A Valiant Prince: The Poisoned Pawn Duet Part II Page 6

  “Don’t worry, she doesn’t know anything. My nana just saw you sitting here and figured out you were with us, so she wants you to come in and eat with us,” I explain.

  “Oh, uh, I guess. I mean, if you want us to,” Pete says, looking at Hendrick and Lucas.

  “Yeah, sure,” I say as I turn and head back inside. I hold open the door and the three of them file out of the car and trudge up the front porch steps.

  “Oh, good, your friends are joining us,” my grandmother says. She stands and introduces herself, and then my grandfather comes in and starts telling war stories. Apparently, Hendrick isn’t opposed to talking about the army with my pops, because he launches into a long story of a mission he was on in Afghanistan. The story merges into dinnertime and pretty soon we’re all sitting around the dining room table being regaled by Hendrick and my pops swapping stories of gunfire and bombs.

  By the time Nana pulls out a pie and begins serving us, I’m leaning back in my chair, taking in the most unusual scene at the table where I spent most of my childhood suppers. I breathe in the familiar scent of my grandmother’s cooking and a hint of tobacco smoke from my pops’s pipe that he tries to hide from Nana. Nothing about this room has changed in the last twenty years. The maple wood paneling that is neatly cleaned every week. The old oak table with matching chairs that’s seen more family meals than I can count. The old blue checkered curtains that haven’t been in fashion ever, but that Nana loves, so they remain. The chandelier that came with the house. Even the old paintings that hang on either side of the room are the same ones that have been there since I can remember. The matching oak cupboard that houses the floral china set my grandparents got when they were married, still has a drawing I made in the second grade, stuck against one of the glass panes of the cabinet’s doors. It’s comforting in a way, that this small part of the world has remained unscathed, unchanged.

  Even the plates that we eat from are the same ones we had when I was a child. I look up to find my grandmother studying me. I give her a small smile. She taps her nose, and I sigh. When I was a kid, I would always confide in her, no matter what. She could sense something was up the second I walked in the door. She always waited, gave me my space until after dinner when she’d tap her nose and head out to the back porch to sit on her swing. That was my cue to follow her and spill it, as she would say.

  She gets up and everyone promptly tells her that they will clear the table.

  “Well, I can’t turn down such a wonderful group of young people,” she says with a laugh. “I’m just going to go enjoy my swing.” Pops gives me a grin because this means he can sneak off to the front porch to smoke his pipe. I laugh at his childlike joy at this simple pleasure that is so bad for him, yet I can’t bring myself to stop him.

  I take my plate into the kitchen where Anna is at the sink starting to wash dishes. “Go talk with your grandmother,” she says to me. I want to ask her how she knows that’s what I want to do, but I don’t. Instead, I walk out back and take a seat next to my grandmother.

  “I like her,” Nana says.

  “So do I,” I admit.

  “Uh huh,” she says. “So, you gonna spill it?”

  I sigh. “Nana, it’s…complicated,” I say.

  “Eddie, nothing is complicated unless you make it so,” she says to me.

  I turn to her. “What do you know about my father?” I ask her.

  She raises an eyebrow. “So, you found him,” she says.

  “Found who, Nana?” I prod.

  Now she sighs. “I didn’t mean to pry. Your mother kept that part of her life a secret from us. I never asked why. I only assumed it was too painful for her to speak about, but one day I saw some papers on her desk. And a photograph of a king. I only recognized him because his father had recently died, and he had just inherited the throne. I asked her about him, but she blew it off, said he was a story she had worked on. Only, that king had your eyes. I knew then. I figured they had good reasons to keep you hidden here,” she says as she looks up at me. “I suspect you have good reasons to come here with a princess and security guards. I only hope this doesn’t mean that you are in danger,” she says with a frown. Nana is still beautiful even at eighty years old. The lines on her face may be a bit more prominent and her blonde hair is now a beautiful silver, but her eyes still twinkle when she speaks, and she moves with the grace of someone half her age.

  I put her hands in mine, tracing the familiar lines of them just as I did as a child. Because it’s Nana, her knowledge doesn’t surprise me. “It’s complicated, Nana. Does Pops know?” I ask her.

  She shakes her head. “Pops wouldn’t handle all this very well. He’d be worried sick about you,” she says. I raise my hand to touch the soft skin of her cheek.

  “Nana, I promise, one day soon, I’ll explain everything, but right now, please keep this to yourself,” I say.

  “So, you are in trouble, then,” she replies, her eyes aren’t twinkling any longer, but show true concern.

  “I’ll be fine. I mean look in there,” I say, nodding to the kitchen window where Pete, Hendrick, and Lucas are drying dishes and putting them away. “I have my own army.”

  She squeezes my hand, stopping me from my absent-minded tracing.

  “Logan, be careful, please,” she says. Something in her tone tells me there’s more she knows or suspects that she’s not saying. I don’t pry though, I decide if she needed me to know, then she’d say it. Nana isn’t one to hold back if it’s not necessary.

  “Well, then, now that we got that out of the way, tell me more about Anna,” she says, as she leans her head on my shoulder and begins to rock the swing. I grin and lean my head on hers as we stare out at the backyard. It hasn’t changed at all. I can smell the lilac bushes and hear the frogs and crickets chirping.

  “I think I love her,” I admit. “Is that weird?”

  Nana laughs softly, a laugh of a woman that’s seen it all, experienced a lifetime of love.

  “No, Eddie. After eating one meal with her, I can see why you’d fall for her so fast. She’s delightful, nothing like what I’d think a princess would be. And she’s very beautiful,” Nana says.

  “Yes, she is,” I agree.

  “Well, I feel like you have a lot to figure out. Just remember that I’m here if you need to talk,” she says, getting to her feet and walking back inside after leaning down to kiss my cheek. I stay there on the swing, surrounded by familiarity. I’m so engrossed in my thoughts, I don’t notice I have company until the screen door slams shut, alerting me to Anna’s presence. I turn and look at her as she walks over to me and takes the seat vacated by Nana.

  “You, OK?” she asks as she turns to look up at me.

  “I’m fine. There’s just a lot to process,” I say.

  “You can say that again,” she huffs.

  “There’s a lot to process,” I repeat. She slaps me on my chest but laughs. Then, she wraps her arms around my waist and snuggles against me.

  “I love your grandparents,” she says quietly.

  “They like you too,” I say to her.

  She’s quiet for a long moment and so am I. “It’s nice back here,” she says as though she’s taken the minute to consider the serenity of the backyard.

  “It is,” I say to her. All of a sudden, she pops her head up and looks out into the woods.

  “Is that a swing?” she asks excitedly.

  I laugh. “Uh, yep,” I say. She’s off running toward it before I finish my answer. I follow her and watch as she sits down on the old wooden swing that’s tied to a tree branch.

  “Push me?” she asks as she grips the ropes.

  “As you wish,” I say. She grins, and I give her a little push.

  “Harder,” she says.

  I push her harder, and she goes sailing through the air. In her dress, in the moonlight, she looks magical, like a fairy flying across the night sky. She leans her head back and her hair falls down, blowing in the wind. I can’t help myself. I grab
the rope when she comes back and stop the swing. She leans her head back, looking up at me.

  “Hey!” she says as the perfect pout forms on her lips. I lean down and kiss her.

  “What’s that for?” she murmurs against my lips.

  “For being so god damn beautiful,” I say to her before kissing her once more. She puts her head back down and lays it against my chest.

  “I can’t believe it’s you,” she whispers. I lean her head back again so I can see her.

  “The odds are pretty crazy,” I reply.

  “The craziest,” she says as she pulls me down for another kiss. She sighs with contentment and leans back against me.

  “What are we going to do?” she ponders.

  “We are going to say goodnight to my grandparents, and then head back to the house,” I say.

  Chapter Seven

  Pops greets us at the back door.

  “You found the swing, huh?” he asks, motioning out to the yard with a nod of his head. He smells of pipe smoke and butterscotch candies, and a hint of the aftershave he’s used my entire life.

  “Yes. You have a beautiful yard,” Anna says to him.

  “I’m glad it’s getting some use,” he replies. “Will you come back again this week for another meal?” he asks us. “You can bring your friends with you,” he adds.

  I clap him on the back. “Absolutely, Pops,” I say to him.

  “Good, good. Nana will love it,” he says. Anna gives him a kiss and hug, and I swear the old man blushes.

  “We’ll be back over soon,” I say to him as I walk to the door. Nana comes down the stairs and gives us both a hug, and then forces Pete, Hendrick, and Lucas to hug her as well. They look a little ridiculous, big burly men leaning over a little old lady, but it makes me actually like them…maybe, a little.

  Pete gives me a look as we walk out. I try to talk them into letting me drive separately. Lucas had driven a separate car from the airport.

  “We’ll be fine. I know these roads way better than you do,” I point out.

  “No way,” he scoffs.

  “Fine,” I grumble with a sigh as I open Anna’s door to let her inside the car. I get in and we head out of my grandparents’ tree-lined-street neighborhood.

  “It’s very…picturesque here,” Anna comments as we wait at a stoplight. “Very…Americana.”

  “I guess,” I say. “It’s a pretty typical suburb here in the States.”

  “You’re lucky to have them,” she adds. I place my hand on her leg and give it a squeeze.

  “I know,” I answer. Pete drives us through the distantly familiar streets. I recognize some buildings but not others. There’re a few reminders of my childhood. I point out my elementary school. The church my grandparents go to for certain holidays. The seasonal ice cream stand my friends and I would bike to when we were young. The old library where I used to lose myself in comic books. The old main street that looks somewhat the same with a few new stores.

  Anna sits quietly and listens to my tales as I take her on a trip down memory lane. “It sounds like the perfect childhood,” she says as we drive past the security gate into the community where we are staying.

  I contemplate that for a moment. “It was a good childhood. Honestly, I can’t really complain. My mom was a little…hyper-focused on her job, but I never questioned whether she loved me. I didn’t know my dad back then, but my grandparents were the most loving, caring guardians I could ask for,” I say. “I did all the things I wanted, little league, bike rides, tree forts, soccer, and all the kids loved hanging out at our house because Nana always made cookies.”

  Anna laughs. “Sounds like Tessa and her cookies,” she says.

  “See, our childhoods weren’t that different,” I say to her.

  “We both lost our mothers,” she says quietly.

  “True, although I was pretty much an adult,” I say to her.

  “It’s still tough,” she replies as she grips my hand in hers.

  I shrug as we pull into the driveway. Lucas pulls in behind us, and we wait for him to check the house. Pete had gone over our security protocol about ten times in the car on the way from the airport and then another ten times on our way here. We wait in the car, and when Pete gives the all clear we head inside.

  “We’re off to bed,” I say to them.

  “Goodnight,” Hendrick says. “I like your grandparents, by the way.”

  I laugh. “You and everyone else who’s ever met them,” I reply as I walk down the hall to the master suite. I shut the door and turn to see the best sight I’ve seen in days. Anna, naked, lying on the bed.

  “Hello,” I say to her as I lock the door and saunter toward her.

  “Hi,” she says almost shyly.

  “Ready for bed?” I tease.

  She crooks her finger at me, and I crawl up on the bed, encasing her between my legs.

  “Does the princess need something?” I ask as I lean down and run my tongue over her erect nipple.

  “Y-yes,” she stammers on a breath.

  I slowly trace my finger up her leg until I reach the hot wetness that I’ve been missing for the past thirty-six hours. I run my finger up and down, tracing her clit, before sinking it inside her. She whimpers and thrusts against my finger.

  “I need to taste you, Princess,” I say as I crawl back down her body so I can run my tongue along her sex. She tastes of Susanna, flowers, honey, and a little salty. I make love to her with my mouth, my tongue, my lips. I unleash my cock and stroke myself, needing more, needing her wrapped around me.

  She’s thrashing on the bed, and I know she’s close, when I feel her muscles begin to quiver around my finger, I pull it out and thrust my cock inside of her. She lets out a small cry, and I cover her mouth with my own, letting her taste herself on my tongue. My thrusts come fast and hard. I need a release, I’m chasing it, and she’s right there with me. Our bodies smacking against each other and making a sucking wet noise in the otherwise quiet room.

  I could lose myself in this woman. Her pussy trembles around my cock and the pulsing muscles drive me farther toward the edge of the cliff. I start to lose control, my thrusts becoming deep and uneven. She grips my shoulders tightly, and her head falls back. I look down at her as she squeezes her eyes shut.

  “Look at me, baby. I want to watch you come,” I say to her. Those giant dark blue eyes pop open and that’s my undoing. I feel my cock swell inside her, her walls tighten around me and squeeze every last drop of come from my dick as she silently cries out her release. I slow my thrusts, trying to prolong the pleasure for both of us. My body shakes with the last pulses of my orgasm, my balls so tight I’m sure they are up inside my body.

  I stop moving and look down at her sated face. I lean down and kiss her, slowly, gently. I pull out of her, and she winces a bit. The caveman in me hopes she feels the remnants of our lovemaking tomorrow. I shake my head at my ridiculous alpha thoughts.

  “What?” she asks, rolling onto her side and looking up at me.

  “You make me think crazy things, Anna,” I say to her.

  “You make me think crazy things too, Logan,” she says with a small grin. I lean down again and kiss her.

  “Shower and bed?” I ask her.

  “Really, bed?” she asks as she gets up and struts toward the bathroom. “I was thinking more like round two followed by round three.”

  I smirk and follow her. She’s already got the shower going and the steam is fogging up the mirrors, it’s like an optical illusion as I see her fuzzy reflection. I turn the corner and walk into the shower, wrapping my arms around her and kissing her neck. I give it a little bite, and she squeals.

  “Behave,” she says, turning in my arms and wrapping hers around my neck.

  “With you? Never,” I say as I lick at her lips, encouraging her to open them for my exploration. She obliges, and I get lost in her mouth for a few minutes until I feel her grinding against my leg.

  “Does my princess need relief?” I
murmur.

  “Please,” she says on a sigh.

  I lift her up, and she wraps her legs around me, guiding my once-again steel erection into her tight wetness. Once I’m embedded inside her, I push her against the tile wall of the shower and take control. She holds on to me for dear life as I slam into her over and over. Her nails rake down my back, and it only urges me on toward my release, but I want hers first. I grip her breast with one hand and support her with the other as I start losing control. I pinch her nipple, and she explodes on me, her body violently shaking as she cries out my name. I keep thrusting, and when her pussy clamps down on the head of my cock one last time, I feel my release coat her insides, her juices mixing and sliding down my cock and balls, along with the hot water.

  I set her down on the floor gently, letting her get her bearings. She sways for a moment, grips my arm and turns the water to a cooler temperature. She grabs the soap and begins to wash me, tracing the outline of each muscle on my body. By the time she’s at my cock, I’m hard again.

  “Again?” she asks coyly.

  I give her a look that says not to play with fire, but my little princess is fierce, and fire doesn’t scare her. For a split second, I shiver at that thought because it’s too true.

  “What’s wrong?” she says on a frown. I shake my head and cup her jaw.

  “Nothing, baby,” I lie, and she sinks down to her knees and takes me in her mouth. I groan. I want to taste her too.

  “Anna?” I groan.

  “What?” she answers, letting my cock pop out of her mouth.

  “Do you trust me?” I ask her.

  She looks up at me under heavily hooded lids, and it’s the fucking sexiest thing I’ve seen.

  “Yes,” she whispers. I grin.

  “Lean over onto the bench. I’m going to pull you up my body upside down,” I explain.

  She frowns, confused, and then when she realizes what I want to do her eyes go wide.

  “Will that…can we do…are you sure?” she stammers.

  My grin intensifies over her innocence and concern.

  “Susanna, you weigh nothing. Trust me, it will work,” I say as I urge her to bend over with a press of my hand. She complies and looks back over her shoulder. That look has my cock hardening to epic levels. I pull her legs up and hook them under my arms and over my shoulders. Her juicy pussy is right there, right where I want it. I feel her hands grip my hips as her mouth envelops my dick again. I groan and lick her pussy. At this angle, I can feast on her and I do, sucking, nipping, and fucking her with my tongue. Her velvety mouth returns the favor. After a few minutes, she gets bold and removes one hand from my hip, wrapping it around the base of my cock that won’t fit in her mouth. I hear her wince and I know she’s putting too much pressure on her injured arm.