AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Once more, I found myself waiting on Ava. This time, instead of at a coffee shop where I could at least sit and relax, I was on the runway of the small airport, standing before the private plane on which I’d arrived in America.
The day was dreary and gray, like all the others I’d experienced since coming to the Pacific Northwest. The weather did have a certain charm, but I was eager to return to the green fields and blue skies of Edoria. Autumn there was particularly beautiful, with its wild oranges and deep, burning reds. I imagined being back home with a glass of local spirits in hand, a fire roaring in the hearth.
First, however, there was the matter of transporting the royal brat.
I glanced up at the stairs of the private plane, the pilots standing and waiting, their eyes hidden behind aviator glasses.
“Do we have an ETA?” one of them asked.
“Twenty minutes ago,” I replied, a tinge of irritation in my words.
“How much longer do you want to wait, sir?” asked the other.
It was a good question. I’d already texted Ava, asking when I could expect her to arrive. A quick check of my phone revealed that she hadn’t yet replied. It’d been over twenty-four hours since she’d agreed to come—more than enough time for her to have a change of heart. I’d already told Alaric that she’d agreed to come. The idea of breaking the news to him that I’d be returning alone after all was a conversation not to look forward to.
“Until I say so,” I called back. “Both of you, wait inside.”
I could sense the annoyance of the pilots as they returned to the cockpit.
My eyes were fixed on the horizon as I waited.
Finally, I spotted an automobile that seemed less like a car and more like a pile of rust with wheels rumbling in from the distance. I was far from an expert on cars, but even I could tell that the muffler was on its last legs. The car approached, coming to a stop thirty or so yards from where I stood, the scent of dirty exhaust filling the air.
Mercifully, the engine was turned off, silence returning. I watched as the door opened, a familiar figure stepping out.
“Holy crap!” she shouted, leaning on her open door as she took in the sight of the plane. “Is this our ride?”
“Yes. Is that pile of junk yours?”
She narrowed her eyes. “It’s not much, but she gets me from point A to point B. Most of the time, anyway.”
She stepped out from behind the door and began to approach. As it always did, Ava’s beauty caught my attention right away. She was dressed in an oversized sweater with the logo of her crab cake truck, black leggings on underneath that, and a Seattle Mariners ball cap on her head. Never in a million years would I have guessed that she was a princess.
All the same, she was stunning. Her legs were long and slender, and even with that baggy sweater I could make out her curves. As I’d done so many times since meeting her, I pushed such thoughts out of my head—there simply wasn’t a more inappropriate way to be thinking about a woman who was both the princessandthe daughter of my closest friend. Not to mention twenty years my junior and my future queen.
“Oh!” she turned, hurrying back to her car. “Forgot my luggage!”
I stepped toward her, watching as she went to the trunk of her car and tried to pop it open. I gestured to some of the nearby airport staff, indicating for them to help her. We stepped over to the car, the vehicle even uglier up close.
My heart skipped a beat as I moved around the car, the sight of Ava bending over, her round ass sticking into the air. Even through the dark fabric of her leggings I could make out the thong she had on underneath. My eyes lingered for a moment before I pulled them away.
“Got a few bags!” she said. “Give me a sec!”
I nodded to the staff, and they hurried over to take them out before she had a chance to.
“Hey!” she stepped back, an expression of mild annoyance on her face as the staff silently grabbed her bags and hurried them to the airplane. The bags themselves were nearly as beat up and worn as the car. “I can carry my own bags, you know!”
The staff took the bags up the jetway and disappeared inside the plane.
“Ava,” I said. “You’re going to need to get used to this. Youarethe princess, after all. When we arrive in Edoria the first thing you’ll see is an entire staff of workers eager to make sure that you don’t need to exert yourself in the slightest.”
“What if Ilikeexerting myself?” she asked. “I’ve never been the kind of woman to sit on my ass and let other people work for me.”
I nodded for her to follow me toward the plane. “Trust me, there will be plenty for you to do as princess. Think of your staff as a way to take care of the more mundane matters so you can focus on the grander ones. Come, we’re running late, and we have a long flight ahead of us.”
Together, we made our way over to the jet.
We reached the stairs, and Ava grinned like a kid as she turned to head up.
