In what would be called the most rushed wedding in the history of Rubare Virgina, Jessica Quincy became Princess Jessica Demande a few days later. No one, not her parents who flew in for the ceremony, nor any of the royal family, seemed surprised. The knowing looks seemed to imply they all thought Ballasare had decided he could wait no longer to have her.
Neither Jessica nor Ballasare corrected them.
“Princess Jessica,” Simone said from beside her in a long limo. “You can say no. Simply because Ballasare has an idea doesn’t mean you must go along with it.”
“I know.”
They pulled up to the front of a large business building in the heart of the city. “I will wait in the car for you.”
“There’s no need.”
Simone shook her head. “One day you will be queen. There is no need for you to work.”
Jessica leaned over and hugged Simone. “Ballasare says accounting has never been his family’s strong suit. He’s never pleased with how the reports are organized. He needs someone with a love of numbers and an understanding of what he likes. I can be that person.”
“A working princess. Are we to become Rubare Collina? Queen Reanna says she enjoys working. What is wrong with your generation? Don’t you want children?”
Jessica stepped out of the limo and smiled when she saw Ballasare waiting at the door of the building. Waiting for me. She turned and kissed Simone on the cheek. “I do want children, but I also want this. I want to be a good wife, a good mother, a good queen, but I need more. I need to be me, and Ballasare understands that.”
With him I am never ashamed of who I am. She thought about how easily his people had accepted her, possibly because Ballasare had given them little choice. The more she saw the responsibilities he’d been born into, from preparing himself to one day rule Rubare Virgina to ensuring that all of his people benefited from their island’s natural resources, the more she understood that he needed the confidence she’d once confused with arrogance. He wasn’t afforded the luxury of soul-searching for who he wanted to be. He had been handed an identity at birth. His duty was to be the strong ruler his people needed. It left little room for individuality, but Ballasare had another side to him.
The side he shares with me.
The Ballasare she knew gave children piggy back rides, laughed more than he frowned, and listened more than Jessica would have thought any prince would. He also tended to take her seriously even when she wasn’t. It was fun to see how far she could take their private jokes before he caught on. She smiled in anticipation of the one she had planned for that day.
Ballasare greeted Simone with a kiss to the cheek. “Will you be joining us?” he asked his aunt just before he gave Jessica a light kiss on the cheek as well.
Simone shook her head with a twinkle in her eyes. “No, I’ll visit with Nic today. I’m sure you and Jessica have a plenty to talk about since this is her first day. Don’t tire her out here. We’re all waiting for babies.”
Neither Jessica nor Ballasare were about to touch that one.
The three of them walked into the office building. Simone waved goodbye as she headed off toward the elevator. Ballasare took Jessica over to formally introduce her to the security staff. He knew not only their names, but those of their wives and children. He would make an amazing king.
“Ready to see your office?” Ballasare asked, offering her his arm as he did.
“So ready,” Jessica answered cheerfully. While in public they kept all displays of physical affection for each other at a minimum. Their restraint during the day made their lusty nights together that much more exciting. Like his sense of humor, the way he could ignite her with a simple look or whisper was something she would never blog about—but could he be led to believe she would?
The light green office Ballasare led her to was enormous and bright. Floor-to-ceiling windows covered one entire wall, providing a priceless backdrop of the hills of Rubare Collina behind an ornate gold and ivory desk. The office had a feminine feel to it, and the computer looked top-notch.
The left wall had a double door. Jessica opened it and was not surprised at all to see a masculine version of her office in browns and tans. His furniture was heavier in appearance, but his view of the island was the same. The connecting door touched Jessica beyond what she could express in words. “Thank you,” she said. “I love it.”
His smile was a reward in itself. “Now my desk has the two best views on the island.”
She cocked to her head to the side then blushed happily as she realized he was referring to being able to see her from his desk. “Mine, too.”
The look they exchanged was hot and full of promise. Jessica bit her bottom lip, imagining herself nipping on his muscled abdomen. There wasn’t an inch of him she wouldn’t have loved to taste right then. She glanced down at his trousers and wished they were somewhere where she could reach out and stroke the evidence of his arousal.
How am I going to concentrate on anything when all I can think about is him laying me back on my desk, spreading my legs, and taking me here? She looked around the room, hoping to refocus her thoughts, but the ivory leather couch brought out just as many naughty images. It was the perfect height for her to be bent over while he pounded into her from behind.
She quivered with yearning.
He closed the distance between them and pulled her to him. “When you look at me that way, I want to fuck you. Here. Now. On every damn piece of furniture in your office.”
Her breath caught in her throat at his words, and her body was craving his taking, but since that couldn’t happen where they were, she decided to lighten the mood. Running one hand down the length of his tie, she tried to look shy—not an easy feat when all she wanted to do was jump him. “Can I talk to you about something?”
Instantly his expression became concerned. He cupped her chin and raised her eyes to his. “Always.”
She almost stopped there. The love in his eyes was enough to give her a twinge of guilt. I should be nicer. Memories of the hot sex they’d had after the last time she’d teased him was enough to stomp out the guilt. He liked the game as much as she did. She strove to keep a serious expression. “I took down my Virgin Territory blog.” That much was the truth. When she’d done it, she’d thought it would be harder than it had been. The truth was she was no longer the woman she’d been back then, and deleting the posts was freeing. Many of those she’d bonded with through it had moved on as well. Virginity wasn’t meant to be forever.
“Thank you for honoring my father’s request.”
She nodded then met his eyes earnestly and lied. “I miss blogging.” The truth was she didn’t miss her solitary old life at all, but it was believable that she might. “I’ve been thinking about starting a new blogg and calling it: My Marriage Musings.”
Ballasare frowned. “Rubare Virgina is private by tradition.”
“Perhaps if I called it: Learning to Love Myself?”
He stroked her cheek with his thumb. “My family wouldn’t approve.” He studied her face intently then nodded once. “You have given up so much to be with me, Jessica, my love. If you need to share your thoughts with the world, I will stand by you.”
She coughed back a giggle. He was so serious. So sweet. I could cave and confess now. No, this is too good. “Even if I call it: How to Catch a Prince in Thirty Days?”
His lips twitched and humor lit his eyes as he caught on. “I can see you’ve put a lot of thought into this.”
She could no longer contain her smile. “I have. How about: Inkblotting your way to better sex?”
He growled and kissed her neck hungrily. “I’d prefer: Taken by a Prince.”
She laughed huskily. “Taken where?”
He took her by the hand and pulled her through the door of his office, stopping only to hit a button on the wall that closed the curtains. “We’ll start with my desk and end on my couch.”
He is so fucking perfect.
They began to remove each other’s clothes feverishly when a thought occurred to Jessica and she froze. “What if someone comes in and sees us?”
Without missing a beat, he continued to disrobe. “We’ll throw them in a dungeon.”
She laughed. “I do believe you have a dungeon fetish. Maybe I should write about that.”
He finished undressing her then stood before her—naked, proud, and fully erect. “They say you should never write about anything you haven’t experienced first hand, so I know where I’m taking you next.”
Jessica pulled his mouth down to just above hers and whispered against his lips, “You can take me anywhere you want.”
“I will,” he growled and claimed her mouth the same way he’d claimed her heart: boldly, with humor and a promise of forever.
THE END
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