by J. S. Cooper
“You don’t know me very well then.” I grinned at him and winked. “You don’t know me at all.”
“Why do I think that’s the truth?” The car stopped then and he jumped out of the door and reached a hand in to guide me out. “Welcome to my home, Lola. Welcome to the Royal Palace of Romerius.”
“Don’t you mean our home, Xavier?” My eyes laughed at him as I made my way out of the car. “Isn’t this to become my home as well?” I slid out of the back seat and gasped as I stared at the palace in front of me. It was even grander than I’d thought when I’d been looking at it through the window. There were trees and ponds framing the front of the building and every inch of grass was perfectly manicured. There were statues at the entrance to the palace and I wanted to run over and study them in more detail. Then I noticed two figures coming out of the tall black doors that made up the entrance to the palace. I knew right away that it was Xavier’s parents and it was in that moment that it suddenly hit me. I was going to be lying to a King and Queen. A King and Queen of an entire country. Oh my god, what had I got myself into this time?
“Ready, darling?” Xavier grabbed my hand and led me towards his parents. My throat dried up and I didn’t respond. I had no smart response this time. Who could ever be ready for this?
***
His View
Lola’s hands felt clammy as we walked towards my parents. I knew that it had finally hit her. There were no more jokes coming fast and furious from her mouth. She realized the magnanimity of the situation. I would have laughed, if I wasn’t feeling so hot under the collar myself. I stared at my parents in front of me and I saw Tarquin running towards them excitedly. I’d underestimated how serious the family would take news of my engagement. I was angry at myself. I hadn’t thought this through properly. There would have been better ways to whisk Lola off to have some alone time with her. This seemed like a very complicated way to get some hot sex out of her. I wasn’t even sure why I cared so much. I’d already had her. And I was pretty sure I could have her again. There wasn’t a woman alive that would turn me down.
“Xavier.” My mother’s face lit up as we came face-to-face.
“Mother.” I let go of Lola’s hand and stepped forward to kiss my mother. “You’re looking well, as per usual.”
“This is Lola?” She turned towards Lola and looked surprised. I knew that she hadn’t expected to see a young girl, with unfashionable clothes and slightly frizzy hair. I’d thought about taking Lola shopping to get some new outfits before we came, but I wasn’t sure how she would have taken it.
“Yes, mama.”
“Oh.” She looked back at me with a disappointed expression. “Why did we have to learn about Lola from the newspapers.”
“Mama, I was going to tell you.” I started and I could see Lola frowning at me. I knew that she wasn’t happy with the lies. I was starting to feel uncomfortable with them as well. “Anyway, let us not argue. This is Lola Franklin.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Lola.” My mother’s voice was stiff as she shook Lola’s hand.
“It’s nice to meet you as well, Mrs., I mean Queen Romerius.” Lola sounded awkward and I wanted to laugh.
“You may call me Henrietta.” Mother’s voice was monotone and I couldn’t tell what she was thinking.
“Oh, thanks.” Lola’s voice drifted off and then my father stepped forward.
“I’m James.” He grabbed Lola and pulled her into a bear hug. “I’m glad to finally have a daughter.”
“Papa.” I shook my head at my father’s exuberant hug. “That’s too much.”
“Can I not say what I feel?” My father looked at me with a smile. “Does being a King mean nothing these days?”
“James.” My mother scolded him. “Let go of the poor girl.”
“I’m just welcoming her to the family.” He shook his head. “I’m not doing—”
“Where’s Grandma?” I cut him off. “I thought she’d want to come down and meet Lola.”
“She’s watching TV.” My mother shook her head. “She’s very disappointed in you, Xavier. She does not understand how you would not tell your family of this very important decision. We are all very disappointed, but I wanted to come down and meet Lola.” She gave Lola a quick tight smile and then turned to me and spoke in our native tongue. “Who is this girl, Xavier? She doesn’t even look like she is out of school? You expect her to become a princess and the queen of Romerius? Is this a joke?” She shot at me quickly, all the while keeping a smile on her face, so that Lola wouldn’t understand what we were talking about.
“Mother, Lola is my choice for a wife and you’ll just have to accept that.” I retorted back at her, all the while smiling.
“I never expected to see the day you married and now, you say you’re getting married to, to someone that looks like a poor orphan.”
“I’ve never seen any rich looking orphans, mother.”
“Don’t talk back to me, Xavier.” Her eyes flashed at me and I turned away from her annoyed.
“Is everything okay?” Lola looked at me, with worried brown eyes and I nodded and reached for her hand. In that moment, I felt guilty. I felt guilty for subjecting her to what I knew was going to be a difficult situation, all because she was getting to my head.
“It’s fine.” I said finally, trying to ignore the way her lips teased me as she licked them quickly.
“Uh huh.” She shook her head slightly and her eyes stared into mine with a question and taunt. She knew that it was not going smoothly.
“Let’s go inside and show Lola her room.” My father, ever the diplomat, spoke up.
“She’s sleeping with me.”
“No.” My mother and Lola gasped out at the same time.
“Of course we are.” I gave my mom a look and then Lola. “We’re engaged.”
“I don’t care if you’re engaged, it’s not the proper thing.” My mother shook her head. “I forbid it.”
“Funny.” I laughed. “You’re forbidding it, mother?”
“James, talk to your son.” My mother gave me a look of disgust and then turned away from me. “I’m going inside. I’ve had a long day.” She nodded her head at Lola and then walked inside.
“You shouldn’t upset your mother, Xavier.” My dad’s eyes were laughing as he spoke to me. “It was a pleasure meeting you, dear Lola.” He picked up Lola’s hand and kissed it. “I better go inside and make sure your mother isn’t too upset. I trust you can show Lola to her room, or whatever room she’s sleeping in.” He turned around and hurried back inside.
“You’ve gone and upset your mother.” Lola’s eyes flashed at me. “Now she’s going to hate me.”
“My mother is a drama queen, Lola.” I shook my head and pulled her towards me. “Trust me, she’ll be fine.”
“I’m not sleeping in the same room as you, by the way. You’ve got to be joking.”
“I never joke about such things.”
“I’m not doing it.” She looked at me obstinately. “I don’t want your parents thinking I’m some sort of low-class tart.”
“What do you care?” I leaned forward and ran my tongue across her trembling lips.
“It’s not proper.” She pulled back from me and I grabbed her around the waist.
“I don’t care about what’s proper.”
“What do you care about, Xavier?” I could feel her breath on my tongue and lips and I froze at her words. Instinctively, I knew I cared about her. There was something about her that affected me more than I liked. She was getting to me. She was making me do stupid things. I didn’t understand it. I didn’t want her getting under my skin any more.
“I care about fucking you whenever I want, where ever I want.” I pulled her body towards me and pressed my hardness into her. “That’s what I care about.”
CHAPTER TWO
The gold trimming covering the bathtub shouldn’t have surprised me, but of course it did. I’d never been around such opulence before. I took a dee
p breath and sat back on the toilet seat. I wasn’t actually going to the bathroom, but I’d needed to escape from Xavier, and this was the only room I knew he wouldn’t follow me into. Meeting his parents had overwhelmed me. Especially seeing the look in his mother’s eyes. It had unnerved me. I felt really bad for deceiving them, especially as I didn’t even know why Xavier had set up this elaborate story. I didn’t know why he hadn’t just sued the tabloids for defamation or libel or whatever it was that celebrities sued tabloids for.
His mother had looked as I’d expected. Beautiful and cold. She looked aristocratic with her perfectly thin nose and high cheekbones. Her green eyes had pierced through to my soul and she didn’t have one hair out of place. I knew she hadn’t been impressed when she’d surveyed my appearance. I reached up and touched the top of my head. My hair felt dry and I was sure it looked messy as well. I stood up and walked to the mirror. My face looked pale and washed out. I certainly didn’t look like the sort of girl that had the ability to trap a prince. No matter what Tarquin and Xavier said. I was definitely not a Hollywood beauty, though I suppose there was a certain innocent, natural beauty to my looks.
“You alive?” Xavier knocked on the door and I froze.
“I’m fine.” I called back, praying that Xavier wasn’t going to overstep another boundary and walk into the room.
“Do you need anything?”
“I’m fine.”
“No pepto bismol?”
“No.” I shouted out embarrassed. “I’m fine.”
“Well, you’ve been in there a while. I wanted to make sure you didn’t have a scarred stomach.”
“A scarred stomach?” I called out in surprise.
“Okay, maybe not scarred, scared.”
“A scared stomach?” I started giggling.
“I mean an upset stomach.”
“Don’t worry, my stomach’s not scarred, scared, or upset.” I called out and walked to the toilet and flushed it, even though there was nothing in the bowl.
“I’m glad to hear that.”
“I’m just going to wash my hands if that’s okay with you.” I called out and turned on the gold-plated faucets. Did they really need this much gold in a bathroom? It seemed ostentatious, but then what did I know? My family barely had enough money to pay the bills and get groceries every month.
“I’m waiting.” His voice was soft through the door and I shivered. Oh shit, here we go.
“You didn’t have to wait for me outside the door you know. It’s unnerving.” I snapped as I walked back into Xavier’s bedroom. It looked like a display bedroom from a museum exhibit. “Your bedroom is crazy.” I walked over to the four poster bed and touched the thick wood.
“This bed belonged to my great-grandfather. It was hand carved in India. It was a gift to him from the English.”
“The English?” I frowned. “I thought you said it was hand carved in India?”
“The English colonized India. Did you not know that?” He paused. “Oh yes, I forgot, you’re an American.”
“Excuse me?” I took a deep breath and was about to tell him where to get off.
“I’m not saying that to be rude.” He shrugged. “I only said that to mean that English children would grow up with that knowledge because it was their country that tried to take over the world. American’s haven’t colonized anyone, have they?” He cocked his head and smiled. “Unless you want to talk about my heart. You’ve colonized my heart.”
“Aren’t you confusing your heart with your cock?” I said bluntly and he laughed loudly.
“Perhaps I am.” He reached down and grabbed himself. “I’m still quite hard.”
“That’s nice.” I walked to the window and pulled the curtain to the side. “That’s some backyard.” I stared out at the vast expanse of green lawns and flower beds. “It’s beautiful.”
“Thank you. We have ten gardeners. We have the Versailles gardens of Romerius.”
“I’ve never been to Versaille.”
“I’ll have to take you one day.”
“That’s okay. I don’t need two fake engagements in my life.”
“You can go as part of your first one.”
“I think that’s an awful lot to fit into one week.”
“Well, it might be longer than one week.” He shrugged.
“No.” I bit my lower lip. “I have to get back to London. Xavier, why are you doing this?”
“I told you. I don’t want you to be painted as a scarlet woman by the press.”
“The press don’t know or care about me?” I rolled my eyes. “Date someone else and they’ll focus on her.”
“I don’t want to date anyone.” He walked towards me purposefully. “I’m not in this to date anyone. I’m in it to—”
“I know what you’re going to say.” I cut him off and gasped as he picked me up. “What are you doing?”
“Carrying you to my bed.”
“Put me down.” I struggled against him, my hands beating against his muscular chest.
“Will do.” He dropped me on the bed and looked down at me for a second before lying down next to me. “Are you ready for me?” His fingers ran up to my heaving breasts and squeezed my nipple.
“Stop.” I pushed his hand away from me. “This is so not appropriate.”
“What’s not appropriate?” He sat up and pulled his shirt off. I stared at his naked chest and the sprinkles of hair covering his pecs. He reached over to me and I felt his fingers pulling up my shirt. I lay there without stopping him. I knew that I should say no, but I wanted him to touch me. My body craved his touch as my parched throat craved water. “We should go shopping.” He said as he stared down at me. “Sit up, so I can take your bra off.” He commanded me and I frowned.
“What are you talking about?” I frowned at him. “Why should we go shopping?”
“It looks like you don’t have many clothes? I think you’ve been wearing the same bra every time I’ve seen you. And frankly, it’s not the sexiest bra, I’ve ever seen.”
“Excuse me?” My jaw dropped as his fingers slipped inside of my bra and played with my nipples. I squirmed on the bed as he teased my hardening nipples.
“I’m happy to buy you nice things. It will work out for both of us. I’d like to see you in a bra that —”
“I don’t care what you want to see.” I pushed his arm away from me and sat up and jumped off of the bed. “Every time, I say to myself, just give him a chance, he’s not such a jerk, you say something that reminds me that you’re a bigger jerk than I even gave you credit for.”
“I’m a jerk because I want to buy you pretty things.”
“You’re a jerk because that comment implies that my things aren’t pretty.”
“I’m not implying anything.” He jumped up and ran his hands through his hair. “I’m telling you that your bra is ugly and your clothes aren’t doing much to accentuate the beauty of your body. Your clothes should hug your body like a second skin, right now they cling onto you like a tick clings onto a dog whose blood it’s sucking.”
“What?” I shook my head and paused. “What are you talking about? You’re calling my clothes a tick?”
“Whatever you took from that is your issue.” He grabbed my waist and pulled me towards him. “Now, be quiet.” His fingers deftly unclasped my bra and he yanked it off of my body. His lips fell to my breast and he took my nipple into his mouth and sucked on it gently before nipping at it with his teeth.
“Ow.” I cried out as his teeth bit down harder. “What are you doing?”
“I’m showing you that I can give you pleasure and pain.” He looked up at me with teasing eyes. “Ultimately, I want to give you pleasure, but I will go through whatever modes of transport that I need to, to get you there.”
“I think not, I don’t want. Oh.” I cried out as his hand grabbed my other breast and his fingers squeezed my other nipple gently as he nibbled on the other one. It felt like the sweetest sort of pleasure and I could feel my
panties growing wet.
“You don’t want what?” He grinned as he pulled away from me and then looked at his watch. “We should shower now. Dinner will be served soon.”
“Is that shower as in, we both shower or by ourselves?” I bent down and grabbed my bra as I spoke. I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t know what to think either. I figured there was no point in lying to myself. I liked Xavier, I was attracted to him, and I did want to be with him. However, I didn’t really know what that meant in the scheme of things. What did he really want from me? Who did he see me as? I wasn’t stupid enough to believe that he liked me as a fiancée. I knew that he wasn’t secretly pining over wanting to be with me. But what happened after a week? What happened when we had a week of fun and everyone realized that I wasn’t really his fiancée? How would I feel if he discarded me like a piece of trash? I could lie to myself and tell myself I would be fine, but I wasn’t so sure. I’d come into all of this with an idea and a plan and now I wasn’t so sure if I really knew what I’d gotten myself into.
“I’d love for us to shower together.” He pulled his pants off. “And maybe a quickie in the shower before—”
“No.” I shook my head. “You go ahead. I need to call Anna.”
“Oh.” He frowned. “I was very much looking forward to some sex.”
“Yeah, I’m sure you were. That’s not my problem.”
“A lady doesn’t talk back to a prince.”
“It’s a good thing I’m not a lady then, isn’t it.”
“Why do you constantly challenge me, Lola? Isn’t it tiring to always be so disagreeable?”
“Is that a joke?” I laughed at him. “There’s no way you’re calling me the disagreeable one.”
“I think you’ll find that I’m not disagreeable at all.”
“You know what’s funny?” I walked towards the bed and sat on the mattress and stared at him.
“What’s funny?”
“Being here, in this palace with you is so much more different than I thought it was going to be. I thought that I’d be all overwhelmed by everything, but actually it’s quite the opposite. Being here with you makes me see you differently. It makes me see you as an equal, okay, not an equal, but just like a regular guy.”