Chapter 21

twenty-one

ALEXANDER

A lex tugged at his sash, adjusting it one last time before everything started. After much discussion, the abdication and coronation ceremonies had been pared back significantly and would occur back-to-back on the same day. It would be a long day, and he would be a king at the end of it.

He looked at his wife, who was adjusting parts of her outfit too. She looked beautiful, but also nervous. Maybe one last kiss before everything changed for them. "It's your final chance to kiss a prince."

She chuckled as she finished adjusting her dress, then turned to him. "It's my final chance to kiss my prince. Prince Alexander, oh how I love you and, when you're finally king, I'll tell you how much I love you then too."

He'd been able to hold back emotions thus far, but hearing his wife say those words almost undid him. Another change was added to the list now—he would no longer the be prince she fell in love with, and she wouldn't be the princess either. It was another stage of their relationship too, and it would be too easy to forget that. He couldn't—no, he wouldn't —let their relationship suffer with the change in titles and responsibilities. They were changing together, not apart, and they'd both work to ensure that continued.

"I love you, my one and only princess." He kissed her hard and long until they heard a knock on the door.

"Your Highnesses, it's time."

When they pulled apart, she smiled and rubbed her thumb over his lips. "You can't become king with my lipstick on your face."

He could, but he understood what she meant. The pictures needed to be impeccable. This wasn't merely another ceremony. This was a moment in Valleria's history, and everything needed to be perfect. After he wiped off her lipstick, and she got a last-minute reapplication of hers, they began.

The abdication and coronation ceremonies were set to take place in the renovated Grand Ballroom. An elevated dais with a formal-looking table and luxurious chair had been set up on one side, where Alex stood waiting.

His father arrived and everyone else stood as well. Several world leaders were there—including the U.S. President and his husband—and so far there had been no security issues.

His father stepped onto the dais, and Alex could tell he was holding back emotion.

Alex reached out and grasped his father's hand, then kneeled and lowered his head to it in an old-fashioned gesture. "I live to serve you, my King, and my country. Long Live King Gabriel and Long Live Valleria."

His father squeezed his hand and Alex stood. He was wearing his military uniform, a special one designed for today, and his father was in a similar one as well. A dark purple sash was across each of their chests, with a series of broaches and medals pinned to it.

His father cleared his throat. "It has been my very great honour to serve Valleria and its people for the last nearly forty years, but it is now time to step down. I, Gabriel Alexander Louis Santoro di Valleria, hereby abdicate my role as king, and pass the management of Valleria to Alexander Robert Louis Santoro di Valleria. Long may he reign, and Long Live Valleria!"

"Long Live Valleria!" many in the crowd, including Council members, repeated back, though some said it with less enthusiasm than others.

His father sat and signed the official abdication documents, then Alex signed the ascension documents confirming his role as king. They stood again as his father pinned one of his broaches—a special one featuring Valleria's coat of arms, and which the monarch typically wore—onto Alex's sash. Technically, Alex had become king when he signed the document, but this was one tradition his father had wanted to keep.

It hit Alex hard in that moment that his father never had this ceremony. He had become king after death, and his father hadn't pinned the broach on him. Alex wondered if his father felt this moment was as surreal as he did.

After the broach was secured, they gave each other a kiss on each cheek. Then his father knelt on one knee, took Alex's hand, and said, his voice breaking slightly, "I live to serve you, my King, and my country. Long Live King Alexander and Long Live Valleria."

"Long Live Valleria!" the crowd once again shouted.

His father stayed down a moment too long, and Alex worried he was about to have another heart episode, but he eventually stood.

Alex couldn't help but be moved by the words his father had spoken. It was another ending, another beginning he wasn't sure he was ready for, but one he'd do his best to live up to.

Becoming king wasn't about the words someone said. It was about being steady and stoic and empathetic and loving and listening and so much more. He hoped he lived up to the long line of kings and queens that came before him, including the one former king in front of him.

He gave his first speech as king, committing himself to helping all the people in Valleria, and then it was over.

They'd decided to skip most of the pomp of ceremonies past, but he did step onto the palace balcony for the first time on his own. He'd always been with others or entered after his parents, but now it was his turn to be first.

It wasn't part of the plan, but Alex reached back for Rebecca and she stepped out and slipped her hand into his. Cheers grew louder from the crowd below as they both waved. They shared a smile just between them, then faced the crowd with broad smiles on their faces.

After that was a parade and procession through the streets of Valentia. Alex and Rebecca sat on a specially rigged convertible to allow them to easily see and wave to the crowds, and be easily seen themselves.

With each shout of ‘Long Live the King!' from the crowd, Alex's new reality sank in more and more. In some ways, it was a relief. Something long planned that had finally come to fruition. In other ways, it was terrifying, but it didn't deter his resolve.

With Rebecca by his side, he was sure they'd be able to handle anything that came their way.

ALEXANDER

Rebecca glanced around while her lady's maid gently removed her sash. "It feels strange, doesn't it? Moving to a new space? It's not all that different from our old apartments, merely bigger, but…"

Alex nodded as his valet—another change, he'd need a full-time valet from here on out—removed the accoutrements of his outfit. "I know what you mean."

His parents left the palace not long ago, and it hadn't hit him yet that they were gone. Though they were only going to Ilva, and were a phone call away, it still seemed strange. He'd told them they didn't need to leave right away, but they'd insisted so his reign would start off on a good footing.

Alex was now the highest-ranking person in the family, in the palace, and in the whole fucking country.

"Thank you," Rebecca told her lady's maid. "I can manage the rest."

The woman curtsied, gathered the clothing and accessories, and exited into Rebecca's closet.

Alex nodded to his valet. "I can manage the rest as well. Thank you."

"Yes, Your Majesty." The man bowed and exited to Alex's closet.

Another change to get used to—he was no longer His Highness, but now His Majesty.

Alone—finally, blissfully alone—he pulled his wife and queen into his arms. As he took a deep breath, she sighed and relaxed into him. They stood there in their shared dressing room—technically they each had a separate one, but decided to use a shared space occasionally—and let the day and stress and all the changes drain away.

It was hard to be introverted as a royal. There was always someone new to meet, another event to go to, and he had to be ‘on' so much. This week, especially, had been rough due to all the world leaders visiting and the additional meetings he'd taken. But now, with his wife, he let go of the public persona of prince— no, king —to be himself.

"I've been wanting to undress you all day," he murmured and could tell she was smiling.

"Oh really? Becoming king with a billion people watching and you were thinking about me naked?"

"I did have a fleeting thought and wonder if we could fuck on those very fancy chairs in the throne room comfortably. Then I thought, I'd sit back while you rode me, your dress hiked up. Or, better yet, you'd be naked, and I'd be?—"

She gently slapped his ass. "You're lying. Oh, I have no doubt you thought those dirty thoughts, but you were only thinking about your duty and responsibility during the service. "

"You're right, I was. Though I did think about how much I love you, and how lucky I am to have you by my side."

He tilted her head up to meet his gaze. Love and light and everything bright shone from her eyes. "There's no way I could manage all this without you."

"You would if you needed to."

He didn't even want to imagine a world where she didn't exist. "Maybe, but there would always be something— someone —missing."

She shifted her hands into his hair and pulled his head down to hers for a kiss. He deepened it and hugged her even tighter against him.

A few breathless minutes later, he broke the kiss. "One of the benefits of moving apartments is I have all these new places to fuck you. Where should we start?"

She giggled. "I'm too exhausted for anything but the bed, though maybe we should rest instead. We only have a few hours before we need to start getting ready for dinner."

"What if I do all the work?" He started walking her backwards out of their dressing room and into their bedroom.

"You know, you're not the only one with all these sexual fantasies. I have them too, and they don't include lying there too exhausted to move."

"I think you'll get a second wind. Plus, we'll sleep in tomorrow."

"We have meetings. Some of the world leaders are staying an extra day just to meet with you, and I have a tea scheduled with all their partners and spouses."

He growled. "Whose fucking idea was that?"

She just laughed as her legs hit the bed. "Probably yours, my king."

He gently pushed her back and she fell onto the plush bed. He moved over her, propping himself up on his arms. "Well, then we should have sex now because we'll definitely be too tired after dinner."

She settled underneath him. "Maybe we should start scheduling sex. Should I set up a recurring appointment on our calendars?"

"I don't want everyone to know when we're having sex."

"We'd call it something else, like a ‘weekly check-in' or something."

He quirked an eyebrow. "Weekly?"

"Daily seems ambitious."

"We have sex. A lot."

"I know, and so does everyone else." She cupped his cheek. "I hate to say it, hate to even think it, but people will know everything about us, including how much sex we have. Our staff is discreet and they've all signed confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements, so I'm not worried they'll say anything. But things are changing. We probably can't have morning sex anymore unless we wake up early for it. Shower sex is probably off the table too."

"Fuck. That." Logically, he knew she was right. Their lives would be more scrutinized, their schedules tighter and more restrictive. "That's not the kind of king I want to be. And that's definitely not the kind of husband I want to be either."

"Then we'll work with the staff to create a better system, but it probably won't happen this week."

He sighed.

"You know, I think I am finding a second wind." She flipped them so she was on top.

"Mmmm. I had a fantasy about this too. You were naked except for your crown and riding me."

She shook her head and started undressing him. "You know what it's like to actually wear one of those. Maybe a simple tiara or a diadem might work, but you can barely move in the larger crowns because they'll fall off if you do. Not to mention they are incredibly heavy."

"So I know what to get you for our next anniversary—a tiara that will stay on while I fuck you. Hard."

"Don't forget to pick out something for yourself." She finished unbuttoning his shirt and ran a palm from his stomach up to his chest. "Mmmhmm. Yes. You naked, erect, with only a crown and my ring on your finger."

Fuck, he was already hard simply imagining it. "I love how filthy your mind has become. I take full credit for ruining your innocent nature."

She slid off him to unzip her dress and let it fall to the floor. "You may be my one and only, Alex, but you didn't ruin me. You awakened me."

She was wearing a white bustier, stockings, garter, and heels. She kept them on as she continued undressing him. His shoes fell away, then socks. His pants were unzipped and tossed to the floor with her dress.

She climbed back onto the bed and started removing his cufflinks, a special set she'd commissioned and gifted to him, which was shaped into his coronation crown and set in gold and jewels. As she leaned over to set them on the nightstand, he sat up and shrugged off his shirt, then started caressing her skin and removing the pins in her hair until it was loose and free.

When she turned back to him, he flipped them. Now she lay beneath him, clad in sinful white lingerie, her hair spread out on their bed. "Seeing you like this, I'm reminded of our wedding. After the second one."

She smiled broadly. "We were pretty tired then too."

He leaned down, his lips oh-so-close to hers but not touching. "And we didn't let that stop us then either."

"No, I suppose not," she whispered. "Kiss me, my king."

"As you command, my queen."

It was the briefest of lip touches at first, then a proper kiss, then an improper kiss, then a claiming .

Her hands roamed down his back and into his boxers to squeeze his ass, causing him to groan and grind against her.

He kissed down her neck to the top of her cleavage, while he loosened the bustier in the back. "Fuck. "

She giggle-moaned. "Not as easy as a bra, is it, even with your talented fingers?"

She yipped as he flipped her onto her front, and he began to undo the snaps. "Do you question your king's abilities?"

"Not usually."

He gave her ass a light slap and she writhed against the bed. "Your king doesn't like that answer."

"Then he should hurry. Alex." Her voice turned breathless again, and he knew what that meant.

He removed the bustier, then moved off the bed long enough to slide off her panties and his boxers.

She shifted to lie on her back and held up a stocking-clad leg, but he shook his head. "Keep those on. The heels too."

She spread her legs as he kneeled before her, his hands roaming along her gorgeous thick thighs and toying with the garter straps. "Let me pay you proper respects, my queen."

She sighed as he started licking her at her core. He held her legs apart as he ate her, fucking her first with his tongue, then his fingers.

She arched her back and delved her hands into his hair again, squeezing hard. "Alex. Oh my God. Please."

"Yes, my queen? How may I serve you?"

She was grinding against his mouth, desperate for release. "Please, Alex. Please."

He loved when she begged, loved when she needed him and only him. "That's not my name today."

She looked down her body at him and panted out, "Please, my king. Please take me."

If it was possible, his dick got even harder. "As you command, my queen."

He kissed up her body, teasing and sucking her nipples, before he returned to her lips. In the midst of a rough kiss, he thrust inside her and swallowed her moan.

The next time would be soft and easy. This time would be rough and quick .

He thrust again and again and again and again and again. He held her hips as he fucked her to hold her in place.

They were panting, breathless, sweating, clawing at each other as he continued to thrust more and more and more and more and more until he felt her clenching around him.

He shifted his thumb to toy with her clit, which finally sent her over the edge.

She let out a yell as she orgasmed, turning her head to the side, and her hands tried to grab him or the bed or anything.

He dropped his head to her neck and groaned as he continued to thrust in and out, in and out, in and out and in again until he finally came inside her, claiming her, claiming his queen.

He kissed her neck and slid a hand into her hair. "Did I please you, my queen?"

"Yes, my king." She turned her head and kissed him long and slow.

"Was I too rough?"

She shook her head. "I loved it. I love you, Alex."

"I love you."