Royally Wed (Resplendent Royals #5)

Chapter 1

Cancelled

Astrid

“Yes, the reservation is under Westfall,” I said.

“There is no event on file under Westfall.”

“Okay…” I murmured confused. “Westnedge maybe?”

“No, ma’am.”

“Deschamps?”

“Also no.”

“Neandia?”

“No, ma’am.”

I’d tried everything. “Sorry, but how else can you look for it? We booked the venue months ago and… I was told to call a couple of weeks before to set up a catering appointment.”

Parker and I booked the venue ages ago for our engagement celebration—right after he proposed. The goal was to have a UK event with friends and family. Everyone was arriving in two weeks.

“Let me speak to my supervisor, ma’am,” the man said. “Please hold.”

“Ma’am we are sorry, but the reservation was cancelled.”

“I’m sorry,” I stammered. “Uh… how? And by whom?”

“It looks as though your mother rang us two weeks ago to cancel the event. She said you called off your nuptials.”

Anger bubbled. “God damn it!”

“Ma’am, is this not true?”

“It isn’t. And my mother is dead,” I said. “It must have been my mother-in-law. Can we rebook it?”

“Oh.” The man understood, his voice changing. “Well, unfortunately, I have bad news. We rebooked that room upon your cancellation. As a token, since it was rebooked, I can transfer the deposit back to your account—”

“That’s… that’s not what I need. You have no space available?”

I reeled, fighting tears. I would not let this woman break me.

I would not let her see me cry. I panicked because I looked forward to this.

After defending my dissertation and planning my move to London, I was exhausted.

Planning a royal wedding made it even worse.

This was my chance to don a pretty dress and dance the night away.

“I don’t have anything, ma’am. I am so, so sorry.”

His words hung heavy as I hung up. I threw my phone down in anger on the sofa in our sitting room. I paraded downstairs, slipping into the hall that ran to Parker’s office. I needed to see him immediately—to fix this somehow.

Rapping on the door, I said, “Parker, I need help. Can I come in?”

No response. I gathered he had on his noise cancelling headphones, in the zone working on a paper. I stampeded in and slammed the door. The resounding “thump” shook him from his stupor. He stared, then realizing I was upset, took off his headphones.

“I’m sorry, my love. Is everything alright?”

“Elizabeth cancelled everything,” I said. “She cancelled the engagement party!”

“What?” He cocked his head in confusion. “How?”

“She called the venue and cancelled. They already promised the space to someone else. There is nothing available. Your mother did this, Parker!”

Parker groaned. “Fuck! Well, we can have it here?”

“So, what? She can do what she did on your birthday last year and make it all about her?” I crossed my arms. “There is no way. It’s all over and I am not forcing everyone to come down to bloody Devonshire.”

Parker stood, wrapping his arms around to comfort me. I cried into his shoulder, finally able to let out frustration. Parker didn’t handle emotions well, but he didn’t ask me to police mine. He knew I needed to let it go and would stand here until the world ended if he could.

“Don’t panic,” Parker insisted. “I will handle it.”

I pulled back, meeting his gaze as tears rolled down my cheeks. “You are going to fix this? To replan our engagement party in two weeks?”

Parker wiped my tears away. He nodded and cupped my face in his hands.

“For you, Asti, I would do anything. Yes. I will fix this.”

“How?”

“Don’t worry about that. I can’t promise it will be the same, but maybe it will be even better?”

I smiled slightly. “You’re going to make even this into a competition, Parker Westfall?”

“Would you expect any less, Astrid?” Parker chuckled.

He leaned in, giving me one of those weak-in-the-knees kisses I couldn’t resist. I went from sixty to zero, preferring to believe him now. I laced my fingers through his hair and pressed closer.

“Astrid,” Parker said. “You’re a bad girl. I’m deep in the middle of a literature review. I cannot—”

“You cannot take a pause to be deep inside me?” I asked with a cheeky grin on my face.

“Fuck it,” Parker said.

“No, fuck me. On your desk.”

It was so typical of us to go from anger into a bout of rage-induced shagging. Parker tossed his laptop aside and threw a stack of papers covered in scribbles into his chair. I tossed my leggings aside.

“Fuck essays,” he said.

“Yes, fuck all your lovely students!” I giggled and climbed onto the desk.

Parker pulled me across the desk. “Their stimulant-induced thoughts can wait. That is the ‘I’m scared to read’ pile.”

I unbuckled his jeans. “Oh, those, huh?”

“Uh-huh,” Parker unzipped and dropped his jeans.

“I love when you get like this,” I said. “Such a bad boy.”

“And you, my love, are so poorly behaved.” Parker pulled my thong aside and slipped inside. “Bad, bad girl. Are you going to cum for me.”

I moaned as he thrust deep.

I growled and wrapped my legs around him. “Fuck me like you fucking own me.”

Parker secretly loved a quickie. His nerdy ass wasn’t opposed to doing it wherever and whenever, despite what everyone thought. And we loved to fuck on a desk.

“We’re a… stereotype… out of a romance,” I gasped as he pounded me. “Nerdy couple… fucking in… an office.”

“Well, you always did love your books, my love,” Parker, breathless, said. “And you get off on it.”

I kissed him as I felt myself grow closer. I didn’t want to make too much noise with his mother in her preferred state room.

Parker pulled back. “No, I want to hear you cum. Cum loud, princess. I want to hear what I do to you.”

I dug my nails into his shirt and let my eyes roll back as pleasure washed over. “Oh... fuck me, Parker. Don’t…”

I didn’t finish, my voice drifting off as I pulsed around him.