The Crown Jewels (8 page)

And the answer was a loud, resounding no.

“No!” I broke away from him, sliding out from his tempting trap. I turned and ran down the hall, not looking back until I was at my doorway. When I did, he was still standing there. With Willy by his side. Smiling. Watching me. Practically daring me.

Driving me out of my fucking mind with desire.

“That’s it,” I said, walking into my room and closing the door behind me, leaving him, his seductive smile, and his adorable dog in the hallway. I went straight to the closet and pulled out my suitcase. I laid it on the bed, and went to the armoire and began pulling out my clothes.

It was time to leave. There was no way in hell I could stay in the same house, or mansion, or palace, or whatever the hell this massive structure was supposed to be called, with Will. I couldn’t take it and I didn’t have to.

I wasn’t about to fall under his spell again. My father could marry Vicky, but he would have to do it without me. I’d leave and never look back. Take a page out of Will’s play book. See how he liked it when someone left him.

Hell, who was I kidding? He wouldn’t care. I was just another notch on his belt, another woman to conquer. He’d forget about me as soon as I was gone. It was up to me to protect myself.

If that meant I had to disappoint my father, then so be it. I threw my clothes in my suitcase, zipped it up, and left it by the door. I’d leave first thing in the morning, before anyone could stop me.

I threw on a sweater, and opened the French doors of my balcony. Feather light, dusty snowflakes drifted from the night sky, creating a quiet stillness to the air that only snowfall can do. The sounds of the city outside the palace walls disappeared, and for a moment, I could hear nothing but the sound of my own heart beating.

The feel of Will’s kiss still seared my lips, and I reached up to caress them. I never expected I would ever in a million years see Will again, let alone kiss him. And yet here I was. On the other side of those thoughts, kissed, lost, and yet still alone.

That’s okay
, I thought.
It’s safer that way.

The sound of laughter broke through the silence before the silhouettes of my father and Vicky appeared in the darkness below. They strode hand in hand through the garden, the snow falling around them as Vicky laughed at something he said. She put her head on his shoulder, and he wrapped his arm around her lovingly, pulling her in close to his side.

I hadn’t seen my father this happy in a long time. Love looked good on him. However unconventional, I was glad they had found each other. I was glad he wasn’t alone, like I was.

I thought of Will again, of his kiss, of my suitcase waiting by the door. I thought of the absolute impossible situation we were all in. And then I looked down at my father again.

I remembered the vow I made to somehow make this all work. I sighed, went straight to bed, and dreamt all night of Will’s kisses, Will’s skin, Will’s body, Will’s pull on my soul.

By the time I woke up the next morning, I was drenched in sweat and felt like I had really spent the night making passionate love to him, instead of just dreaming it.

When I looked at myself in the bathroom mirror, I blushed when I thought about the things my psyche had conjured up for us to do in my dream.

My heart might be locked away from Will, but apparently my body was ready, willing and open for business.
What a traitor
, I thought.

I left the suitcase in its place and made my way down to breakfast the next morning, determined to keep my thoughts to myself and do whatever I needed to do to keep that smile on my father’s face.

WILL

It felt fucking amazing to kiss her again. And for just a moment, she gave in, and I know she felt it, too. Once she pulled away and ran back to her room, I took my hard as a rock erection back to the privacy of my room.

I didn’t mean to watch her. But because of the way our rooms are situated, if I look straight out of my balcony, I can see into her room. It’s not my fault she didn’t close the curtains.

At first, I was dismayed to see her packing her things. I didn’t mean to scare her away, I just wanted…well, hell, I don’t know what I wanted. I wanted to kiss her again, to see how it felt, if it was as fucking hot as I remembered it. And it was. For the brief second that it lasted.

Truth was, I hadn’t thought much further than that. Well, I’d thought about shimmying that dress off her and having my way with her right there in the hallway with the Knights in Arms watching over us, of course I had, but I hadn’t thought any farther than that. When I saw her packing, I almost went to her room to apologize. But then she went out on the balcony, and for fuck’s sake, seeing her standing there on the balcony, with the snow drifting around her while she looked like fucking Rapunzel or something, it just took my breath away. I couldn’t stop watching.

I smiled and my cock throbbed even harder when I saw her touch her lips. I knew she was thinking about my kiss. I hoped she was thinking about a lot more than that, just as I was. I decided to just let her be, to let things play out naturally.

Maybe if she got to know me again, maybe we could be friends. Maybe it would grow from there. Maybe I’d get a chance to sink my cock into her once more, too.

Of course, our parents came out of the dark, giggling like a couple of school kids, and my temporarily insane vision of a future between Jewels and I came crashing to the ground.

When I looked back up at Jewels, I knew she was thinking the same thing. We both wanted them to be happy.

But did I want them to be happy more than I wanted to fuck Jewels one more time? I wasn’t entirely convinced that I did.

And therein lied my problem.

I tried to comfort myself by remembering that I was a Prince and I could have anything I wanted. Which was mostly true. There was always a way to work things out. We were the Royal Family after all. And rules were made to be broken, weren’t they? The thing was - Jewels just might be the one exception to that rule.

And if she was the one thing in the world that I couldn’t have, the one rule that I wasn’t supposed to break, then I knew I’d stop at nothing to get her.

JEWELS

“What about this?” Catherine pushed a shimmering black evening gown against me with a neckline that plunged so low my belly button would have been visible, as we looked in the mirror together.

“I think that might be a little too sexy,” I replied.
Not to mention it costs more than my car
, I thought.

“Nothing wrong with sexy, Julia,” she replied, pulling a deep green velvet dress from the rack. “What about this one? This would be great for the party! Look how it brings out your complexion and makes your eyes pop!”

She’d taken me to Armani to shop for dresses, and there was no way I was ever going to be able to afford anything here. I loved every dress she pulled out, but I knew I wasn’t going to be leaving with one. I don’t know what I expected, though. It’s not like she was going to take me to Forever 21 or something, right?

“You know,” I said, taking the green velvet masterpiece and carefully hanging it back up. “I think I’ll just go shopping on my own later. I can’t really afford anything in here. Maybe we should get some lunch or something?”

I liked Catherine. A lot. I wanted to spend time with her, even when she ran her fingers through her hair when she was really thinking about something, which is the exact same thing Will used to do. She even looked like a long-haired version of him. It wasn’t her fault she reminded me of him so strongly. But she wasn’t him, thank God.

She was, however, the future Queen, and I’d never be able to afford a lifestyle as luxurious as hers.

“Don’t be silly! Everything is free for me and my guests,” she said, with a wink before lowering her voice. “One of the perks of being a member of the Royal Family.”

“Really?” I was stunned.

“Really!” she replied. “You can have anything you want.”

“Oh, my God.”

“You are too cute,” she laughed, grabbing the velvet dress off the rack again and pushing it towards me. “Go. Try this on!”

“Alright, I will!” I smiled at her gratefully, and took the velvety concoction to a dressing room. Once I had it on, I looked at myself in the mirror.

It was beautiful. The velvet fit perfectly, hugging my curves and plunging to a fairly conservative v between my breasts. I fluffed up my hair, and turned in a circle.

I couldn’t help but smile at my reflection. Even when I dressed up back home, it wasn’t like this. A nice, simple black dress with some costume jewelry and I called it good. This was extravagant. This was luxurious.

This was not me.

“I don’t think this is the one,” I said, walking out of the dressing room to show Catherine. “Maybe something a little simpler —.”

“— you look amazing!” she squealed, closing the distance between us. “It’s perfect!”
“I don’t think —,”

“— no! Not another word, you are taking this and wearing it to the ball.”

“I feel like a Christmas tree or something. It’s too much, too green, too fancy, too —.”

“— I think it’s lovely.” Catherine and I turned towards the voice together, and I felt Catherine tense up immediately. The woman standing in front of us was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.

She looked like she had just walked off the cover of Swedish Vogue. Everything matched. She was pure gold - golden flowing locks, pale creamy golden skin, bright golden brown tiger eyes - all of which matched her outfit. She wore a yellow-gold fitted dress, topped with a blonde and brown fringed shawl. On top of her head was a furry blonde hat that I was pretty sure was once a fox.

I couldn’t stop looking at her.

“Seraphina,” Catherine said coldly, “hello.”

“It’s darling to see you, Catherine,” she replied. “Who’s your friend?”

“This is Julia. She’s a friend of Will’s, from America,” she replied. I held out my hand to shake hers, but she just stared down at it.

“Oh!” Seraphina replied, lifting an eyebrow. “A friend of Will’s, huh? You poor soul.”

“Excuse me?” I asked, putting my hand back at my side.

“Don’t start, Seraphina!” Catherine said, and I jumped at her tone. There was obviously bad blood between the two of them. I wondered how Will fit in. I was sure it had something to do with his prick, though.

“Oh, now, now, Catherine darling. You know I mean no harm.” She touched a perfectly manicured finger to my bare arm. “You just keep your little heart put away when you’re around Will and you’ll be just fine. And, well, don’t forget the condoms,” she winked and tapping her finger on my arm. “He gets around. A lot.”

I blushed, speechless, mortified.

“Don’t be a fitta, Sera.” Catherine seethed. She turned away, pulling me with her, and walking into the massive dressing room with me.

“Sorry about that, Julia,” she apologized as she sat on a huge red velvet settee.

“It’s fine. What’s a fitta?” I asked.

“A cunt!” she exclaimed. “She shouldn’t have said those things to you.”

“She didn’t bother me at all,” I lied. It bothered me a little. Of course I wasn’t the only heart Will had broken. I’m sure a woman like Seraphina had provided him with hours of entertainment before he trampled all over her heart. I also knew there was no doubt there was a long line of Seraphinas before and after me.

Nothing about Will was a mystery. There was nothing I could hear about him that would be shock me.

“Julia, I know what happened between you and Will. You don’t have to pretend with me,” Catherine said.

“What?” I asked. Okay, so that was unexpected. My heart sped up and I felt the need to explain myself, but maybe she didn’t know everything.

“I know about what happened in America.”

Shit. A lot happened in that month. Could Will have really told her
everything
?

“I see,” I replied, sitting down next to her. “What did he tell you?”

“He told me how you two met. How you fell in love. Had some whirlwind romance and that you accidentally became pregnant. And that he ran. Like a stupid idiot.”

I sighed heavily. Could it all be summed up so easily? With five little sentences, she’d made it all sound so simple. But it didn’t feel simple at all. Not then. Not now.

“Okay, so he told you a lot,” I replied.
More than he told me
, I thought. Will had never told me he loved me. Not once.

“Julia, I want you to know that I know my brother is a jerk. Whatever happened between the two of you doesn’t matter now. I respect you immensely for not going to the press back then. You could have raked him over the coals, but you didn’t. And I can’t even imagine how it must have felt to have to have an abortion all alone.”

“I, um —.”

“— He was a jerk for leaving you alone like that,” she interrupted. “I know he regrets it. Contrary to popular opinion,” she said, gesturing to the door, to Seraphina, “he does have a heart.”

I knew that. At least he used to. As for now, the only thing I was sure of was that he had a very hard cock and he was very eager to put it to use as much as he could. I’d already felt it twice since I’d arrived and that seemed to be where his focus was at these days. But back then, in those times that now seemed so innocent and far away, I was convinced Will had a heart. A big one.

“Everything’s fine between Will and I. The past is the past. I’m just concentrating on the present.”

“I think that’s a good plan,” she said, with a warm smile. “As well as taking that dress! You look fabulous!”

I stood up and looked at myself in the mirror again, and as much as I knew I shouldn’t, I found myself wondering what Will would think of it.

We shopped the entire afternoon, returning to the castle with bags and bags of new clothes and shoes and accessories. I felt like I was a world away from my real life, as if I was living some fairy tale my grandmother was reading to me.

But this wasn’t my grandmother’s fairy tale.