Royally Yours

by Amy Brent

  “Gee, thanks for that.”

  Going over to her, I sat beside her and leaned my head on her shoulder.

  “You know I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just that this place reminds me of so much pain. I need to go home, to see my parents. Is that so hard to understand?”

  “No,” Liza allowed grudgingly.

  At a knock on the door, we exchanged a look. Was that Charles again? One day later? My heart couldn’t decide whether it was excited or worried.

  At the following knocks, Liza gathered herself upright with a groan. “I’ll get it.”

  As soon as she opened the door, noise burst into the flat.

  “Ms. Peterson, do you have any comments as to your friend Heidi’s baby and the supposed father of the child, who is none other than Charles, our future king?”

  “Heidi,” someone else called out, a woman, “are you in there?”

  I ran into my bedroom and threw the door closed behind me. A few seconds later, I heard the front door slam and the lock twist. Liza knocked tentatively on my door.

  “Go away,” I sobbed.

  She paused and then opened the door. “I’m sorry.”

  Her words were quiet, and I couldn’t seem to find mine. My body was so enwrapped in the blanket that I couldn’t tell where my limbs started and where the blanket began.

  The bed creaked as Liza sat down on it. Her hand rested on my head and patted it.

  “I’m so, so, so sorry, Heidi.”

  She didn’t say it, but she didn’t have to. Now she understood all too well my need to leave. Now, if she were me, she would too.

  Chapter 25

  Charles

  “Oh, please, Charles. Yes. Do it. Spray me down.”

  Heidi’s straight teeth were bared as she sat on her knees before me. Her chest dipped, all of her pleading. Of course, it was only gentlemanly for me to comply. Taking my swollen cock, I pumped it with all the vigor it required to spew out its final joy.

  And then I let the glorious heat rain down upon her. It went all over her face, in her mouth for a snack, and then down over those dipped, trembling tits.

  She licked a little off with a cocky smile, and then I sneezed.

  My eyes closed, and when I woke up, I was alone in my bed.

  Dammit. Between my legs, my dick was as hard as ever. I sighed, willing the dream away. I hadn’t even figured out what to do about Heidi, and now I was having wet dreams about her? This was definitely not the time for that.

  My body felt itchy and cloistered. Throwing myself upright, I stormed over to the bathroom. A good shower would take my mind off things. It always did.

  Although I was reminded of the last time I’d stood in a shower for an extended period. That had been to call Heidi, as I’d been excited about the prospect of seeing her again. And now?

  As the warm, welcome beads sprayed down upon me, I shook the thought away. Now was the time to relax and forget about her, take my mind off things.

  My fingertips scrubbed at my head anxiously, easing in some shampoo and enjoying the slight mocha scent. According to Henry, some old flame of his had given him the shampoo. It was supposedly of the Lux brand and was from Ethiopia or something, with expensive essential oils and strange herbal mixtures. The result was always super-hydrated and healthy feeling hair. I brought the bottle up inches away from my eyes. Mocha Madness. I grinned slightly at the name.

  As I washed the shampoo suds off, a bubbly trickle settled over my dick. I wiped it off hastily only to see my dick jut higher. How was it still raging with an erection?

  The answer occurred to me as soon as my eyes closed: Heidi. That was how. Maybe she was taking a shower right now. Maybe she was letting liquid beads roam like fingertips and run warmly down her heaving chest as she thought about me.

  I froze. My hand had been mindlessly on my dick. Thinking about Heidi made it hard, but peeling my hand away did no good.

  By now, my boner was throbbing insistently. Maybe just a bit of fantasizing couldn’t hurt…

  And so I thought of myself entering the shower Heidi was enjoying oh so obliviously. I saw myself slamming her into the shower wall. She protested for just a fraction of a second until my lips hit hers. Then all of her sank into me. I guiding her head to where we both wanted it.

  She sucked me down with all the gusto I could’ve paid an escort for and more skill. She sucked my cock like she’d been born to do it. Those full lips, winding tongue, and saliva left my dick reeling.

  She put her whole body into it, little moans dribbling out of her mouth as she did. Dipping down, my fingers found she was just as wet as I’d suspected. Pushing her away slightly, I shoved my fingers up and made her taste. When she did, I knew it was time.

  Lifting her up and holding her in the air, I brought her onto my dick and then off it. Thanking God that I’d done all those bench presses, I could only grit my teeth as I hoisted her on my cock and then off, on and off.

  Her body was limp in my arms, like a doll. She was groaning and cooing for more. Her hands pawed at my face desperately while my dick jerked in her joyously. More and more and more until the world was a way of being, a way of living. Until every part of us, every nerve ending and every wisp of our thoughts were twined for this one aim, this release of releases we could both sense inching up our backs.

  It was unbearable and unavoidable, and so horribly needed, we clenched around each other, crying and swearing and being until I couldn’t take it anymore and I finally stabbed into her. My dick spilled into her orgasm and her pussy clasped it.

  Together, we collapsed on the floor, coming and wailing.

  My eyes opened. I was spilling my liquid joy into the shower. It spilled down into the drain and then away. Damn that Heidi.

  I couldn’t stand in the shower, jerking off to woman I might not be able to have forever, but I had a charity meeting now.

  Already, I could feel my dick hardening again at just the thought of Heidi, but I swept her away. After getting out of the shower and toweling myself off, I got dressed quickly.

  --

  In the car and on the way to the charity meeting a few minutes later, a thought struck me. Mother was expected there too.

  Getting out of the car early, I decided to walk the last two blocks there. Some fresh air would do me good. Besides, the sun was finally making a real appearance for the first time in days. My bare wrists and forearms enjoyed the sensation of its rays washing over them.

  Each breath of city air seemed to bolster my lungs. I was playing out what I would say to Mother when I saw her.

  Although, a few minutes later, when we both entered the door at the same time, it was entirely impromptu. Everything I had planned went out the window as my whole body seized up with emotion.

  “Charles,” she said formally and pointlessly, as if she were indicating that a wall was indeed a wall. When she moved to pass me, I stepped in front of her.

  “You can’t do this.”

  Our eyes bored into each other’s for a minute before she straightened herself.

  “I most certainly can. Now if you’ll excuse me.”

  My hand caught her wrist. “Don’t.”

  Her mouth worked furiously as she weighed her options. She could keep her pride and pull away no matter what scene it caused, or she could avoid another scene like the one that had occurred at the ball. Finally, she decided on the latter.

  “Try as you might,” I said quietly, “you are not going to get away with just shunning me. Father and Henry won’t allow it. Hell, England won’t allow it. And me aside, you have a grandchild. Whether you like it or not, whether you accept it or not, you have a grandchild. And if you shun an innocent baby, too, I think you know that none of us will forgive you for it—if you could even manage to forgive your own despicable self.”

  I let go of her wrist. She was frozen. For one single, glorious second, I almost thought she was considering giving in. But then her lips sealed together as firmly as ever and she walked awa
y without another word to me.

  She hadn’t given a response because there was no need. Mother was as set in her ways as I had feared. The consequences were unavoidable. If I made the decision I wanted to, then I’d be shunned for good.

  Chapter 26

  Heidi

  I ran around the flat for the fifth time. Liza was currently at a shoot, so I couldn’t enlist her help in this task, the “find what I’d forgotten” task.

  It’d gotten to the point that this was a tradition of mine: forgetting indispensable items behind wherever I was leaving. When I’d come to London from the States, it’d been my cell phone. Now, here, I wasn’t sure what it was. But even after checking my bed, every last cabinet in the bathroom and kitchen, as well as all the trash cans, I was sure there was something I was forgetting.

  Although I didn’t have much time to indulge in my obsessive-compulsive hunt. The plane tickets were ordered and the car had been arranged. I’d even said good-bye to Liza with a long, tearful hug she’d only drawn away from at the insistent honking of the car sent to pick her up for her shoot.

  We promised to stay in touch, and we would. Liza was my best friend for life; no distance would change that. Besides, her contract was set to expire in a few weeks. Soon she be back home in the States with me, sharing our favorite sundaes at Dairy Queen.

  On my way to the kitchen to check the oven, ridiculously enough, a knock at the door stopped me. I froze. That wasn’t…

  “I know you’re in there, Heidi.” Charles’s determined voice fluttered through the door.

  “Shit,” I muttered to myself. Maybe if I just stayed very still and didn’t move a muscle…

  “Liza called me,” he said.

  My hands balled up. How could she?

  Sure, I hadn’t expressly forbidden her from telling anyone, but I had thought it was unspoken that I wanted to leave London in peace, without anyone, even Charles, interfering.

  If we got to talking again, he’d start spewing out more of his logical “give me time,” and I wouldn’t know what to do. Right now, the best thing for me was, without question, going home.

  “Please,” he continued. “Just hear me out, and then if you still want to go, you can go. Just give me a chance.”

  Just give him a chance. Hell, why were his words so freaking tempting? I had been planning on sending him a long, apologetic goodbye text from the airport, but now it was clear there was no way around it. I would have to face him in person.

  At the door, he was adorably rain-soaked, although that didn’t explain the sheen of tears in his eyes.

  “You were actually going to do it.” He said the words like a condemnation. All I could do was nod. He swung the door shut behind him with one gusty heave. “You were actually going to leave without saying good-bye.”

  Those words were even more damning than the last.

  “What happened to giving me time?” he finally asked.

  His entire face was a rain-flecked mask of rage. Even his long lashes were riddled with raindrops. He looked so heartbreaking that I wanted to…

  “I gave you time,” I said heatedly. “Remember? You asked for a few days and I gave you three. What more do you want?”

  “A little trust.”

  Charles’s eyes bored into mine.

  “I was going to tell you today about the plan I have for tomorrow, but then you up and leave without giving me the slightest indication.”

  “I was going to tell you,” I shot back. “I was going to just before I left. I’ve made up my mind, Charles. Okay?”

  He looked down at me as if I were a stranger.

  “I don’t believe you.”

  Shoving my hand in my coat pocket, I pulled out my phone and clicked on our message history that I had read through almost five times last night while I’d made my tearful decision and bought the plane tickets.

  There, in draft form, was the message I’d debated sending to him last night but had sagely decided to save for right before I left.

  As Charles scanned the message, his resolve wavered. Finally, his despondent gaze went to me.

  “If you feel that way…if you care for me that much—”

  I placed two fingers on his lips.

  “Shhh, please. Just let me go. If you really care about me, then you’ll let me go.”

  Charles’s eyes closed. His whole body shook with the pain he was feeling. But when he opened them, the resolve was back.

  “This isn’t just about you and me anymore.” He thrust his open hand against my stomach. “This is about our child. I don’t want any child of mine to grow up without a father.”

  His touch was electric. I could feel the baby rustle in response. I twisted away.

  “Charles, please. The flight’s in a few hours. My car is coming—”

  At the sound of a honk, our eyes met.

  “That’s my car.”

  Avoiding his look that I could feel burning into me, I went to my room and hoisted my bag’s strap on my shoulder. This was it. I was really doing this. It was the act my head and heart had been warring about for the past few days. My head had won out in the end, for better or worse.

  A few steps away from the door, Charles stepped in front of me.

  “Don’t.”

  His word was half entreaty, half command. Willing myself not to look at him, I instead concentrated on his sodden boots.

  “I have to.”

  His hand found mine.

  “You don’t. Just give me a chance tomorrow. We’re having a lunch with my mother.”

  My gaze flew up. “We?”

  He nodded. “You”—two of his fingers dug into my chest—“and me.” His fingers pointed back at himself.

  “But the plane…” I said, trying to remind myself as much as anything.

  Charles only waved his hand.

  “I’ll have that all sorted. The owner of Heathrow Airport is an old friend of Father’s. I’ll get your money back and then some. And then, after tomorrow, if you still want to go—”

  “That’s what you said last time,” I said quietly.

  Taking my hand, Charles clasped it in both of his.

  “Trust. Can you just trust me, just this last time, Heidi?” he asked, his sapphire eyes imploring mine. “Can you do that for me?”

  With my whole body sinking into his grasp, I nodded.

  My eyes were closed, and I was sinking farther and farther. When our lips met, it was no surprise to me. The kiss dissolved the last of my will. All of me flowed into all of him.

  And then, unbearably, he broke away, looking as if he stayed a second longer, he would be unable to control what he did next.

  “Tomorrow,” he said monotonously, as if rehearsing from a script, “a car will be sent here at 11 a.m. sharp. Wear something white. I’ll have it sent to you tonight.”

  And then, with one final hand squeeze, he was gone, leaving me with a swirl of emotions, as uncertain as ever. All I knew was tomorrow would decide everything.

  --

  This time, I was pleasantly surprised to find Charles waiting in the limo that was to pick me up. Perhaps a part of him was worried I might not show at all, that I hadn’t meant what I’d said.

  Or maybe part of him knew just how terrifying this all was for me and wanted to be there for me.

  Whatever the reason, when his gaze stopped on my form, he smiled.

  “Gorgeous,” he declared. “Knew it.”

  Sitting beside him, but not close enough to be touching him, the corner of my lips smirked.

  “Way to take credit for everything.”

  Although Charles did have a point. The ribbed white dress with the perfectly fitting keyhole neckline was something. When Liza and I had gingerly accepted it from the posh deliveryman last night, we’d actually let out little shrieks of glee—more so than when our ball gowns had arrived, since we’d been in a rush and had hardly had any time to look at them, let alone enjoy how exquisitely made they were.

  “So I ha
ve to ask you something…” Charles asked.

  I could feel his questioning gaze on the side of my head, but I didn’t turn to meet it. Right now, I was a bundle of nerves and didn’t need to see the man I had come to rely on freaking out too.

  “Yes?”

  “Henry,” Charles said simply. “For this lunch, I think things would go a lot smoother if he were present. But if you’d rather have it be just me and you and—”

  “He can be there,” I said quickly.

  Although my pride wasn’t eager to have another witness to the debacle this lunch would probably prove to be, Henry was a hothead and would at least take some of the attention off me.

  “Okay. I’ll let him know,” Charles said.

  He typed on his phone and then returned his gaze to me.

  “It’s going to be all right, you know,” he said. “I’m not going to let her say anything against you or the baby.”

  “You already did,” I said quietly, my eyes finally meeting his.

  He recoiled as if he’d been physically kicked in the knees.

  “Sorry,” I added quickly, “but it’s true.”

  Charles nodded.

  “It is. Although I did defend you. I hope you heard that too.”

  I only nodded. Charles went silent. He seemed to understand that there was no point in talking to while away the time. Nothing really mattered until the lunch took place and went how it went. I didn’t want to play make-believe and think things could work out with Charles when his mother was still a ticking time bomb. It would just make everything that happened later hurt that much more.

  When we pulled up to Buckingham Palace, my heart was in my throat. I felt if I spoke or even tried to breathe, I’d just topple over. My stomach was growling, and I silently cursed myself for forgetting to chow down on a granola bar. I’d been so nervous this morning that my appetite had resembled an absolute negative. I’d felt bloated on nothing, so I hadn’t eaten and now hunger was coming to punish me dearly for it.