Prince's Dirty Little Secret (A Royal Secret Baby Romance) (18 page)

I run out from behind my armoire, holding Josh tight. I use my foot to kick the gun on the floor out of the King's reach. He groans, flopping over onto his back.

Nikolai drops the empty revolver onto the carpet with a thud and slowly steps toward his father. He grabs the discarded knife off the desk, then bends down. He holds the blade to the King's throat.

"Do it," says the King. "I have nothing left to lose. I won't live to see this kingdom fall from glory."

Nikolai's hand tenses, and for a minute, I think that he's actually going to cut his own father's throat.

But his hand starts to shake, and then he tosses the knife into the corner of the room with a clank.

"No," he says. "You will live to face justice."

The next hour is a blur. We call medics who stabilize the King and take him out, escorted by royal guards. "Ensure he lives," Nikolai orders the medics. "He must be tried for his crimes."

A contingent of high-ranking government officials appear in the room at some point. "I have assumed command of the crown," says Nikolai. "Do I have your loyalty?"

The men discuss amongst themselves. Then one of them steps forward. "You have our loyalty, my prince." They bow to Nikolai. He hadn't been able to secure their loyalty during the senate meeting, but now they cooperate.

Now that they see the true force he's capable of.

After the chaos has died down, Nikolai comes to me. I'm sitting on the King's sofa, nursing Josh, trying to calm him down after the terrifying ordeal he's just been through.

"My little pet," says Nikolai. "You were magnificent."

"No," I say. "You were. What happens next?"

"Elections. And reform. It's time to turn this country around."

D
URING THE NEXT TWO WEEKS
, I hardly see Nikolai except for late at night when he retires to his—no,
our
—quarters. I'm holed up there, kept under 24/7 watch by a contingent of Nikolai's most loyal followers. The escape tunnel has been sealed off, and now nobody can come in to hurt me or baby Josh.

The King recovers from his wounds and is court-martialed. Nikolai presides over it, and I'm allowed to sit in the courtroom for the proceedings. He's found guilty of human rights abuses and war crimes against the people of his own country. He's sentenced to death, but Nikolai intervenes in the verdict just as he did with mine.

"By my powers as the acting King of North Molvania, I hereby pardon the accused and reduce his sentence to prison for the remainder of his life."

The King is led out of the courtroom, and the media reports that he's locked away in a prison tower deep in the south of the country.

In the days and weeks that follow, there's a housecleaning in the government and the palace, as Nikolai prepares the country for liberal reforms. He sends many of the former top government leaders into exile, recruiting acting replacements from cities and villages across the country. The palace staff loyal to the King are all replaced, and Nikolai promotes replacements from within his ranks.

Within a month's time, Nikolai announces a call for elections, putting an end to centuries of monarchy in North Molvania. Nikolai runs for office, and ultimately beats an opposition party to claim the title of first president of North Molvania.

T
HE DAY AFTER THE ELECTION
, Nikolai is officially sworn in as president. His first act is to declare the day a national holiday. He calls it "Freedom Day."

There's a parade organized, a mile-long affair that travels through the entire city of Caprion. Citizens from the villages and countryside are invited to take free shuttles into the city to partake in the parade and to participate in their new democracy.

The parade is filled with decorative floats, performing artists from all over the country, and plenty of authentic North Molvanian dress, food, and culture. It's a melding of the old with the new, updating the old traditions and culture to the new democratic standard of the 21st century.

Nikolai and I ride a float in the middle of the parade, waving to the people and holding our baby between us. The news has taken a sensationalist liking to our romance, and now, free of the King's influence, we're celebrating the first birthday of our baby boy.

After the parade, there's a reception held on the grounds of the royal palace, outside on the Great Lawn. People come from near and far, celebrating their newfound freedom. It's the first time in history that the people have been allowed to step foot on the royal palace grounds, and many of them celebrate the occasion by reading previously banned books, performing Western music, and cooking American foods like fries and cheeseburgers. The cheeseburgers are my favorite part. They're huge, thick slabs of juicy meat, glued together with glistening slices of cheddar, and topped with roasted jalapeños and all the other condiments you can imagine. I laugh and clap my hands joyously, filling my belly with stacks and stacks of tasty cheeseburgers until I feel ready to explode.

As the afternoon comes into full swing, Nikolai and I celebrate by letting the people meet Josh. We keep him close, but everyone's eager to meet the baby, and for the first time I feel like he's safe in his own country. Of course, we're flanked by the royal bodyguards the entire time. Still, I relish our freedom to be out here in the open, no longer having to hide myself and my baby.

We see Marcha, who's looking radiant as ever, and congratulates us on our baby. I love what she's done with herself. Her hair is done up into a big bow, and she looks positively stunning in her masterfully-done makeup and beautiful, shimmering dress. She's truly a guru of beauty, and I can't wait to give her a permanent position at the palace. I want her expertise on hand, so she can do my hair and doll me up every day.

But in the midst of the celebration, something evil happens. Something that I never saw coming.

We see Gaius, and my first thought is,
who invited him?
I would have expected him to be among the first palace staff fired, but apparently not. He's dressed to the nines, his hair perfectly gelled, his suit starched stiffer than I've ever seen it before.

But as he gets closer, I see a darkness in his eyes. It instantly sends a dagger of fear through my heart, right into my stomach.

Gaius steps toward us, and our bodyguards part ways for him. They've known him forever, and they think nothing of letting him approach us and the baby.

When he gets close, he speaks. "You have a beautiful baby boy." He reaches out to stroke Josh's forehead, and it's all I can do to be polite and not push his hand away from my baby.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Nikolai's face. His eyes are glued to Gaius. He, too, senses something strange.

Suddenly, Gaius grabs the lapels of his suit jacket and yanks them open. Strapped to his chest is an ignition switch and a belt lined with blocks of explosive material.

The people standing around us gasp. Nikolai and I back up, and the bodyguards surrounding us draw their weapons. In Gaius's hand is a small box, which must be the remote detonator.

"Nikolai," he says, his voice shaking. "I tried so hard, for so many years, to get you to notice me. But you never paid me a second mind."

My jaw drops.

"Gaius," says Nikolai, his voice confused. "What the hell are you talking about? You're not saying… what I think you're saying?"

"Don't play dumb," Gaius says, his voice almost a cackle. "I wanted you all along. All for myself. Every day that I saw you with your women, I ached for your touch. But you never gave it to me."

Nikolai scratches his head. "Gaius," he says, "I don't have feelings for you like that."

I eye Gaius's hand nervously, fearing that he's going to clamp down on the button and send us all splattering over the black marble sides of the Royal palace. The man was clearly unstable all along, and has become completely unhinged now.

"If I can't have you," he says, "I won't let anyone else have you either." He turns to me. "Walk away, whore. Take your baby with you. Do that, and everyone lives. Be selfish, and everyone here dies."

In my arms, Josh is crying. He's still far too young to understand what's happening, but he's picking up on the vibes here, and the vibes are deadly.

"Gaius," I say slowly, thinking through my words before I say them. "Don't do this."

"It's simple," he says, "You can go. And live. Stay with him," he says, thrusting the detonator toward Nikolai, "and it's lights out for all of us."

Around us, the bodyguards have remained in place, weapons still drawn, but citizens are starting to run and I'm afraid that panic is going to break out among the festival-goers.

"Gaius," says Nikolai softly. "This is a mistake. I'm very sorry, but… I'm just not attracted to men. Put it down, and we'll get you the help you need."

"I don't need any help," he snarls. "I wasn't good enough for—"

While he's distracted by Nikolai, I hand baby Josh off to one of the bodyguards. Now I'm just an animal with two free hands—no,
claws
. I let out a piercing animal snarl, and all around us I hear the party-goers go silent. Gaius's head snaps toward me, a look of surprise on his face.

I smash a fist against his hand, knocking the detonator onto the ground. For a brief moment, all my muscles tense as I wait to see if the detonator goes off when it hits the ground. But it doesn't.

I crash into him, knocking him to the ground. I wrap my hands around his neck, squeezing as hard as I can, crushing his windpipe.

"Don't you ever threaten my family," I spit at him.

Before I can go to town on his face, one of the bodyguards swoops down and pulls me off him, another grabbing the remote detonator. They separate us, and before I can get my bearings again, I see a police van roll up. Gaius is put into handcuffs and roughly escorted into the back of the van. He disappears just as quickly as he appeared, screaming and yelling crazily as he's put into the back.

The bodyguard holding Josh hands him back to me, and I feel the adrenaline running through my body.

"Come on," says Nikolai, putting an arm around my shoulder, "That's enough celebration for one day."

He leads me to a waiting car, and we're driven off the Great Lawn and toward the entrance of the palace.

N
IKOLAI
and I finally get back to our quarters after midnight. We're both completely exhausted, and we've left baby Josh with a trusted nanny and bodyguards for the rest of the weekend. We're thrilled to be reunited with him, but we need some alone time after everything that's happened.

After we finally shut the door to his quarters and lock out all the paparazzi cameramen, Nikolai flops down onto his back on the bed. He blows air out from between his lips.

"What a day," he says.

I walk over to him, holding up my traditional Molvanian dress to avoid tripping over it. I climb on top of him, straddling him on the bed.

"So just how tired are you?" I ask, a playful grin on my face.

He laughs, scooting himself up the bed until his head is atop one of the pillows, pulling me up with him. I feel his cock hardening through his pants. As for me, I'm absolutely fucking dripping wet. All the stress and chaos of the last few days have thrown my hormones into mayhem, and I need a release worse than I've ever needed it in my life.

He reaches up with both hands and grabs the fabric of my dress, preparing to rip it open.

"Stop," I say, pushing his hands down. "This is too nice to tear."

I grab the dress with my hands crossed, then pull it over my head like a t-shirt. I'm not wearing a bra underneath, and I delight in watching his eyes dart around my body, hungrily taking in the sights. For the first time I can remember, I feel completely confident in my own body. That look on his face. There's just no doubt that he's every bit as attracted to me as I am to him, and it's an amazing feeling.

His hands wander up to my breasts.

"I love how perky they are," he says, leaning up to take a nipple in his mouth. He swirls his rough tongue over me, and I feel tingles of pleasure running through my breasts, down my spine, straight to my clit.

I grind my hips over his pants. The feeling of the fabric of my underwear grinding against my clit is heavenly. I feel like I could get myself off just like this. But I want more. I want to take him inside me, to give myself to him.

"Turn around," he says. "I wanna taste you."

Hmm… sixty-nine. Do I want that with him? Fuck yes I do.

I do as I'm told, rotating around so he can taste me while I suck his delicious cock.

I unzip his pants and he helps me shove them down to his knees. He grabs my ass hard, and I feel myself getting soaking wet for him. His fingers slide under my underwear, pulling it aside, revealing my pink wetness. His tongue darts over my slit, and he works his way down to my clit as I pull his thick, full cock out of his pants.

I dip my head down, taking it in my mouth as he continues to lick and taste me. His tongue flicks over my clit, each touch sending a wave of pleasure through my body. He moans as I force his cock deep into my mouth. I'm hungry for him. I need him, and I feel the first twinges of an orgasm building below my hips.

"Oh god," I say, taking my mouth off him just long enough to speak. "Don't stop."

He laps my clit like it's made of pure sugar, and I feel my juices dripping down against his lips. Fuck, I need to have every hole filled right now. Every time I'm with him, he activates all the primitive instincts inside me that I never knew I had.

I dive back down on his cock, tonguing him up and down. I get my hand into it, twisting it over his cock, slick with my spit.

"Fuck," I say, panting.

I want us to cum at the same time, to feel his cock pulsing inside my mouth as I slip away into my own orgasm. I want all of him inside of me.

He takes his mouth off my clit just long enough to speak. "Cum for me, baby."

God, the thought turns me on. I grab his cock, squeezing it tight as he licks and nibbles my clit. Then, I can't hold back anymore, and my body is racked with muscle spasms, my orgasm rushing through my muscles, sending me into a tailspin toward the stars.