Royal Duty (The Prince's Choice Book 3) Read online

  I sat on the lid of the toilet and waited.

  I prayed to see two lines on the test. I needed a baby to start growing inside me so I could fulfil my royal obligations. Rick wasn’t the only one who had responsibilities to the crown. As the newest Queen, it was my duty to produce a child.

  A male child.

  The laws of succession really needed to change and be updated to modern times. They needed to remove the rule of being married and the required gender of the next heir. The marriage rule was already in process but the gender debate was yet to come up. I would speak with Rick about it once everything calmed down.

  Just a few months ago, I couldn’t imagine being this desperate to be pregnant. I thought there would be more time to get used to the idea. I thought Rick and I would have at least a few years of marriage before we started to think about reproducing. The Queen had said as much beforehand. Yet the King’s death had changed all that.

  I checked my watch and the five minutes had passed. The test was complete.

  I stood up and went to the vanity with trepidation. “Two lines, two lines, two lines,” I repeated under my breath. Those two lines had been so elusive and I needed them so badly.

  One line.

  My shoulders visibly sagged as I stared at the results. Getting pregnant was a lot harder than I ever imagined it would be. I’d spent so much time obsessing over making sure I always took my contraception on time, just in case, that apparently, I didn’t have to worry so much.

  It didn’t help that Rick didn’t have much time for me. We had sex as much as possible with his schedule, but it wasn’t enough to play the numbers game. The more we fucked, the better chance we had of getting pregnant.

  “Negative again?” The queen’s voice startled me. I dropped the test on the bench as I spun around to face her. She’d crept in like a ninja.

  “I didn’t hear you come in,” I replied.

  “I thought I would pay you a visit and see how the baby making was coming along. I guess I just got my answer.”

  “I’m doing everything I can.” That included taking a pile of vitamins every day and doing yoga to ensure a healthy womb.

  She gave me a kind smile. “I’m sure you are. You know how important this is for our kingdom. Everything rests on producing that male heir so we can ensure the crown will always remain in safe hands.”

  “Yes, I know.”

  “This is your duty. It was mine too, once. I had Rick and I couldn’t have been happier. I hope you will also find that happiness very soon.” The next smile felt more condescending.

  I knew what she was thinking. She thought I wasn’t going to be good enough to have a child in record time. Just like she thought I wouldn’t be able to have a boy straight off. She thought she was better than me because she had succeeded where I was failing.

  The queen had changed since her husband’s death. Her title was now Queen Mother but I couldn’t stop thinking of her as the queen. It felt surreal that it was my title now and not hers.

  Perhaps that was also why her attitude toward me had changed.

  She had become shrewd and slightly mean since burying her husband. I kept telling myself that it was only grief. That I needed to show her compassion and love to help her through her difficult time.

  But I couldn’t ask her how she was without her snapping at me. She always insisted she was fine. She didn’t like to be thought of as frail and grief-stricken. She would be the stoic queen until the day she died.

  Rick had more success with her than I did. For now, I just needed to suck it up and give her what she wanted—an heir. Then she could leave me alone for a while until something else needed to be done.

  The queen mother departed the suite just as quickly as she had arrived. I wasn’t sure how she was spending her days anymore. She rarely invited me to tea so I suspected she spent a lot of time alone. Even most of her ladies’ maids had been sent on a long holiday.

  I needed to get pregnant which meant I needed Rick to be in the same room as me. I didn’t want to settle for a quick fuck again. I wanted the romance that he used to give me.

  It wasn’t fair to leave it all up to him because he had enough on his plate. I was going to have to be more enticing so he could plant the seed for our child to grow.

  I wrote a quick note and found a messenger in one of the long corridors. He was running a different errand, but when I gave him the envelope and asked that he deliver it to the king, he bowed and accepted the challenge anyway.

  The invitation was extended. Now, I just needed to plan the ultimate romantic evening. I wondered if I would have more success if we took our time and enjoyed ourselves. Would that mean my body was more relaxed and ready to accept his sperm?

  It all seemed like such a gamble. But if I wasn’t pregnant soon, I was going to turn to all those old wives’ tales I’d heard about. Maybe one of them would really work and do the trick that regular sex hadn’t.

  My next stop was the kitchen. The head chef agreed to serve us in our rooms and also agreed to a slightly different menu than normal. He knew of more aphrodisiacs than I did.

  I spent the afternoon getting ready. First was a relaxing bath where I coated myself in bubbles and rose oil. The room smelt heavenly and I hoped my skin would absorb the scents for later.

  My clothes for the night was a sexy black teddy. There was enough lace on the outfit to give a very generous view of my boobs and pussy. I wasn’t going to let Rick touch me until after dinner. Hopefully by then he would be driven wild by the preview.

  The chef and his assistants served the dinner at seven o’clock. Rick hadn’t arrived yet so I waited in our small dining room for him while watching the clock and hoping the dinner didn’t get too cold before he arrived.

  He hadn’t sent a messenger to let me know he was delayed or that he wasn’t coming so I took that as a good sign. However, the more minutes that passed, the more concerned I grew.

  It felt silly sitting there in my slinky lingerie with a table of food going cold. I should have known he would be too busy for me. We hadn’t shared a meal in weeks. I don’t know why I thought tonight would be any different. His promises didn’t mean much these days.

  At eight o’clock, I decided to have my dinner without him. The food was largely cold but it was delicious anyway. I didn’t bother with the oysters. There was no use in me being horny without my husband around and ready for business.

  At nine o’clock, I called down to the kitchen and asked them to help me put the food away. They turned up five minutes later and cleared the table, insisting I didn’t need to help them.

  At eleven o’clock, I went to bed.

  Alone.

  Chapter 3

  Melody

  ҉ ҉ ҉ ҉ ҉ ҉

  I don’t know what time Rick sneaked into bed during the night. I worried he wasn’t getting enough rest and working too hard. I added it to the list of problems I couldn’t do anything about.

  He sneaked out while it was still dark. He’d taken to showering and getting dressed in the bathroom in his office so he didn’t wake me. He didn’t realize that I wanted to be woken. At least then, I’d get to see him.

  There was no way we were going to make a baby like this. Not to mention I could see us ending up living completely separate lives if we didn’t find ways to make everything work.

  There was no telling how long Rick’s schedule would be so crazy. It could be a few more months. It could be years before the kingdom settled down into a normal routine again. Rick was really trying to ensure that the citizens had confidence in him. He would work himself to death if that’s what it took.

  After breakfast, I found Rick’s assistant in his office. She was waiting for him to finish up with some dignitaries from overseas. She was new to the palace and I hadn’t been able to get to know her very well. All I did know was that she was about thirty years old and stunningly gorgeous. Not a good combination for a woman that was spending so much more time with my husband than me. r />
  Still, I vowed to give her a chance. Rick didn’t have time to have an affair on me. At least that was one good thing about his hectic schedule.

  “Hey, Scarlett,” I started, “I need to ask you a favor.”

  She stood up and curtsied. It was still weird when people did that. I knew it was protocol so there was no use telling them not to, but still, it was weird. “Good morning, Your Majesty. What can I do for you?”

  “I need some of Richard’s time today. Can we work something into his schedule?”

  The slight curve of her bright red lips told me the answer, but I wasn’t going to give up. We had a baby to make, and that was just as important as an interview with the daily newspapers.

  “I can try,” she replied and pulled out her electronic notebook. She flicked across the screen a few times and Rick’s calendar appeared. Watching over her shoulder, I could see the entire day was a mess of appointments. “How much time do you need and where do you need him?”

  Enough time to get his cock hard and inside me probably wasn’t the appropriate thing to say. “It can be in his office and ten or twenty minutes would do.”

  She started to shift things around, taking five minutes off meetings here and there. Her forehead wrinkled as she concentrated. I didn’t want to interrupt her while she was so deep in thought.

  Eventually, she worked it out until there was a small open space in his calendar. “I can give you fifteen minutes at half past two. Does that work?”

  “That will do it. Thank you.”

  “It’s my pleasure, Your Majesty.”

  “Melody is fine, really.”

  She gave me a smile, telling me she would never use my first name when addressing me. That was a tick in the good column for me. If she liked to keep things formal, she wouldn’t dare trying anything on my husband.

  I had a whole day to fill so I sought out the Queen Mother. She shouldn’t be spending so much time alone. I coaxed her into sharing some of her charity work with me, insisting I needed to know these things in order to fulfil that part of my duties.

  When it got closer to my appointment with the king, butterflies started to fly around my stomach. I was so excited about seeing him. It was like I was a teenager all over again. I hoped I would always be this excited about seeing my husband.

  I changed into my lacey teddy again and threw on a coat to cover it. High heels completed the look and I took off for his office on a mission. I only had fifteen minutes so there was no time to spare.

  “He’s just finishing up a meeting and then he’s yours,” Scarlett said as I approached the office. I waited impatiently, hoping the meeting wasn’t cutting into my time with him. Fifteen minutes wasn’t a long time to make a baby.

  The door finally opened and Scarlett hurried to escort out the man dressed in a business suit. A look of confusion crossed Rick’s features before they relaxed into a smile. “What are you doing here?”

  I stood up and headed for the door to his office. “I have an appointment for two-thirty. This is serious business, you’d better get inside.”

  He followed me, closing the door behind him. I placed my foot on his coffee table, allowing the coat to fall open and show the teddy I was wearing.

  Rick locked the door.

  “This is serious business,” he said as he swaggered over to me.

  “Where do you usually conduct your interviews, Your Majesty?” I asked.

  He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “I like to keep it casual so it’s usually on the couch. The desk is like a barrier and not conducive to communication.”

  That was more information than I needed, but I was glad he was playing along. I gestured for him to sit on the couch and watched him eagerly comply.

  He wasn’t going to easily forget this interview.

  I took off my coat and his eyes bulged out as he took in my lacy teddy in all its glory. I sashayed over to him, making sure to swing my hips and accentuate my curves. The smile never left Rick’s face.

  I straddled his lap and cupped his cheeks in my hands. I held onto him as I leaned in and kissed him hard. We didn’t have time for much foreplay and I suspected we wouldn’t really need much. A quick kiss would have to do for now.

  “So, Your Majesty, what is your position on this position?”

  “I approve wholeheartedly.”

  “And do you feel that things are quite hard right now?” I chewed on my bottom lip in what I hoped was a look of pure innocent seduction. My eyes flicked down to his groin just in case he wasn’t catching on.

  “Oh, I would say they are very hard. The issue really needs a hand-on approach.”

  One of my eyebrows arched. “I’m sure there is something I can do about that situation.”

  I shifted back slightly on his lap so I could see the tent his hard cock was making in his pants. It would have been nice to have time to really tease him, but we were on the clock. I didn’t want Scarlett tapping on the door before we got to any real action. It would have to wait for another time.

  His zipper sounded loud, as did our breathing. I opened his pants and saw the bulge in his trunks. Rick had to shift himself slightly so I could pull his cock free from his underwear. A breath hissed between his teeth when my hand wrapped around his shaft.

  I gripped him firmly with my fingers, pumping up and down to make sure he was nice and ready for me. My pussy was dripping, wetting the lace of my teddy. I had been ready for him the moment I saw him. I’d been excited about the encounter all day.

  “Now that we have this situation under control,” I started, “what would you say is the next course of action, Your Majesty?”

  His hands gripped my hips. “Some situations should not be handled gently. I believe in this case we need to proceed quickly and with a degree of roughness.”

  “That would be my opinion too.”

  His hands slid around to my back before he pulled me closer to him so we could kiss. His tongue slid between my lips, delving into my mouth and owning me with a possessiveness that I’d never experienced before. I loved the way Rick claimed me as his. I would always let him do it.

  One of his hands slipped between my legs and caressed the lace over my clit. It was pure bliss and torture. I wanted his touch to be anything but gentle, but I would have to wait until he was ready. He would definitely take care of me in time. I just had to be patient.

  My hands never relented around his cock. I changed my pace, moving from slow to fast and then back again. The head of his member was slick with his juices and would have been amazing to lick if I was that flexible and we had more room.

  Rick tugged aside the material between my legs and allowed his fingers to stroke along the length of my clit. His skin was cold against my heated apex which felt heavenly. I made a mental note for us to play with ice cubes in the near future.

  I moved my hips with his fingers’ movements to increase the friction and intensity of his touch. I closed my eyes for a moment, letting the exquisite feelings wash over me and block everything else out.

  My pussy needed to be filled. I had no intention of giving Rick a hand job to completion. It would be a complete waste of sperm and I wasn’t going to miss any opportunity I had.

  “Your Majesty, I really think this should be an inside job.” It was all I could do to get the words out through my breathless panting. My boobs heaved in the teddy, barely contained by the lace.

  “I agree. I definitely need to be inside for this to be successful.” I was so glad he was playing along. Maybe he would have flashbacks to this ‘interview’ while being forced to sit through the countless other ones.

  I pushed up onto my knees and shuffled forward to be able to position Rick’s rock-hard cock at my entrance. I held the material of my teddy to the side and slowly sat down, taking him all in.

  It was definitely what I needed. Rick filled me with satisfaction as we started chasing our orgasms. My hips ground against his, pulling on his cock until it was at the very tip and then sla
mming back down again.

  My clit was rubbing against the material of his pants as it surrounded his groin. I made sure to brush it hard, feeling the material pinch and play with my clit until I didn’t know if I would be able to hold on much longer.

  Rick’s hands gripped onto my hips. He guided me, setting a fast rhythm while we writhed together on the couch. It didn’t seem to make any difference that we were in his office instead of the bedroom. I could fuck him anywhere and anyplace and still be satisfied.

  Unbearable heat started to pool in my belly. It needed a release, like a waken dragon that was ready to roar. It was inevitable, pressing on me until the moment when it would erupt.