Royally Mine: 22 All-New Bad Boy Romance Novellas

by Susan Stoker

  A dirty love.

  “We need to talk,” he said.

  “About what?”

  “What happens next.”

  I stood up, trying not to be aware of my naked body as I walked over to the dresser. My hose were ruined. My shirt. I grabbed from the drawers a new pair of underwear, dark jeans. A sweater and a new bra.

  “Well,” I said, pulling the jeans on. “The council is eager to have you take the throne. Last I heard they’d planned the coronation—”

  “Between us. What happens next between us.”

  “There is no us,” I said, slipping the sweater over my head, swallowing the lump in my throat. What I would have done to have heard those words three years ago. “And there is no next.”

  “You want us to work together every day, and…” He arched his dark eyebrows, lying across the fur-strewn bed like it was his throne. His nakedness meant nothing to him, it was simply another suit of clothes he wore with the same grace he wore everything. “Pretend like we don’t feel this way?”

  I pushed the braids that had fallen down around my face, away and gathered up what was left of my nerve. My courage. I’d known this moment was coming. Had I hoped it wouldn’t come while he was naked on the messy bed we’d just made love in? Sure. But beggars can’t be choosers.

  Or in this case quitters.

  “We won’t be working together every day,” I said.

  “Of course we will. You’ll be on council… or if not on council, you’ll—”

  “I’ve quit. I won’t be working for Vasgar. At all.”

  “Quit?” he said like he’d never heard the word before. “Who are you going to work for?”

  “I have some opportunities in England.”

  “England!”

  He got up off the bed and I felt myself panic, all my calm shattering under the sudden heat of his temper. Of his focus. I left for the small bathroom just outside the bedroom in the main cabin. I shut the door behind me and closed my eyes, taking a few deep breaths before looking at the damage done to my hair.

  The face looking back at me was one I hadn’t seen in a while. Relaxed. Blissed out. All my hard edges blurred. This is what Gunnar did to me. What he always did to me. I splashed water on my face, cooling my bright red cheeks. And then I repinned my braids. Putting myself slowly back together, piece by piece.

  Chapter Seven

  Gunnar

  I had done too good a job making her believe I didn’t love her. The lies I told trying to get her to leave the country were too effective.

  Dressed and sitting in the main cabin, waiting for the woman I loved to come out of the bathroom, I realized I should have known the damage my lies would do. I knew her too well, just like she knew me, and when I chose to hurt her instead of love her—I knew exactly what would wound her the most.

  And now I had to try and make her believe my love and not my indifference.

  This time I would tell her the truth. All of it.

  Brenna deserved that.

  She came out, as regal in jeans and a sweater as she’d been in heels and skirt.

  Her braids looked a little worse for wear, but she was only more beautiful to me for it.

  Her eyes looked me over, like they always did when she walked into a room, and I wondered if she knew that she did that. Like she was checking I had all my parts before she looked at or talked to anyone else.

  I’d loved that three years ago, exploited it maybe.

  But I’d been a royal dick back then.

  “I bought the bars when I heard you got the internship in New York City,” I said. “I thought I would live there while you were there. That maybe… we could both try a life that didn’t have anything to do with Vasgar. While we waited for my father to die.”

  She shook her head, blinking at me. “But you were prince. Next in line for the throne. There was no life for you outside of Vasgar.”

  I took a long breath, shallow and raw, preparing myself for honesty. “I believed my life was with you. Wherever you were, that’s where I would go.”

  Her sweet pink mouth fell open; her eyes went wide.

  “And,” I continued, “I watched you go off to Edinburgh with all this happiness you couldn’t hide. And I thought you were happier away from Vasgar, because of your mother and my father and the scrutiny of the council…”

  “You would have left?” she asked. “For me?”

  “I would have done anything for you.”

  “Except marry me?”

  I nodded. “It was ridiculous of me to think that I knew what was best for you, but three years ago, I did. I thought I knew what was best, and I would have done anything for you to be free of the castle. I had this dream that you would be in New York and I’d…orchestrate some overly casual chance meeting with you. And we’d…we’d have a chance to start over. Without the throne. Without our parents. Just us.” It sounded like a fairy tale. “But you stayed.”

  “I couldn’t leave… the work we were doing…”

  I nodded, my mistakes around me like blast sites. “I was stupid and blind and I should have seen that coming. I should have known that about you, that you would always do the job. That you would always do what was right. That I was the selfish one.”

  She was standing in the aisle and the plane hit some turbulence, bouncing slightly, and she sat down hard in her chair.

  “Those things you said,” she whispered.

  “I’ll regret them until I die.”

  She bit her lip and looked out the window.

  There was a knock on the door to the main cabin and Kendra opened it slightly. “We are hitting turbulence over Scotland,” she said. “The pilot insists on seatbelts.”

  “Thank you Kendra,” Brenna said and she shut the door again as we both put on our seatbelts.

  “I want to give you what you want,” I said, the words sticky in a mouth full of regret.

  That made her look at me, her eyes wide.

  “If you want to leave, I won’t stand in your way. I owe you that. You can leave knowing I will fight for everything you have fought for the last three years. I’ll live up to the challenges you’ve set for me.”

  “I know you will,” she breathed and that…God, that was a relief.

  “Or, I will put you on the council. You can work for Vasgar from council chambers.” I took a deep breath. “Or, I will marry you and go back to New York and leave you to rule the country.”

  “Gunnar!” she gasped.

  “Because you are the right person for that job. You always have been. And that I led you to believe for a moment that you weren’t worthy of the throne is my greatest regret. It’s the throne that isn’t worthy of you.”

  She unbuckled her seat belt, her head bent, the braids obscuring her face, and came to sit beside me on the banquette. And I told myself not to get excited. Not to put any energy into hoping, because this woman could crush me with a word.

  “Say it again,” she whispered.

  “We’ll get married and I will live in New York—”

  “No,” she said. She lifted her head and her eyes, her beautiful brown eyes were full of tears. But her mouth, her mouth was lifted in the smallest smile. The most careful smile, as if she too was trying not to wish too much.

  “I love you,” she said in the ancient language.

  And I said it back to her before the words were fully out of her mouth. I said it over and over again, until she put her fingers against my lips.

  “I love you too,” she said. “I have…forever.”

  “What do you want?” I asked. “What can I give you?”

  “Marry me,” she said. “And let’s rule Vasgar side by side.”

  I crushed her in my arms, my warrior princess. My Viking love. I hadn’t been brave enough to dream of this, but here it was.

  The dream of us was too strong to be killed by my stupidity. My foolishness.

  “Marry me,” I said. “Marry me and rule beside me and I will spend every day of my l
ife on my knees in front of you thanking the old gods.”

  She laughed, kissing my face, the tears she’d been holding back sliding in a silver track down her beautiful face.

  “Good,” she whispered. “Because that is what I want.”

  “My queen,” I whispered into her hair. “You are and always will be my queen.”

  “King Gunnar,” she whispered back. “Long live my king.”

  ~The End~

  Thank you for Reading Long Live My King! I hope you enjoyed it and the rest of the stories in this anthology!

  About Molly O’Keefe

  Molly O’Keefe is the award-winning and USA Today bestselling author of over 30 steamy contemporary romances. She lives in Toronto Canada with her husband and two kids. You can find out more about her at www.molly-okeefe.com.

  If you’d like to stay connected please join my newsletter for all the latest news.

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  The Playboy Prince by Mikey Lee

  Chapter One

  A gentle morning breeze blew off the beach and swung the balcony door. The door swayed back and forth until a heavy gust knocked the door against the table behind it. An empty tequila bottle flopped to the floor and came to a rest against the lace of a bra. The floor was littered with an almost countless number of empty bottles and scattered clothes.

  The giggles from two girls in the shower were muffled by the water crashing on the shower floor. Dryce peeked his head up from under the sheets in the middle of the custom extra large bed. Squinting from the sunlight flooding the room, he glanced around.

  The grand double doors of the suite flung open and the heavy foot steps of Erik were quickly recognized by Dryce. His head flopped back down on the pillow, covering his face with the sheets.

  “Good morning, sir.” Erik placed a bottle of water on the night stand. “How’s your head feeling his morning?”

  “Hey, Tank,” Dryce said from under the sheets. “I’ve got a flipping headache from hell. Can you close that fuckin’ door and get this sunlight outta here?”

  Erik slid his hand, digging around in his inside breast pocket of his suit looking for the pill bottle. “Here you go sir. Sit up please.”

  “Tank, stop with that ‘sir’ shit.” Flinging the sheet off his face and leaning up on his elbows, he said, “How long have you been with me?”

  “I… I think its been about four years now, and some change.” Erik’s bass deep voice echoed in Dryce’s ears, exaggerating the ‘four’ years. “Yeah, I think it was about four or five years ago Austin hired me on.” Nodding his head up and down, he kicked aside the littered bottles of liquor and panties clearing a path to the balcony door, closed it and pulled the draw string, shutting the blinds.

  More laughter came from the bathroom. Erik sidestepped to the edge of the bed and gazed in. In the reflection of the mirror, Erik was able to see the blonde’s body covered in soap. Her breasts pressed against the glass wall, her palms flat on the wall as well about shoulder height. The red head caressed the blonde’s body from behind.

  “Good god, sir. How the hell do you do it?” Erik made every attempt to maintain professionalism and not lick his lips as he watched from across the bedroom.

  “Do what?” Dryce swallowed the hangover pills.

  Shaking his head, snapping out of it, Erik remembered what he was really there for. “Oh, sir, I almost forgot. It’s about time for us to leave. We’ve got a take off in less than hour.”

  “Why? Where am I going now?” Dryce laid his head back down.

  “Your father wants you at the grand opening of the new lock ceremony back home.” Erik walked over to the closet to grab some clothes for him. “Mr. Ngo received a call this morning.”

  Dryce let out a long drawn out sigh. “Why are you always so proper?”

  “Sorry, sir… I mean,” Erik started to say.

  “Just drop it.” Dryce flung the sheets and blanket off.

  Erik pulled a suit out of the closet and laid it on the bed.

  “Why am I wearing that? You know I don’t like to wear that shit when I’m flying,” Dryce said in an annoyed tone.

  “There’s all kinds of press and paparazzi downstairs,” Erik said, picking out a tie.

  Another deep breath in through his nose and sighing long and annoyed, Dryce mumbled, “Why can’t we just go out through the back or the loading docks like we normally do?”

  “Mr. Ngo… Umm, Austin wanted to go out the front today. Plus, the hotel’s got some kinda deliveries today.” Erik tossed the tie on the top of the suit.

  Giggles and laughter echoed out of the bathroom. “Your Highness, come join us,” came from one of the girls as the other one giggled.

  “And… what would you like to do about them?” Erik nodded towards the bathroom.

  With both hands rubbing his face, Dryce said, “Ugh, I don’t know. Make sure they sign the NDA shit and pay them. Or whatever it is Austin normally does.”

  ***

  Dryce and Erik stood by the main door of the suite and Erik adjusted Dryce’s tie around his neck; they could hear Austin in the hallway. “Look, when the prince comes out, you guys are going to be walking behind him. Assholes and to belly buttons when we get downstairs. You got it?”

  He finished with the tie and Erik stood there holding the door handle. “You about ready, sir?”

  Rolling his eyes, he said, “There you go with that ‘sir’ shit again. C’mon, man, your military days are over.” Dryce nodded his head indicating he was ready to leave.

  While walking out of the room, the hotel security snapped to attention. Austin turned around and smiled, pleased to see that Erik got him in a suit.

  Dryce looked up at Erik. “How the hell did you even get that damn big?”

  “I’m a good ol’ home grown, corn fed country boy. Born and raised in the sticks of misery.” Erik grinned with a subtle laugh.

  “Misery?” Dryce squinted, not understanding the reference.

  “Missouri, sir.” Erik leaned down slightly and whispered, “I’m here in front of Mr. Ngo, and he’ll have my ass if I don’t use the ‘sir’s.’ ”

  Dryce walked up to Austin who was standing in front of the elevator. “Good morning, Austin.”

  “Your Highness.” Austin bowed in front of him. “How are you feeling today?”

  “I’ve got a level ten on the hangover scale,” Dryce answered, stepping into the elevator.

  “So, you feel the same as usual mornings then, huh?” Austin snickered.

  Dryce, using his thumb to point at Austin, said, “You see…” looking up at Erik, “that’s how you can start talking to me. I’m a big boy now I can take it.”

  “No no no… it doesn’t work like that,” Austin chimed in, looking up at Erik. “Mr. Keegan works for me, and I work for your father. Therefore, I can talk to you anyway I want too.” Turning his eyes back to Dryce, he said, “And for the record, Your Highness, you’re not all that big.”

  Dryce, gazing at Austin through the reflection of the elevator doors, smiled and said, “Those girls from last night thought I was big enough.”

  “Cute, did you come up with that all by yourself? Or, were you just waiting for that perfect moment to spit that one out?” Austin smiled back through the reflection.

  Feeling their descent slowing down, Austin glanced up at the floor number lights. “Alright, enough playing around.” His attention turned to the hotel security. “Remember what I told you… Prince Khan isn’t a fuckin movie actor, he’s not fuckin Brad Pitt. He’s a prince and we’re not going to fuck this up… right?”

  Chapter Two

  Before getting out of the limo, Austin sent Erik to prep the plane for takeoff and run through the final checks. Dryce sat there looking out the window at the swamps across the runway of the airport.

  “Dryce, I need to talk to you.” Austin tapped his knee with the back of his knuckles.

  “Why are there so many swamps around here?” Dryce asked, s
till staring out the window.

  “Those… those are the everglades, we’re in Florida not Louisiana.” Austin tapped his knee again. “Hey, for real, look at me. If you’re going to keep up with this playboy attitude, I’m going to need to hire someone else.”

  Dryce wasn’t really concerned about the conversation and looked back out the window.

  “I’m serious here. What are you doing? What are you trying to prove here?” Austin started to sound like an old stereotypical queen mother.

  “What? What does it matter? I’m never going to take my father’s chair. That job’s for my brother.” Dryce turned back around, his eyes fixated on Austin’s knot on his tie, unable to make eye contact. “I don’t even know why I’m forced to go home now.”

  “Really? Your home country controls one hundred percent of all the imports and exports to and from China and Japan. This is grand opening day of the new bigger lock system… I don’t know… the biggest lock system on planet Earth, and it belongs to you and your family. And you can’t see why you need to be here?” Austin’s lecture continued. “With this new lock, it’s going to make the Panama Canal look like a back yard stream. Your family’s wealth is going to quadruple over the next two years.”

  Dryce smiled and looked back out the window to see if Erik was ready for them. “It’s funny, isn’t it?”

  Shaking his head, he asked, “What… what’s funny?” Austin sighed.

  “Canal… if you take the ‘c’ out, it spells ‘anal.’ Father’s lucky I’m not going to be the one who takes over, I think I would have some changes to what we call things in our country,” Dryce jokingly said, trying to change the subject.

  “Good fuck… when are you actually going to grow up? I really had higher hopes for you once you turned twenty-three,” Austin said under his breath.

  Erik stuck his head out of the plane door and waved them in, just like he’d rehearsed many times before. Erik rushed down the boarding steps and un-holstered his sidearm, holding it at the ready and scanning the area.