I spun around and met his eyes with a glare. “What did you do?”
Madeline’s very audible gasp echoed in the uncharacteristically quiet kitchen. Sutton tilted his head to the side. “Something on your mind, little sheep?”
“Did you say something to them?”
Or do something to them?
He straightened his head then stuffed his hands into the pockets of his suit. Suit Sutton was every bit as sexy as Jeans and T-shirt Sutton. “You mean the people who chose gossip over respect? Yes. They’re gone.”
Annoyance and frustration tore at my stomach. I clamped my lips shut and exhaled an agitated breath through my nose. I was a hot mess while he appeared as calm and casual as the first day I met him. Right here. Making these same cupcakes with this same icing. He must have recognized that at the same time I did because his lips curved into a cocky smirk. A familiar heat simmered between us, making me almost forget what it was like to challenge Sutton Thorne.
I narrowed my eyes and tipped my chin. “Just like that?”
“Just like that.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re unbelievable.”
He took a step forward, his powerful frame looming over mine. Then he placed his hands on the island behind me, caging me in. Madeline and Mrs. Fletcher gracefully exited the kitchen. I didn’t blame them. Sutton was intimidating this way. If I weren’t so turned on by his presence, I might be afraid. A hungry spark danced in his dark eyes. His gaze traveled down my body then back up, stopping on my lips then upward to meet my eyes. “There’s a reason you don’t see the staff wandering the halls of the castle. There’s a reason we don’t invite them for brunch or to play fucking chess on the back lawn. There are people out there who will sell your soul for a dime and not think twice about it. If you’re going to be queen, this is the kind of shit you need to know.”
“What did you just say?”
“Nothing.” He pushed off of the island and took a step back. “You have to stop believing I’m the bad guy, Katie. I just want to protect you.”
I never believed Sutton was the bad guy. But I did see the darkness that sometimes slipped through the cracks. I recognized it because in a twisted, broken way, it matched my own.
I moved forward and traced my fingers down the length of his tie. “I know.”
I want to protect you too. The difference was that the person I was protecting Sutton from was himself.
“Good. Now come to my room so I can show you the real reason I came.”
Katie’s eyes grew wide the second she spotted the long blue gown splayed over my bed. “You bought me a dress?”
You call it a dress. I call it foreplay.
The neckline plunged into a sexy fucking “V” that her tits would make look spectacular. The entire gown was a thin layer of silk covered in lace, and I made sure it would hug her body like a glove. My dick was hard just thinking about her in that dress.
She lifted the gown from my bed and held it up for inspection. “Are we going somewhere?”
I stepped behind her and placed a hand on each of her hips. Jesus, her ass drove me crazy. “It’s for my coronation. The day after tomorrow.”
“Your what?”
I nuzzled my face in the slender curve of her neck and pressed my cock between her cheeks. “It’s an event in which I’m officially crowned king of Torryn.”
She sucked in a breath then leaned her head back against my chest. I wanted to mark her throat with my teeth. “I know what a coronation is. I just thought it was next month.”
“Because that’s what I want everyone to believe.” I slid my hands over her hips and around to her front, bunching up the fabric of her short little sundress with my fingers. “While the gazelles are busy thinking and plotting, the lion has been running.”
She whimpered when my fingertips skimmed the top of her panties. How long had it been since I’d tasted her? If my mouth was dry, it was too fucking long.
“I don’t even want to know what that means,” she said.
The public thinks my official coronation is next month. The rebels think during that time the throne will be empty, that it will be their chance to swoop in and steal it. It won’t.
Katie picked up the dress and eyed it one final time before laying it carefully back on my bed. Bad idea, little sheep. Unless she didn’t mind me fucking her on top of it.
She spun to face me. Her fingers played with my tie while she looked up at me with eyes that were anything but innocent. “You want me to wear that to your coronation?”
“I do.”
“In front of other people?”
“Very few people, but yes. That’s the plan.”
She successfully unknotted my tie and tossed it to the side then began working on the buttons of my shirt. You’re playing with fire, and I’m about to burn you alive. “Okay. On one condition.”
When did she start calling the fucking shots?
I arched a brow to humor her. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and continued. “Hire back all the kitchen staff.”
And there went the cold water.
“No fucking way.”
She narrowed her eyes, and it was cute how she thought she had a chance at winning this battle. “It wasn’t their fault. They didn’t do anything wrong.”
They fucked with something that belonged to me. They made you believe I wanted someone else.
“Are you shitting me right now?”
She dropped her hands, leaving my buttons—and any chance I had of bending her over this bed and fucking her raw—abandoned. “I overheard a conversation that wasn’t meant for me. One of the men asked where to put the table and another employee explained the situation. Simple as that. No one was gossiping. Hire them back.”
I scrubbed a hand over my face because… fuck. This woman was killing me. “I can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“Because then I look indecisive and weak.”
I wasn’t indecisive… or weak.
She pursed her lips, and I was tempted to lean forward and pull the bottom one between my teeth. “Then I’m not wearing the dress.”
“Good. Go naked. Better for me.”
She growled.
Nothing about Katie was easy, but every single fucking thing was worth fighting for. I would hold her hand and walk through hell a thousand times for one moment in her heaven.
I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear then ran the front of my finger down her face. “I’m not hiring them back. And you’re wearing the dress.” Her body leaned into mine, conceding the fight she was never going to win anyway. So, I grabbed her hips and pulled her against me. “Next time you want to piss me off, don’t use innocent people as your weapon.” I brought my mouth to hers, letting my tongue part her lips, and I devoured her until she was a moaning, sagging mess in my arms. Then I fucked her on top of a pile of silk and lace.
My father’s body was hauled on a wooden carriage from St. Leo’s to the royal mausoleum, where he was placed in a vault surrounded by candles and flowers.
Mom was the first to leave. The grief had broken her. She even apologized to Katie for trying to intervene. Royals never apologized.