Crown Me, Prince Read online

  “Then he has a lot to learn, that’s all.”

  I nod, knowing there’s nowhere to go but forward.

  Never in a million years did I think I’d walk down the aisle so utterly heartbroken.

  Chapter 18

  My father and Thomas enter my bedroom, grim looks on their faces.

  “What is it?” I ask, adjusting my tie. I’m dressed the part of a royal prince about to see his bride.

  “An issue has been brought to my attention, son,” my father starts, his brow furrowed, his hand on the spokes of his wheelchair, bringing himself closer to me. “What game are you playing here, Lucas?”

  I came back to the castle this morning, and Dahlia was immediately whisked away. I had wanted to pull her aside, properly let her know how much last night meant to me, but I didn’t get a chance.

  Of course I couldn’t risk seeing her before the wedding, once we were at the palace. All I needed was one person using my name and blowing my cover ... and creating a royal cluster-fuck hours before the wedding.

  “Did you say something, Thomas?” I squint my eyes at him, not really caring at this point. We’re set to walk down the aisle within half an hour.

  “It came up. The couple you stayed with last night arrived, had an audience with the King, I was there. It got messy.”

  “Sorry.” I can’t muster much more, because what would I say? I just need to get the wedding started and everything will be fine.

  “I can’t believe you thought this was a good idea.”

  “At the time I thought I’d have a little fun. Pick up my princess and see what she was really like.”

  “What do you think the princess will say when she learns her husband is a liar?”

  I run my hand over my beard. “I know. I screwed up. And it was a stupid joke that turned into more the moment the snowstorm hit.”

  My father is sick, and the last thing he needs is a disaster of a royal wedding.

  “Listen, Dahlia wants a fairy tale ending. Her walking down the aisle to me is the right way to end this story. It will all work out.”

  Thomas snorts. “If she shows. She’s in love with another man.”

  “She’ll show. Not only is she beautiful and kind, she’s also honorable.”

  “You think she will?” my father asks. “Because if she doesn’t, you’ll be the prince who was stood up at his own wedding.”

  I think back to my time with Dahlia. She seemed to know with conviction that regardless of how she felt for Thomas, it was still just a one-time thing, that in the end she needed to forfeit her own happiness for others.

  I’m banking on those convictions right now.

  “Just start the ceremony.”

  “I can’t believe you did this, Lucas,” Father says again.

  “I know it was reckless.” I place my hand on his shoulder. He has been my dearest friend, and losing his respect kills me. I need him to know it wasn’t all for naught. “But I don’t regret it. Not for a moment. Dahlia is the love of my life. And now I get to marry her, knowing that.”

  “But she fell in love with a bodyguard, not a prince,” Father says, looking at me with concern. “What if she doesn’t want you after all?”

  “She’ll want me,” I tell him with conviction. “Thomas, go get her father; bring him to me. I need to ask for his daughter’s hand in marriage.”

  Chapter 19

  My father comes to see me, because apparently everyone has gotten word that I’m having a meltdown.

  “You look beautiful, Dahlia,” he tells me, pulling me into a hug.

  My sisters pace the room, all of us a ball of anxious nerves. Prince Lucas just flew my family halfway around the world. Maybe he isn’t a terrible man.

  But he’s still a stranger.

  “Father, I can’t really talk right now,” I tell him. “My makeup is ruined, I’m still in a slip, and my wedding is about to begin.”

  Ignoring my words, he says, “I’m so glad I was able to be here, that I was invited. I know I made a mess of a lot of things, and don’t have the respect of my daughters, but—”

  Violet stops him “Don’t say that, Father. You’ve done the best you could.”

  He shrugs sadly. “I could have done better. After your mother died, when you were all so young ... I gave up.”

  Tears fill my eyes, and I don’t even try to blink them away. Father never speaks of Mother, and the word on his lips is foreign and painful.

  “Father, you don’t need to apologize. You’ve been heartbroken,” Iris says. “And healing takes time.”

  Violet, always the one to keep things in order, claps her hands. “But right now we don’t exactly have time. The wedding is set to begin.”

  “This is a disaster.” I look in the mirror, wiping the mascara from my cheeks. I look like the bride of Frankenstein.

  “Elexia thanks you for your sacrifice, Dahlia,” Father says. “Your marriage is such a gift to the citizens of our beautiful country.”

  His words jolt me back to reality. This isn’t just about me. It’s about so much more. It’s about an entire country.

  I take a deep breath.

  I’m devastated. Embarrassed. Mortified. But this wedding is about more than the love between a man and a woman. It’s about bringing two nations together, about commitment and honor.

  While Lucas and I aren’t soul mates, this marriage is still based on love.

  True love.

  “I can do this,” I say, wiping my eyes, nodding my head. Resolute.

  Violet smiles. “And I thought Iris was the brave one.”

  We wrap our arms around one another, the first family hug I can think of in the longest time, and I marvel at how my heart breaking is bringing everyone together.

  I guess love does funny things.

  Meredith fixes my makeup, brushing foundation and bronzer on my cheeks, curling my lashes and lining my pale pink lips. I can’t meet her eyes, so I fix my heart on my future.

  I can do this.

  My sisters help me into the gorgeous white gown, fluffing the train and adjusting my breasts, before the attendants literally spray me into place.

  “Thank you,” I manage to tell Meredith, knowing I have unknowingly made a mess for her—and hoping somehow, someway, after the wedding I can fix it. “Thank you for making me look so beautiful.”

  She smiles. “We have a lot to work with.” She places a veil on my head, draping the tulle over my face. It blocks my view slightly, but then she places a glittering tiara on my head. No amount of obstruction could cause me to miss the beautiful diamonds encrusting it.

  My sisters squeeze my hands. Both of them are dressed in lovely gowns, with the tiaras of Cressia and Alpinweiss resting on their heads.

  I take a deep breath, wondering when this became my life.

  Thomas deceived me, and I can only hope my sisters are right, that Prince Lucas is an honorable man who will love me for me. Love me despite my flaws and failures. Cherish me regardless of what I’ve done.

  I believe in magic. I always have. Maybe there’s still some magic left in this world.

  After the final touches are complete, I tell the room the complete, God’s-honest truth. The truth I am clinging to. “I’m ready to go find my happily ever after.”

  Chapter 20

  I’ve never been so nervous in my entire life

  Everything I want is within my reach.

  This is the day I commit my life to the woman I love.

  The music begins, the pews are filled. My father is beside me, a crown on his head, a royal robe of velvet and fur around his shoulders. He looks nervous.

  “Is she going to come?” he whispers.

  “Will you revoke my honor if she doesn’t?”

  “If you love her, you’ll fight for her.”

  “I wish Mother were here,” I tell him.

  He nods, his eyes glassy. His shaking hands reach out to clasp mine. “This would make her proud.”

  “What? Her son makin
g a fool of himself?” I ask, suddenly nauseated over the idea of Dahlia not showing up.

  “No,” my father says, his voice gravelly, true. “Making himself a husband.”

  The door to the chapel opens.

  All I see is bright white.

  All I see is love at first sight.

  All I see is her.

  Chapter 21

  I clutch my father’s arm. He seems so certain, so sure that I should be doing this. It gives me the extra boost of confidence I need.

  I put one foot in front of the other, but I can’t look up at Lucas. I’m scared that Thomas will be by his side. Thomas, the man I gave my heart and body and soul to. The man who played me.

  The man who slayed me.

  My eyes are on the ground, and I focus on not tripping over this massive gown. I focus on the future, not on the past—and try to ignore the hundreds of people here for the wedding.

  Ignore the photographer documenting every royal step I take. Ignore the beautiful chapel, the dahlias covering everything—a detail that someone thoughtfully added to this day. Ignore the tulle above me, which seems to create a cocoon for me to pass under as I walk toward the man I’m meant to marry.

  The man I don’t love.

  The man I betrayed.

  “One step in front of the other,” my father says, pressing his hand over mine as I hold tight to his arm.

  “Why are you so sure this marriage is going to work, Father?”

  “Because I spoke to him, Dahlia.”

  “You did?” I whisper, knowing so many eyes are on us. “He wouldn’t even speak to me.”

  “Not everything is as it seems.”

  I nod; I’ve known that since I was a little girl, looking for mermaids long after my sisters determined there were none.

  Not everything is as it seems.

  That sentence holds so much hope, because if things aren’t what they seem, that means there might be more to find, to discover.

  To have and to hold.

  “I love you, Father.” I look into his eyes when we stop at the front of the church.

  “Look up, darling,” he tells me.

  When I do, the world stops.

  When I do, I blink, not believing this is true.

  Chapter 22

  Standing before me is a woman I fell for—first her figure, but quickly for her heart.

  Her softness, her vulnerability. Her ability to cut the bullshit and instead speak the truth.

  I lift her veil, standing before her and the people gathered here today—and her father and sisters, and my father, and the priest.

  I want her to like what she sees.

  Her eyes fill with tears. Her hands shake, and I see someone reach for the bouquet she’s holding, before she drops it.

  She doesn’t even seem to notice.

  “Thomas, what are you doing here?” Her head turns from side to side as she looks around. Confusion covers her beautiful face. “Why are you wearing the prince’s crown?”

  “I’m not what you think,” I tell her plainly, reaching for her hands.

  But she pulls away. “I know! You’re about to be a father,” she whisper-yells at me. “You lied to me. I met Meredith. What did you think was going to happen when she walked into my room?”

  Fuck. Meredith was never a part of my equation. Shit.

  “A father?” I turn towards Thomas, who’s standing five feet behind me.

  His face goes white. Apparently Meredith has some explaining to do.

  But so do I.

  “I’m sorry, I did lie,” I tell her.

  She harrumphs at that, still clearly confused.

  “I lied about who I was. I’m Prince Lucas, not Thomas. He,” I say, pointing, “is my bodyguard, Thomas. And I thought pretending to be him would let me see you for who you really are. I didn’t plan on a snowstorm hitting.”

  “Who I really am?” she asks, tears in her eyes. She leans close, whispering so only I can hear. “I’m a woman who slept with a man who wasn’t the prince, one night before her wedding.”

  I shake my head, cupping her cheek with my hand. “Princess, you didn’t do much sleeping with me.”

  Her cheeks flush, and she bites her bottom lip, blinking back tears.

  “Don’t cry, love. I’m so sorry,” I tell her. I clasp her hands in mine, wanting to scoop her in my arms and carry her back to that cabin where time was ours. “Your father and I spoke.”

  Her head turns, and her eyes meet her father’s. “You knew?”

  “I knew,” he says.

  “When I called him to my room, I told him the truth of who I was, and who his daughter thought I was. He was shocked. But then I asked for his daughter’s hand in marriage. Not an arrangement, because I loved her. Love her.”

  “You love me?” she asks, her eyes glistening as if she wants to believe.

  “I love you with all that I am, all that I will be. I love you, Dahlia, and I want to marry you in front of our families. I want to marry you now. I want to marry you with the promise that I’ll never hide from you again.”

  “I told you things, Thom—I mean, Lucas. I told you my ... deepest thoughts.”

  “And they are sealed to my heart,” I tell her. “That doesn’t change.”

  She looks around the chapel. Her sisters are crying off to the side, with their husbands comforting them.

  “You love me?” she asks again. “All of me?”

  I put my hands around her waist, wanting to hold her as I look ardently in her eyes. “All of you. I was scared I’d be marrying a woman who wanted me for my crown alone. That’s why I pretended to be Thomas in the first place.”

  She nods in understanding. “I love you, Lucas. So completely. You are my prince, and I’m the luckiest princess in the world.”

  Then she wraps her arms around my neck, and kisses me before we take our vows, or exchange our rings.

  She kisses me like she did before, like I know she will forever.

  “Ahem.” The priest coughs behind us. “Do you want this royal wedding to take place, Princess Dahlia and Prince Lucas?”

  I look at my bride and she smiles the smile of a Princess.

  “I do.”

  Epilogue

  Four months later...

  When I wake, Lucas is between my legs.

  His beard grazes my pussy, tickling me in the most irresistible way, causing a smile to erupt across my face.

  “Morning, sleepyhead.” His hands run across my bare belly. “Sleep well?”

  “Very.”

  “Good. Today’s a big day.”

  “You going to be okay, love?” My hand reaches out toward him, wanting to comfort him, even though I can already tell his mind is far from the pain of the last few months. And it’s not that he’s looking toward the future. No, Lucas is only thinking about the now.

  The now being his morning erection pressing against my thighs, begging for entrance.

  I’d never tell him no.

  “I’ll be a lot better if I can fill your pussy.”

  I laugh, feeling my face flush. It doesn’t matter that I’ve been his bride for the past four months; he still makes my knees weak, my cheeks blush, and my pussy drip.

  I don’t want that to ever change.

  “I think you’ve already filled plenty, Lucas.” I tug on him, pulling his hips closer to me. As he hovers above me, I kiss him, letting my lips linger on his, feeling instantly more complete with his body covering mine.

  “You are so fucking gorgeous with my baby in your womb.”

  I love how Lucas is unabashedly proud of the fact that he knocked me up on our wedding night.

  If I’m being completely honest, I love his pride, because my heart is full and bursting.

  His hand slides between my legs, and my pussy is in the palm of his hands.

  Just the way he likes it.

  Just the way I love it.

  His fingers dip inside of me, and my body instantly reacts, rewarding him for touching
me so tenderly. I arch my back, wrap my thighs around him—suddenly horny, desperate, and just ready to be fucked.

  “Take me baby. Fill me all the way up.”

  His cock is thick, hard, and hot. He slides the tip of it over my entrance, teasing. But I’m not in the mood for games. My pussy is sopping wet and his cock is ready. There’s no reason to wait.

  If this last season of life has taught me anything, it’s that life is precious, a magical gift that should never be wasted.

  “Today you become King,” I tell him. My tits are pressed against him, my nipples hard and begging to be sucked. “So take me like your Queen.”

  Lucas loves it when I talk like this, and he nibbles my ear, his hot breath on me, as he stops the tease and begins to fill me inch by perfect inch.

  “Oh,” I moan, wrapping my arms around his neck, clawing at him, wanting to be closer, and closer still.

  He growls, pulling me up, and then he’s sitting with me squarely in his lap, easing me onto his cock like the King he is. My legs wrap around his waist; our chests are pressed together, with the heir of Rochester between us.

  “Come in me, Lucas,” I cry, rocking against him harder and harder. He thrusts deep into me, my pussy dripping the way it always does the moment he fills me. The moment he takes me.

  I am his.

  He is mine.

  This life is ours.

  Later we dress in our finest clothing: royal robes and velvet gowns. We are led up the steps to a sitting room until the coronation takes place in the throne room. It’s being televised for the world. Every eye is on the two of us.

  His father died two weeks ago. We’d prepared for it as best as anyone can, and I held him as he cried, for what was and what is. Everyone was grateful for the time we had, but of course when a King dies there is a loss felt across a nation.

  And for Lucas, the loss cut deepest of all. I’m so grateful my family has been here to support us throughout this.