The Heir: A Contemporary Royal Romance

by Georgia Le Carre

  He steps away from me and waits. I ease down the zip of my dress, and it falls on the springy grass. I step out of it and remove my strapless bra, and then I slide my panties down my legs. I stand in front of him, nude but for the necklace and bracelet. I see his chest rise and fall as he breathes. He takes his jacket off and lays it on the ground behind me.

  “Lie down,” he says huskily.

  I obey. The inside of the jacket is still warm from his body. The grass tickles the backs of my legs. I smell the earth and the smell of things growing in the dark. It smells like baked apples. He stands over and looks down at me. His gaze is possessive and full of fierce pride.

  “Spread your legs, bella.”

  I push my legs up and let them butterfly on either side. Wide open, I gaze up at him.

  “You cannot imagine what you look like,” he whispers as he kneels down. His mouth finds a nipple. He sucks it and my body arches with pleasure. He slides a finger into me. I’m so wet his finger makes a squishing sound. He adds another finger and I moan. I feel drunk with pleasure and I want more and more.

  Slowly, he kisses and licks his way down my body until his tongue can reach out and lick my slit. Then his tongue goes to work. He laps at my folds and circles my clit. His other hand pushes back my hood and his lips capture the hard bud.

  My hands clench in his hair as I gaze up at the vast sky, the stars. I rock back and forth against his face mindlessly. Thrusting my pussy harder and harder into his face and mouth. I want to remember this until the day I die.

  I don’t want to come so quickly.

  I want this to last and last, but his tongue flicks back and forth so fast and furiously, I can hold back no longer. My body starts trembling. As I crest, he bites down on my clit, making me scream into the night. My body jerks and my thighs crush his head.

  I feel myself filling his mouth with my liquid while he keeps pumping his fingers right through my extended orgasm. When it is all over, he rams his tongue one last time into me.

  Then he brings his mouth to mine and plunges his tongue into my mouth. His tongue tastes of me. I suck it desperately. I feel as if I need him in my mouth more than I need to breathe. Our mouths meld in a sensation of heat. Oh God, I love this man so much I don’t know where he begins and I end. Eventually, he lifts his head and looks down at me.

  “Fuck, baby. You’re so fucking beautiful.”

  I want to say the words. It seems like the perfect place to tell him I love him. All I have to say is I love you so much, but my throat locks, and I don’t say anything, I just stare up into his beautiful face.

  He unzips his pants quickly, and pulls them down his hips. He pushes his underpants down and his cock springs out, hard and almost purple in the moonlight.

  “You belong only to me. This is the only cock that you will ever have in your body again,” he says as he pushes slowly into me, his eyes dark and hooded.

  After all this time, I still have to get used to his size, to the sensation of being so stretched and full. He stops to allow me to adjust then he grinds his hips against my pussy. I’m so soaked and I can hear the sticky sounds of his skin against mine.

  “My need is too strong, bella. I can’t last,” he mutters thickly.

  He must have been really holding himself back, because in a few thrusts, his whole body clenches, and with a roar he fills me with his seed. I know he likes to stay for a while inside my body after he has come so I gently stroke his face. Eventually, he moves, molds his body to mine.

  “Told you it would be beautiful,” he murmurs.

  “Yes, it was.” One day I’ll tell him how beautiful it really was for me. How it felt as if I was making love amongst the stars.

  “Almost perfection, isn’t it?” he asks.

  “I’m not sure about the almost part,” I say. “I’m pretty convinced this night is totally perfect.”

  I tell him I’d felt some trepidation about the ball. I’d never been to one before, but now I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.

  Once more we kiss, and I cling to him as if I never want to let him go. I don’t want to leave this enchanted garden and go back to the real world.

  “Ready to go back to the party?” he asks when we break apart.

  “I suppose we should.”

  He helps pull my zip up for me. Some bits of my hair have escaped the pins, so I pull everything out, and let my hair loose.

  “Here, keep this,” I say dropping the pearl pins that belonged to his mother into his trouser pocket.

  As we walk back to the party, my shoes start to hurt my feet. I tell Dante I’m going to go up to my room to change my shoes. He offers to come up with me, but I tell him I’ll meet him at the entrance of the ballroom. When I reach the lobby, I see Cassandra hurrying up to me.

  “Where have you been?” she asks, her eyes roaming knowingly over my hair.

  I don’t know why, but I don’t want to tell her that I’ve been in the South Garden. “We just went for a walk,” I tell her.

  “A walk?” She smirks. “That’s a new name for it.”

  I shrug and smile.

  “Aren’t you going back to the party?”

  “Yes, but I’m going to change my shoes first. These shoes are killing me.”

  “Well, what a coincidence because I was just about to go up and change my shoes too.” She lifts her lime green dress and shows me her sparkly shoes.

  “I saw you dancing with Linnus’s father,” she says as we walk side by side up the winding staircase with a huge crystal chandelier hanging over us.

  “Yes, I had no idea he is such a wonderful dancer,” I say mildly.

  “The two of you looked marvelous waltzing around the dance floor. I think he likes you. A lot.”

  “That’s kind of you to say, but considering the stern looks he throws my way, I didn’t really think he approved of me at all.”

  “He gave you something, didn’t he?”

  I don’t look at her and I keep my voice casual. “Yeah, he gave me the key to the South Garden. He wanted Dante to show it to me.”

  “So that’s where you were. Why didn’t you just tell me that instead of pretending you went for a walk?”

  I turn to face her. She is staring at me with a hurt expression. “I didn’t tell you because it’s not important, Cassandra. He thought I would like to see it because I like gardens, but there is nothing to it.”

  “If it’s not that important why hide it?”

  “Look, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. It was just a private memory between Dante and me and I wanted to keep it that way. Do you understand where I’m coming from?”

  She laughs. “I was just yanking your leg. Of course, I understand. I knew you and Dante had been having it off somewhere.”

  I smile with relief. For a moment there, I thought I had just made another enemy in the palace. The sooner I get out of here, the better. As we walk up, I can’t help but glance up at the chandelier.

  “This palace is so beautiful—”

  The words are cut off when I feel Cassandra’s foot slip off the next step and kick hard against my left leg. To my horror, it causes me to lose my balance. My arms flail and I turn towards her hoping to catch hold of her, but she makes a quick, nimble movement away from me. I try to grab the banister, but it is outside my reach.

  In a moment frozen in time I see Cassandra turn to look at me, a wicked smile flashing across her face. It’s there for only a second, then it disappears as quickly as it appeared. As my body hits the hard marble stairs, I see a schooled look of concern displace that triumphant smile.

  A sharp pain radiates in my side.

  Then I am rolling like a bowling ball down the stairs, bouncing, my body hitting every hard edge. I hear a roar of disbelief from somewhere in the vast lobby as I continue to tumble down the steps. I know it is Dante shouting for me. I land on my back with a thud, and lie there, with my legs askew, like a rag doll. For a moment or two I can’t move. I’m too stunned and shocked.
>
  Then Dante’s face is hovering above me. I think he is talking to me because his mouth is moving, but I can’t make out what he is saying. I am in a fog. I recognize the terrible distress on his handsome face through a haze of pain.

  And I see her. The woman who deliberately caused my fall. She is crying. Other people start rushing towards us.

  Chapter 36

  Dante

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T4EB3dl9j8

  Russian Roulette

  I watch Rosa and Cassandra ascend the stairs together. I cannot imagine a life without her or our child. Already the baby, yet unborn, has changed my life.

  What happens next plays out in slow motion. I will see it in my mind’s eye forever. I see her reach out to Cassandra to catch her balance, and Cassandra steps out of the way. She doesn’t scream.

  She simply falls.

  Oh Jesus!

  I start sprinting towards her, as if I can catch her mid-fall. I don’t. I feel every jarring hit she takes inside me. She lands on the ground and doesn’t move. My heart stops beating. I’ve never been more terrified in my life as I reach her and look down. Her eyes are open as I kneel beside her.

  I jerk my phone out of my pocket. I dial the three-digit emergency number reserved for the royal family and the moment I hear a voice, I say with as much authority as I can muster, “This is Prince Nils De-Beauvouli. There has been an accident in the palace ballroom. Send an ambulance immediately.” I drop the phone.

  “Everything is going to be fine. I’ve called an ambulance already. It will be here in a moment.”

  “The baby,” Rosa gasps, her blue eyes filled with fear.

  I lean over and kiss her on the cheek. “He will be fine. The little prince is tough!”

  “Or little princess,” she mumbles, her eyes closing.

  “Don’t close your eyes. Stay with me,” I say urgently as I reach down and grab her hand. It feels clammy. I squeeze it lightly.

  “Something is wrong. It’s not just the pain from the bruises. My baby. I want to try to sit up,” she says.

  “No, no, you can’t. You have to remain still until the medics arrive.” I glance away. “They’re coming.” I see them entering the ballroom from the back door. They are usually stationed very close by during functions.

  “I feel dizzy. Don’t leave me,” she says, her voice sounding frightened.

  “No, I’ll be right here, and I’ll ride with you in the ambulance. I’m not going to leave your side for a second.”

  “My baby,” she cries faintly. Then her eyes fall shut and her hand slips out of mine.

  I am aware of a large, muscular man in a white EM uniform coming towards us. “I think she’s fainted,” I cry out in a panic.

  “Please step aside, Your Highness,” he says. “Only for a moment. We have to hook her up to our monitors.”

  I step back and he and his companion squat down beside Rosa. He shines a pen light into her eyes.

  She must have come around again, because she moans in distress.

  They attach their machines to her, then the burly EM starts asking her questions.

  At that moment Cassandra touches my shoulder, her face is red and tear streaked. “I’m so sorry. I couldn’t do anything.”

  “How did it happen?” I ask her, my gut burning with hatred.

  “It was an accident. I slipped on a step, and my foot hit Rosa’s leg. I guess it knocked her off balance. I am so sorry. God, it’s awful. I wish I had fallen instead of Rosa.”

  “Yes, I wish it had been you too,” I snarl.

  Cassandra looks shocked to hear the raw hate spewing out of me. “How dare you?” she gasps.

  My father appears in front of me. “Not here,” he says warningly.

  Linnus pushes my father out of the way. “Apologize to my wife right now.”

  “Fuck you.” I push my face close to his self-satisfied, smug face. “I saw what happened. Your wife deliberately tripped my fiancée and caused her to fall.”

  “Dante,” Rosa calls out weakly.

  “This is not over,” I say coldly, before turning away and going back to kneel next to Rosa. “I’m here. I’m right here beside you,” I say softly. Then I stand back a little so that she can see me, but I am not in the way of the EMs. The burly EM asks her how many fingers he is holding up. She gets the answer right.

  While the second EM continues to work on Rosa, the other one turns to me. “No broken bones, but she might have a concussion. We won’t know until the doctors run some tests on her at the hospital.”

  “She’s pregnant,” I say, and my voice sounds hoarse and broken.

  He frowns. “Right.” He addresses his colleague. “Let’s go. We need to get her into the hospital as quickly as possible.”

  I move back to Rosa. “They are going to put you on a gurney. I’m going to move and let them do their work, but I’ll be right here beside you.”

  She groans in pain and I have to clench my hands to stop from punching something or someone. My heart hurts seeing her being lifted on the gurney. As the EM’s roll her across the lobby, people are crowded around the edges staring at her.

  The ride in the ambulance is a nightmare of watching Rosa slip in an out of consciousness. I hold her hand and I pray, God, how I pray. That she and the baby will be all right. I haven’t been to church for years, and I’m afraid that my prayers will go unanswered, but I grasp her hand and I pray.

  And I pray.

  And I pray.

  I close my eyes and I don’t see her pale and frightened. I don’t hear the siren of the ambulance. I just see her in the moonlight. Naked: a proud, glorious goddess. Don’t let her get hurt. Please. Don’t let her lose our baby.

  “Dante,” she moans.

  “Shhh … everything is going to be fine.”

  I rush along as they push her down the long corridor to a room full of doctors and nurses. I want to enter, but they won’t let me follow her inside.

  “She’s pregnant. Will you make sure she is all right?” I tell an older man in a surgeon’s blue smock.

  “Your Majesty, please don’t worry. I assure you that we will do everything possible to see that both are fine. Please take a seat in the waiting room. I will be out as soon as I know anything.”

  I almost refuse. I don’t want to leave her, and I’m not used to being given orders, not here in Avanti, but reason dictates that I listen to him.

  I retreat to the waiting room. It has blue seats that are uncomfortable and a television that is blasting away with some ridiculous game show. Luckily, I am alone. My heart feels so heavy. I pace the floor until the door opens.

  “Prince Nils.”

  I turn to find the gray-haired doctor standing in front of me.

  “How is she?”

  “She has a slight concussion, but she’ll be fine. However, I’m going to keep her in the hospital for a couple of days.”

  “The baby? What about the baby?”

  “The future king is safe.”

  The breath I was holding rushes out of me. “Has Rosa been told?”

  “No, she is just coming around from the sedative we administrated.”

  “May I see her?”

  “Yes.” He smiles. “It would actually help if you are there when she wakes up.”

  I follow the doctor down the hall. He stops in front of a room. “I’ll give you some privacy. If you need a nurse, just press the red button on the side of her bed, and one will come immediately.” I nod, but I’m barely listening.

  I push open the door. My heart hammers when I see her lying on the hospital bed. She looks so small and innocent, almost like a child. I can hardly believe that a couple of hours ago she was lying on my jacket naked and full of life.

  I pull the single chair over to her bed and sit down. Gently, I stroke her hand. I turn it over and stroke the soft skin of her wrist. The emotional impact of watching her fall and thinking she could have broken her neck rips into me like a gut punch. I take a deep breath, bu
t I cannot stop the tide of emotion. I bow my head and tears begin to run down my cheeks. I can’t stop myself from sobbing quietly. It was such a shock. Such a shock. I thought I’d lost her. Lost our baby.

  “Dante.”

  I glance up, my sobs choking in my chest. She is awake. Her eyes are open. She is trying to talk, but she must be disorientated by the drugs.

  “I … I’m okay,” she finally manages to say.

  “I know. I know,” I sob. Standing up, I lean over her and lay my cheek against hers. My voice sounds thick and awful. “The doctor just told me that you are going to be,” I squeeze her hand, “be just fine.”

  Chapter 37

  Rosa

  “So why are you crying ...” I ask. Then it hits me and my body jerks upwards. Pain ratchets all around my body, but I don’t care, the words fly out of me like rapid-fire bullets. “Our baby! Is our baby, okay? Is it, Dante? Tell me the truth.”

  He puts his palms on my cheeks. “Yes, yes, the baby is fine. Calm down.”

  “Promise?”

  He smiles through his tears. “I promise.”

  I fall back on the pillows tiredly, the last bit of my strength stripped away by that sudden burst of fear.

  I take a gasping breath. “So why are you crying?”

  “They are tears of happiness, bella. They are tears of happiness,” he whispers.

  Strangely, I recall the look of triumph on Cassandra’s face when she tripped me. “Cassandra … she deliberately tripped me.”

  “I know she did,” he growls, his eyes glowing with hate.

  My brain feels foggy. I can’t think straight. “I don’t know what happened. We were getting along so well. Is it because your father gave me the key? I didn’t ask for it. What did I do wrong? She was annoyed I didn’t tell her we were in the garden, but surely that is no reason to push me down the stairs.”

  “No,” he says shaking his head. “It’s nothing you did. It’s my fault.”

  “Your fault?” I say, shaking my head. My thought process seems to be slow and unfocused. Like there are cobwebs in my brain making everything unclear. Must be the drugs they’ve given me. My body doesn’t take kindly to painkillers. They disorientate me and make me behave in ways that I wouldn’t usually. Once, before I knew what effect they had on me, I almost ruined my entire career by attending a meeting with my bosses while on them.