Pr*ck Charming

  We tumbled into the bed, arms around each other, legs tangling, and lips hungrily pressing together.

  “This thing with your father…”

  I winced, pushing my face into his chest. “I know,” I whispered. “I’m so sorry that this is all… well, you know.”

  “I know,” he murmured, kissing my head. “But you need to know, this is going to get ugly. When they find out about us,” he growled. “They’re going to use you to try and hurt me, and you’re going to get hurt too.”

  “Well I’m not going anywhere, if that’s what you were getting at.”

  He chuckled, kissing my forehead again as he wrapped his arms around me.

  “Damn right you’re not.”

  “Oh, am I your prisoner?”

  “You did tell Lyle and the security detail back in Paris that I was kidnapping you. I could follow through with that if you wanted.”

  I grinned, kissing his chest. “I mean if you want to tie me up and steal me away to have your way with me, I’m not exactly going to struggle.”

  He laughed as he held me tight. “I was going to ask again what happened to that sweet little thing I met in Paris, but I guess we already know.”

  “She married you?”

  “Damn right she did.”

  Chapter 15

  Faith

  I almost had a heart attack as I went barreling around the corner and right into someone. We both shrieked, both jumping about a foot in the air before suddenly, we blinked and focused on each other.

  “Callie!” My heart raced a million miles an hour as I caught my breath. “You scared the shit out of me!”

  “Well what are you doing here?” she blurted out, smoothing out her cocktail hour dress. “This whole wing is sealed off for the wedding!”

  “I could ask you the same thing!” I tossed back.

  We eyed each other, both of us red-faced, flushed, and doing our best to hide big, dopey grins.

  “Hang on,” Callie peered at me suspiciously. “What are you doing over here, running around looking all flustered?”

  I mean, I was flustered, and I was flushed. It’d be easy to blame that on having just bumped right into her, but really, it was because I’d been on my way back to the reception area after running off with Cole to have that round of mind-blowing sex. I knew my parents would have probably heard about me ditching Prince Thomas though, and I knew there was going to be hell to pay. I just had to get back to smooth it over before Cole and I could figure out what the hell we were going to do.

  “What, me?” I croaked out. “Nothing!” I looked at her again.

  And then suddenly, as I looked at the flush on her face and the way she was playing with her hands, something clicked.

  “Wait, what are you…” I chewed on my lip. No, it was a ridiculous thought. I mean, Callie and I were the good ones of our little friend group. If it’d been Riley or Lola I’d bumped into looking like Callie did right there, I’d have just flat out asked if they’d been sneaking around with someone. But Callie?

  I mean, it was her wedding day. And I don’t mean that in this scandalous way, I mean that in the sense that even if this wedding was a total sham, Callie had her mind set on going through with it and marrying Milton. Because marrying that troll meant getting her kingdom’s debts paid off.

  “Forget it, never mind. Just a stupid crazy thought.”

  “Ask,” she said quietly.

  I looked at her curiously. “Ask what?”

  “What you were about to.”

  I raked my teeth over my lip, mulling it over before I finally just let it out there “I was going to ask if you were sneaking around with someone,” I laughed. “But I mean, c’mon it’s—”

  “Yes.”

  She whispered the word quietly, and my eyes went wide.

  “Callie!”

  “Oh please, you’re going to tell me you weren’t just somewhere with someone?”

  I flushed bright red, trying to hide my grin.

  “Maybe.”

  Callie grinned right back at me, hugging herself gleefully.

  “Okay, on the count of three, we’ll both just blurt it out, alright?”

  I nodded, my mind whirling. Hang on, was I really about to just tell my friend that I’d gone out and married Prince Cole?

  “One, two, three—”

  “King Hayden.”

  Shit.

  Callie blurted it out before I could even finish thinking it through in my own head. But oh had she said it, and my jaw dropped.

  Whoa.

  “Faith!” she hissed at me. “Come on! Are you serious right now? You said—”

  “Callie!” I blinked, shaking my head as I stared at her. Okay, forget me having had a drunk wedding to Cole. Callie was about to run off from her own wedding with one of his friends.

  “You’re getting married today!”

  “Yeah...” Her lips tightened. “But not to King Milton.”

  “Wow, that’s….”

  “Pretty crazy?”

  “Well, yeah,” I laughed. “But also really freaking amazing?” I snorted. “I never pegged you for a runaway bride. I mean, wow, this is huge.”

  “I don’t love Milton, Faith!” Her shoulders slumped. “And if I’m going to marry someone, I mean…”

  “And you love Hayden?”

  She nodded quietly. “I know we just met, but he’s—”

  “I get it,” I blurted out. “Believe me, I get really, really get it.” I laughed nervously. “Even if everyone’s going to say he’s wrong for you, or if it’s scandalous, or if you know it’s going to freak everyone out—”

  I quickly shut my mouth, realizing I’d pretty obviously moved on from talking about her to talking about me.

  Callie grinned at me. “Um, got something you want to share?”

  I could feel the heat creeping over my face, but I shook my head. Later. For right now, this was all about her.

  “Later, okay?” I whispered quickly. “But tell me, when are you running off with King Hayden?”

  “Soon,” she breathed, her face flushed. “Really, really soon.”

  I squeezed her as I grabbed her suddenly, yanking her into a big hug as we both jumped.

  “Oh my God, you’re getting married!” I whispered gleefully. “For real now!”

  She beamed at me and I felt my heart soar.

  “What do you need me to do?”

  She laughed nervously. “Well, there’s going to be a tiny bit of trouble.”

  “Like when you don’t walk down the aisle and everyone freaks the hell out? That kind of trouble?”

  I winked at her and she rolled her eyes.

  “Yeah, that.”

  “Well whatever you need, I’m here for you. And if I could find Lola and Riley, I know they’d do whatever you needed too. Probably way crazier stuff than I could ever do.”

  She laughed. “Well, first, I just need your help getting back into my wedding dress.”

  Wait, what?.

  I looked at her curiously. “Wait, exactly how soon is soon with you and Hayden getting hitched?”

  “Umm..” She bit her lip, her eyes sparkling as the blush crept over her face.

  “Like thirty minutes.”

  My jaw was still dropped as I flung my arms around her and squeezed, giggling in happiness for her.

  “Oh, and Faith?”

  I pulled back, holding her hands as I beamed at her. “Yeah?”

  “I need you to do something else for me.”

  “Anything!”

  Callie grinned. “Would you be my maid of honor-slash-witness?”

  Yeah, forget being quiet, even in the supposedly blocked off wing. Because both of us shrieked for joy as I flung my arms around my friend.

  Chapter 16

  Cole

  “Cole.”

  I whirled at the familiar voice to see my friend Sven coming around the corner. I nodded at him as he approached.

  “Where the hell have you been,
man?” I raised a brow at him. I’d had a drink with him, Hayden, and Xavier a little earlier, before all the wedding festivities had started, but I hadn’t seen him at all after that. Him or Hayden, come to think of it. I mean, none of us had any real vested interest in even being at the wedding aside from the open bar. And I was pretty damn curious where he’d gone off to.

  “Nowhere,” my gruff, man-of-few-words friend muttered.

  My eyes dropped to his shirt collar, and I grinned. “Yeah well ‘Nowhere’ wears a pretty nice shade of lipstick, pal.”

  Sven scowled at me, but I could see him trying to hold back a grin.

  “You gonna tell me now, or are you going to make me liquor you up later and trick it out of—”

  “Look, Cole, we don’t—” he glanced at his watch. “We don’t have a ton of time.”

  Instantly, I was on alert.

  “What’s going on?” I growled, tensing and glancing around.

  Sven blew air through his lips slowly. “We, uh, we got a little bit of a situation.”

  “How about we skip the riddles?”

  He grinned. “Enjoying this wedding?”

  “I’ve barely attended any of the reception so far, but, sure?”

  “Well, get ready to leave it. Soon.”

  “The fuck is going on?”

  “Hayden’s marrying Princess Callie and running off with her.”

  My brows shot up as my jaw about his the floor. “Holy shit.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Hold on, he’s marrying Princess Callie? On her fucking wedding day to Milton?”

  “Have you ever known Hayden to be the subtle type?”

  I whistled lowly, grinning. “Fuck, man. When?”

  “Soon. Really soon. I’m actually going to meet him now.” He glanced at his watch again. “Think you can find Xavier?”

  “Definitely.”

  “Good, let him know. Hayden’s got a helicopter on the way to get us out of here, because this whole palace is going to go nuclear when Milton finds out.”

  “No shit.”

  “Alright, I gotta run.” Sven raised one brow at me. “By the way.” He grinned. “I’m not the only one with lipstick on my collar, dick.”

  Holy shit.

  Yeah, it was about to go down, and hard. I mean, I’d pulled some crazy stuff in my day, but stealing a bride on her wedding day? I grinned as I stormed down the hallway, heading for the ballroom. Yeah, this was going to be good.

  I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and scrolled to Faith’s number.

  Where’d you get off to? Got some crazy news for you.

  Her reply came instantly, a picture. I opened it and immediately grinned at the sight of Hayden and Callie standing in front of a priest, with Sven off behind them.

  That kind of crazy news? ;)

  Well, wow. I tapped out a response.

  So when should we burst their bubble that we beat them to it?

  LOL. How about we let them get married first. GTG, I’m maid of honor.

  I grinned as I thumbed a quick reply.

  I’m going to be looking for you later.

  Her reply came quick.

  Check your coat pocket.

  I frowned quizzically as I glanced down and put my hand into my pocket.

  …I was hard in seconds, even before I pulled my hand out holding Faith’s panties.

  She sent one more text, and this time, I laughed out loud.

  8===D

  Chapter 17

  Cole

  I bumped into Xavier brooding to one side of the main ballroom about ten minutes later.

  “Guessing by that look on your face that you heard?”

  “Yep.” He whistled under his breath.

  “From Sven?”

  “Something like that.”

  “Well, looks like this wedding is about to get a lot more interesting.”

  He grinned at me. “So where is he?”

  “Getting married.”

  His eyes went wide. “Fuck, now?”

  “Apparently. He flew in that priest that was friends with his dad and everything. Faith said Sven’s there too—”

  Shit.

  I shut my damn mouth, but obviously not soon enough as I saw Xavier’s brows go up

  “Cole—”

  “I am really not looking for a lecture,” I growled, glaring at him.

  “Well I’m fresh out of lectures, dickhead,” he grinned back at me. “King Alphonse,” he whistled. “Not exactly a soft guy.”

  And hell, Xavier didn’t even know the half of it. After all, I’d been keeping my friends in the dark about the whole thing with Alphonse, Homer, and Rodney trying to take me to the Royal Courts.

  “You going to be okay there?”

  “With her?” My jaw clenched, and Xavier nodded.

  “Yeah,” I growled, a fierceness flashing over me. I sighed. “Look, man. I know what people are going to say, and I know there are a million reasons for a guy like me with my fucking past to just stay the fuck away from someone like her, but—”

  Xavier chuckled deeply as he clapped me on the shoulder. “Trust me, you don’t have to explain shit to me in that department, man.”

  I grinned. Yeah, I knew what he was talking about. Or who he was talking about, I should say.

  “Love, huh?” I shook my head. “Who the hell would have thought you and I would ever be stumbling into that, huh?” I winked at my buddy. “Well, me maybe, but you?”

  Xavier flipped me off, and the both of us laughed before suddenly, a strange guy in a suit with slicked back hair came up behind him.

  “Duke Danes?” He stuck his hand out to a bemused looked Xavier.

  “My name is Robert Tile.”

  “Yes?”

  The guy smiled the kind of smile that set me on edge, and I glared at him over my friend’s shoulder.

  “I represent your ex-wife, Shana.”

  Aww, fuck.

  I watched it like a train wreck at first. Xavier’s shitty ex — the one who’d gone to jail for her involvement in a terrorist plot to blow up a damn children’s hospital to push a political agenda, was suing him.

  You can not make this shit up.

  “For what?!” Xavier snarled.

  “I think you know what.”

  “Enlighten me!”

  Xavier’s voice rose, and more than a few people in the ballroom around us started to turn their attention towards us.

  Shit. I felt for the guy, but attention was not what we needed. Not when our friend was minutes away from marrying the bride of the wedding and running off with her. I put my hand on my friend’s shoulder to hold him back as he took a step towards the asshole grinning at him.

  “You want me to say it out loud?” the guy weaseled out, this smug fucking look on his face that made him especially punchable.

  Xavier’s shoulders tensed, but slowly, he glanced back at me. His eyes met mine, and he nodded slowly, before he turned back to the guy.

  “Go for it.”

  “You sure about that, Duke? This is pretty scandalous—”

  “I said yes,” Xavier growled.

  “It involves the Princess Lola? And yourself?” Robert made a tsking sound as he shook his head.

  Oh, fuck this.

  “Hey, I’ve got an idea!” I shoved past Xavier and jabbed my finger into the guy’s face as the rage spiked in me. No one fucked with my friends like that.

  “How about you go fuck the hell off, right now,” I hissed.

  The man chuckled, holding his hands up as he grinned away like a fucking chump. “Oh, I’m not judging.” He turned and winked at Xavier.

  “I mean the Princess is one hot little thing, now isn’t sh—”

  Xavier roared, lunging past me for the guy. I spat out a string of swears, grabbing my buddy by the collar and hauling him back from the guy.

  “Easy,” I hissed in Xavier’s ear. “Let’s not get kicked out quite yet.”

  “C’mon, hit me!” Robert spat. It
’d have been a tough-looking move if the guy didn’t look like he was this close to shitting his pants.

  “You son of a bitch,” Xavier snarled at him, his hands clenched into fists, but his lunging ceasing.

  When I watched the guy yanking out a stack of surveillance photos from his briefcase, my heart sank.

  Fuck, these bastards were really laying into our friend. I knew there was a lot of bad blood with his ex, but this was getting insane. The guy shoved the photos at Xavier, but I think we both already knew what they were.

  …Shots of him and Lola. Nothing vulgar, but ones of them kissing, of him holding her close. I felt the rage well up inside again. I knew now what it felt like to be fucked with when it came to the woman you loved. I’d felt it about Faith when I’d been told the best course of action would be to leave her alone. To annul our marriage and walk away from her. With Xavier, they were telling him the same thing.

  But fuck that. So, he’d fallen for someone he shouldn’t have. Yeah, that was a familiar tune alright.

  “That right there, Duke,” Robert hissed, “is all the proof me and my team need to sue the fuck out of you, have your testimony dropped, and see my client freed from the completely unjust way she’s been imprisoned!”

  I swore, glaring at the guy as he laid into Xavier.

  Any other circumstance, motherfucker, I muttered to myself. And I’d be throwing you through a fucking window.

  “I’d tell Lola to get hidden for a while,” the asshole sneered out. “Because when these go public the way I plan on making them public, I think we both know there’s going to be a very big spotlight on her.”

  He turned sharply, chuckling as he started to stroll away. I growled, taking a step after him, when suddenly it was Xavier’s turn to put a hand on my shoulder.

  “Let him go,” he muttered.

  “Dude,” I gritted my teeth as I turned back to my friend. “What can I do? These assholes are screwing with—”

  “Like those other assholes are screwing with you?”