40. True Feelings

[Luke]
"The news of your engagement to Megan has been scheduled for next week, I would like to know when you'd be exposing your face to the public?" The King asked.
The King invited me and Megan for lunch and it was one of the most awkward lunches ever.
I couldn't get Liam to replace me since it was such an intimate event and he was in no mood to do it anyway.
"I'm sorry your highness, but I have not been informed of the engagement plans." Megan looked panicked and I was confused that she didn't seem too happy about the engagement.
"I haven't had time to tell her." I mumbled out.
"Sorry my dear child, your husband to be can be really slow at times but that's alright because he has me." The King smiled at her.
I looked at Sir Thomas who was eating silently beside the King and he did not raise his eyes to mine at all.
"There's no problem, your majesty, it's just that we've been getting to know each other and it's been amazing but I didn't think it would be so soon."
"Oh child, no need to worry about anything, I will make sure that Luke treats you the way that he should."
My grip on my chair tightened as I struggled to control my emotions.
"I think the young miss has a point." Sir Thomas spoke for the first time, surprising me.
"What do you mean by that, Thomas?" The King looked shocked at him.
"With all due respect, your highness, I think you shouldn't rush them, they clearly need some more time to get to know each other better."
I could have kissed the old man's cheeks with how happy I felt.
The King looked at Sir Thomas for a while and they seemed to be conversing silently before he turned back to face me.
"I thought we talked about this already, Luke, I expected you to have proposed to the young lady by now." He glared at me accusingly.
This is it, this is it Luke, you get to speak your mind for once I told myself but just as I attempted to speak Sir Thomas spoke again.
"You should tell him if you're going to force him to get married." Sir Thomas said and I looked at him confused.
Tell me what?
"Thomas!" The King yelled but the old man didn't even flinch.
"I'm sorry your highness." The man apologized but he did not lower his eyes.
"What is going on?" I asked, confused.
"Nothing." The King shunned me. "I'll give you three months and that is final, I want the two of you engaged as soon as possible." He thundered and left the room angrily.
"Thank you." I said to Sir Thomas when the King left.
It was a risky thing he had done, nobody had ever challenged the King after my mother's death.
"I'm sorry I couldn't do more." Sir Thomas sighed and stood up as well. "Your father loves you and all he wants is the best for you." He tapped me by the shoulder before exiting the room.
"I'm sorry." I looked at Megan who looked shook and I took her hand in mine.
"It's alright." She said and snatched her hand fr mine immediately.
"What's wrong?" I asked, shocked because I assumed she and Liam were already on a touching basis.
Not that I wanted to touch her but I wanted to preserve her relationship with him.
"Nothing, I'm sorry you didn't get more time." She sighed and I saw just how genuinely vulnerable she was.
"Do you even want to be married to me?" I asked her and she frowned looking at me.
"What do you mean by that?" She asked, avoiding my eyes. "We are to be married."
"If you do not wish it, we don't have to be." I told her, standing up from the table.
"Is it because I didn't say I loved you back, is that why you think I don't want this?" She asked and I was completely lost, I did not know what reply to give her.
"I have to go, I'll talk to you later." I made a random excuse, pecked her on the cheek and left immediately.
***
I sat in the conference meeting staring at the presenter but my mind was far away from there, the royal family owned many businesses and my father asked me to oversee a new project of his, there was nothing wrong with that but I just would have wished to be anywhere but here.
"Sir, sir, what do you think about the presentation?" The chairman asked after the presenter was done.
"I think it was great." I smiled at him and made to leave the room.
"I'm sorry sir, please we need your signature to proceed on the project." He said running after me with a document.
"Have my assistant deliver it to the palace later and I'll sign it." I said and rushed out of there.
There was one place I would rather be now and one person I would rather be with.
.
.
[Claire]
There was chaos in the office today, Mr Anders would not stop screaming at me and threatening to fire me every chance he got because I allowed Peggy to deliver the files to his house the other day.
I did not know what transpired between them but I just knew that Peggy was not at the office today and he was mad as hell at me.
"Sir, I'm done for the day." I knocked on his door and said from outside.
"You can leave and if you still want a job here then you better be here very early tomorrow morning." He barked at me from inside without asking me to come in.
"Alright, thank you sir." I raced away from there and I rushed home immediately.
***
I was shocked to find Jean waiting at my door with a bouquet of roses when I got home.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" I asked him but instead of replying to me, he just pulled me into his arms and kissed the life out of me.
"What was that for?" I smiled as I opened the door and we both walked in.
I dropped my bag and without another word he spun me around and pressed his lips to mine.
"I love you." He confessed and I froze.
"What did you say?" I asked him, pushing him away from me so that I could see if he was serious.
"I love you." He said again and I squealed happily.
"Oh Jean, I love you too." I laughed and jumped into his embrace.
"You do?" He asked me but instead of answering him, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer to me.
"I need to tell you something." He said but I didn't let him speak, I was so excited I didn't want to talk, I wanted him close to me, somehow I wanted to show him just how much he meant to me and how glad I was that he'd finally told me how he truly felt for me.
Without wasting more time, I pressed my lips to his and kissed him as deeply as I could, at first he tried talking with my mouth in his but then he just gave up and wrapped his hands under me and picked me up.
We kept kissing as he carried me to the bedroom and I began to tug at his shirt to free him from it, I ran my hands under his shirt and skimmed up his abs, his washboard stomach and his broad chest.
"You're so beautiful." I smiled when he dropped me softly on the bed and I gasped when he undid his buckle and let his pants drop to the floor.
I looked on in surprise as he picked up his belt and crawled up on the bed with me.
He kissed his way up my body and I wrapped my hands around his back and pulled him closer to me.
He took my hands in his and pushed them all the way to my head then I watched him in shock as he used the belt to secure my hands above my head in a tight hold such that I couldn't touch him.
"What are you doing?" I asked softly and I gulped when I saw a hint of a smile and his eyes darkening.
"I'm introducing you to a whole new world of pleasure." He said as he kissed my lips raw.
"Do you trust me?" He pulled away and asked me when I shivered a little.
Honestly, I didn't know what to expect, I had heard of men who liked their women bound and gagged but I had no idea if it would ever be something I would like but I did trust him.
"Yes." I gulped loudly and then he began to undress me.
"I'm not going to hurt you." He assured me as he went lower.
"At any point if you want me to stop, all you have to say is red."