Crown Me, Prince Read online

I swallow, shocked that when I say home, I mean Garrick’s cabin.

  Right now, that’s the only place I want to be.

  And I hope he’s there waiting for me.

  Chapter 20

  When I leave the bar and realize Iris has left the city square without a backward glance, I know there’s only one way I can make it up to her.

  There’s only one way that matters.

  I duck my head, not wanting to garner the attention of any of the fucking tourists.

  I walk straight to the castle, refusing to let my stupid ideas get in the way of the one good thing that’s ever happened to me.

  The moment I laid eyes on Iris at the chapel, I knew she was an angel—one I don’t deserve. And I know we have a whole slew of things we need to discuss and work out, but none of those things matter. The second I flippantly said that she could cook me dinner on a new stove, I knew I sounded like an idiot.

  I saw her eyes fill with tears, saw her shake her head in her disappointment. Disappointment in me.

  That’s the last thing I ever wanted. It’s a feeling I never want her to experience again. It’s not fair, to cradle her in my arms all night and then disregard her value the next day, to give her those kinds of highs and lows. She deserves better than that.

  Every woman does.

  And I’m going to show her that I’ll give up the things I hold so tightly—my cabin, my self-reliance, my asshole M.O.—because none of that matters if I don’t have her.

  I walk straight inside the castle, not waiting for the footman to open the fucking door or the butler to address me. The conversation I need to have has waited too fucking long.

  Running my hand over my beard, I pause before my father’s office. Taking a deep breath, I know I’m about to say something I never thought I’d fucking say.

  The very thing that only yesterday I swore I never would. It’s crazy to think how much can change in such a short amount of time. But none of my ideals are worth having if I’m alone.

  I knock on the door, wait for my father to answer.

  “Yes?” he calls.

  I turn the door handle and step inside his wood paneled office. It’s claustrophobic in here. Books line the shelves, but more than that, everything is polished and perfectly in place, not a detail overlooked. The Historic vibe is strong, and everything is a relic, which is strange considering none of it has any personal value to anyone left living.

  But my father is meticulous about the appearance of things. And this office is more my father than anything. I sigh, resigning myself to the realization that it will be my space one day. But knowing why I came here, I know that it may be my space sooner than I ever anticipated.

  “Father, I came to discuss an urgent matter with you.”

  “Urgent?” my father cocks an eye at me and motions to the chair opposite him. He sits behind a desk with papers piled high.

  I know I’ve slacked off long enough, not taking my role as the heir to the throne seriously in the way my father wishes. But all it took was one massive look of disappointment on my bride’s face for me to realize it’s time I change my ways. Even if it means spending less time in the village and more time with pompous dignitaries.

  “What brings you here exactly, Garrick?” my father asks.

  I sit down and look at him straight on. “I have a request of you. I know it’s the exact opposite of everything I’ve been saying for years, but I’ve had a change of heart.”

  “Don’t tell me you think you’re sending Iris back? You married her. There’s no way you can get out of this now. She’s your wife, damn it, Garrick.”

  “God no,” I say, revolted at the idea of sending Iris anywhere but to my bed. “I don’t want out.”

  “What do you want?”

  “I want in. I want in on the family business. No more refusing to play by your rules. No more dismissing the royal court. No more leaving the party early.”

  “Oh, really?” he asks, disbelief written across his face. “And what’s in this for you?”

  “Iris,” I tell him plainly. “Iris is all I’m after.”

  My father’s eyes narrow, but he can see the genuine look on my face. He shakes his head, a grin on his face. “I told you back at your cabin last week that marriage was a compromise. You took your old father’s advice to heart, I take it?”

  “Iris’s heart is all I want.”

  My father stands, shakes my hand. He calls in my mother, and we discuss the details. She throws her arms around me, the most affection I think I’ve ever received from her.

  I’d be offended, but if this is what Iris wants, this is what I’ll do.

  “Garrick, I’m so proud of you,” she says squeezing my shoulders. “Finally getting some sense. Marriage will do that to a man. We need to call in the bulldozers!”

  I feel my shoulders tense at her words. My cabin means a hell of a lot to me, and her dismissal isn’t appreciated. There’s no way in hell that thing is going to be bulldozed.

  Instead of addressing it, I step away from her hug, not wanting to sour the mood. I’ve never made my parents so proud. But their pride means so little. That isn’t why I am doing this.

  My father pours us each a drink, and we raise our glasses in a toast.

  “To new beginnings,” my father says.

  I down the whiskey and make my way outside. I need to get out of this stifling castle and win over the heart of my wife.

  Chapter 21

  I arrive at the empty cabin and see several packages have been delivered to our front door. It’s all the items I bought earlier.

  None of them hold the same pleasure now that I’m here alone, now that I’ve decided my tactics of winning over my husband were childish and immature.

  Carrying them inside, I unwrap the pieces and look at each item carefully. Fingering the soft silky fabric of the nightgowns and panties, all I can imagine is wearing them for Garrick.

  My heart swells with emotion, realizing that if I could rewrite history, I’d never run out of the bar. I would stay, and explain that he was being a horse’s ass.

  It’s then that I know, I’m not just falling for him.

  I love him.

  Because I know he said some shitty things at the bar, but I know without a doubt he’ll come to his senses and apologize. He offered me a compromise—and yes, I was looking for more, but this last twenty-four hours has been a shock to my system, and I know it must be equally shocking to his. We’re forging a life together, when we are both used to seeing things from only our own points of view.

  And I know the way he looked into my eyes, the way he touched my skin and held me in his strong arms … I know he will come back here tonight.

  I look at the suitcase next to my dresser, noting that I have no plans of packing it anytime soon—unless Garrick is taking me on a honeymoon.

  With intent, I place my new lace bras and panties in the drawers in which they belong. Looking out the small window, I see that the sun has set. The day has disappeared before my eyes. I guess I was out shopping a lot longer than I thought.

  Giving a blowjob longer than I thought.

  Fighting more than I wanted.

  I look at the wood stove. The fire is long gone, and I feel a chill spread over me.

  I can’t even take a shower to warm up.

  Soon enough, though, I’ll at least be able to plug in an electric blanket. Garrick said he would install a stove and electrical sockets.

  Is that enough?

  Garrick built this cabin with his hands. That’s sexy and strong, and not something I should have so easily dismissed.

  Looking around the cabin, I know that this is my home.

  I bite my lip, knowing that eventually Garrick will arrive. We’ll fight, surely—but afterward, we’ll make up.

  My heart stirs. I want to offer my love to him, starting with my body.

  I slip off my clothes, and look in the drawer for a white teddy, the sexiest one of the bunch. I pull it on, and the white
lace pulls tight across my nipples, the plunging neckline leaves nothing to the imagination. The thong bottom exposes my ass, and the mesh back is cut out. I can already imagine his fingers stroking across my skin.

  I grab a long white silk robe and tie it around my waist, covering the secret beneath. Just as I cinch the belt, the door to the cabin opens.

  Suddenly, I’m nervous.

  I want to see his eyes so I can better understand him

  “Iris?” he calls out.

  I step away from the dresser. “I’m here.”

  Garrick’s back is to me as he shuts and locks the front door. His broad shoulders remind me he’s a strong, capable man … and I believe he’s capable of loving me.

  I believe in him.

  He turns to face me, his eyes stern. It surprises me to see him stepping inside from the cold, his face that of a man who lives his life in the mountains. He has a beanie over his hair, no princely crown to speak of. His coat collar is high on his chin and his breath is frosty.

  “It’s fucking frigid in here,” he says, clasping his hands together.

  “I know. I didn’t know how to start the fire.”

  He waves a hand at my words. “It’s fine. I wouldn’t expect you to.”

  Confusion envelops me.

  He must see it, because he shakes his head, walking toward me. “Damn it, that came out wrong. I mean I should never have left you here alone when it’s so cold out. I should have been here to stoke a fire.”

  “Where have you been?” I ask as he turns to the wood stove and opens the door to it, adding a few logs along with kindling and striking a match.

  “I looked for you after you left the pub, but I didn’t know where you went.”

  “That doesn’t answer my question,” I press. “Where did you go, Garrick?”

  He stands and walks back to me. This time his shoulders fall, his eyes are on me. I watch him swallow, inhale, then reach for my hands.

  “I had to speak with my father.” His thumb rubs circles over the top of my skin. His touch is distracting.

  I try to focus. “Why your father? You can’t stand him or the castle.”

  “I had to make some plans.” He brushes off my question again.

  I’m getting impatient. “What kind of plans?”

  “Listen, I don’t want to fight with you. Not again.”

  “I’m not starting a new fight, I swear,” I tell him. “We never even finished our last fight when I ran out of the pub.”

  “Princess, fight or not, I have to tell you something.”

  I twist my lips, remembering the fight at the pub so clearly. And yes, I want to get to the make-up part, but we need to deal with his chauvinistic attitude first. “Let me guess. You’ve also decided that we can have a hot water heater?” I pull my hand from his and cross my arms.

  I want him to take me seriously.

  “Yes. As a matter of fact, I have.”

  I raise an eye, not expecting this so quickly. Wherever he went seems to have mellowed him out. “Just like that?”

  “You want hot water, hell, of course you can have that. But you can also have so much more.”

  “Tell me what else I can have,” I say, not letting him off the hook. I want him to grovel. And yes, that may be giving me a cheap thrill, but I don’t care. I want him to beg like he made me beg last night. “Tell me what else I get as your wife.”

  “My heart. All of it. I love you, Iris.”

  “No, you don’t,” I say quickly, shaking my head in disbelief. Here I stand, getting everything I want. It feels like too much at once, all my dreams coming true.

  “It is. All I want to do is be in your presence. All I want to do is hold you in my arms. All I want to do is change everything I’ve ever thought to be true, in order to make you happy. If that isn’t love, what is it? What is it, Iris?”

  “You want to change everything to make me happy?”

  “Damn it, Princess. Yes. Everything.”

  I fling my arms around him, wanting so desperately for him to know how those words make everything inside me swell into something beautiful.

  “I love you too, Garrick. That’s why I need you to know I made a choice.”

  “A choice?” he asks, his arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me closer to him.

  “Yes. A choice. I can stay here. In this cabin. Because it’s a cabin you built, a place you love. I wanted an adventure. Well, living without hot water is a freaking adventure if I ever heard of one. I want to make a life with my mountain prince.”

  He kisses me then, and my robe falls off my shoulders, exposing my bare skin. He pulls me closer, close enough that I can feel his thickness rubbing against me.

  He nuzzles his scruffy beard in my neck and all I imagine is his face between my legs, sucking at my most tender spot.

  The robe falls away, and I’m standing before the man I love in nothing but lace.

  He growls in my ear, whispering his desire. “I’m going make love to you, Princess, all night. Forever. You’re mine.”

  “Yes,” I breathe. “I’m yours.”

  Chapter 22

  I take in her gorgeous body, wrapped in that tiny lacy suit, her nipples tight and hard, her ass bare. My hands run over her cheeks, pulling her to me so there’s no space between us.

  My cock is hard. I know she feels it, because her hands reach down, taking hold of the rod between us. Her hands run over the ridges of my cock, my jeans an unnecessary barrier to what we both need. To what we both want.

  My fingertips run up her spine, to the base of her neck. Holding her face, my thumbs on her chin, I raise it ever so slightly so she’s looking at me, dead on.

  Breathing heavy and hot, she reaches for my belt and unbuckles it, unbuttons my pants, unzips them. The belt is ripped from the loops and tossed to the floor, and my jeans are at my ankles. I said it before and I’ll say it again, this girl is trouble.

  But she’s worth the trouble.

  The truth of it—the truth that took me this long to see—is that she isn’t a problem at all.

  She’s the answer.

  The answer to my doubt, the answer to my wanderings. Now I have a reason. A purpose. I’ll do anything if it means I’m making her life better.

  With my pants down, she slides off my boxers. My hard cock is solid, and held in her warm hands. Every stroke causes me to want her more deeply, but I know I need to say what I came here to say before any more time passes.

  I don’t want to sleep with her again, make love to her, until she knows my intentions.

  “I met with my father. My mother, too.”

  “Really? We’re going to talk about two people you don’t see eye to eye with, when I’m handling your cock, when my pussy is wet?”

  I shake my head, overwhelmed with love for this woman. She is no holds barred. She is who she is, unabashed and unrestrained.

  She’s my perfect match.

  Never in a million fucking years did I think I’d do whatever I could to charm her. To woo her. To win her over.

  “I told you I loved you.,” I tell her, cupping her face with my hands. “And I mean it.”

  “And I love you too, Garrick.”

  “Love means sacrifice.”

  “Yes,” she says. “I’ve heard that.” She laughs softly. “Where are you going with this?”

  “I know you’re willing to make sacrifices for me. Live in this cabin. But I’m not going to ask you to do that. In fact, there’s no way in hell I’ll let you do that.”

  “What do you mean? Garrett, what are you saying?”

  “I’m saying you are my princess. You deserve the world, and I will give you anything you want. I went to my parents and told them this exact same thing. We’re moving to the castle. I’ll give you the ball gowns and the royal balls in court—”

  “No, Garrick. That’s not what I need.”

  “It’s not about what you need. It’s about what you want. What do you want? I’ll give it to you. The sun, the
moon, the stars. The fucking world. I’ve already given you my heart, but you deserve more than my heart. You deserve everything I have to offer.”

  “Garrick,” she says, tears brimming in her eyes.

  I use my thumbs to wipe them away, pulling her closer to me. “Don’t cry.”

  “They’re good tears, I promise. You just have a lot to learn about me. Eventually you’ll know all my tears. The good ones, the dramatic ones, the I’m going to start my period ones.”

  I laugh, loving the way she just puts it all out there, not hiding behind anything. “I’m sorry that I said that shit about you making my food. I don’t know where I got ideas like that, except I know I want to make a life with you, and maybe that doesn’t mean washing clothes and cooking dinner. Maybe a life with you means something else entirely, that neither of us even knows yet. Maybe you want to come in the woods with me and set traps. Hell if I know, but all I want to do is figure out ways our lives can intersect. Figure it out together.”

  “Thank you. For apologizing, for coming to your senses. I knew you would.”

  “Oh, yeah?” I smirk. “You knew I’d come around?”

  “Well, I didn’t expect you to offer me a castle, but I did expect you to come back groveling. And I was prepared to reward you for your apology.”

  “Yeah, how were you going to do that?” My fingers slide over her shoulders, down her arms. Past her waist, nearing her pussy.

  “I think you know. I was going to tell you I love you, and then I was going to offer you my body.”

  She takes my hand then, presses it to her wet pussy. I finger the fabric of her lingerie, and pull it aside, letting my fingertips graze her juicy folds.

  “Your body is so good.”

  “Who needs an adventure when you can explore me, Garrick? When I can explore you. Right now, that’s all I want.” Iris smiles.

  I press my mouth to hers, wanting to capture that smile of hers. Wanting to press my lips against hers until my intentions are crystal-clear.

  She’s mine.

  I’m hers.

  Our adventure has just begun.