I never wanted my wedding day to end. Even though it was an intimate affair with under a hundred guests, the party went much longer than most banquets that I’d attended. Sophia and I stumbled into my bedroom in the wee hours of the morning.

Even though I celebrated, neither of us drank heavily. I supposed we were almost drunk from the music and dancing, so when we arrived in a quiet and sacred space, the both of us passed out from exhaustion.

The one thing I remembered as my eyes closed was the way she looked slipping out of her wedding dress. God, I was a lucky-ass man.

---

When my eyes finally peeled open, Sophia was already up and facing me. She had a big smile on her face, and her left hand propped on the pillow between us. The sparkling engagement ring glittered in the morning light that streamed through the windows. The night before, I’d barely gotten out of my clothes, so there was no chance I had been able to reach the blackout curtains before falling onto the bed.

“Good morning,” Sophia said. I loved that her voice was a little hoarse. It made my cock twitch. I was already semi-hard from waking up, and I needed to consummate our marriage as soon as she wanted. I felt a little bad that we didn’t do it last night, but it wouldn’t have been much fun with the both of us so tired after the events of the day.

“Morning,” I said, raking my hand through her hair.

She turned over and stretched her arm over her head. “Ow.”

“I told Abir to be careful,” I said, bringing her arm down to mine. I kissed her hand before placing it between us again. I enjoyed seeing the diamond on her finger. It meant she was mine. Forever.

“He does like his spins,” she said, wincing.

“It was a good day, wasn’t it?” I asked her.

“The best,” she said. “I’m glad I remember it. It was my goal for the day. Other than to marry the kindest and most handsomest man in the world.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” I said. “I remember when my father told me of his wedding. He and Mother had to ask each other to remind them of certain parts.”

“They did have like a million people there,” she said.

“Are you okay with how we did it?”

She narrowed her eyes. “Of course. Are you?”

“It was more our style,” I said. “At the time, my parents conformed to what their parents wanted to get out of the ceremony. Luckily, Mother has had a change of heart when it comes to us.”

“I’m not sure we’d be married right now if she didn’t,” Sophia said.

“There’s nothing that would have stopped me from marrying you. You might not have been a queen, but you were always meant to be my wife.”

“Gosh, Luke, I think you’re getting soft on me,” she said, giggling.

“I might be,” I said, sitting up. “How about I get some breakfast for us. Coffee is in order before I start spouting poetry to you.”

That made her laugh harder. I rolled over to her, trapped her in my arms, and kissed her until I started to get erect again. At that pace, I would never leave the room. But I had a plan for Sophia and me and that involved nutrients.

I jumped off the bed and strode across the room. I was in my boxer briefs and the white T-shirt I’d had on under my tux. So when I opened the door to the hallway, I wasn’t too embarrassed to see a servant nearby.

I asked him for breakfast in the room, and he nodded his head and skittered off toward the kitchen.

Turning back toward the bed, Sophia was gone. The sound of running water from the bathroom brought her to my attention.

Joining her, the two of us brushed our teeth together. It was nice to get the stale taste of food and champagne out of my mouth. I watched Sophia through the mirror as she watched me. Energy crackled between us, and I could have dragged her into the shower to expend that energy. Knowing we were to be joined by several servants as they brought breakfast in the room for us made me kill the urge. For now.

Even though it was the simplest of acts, the idea that I would brush my teeth at least once a day with this woman filled me with the most joy I’d ever felt. I wondered if only the birth of our children would rival that feeling.

I finished before her and held her against me while she finished. With a shimmy of her ass against my crotch, I glanced at her. She leaned back against me, lifting her perky breasts higher. Slowly guiding my hand along her middle, I caressed the outside of her breasts.

That was when I heard the door open from the other room. My hand froze before I removed it from her completely. Walking into the other room, several servants carried a small table into the room.

“That won’t be necessary,” I said. “Just the trays. Sophia and I prefer to eat in bed today.”

They nodded at me and carried the table out of the room while two other servants brought the trays in.

“Over there,” I said, pointing to the side tables. Even though I didn’t prepare or arrange the food, I wanted to be the one to serve it to Sophia. To show her a shred of my appreciation for sticking with me as much as she had over the last few months.

The servants closed the door just as Sophia walked out from the bathroom. “I don’t think I’ll get used to being waited on.”

“You will,” I said. “Come back into bed. This is the start of our honeymoon, and I want to do this right.”

She hopped into bed and brought the covers over her lap before smoothing out the wrinkles. I placed the tray on her lap, and the legs kept it straight so none of the food would spill.

I couldn’t remember the last time I had breakfast in bed at the palace. It was probably when I was younger and sick. The vision reminded me of Father and his last days when he couldn’t get out of bed.

I said a silent prayer for him, hoping he was finally at peace and in a place with no pain.

“Did you plan a honeymoon without me too?” she asked.

“No.” I hadn’t thought about much past the wedding. Getting there was hard enough. It was a miracle that I survived to tell the tale while holding on to my title. “Would you like to go anywhere in particular?”

“Anywhere where you are,” she said with a smile.

Plopping the tray on my lap, I pointed to her plate. “You better start eating, or you’re going to get all mushy like me.”

I rattled off a few places for our honeymoon. I knew we wouldn’t be able to go until sometime next week. I wanted to settle things with the council first and get everything in a row before we left. This wasn’t going to be a three-day hike to England. I wanted to show Sophia the world, possibly two to three weeks before returning to the palace.

“I think you should set it up,” she said. “Planning a wedding in three days wore me out on planning for a little while. Besides, you know more places than I do. I trust you.”

“Okay, then,” I said, plotting the itinerary in my head. It was one reason I loved having a private plane at my disposal. We could get to where we wanted on our schedule.

We ate in silence for a few moments. Memories of the night before came in flashes in my mind.

“Do you ever think of having kids?” Sophia asked.

“Where did that come from?”

She shrugged. “All of this mess was because you weren’t blood-related to Erol. Since you’re changing a lot of things, I didn’t know if you changed your mind about that either.”

Recalling the last time she asked me this question, we were at the amusement park in Dallas. The question had caught me off guard, but that was before we were engaged and before the council made it perfectly clear that someone like me wasn’t wanted on the throne.

“As I said before, I never thought I’d find someone to have children with,” I said. “To be honest, if Father died before I knew you, I don’t know if I would have married straight away. I supposed I would eventually, but thoughts of children weren’t in the picture until now.”

“Until now?” she asked, her eyes widening.

I finished my tea and turned to her, holding the tray steady. “I’d like to have kids, but we can wait. There’s no rush.”

“Your mother said—”

I pressed my finger to her lips. Mother had no right to be in this bedroom right now. This was about Sophia and me.

“Whatever happens in this bedroom is between the two of us. I don’t want to have a child today, but someday. I’d rather practice with you instead.”

Moving my finger down her lips and to her chin, I lifted it and pressed a kiss to her lips. Pushing into her mouth with my tongue, I tasted the sweet fruit from her breakfast.

“I think I’d like to do that too,” she said, breathing heavily.

“Good,” I said, nipping at her bottom lip. There was no hiding my arousal then. The tray shifted, and I grabbed onto it before I ruined the moment between us.

Hastily removing the trays from our laps, I replaced hers with my body, showing her how ready I was for her.

“You want to practice now?” she asked.

“More than anything,” I said, kissing her again.