Chapter Eighteen
Wolf
I didn’t grow up dreaming about horseback riding in the English countryside. Planes? Yes. Sports cars? Yes! Speedboats? Hell, yes. But horses? Not so much. There seems to be something unnatural about climbing on the back of an animal. Yet, strangely enough, the animals allow it, and humans seem to enjoy it.
With that being said, here I am, straddling a royal beast named Sovereign Thunderbolt. Nope, that’s not a joke, it’s his name. By the look in his eyes when I met him, his name is fitting. I’m pretty sure he has something evil in mind before this ride ends. I can’t blame him. I’d want to buck off a person, too, if they were stupid enough to climb on top of me, well, anyone other than Audrey.
I’m currently chasing Audrey through a sunlit expanse of rolling green hills with a security team tailing us like we’re two fugitives fleeing the scene of a bank heist.
As if Audrey isn’t already perfect, here’s another thing she does incredibly well. Her laughter is flowing from her, drifting on the wind as she kicks her horse and leans down, going faster and faster as we fly over the fields so quickly, the scenery is all a blur.
“Faster, Wolf!” she calls, her hair flying behind her like some kind of mischievous blonde Valkyrie heading to war. I can practically taste her bloodlust. I’m going to get her a Wonder Woman costume for Halloween. Damn, I can picture it now. She’s stunning, and in that tight-fitting costume, we won’t make it out of the house alive.
I bounce on the horse and realize I need to change my thoughts real quick, because getting hard while bouncing on a horse with two men carrying guns behind me isn’t the smartest thing I’ve ever done.
“Pink bunnies, pink bunnies, pink bunnies,” I cry out. It helps.
“What?” Audrey calls back to me as she finally slows. I nudge my horse a bit.
“Just trying not to die,” I yell. “This horse is far more conniving than I could ever be.”
“Then you better not tick him off,” she says, laughter trailing behind her.
The security team is several hundred yards behind us now, their radios squawking wildly. I’m sure we aren’t their favorite people on the planet, and they’re being punished, forced to watch the two unruly Americans.
“We’re going to be put on a No-Ride list,” I tell Audrey when I finally catch up to her. “It’s the No-Fly list for royals.”
Audrey’s eyes sparkle. “Well, the cat’s out of the bag, so I guess I’ll use my royalness and have the ruling reversed.”
I smile at her. “I’m considered an attractive liability,” I tell her with a wink that makes her roll her eyes. “They could start using my pictures in training slides titled, High-Risk Civilians to Contain .”
“Mmm, if you get locked up, there will be a female crime spree so they can get locked up in the same jail to violate you.”
I laugh hard at this. “The only woman allowed to violate me is a feisty blonde who needs to be tamed.”
She throws her head back and laughs, then meets my gaze as we stop. She gracefully slips off her horse, and I’m thrown for a moment at her sheer beauty. I finally manage to climb down, my legs a little shaky. I look at my horse, who completely ignores me as he starts munching on the fresh, bright green grass.
“Okay, Thunderbolt, no hard feelings. Please don’t inform the queen I insulted your saddle. I don’t want to go to the dungeon or have my head chopped off.” The horse snorts as if it understands me and isn’t promising anything.
I move over to Audrey who’s stripping off her jacket and boots. I raise a brow as I look behind us at the guards. Normally, I’d be more than pleased to see her doing this, but not while we have an audience.
She strips down to a bathing suit I didn’t know she was wearing, then runs and jumps into the pond, coming up out of the water with a shriek from how cold it is. Her teeth are chattering behind her smile.
“Come on in, it’s great,” she lies. I laugh. I’ve never been afraid of a challenge.
I strip down to my boxers, then move to the edge of the pond, not quite ready to dive in with how cold it looks. Audrey winds her arm back and sends a flood of water straight at me. Damn! I didn’t need to know how cold it really is. I can’t allow this. Retribution is mine.
I jump in and lose my breath. I’ve been in cold water before, but this is next level. At least I’m wide awake now. Something nibbles on my toe, and I nearly let out a scream a little girl would be proud of.
Audrey sees the look on my face and starts laughing so hard she falls under the water for a second. She pops right back up, coughing as she moves in a bit so she can stand. I give her a mock glare.
“Are we not going to talk about the possibility of eels sucking our blood?”
“We’re in a private royal pond,” she says between giggles. “Only dignified eels are allowed in this water. They’d never dine on a peasant such as you.”
“I’m so relieved that eels have monocles and titles. It makes me feel so much better.”
She splashes me again, then swims away. I catch her in a heartbeat and pull her close. I want to do a lot more than kiss her, but I’m very aware of our audience. I let her go, splash her, then dive under the water. We swim, splash, and laugh like two teens sneaking out of school to play in the sun. I can’t remember the last time I’ve felt this free, this happy, this... smitten. Every single time she laughs, it’s music to my ears and I fall a little deeper for the woman I don’t think I’ll ever let go.
When we start turning blue, we climb from the water and lie on the soft grass, letting our underclothes dry as the warm sunshine refreshes us. Audrey curls up against me, her fingers making patterns on my chest. Heaven. This is heaven.
“Tell me something real,” she says.
I hesitate for a moment. I want to share my life with her. I want to give her everything. I smile. “My first kiss was during a game of truth or dare. She shoved a gummy worm in my mouth first, then kissed me. I might or might not have blacked out I was so nervous and excited.”
She giggles. “How old were you?”
“Eleven.” She laughs harder.
“That’s terrible. My first kiss was under the bleachers when I was fifteen. He missed the first time, moved back in, and barely touched my lips, then jerked and hit my nose. Blood gushed and went everywhere. He panicked and cried. That was my first realization that I intimidate men.”
I laugh hard at this, picturing Audrey’s outrage at her perfect moment getting ruined by a moron. “It takes a man like me to be able to handle a woman like you.” I rub my chest. She pinches my nipple, and I squeak.
“Hey, careful there.”
She laughs. “You can barely handle me.”
“I wouldn’t want it any other way.” I’m not joking. I love every minute with this woman. I don’t want her to change, not a single bit. I love her stubbornness, independence, and talent. She’s a woman too good for most of the world.
We eventually are forced to climb back on the horses. Mine gives me another look, and I pray we make it back to the castle with no broken bones. I’d say it’s a fifty-fifty chance. I’ve always enjoyed living on the edge, so why stop now?
Somehow we do, then head to our suite which has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a sitting room, a kitchen area, and a living room. It’s a full-size home inside of a wing of the castle. I wonder how many people get lost inside this building. I wonder how many people it takes to run it. What does it all cost? I can’t imagine growing up in a world like this. I grew up with wealth, but my parents gave us normalcy as well. I wouldn’t trade my life for anything, not even a castle and crown, though even little boys have dreams of being royal every once in a while.
We head to our own bathrooms as we get ready for a royal ball. I have to admit, I’m excited. I want to see how the royals behave. I’ve seen them in movies and want to know if reality is anything like the Hollywood version. A tux has been left for me. I’d rather have my own, but it’s tucked away in the States. I never enjoy wearing the monkey suits, but there are times they’re expected. The last time I wore mine was when my brother Drake dared me to crash a billionaire gala and pretend to be a Swedish prince. That was fun. I got three phone numbers and a business card from a woman offering me a yacht. Drake had to pay me a hundred bucks. He thought I’d get tossed for sure.
I finish before Audrey and head downstairs to wait for her. When I finally see her descend the marble staircase, it’s like watching a dream in motion. She’s wearing a fitted blue dress that shimmers with each step she takes. The neckline makes me forget my own name. Her hair’s swept up, exposing her slender neck, leaving a few curls defiantly hanging in a teasing way. She’s elegance and rebellion bottled into one breathtaking vision that’s sure to fill my dreams for years to come.
“You’re stunning,” I tell her with reverence.
“I was about to say the same to you,” she breathes as she reaches up and brushes my shoulder. I don’t think anything’s on me, we just always seem to need to touch each other. I pray this feeling lasts a lifetime.
“My brain’s short-circuiting,” I admit. “You might need to reboot me. I have the perfect lever for you to make the reset.” I grin as she shakes her head. She then winks which lets me know we truly are made for one another. She’s wanting to push that lever as much as I want her to do it.
She weaves her arm through mine, and we move forward, entering the hallway that leads to the ballroom, and then we stop at the entrance. I’m impressed with the huge room filled with soft lighting and gold-trimmed royalty. Many eyes shift to the two of us.
I don’t care. I pull her straight to the dance floor, needing to hold her. I pull her close and sway to the live music as we spin together, making our own personal bubble which no one is allowed to enter. I’m mesmerized by the sound of her laughter and the sparkle in her eyes. I’ll do all I can to bring joy to this woman so I can experience moments just like this for an eternity.
The music pauses and we’re forced to socialize, my least favorite part of any party. It’s why I rarely attend formal events. I can’t stand rubbing elbows, and how people feel the need to outdo one another.
“So, you’re the American,” some earl with a made-up sounding name says to me before his eyes dart to Audrey. “We assumed when you came home, you’d find a suitable man... a banker, or at least someone who plays polo.” I’ve heard the phrase “someone looking down their nose at you” but never understood it until the man glances at me... and focuses on my shoes for a beat too long. “Not a man wearing these shoes.”
I look at my Italian leather boots, slightly damp from our ride today. I give him a serious look and speak with formality while holding in my laughter. “These shoes were blessed by a monk in Florence and once worn by a man who outran a goat stampede in Sardinia.”
The earl blinks, unsure if I’m serious. As the royals aren’t known for their sense of humor, he decides to take me at my word. “I see...” Audrey lets out a cough to cover her laugh.
As we move through the room, the Duchess of Cornwall, a steely woman who’d likely scare a lesser man into celibacy, approaches.
“You fly, do you?” she asks, peering at me through glasses that look older than democracy.
“Yes, ma’am,” I say, adding a southern drawl to my voice. “Mostly on an airplane, but I’ve been working real hard on levitation.”
She doesn’t so much as crack a smile. “And... you’re with Audrey.”
“Mostly,” I say with a shrug.
“Is it voluntary?” I think this is a serious question. Then again, I am talking to another royal. They’ve been known to kidnap their brides. I give her my famous wolfish grin.
“Some of the time. There are others when I have to keep her locked up. I learned from the royals about quality binding devices.”
Audrey nudges me with her elbow, trying not to break into full laughter. She looks at the duchess. “We’re very compatible,” she tells her. “We do, however, like misbehaving at times.”
The woman turns up her nose even further than I thought possible, and then walks away. I wonder how they keep from walking into walls with their heads so high. This is more fun than I thought it would be. Messing with royalty could be a new pastime for me. I hope I don’t get a front row seat in that dungeon by the end of the night. Then again, it would certainly be a once-in-a-lifetime adventure I could talk about on poker night . . . if I ever got released, that is.
Eventually, after many more awkward meetings and some questionable hors d’oeuvres, we slip out to a quiet patch of lawn behind the palace. The stars are brighter than I was expecting. The ball is fun, but there’s only so much time I can spend with people who seem like aliens to me. The quiet of the night is a welcome relief after all of the noise.
We move to the shadows, and Audrey lies down. I join her. The cool grass feels good after being in the stuffy room for hours. The sky’s infinite and filled with possibilities.
“I’m starting to think about things,” Audrey says after a few moments.
“What sorts of things?”
“Like future things,” she says with hesitancy. My heart skips a beat. This would normally be the time I’d jump to my feet and run for the hills. My toes aren’t so much as twitching, though. I’ve fallen for this woman, and I don’t see any running in my future unless it’s straight to her. Wow, I have changed since meeting this woman, but instead of feeling like binds are locking around me, I feel like I’m being set free.
“I’ve been thinking of future things too.”
“I’m not used to this,” she says. “I’m not used to standing still, but no one has ever made me feel the things you make me feel.”
“I know what you mean. I’ve spent years pretending I’m a guy who flies and has fun, not a man who wants more... like white picket fences and happily ever afters. For some reason, though, I’ve been having more than a few strange thoughts these last few months.”
I’m very aware we’re both being careful in what we’re saying. We’ve been so determined not to get into real relationships our entire lives that it’s hard to break the cycle. We’re trying, though, and I consider this progress.
“I guess we’re kind of an official couple,” she finally says as if the words are being ripped from her. I pull her close, cradling her head against my chest as I chuckle. She stiffens, but I don’t let her go. “Don’t you dare make fun of me.”
“I promise I’m not making fun of you. It’s just that I’ve been yours since that first flight. You’ve been mine, as well. It’s refreshing to finally hear you admit it.”
She smacks my chest in protest, but she relaxes in my arms. I gaze at the stars and realize I’m happier than I’ve ever been. I’m falling in love with this woman, and it’s only going to get stronger from here on out.