pathetic wail explodes from me.

  “I feared this moment, Briar, but I need to have you the way I want you.” His words hit me rapidly, but I can make no sense of them in my euphoria. “I need to have you the way I want you.” He fucks me harder.

  With each stroke, I am hammered into the wall and made new again, like an original.

  “You will be my queen.”

  “YES!”

  “You are my everything.”

  “Yes!” My fingertips get lost in his hair.

  This man is commanding.

  Master of my fucking universe!

  He is my king.

  And I worship him to no end…

  The energy between us surges, entwines, and sparks.

  Lips quivering and sweat slicking his flawless skin, he peers down into my eyes. “You-are-mine.”

  “YESSSSSSSS!”

  With my acceptance, I am fucked into the wall just once with an incredible eagerness on Alexander’s part. Then, slowly, again, and again, and again until it becomes relentless and mad.

  We are bones and wet flesh thumping, hips colliding, boots shifting, groans mixing.

  It is a wild encounter.

  Woman and man desperate to become one.

  Hearts affixing for as long as we shall live.

  And God it is magnificent…

  This man—my king—is magnificent.

  Alexander

  THIS CHAMBER SMELLS OF innocence and sweet daisies…

  I hold her in my grip, hips blasting into her wetness as I chase my motherfucking salvation!

  “Alexander.” Her supple lips quiver when she mewls out my name melodiously.

  With a hand clutched around her neck, I run my thumb along the smooth column of it, forcing her head back, exposing her jugular, reveling in the sight of her pale skin before I shove my nose into it once more and breathe her in.

  Her pussy wraps around my cock, squeezing and milking, forcing it to jump and throb.

  I

  am

  ready.

  I have been prepared for this moment my entire life…for the right woman.

  My balls swell!

  “Briar.” Shifting against the stone, I tunnel deeper inside her, deeper and deeper, losing myself.

  “ALEXANDER!” Her hands clutch me, but they cannot stop me.

  I will not relent.

  I chase everything with wild abandon which belongs to me.

  This is a welcomed assault on her flesh and her heart.

  I cannot stop.

  I am a man gone mad for her…

  A groan rattles my chest and sweat covers every inch of my skin.

  Her thighs quiver around my hips and the fabric of her dress rustles with my movement.

  Heaven. Hell. Gone!

  I bury my nose into the crook of her neck, moaning and drooling onto her skin, lost in pleasure. “Briar.”

  Her provocative mouth falls open and the most haunting sound flies from it. I observe every wince with wonderment. I eat up every sigh with animalistic satisfaction. Glee fills my heart as her features contort.

  Like a rose, she blossoms.

  Pleasure moves through her in waves when the orgasm strikes and claims her for its own for just a little while. It propels me into my own. I pull away and fuck her harder, drilling, claiming, consuming. My stroke becomes punishing. It is savagely sweet and meant for a woman who is exactly that. Mine. Mine. Mine.

  Briar takes it all! “ALEXANDER!”

  With a roar, I let it all go.

  My cock jumps helplessly and sends me expelling a succession of moans and expletives.

  I fill her up.

  I give her everything I have.

  I spare nothing.

  I offer her every-single-drop.

  I inject this woman with a thousand years of my bloodline. I crowd her insides with the House of Montforthe-Byron in the hope that another thousand years and beyond of this family’s rule of England will follow from this vivid encounter.

  And then, I collapse against her, spent.

  Her lips seek my own and capture my mouth in the softest kiss.

  Brushing my lips against her soft cheek, I hold on to her.

  “I love you.” She smiles.

  I do not doubt her words.

  “And you have it in your heart to tell me the truth about all...”

  “Yes.” Her expression crumbles.

  I run my index finger along her collarbone, breathing in her apprehension, waiting for her demand.

  But it does not come.

  Wide hazel eyes stare back at mine, searching my expression for something.

  But, in this moment, admittedly, I know I am difficult to read.

  I see fear in her eyes.

  Guilt.

  And a desire to be as cunning as she could possibly be…for the greater good.

  I expect for her to offer me more words but the woman in my hold—my future queen—does not.

  It’s disappointing.

  Perhaps, a little amusing too.

  My index finger dances across her skin and then settles on her cheek, tapping, as I search her beautiful eyes.

  A breath gets stuck in her throat.

  Annoyance finds home in mine. “If that is so, Briar, then please tell me the name of the little girl who for these past many, many weeks often dashes around in my castle.”

  Briar

  NIGHT HAS FALLEN…

  I stand in the council chamber.

  Alexander sits to the small table in front of his beloved chessboard.

  A vivid memory crawls around in the front of my mind—one of him and his father—sitting together to the same table and playing chess.

  Uncertainty flutters through me.

  I swallow down the stone in my throat.

  Alexander gestures casually with a hand. “Please, allow her to step forward.”

  Taking deep breaths, I guard Anna where she lingers behind me tucked in the fabric of my dress.

  I was given a few hours to bathe and dress her and then
was ordered here to the council chamber. Surprisingly, Alexander did not require an immediate answer to his question, but I know he will now.

  A million worries assault me all at once.

  I have defied him.

  I have disobeyed my soon-to-be husband.

  I have disrespected the King.

  He could walk away now…

  He could take back his promise to make me his wife.

  He could shatter every dream I have ever had about bringing change to England alongside him.

  All because I simply wanted to help an abandoned child…

  The decision was not a simple one…so I am unable to determine if I regret my defiance.

  So much can be snatched away from me in an instant, including Anna.

  Anna trembles.

  And so do I…

  “Briar.” Alexander’s thick brows arch. “Please allow her to step forward.”

  “Alexander—” My bottom lip quivers right before I am about to subject myself to begging.

  “Briar.” His voice is firm enough to make me jump.

  I silence.

  Anna’s tiny fingers curl into my dress, silently begging me to protect her.

  I will. I will. I will.

  Reaching behind me, I peer down into her eyes for a moment. “He won’t hurt you, Anna.”

  When I meet Alexander’s fine-looking face, I find him scowling.

  “He just wants to see you.” I manage a smile and guide Anna forward by the urging of my hand.

  She nods. “Okay, Mother.”

  Alexander’s brows arch so high I do wonder if they’ll come right off his face. “Mother.” He chuckles. “Please come forward, Anna.” Reaching out with both hands, he smiles, and encourages Anna to come closer.

  I stand with my hands clasped in front of me, heart filled with dread.

  Alexander scrutinizes Anna. “She is clean. Healthy. She looks to be free of disease.”

  “Yes, she is.”

  A grunt leaves him before he cups Anna’s cheek. “I am the King of England.”

  Lest we forget…

  “Yes, I know.” Anna doesn’t smile. “I watch you all the time.”

  Alexander’s head jerks back right before he barks out a laugh. “Oh, do you?”

  “Yes.” She looks over to me. “With Mother.” She smiles. “We watch you in the courtyard when you are playing with your sword.”