I
Annie
I remember the first time I was forced to mingle with the members of the Royal Court I was beyond awkward and uncoordinated. I practically hid behind Daniel the entire time, feeling more than out of place, like I was a rock, polished up and set to be surrounded by precious jewels. Now though, not only do I feel like I belong, I know I'm revered. If someone told me that I would be the next Queen of Verilia a few months ago, I would tell them they need to screw their head on straight. Now, I not only believe it, but I feel like I deserve it, like it's a title that the Verilian people would benefit from me having.
Where I would once only speak when spoken to, now I walk up to nobles, starting conversations, speaking about anything and everything from politics, to the latest movies with nothing but the upmost confidence. Where I would once take cover behind my fake husband, I now stand beside him, proudly, with the knowledge that he loves me, and that I belong.
All this being said, I'm still not a huge fan of parties, but I can now say that it isn't because I feel out of place, it's simply because I don't care for all the interactions. It can be tiring, and there's only so many times I can answer the same questions.
I take a sip of my sparkling water while Archduke Bishop's wife, a skinny little thing with dark hair and a beautiful blue gown, asking me the same questions that every other woman has asked me.
"How far along are you?"
"Is it a boy or a girl?"
"What are you going to name them?"
"How do you feel about being a mother?" Insert motherly advice here.
"How are you dealing with the morning sickness?"
I don't mind telling people the answers to most of these questions, except one. Daniel and I have yet to inform anyone except our immediate family that we are having twins, or their sexes. We want to surprise everyone, and be surprised ourselves.
Well, I do.
Daniel is obsessed. Every day he mentions the tempting envelope. He wants to know what we're going to have so bad, but I refuse to tell him. I also refuse to let him look. One day when I told him that, he pounced on me, his hand around my throat and in a sexy growl that left me clenching my thighs together he proclaimed: "You don't let me do anything, Little American. I am your Master." Then he smiled small. "But since I want you to be happy, I promise I will not look."
After that, he proceeded to show me exactly how much of a Master he was to me. So much so, that I could barely stand, let alone walk. I find myself having dirty thoughts often nowadays. I think it's the pregnancy hormones, because here I am, standing in front of a few royal ladies, thinking of nothing but the way Daniel's cock deliciously stretches me as he shows me how much he loves me and how much I desperately want him to do it again Right. Now.
Apparently pregnancy makes me horny.
"Excuse me ladies, mind if I cut in and have a word with my sister?" He's taken to dropping the 'in-law' after sister, and it isn't something I mind. It actually makes me feel like a part of the family and I can't help but smile every time I hear it.
The ladies of the court nod politely and shuffle away, leaving us to our own devices. "You look absolutely beautiful this evening, Annie." I'm pulled out of my dirty fantasy by Michael, Daniel's younger brother. He smiles at me and gives me a polite nod of his head, slightly lifting his glass in my honor. I really like Michael, he seems like a very nice guy. Not to mention, he's a wonderful father, and he loves his kids so much. Every time I see them together, I can't help but imagine Daniel with our twins and it makes my heart swell.
I smile back. "Thank you, Michael."
"How are you doing? I remember my Cassie when she was pregnant. She hated going to these things, and she got tired easily." He says with concern in his voice. "At any time, feel free to dip. You're going to be the future Queen after all."
I feel my eyes widen, but I try my best to school my features. "What do you mean? Don't you want to be King? I'm sorry if this comes off too strong, but shouldn't you be more upset?"
Michael shakes his head. "This is going to sound like a shock, but I never really wanted to be King anyway, but I was willing to accept it if Danny didn't get his shit together." He laughs. "That being said, I'm really glad he did, because he's going to make a great King, and you a wonderful Queen."
I can't help but wrap my arms around him in a hug. I give him a tight squeeze before we break apart. "That's really sweet of you, Michael, and very mature."
He nods and shrugs. "What can I say? I'm a very mature guy, but the crown isn't mine to take. Besides, it's too much work, and I already have a full time job."
I raise a brow. "Really?" I didn't know he had another career.
He chuckles. "Yeah, I've got two kids and a wife. I sure as hell don't need the stress of running a whole kingdom!"
We both laugh, clinking our glasses together. Daniel looks over at us from a circle of foreign dignitaries, looking nothing short of miserable, and if I didn't know better, a little jealous. I don't blame him, I don't think I'd want to be a part of that conversation either, and I know he wants to be beside me. Since I told him I was pregnant and he said he loved me, Daniel's been my shadow whenever he can. Whenever we are together, he makes sure he can see me, and he never strays so far that he can't run to my side if I need help.
I flash him a genuine smile and he gives me a small one back before partaking once more in the conversation that I can only assume is super boring and full of snappy politics. I turn back to Michael and see him grinning around his champagne flute.
I narrow my eyes playfully. "What? Don't you look down on me. I see the way you look at Cassandra."
He chuckles and shakes his head. "I know, I know, I'm smitten, but that's not why I'm smiling. I'm smiling because I never thought I'd see my grumpy ass of a brother acting this way. I'm just really happy for him, and I'm happy it was you who got him out of his funk. Annie."
I give him a watery smile. "Careful what you say around me! These dang pregnancy hormones make me cry at everything! It's ridiculous!" And I mean everything, just the other day I sobbed at a commercial on the television, and it wasn't even a sad one.
Michael laughs. "Trust me, I'm aware. Cassie was an absolute wreck! But what I'm saying is true. You're a good person, Annie, and it will be an honor to live in your Kingdom. I know you'll do what's right. Being a royal is about sacrifice and duty, and I trust you to make the hard decisions, unlike me or Cassie. We aren't fit to rule. You are."
I mingle with other royals as the evening progresses. Sadly, for the most part, Daniel and I are separated. Every time we think we have time to at least stand beside one another, we're pulled apart. The royal ladies take me to an opposite corner to interrogate and let me in on the latest gossip. Well, the kind that doesn't involve me or my husband. Daniel is grabbed by other foreign officials who wish to speak to him about who know what. Based on their tense and professional body language, I think it's business related.
We pretty much spend the entire evening ping-ponging back and forth, barely spending enough time with each other to ask the other how the evening is going. I don't mind this though, because the way Daniel looks at me, reassures me that we'll be spending much more time together--as close as we can be.
The evening dies down, and people start to leave, filing out of the ballroom. To keep up our appearances, Daniel and I stay behind alongside the current King and Queen until pretty much everyone has left. Michael and Cassandra left a few hours ago, claiming they had to take care of their children, but considering the way they looked at each other, I would bet money that they're going to take care of something else. I should know, because Daniel's looking at me the same way right now, like a starving man stares at a juicy steak. It's both unnerving and unimaginably sexy, and I find myself squeezing my thighs together. I'm already horny enough when I'm in his presence --like a rat conditioned to push a button for food, all he has to do is look at me, or heaven forbid speak-- but now that I'm pregnant, it seems that's multiplied ten times over.
Clarita and Stephan make small talk with us. Clarita asks me the same questions everyone else asks me but I don't blame her, or everyone else, because I know that they're just curious. Clarita is happy for me, and like Daniel, she's worried and protective about the baby and I.
"Can I steal your wife for a minute?" She asks.
I can tell he doesn't like it, but Daniel accepts it with a nod of his head. "Don't be too long, Mother, she needs her rest."
I think everyone knows that there won't be much rest when we're alone.
Clarita leads me to the right of the ballroom, out of earshot from Daniel and The King. "I have good news for you, Annie."
My pulse spikes and my chest swells with hope. I'm practically on the edge of my seat, awaiting the words I desperately hope she's about to say. Is it over? Are we safe?
"I know what you're thinking. I found the cause of your little...problem. A few rouge nobles admitted to the crime. They've been dealt with, and for your sake, I have yet to inform Daniel."
"What? Is that true? Who was it?"
She rolls her eyes. "A few distant cousins and relatives who are backing Michael. I put my top guards on the case and they discovered it was all just one big bluff. They don't have the capability to hurt anyone, they were just hoping you'd turn tail and run in fear." Clarita grins. "Unfortunately for them, we both know better."
I'm stunned in silence. Is it true? I hope with all I have that it is, and I want Clarita to be right, but...
"I'm sorry, I'm still worried." I voice my concerns to her aloud.
She nods sympathetically. "I completely understand. You have every right to be on edge, Annie. I trust my men. I trust we have the right people." She gives me a small reassuring smile. "I will leave it up to you to tell my son or not. I think you and I both know that he would want their heads."
I don't know why I expected anything less. Daniel practically shoves me against the wall as soon as the door closes. He's been way more gentle since I became pregnant, but he's still as dominant as I like him to be. I knew this. Of course I didn't think Daniel would sacrifice anything if he knew it was safe to do so.
With that being said, Daniel hasn't punished me. Other than a few isolated warning slaps to my clothed behind, he hasn't disciplined me. I never thought I'd say this, but I miss it. It's weird, but I will say that I enjoy the freedoms it has given me. I also know that once I give birth, I'm in for a surprise for sure. In fact, I'd be kind of disappointed if Daniel didn't have a sheet where he's been keeping track of my infractions.
Of course, I'll never tell him that.
Daniel's lips claim mine with the kind of passion that made me fall in love with him in the first place, and now that I know he loves me too? His kisses feel like nothing short of ecstasy. His tongue explores my mouth with wild abandon. I moan and he pulls me closer to his chest, but not too hard, because we're both aware of my small three-month baby bump. Thankfully, it isn't so large that it's hard to handle, but it also isn't so small that I don't notice it.
His fingers trail up from my waist to the my lower back where he unzips the lavender dress I was wearing to royal court. Daniel then moves his hands up to my shoulders where he slowly lowers the straps, all while keeping our lips together. The dress falls to the floor at our feet, completely discarded, and it soon joins his tie, jacket, and shirt, all of which I remove from his body with equal passion and determination.
"Fuck, you're so beautiful, My Little American." Daniel murmurs against my lips, causing me to shiver. "I couldn't stop thinking of all the dirty things I'm going to do to you."
Daniel's kisses and his words leave me wanting more. "Me too."
He grins around my mouth and his hands slowly move from my waist down to the curvature of my ass, leaving goosebumps in their wake. He gives them a firm squeeze, causing me to gasp. He chuckles. "You're so sexy. So perfect. Make more noises for me. I want to hear them all."
"Yes, Master." I say, breathless from his kisses.
Daniel's fingers hook around my panties and slowly pull them down my legs. I step out of them and leave them behind, on top of my dress. His lips break apart from mine and they head lower, leaving kisses and bites that make me moan all over my neck until he reaches for my shoulder where he grabs the right bra strap in his teeth, and keeping eye contact, slowly pulls it down my shoulder before doing the same with the other one, before reaching behind and unclipping it. It's an erotic sight, one that makes me throbbing in all the right places.
Daniel kisses and sucks down my breasts, leaving sloppy wetness in between and all over them until I'm practically begging for him to touch me where I really want him to. My fingers thread through his dark hair and I pull him closer. I can feel his cocky smile on my skin. His tongue circles my left nipple before taking it into his mouth. I shiver and moan, my fingers tightly gripping his hair. He flicks it with his tongue, occasionally nibbling and sucking lightly before moving to my right. I moan and gasp because every movement of his tongue over my sensitive flesh is like a direct line to my clit, which pulses in protest and excitement.
"A-Ah... Daniel.."
He bites down with his teeth on my right nipple, causing me to suck in a breath. He doesn't even have to explain. "M-Master." I correct myself and he rewards me by licking and kissing the area he irritated, soothing it with his tongue.
"Good girl." He bends, and before I know what's going on, he hooks his hands behind my thighs and lifts me up, sandwiching me between his hard body and the wall. I gasp in surprise and grip at his shoulders, desperately trying not to fall even though I know and trust that Daniel won't drop me. I was so out of it, that I didn't even realize that he lost his pants and boxers until I feel his cock pressing at my entrance.
In one swift motion, he enters me. If I wasn't already dripping on the floor, it would have been uncomfortable, but my body knows it's master. I make a noise that sounds between a mix of a gasp and a moan and wrap myself around him, desperate to feel closer. He thrusts in and out, each time filling me to the brim, before pulling out and pushing in again with a sexy groan. He must feel the same way.
I claw at his back when the movements of his hips become more intense. Each time Daniel pushes me against the wall with the force of them alone. My back hits the wall so hard that I know there will be scratches and bruises tomorrow, but I also know he'll be there to care for them. I'm so lost in the intense gaze of his eyes, and the feeling of his cock stretching me, that the pain melds and morphs to pleasure.
He fucks me like he owns me, and he does. Daniel owns my heart, body, and spirit. I'm his completely, and there is no other way I'd rather have it. The sounds of our joining fill the room and sweat from Daniel's brow drops on to my face. I can taste the saltiness on my tongue and I crave more. I crave everything from him and I grab him, wanting him deeper, closer.
He stretches and fills me, like he's the final piece to my puzzle and I want more. He makes me moan and gasp and cry out when he fucks me so hard that I'm walking the thin line between pleasure and pain. I'm a high-rise walker, and before I know it I'm soaring higher and higher before I reach my peak, throwing my head back and crying out for all the world to hear, before I'm falling in ecstasy, floating, and Daniel is the net waiting below.
He fucks me through my first orgasm and his skillful fingers tease my clit, playing with it like it's a piano and he's making the most beautiful music I have ever heard. The sound of our flesh slapping together increases in tempo and volume before Daniel's lips claim mine and he moans before I feel him releasing and filling me.
We stay like that, both panting lightly, his cock still inside me, gradually softening, kissing and looking into each other's eyes, until he pulls out, still holding me up. I look down and see his semen dripping out of me and on to the floor. It's a sight that would disgust me in any other instance, but since it's us, it fascinates and turns me on. I don't think I could walk, but it's okay because I don't have to. Daniel holds me in his arms and carries me to the bathroom where he runs me a warm bath. He cleans me, kissing my forehead and telling me how well I did as he does so. He rubs some lotion on my back and gives me a massage before lifting me out of the bath and drying me like a child. The whole time I'm floating. I remember Daniel telling me something about this being called sub space, but at the moment I can't remember what else he said.
We cuddle in bed together, both naked as they day we were born and I slowly come back to reality. I remember what Queen Clarita told me, and I remember how uneasy I felt before coming back with Daniel. I look over at him and see him sleeping soundly, a peaceful look on his face, and decide to let him hold on to that. In his eyes he has his woman, with child, safe and sound in his arms, and I'm going to do everything I can to keep it that way.
I don't think it's over. I'm still skeptical, I will trust The Queen, but that doesn't mean I still won't be on my guard.
This is my family--my home-- and no one is going to threaten it. I won't go down. Not without a fight.
So I snuggle into the man I love and fall asleep, holding him close and listening to the sound of his heart beating in his chest.
