by B. B. Hamel
“That’s not true,” I said. “I’ve seen the good things the king does for you.”
“Lies,” he said. “All lies. We have no voice in this country, no say in what happens to us. We’re a pathetic, backward people, and your fucking king is holding us back.” He stepped toward me.
“You don’t have to do this,” I said, shaking. “You really don’t. I can make Trip show you mercy. I know I can.”
“There’s no mercy, not for me, not for you.” He moved his horrible blades toward me. “At least I can destroy something he loves before he kills me. This way he can feel what I’ve felt.”
“What happened to you?”
“My family worked the Corvin lands for generations and never went anywhere. We were practically fucking slaves, and I got sick of it.”
I had to keep him talking. The gunshots were getting louder, and the explosions had stopped. They were inside the building; I could just feel it. Trip was getting so close. I just needed this madman to keep ranting for a few minutes longer.
“That’s horrible,” I said. “What happened to your parents?”
“Cancer took them,” he said. “They couldn’t be saved, not after their bodies had been ravaged by working so hard their whole lives. Corvin bled them dry like the king bleeds everyone else.”
“My mother died of cancer,” I said.
“You can’t understand me,” he shrieked. “How could you, you foreign whore? You know absolutely nothing.”
“I want to learn, Freddy. Tell me. Make me understand so that I can make the king understand.”
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “No, no, no. It’s over. Only democracy can save us, and I’ll give my life for my dream.”
I could see the blades coming. I could see my end coming.
I had failed. I couldn’t survive. I had tried so hard to survive for him, but I just couldn’t pull it off. I did my best, but I just wasn’t equipped for any of this.
“Stop.”
Corvin’s head jerked. His face was shocked. “You?”
“Drop the knives.” I knew that voice.
It was Trip.
“Trip!” I called out.
“Drop the knives, Corvin. Don’t make me kill you.”
“You fucking bastard,” he screamed. “Die here and now!”
Corvin whipped his knives, flinging them behind me. I screamed as gunshots went off, peppering Corvin’s body with jets of red blood. He stumbled back and then fell to the ground, bleeding, clearly dead.
“No! Trip!” I screamed. “Please!”
He appeared in front of me, crouching down and grinning. He pulled a knife from his shoulder, but the wound didn’t look deep.
“Who the fuck throws knives?” he asked me.
“Oh god, Trip. You’re okay.”
He quickly untied me, and then I threw my arms around him, pulling him close. He was wearing some kind of strange body suit that was both soft and hard at once, but I didn’t care.
“You came for me,” I whispered.
“Of course I did,” he said. “I couldn’t leave you here. I could never leave you, Bryce.”
“I thought—I don’t know. I thought I was just getting in the way.”
“No,” he said softly. “You are everything to me.”
I leaned back, looking him in the eyes. “What are you saying?”
“I love you, Bryce. God, I’m fucking madly in love with you. I’d burn this country to the ground for you.”
“I love you too,” I said simply. “Please don’t burn anything for me.”
He laughed and then kissed me hard. Intense relief and joy flooded through me, a complex mix of emotions I couldn’t even begin to explain.
“How about I just burn this place and all these bastards?” he said.
“Okay. I can handle that.”
He pulled me close and held me. I could feel my heart beating fast in my chest, but it felt right. I felt like I was finally where I was meant to be, in Trip’s arms. We understood each other now, and I knew what he wanted.
He loved me. The king loved me. I didn’t know what it meant for our future, but I didn’t care about that. He had come for me, and that was more than enough.
“Sir.” We both looked up, and Al was standing in the doorway. “We’ve taken the main building. We’re going to finish with the others, but it’s over. They’re either dead or running.”
“Catch them,” Trip said. “Every one of them. Kill them all.”
“Very well.” He bowed and then left.
“Come on,” Trip said, standing.
He helped me to my feet. The wound on my leg still hurt, but not as badly. He wrapped my arm around his shoulders and helped me walk back out.
We left the warehouse together. His men saluted and he nodded back, giving out orders as we went. I could see the respect in their eyes, and I realized the huge risk he had taken for me. Trip hadn’t just sent his own men; he had come himself for me. The men must have seen that and must have really respected him for it.
As we got back to the trucks, I finally knew it was all over. Trip was going to win. I could see it on everyone’s face. No matter what happened, Trip was going to win.
He couldn’t lose. I knew he couldn’t. My heart was full and deep, and I was happy.
36
Trip
The attack had gone as planned. We breached the main wall of the warehouse and used secondary explosives to mask our entry point. From there, we engaged in a short firefight, but the rebels were outclassed by far.
We were surprised by how many there were in there, though. We assumed it was a small group, less than fifty, but we were wrong. There were at least a hundred men in there with a serious stockpile of weapons. I guessed they were preparing to assault the estate as soon as they did whatever they were going to do with Bryce.
But we fought well. I killed who I had to, including Corvin. The wound in my shoulder from his knife still hurt, but my bio suit had absorbed most of the blow.
Once the main army finally returned from the field, they were dispatched to begin cleanup operations. The rebel army they were originally sent to chase after had disappeared into the south, which was pretty clearly just a ploy to get my men into a losing situation.
Instead, they began to search out the surrounding area. Arrests of suspects were happening hourly, and I had to eventually tell Max to stop updating me until the next day.
Besides, I had more important matters to attend to.
“Ouch,” Bryce said.
I frowned. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay. Just stings.”
“You’re lucky this isn’t deep. I don’t think you need stitches.”
“Good,” she said. “Based on the way you’re cleaning it, I doubt you’d be good at stitching.”
“You’d be surprised,” I murmured, putting away the sterilizing alcohol and grabbing a clean bandage. I began to apply it to her wound carefully.
She cringed but didn’t complain. “So what now?” she asked me.
“Now we wait,” I answered. “My men will round up any survivors, we’ll find out what they know, and then we’ll take the fight to them.”
“In the south?”
I nodded. “That’s right.”
“You’re not going, are you?”
I laughed, shaking my head. “No, I’m not going.”
She looked relieved. “Good.”
“Worried about me?”
“Possibly.”
We were sitting on my bed in my chambers back at the estate. She was wearing only panties, since we’d stripped off her jeans to get at her wound. The medics had taken a look and didn’t think it was serious, so I had decided to take care of her myself.
Which was a good choice, as it turned out. My eyes roamed her body, up along her skin, and I couldn’t help but kiss her lips.
She reacted instantly. “Are you taking advantage of an injured woman?” she asked me.
“Yes,” I answer
ed. “Any complaints?”
“Maybe.” She was smiling slightly.
“Go tell them to the king.”
She laughed and I kissed her again.
She wrapped her arms around me. I slowly found her pussy, and it was soaking already.
“Look at you,” I said softly, “soaking wet, despite the wounds.”
“I can’t help it,” she said. “You took off my pants. My body just wants what comes next.”
I kissed her neck, rubbing her wet pussy. She moaned as I slipped her panties down her legs, tossing them aside.
She was dripping as I slowly pressed my fingers inside her, being careful of her leg. She moaned and kissed me back, taking my fingers.
I began to work her like that, my fingers deep inside her, fucking her. I rolled them out and rubbed her clit, kissing her lips, her neck, working her. She groaned, moving her hips, working herself.
She pushed me back and reached down to unbuckle my belt. I helped her, not wanting her to move too much. Once my pants were off, she pushed me back onto the bed and got on top of me.
“Careful,” I said. “I’m hurt.”
She laughed. “Suck it up.”
“If I have to.” She kissed me and then stripped my shirt off and kissed my wound.
“You do have to.”
She kissed down my muscular chest and then pulled off my underwear. She took my cock in her hands and slowly began to stroke me. I was hard as fuck, and I got harder when she stripped her shirt off, tossing it aside. Her breasts were perfect, full and gorgeous.
She slowly bent down and took my cock into her mouth. She sucked me slowly, her tongue rolling around my tip. I groaned, loving the way she sucked my cock. I knew we shouldn’t be doing this, since we were both hurt, but I wasn’t about to stop it.
What Bryce wanted, Bryce got. If she wanted my cock, I’d give as much as she could handle.
She pulled back slowly, sliding her hand up and down my length. Suddenly she straddled me.
“Hold on,” I said. “The condom.”
“Forget it,” she said, rubbing me against her soaking pussy. “I want you, Trip.”
I grunted and took her hips. She slowly slid my cock deep inside her, and I was in fucking ecstasy.
Nothing felt better than my bare cock deep inside her tight little cunt. She slowly rode me, and I helped her, my hands on her ass, sliding her up and down. She pressed back, working her hips, taking my cock deep inside her.
I grabbed her then and rolled her over. She gasped, and her hair spread out behind her as I pushed deep inside her, fucking her slowly. I kissed her neck and her lips.
“I want this pussy every day for the rest of my life,” I said. “I want to feel you, skin on skin. You’re so fucking wet.”
I worked myself deep inside her. She spread her legs wide for me, taking my thick cock. I worked deep and slow, fucking her pussy, making her moan.
“Trip,” she gasped as I knelt back and began to rub her clit. “Fuck, Trip. I’ve been thinking about this.”
“I know,” I said, fucking her deep. “You can’t stop thinking about my royal cock.”
She gasped as I began to fuck her harder. I knew what she wanted as I put her hands up above her head. She wanted me to take and to destroy her, to make her body bend to exactly what I wanted. She wanted me to make her mine, and that was what I was going to do.
I pressed myself deep inside her, pinning her hands above her head and kissing her lips. She moaned, loving it, so I teased her nipple with my tongue and bit it softly. That made her moan again as I fucked her, sliding in and out of her soaking pussy.
I released her hands and she grabbed on to the headboard bars. I cradled her head toward me, fucking her in deep, rough thrusts. I could feel the sweat beginning to drip down our bodies as we worked together, her hips rolling against mine as I thrust deep inside her, fucking her deep.
I kissed her and then bit her lip, fucking her harder. She groaned, tipping her head back. I released her and then took her hair, pulling it slightly and grabbing her hip with my other hand.
“Fuck, I’m so close,” she gasped. “So fucking close. Please, Trip. Fuck me.”
“I’m your fucking king now,” I whispered to her. “I’m your fucking king, and you’re going to come for the king.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” she moaned. “Fuck me, Trip. Come inside me. I want to feel it inside me.”
That set my fucking blood on fire. I fucked her harder, my thrusts getting more insistent. I wanted to fill her pussy with my hot cum, wanted to fuck her deep and fill her up with it. I wanted to put a fucking heir in her belly.
She began to come, slowly at first, then faster, her body twitching, her back arched. She said my name again and again, and I groaned, unable to hold myself back.
I came deep inside her. “Yes,” she gasped. “Oh fuck yes. Come inside me.”
I came heavy, my mind a blank of pleasure as I continued to fuck her, our orgasms rolling through our bodies. My mind was like a pinpoint, laser-focused on her body as I came deep inside her.
Slowly we finished. I pulled back and laughed.
“What?” she asked.
“My shoulder is bleeding again.”
She looked at me, concerned. “Are you okay?”
“Fine,” I said. “I’ll get a medic to stitch me up.” I kissed her softly on the mouth and then checked her thigh. She was just fine.
I collapsed onto the bed next to her.
“I love you, Trip,” she said.
“I love you too,” I answered. “And now that we’re working on an heir, we’re going to have to make this official.”
She blinked at me. “Are you serious?”
“I’m very serious. I want to make you mine, and I’m going to.”
She bit her lip and looked away. “Show me the ring; then we’ll talk.”
I laughed and kissed her neck. “Okay, my fucking sexy queen.”
“Queen.” She shook her head. “That’s insane.”
“You’ll get used to it.”
I kissed her softly again, and I meant it. One day, she’d be my queen and all of this would feel normal.
We had a long road ahead of us, but the war was going to end now that I’d decided to commit some serious forces to crushing them. And she was going to need to learn Starklandian.
Plus, the people weren’t going to like a foreigner as their queen.
But I wasn’t worried about any of it. The only thing I needed was next to me in this bed. Bryce was going to be my queen, and she was going to give me little princes and princesses.
The royal line wouldn’t end with me. While I couldn’t say that mattered so much to me, it did matter that Bryce was the one who was continuing it with me. Without her, all of this would seem less important.
I had what I needed and didn’t even realize it.
I had Bryce to make me whole again.
37
Bryce
Two Years Later
“Come on, Leo,” I said in a singsong voice. “We’re going to see daddy.”
He cooed up at me and I laughed.
“I know. He’s been busy lately. But it’s not exactly easy setting up elections in a country like Starkland. You’ll see one day.”
I walked down the castle hallway, and for the thousandth time I got this incredibly surreal feeling. I couldn’t believe that this was my home now, that this baby was my baby, and that these clothes were mine.
I was dressed in a long gown, fit for a queen.
Since I was a queen now, of course.
Queen of Starkland, plus a bunch of other titles that I was pretty sure were made up but sounded pretty good. Mostly I was just Bryce, and the king was just Trip. That was good enough for us. I tried to insist on that to my guards and my assistants, but they refused. Something about tradition.
At least I was learning Starklandian. I wasn’t fluent yet, but I was pretty good. I could hold conversations and answer questions and suc
h, but as soon as someone started speaking quickly or had a strange accent, I was totally lost.
But I was working on that, like I was working on a thousand things. Being a foreign queen in a country like Starkland wasn’t easy, and people had been pretty upset when Trip announced the marriage.
But they got over it when he crushed the rebels. It took him three months, and that was it. With the intelligence gathered from his victory over Corvin, they managed to find out their main supply bases and identify their leadership, and in three short months Trip sent all of his forces to annihilate them.
He didn’t underestimate them, not like his brother had. And unlike his brother, he won.
Defeating the rebels made him all that much more popular. In the days following our marriage and my coronation, which was lavish and incredible, the pro-monarchy feeling in Starkland was at an all-time high.
And so it came as a shock when Trip announced his Freedom Reforms.
I came to the end of the hall and turned right. I was pretty good at navigating the castle, though nobody knew it quite like Trip did. I finally found his office and opened the door.
He looked up from his desk. My heart skipped a beat.
“There they are,” he said, “my two favorite people in the world.”
I walked over to him and kissed him. “Your Majesty.”
“Your Highness,” he said back, laughing.
I handed him Leo. “How’s it going?”
“Oh fine,” he said. “Who knew that bringing a little democracy to this country was going to be so much work?”
I shrugged and sat down in the chair next to his desk. “You have to write the rules, dear.”
“The ministers should do it.”
“They are. You’re just approving them. And then the elections can happen.”
“But I don’t lose my job.”
“No,” I agreed, “but your powers will be severely limited.”