“Your Highness, I need to speak with my wife, Star. I know this may come as a shock, but I love her, and I will fight to the death to have her.”

I stand there, my chest heaving from exertion as Star’s father gives me a small smile.

Seeing movement behind him, I watch as Star pokes her head out from behind a couch. What the hell?

“What did you say?” she squeaks.

Her dad reaches out and squeezes my shoulder. “Let’s have a quick chat before I turn you over to your bride,” he says, and leads me out into the hallway.

It’s all I can do to stand still, needing to go in there and check on Star. I just want to explain what happened and make everything okay. I feel like a caged tiger pacing around, and the thought of her in distress is eating away at me.

Out in the hall, he pulls the door slightly but doesn’t close it. He must sense that I need to be near her right now. He’s still smiling. At least he isn’t trying to rip my head off. That’s something.

“It’s not how it looks,” I start, but he holds his hands up. “The media—”

“I understand, Romy.” He sighs and shakes his head. “They love to make up stories about my little girl. She’s been hurt a lot by the lies people spread.”

I nod, knowing how cruel they’ve been to her reputation. They can say what they want about me. I just let it roll off. But now my name is attached to hers, and I don’t want that tarnish to hurt my princess.

“I know what you must be thinking. But I love her, Your Highness. I’ve loved Star for a long time, but I didn’t think I was good enough. My brother will take the throne, and she shouldn’t have second-best.”

He gives me an appraising look. “You should know her well enough to know that’s not what she’s after.”

“It’s what she deserves. The very best. I was willing to step aside to give her that,” I say, pleading my case to him.

“And now?”

“And now I’m done trying to be the better man. I let people think that I slept around and partied with princesses all over the world. I may have had a good time with friends, but I never betrayed my love for Star. I never touched a woman after the first time I saw her. She’s been the one for me since then, and I haven’t dared to disgrace her in any way. Even though I knew I couldn’t have her, I still didn’t want another. I allowed the media to ruin my reputation, thinking that it would never touch her. But now that it has, I will do everything in my power to make it right.”

He nods, and I see the door open slightly behind him. Star peeks out and glances between the both of us.

“You will take care of her, and she will take care of you. You have my blessing for a long and happy life together.” Her father looks at her and then looks to me. “Just don’t wait too long to give me grandbabies.”

With that, he pats me on the shoulder and steps out of the way.

I stand there for a moment, just looking at Star. God, she’s so beautiful with her white-blonde hair and pale cream skin. Her face always heats with her emotions, and oftentimes I say things I know will stain her cheeks. Her parents were right to name her Star. She truly does shine bright. Unmissable. That’s partly why the media follows her around, just to look at her.

“Romy—”

I push open the door and kick it closed behind us, flipping the bolt and locking us in.

“You heard what I said out there?” I ask, taking a step toward her.

“Yes,” she whispers, and looks down at the floor. “I didn’t know you felt that way.”

“Why would you? You barely noticed me.” I step right in front of her and wait for her to look up at me. “But you notice me now, don’t you, princess?”

She licks her lips and then runs her hungry eyes over my chest. I grab her wrists and bring her palms up to rest them on top of my shirt.

“You’ll never ignore me again. I’m your king now. I’m the one you always keep your eyes on. Do you understand?” Her eyes snap to mine as I grab her around the waist, lifting her up. “Now I think it’s time you fulfilled your royal duty as my property.”

“If you think I’m going to allow you to treat me like one of your—”

“I’m going to treat you exactly how a queen should be treated,” I say, tossing her on the bed and flipping up her dress. “I’m going to eat your royal cunt and see if you kept yourself pure for me.”

She gasps as I spread her legs wide and reach down, ripping off her panties.

“Will you deny your king?” I spread her lower lips with two fingers, feeling her sticky honey. “I can’t imagine you would with how wet you are. It seems we both like it when I’m in charge,” I say, rubbing my other hand over the front of my slacks and showing her how hard I am.

“Be gentle,” she whispers, and I see both desire and fear in her eyes.

“You are the most precious thing to me in the world. Now grab the headboard.”