Reality Check
I feel as if I’m about to lose my ever-loving princely mind. I’ve never in my life felt anything quite like this before, although I’m not sure where this submissiveness is coming from. My royal ego is screaming who ordered this nonsense, but I tell it hush, staring into those beautiful golden eyes, losing myself in them. So beautiful.
He kisses me ever so gently, and sweeps me up into his arms, and I know this has never happened to me before. I’ve always been the one to be in charge, to call the shots. But there is just something about this Reno that’s getting to me. He’s careful to hold the back of my skirt closed in order to prevent a draft. Our lips remain locked, as we head off to paradise and… and what the blazes is this? My sister and her escort have suddenly arrived, pushing their way through the branches, joining us under the tree.
I’m not quite sure which of them is the most surprised, Luci or the brother. He looks at Reno and demands, “Where do you think you’re going and in all the guardian’s hells what are you doing?
Before he can say a word, my sister has opened her big mouth, and proceeds to really embarrass me. “Kay, I knew that you… I mean, I’ve always known that you … prefer men… but knowing it and seeing it are like two different things, and omigosh, that is just so incredibly sexy.” She takes a breath, and I watch as she swallows—hopefully her tongue—but no such luck. “What are you… I mean where are you….” She gets tangled in her words, then gives up. “Oh good lord, stop that for a minute and help get me out of this predicament!” Then the child stamps her foot.
Reno looks at me. “What, does it run in the family?” I can’t help but blush.
Okay, I have to think, have to think, have to think, but my head is just swimming so much it’s hard. The more my sister talks, the more that I feel reality set in and I wriggle in Reno’s arms so much that I suddenly find myself on the ground. A rather indelicate “Oomph” escapes my lips, nothing more.
Reno drops to his knees besides me. Oh dear, I’m actually in the grass, aren’t I? He’s apologizing to me for dropping me, I wish I were still in his arms.
Reno’s brother is yelling now. “What are you going to tell Mother? She’s going to have your ass for this… and mine too!”
Luci feels the need to speak, apparently, did no one ever tell her that women should be seen and not heard? “Oh why is life so horrible?” she wails in her overly dramatic fashion. “Look, no offense to you,” she addresses Reno directly, “but I don’t want to marry you. It’s again… against my… um, principles of virginity.”
My jaw drops to the ground—which at this point isn’t all that far—but I pull myself together and recover my aplomb, rather admirably if I do say so myself. Let’s just take a breath here, shall we? I turn my attention to Reno, where I’ve wanted it to be this entire time, and I nuzzle his neck lightly, inhaling his delightfully sensuous fragrance.
Suddenly, as if from nowhere, a thick arm encircles Reno’s lovely throat, and a deep voice warns, “Back away from the Prince, very slowly. Perhaps I shall let you live.” It’s a newcomer to the party. Swyddogh, of course. Where the hell has he been?
Things begin to move in slow motion, as Reno grabs Swy’s arm, shielding my body with his own, and his brother grabs for his dagger. But it’s not there. Reno slowly rises, then throws an elbow back into his assailant’s ribs and with a lurch he throws my bodyguard over both our heads. He ends up lying before me, on his back, looking up into my eyes, as Reno smugly comments, “If this is the best you’ve got, your highness, you need better.”
His brother grabs for Reno’s arm. “We’d better be going. That’s his bodyguard you just assaulted, Reno. Plus we need to discuss what the hell we’re going to do.”
At the same time, both Luci and I cry out, “NOOOOOOOOOO!” Panic stricken, I gaze up into Reno’s lovely eyes and comment regretfully, “I’ve got better, I was going to show you.” I feel like both Luci and I are coming undone. I hope someone here has a calm head, ‘cause it’s not us.
The brother—what is his blasted name?—throws up his hands. “Okay, everybody calm down. We can’t talk about this here and Prince Cailean, you need to do something about this guy that’s growling at us. Is there someplace we can all go, somewhere away from the crowd?
Humph. Peasant. I give him one of my superior prince looks. “That, for your information, is my bodyguard and valet, Swyddogh. Where I go he goes. Well, within reason.” I whisper this last to Reno, as if to reassure him that there will not be three in the pleasure bed. “We may go inside, there are rooms in the palace where we will not be disturbed. Swy will make sure of that.”
Swyddogh nods, but I notice he gives Reno a wary look. Reno nods back, and now we’re all headed toward the palace. Reno gently helps me to my feet. He wraps his arm around my waist, and kisses my temple; I lean against him, so very drawn to him that I would be inside his skin if I could, but the best I can manage at this moment is to be by his side. “So what are we going to tell them, my prince? I want you… I’m assuming you want me. But where do we go from here, my beautiful princeling?”
My urge to be with Reno is very strong, I find that I’m unable and unwilling to separate from him. This passion is overruling every bit of judgment I possess, although some might say that isn’t very much, but those people are just jealous. This is an unusual position that I find myself in. Never before with the other men I have been with have I found myself in this position. I’ve always called the shots, always made the rules. But now I feel like I’m up in a tree, waiting for a large bird to carry me away—in other words, I have no idea what to do. “I do want to be with you,” I admit to him with unaccustomed candor, surprising even myself. “We have to… that is, we will… do something to ensure that we can be together.” I feel more sure of myself, even as I speak. “Yes, we shall be together.”
I think to glance at my sister and his brother. They seem rather cozy. Too cozy maybe. But perhaps that might work out to our advantage.
Reno gives me a bemused glance. “I can see those wheels turning.” I smile enigmatically.
We enter the palace through a less used entrance, and down a hall, around a corner and into the library, Reno leading the way. Swy takes up a position just outside the door, once we enter the room. A large wooden desk sits in the middle of the room, while along each wall are floor to ceiling book shelves; our privacy is ensured by the complete lack of windows. Good thinking on Reno’s part. He leads me to the desk and leans against it, pulling me in between his thighs. Luci and whatshisname take a seat on the leather sofa across from the desk, my sister sitting far too close for my taste.
“What are you thinking?” Reno whispers to me.
I glare at the two on the sofa, but return my attention and focus it upon Reno. “Well, I was thinking that my parents have given permission for you to court my sister, is that not so?”
Reno nods.
“So,” I continue, “there’ll be no problem with you coming to the palace on a regular basis. To see my sister.” Although I emphasize sister, I mean me, of course. “My sister cannot possibly see you without a chaperone. It wouldn’t be proper to do so. Therefore, I shall be her chaperone. And you must have one as well, in order to preserve propriety. Perhaps your brother?” I think he’s beginning to get a feel for the scheme now. I mark a trail along his jaw with my lips, losing myself in the moment. I hear my sister giggling, but I choose to ignore her.
“Mmm, you have a devious mind, I like that. Okay, so I come and visit, bringing Jaou with me. We do whatever it is we have planned in the eyes of your parents and then each go on our own ways?” I hear Reno’s moan as those kisses send shivers through his body that I can feel, and I suspect are responsible for making his cock stand up tall and proud as well.
.
“That’s brilliant,” the brother pipes up. Jaou, I have to try to remember that. “As long as it’s okay with you, Luci. I wouldn’t dream of overstepping myself. I would be most honored to be able to spend time with one as lovely as you.” Oh brother.
“That’s brilliant,” the brother pipes up. Jaou, I have to try to remember that. “As long as it’s okay with you, Luci. I wouldn’t dream of overstepping myself. I would be most honored to be able to spend time with one as lovely as you.” Oh brother.
I dart a glance at my sister, she’s blushing.
“I would be very happy to spend time with someone as handsome as you, Jaou.” She gives me a look, sees my unhappy scowl, and quickly attempts to forestall anything on my part. “Knock it off, Kay! I’m not a child anymore! I grew up while you were away at school!”
I guess she did. A lot has happened in four years. Hell, a lot has happened here, in just a very short time. I feel as though my whole life has been turned upside down, but in a very pleasant way.
I continue to kiss Reno, the soft flesh beneath his chin, and down his neck. My hand seems to have a mind of its own; it tries to insinuate itself beneath Reno’s skirt. It’s probably just as well that we’re not in a really good position to do this, since there are witnesses in the room, one of whom is my baby sister.
“I think that’s a wonderful plan,” he agrees.
No one asks the obvious question—if a wedding date is set, what then? That seems too distant an eventuality to worry about at the moment. For right now, these arrangements are more than satisfactory.
§§§§§
“Of course it’s a wonderful plan, my princeling, you thought of it,” I tease him, whispering my taunts into his ear, for him alone to hear. “But it’s such a beautiful mind to hide such deviousness.”
“So everything is settled then, yes?” Jaou asks. “We have a plan. So who’s going to make nice with the crowd?”
As if he isn’t listening to anyone but me, my sweet prince whispers to me, “When will I be able to have you?” He touches me, mesmerized by me, his fingers trailing through the layers and multicolor of my hair. I know part of it’s the pheromones but not all. Not all.
“You know I don’t want to leave, I want to stay, but there’s no way we can do this tonight. We’ll come back soon. Maybe we can arrange to go riding in the country, or on a picnic? Would you like that, my little princeling? Then I’ll have you all to myself.” I kiss his temple, and each eye, and then the tip of his perky little nose, before I settle on devouring his lips. I nibble hungrily at his lower lip until I hear a small whimper escape them.
“Picnic and riding,” my brother affirms, “Yes, that sounds good. We can make that work.”
“You like that, my princeling?” I ask again.
Before Kay can reply either in the affirmative or otherwise, a snort is heard coming from the direction of the couch. A very unladylike snort, especially for a princess. All heads turn toward her, and Kay glowers.
“Kay ride? Make me laugh!” She snorts again. “I don’t think he knows one end of a horse from the other.” She continues to giggle, while my prince grows redder and redder, attempting to hide his face against my chest. I find it cute, although I suspect what his sister has said to be the truth, hence his embarrassment.
“You don’t ride? Never?” I give my brother a dismayed look. How can someone live in this world and not know how to ride a horse? Vehicles have become scarce in recent years as it has become ever harder to get parts with which to repair them. Horses, bicycles and carriages have become the primary mode of transportation. How can my little princeling not know how to ride? “Well, if you truly don’t know, I guess I’ll just have to teach you.”
Now it’s Jaou’s turn to snort. “You teach? Yeah, right. Remember when you tried to teach me how to ride a bike last year. You damn near got me killed telling me to ride alongside of the river. You never told me how to stop. I damn near went off the cliff into the water.”
Now it’s Jaou’s turn to snort. “You teach? Yeah, right. Remember when you tried to teach me how to ride a bike last year. You damn near got me killed telling me to ride alongside of the river. You never told me how to stop. I damn near went off the cliff into the water.”
“But I like my little princeling,” I counter snarkily. “You were just being a pain in the ass. You’d been asking me for months, harping at me every time I turned around, begging me to teach you.”
Having lost this argument with me, my brother turns to the girl who sits beside him. “Do you ride, Luci?” Suddenly, he sounds shy. What’s up with that? I’ll have to give him shit for that. Except then he’d probably kid me about Kay. Maybe not such a good idea.
Luci offers him a demure yet provocative smile. “I ride very well, thank you.” Her tone leaves little doubt as to what she thinks of her brother’s lack of equestrianship. “I would love to ride with you, Jaou, and show you how well I ride.”
Kay begins to squawk, his feathers having been ruffled. “I don’t think I like the sound of that, young lady!”
She sticks her tongue out at him, and links her arm inside of Jaou’s, snuggling closer to him, perhaps partially with the intention of pissing her brother off, but most apparently because of an attraction to my brother. Her flirting and wanton looks melt my concerns for my brother’s feelings in this scheme.
I see surprise on my brother’s face, and I suspect he’s feeling rather on top of the world as he draws her hand to his lips for a light kiss. Then he leans over and gently brushes his lips across her hair, chastely. He clutches her arm to his chest. “I’m glad you ride so well. We’ll be able to show these two how it’s done.” He chuckles, taking pleasure at Kay’s reddening face. I shall have to chastise him for that, later.
“Don’t worry, I’m an excellent teacher,” I whisper into Kay’s ear reassuringly. My tongue outlines the outer edge of that same ear, I feel Kay’s breathing catch at my touch. “I’m sure you’ll be riding soon… and not just horses.”
Kay’s face goes from embarrassed red to plumb purple at Jaou’s apparent familiarity with his sister. He makes a move as if to spring at him, but I hold him back with my arms. I soothe him, petting and nuzzling into his hair until he’s calm and makes no further attempt to jump on Jaou. He continues to glance hostilely at Jaou, in his best haughty prince manner. I’m getting used to it; he means no harm, really. And he’s so pretty when he feels powerful.
“Now, little princeling,” I soothe him, “he meant nothing by it… but I did.” I run my hand over his chest, grazing a pert nipple under the fabric, which elicits a hiss from Kay. “I wish we didn’t have to….” Voices outside the door interrupt and four heads swivel towards the door.
There are two voices. One is belligerent, while the other refuses to budge, until at last the first voice recedes into the distance, and Kay’s man pops his head through the door.
“Begging your pardon, your highness, but one of Princess Liusaidh’s so-called suitors is nosing about, seeking her highness. Perhaps it would be best if no one was found here. Better safe than sorry.”
Kay sighs, but he does not disagree. “Very well,” he says, “we’ll be right out. He turns to me, and the look he gives me is very soulful, as if he is pouring out his heart to me. “I must see you again. Soon,” he pleads. My heart aches to have to leave and I can’t imagine how I’m going to find the strength to let him move away from me.
I card through his short dark hair, and look deeply into those soft silver eyes, which can be soft as down one moment, and hard as steel the next. “I need to see you too,” I assure him. “We’ll be together… soon.” I lean in and Kay turns in my arms, and now we are chest to chest, our lips locked together in a soul touching kiss. As if we are trying to pass a wealth of feelings and assurances between us in a short moment of time. When we look up, Jaou and Luci have risen from the sofa and are gazing into one another’s eyes with a longing only matched by our own. With a reluctant sigh, we approach them.
I offer Princess Liusaidh my arm. “Shall we?”
“Let the farce begin,” Jaou says softly.
to be continued
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