Prince Piercing By Lisa Cartwright
Chapter 1
You would think being the daughter of a Duchess I would be used to being almost royalty, but these days almost no one seems to think royal people matter. Which I was okay with. I had just finished college, and I was content to sit around and ride my horses, go sailing and spend time volunteering at the orphanages. Then my mother had to ruin my life plans. She met a man, who wasn't so bad, but then the bad news came along.
I met him. Prince Rupert Ferdinand Markham. The third. Oh, he gets really upset if you forget the third. He's next in line for the throne of this small island off of Greece. My mother intends to marry his father, and didn't even ask me how I felt about becoming a Princess. I was perfectly happy to live in England as the daughter of a Duchess. I was the prim and proper kind of girl, at least on the surface. This Prince had his tongue pierced and when he met me, he had insinuated things he could do with his tongue that would have made a seasoned prostitute blush. I swear he delighted in torturing me. He had spent the entire weekend following me around, trying to talk to me and wouldn't take a hint when I wanted him to get lost.
I had no piercings, no tattoos. I wore pink, my skirts always went to my knees, I wore sensible pumps and I had been trained to do makeup so it was subtle and flattering to my features. There was nothing wrong with dressing the way I did. He had called me a fuddy-duddy. Who even uses those words in polite society?
I cannot believe I am about to become his step-sister. He really needs to stop flirting with me, it's highly inappropriate. My mother is sending me out to the house for him to show me around and get us settled. I hate that she's making me leave my precious England for this small island that relies on tourists to keep it afloat. It's not even like a real kingdom.
Whatever, if Rupert's dad makes my mum happy, then I guess I'll find a way to co-exist peacefully with him. Assuming he keeps his tongue to himself. I won't be held responsible for what I do next if he tries to kiss me again.
I've lost many nights sleep over this so-called Prince. More like a misbehaved heathen who has no manners, and his father finds his antics amusing. He is tall, dark and handsome; with eyes that are so blue they remind me of the sea. But that's beside the point.
Who needs blue eyes and a silver tongue like the devil when the man's a womanizer, a Prince to boot, and about to be my step brother? It's just wrong. I can't let myself go there. My mother would be so embarrassed. Or, at least I think she would be, I haven't quite told her yet about my conversations with Rupert. I feel like a teenager sneaking away to be with a boy in a janitor's closet every time I get around him. He makes my heart pound and my palms sweaty and he starts whispering about how his tongue-stud has a button to turn it to a vibrating toy and I walked out on him with knees like jelly when I pictured his tongue touching delicate, exciting places with that long metal stick of his.
I hate that man. He made me lose sleep, he made my palms sweat, and I can't stop thinking of what would happen if I ended up alone with him. It would be absolutely indecent.
Maybe the sex would be amazing, but what about the scandal? The risk of a broken heart? A man like him doesn't pick a woman to keep her. He trades her in for the next new toy and I'm just the shiny object who won't give him what he wants.
He's made it his mission to conquer me and my mother just threw me to the lion's den.
Chapter 2
"Thank you Lara for going and staying there. This will look good for the King and his son." My mother was staring at me packing my bags and I sighed. I really needed to fess up about Rupert and my growing obsession with him and his tongue ring.
"Mom, I hope this man makes you happy. But after the wedding, I think I'll be returning to Europe. I have a flat, and I know you told me to lease it, but I think I want to live here." I tried to break it to her gently.
"Why? It will look better for us as a new family if you are there in support of us."
"Mom, Rupert's going to be my new step brother, the chemistry between us will create a scandal that will embarrass you and the King. Believe me when I say it's better if I don't stay." It sort of just spewed out, not exactly how I intended it. Her eyes got all big and then she started to laugh.
My mom threw her arms around my shoulder and squeezed me. "Honey, you are grown adults. If you think there's a romance brewing there, I can see why you'd be attracted. If I was twenty years younger I might be chasing after his son instead of the King myself. The apple didn't fall far from the tree with that one. But Rupert's a good man too. If you like him, I won't be offended by you seeing where it goes."
"Mom! He's going to be my step-brother, which just will look so wrong to so many people." I tried to point out; I was not expecting her to encourage me to go after Rupert. My mind was officially boggled.
"Honey, you were not raised together; you didn't even meet for the first time until after we announced our engagement. No one is going to care, at least not much if you two get involved. There are no blood relations." My mom was logical, I'd give her that.
"So you don't really mind?" I asked her cautiously, my stomach clenched as I pictured stroking my hands on his face, his tongue ring touching my skin and I shivered and closed my eyes for a moment to take a deep breath.
"Honey, if Rupert were to make you as happy as his father is making me, why would I deny you that same happiness?"