by J. S. Cooper
Taming My Prince Charming
J. S. Cooper
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This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is entirely coincidental. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Copyright © 2014 by J. S. Cooper
ISBN: 978-1-940218-19-9
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks goes out to all my readers for their support and love. I would also like to acknowledge several people who have really helped me with Taming My Prince Charming. Thanks to my editor Emma Mack for being so kind and patient and thanks to Tanya Kay Skaggs, Katrina Jaekley, Stacy Hahn, Kelly Sloane, Cilicia White, Kathy Shreve, Lisa Miller, Chanteal Justice, Barbara Goodwin, Becky Warnick, Teri Salyer, Crissy Mackey, and Tianna Croy for all their help reading through the final document and providing me feedback. I love you ladies hard!!
As always, thanks be to God for blessing me and allowing me to write for a living.
I hope everyone enjoys the book!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Author’s Note
List of Available Books
List of Preorder Books
PROLOGUE
I always thought it would be romantic to be whisked away on a private jet by a handsome man. Only I never expected the man to be my professor. I never expected to be his fake fiancée. And I certainly never expected the games that he would play. Yes, being swept off of my feet is exciting and thrilling. However, it’s not everything I imagined it to be. I’ve always dreamt about meeting my Prince Charming. I just never realized I’d have to tame him before the fairytale could begin.
CHAPTER ONE
“Welcome to Romeruis.” Xavier’s voice was light as we stepped out of the private plane. I didn’t bother turning to look at him. His words on the plane had annoyed and thrilled me. I didn’t know what was wrong with me. How had I, Lola Franklin, ended up in this position? “I want you to take this phone.”
“What phone?” I spoke to the wind in-front of me.
“The one I’m holding in my hand.” He sounded short and I ran down the steps a little faster. If he thought I was going to act like everything was fine, he had another thing coming.
“Lola,” his voice rose and I stopped. I didn’t stop because of Xavier though. No, I stopped because the tarmac was filled with about thirty different men dressed up in navy blue and red uniforms and they were all holding guns in the air. I’m pretty sure the guns were rifles with bayonets. There were about three different cars waiting for us as well, with three drivers standing next to each one. As soon as they saw Xavier, a young boy started blowing a trumpet and my mouth fell open. I’d never seen such fanfare at an airport before, but I guess I’m not used to being around royalty.
“Do not run ahead of me, Lola.” Xavier growled into my ear and grabbed my arm. “Take this phone.” His eyes bore into mine with an intense expression as he handed me the phone. I took it reluctantly and placed it into my handbag and watched a wide smile cross his face. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
“What’s going on here?” I nodded towards the crowds of people in front of us. “What’s up with all the pomp?”
“My mother wanted to make sure that her firstborn and his fiancée were met with a royal welcome.”
“I don’t like the sound of that.” I hissed at him. “This is making me very uncomfortable, Xavier.”
“It shouldn’t. You should be happy. Don’t women like to be fawned over?”
“If it’s real. This isn’t real.”
“I’ll compensate you nicely.”
“I don’t want your money asshole.” I stopped and glared at him. “And if you mention money to me again or insinuate that I’m a prostitute, I will slap you so hard that you’ll wonder if your face is still a part of your body.”
“It was just a —”
“Do you understand me?” I cut him off and eyed him deliberately. “If I think for a second that you’re associating me to a whore at any moment, I will do something drastic.”
“How drastic?” He smirked at me, his green eyes glowing with humor.
“I’ll cut off your —”
“Xavier, there you are.” A deep voice came running towards us and I looked down to see a handsome man grinning up at us. “We’ve been awaiting your arrival. Your mother is anxious to meet the woman that has stolen your heart.”
My face burned a bright red as I stood there staring at the man. He reached out his hand to me and bowed his head, his blue eyes shining with excitement. “I’m Tarquin.”
“Nice to meet you, Tarquin.” I shook his hand and I could feel Xavier staring at us through the corners of my eyes. “I’m Lola.”
“The pleasure is all mine.” He grinned and then gave Xavier a look. “You nearly gave us a heart attack. Mama thinks that you’ve lost your head. They say that Violeta has gone crazy. She can’t believe it. She’s going to flip a switch when she sees you. She thought that she —”
“Tarquin.” Xavier frowned as he cut him off. “Enough.”
“Oops, sorry.” Tarquin gave me an awkward smile. “You must forgive me. I never expected to see the day when my cousin would get married.”
“You two are cousins?” I was surprised. Tarquin, while cute, didn’t look like Xavier at all with his white blond hair and pale skin.
“Can’t you tell?” Tarquin grinned again, looking carefree and happy, quite unlike Xavier.
“No, not really.” I shook my head and smiled back at him.
“Go ahead, Tarq. I need to talk to Lola now.” Xavier grabbed my arm and frowned. “Stop flirting with my cousin, it’s so common.”
“What?” I rolled my eyes. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m telling you to stop coming on to my cousin. You haven’t cut off my balls yet. Tonight, I’ll show you just how different Tarquin and I really are.”
“What does that mean?” I could feel my heart pounding at his words. I tried not to stare at his handsome face and so instead looked at his muscular chest. That was a mistake. Staring at his physique only turned me on more.
“It means that when I fuck you tonight,” he leaned forward and whispered in my ear. “There won’t be any giggling going on.” His tongue entered my ear and I froze. “It also means that when I’m done with you, you’ll never joke about cutting any part of me off. Not when every part of me will be bringing you so much pleasure.”
***
“So Lola, tell me what you do.” Tarquin leaned forward with a curious expression on his face. “And how you met Xavier. The newspapers didn’t really print much.” He paused and looked at Xavier. “Aunt Henrietta is quite upset at you.”
“She’ll get over it.” Xavier shrugged. “She has Sebastian to get it right for her.”
“Sebastian isn’t getting married as well is he?” Tarquin’s eyes widened with glee. “Oh wait until I tell —”
“Tarquin.” Xavier rolled his eyes. “Calm down. You’re overwhelming, Lola.” He shook his head and turned to look at me. “How are you feeling, my dear.”
“Huh?” My jaw dropped. My dear? Really? He was really putting it on. I tried not to laugh in his face as I contemplated telling him just where I wanted him to jump from. I
leaned back in the Rolls Royce that was escorting us to the royal palace. Everything felt so surreal. The chauffeur had bowed when he’d seen Xavier and I. He’d actually bowed. And then he’d held the door for me and everyone had waited for me to make my way into the back of the car first. It was so weird. I wasn’t used to that. Guys back home didn’t even hold the door open for me when we went on dates.
“Are you jetlagged?” His eyes danced as he mocked me and reached over and touched my forehead.
“Funny.” I glared at him. “We were only flying for about two hours.”
“I suppose you’re still tired from Paris.”
“Yeah, perhaps.” I looked out of the window and stared at the city we were passing through quickly. “It’s so quaint here.”
“Don’t let looks fool you. There’s nothing quaint about Romerius.” Xavier licked his lips slowly. “I’ll be happy to —”
“Xavier, I hope you didn’t tell her that Romerius is like London or even Berlin.” Tarquin grinned. “She’ll leave from boredom.” He looked at me. “Not much goes on here. Everyone knows everyone and let’s just say everyone is excited to meet the famous Lola Franklin.”
“Famous?” I grimaced.
“Oh yes.” He pulled out his phone. “I’ve had texts from all my friends asking about you. If you’re as pretty as your photograph. If you’re nice. If I think you’re a gold-digger.”
“It wasn’t me that said it.” Xavier interjected loudly and put his hands up. “Please say I’m safe.”
“For now.” I gave him a look and tried not to smile.
“What are you two talking about?” Tarquin looked confused and I shook my head.
“Don’t worry about it.” I laughed. “I can’t believe people thought I was pretty.” I smiled happily. “I’ve never thought I photographed particularly well. So that’s nice to hear.”
“Are you joking?” Tarquin looked shocked and then looked at Xavier with a curious expression. “Is she joking?”
“Joking about what?” I frowned and gasped as I saw a huge palace in the distance. “Oh my God, that’s not where you live? That looks bigger than Buckingham Palace.” I stared at the huge building as we passed through the ornate gold gates.
“Yes, that’s my home.” Xavier said dryly. “And Tarquin is shocked that you would inquire if you are pretty or not. We’re not used to modesty in Romerius. Mostly every pretty girl knows she is pretty. So for him to meet a beautiful girl like you and for you to be shocked that others can see your beauty, well it astounds him.”
“I’m not beautiful though.” My face burned a deep red as I played with my hair and stared at them both. What was he talking about? As far as I was concerned I was fairly average. There was nothing that screamed beautiful to me when I looked in the mirror. Granted there were days that I felt more pretty than others, but I’d never felt beautiful.
“Is she for real?” Tarquin spoke to Xavier, but stared at me. “You’re gorgeous, Lola.”
“You think so?” I looked down, feeling embarrassed.
“Of course you are.” Xavier frowned. “Your hair is silky and a deep rich chestnut brown. Your eyes are warm and open. Your skin is smooth and your complexion resembles that of a juicy peach. Your body is curved like a sexy statue. You, my dear, are as close to a work of art as a woman can get.”
“You’re joking.” I bit my lower lip and stared at him in confusion. “Right?”
“Why do you not believe?” Xavier’s eyes narrowed.
“Most guys like girls with blonde hair, blue eyes, skinny waists...” My voice trailed off.
“That’s a vision of beauty in America, to some people.” Xavier shrugged. “Yes, there are beautiful blondes and beautiful skinny women. However, no woman should think that they have to fit those three characteristics to be seen as beautiful. You my dear are a natural beauty.” He picked up my hand and ran his fingers up my arm and then to my neck. “Here in Romerius, we value the beauty in every woman. And I’m a man that likes a bit of flesh on my woman’s bones.” His fingers went to my waist and then to my leg, where he rubbed my thigh. My body was on high alert as he touched me and I could feel a fire burning up in my legs.
“I’m not sure any woman likes to be told she has a bit of flesh on her bones as their stomach is being rubbed.” I laughed. “But I’ll let it slide.”
“Xavier can be a bit of an ass, sometimes.” Tarquin grinned at me again. “Don’t mind him.”
“Haha, I try not to anymore.”
“Really?” Xavier moved closer to me. “Is that so, Lola?” His hand moved back up my thigh and slipped inside of my leg. The movement made me jump and he laughed. “Are you okay, my dear?”
“Stop calling me that.” I hissed at him and I saw Tarquin looking away with a smile.
“What else did my mother say, Tarq?” Xavier ignored me and put his arm around my shoulder. “And did father say anything?”
“Uncle James just laughed.” Tarquin grinned. “That didn’t make Aunt Henrietta very happy.”
“She’s still in shock I suppose.”
“I thought you were never getting married.”
“I’m not.” Xavier snapped at his cousin and then realized his mistake. “I mean I never thought I was going to, until I met Lola. She took my breath away when I saw her. It was only when I saw her that I realized what I was missing out on.”
I watched him talking and for a few seconds, I almost believed it was real. For a few seconds, I stared at his profile and thought all my dreams had really come true. Maybe he really did love me. Maybe I was the one he’d always wanted. Yeah, Lola and maybe pigs fly. I chided myself silently.
“Once he saw me, he knew he had to have me.” I spoke up and smiled sweetly at Xavier. “He knew that I was the one he wanted to marry.” I reached over and grabbed his arm. “And we’re going to go and get me a nice big ring tomorrow aren’t we?” I almost burst out laughing as his eyes narrowed at me. Take that, Xavier. Two can play your game.
“Sure, right after we get the toys.”
“What toys?” Was he seriously going to talk about board games now?
“Oh you know, the toys that will make your orgasms even more powerful.” He grinned and grabbed my hand so that I couldn’t remove it. “And maybe something that will make that other thing more attractive to you.”
“What other thing?” I whispered, embarrassed that Tarquin was listening to us talk about sex. Had Xavier no shame?
“You know, the back—”
“Xavier.” I cried out loudly. “Enough.” I looked at Tarquin surreptitiously to see if he had figured out what Xavier had been about to say. My face was burning a bright red. I was pretty sure that if cars could see it, they would think it was a stop sign.
“Yes, my dear.” Xavier leaned back and ran his hands through his hair. “Just wanted to make sure you were still excited.”
“I’m not excited.” I leaned over and whispered in his ear. “We need to talk when you’re ready. And when I say ‘when you’re ready’, I mean as soon as we’re in private. I’m not about to just sit here and —”
“Oh Lola.” He turned his head, grabbed my face and kissed me hard. His lips pressed down onto mine, shutting me up as his tongue entered my mouth. I sucked on it eagerly as if I’d been in some sort of drought. His fingers made their way into my hair and he massaged my scalp as he sucked on my tongue. My body reacted swiftly and I felt myself relaxing as feelings of passion overwhelmed me.
“Get a room you two.” Tarquin’s laugh brought me back to reality and I pulled back from Xavier, feeling slightly ashamed.
“I’m sorry.” I turned to him with a red face. “I forgot you were there.”
“It’s fine.” He shrugged, good-naturedly. “It happens to me all the time.”
“Oh.” I bit my lower lip, wanting him to clarify his response. Did it happen to him all the time generally? Or did it happen all the time, when he was with Xavier? Did Xavier have a habit of making out with women w
hen he was around? Not that I doubted that was true, but it made me feel incredibly sad and jealous. It was hard being the fake-fiancée of a handsome bachelor.
“So what do you do, Lola? Are you excited to be in Romerius? Are you excited to meet Xavier’s parents? What did your parents think of your engagement to Xavier? Did they think it was fast? Did they—”
“Enough, Tarquin.” Xavier’s voice was authoritative. “That’s enough. You can ask Lola more questions tomorrow.”
“Or in a week.” I said sweetly, while wondering how in the hell we were going to extricate ourselves from this fake engagement in one week. I could already see the look of disappointment on Tarquin’s face when we ‘broke up’. I really wasn’t sure why Xavier was having us go along with this plan. It made no sense. I know he’d said he was doing this to help me from ruining my reputation with the tabloids, but I didn’t really care what they had to say. It seemed like a huge over-exaggeration and I was slightly worried that a week with Xavier was going to be too much for me. Playing his fiancée would make everything seem real and I wasn’t sure that was such a good idea. Anna would go crazy of course. She’d be excited for me and then she’d panic. Part of me wondered what Sebastian was thinking. He’d think it was weird, I’m sure. He didn’t know that I knew his brother before the class and he knew that I couldn’t stand Xavier. We both joked about how pompous he was and what an arrogant jerk he could be. He’d think I’d gone crazy. I cringed as I realized that he might think I was some sort of gold digger. That made me feel sad. I really hoped he realized that there was more to the story than he knew.
“Very funny, Lola.” Xavier stared at me for a few seconds and then he slowly brushed something off of my cheek. “Get ready, you’re about to meet my parents. My mother is very astute and can be difficult. Don’t let her overwhelm you.”
“I won’t dear fiancé.” I smiled at him sweetly.
“I do believe you’re enjoying this.” He shook his head and stared at me with surprised eyes. “I thought you’d feel out of your element.”