Bride Ball Read online

  A princess or queen is always cool, detached, rising above the challenges life offers, laughing in the face of tribulations. How many times had Queen Lia lectured her on that very thing? How many times had Benjamin agreed with her?

  The old workhorse wasn’t cool and detached. She was cold and indifferent. Just because Lia’s husband fucked some mistress into a second son, Matthew, while Lia lay in confinement from the first, from Benjamin... Well, the man had needs that she wasn’t capable of meeting or willing to meet, whatever the case might have been. What did she expect?

  But Benjamin hadn’t taken mistresses or concubines, even when Alana was in confinement. Maybe Amber and Edward were right about that.

  Or maybe I am wishing, as I have always wished, that Benjamin would throw off his own cloak of cool disregard and tell me there’s something more than a contract and an heir.

  He moved his mouth as if to speak, but no sound issued forth. Instead, he lowered his face, nuzzling at her lips with his.

  Alana’s heart shattered again. This was all there was. This was all there had ever been for him and likely all there would ever be. If there was more, she would never see it, so it might as well not exist, for all that it mattered.

  She kissed him, throwing all of her passion at a man that couldn’t care less what feelings fueled her response. No matter his feelings, she was the same fool for him she’d been at eighteen. If he wanted this, and if it meant being close to him, she’d accept it, as she had all these years. I am a fool!

  Benjamin pulled back, shaking his head. She stared at him, at a loss. What did he want of her?

  As if in answer, he kissed her again, a brush of lips that made her heart pound and infused heat into her limbs. Alana followed his lead, closing her eyes, gasping as he parted her lips and tasted inside. There was no rush to it, no urgency.

  His hands slid down her back, cupping her buttocks and bringing her up against his erection. Still, he didn’t move to take what he wanted. The anticipation was delicious.

  Their lips parted, and they stood there, wrapped in each other’s arms. Alana’s entire body trembled. She opened her eyes, needing to see his expression, needing to believe that this was something more than a fuck with his convenient walking sex toy.

  Benjamin appeared as engaged in the moment as she was. His eyes were heavy and darkened, hot in emotion as she hadn’t seen them for some time.

  “I have missed you,” he whispered.

  “Missed me?” But he saw her daily. He’d had her only the night before. What did he mean?

  Her heart pounded in realization...or what she hoped was realization. She’d missed him, missed the man Benjamin was away from the palace, in their first week together. Could it be that he’d missed that, as well? If he had, why had he never attempted to recapture it?

  “More than you can ever know.”

  How wrong was he about that! Alana’s mind spun. After more than a quarter century with Benjamin, she suddenly didn’t know what to say to him, what to do. If he admitted he liked her hair better down, what else didn’t she know about him?

  “Shhh,” he soothed her. Benjamin guided her toward the bed, stilling her hands when she reached for the tie on her robe. “No.”

  That was all he said, leaving her to wonder at his strange pronouncement, while he removed his boots. He lost his balance on the second, and Alana reached out to steady him.

  She hissed as one of her prized fingernails broke off in a jagged line. Benjamin went still, looking from the snagged nail to her face, seemingly waiting for something she couldn’t name.

  “It’s just a broken fingernail,” she assured him.

  He stared at her for a moment, nodded, then pulled the boot free and dropped it next to its mate.

  Have I been that vain? Alana suspected she had. It was no wonder he was so cold to her. Did Benjamin believe she had any feelings, beyond self-love?

  She had no time to consider it in earnest. In the next instant, he was urging her onto the bed, following her down, tunneling his hands in her hair. Alana gasped at the feel of his cock pressing into her thigh, heating for him. Benjamin took advantage of her slightly-parted lips to play the tip of his tongue inside, pulling away when she tried to kiss him in return, coming at her again when she gave herself over to his lead.

  It was like nothing she could remember of him. Nearly since their marriage, their loving had been driven, one sex game and adventure after another. This was... Realization left her fighting for breath.

  The morning we woke together after the Bride Ball, the day we created Edward together. At least, it might have been that day; the night before was possible, as well...and the days following.

  Benjamin pulled his head back, his brow furrowed. “Is it too much?” he asked, voicing concern for her.

  She shook her head. It wasn’t too much. It was wonderful.

  “Is my weight—”

  “No.” How could he ask it?

  “Would you rather not—”

  “No. I mean... I mean, yes... I want this.” She did, more than she would have thought possible, even days earlier.

  He searched her face for something she couldn’t name. Alana reached for his shirt, but he shook his head.

  “There is no rush, Alana.”

  She nodded. She didn’t want him to rush. Whatever brought this on, Alana wanted it to last. Memories of his promise of a slow loving their first morning together played in her mind.

  As if he agreed, his lips parted hers in a slow, deep kiss. She wound her arms around his shoulders, holding to him, parting her legs to allow his cock to nestle closer to her aching center.

  Benjamin’s hand cupped the back of her knee, trailing upward beneath her robe and coming to a rest at the join of thigh and buttock. Alana would have arched to him, if she could have moved beneath his bulk.

  He rolled to his side, taking her with him, squeezing at the meat of her backside, trailing his fingers toward the lower cleft. Alana clawed up at the back of his shirt, dimly noting another fingernail cracking.

  His mouth retreated. “Just the shirt,” he decided. “Nothing more.”

  He rolled to his back, and Alana went with him, straddling his hips. Benjamin drew her hands down to the buttons, then left them to work.

  Knowing he was watching made her a slick-fingered bundle of nerves. A teasing show was impossible in her state of unbalance. Still, she managed the disrobing. Alana ran her hands under the fabric, caressing his skin, fingering the nubs of his male nipples.

  Benjamin arched beneath her with a groan of pleasure. He sank to the mattress, then thrust his hips up, teasing her with his length. She undid the first button on his trousers, and his hands covered hers, stopping her.

  “I said, ‘nothing but the shirt,’” he admonished her gently.

  She nodded, darkening.

  “Goddess, I love seeing you blush. I love seeing you without cosmetics and powders. You look divine, and your taste...”

  Alana looked away to his chest, working the shirt off of his arms, one at a time, reeling. Did he mean the things he was saying? She wanted so much to believe he did.

  Benjamin waited until the shirt was removed, then cupped his hand around her cheek, raising her face to his. Once their eyes were locked, he thrust his hips up, as if he was testing her responses, watching for something in particular.

  If he wanted to see her eyes slide shut and head rock back, he got his wish. If his groan was any indication, it was precisely what he’d hoped for.

  He drew her down over him and met her mouth in kisses that made her feel as drugged as she’d been their first night together. Every millimeter of her body sensitized to his wandering hands.

  A knock startled her, and Alana opened her eyes in misery. This was how it would end. Someone would call Benjamin away to something urgent, and this moment would pass, never to return.

  “Leave us,” he ordered without asking their business.

  “B-But Majesty,” Jason huffed. �
�General Mossglen has arrived, and her Majesty’s driver asked confirmation of a mid-day departure.”

  The expectations pressed down on them always. It was tiring. We are king and queen! Perhaps... She spoke before Benjamin could.

  “Cancel my driver. Send my regrets to all of my engagements for today.” The week. The month. The year, if Benjamin will make the moment last so long.

  His shock melted into a wicked smile. “And mine,” he added. “Tell the kitchens we will take our meals here today.”

  Alana’s pulse raced, and her head spun.

  “Yes, Majesty.” Jason left the door, his heels clicking smartly on the polished marble floors.

  Benjamin trailed a fingertip from her lower lip to her chin. “How I’ve wished to do this.”

  “This?” She tipped her chin up, shivering as his finger traced her throat, then dipped into her cleavage.

  “All of it. Throwing off the schedule.” He moved his hand to her breast—cupping her, circling her nipple, his gaze rapt—licking his lips. “All of this. Give me the whole day.”

  Her breathing became a detriment to speaking. “I’ll give you as long as you want.”

  Chapter Twelve

  “Dinner, Majesty,” a maid called out.

  Benjamin paused at the entrance to Alana’s body, meeting her pleading eyes. “Leave it,” he instructed. He’d ordered the same of lunch. Given the chance, he’d be doing the same tomorrow.

  She didn’t question him or warn that it would go cold if left too long. A moment later, she was gone.

  Alana tipped her hips back and forth, coating the crown of his cock in her musk and encouraging more of his own to flow.

  He understood the ache and agreed, but nothing would be rushed today. It had taken them more than an hour to dispense with her robe, and lunch had arrived while he’d been dining on her.

  Feeding each other lunch had led to roaming hands and mouths. The half-empty trays banished to the corridor, Benjamin had allowed Alana to remove his trousers. She’d intended to tease him up and take him in, but Benjamin wanted the need clawing at her as it was at himself. He’d climaxed against her, then used the slick to massage her to a second...or perhaps third climax of the day.

  Benjamin had delayed this moment for half the day, but he could wait no longer. It wasn’t a thrust into her but rather a slide. He reveled in each muscle clenching tight at him.

  Alana whimpered, her ragged nails scoring his back. Little gasps of pleasure wracked her body, and she rose against him. Approaching the pinnacle, she wiggled him in the final bit.

  “Oh Goddess, Benjamin.”

  He nodded and eased back, coming at her as slow as the first time. She trembled, every muscle taut. The achingly slow approach lasted only as far as her first scream. His eyes slid shut, and he took her fast and deep.

  Alana came apart around him, going wild in the release of an entire day of foreplay. It wasn’t the ‘sex game wild’ he’d come to nearly loathe; she was mindless in pleasure, venting honest sounds and half-sounds of joy without reason.

  He followed her over, filling her with a load unlike any he’d gifted her in years, a draining release that made his vision fuzz. His arms tightened around her at another thought.

  She wouldn’t have been wearing her barrier, and Alana hasn’t been out of my sight to insert it. She hasn’t demanded it, hasn’t even hinted at its absence. Aftershocks wracked him at that.

  Slow, deep kisses followed, and Benjamin stayed inside her until his waning cock could hold her body no longer. Alana let out a little cry when he slid free.

  For a moment, they stared at each other. Forcing speech after such a joining was difficult. When Benjamin managed it, his voice was rough.

  “I’ll be canceling my appointments for tomorrow,” he imparted.

  Alana nodded. “Cancel mine, as well.” A note of uncertainty crept into her voice. “If you wish—”

  “Do you wish it?”

  She hesitated, then nodded, watching him as if unsure of his responses and aims. He vowed to make himself clear.

  “You wish to know my mind,” he stated, taking the first step toward it.

  “It would put my mind at ease,” she offered carefully.

  “Do you prefer today to the life we’ve always lived at the palace?”

  Alana paused only a moment. “Yes.” The longing in her voice warmed his heart.

  Benjamin smiled widely. “Then tomorrow we start making a new life for ourselves...one we enjoy.”

  * * * *

  Alana stopped in the bathroom doorway, her brow furrowing in confusion, crossing her arms over her silk robe. “Benjamin? What are you doing?”

  In the strictest sense, she knew what he was doing. Her husband was standing at her open closet, moving along the row of clothing. Some pieces, he left on the bar; others were being deposited over a chair. In some manner, he was sorting her clothing...dressed only in a robe that matched hers.

  He turned to look at her, depositing another outfit on the chair. “Do you agree that we should both be happy with the changes we make?”

  Her heart pounded at such a bold suggestion. “I do.”

  Biting back the automatic response that it should only be so if Benjamin wished it was hard but not impossible. Terror at the possibility that he wouldn’t approve of her choices made her heart skitter. If he disagreed, she’d defer, she promised herself.

  He offered his hand and she rushed to take it. Benjamin turned her to the closet and guided her hand to the outfit at the furthest left. His breath warmed her ear.

  “I have been removing the outfits I do not care to see you in. I want you to do the same, Alana.”

  “The same?”

  “Keep only those you care most for, the ones you find comfortable...and the ones that make you feel as you did yesterday and this morning.”

  Her mouth went dry. Being nude or dressed in a silk sheath made her feel as she had since this change in Benjamin. “I have need of holiday attire,” she countered softly, tensing for his frustration at being corrected.

  Benjamin edged around her, drawing Alana’s chin up. “You do, but they needn’t be what you own now. We’ll be filling your closet again with clothing more to your tastes. Do you wish dresses like Amber’s?”

  “Is that what you prefer?” The question was out before she could censor herself. She was deferring to him again.

  “That was not the question,” he replied patiently.

  “But...” How to phrase it? “We must both be happy with the choices,” she reminded him.

  “True enough. We have to find middle ground. Do you care for Amber’s style of dress?”

  “Not particularly,” she admitted. “It’s well enough for Amber, but for me...”

  “Then it isn’t an option.” With that, he turned back to his work, removing two of the next three outfits and setting them aside.

  Alana turned her attention back to the closet, considering the first piece. It was an evening dress, cut low between the breasts. It was a perfectly serviceable piece.

  Benjamin appeared at her side. “What do you think?” he asked.

  “I suppose I’ll keep it.” She waited for his reaction to it.

  “Do you love it? Or do you accept it?”

  Her head spun. “Accept it...I guess.”

  His arm circled her waist, bringing her closer to his body. “What would you change?”

  She considered it, then pulled another dress down to show him. “The skirt is fine, but I prefer this bodice.”

  Benjamin rewarded her with a teasing kiss that left her breathless. “Save them to show the clothier, then discard them. Only save what you love, Alana.”

  They went back to their work. At the first dress she rejected outright, Alana slid a glance at him. Benjamin smiled and waved her on.

  In the end, only a fifth of her original wardrobe still hung, and almost a third of them remained to be templates for new pieces or to be altered. Alana stared at the pile of di
scarded clothing in shock.

  “What is it?” Benjamin asked.

  “Proof of how much we both hated what we’d crafted,” she postulated.

  He chuckled. “Indeed. But now we can make something we don’t loathe. Starting with...”

  Benjamin reached into the pocket of his robe, drawing out her barrier. He held it between them. “I notice you haven’t been wearing it.”

  Alana swallowed hard, panning her gaze from the barrier to his face, desperate to know his mind. Was he angry that she’d chanced another pregnancy?

  His expression gave no clue. “I know what I would choose to do, but it isn’t my choice alone.”

  Words stuck in her throat. “W-what would you choose, Benjamin?”

  “What would you?”

  Alana took the barrier, trying to still her shaking hands. She hesitated and then tossed it on the pile of clothes to be removed.

  Benjamin pulled her to his body, his cock lengthening against her. “Goddess, yes,” he breathed. “When you didn’t insist on it, I’d hoped...”

  His mouth covered hers, and he parted her lips. Alana encouraged him, his acceptance a heady drug. Benjamin didn’t rush her to bed. He held her, tracing her curves through the silk.

  “After lunch,” he breathed into her lips.

  She nodded, though she already ached to finish.

  “After lunch, we’ll do the same for your bureaus.”

  Then his hands were at her waist, undoing the tie on her robe.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Benjamin played with a lock of Alana’s unbound hair, working at her look of contemplation. “What are you thinking of changing?” he asked.

  Whatever it was, he’d agree. The boxes of clothing, beauty products, and shoes they’d sent off had lightened Alana’s mood considerably. With every item she chose to shed, she’d become more the woman he’d fallen in love with. She was relaxed, lounging nude with him as he’d once dreamed she would.

  They hadn’t stirred from this room for three days. They’d even had the clothier fit Alana in her sitting room, and they’d ordered an outfit from Benjamin’s rooms to accomplish it.