AllFreeNovel
Share Us
8
Reece
I'd woken up early to give my staff very specific instructions for the picnic I wanted packed for my time with Alina. I’d never cared much for such things, but I wanted only the best for her, and for her to see the best that my Kingdom offered, as it would be her home. I almost wished I could have made the arrangements myself to ensure everything was done to my exact specifications, but work and duty called me in the early morning hours, since I would be occupied later on.
Thankfully, most of the press corps were gone because none of them would be invited inside. None of them had taken a photo of my Alina yet, and I wanted to be sure that when they finally did, it was with the announcement I’d chosen her as my Queen.
Knowing the event was planned to perfection, I moved to leave my office and join the rest of the royals. Olivia, bless her organized soul, had all the details planned out exactly as I wanted them to be and Cheval made sure that all hitches and issues could be settled the moment they were identified.
Peeking at my watch, I saw that it was past time I should make an appearance and while I regretted leaving my work, I was even more excited about seeing my Princess. My Baby Bird. While she might think I intended to put her in another cage, she couldn’t have been more wrong. I wanted to help her fly for the first time and become the powerful woman who’d shown me moments of fire.
I stepped into the midmorning sunshine. The lawns where we held the picnic and morning tea event in were expansive and immaculate. The smell of the food reached my nose, and I nodded my head in approval, smiling when I heard the laughter of guests who were already well satisfied. I looked around, but I didn't see the tawny skin and dark hair that belonged to my Alina.
I cursed because something had to be keeping her. Deciding there was no other thing to do but to fetch her from her room, I took a step back so I could turn around and head back inside.
"Reece!" A sharp female voice called my name, a slight hint of desperation in its tones. Guilt speared me when I heard my cousin Mallory and it was that and a familial fondness that had me turning to join her instead.
"Mallory," I said as I gave her cheek a soft kiss, "you're looking well?"
She narrowed her eyes at me, crossing her arms across her chest with a pout. "Do I really? I don't feel well."
Realizing that she was in a mood, I plopped down on the blanket next to her, stealing a ripe strawberry from the container next to her hand. "What's wrong then, and why are you acting like a child? I assume this has something to do with whatever had happened last night?"
"Last night," she said with a sharp jerk of the head towards me. "What do you mean last night?"
I shrugged as I popped the strawberry into my mouth whole, thinking of how it would feel to feed one to Alina. To watch her plump lips wrap around the ripe flesh of the berry would be the ultimate torment for me. I chewed thoughtfully as Mallory made an impatient huffing sound that drew my attention back to her. "Oh, nothing. I just saw you and Beckett arguing and it didn't look pleasant." I looked around and raised an eyebrow at her. "Where is your shadow today, anyway?"
"Off," she said with a careless wave of her hand, "somewhere. He tells me nothing. Speaking of last night, tell me about the princess you dragged onto the dance floor. Everyone noticed, darling cousin. When do I meet her?"
"Just as soon as I can find her myself," I grunted, stretching up to look around for the familiar dark hair and stunning green eyes that I claimed as my own.
Finally spotting her as she made her way onto the grounds with her brother at her side, a smile quickly consumed my face.
If I had thought her stunning surrounded by roses and dappled by glowy moonlight, she was ethereal surrounded by verdant lawns, in a lavender dress with straps that hung off her shoulders. The cut was perfect for the outdoor event, displaying the elegant and intoxicating curve of her shoulder and collarbone. Her hair was a dark curtain around one shoulder, the other tucked flawlessly behind her ear, looking for all the world as if she wasn't outside where the light ocean breeze could hit her.
Where the others were adorned in jewelry, Alina wore nothing but simple studs in her ears. A jewel didn't need to wear precious gems to shine.
I made my way to her, ignoring the stares that followed me when I passed my other guests without interest. I ignored even those who attempted to hold me in conversation. In my peripheral vision, Aric stepped to the side and moved away, but my gaze remained steady on Alina's as her lips parted and she stared up at me with all the innocence of a lamb caught in the den of the lion.
"Baby Bird." I smirked, bending forward and touching my mouth to the back of her hand. She flushed the moment my lips touched her skin, that delicate rose tint staining her from the tops of her breasts to her cheeks.
"King Reece," she greeted, foregoing the formality of the title she'd given me the night before. I had to believe it served as a step towards her accepting that she was mine and mine alone. “I—what did you call me?”
"Sit with me," I said, my lips tugging into a smile when her own tipped up reluctantly.
"Your manners are abysmal for a King," she teased, allowing me to guide her to the blanket I'd set out for just the two of us. "A gentleman would ask me if I wished to sit with him. Not order me to do it."
My smile broadened. I wanted to bask in her minor rebellion. The one moment of my future Queen poking through all the circumstances stifling her personality.
I may have never wanted a royal wife. But I'd never planned on Alina Atwater.
She was the perfect contradiction. Innocent but sinful with her curves and unknowing sex appeal. Awkward with mutterings to herself but with a fire beneath it all that made my balls ache. I studied the way she folded her body onto the blanket with practiced ease and curled her legs beneath her.
Delicate ankles crossed out to the side of her with her knees bent, she waited for me to answer her taunt and her question. I wanted to push her, to test that resolve I sensed lurking beneath the surface.
There was a question nagging in the back of my head. The burning need to know exactly who she was.
Not the picture of her painted by a different set of hands holding the brush or the image Alina herself worked to project, but who she became alone in her room at night without the watchful eyes of her oppressor.
