Page 6

Luc

O nce more, I found myself waiting on Ava. This time, instead of at a coffee shop where I could at least sit and relax, I was on the runway of the small airport, standing before the private plane on which I’d arrived in America.

The day was dreary and gray, like all the others I’d experienced since coming to the Pacific Northwest. The weather did have a certain charm, but I was eager to return to the green fields and blue skies of Edoria. Autumn there was particularly beautiful, with its wild oranges and deep, burning reds. I imagined being back home with a glass of local spirits in hand, a fire roaring in the hearth.

First, however, there was the matter of transporting the royal brat.

I glanced up at the stairs of the private plane, the pilots standing and waiting, their eyes hidden behind aviator glasses.

“Do we have an ETA?” one of them asked.

“Twenty minutes ago,” I replied, a tinge of irritation in my words.

“How much longer do you want to wait, sir?” asked the other.

It was a good question. I’d already texted Ava, asking when I could expect her to arrive. A quick check of my phone revealed that she hadn’t yet replied. It’d been over twenty-four hours since she’d agreed to come—more than enough time for her to have a change of heart. I’d already told Alaric that she’d agreed to come. The idea of breaking the news to him that I’d be returning alone after all was a conversation not to look forward to.

“Until I say so,” I called back. “Both of you, wait inside.”

I could sense the annoyance of the pilots as they returned to the cockpit.

My eyes were fixed on the horizon as I waited.

Finally, I spotted an automobile that seemed less like a car and more like a pile of rust with wheels rumbling in from the distance. I was far from an expert on cars, but even I could tell that the muffler was on its last legs. The car approached, coming to a stop thirty or so yards from where I stood, the scent of dirty exhaust filling the air.

Mercifully, the engine was turned off, silence returning. I watched as the door opened, a familiar figure stepping out.

“Holy crap!” she shouted, leaning on her open door as she took in the sight of the plane. “Is this our ride?”

“Yes. Is that pile of junk yours?”

She narrowed her eyes. “It’s not much, but she gets me from point A to point B. Most of the time, anyway.”

She stepped out from behind the door and began to approach. As it always did, Ava’s beauty caught my attention right away. She was dressed in an oversized sweater with the logo of her crab cake truck, black leggings on underneath that, and a Seattle Mariners ball cap on her head. Never in a million years would I have guessed that she was a princess.

All the same, she was stunning. Her legs were long and slender, and even with that baggy sweater I could make out her curves. As I’d done so many times since meeting her, I pushed such thoughts out of my head—there simply wasn’t a more inappropriate way to be thinking about a woman who was both the princess and the daughter of my closest friend. Not to mention twenty years my junior and my future queen.

“Oh!” she turned, hurrying back to her car. “Forgot my luggage!”

I stepped toward her, watching as she went to the trunk of her car and tried to pop it open. I gestured to some of the nearby airport staff, indicating for them to help her. We stepped over to the car, the vehicle even uglier up close.

My heart skipped a beat as I moved around the car, the sight of Ava bending over, her round ass sticking into the air. Even through the dark fabric of her leggings I could make out the thong she had on underneath. My eyes lingered for a moment before I pulled them away.

“Got a few bags!” she said. “Give me a sec!”

I nodded to the staff, and they hurried over to take them out before she had a chance to.

“Hey!” she stepped back, an expression of mild annoyance on her face as the staff silently grabbed her bags and hurried them to the airplane. The bags themselves were nearly as beat up and worn as the car. “I can carry my own bags, you know!”

The staff took the bags up the jetway and disappeared inside the plane.

“Ava,” I said. “You’re going to need to get used to this. You are the princess, after all. When we arrive in Edoria the first thing you’ll see is an entire staff of workers eager to make sure that you don’t need to exert yourself in the slightest.”

“What if I like exerting myself?” she asked. “I’ve never been the kind of woman to sit on my ass and let other people work for me.”

I nodded for her to follow me toward the plane. “Trust me, there will be plenty for you to do as princess. Think of your staff as a way to take care of the more mundane matters so you can focus on the grander ones. Come, we’re running late, and we have a long flight ahead of us.”

Together, we made our way over to the jet.

We reached the stairs, and Ava grinned like a kid as she turned to head up.

“Your keys,” I said, sticking out my hand. “We can’t exactly leave that car of yours on the runway.”

“Oh! Sure.” She pulled them out of her pocket and tossed them to me as she began up the stairs. I neatly caught them. “See you up there!”

Ava hurried up the rest of the stairs, running onto the plane like she owned it.

Well, at least she’s got confidence.

Once she was gone, I nodded toward one of the staff members.

“Take that car and box up anything of value for shipping. When it’s empty, drive it to the nearest parts lot.” I took out my wallet, giving the man a thin stack of hundreds for his trouble. With a quick “yessir!” he took the keys and hurried to the car.

After that, I stepped up the stairs.

“Holy shit !”

I winced at yet another display of Ava’s terrible language as I entered the plane. Ava stood in the luxurious main cabin of the plane, the space decorated with white and gold trim, looking like a slice of Versailles. There were comfy couches and seats, a full wet bar, and a large TV for viewing.I had to remind myself that she had not grown up with such amenities as she would have had her mother not taken her from Edoria when she was barely more than a baby.

“This is… wow . It’s like a museum up here!”

The door shut as the runway staff pulled the stairs away.

“This is all yours,” I said. “So make yourself comfortable.”

She hurried over to the TV and grinned at me. “Not a bad way to pass the time. How about a horror movie marathon? I bet you’d love Hellraiser.”

“Hell what ?” I asked.

Without replying, Ava hurried over to one of the windows and watched as her car was driven off.

“I’ll miss you, girl.”

I smiled. “You’re more right about that then you know.”

Ava looked away from the window, narrowing her eyes at me.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I took the liberty of having that beater of yours disposed of.”

“You what?”

“They’ll be selling that car for parts. Don’t worry, I asked them to make sure anything of value will be taken out for safekeeping.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“Not at all. That machine of yours wasn’t fit in the slightest to be driven by a princess. Do you have any idea what kind of a field day the paparazzi would have if photos of you driving that thing were to get out? It’d be a royal embarrassment.”

Ava narrowed her eyes again, ready to open fire.

“Listen, asshole… I don’t know how things are done in Edoria but taking someone’s car and throwing it away just because you think it’s beneath them isn’t cool.”

“You’re telling me that you were happy driving that car? Ava, it’s no problem at all to find something more fitting for you, should you come back here.”

“That’s not the point!”

“Then please, explain it to me.”

“You took something that belonged to me, something that I worked hard and paid for with my own money and threw it in the trash!”

“You’ll receive money for it if that’s what you’re worried about. Keep in mind, however, that you won’t be worrying about money ever again once we arrive in Edoria. This plane? It’s but a taste of what you have to look forward to.”

She raised her finger. “I’m letting this slide just once, and only because I was maybe two weeks away from selling that thing for scrap myself. But going forward pal, you don’t make a decision like that ever again without talking to me first. Got it?”

She’s sexy when she’s angry . The words popped into my head unbidden. They were true, however. Something about her narrowed eyes, the way she wasn’t afraid to get right in my face… it was a major turn-on.

“Fine, as you wish. I’ll consult you on all such matters in the future.”

She smiled slightly, pleased to have gotten her way.

“Good. Now, are we going to fly, or are we going to sit here and argue?”

I broke from Ava to go into the cockpit, letting the pilots know we were ready for takeoff. They wasted no time making the necessary preparations, the engines whirring to life.

“Let’s get strapped in,” I said. “The flight is ten hours, and that’s assuming good weather the whole way.”

She slid into one of the open seats, and I did the same. The pilots pulled the plane out onto the runway, and we only had to wait a short while before takeoff. The plane soared into the sky, the city of Seattle growing smaller and smaller until it was nothing more than a gray smudge below. It wasn’t long before we broke through the clouds, the blue sky I’d been missing since I’d arrived finally overhead.

“Thank God,” I said. “I was about to lose my mind if I had to spend another day under that gloom.”

Ava flashed me a smirk. “Not everyone can handle it, I know.”

“Not a matter of handling it; more that I prefer the weather back home.”

She pursed her lips for a moment. “Alright, what’s so great about it?”

I took a deep, slow breath, images of Edoria appearing in my mind’s eye.

“Lush, green summers; colorful, brisk falls; white, crisp winters that lead into warm springs. Edoria has every season, and somehow the most perfect version of each one. None of this dreary gray that you find here in Seattle.”

“I love the gray,” she said. “Makes me feel like wrapping myself up in a big sweater and sipping some hot tea, getting nice and cozy.”

“Well, you want the gray, London’s only a three-hour flight away.”

“Oh, I’ll be coming back here,” she said, defiance in her voice. “If you think you’re going to stick me in some castle tower in this Edoria place for the rest of my life, you’ve got another thing coming. I am not Rapunzel in the tower, buddy.”

“You’ll go where your royal duties command you to go. I understand that you Americans are obsessed with this idea of living for yourself or whatever such foolishness, but you’re going to have to become accustomed to the notion of serving something greater than yourself.”

“Listen Luc, I agreed to come and meet my father and see what this is all about, but I never agreed to stay and give my life to this place. You need to slow your roll.”

I bit my tongue for a moment, not allowing myself to say what I wanted to. After all, I had upended this young woman’s life and laid a kingdom at her feet. I would need to kill her with kindness to get her to see what was right.

“May I ask what made you decide to come in the first place?” She shrugged and said simply, softly, “Mom.”

“Your mother?”

“Yeah. This might sound a little silly, but this is the first chance I’ve had in a long while to feel closer to my mom. I know she’s gone, but still.”

I said nothing, considering her words. Ava’s expression turned hard.

“What, you think that’s stupid or something?”

“I said no such thing.”

“Then what’s up with that look on your face?”

“It’s called thinking. As in, thinking before you speak. It’s something you might want to try sometime.”

She rolled her eyes.

“And to answer your question, no, I don’t think that’s a stupid reason. Merely an unexpected one.”

She cocked her head to the side. “That right?”

“Yes. There are many reasons why a young woman might want to fulfill her destiny of being a princess, a queen, in time. If you were to take an average person, I’d guess that getting closer to their lost parent wouldn’t be listed on their top ten.”

“Well, it’s the truth. Believe it or not. This is my chance to find out more about my mom’s past, and I’m not going to miss it.” She looked me up and down in a pointed manner. “Even if there are downsides.”

I laughed. “Rest assured, Princess; you’re not the only one who’d rather be in other company.”

Ava reached forward, opening her bag and taking out a large pair of headphones.

“If you’ve got anything else smart you want to say, do it now. Once these go on, they’re not coming off for the next ten hours.”

“Get some rest, Princess,” I replied. “There’s much ahead of you.”

Without another word, she put the headphones over her ears and turned toward the window.

I had work to do and had no intention of spending my time bickering with Ava for the entire flight. When we reached cruising altitude, I grabbed my workbag and stepped over to the small office area, the L-shaped desk looking out over the clouds beneath us. I opened my laptop and connected to Wi-Fi, quickly typing an email to Alaric letting him know that we were en route.

A smile formed on my lips as I hit “send.” Alaric had been uncertain about my chances in bringing Ava back to him. I was most pleased to be able to let him know that the task had been accomplished.

Once the email was sent, I spent another hour or so going over housekeeping—arranging schedules for staff and responding to emails. It was far from my favorite part of the job, but it needed doing and a ten-hour flight was just the time to get it done.

After I had finished, I closed the laptop and was surprised to find fatigue weighing heavily on me. My eyelids sagged, and my body craved a bit of rest.

I rose from the chair and stepped over to the plush, white sofa on the other side of the cabin.

I glanced over at Ava as I laid down, her head bobbing up and down as she mouthed the words to whatever song she was listening to. I found myself staring at her, my eyelids growing heavier by the second…

“Hey,” Ava’s eyes flashed as she pulled off her headphones. “What’s the deal?”

“The deal?”

“Yeah. Why the hell are you staring at me like that?”

“I wasn’t aware that I was staring at you in any kind of way.”

She narrowed her eyes, tossing her headphones onto her bag.

“You’re really going to make me spell it out for you, huh?”

“I am, if that means you’ll tell me whatever the hell it is you’re talking about.”

“The way you’re staring at me, you’ve been doing it since we first met.”

My heart skipped a beat. “How exactly have I been looking at you?”

She stuck her finger out at me, flicking it up and down.

“Like you’re checking me out. I’m like half your age.”

“First of all, you’re not half my age. I’m not quite that old.”

“Whatever. You’re missing the point.”

“And what is your point exactly?” I asked.

She considered me for a moment. “Just that you’ve been giving me the eye.”

I laughed and sat up. “Giving you the eye? Hardly. I will admit that you are a beautiful woman Ava, but my respect for your position is more important than however attractive I might think you are. Despite your nose ring and tattoos.”

She sat down on the couch next to me and her nearness was impossible to ignore.

“I’ve noticed the way you’ve been looking at me , as well, as if I were a piece of meat in an expensive suit.”

Her eyes flashed with surprise, but the shock didn’t last for long. A sensual smile formed that I knew was nothing but trouble.

She chewed her lip in an impossibly sexy way, glancing to the side as if thinking something over. “Listen, you and I are going to be spending a lot of time around each other, right?”

“Lamentably, yes.”

She chuckled, not bothered by my words.

“And we’d have to be totally lying to ourselves to not admit the sexual tension between us.”

I wanted to dispute her, but she was right. It was there, and it was impossible to ignore.

“What are you saying?”

“I’m thinking we take advantage of this little bit of privacy, you know?”

My cock twitched to life, stiffening by the moment.

“Don’t tell me you’re thinking—”

Without saying a word, she shot her hand forward, grabbing onto my cock through my slacks.

“Let’s have some fun and get it out of our system.”

I closed my eyes, her fingers moving up and down my length.

I wanted to resist, to tell her she was insane for even thinking it, let alone touching me like that. But there was no denying how good it felt to have her stroke me.

“We don’t have to tell anyone,” she said. “Our little secret.”

I tried as best I could to weigh the pros and cons as she touched me, her fingertips outlining my head before dragging slowly down my length.

I made my decision.

Screw it. I’d deal with the guilt later.

With a growl, I pounced. Ava let out a shriek of amused surprise as I swooped in over top of her, her purple hair splayed out around her gorgeous face.

I leaned in to kiss her, Ava wrapping her arms around my shoulders as our lips touched, our mouths opening and our tongues finding one another’s. She tasted like heaven, sweet and rich, soft moans of delight sounding from her as we kissed.

“More,” she said. “I need more.”

I grabbed her sweater and pulled it off along with her T-shirt, exposing the black bra she had on underneath, along with her trim, toned middle. Her breasts were bigger than I’d expected underneath that baggy clothing she always seemed to wear, her cleavage pouring out of the top of her bra.

Her fingers hopped from button to button, undoing one after another before sliding off my shirt. I leaned down again, skin against skin as we kissed hard and deep.

“Oh, Luc,” she moaned. “Please, don’t stop.”

“Nice to hear you use some manners for once.” I flashed her a small smile.

Ava laughed. “So, you do have a sense of humor!”

The smile faded as I placed my hand on her stomach, moving underneath her leggings and into her panties. Her pussy was wet, dripping as I spread her lips and prepared to enter her. She moaned, kissing me hard as I slipped a finger inside and…

Ding .

I opened my eyes, the plane shaking slightly. I sat up, looking around to see that I was alone on the couch, Ava still seated where she’d been before I’d fallen asleep. My cock was stone-stiff, and I quickly grabbed a pillow, placing it over my hard-on.

“Turbulence,” she said, taking off her headphones. “Buckle up.”

I groaned, sitting up and fastening my seatbelt.

Buckle up, indeed. I had a feeling this reunion was going to be a hell of a lot more than I’d signed up for.