King’s Chosen

by I. T. Lucas

  “I have bad news,” Thorsten said as he joined Annabel in the palace’s courtyard. “A courier just arrived with a message from Rowenia. She is coming for an official visit as her father’s representative.”

  “When?”

  “This evening.”

  “That’s very short notice.”

  His booted foot on the fountain’s low enclosure, Thorsten braced his elbow on his thigh and leaned closer to Annabel’s ear. “She’s plotting something. Nothing Rowenia does is what it seems. She always has a hidden agenda.”

  Annabel shrugged. “What can she do? We are already married.”

  The big royal wedding was a month away, but the rumor of their private ceremony had spread like wildfire throughout the known monarchies. Thorsten’s bard had composed a poem for their whirlwind marriage, making it sound very romantic and sweet.

  It had been a brilliant move, even if unintentional.

  The people were enamored with the love story of the childhood sweethearts rekindling their love as adults. Thorsten’s unofficial nickname had changed from a Prince Brute to Prince Charming.

  Everyone was happy. Except for Rowenia.

  Taking a seat next to her on the fountain’s enclosure, Thorsten raked his fingers through his hair. “I don’t know what she wants, and that bothers me. I need you by my side when she arrives.”

  Annabel smirked. “Is the mighty prince afraid of the big bad witch?”

  “Terrified.”

  He wasn’t. But if her husband needed her there for moral support, Annabel would face the witch and fight her off him too.

  “Then of course, I’ll be there.” She leaned over and kissed his cheek. “I’ll even hold your hand.”

  “Thank you.” He wiped imaginary sweat off his brow.

  “But if I’m to face Rowenia, I’d better change into something more impressive.” Annabel glanced down at her simple dress and the apron with splatters of paint on it. “I’ve heard she is very beautiful and elegant.”

  Hooking a finger under her chin, Thorsten took her lips in a quick kiss. “She can’t hold a candle to you.”

  “You’re sweet, and I know that you love me, but I’m not a great beauty by anyone’s standards.” Annabel cast him a challenging look, curious to see if he’d pick up the gauntlet.

  Her belly filled with excited butterflies, she pushed up to her feet, collected her art supplies, and put them in their case.

  Since saying anything negative about herself was strictly forbidden by the rules Thorsten had put down for her, and especially in public, that statement would most likely earn Annabel a spanking.

  Or at least she hoped it would.

  Despite all the posturing he’d done on that hill when he’d come courting, if one could call what he had done courtship, Thorsten still had to make good on his promise. Other than a slight smack here and there during lovemaking, he’d been neglectful in that department.

  Following her up, he whispered against her ear. “You’re lucky we are not alone. Otherwise, I would’ve smacked your lovely bottom for talking derisively about my wife.”

  “Well, your Highness. It seems that you’re not being strict enough with your subjects.” She winked and turned on her heel.

  Not surprisingly, the sound of his boots stomping over the pavers followed her out of the courtyard.

  Glancing at him over her shoulder, Annabel pretended innocence. “Are you coming with me to change your clothes as well?”

  “Yes.” His smile was wicked. “That’s exactly why I’m following you to our bedchamber.”

  “Should I call your manservant?” Annabel teased as she entered their suite of rooms.

  “I think we can manage without him.” Thorsten closed the door and pulled her by the elbow, turning her around to face him. “What did I tell you would happen if you made self-deprecating comments?”

  Annabel’s bottom clenched in anticipation. “That you’re going to spank me?”

  He smiled. “Precisely.” His gaze adoring rather than cross, he cupped her cheek. “Have I been neglectful, my love?”

  Heat rushed up Annabel’s face, but after all the effort she’d put into this, she wasn’t going to back out. Lowering her eyes, she murmured, “Someone made some promises he’s not keeping.”

  “I thought you didn’t want me to do it ever again.”

  The heat spread all the way up to her ears. “You know that it turns me on,” she said in a barely audible whisper.

  He chuckled. “You made such a big fuss about wanting me to promise not to do it again that I thought it was too embarrassing for you.”

  With a sigh, she leaned her forehead on his chest. “At the time it might have been true. But now that we are married, I don’t want any pretense between us.”

  His hands roaming over her back, Thorsten kissed her. Softly at first, but that didn’t last long. After a moment, he gripped her bottom, lifted her up, and carried her to their enormous bed.

  Thinking he was going to put her down, Annabel had a brief moment of disappointment. That was not where she wanted to be. Well, eventually, but not right away. But at the last moment, Thorsten turned them around, sat on the bed, and upended her over his knees.

  Her cheek resting on the silk bedding, Annabel let out a relieved breath. Finally, she was going to get what she’d been craving for so long.

  “Such beautiful legs you have, my love.” He gathered the hem of her dress, pulling it up ever so slowly, baring and caressing every inch of exposed skin before pulling it up a little higher. First were her calves, next were her thighs, and when the skirt was all the way up, bunched up around her waist, he bent and kissed the top of each mound over her panties before pulling them down her thighs. “You have the best ass in all the known monarchies and beyond.”

  Giddy with excitement and somewhat overwhelmed by what was about to happen, Annabel stifled a giggle. Hopefully, it had been a figure of speech, and Thorsten hadn’t actually seen them all to make the comparison.

  Tucking her closer against his belly with one hand, he covered her entire bottom with his other.

  “It’s small but perfect.” He kneaded one cheek and then moved to the other. “Well, that’s enough preamble. Time to administer your punishment, young lady. I think ten spanks would do as a warmup.”

  Annabel’s eyes popped open. Ten? And that was just a warmup?

  That was more than he had given her up on that hill.

  His hand resting on her bottom, he bent down and nuzzled her neck. “After those ten, you’ll tell me if you’re up for more. Deal?”

  She should’ve known her Thorsten wouldn't do anything she wasn’t ready for. “Deal.”

  The first smack caught her by surprise, not because of the sting, but because of how loud it was.

  She tensed. “The servants will hear.”

  “There is no one on this floor. I sent them all to scrub the public areas in preparation for Rowenia’s visit. But you are right. We need to find a better place for the next time you are in need of a spanking.” His hand landed on her other cheek and then kneaded the tiny sting away.

  Next time. How exciting. She could dedicate a corner of her wardrobe room for that purpose. It was windowless and well isolated.

  How wonderfully wicked it would be to have a secret spanking place.

  Annabel smirked into the bedcover. She was such a deviant.

  But the fact that she could make redecorating plans while getting a spanking meant that Thorsten was way too gentle with her. Now that she didn’t feel scandalized about being draped over his knees with her bare bottom up in the air, it really felt more like patting than spanking.

  “And that’s ten.” Thorsten caressed her warmed up skin. “Ready for more?”

  Was she ever. “Yes, please.”

  “I think fifteen should do.”

  She nodded. If he continued with such a light hand, that would not be enough either, but there was a limit to what she was willing to say.

  “I nee
d words, love.”

  Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes, glad that he couldn’t see her face. “After the fifteen, ask me again.”

  Oh, wow. Annabel couldn’t believe she’d actually had the guts to say it out loud, and judging by Thorsten’s stunned silence, neither could he.

  A long moment passed before he finally chuckled. “As you wish, my love.”

  This time, the first smack wrested a whimper out of her mouth. It stung. Not terribly, but it definitely was the real deal. The second one stung even worse.

  By the time she’d counted twelve, Annabel had tears in her eyes, but she was also so turned on that if Thorsten touched her dripping wet center she was sure to orgasm right away. What a mess she must’ve made on his pants.

  The last three were the worst.

  Her bottom felt like it was on fire, but that only added fuel to her arousal. A few more smacks and she would climax without any further stimulation.

  Gently rubbing her heated behind, Thorsten whispered, “How close are you, love?”

  “Very close,” she breathed.

  Annabel had surprised him. Thorsten knew that submitting to him turned her on, and spanking was the perfect vehicle to transport her to the state of mind which she found most arousing. But it wasn’t supposed to be about pain.

  Except, it seemed that his Annabel enjoyed a little of it to spice up their lovemaking.

  Thorsten wondered whether a few more swats would push her over the edge, but the truth was that he preferred doing it with pleasure rather than pain. In a way, Annabel was pushing his limits more than he was pushing hers.

  As he swept a finger along her wet slit, a tremor of desire ran through her, and she arched up to his touch. Knowing how sensitive she was, he gathered her wetness and spread it around, lubricating both sides of the little bundle of nerves that was so incredibly responsive to even the slightest stimulation.

  Her hips rolling from side to side, Annabel whimpered something incoherent, but he didn’t need to hear her say it to know what she wanted. Pushing a finger into her moist heat, he thrust it in and out of her slowly, making sure it wasn’t enough for her to climax.

  He wanted to be inside her when she did.

  There was nothing more exquisite than the feel of her inner muscles clamping around his shaft.

  “Thorsten,” she whimpered again as his finger retracted, leaving her empty and needy.

  Lifting her off his lap, he put her face down on the bed, her legs dangling over the side. The four-poster was too tall for her toes to reach the floor, but it was the perfect height for him to enter her from behind.

  Her eyes hooded with desire, Annabel gazed at him over her shoulder as he tore his tunic over his head, kicked his boots off, and pulled his pants down. “I can never get enough of feasting my eyes on your magnificent nude body,” she husked.

  “The feeling is mutual, my love.”

  She was still wearing her dress with the paint-splattered apron over it, but even though he craved the sight and feel of her bare skin, Thorsten didn’t have the patience to undress her. Instead, he hiked her skirt back up, bunching it around her waist and exposing her pinked bottom.

  When he surged into her, they both groaned.

  “Oh, yes.” Annabel arched up.

  Gripping her hips, he pulled back and drove into her again, going as deep as he could.

  Her bottom must be smarting each time his hips slapped against it, but given her throaty moans and the fluttering of her inner muscles, she was enjoying every bit of it.

  Clawing at the coverlet to anchor herself, Annabel groaned in pleasure with his every forward thrust. The sounds she was making and the sight of his shaft going in and out of her were enough to drive him into a lust induced frenzy.

  His fingers digging into her hips, he lifted her bottom to meet his powerful thrusts. As he plunged into her over and over again, he grunted like an animal, but Annabel was right there with him. Lifting to meet him halfway, she was nearly as loud as him.

  They were both nearing their peak.

  Gritting his teeth, Thorsten waited for Annabel to reach hers first. Only when she screamed, her inner muscles tightening and squeezing around his shaft, did he let go of his tenuous self-control and erupted inside her.

  “I love you,” he murmured as he wrapped himself around her back, careful not to squash her with his weight.

  Except, words weren’t enough to express the barrage of feeling that had washed over him. Love, tenderness, gratitude, pleasure, hope—it was a sea of emotion that he was happily drowning in.

  “You are my everything, my Annabel.”

  He allowed himself another moment of holding her tight and then withdrew. “Don’t move,” he said as the evidence of their lovemaking dripped down her thighs. “I’ll bring a washcloth.’

  Annabel chuckled, which caused more of his essence to pour out of her. “I don’t think one would do.”

  He ended up bringing an entire stack and a bowl of warm water. Tending to his wife after they made love was a task he wasn’t willing to give up, no matter how many times Annabel had told him she could do it herself.

  Their lovemaking wasn’t gentle, and it took a lot out of her. The least he could do was to take care of her after.

  When he was done, Thorsten sat on the bad and lifted Annabel into his lap. Cradling her in his arms, he kissed her neck, her cheeks, her eyelids, showering her with the tenderness he couldn’t have summoned before.

  She sighed contentedly. “I love it when you do that.”

  “What, this?” He kissed the other side of her neck.

  “Yes. It’s a sweet side of you that no one but me ever sees.” She rested her cheek against his chest. “I’m wiped out. Do I have time for a short nap before the evil witch gets here?”

  Damn. He should’ve thought of that before exhausting her. “You can take as long as you please. I’ll deal with Rowenia by myself.”

  She lifted her head and cast him a mock glare. “If you think I’m going to let you meet with her without me, you are dearly mistaken.” She smiled and kissed the underside of his jaw. “I’m very protective of what’s mine.”

  Annabel tried her best to give Rowenia the benefit of a doubt, but the woman was even worse than Thorsten’s descriptions of her.

  “Congratulations on your nuptials,” she said while looking Annabel up and down with a fake smile and a thinly veiled distaste.

  Plastering a sugary smile on her face, Annabel pretended not to notice.“I’m so glad that you took the time to come and congratulate us in person. You must be a very dear friend of my Thorsten.”

  For a brief moment, Rowenia gaped at her as if she’d lost her mind, but the woman recovered quickly. “Of course. We’ve known each other for years. But with our responsibilities as crown prince and princess of our respective monarchies, I’m afraid we didn’t have time to nurture our relationship.” She cast Thorsten a suggestive glance.

  He, in turn, seemed perfectly happy to let Annabel lead the conversation.

  Annabel nodded sagely. “I understand perfectly. It’s such a big responsibility. The man you will one day wed should be prepared to aid and support you once you become queen, the same way I’m aiding and supporting Thorsten.” Annabel leaned forward. “Imagine what would have happened if you had married Thorsten. Where would you have lived? Your monarchies don’t even share a border.”

  Rowenia waved a dismissive hand. “There would have been no need for shared accommodations. We could’ve visited each other.”

  “That’s not a marriage.” Annabel crossed her arms over her chest. “That’s an affair at best, and a flimsy political union at worst.”

  “Not my idea of marriage. That’s for sure,” Thorsten finally found his voice. “I want my wife to always be by my side.” He wrapped his arm around Annabel’s shoulders. “When you fall in love, Rowenia, you’ll understand what it’s like, and then you’ll come here and thank me for saving us both from a life of misery. Power and
riches are no substitute for loving and being loved.”

  Conceding defeat, or pretending to, Rowenia nodded. “Perhaps we can forge an alliance in some other way.”

  Annabel glanced at Thorsten to gauge his reaction. Was he buying it? Was that the end of Rowenia’s attempts at meddling?

  Leaning, he offered Rowenia his hand. “I’m looking forward to negotiating the terms.”

  She shook it. “Don’t think it will be easy because I’m a woman. I’m a tough negotiator.”

  A big grin on his handsome face, Thorsten nodded. “I would be a fool to think that.”

  His answer seemed to satisfy her. “When should we start the negotiations?”

  “After the wedding, which I hope you and your father will attend.”

  “Of course. Will you save a dance for me?”

  Thorsten shook his head. “I’ll have to respectfully decline. The only one I will ever dance with is my wife.”

  Dear reader,

  Thank you for reading Perfect Match 1. If you enjoyed the story, I would be grateful if you could write a brief review on Amazon. Every review makes a difference to an author and helps other readers discover the series.

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  Ready for the next Perfect Match?

  PERFECT MATCH 3: CAPTAIN’S CONQUEST

  is coming up next

  Working as a Starbucks barista, Alicia fends off flirting all day long, but none of the guys are as charming and sexy as Gregg. His frequent visits are the highlight of her day, but since he’s never asked her out, she assumes he’s taken. Besides, between a day job and a budding music career, she has no time to start a new relationship.

  That is until Gregg makes her an offer she can’t refuse—a gift certificate to the virtual fantasy fulfillment service everyone is talking about. As a huge Star Trek fan, Alicia has a perfect match in mind—the captain of the Starship Enterprise.

  Also by I. T. Lucas

  PERFECT MATCH

  Perfect Match 1: Vampire’s Consort

  Perfect Match 2: King’s Chosen