by Ally Summers
“Oh no. Oh no, no, no.” She shook her head. “That wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“No, it was a simple accident. But it has catapulted us somewhere I didn’t expect.”
She reached for her champagne. “I don’t understand. It just happened a few hours ago. It was a trip. Shit.”
I smiled. I loved it when her pretty lips uttered dirty words. “The picture looks like I rescued you from falling to your death. I’ve been painted as a fucking romantic, and you’re the American damsel.”
“Ok. That I don’t like.” She cracked a smile. “Except the romantic part. You did plan a private dinner on a gorgeous yacht off the coast of Sangreaux. That kind of defines romantic.”
I scowled. What I had planned for her privately wasn’t for public consumption.
“I called Elena and Wallace. Elena is working on a way to re-focus the press’s attention on the olive grove funding. Wallace is working on a way to move you into the palace.”
She blinked. Her sapphire eyes alive under the candlelight. “Move into the palace? You can’t be serious.”
I nodded. “Oh, I’m serious, Eden. He will find a way to make it work with royal protocol.”
“Royal protocol? I’m not interested in protocol. I have a place. I have a roommate. We live downtown.”
“Neither of which can keep you safe against the press. It’s necessary for your safety.”
She scrunched her nose together. It would have been adorable had she not been so pissed at me. “You can’t just move me into the palace.”
I sighed. I had forgotten this part. “Right. How about like this? Eden, will you please move into the palace so I can protect you from paparazzi and rabid citizens who may believe you are a threat to national security?”
She threw her napkin in her lap. “No.” She pushed back from the table.
“I asked. That was what you wanted, isn’t it?” I dropped my fork and walked over to her.
She spun to face me. “Asking is not supposed to be an afterthought, Alaric. If you don’t see that, then I don’t see how I can keep doing this.”
“I don’t have time to consider what everyone wants. That’s not a luxury I have. I have many others, but not time.” I pressed my gaze into hers. “I need you to be safe.”
That was all that mattered. Her safety. Her wellbeing. How else could I guarantee any kind of normalcy for her in Freychon if she didn’t have security? She wasn’t thinking clearly.
Her eyes fell to the floor. “This has all been amazing. Beautiful really. But I can’t be with a man who thinks I’m a treat. A trinket to carry around in his pocket.” Her blue eyes lifted and I saw the mist along her lashes. “You can tell Wallace he doesn’t have to worry about damage control.”
She gathered her train and started for the door. I grabbed her arm, spinning her to my chest.
“No, Eden.”
Her eyes landed on mine. “You were right that first night. It was a fantasy.”
My ribs crushed against my lungs, squeezing the air into tight and uncomfortable places.
I didn’t want to let her go. I had no intention of letting her through that door, but I had never begged. Fuck. What was this woman doing to me?
26
Eden
I didn’t know I had that kind of resolve, but the words flew out of my mouth before I had a chance to fully consider the consequences of breaking up with the king. I didn’t want to go, but it was the only way I could survive this without letting him shatter every part of me.
I got it. He was a king. People jumped when he snapped. But I couldn’t be discounted so easily. I had let myself fall for the fantasy. Believe that beneath the cool exterior, he was as insane about me as I was about him. That when it came to decisions, he would be the knight in shining armor. The romantic. The Prince Charming I was a fool to believe in.
I wiped the first heavy tear with my thumb. I refused to fall apart in front of him. I tried to break for the door a second time, but Alaric’s grip was forceful.
“Stay, Eden.” It was the first time I didn’t hear command in his voice. “Please, stay.”
It wouldn’t be that easy.
“I could,” I answered. “But it will happen again. You’ll demand I do something. You’ll make a decision without asking. Not because you’re trying to be a dick, but because you don’t know how to do this relationship thing any other way.”
“Did you just call me a dick?”
I pressed my lips. That might have gone too far. “Yes. When we’re alone, and it’s you and me. No titles. None of the royal bullshit, yes, you can be a dick. No other man would think it was even an option to just decide things the way you do. You plan without asking. You dictate. You’re a dick. I said it.”
I didn’t expect him to laugh. His deep voice carried through the dining room.
“I’m being serious.” But the more I tried to prove my sincerity, the harder he laughed. “Fine. I’ll find a state room, and wait until we dock,” I warned. “You think it’s funny. I don’t.”
“No, Eden. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” He stepped in front of me. “This goes both ways you know. No one treats me with such royal disdain as you do.” He arched his eyebrows.
“I respect you.” I folded my arms.
“My customs? Culture? Traditions?”
I twisted my lips together. I didn’t think it was the same thing. The parallel was a stretch. I had slighted his authority as Galona’s king multiple times, but how did that equal the way he made decisions without asking me?
“All right. I don’t agree with everything Galonian. I’ll admit that. But I do respect you, Alaric. You, the person. What you’re thinking. Feeling. I don’t ignore it. I don’t try to rule your life like it’s a hobby.”
He clasped my hands between his. “Then, teach me. Show me. You’re not my hobby. Fuck, that’s the last thing I want you to think.”
It was another ploy to get me to stay, but this one was working. I felt the tension easing in my shoulders. The determination to run down the hall and find a state room to cry in until we made it to shore was suddenly gone.
“I want you to move into the palace, Eden, because I want you.” He traced the line of my jaw. “I want you every night. In my bed. Waking up next to me. I want to talk to you and drink coffee on the balcony. I want to find you buried in some classic novel in the library.” He brushed his thumb over my bottom lip. “Yes, I need you to be safe. But what I should have said is, I need you.”
I gasped. That resolve was gone. He had ripped it down and tore through it with his words.
I fell against him as his lips crushed mine. His hands tangled in my hair, dragging me toward his chest.
“Move in with me,” he whispered against my ear. “Will you?”
I nodded. My hands roamed over his tuxedo, looking for the space under his jacket. “Yes.” I breathed. “Yes.”
“Are you finished with dinner?” he asked.
“I think so.” I hadn’t eaten half of the first course. I was starving, but my total attention was on the gorgeous man in front of me.
“Good, because I’m going to take you back to the room. Unless you want me to fuck you here on the dining room table. Your choice, of course,” he teased.
My eyes lit with his. I breathed heavily. I pulled the edge of the gown up.
“Here,” I whispered.
“Fuck,” he growled. “You are serious.”
His hands wrapped around my waist, losing control. He kissed my neck. My throat. The fire from his lips blazing against my skin. I searched for his zipper, desperate to feel his cock in my hands.
He groaned when I freed it from his tux pants. I slid my hand over the silkiness of his skin.
He pulled me in for another kiss, setting me on the end of the dining table. My heels locked against his backside, hungry for him. Eager for his skin to singe mine as he took me in heated abandon.
His tongue lashed against mine as the rush consumed us. Alaric’s c
ock pushed against my entrance and I welcomed his thrusts with tiny cries of pleasures.
It was dangerous. Someone could walk through those doors any minute. But we weren’t turning back. He rocked into me as we set sail on a new course.
“Yes,” I pleaded. “More.”
He plunged again, sending us over the edge. It was then I knew it was too late. Neither of us had thought through the consequences. His release filled me as he pumped deep inside my walls. He pressed his forehead to mine. Our bodies trying to find a natural breathing pattern, but it was impossible.
“I don’t want you to leave, Eden.”
“I don’t want to either.”
He reached for a napkin, handing it to me as I hopped from the table. The stickiness between my legs reminded me how careless we had been.
He kissed my hand, leading me back to my seat. “Should we finish dinner?” he asked. He didn’t seem to be alarmed we had forgone a condom, or had sex on the royal dining room table.
“I’m suddenly extremely hungry,” I joked. If he wasn’t going to worry about it, I wouldn’t let it ruin the evening.
He pushed the seat in underneath me. I reached for the champagne, drinking it faster than I should.
Somehow things seemed settled between us. As if our bodies did the talking, but I did need some details.
“How is this going to work?” I asked. “My move?”
Alaric refilled our glasses. “I’m not sure, to be honest. Wallace has been instructed to come up with a plan. We’ll have the details when we arrive in Freychon tomorrow.”
“This won’t interfere with my dissertation work, will it?”
“No. Other than the inconvenience of having royal escorts, you can do anything you normally do. Although, I think the royal library has a lot you can use. I can fly in anything you request.”
“You’d do that?” I had to keep my lips together.
He smiled. “Yes.”
“True, but I do have a roommate.” I tried to think how Bonnie was going to handle this news.
“She was the one with you at the gala?”
I nodded. “It was actually her night. Something on her bucket list. I tagged along to supervise.”
He laughed. “That’s such an American concept.”
“Why do you say that? Everyone should have a bucket list.”
Alaric leaned against the table. “What we did five minutes ago—was that on your bucket list?”
I blushed. “It should have been.” My bucket list consisted of seeing rare collections of text, visiting historic libraries, and traveling to New Zealand. It was probably a one-of-a-kind combination of wanderlust and thirst for knowledge.
“Just live, Eden. Don’t worry about crossing things off an imaginary list. I promise you’ll have more fun that way. Maybe even tonight.” He winked.
I didn’t want to tell him Bonnie would severely disagree.
“You must have something,” I pressed. “It’s not only Americans. Kings can have goals.”
“I made one happen tonight.”
I tried to think of what we had done that might have given him a sense of accomplishment. “Which was?”
“We’re not locked in separate hotel suites, are we?” I saw the Cheshire cat grin on his face.
“And why is that? Cosette told me not to enter your suite no matter what. She is strict.”
“We’re on international waters. There are ten state rooms on this ship. My crew isn’t going to report anything that happens aboard. It seemed the only way to have you to myself.”
“Is this what happens when we return? We have to sneak to each other’s rooms like we’re in a dorm?”
He laughed. “There is an elaborate tunnel system in the palace.” He paused. “But I’m not using it. You’ll be in my bed.”
The way he said it made me shiver. It was just as possessive and controlling, but I had seen underneath Alaric’s hard exterior. I knew there was an emotional side he guarded tirelessly. And for some reason he had peeled back the curtain and given me a glimpse.
“And you think you can pull that off? Upend your family’s history?”
The flicker in his eyes dimmed. “Do you know how I became king?”
“I’m sorry. I don’t.”
“Everyone else in the country knows. You should too.” His voice was smooth.
“It doesn’t sound like it’s going to be a happy story.” I took the refreshing champagne.
“There are two ways you can become the head of the monarchy in Galona: your predecessor steps down and hands the crown to you, or the crown is vacated.” He paused. “In my case, it was vacated. My father died.”
“I’m sorry, Alaric.” I wanted to pull him into a hug, but I knew it was important to listen. I stayed put.
“It was supposed to happen eventually. I knew it. But I didn’t envision the weight of the country of my back before I turned thirty. But I’m thirty-two and I’ve ruled for five years. I assumed I’d take over on my father’s death bed, when he was well into his eighties or even nineties. I’d be an old man myself by then. Not a young king. Not a man who wanted freedom. To be honest, I loved being a captain in the Royal Navy.
“It took me a while to stop blaming him. To stop cursing my father for what he did to my life, by dying young. By leaving my mother and the rest of us.”
My heart twisted with his pain.
“What did you do? How did you cope with the responsibility and grief?”
“I governed,” he answered flatly. “Meanwhile, my father’s advisors surrounded me. Wallace, he’s left over from the old days. I’ve replaced most of them. Elena and Cosette are new additions. They suit my style better.”
I wondered if it also helped that they were smart beautiful women who had a way of spinning negative situations into positive ones.
“I didn’t realize your mother was still living.”
“She left the Freychon palace after he died. She lives on the coast in one of the summer homes. She converted it into a residence meant for a dowager queen. She wanted to be out of the spotlight. No one blamed her.”
“Do you see her often?”
He shook his head. “Juliette visits the most. Corbin is too engrossed in his own problems. The rest of us have heavy schedules.”
I was sad for her. Sad for all of them. It seemed as if Alaric’s father’s death had a rippling effect on the security of the family.
“Maybe I’ll plan a trip after I get through the next round of cabinet votes.”
I nodded. Mothers liked that kind of thing. I knew mine did. She worried if I didn’t call every week. She loved getting cards and small things I could send home. Video calls were our lifeline to each other.
“What happened to your father? Is it ok if I ask?” It seemed like a crucial piece to the puzzle. “Am I prying? I am. Aren’t I?”
“Eden, you can ask. I brought it up. The cause of death was inconclusive. My mother swears it was the stress of running the country.”
“No one knows?”
He shook his head. “He dropped dead after a morning swim in the pool. He was rushed to the hospital, but they were never able to revive him.”
“Oh my God, that’s terrible. I’m so sorry.”
“Thank you. It was the worst day of my life, but the day that has defined me as a man.”
“And that’s how you became king?”
“It is. I was sworn in that afternoon and coronated a month later. I started running the country at twenty-seven and didn’t have a fucking clue what I was doing.”
“Galona is an incredible country, Alaric. Your family must be proud. The circumstances that led to your ascension make it even more impressive.” I was awed by him. I was twenty-seven and didn’t know the first thing about running a country. What would I have done in his position? Could Juliette have ruled the same way? What about his other brothers?
He waved me off. “My reign has been about finding a balance between the antiquated way my father did t
hings and the reality of living in a modern society. I’m done with royal shackles. If I want my girlfriend to move in, she should be able to move in. I don’t care about Wallace’s list of rules. That’s the part of the crown I despise.”
“So I’m a political statement against the old ways and customs?”
“In some ways, yes. You are. And even that pisses me off.”
“But on the ship, we can do whatever we want? No rules. No politics.”
He nodded. “Everything we want.”
“Can we go back to the room?” I asked.
“I’ll have them bring us dessert.”
I smiled as he led me away from the table. “But you had your dessert before dinner.”
He chuckled. “I think I’m going to have some more.”
27
Alaric
I squeezed Eden’s hand when we drove through the palace tunnel. I didn’t know what was in store for us, but I was determined not to let her slip away because of tradition. A modern monarchy was essential now more than ever.
I had a chance last night to complete the final stage of mating with her, but I almost lost her. The timing was wrong. We couldn’t fight and then just throw it out there that I was a bear shifter. No, my mate needed more time to process this. She was feisty and smart. She would want to ask a thousand questions and analyze every aspect of my nature. To Eden, my shifting could be a deal breaker. I didn’t think my bear could take that. Not after he had already filled her with his essence.
“I can’t believe this is where I’m going to live.” She looked up at the towers surrounding us.
The car slowed. Emmanuel parked just outside the entrance.
“It is.”
As soon as we were inside the palace, Wallace met us in the foyer.
“Your Majesty.” He bowed.
“I’m headed to the residence to change. We can meet in a few minutes,” I explained.
“The royal study, sir?”
“That will be fine.” I tugged Eden along behind me into the elevators.