57. AMANDA

“Careful,” Dante says to Carlo. “I’ve told you before that it’s within my powers to have your head chopped off.”

“I swear on my honor, sir,” Carlo replies, hand raised as if taking an oath. “I am not fucking with you.”

It seems like a dream, especially considering the nightmare of the past few weeks.

“That has to be a first,” I say, looking at the iPad Carlo brought into Maria’s office. He has a direct pipeline to the Office of the Elector, and got the results hot off the press.

“I mean, have any of you ever heard of a referendum getting one hundred percent agreement on anything? It’s hard enough to get a dozen jurors to agree unanimously, let alone 30,000 Morovans.”

“Social media exploded after the hot microphone incident,” says Maria, pointing to the screen on the wall. “Hashtag ‘hubergate’ started trending within seconds of him and Isabella being ambushed in the alley.”

“And my sources inside the council say many of them have been waiting for an opportunity to get rid of the chancellor and his cronies,” says Carlo.

I look at Dante. “Apparently, being honest was the right thing to do.”

“Who would have imagined?” he says with a grin. “A royal being rewarded for being straightforward with his people. It boggles the mind.”

Dad finishes his bottle of Budweiser and puts the empty on the table beside him.

“So what the hell is a hashtag, anyway?” he asks. “Where I come from, hash is somethin’ you eat with your eggs, and a tag goes in a cow’s ear.”

As Maria attempts to explain social media to Ike, I take Dante’s hand and lead him out into the hallway. He pulls me close until our foreheads touch.

“This has been quite a day,” he says. “I keep expecting to wake up and discover it was all a dream.”

“So do I.”

He kisses me, prompting a flutter of butterflies in my belly.

“That felt pretty real to me,” he says.

I tilt my head so my lips are at his ear.

“If that felt real, imagine how real this will feel.”

I reach out and squeeze his cock through his pants, and it jumps at my touch.

“Don’t tease me,” he breathes. “It’s been too long.”

“So who’s teasing?” I whisper back.

* * *

One of the many, many benefits of living in a palace is that there’s always a room around when you need one.

My back is against the stone wall of a sitting room a couple of hallways away from Maria’s office. The furniture is mid-seventeenth century, with a mirror motif on the walls. That means I can see us making out from half a dozen different angles. And it’s making me horny as hell.

Dante’s hands explore under my blouse as his lips probe my neck. My hand manages to free his cock through his zipper, putting it on display in all the different mirrors. There’s something incredibly hot about seeing your husband’s throbbing shaft from so many different angles at once.

“I missed you so much,” I breathe in his ear. “All those nights in separate beds.”

“It was torture,” he says. “Being so close but not able to touch you.”

His hands tug my blouse free and open the buttons. I use my own hand to unhook my bra and slide out of it. Suddenly two dozen tits are on display in the mirrors.

Dante’s mouth closes over my nipple instantly, licking and sucking greedily. My heart rate seems to double as I feel the familiar pooling of sensations between my legs. God, how could I have gone so long without knowing this pure joy? I have so much time to make up for.

His steel shaft throbs in time with each stroke of my hand, his skin hot to the touch. With each tug, he moans more loudly against my breasts. His tongue seems to gain urgency from his cock, because soon I’m holding onto his neck as my first orgasm sweeps over me.

“How can you do that so easily?” I pant as the aftershocks finally subside. “You didn’t even touch me down there…”

“I’ll take that as an invitation,” he says, grabbing my ass and lifting me onto a flat settee that probably dates to the time of Louis XXIV. With another swift move, he’s pulled off my skirt and panties, leaving my slick opening exposed to him.

“Oh, Dante,” I breathe. “My prince.”

He’s just as deft with his own clothes; a few quick moves and he’s naked. I admire his chiseled body from every angle in the mirrors. It’s like looking at a photographic study of an ancient Roman statue.

It also drives my desire to the point of no return.

“Hurry,” I whisper urgently, pulling him down to me. “I need you inside me now.”

He obliges, dropping to his knees on top of me. I grab his cock once more and guide it towards my opening. I slide the tip back and forth inside my lips, getting us both ready for the plunge.

“I can’t wait anymore,” he moans as he pushes all the way inside.

It’s as if a live electrical circuit has been turned on deep inside my body. His first thrust is enough to bring on the delicious heat that emanates from my center all the way through my body.

Dante starts out slow, deliberate, ending each stroke with a kiss on my eager lips. But we both know that neither of us can last much longer.

“God, I love you,” I whisper as he doubles the speed of his thrusts. “I want it to be like this every time.”

He props himself on his hands as I wrap my legs around his waist. He doubles his speed again, until he’s thrusting so fast I can barely keep up with my hips. I bite my bottom lip, waiting for the tsunami of pleasure that’s about to hit.

“Amanda,” he pants. “Oh, my love. Everything I have is yours.”

“Give it to me,” I say, feeling my body on the point of release. “Give it all to me.”

One last lift of his hips and we both begin to tremble. I feel his muscles tense against my skin as his eruption fills me with warmth. I ride my own wave by burying my face in his shoulder, whimpering in ecstasy.

We lie there, skin to skin, sweat to sweat, breathing in each other’s exhaled breaths, until our hearts finally slow and resume their normal pace.

“God, I just want to do that all the time,” I say.

“Be careful what you wish for,” he says. “There are over 200 rooms in this palace.”

I giggle as he gently kisses my throat.

“Did we really win?” I ask. “When we walk out of here, are we really free to just live our lives?”

“Yes,” he says. “At least as free as we can be while ‘Amandante’ is still a thing.”

“I love that word. It’s the two of us coming together. Just like now.”

He looks at me with feigned shock. “Your Highness,” he says. “That’s no way for a princess to talk.”

“Stick around, Prince Charming,” I say, pulling him to me again. “I’ll teach you all sorts of words you’ll never hear in a Disney movie.”