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I’ve got a new book on the way! Double Dirty Royals is releasing next week.<\/p>\n
If you’re interested in getting a free copy for review, the signup link is at the bottom of the post \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
And for now, I’ve got a sneak preview… hope you like your men dominating, filthy, and princely!<\/p>\n
<3<\/p>\n
Parker<\/p>\n
I stand in front of the massive doors to the throne room and swallow, nervously staring up at the ornate, carved wood. They\u2019re from the 12th<\/sup><\/span> century, and they show the legendary King Torgud slaying a dragon.<\/p>\n At least I\u2019m not a dragon<\/i>, I think.<\/p>\n \u201cHis Majesty said you\u2019re to enter at your leisure, princess,\u201d the guard standing by the door says.<\/p>\n \u201cThank you, Lorenzo,\u201d I say, but it doesn\u2019t make me less nervous.<\/p>\n My father, King Edward IV of Tomassia, isn\u2019t in the habit of asking to speak with me privately in the throne room unless he\u2019s got something big to tell me. Or, worse, unless I\u2019ve done something he\u2019s unhappy about.<\/p>\n I take a deep breath and push the door open with a long, slow creak that echoes through the huge chamber. At the far end, up on the dais, are my mother and father, both seated on their thrones. Behind them are three smaller thrones \u2014 one each for me and my two younger sisters.<\/p>\n My parents aren\u2019t wearing their crowns, but they\u2019re both decked in their royal finest, as am I: my mother in a deep blue silk dress that skims her still-regal shoulders, my father in a military jacket with buttons down the front.<\/p>\n I\u2019m wearing a floor length emerald-green dress, also silk, my red hair pulled back into a complicated knot at the nape of my neck. It\u2019s not what I usually wear, but today\u2019s not just any day.<\/p>\n \u201cKatarina,\u201d my father booms as I walk the length of the throne room.<\/p>\n \u201cGood morning, father, mother,\u201d I answer. Our relationship isn\u2019t necessarily always this formal, but being in full regalia in the throne room tends to bring out the formality.<\/p>\n When I stop in front of them, I curtsy. My mother smiles.<\/p>\n My father sighs.<\/p>\n \u201cKat, I\u2019m sorry for asking you here without telling you what this is all about,\u201d he says, leaning over the arm of his throne. \u201cBut, frankly, this is very important and I didn\u2019t want to have this discussion over breakfast.\u201d<\/p>\n Outside, the clouds suddenly break, and sunlight streams through the stained glass windows positioned along the ceiling, lighting the whole throne room.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat is it?\u201d I ask, though I have a feeling I already know.<\/p>\n My parents look at each other, then back at me.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s time you were married,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n My stomach clenches, and I swallow hard. I had a feeling that\u2019s what this was going to be about, but now that he\u2019s said<\/i> it, suddenly my palms are sweaty and my heart\u2019s beating faster.<\/p>\n \u201cTomassia needs an heir,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd since I decreed last year that the crown passes to the eldest child, regardless of gender, it\u2019s high time that we thought about the future of this country.\u201d<\/p>\n The future<\/i> meaning my children<\/i>.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t mind that part. I like kids, and I\u2019ve always wanted them \u2014 which is good, since having them is part of my royal duties. But there\u2019s one huge, major<\/i> problem.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not married. I\u2019ve never even had a boyfriend.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve never even had sex<\/i>.<\/p>\n Hard to give the kingdom heirs without that particular ingredient. I look up at my father, hands clasped in front of me, and wonder how to word my next question.<\/p>\n My mother looks at him, then leans down herself.<\/p>\n \u201cPart of the reason that the Inter-Continental Council of Kingdoms is having its summit meeting in Tomassia this year is because you\u2019ll be entertaining a number of suitors,\u201d she says. \u201cYour father and I have quietly put it out that you\u2019re ready to be married, and of course, sweetheart, that\u2019s attracted some interest.\u201d<\/p>\n I look at the floor. Someday I\u2019ll be queen of the tiny-but-insanely-wealthy Tomassia. Of course<\/i> I\u2019ve attracted interest.<\/p>\n \u201cIn particular, it\u2019s attracted the interest of Prince Sven of Norograv,\u201d my father says. \u201cI know he\u2019s a bit older than you, but he\u2019s very wealthy, Norograv is powerful and a strong ally, he has a fantastic lineage, and most importantly, he\u2019s willing to be the Prince Consort of Tomassia.\u201d<\/p>\n My heart stops.<\/i><\/p>\n I don\u2019t know Sven in person, but I know about<\/i> him. He\u2019s the younger brother of the King of Norograv, Mikael. He\u2019s almost forty, balding, pudgy, and makes the gossip press constantly.<\/p>\n It\u2019s bad enough when a handsome, wealthy young man is an international playboy.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s worse when an unattractive, gross jerk thinks<\/i> he\u2019s an international playboy.<\/p>\n \u201cSven?\u201d I ask, my mouth going dry.<\/p>\n My father fixes me with a hard look, his mouth forming a straight line across his face. I\u2019ve gotten the lecture about how my duty is first to my country and then<\/i> to myself about a thousand times, so I know exactly what he\u2019s thinking.<\/p>\n He\u2019s thinking that I owe it to Tomassia to marry Sven and have a couple of strong Tomassian babies with good strong genes, and he\u2019s not going to listen to any arguments about it.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, Prince<\/i> Sven of Norograv will likely be an excellent match,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n I duck my head, stomach clenching.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, father,\u201d I say, just as the big doors open behind me again.<\/p>\n \u201cThere you are, girls,\u201d my mother says. It must be my younger sisters, Princesses Alexandra and Florentina. \u201cI\u2019m glad you came early. It\u2019s a big day today.\u201d<\/p>\n I think I might throw up, but that would be very un-royal.<\/p>\n * * *<\/p>\n The Council is endless<\/i>, and more, it\u2019s really uncomfortable. Sitting in a throne, holding a scepter and wearing a crown for a couple of hours are a surefire ticket to a wicked headache and backache.<\/p>\n Sure, as the Crown Princess I attend plenty of state events, but this is the twenty-first century. I\u2019m much more likely to be wear a business suit than a formal dress, and I\u2019m more likely to have a blow-out than a crown.<\/p>\n To top it all off, the Norogravian delegation still hasn\u2019t presented itself. I think they\u2019re going last, which is the worst, because I\u2019ve already been dreading it all day.<\/p>\n \u201cThank you, your highness,\u201d the current delegation leader \u2014 I think he\u2019s a one of those city-state leaders who styles himself a viscount? \u2014 says, and my father nods. The man steps away, but I\u2019m barely paying attention.<\/p>\n \u201cGood afternoon, your highness,\u201d the next voice says, and a jolt of recognition snaps through me. I jerk to attention, because that voice sounds incredibly familiar, but I can\u2019t place why<\/i>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re honored to be part of the Council,\u201d says another, equally familiar voice.<\/p>\n Then the voices owners step forward to where I can see them, and my jaw nearly drops.<\/p>\n Standing in front of my father, dressed in military dress uniforms, are the two most perfect-looking men I\u2019ve ever seen in my life. They look totally different \u2014 one is dark-haired and light-eyed, his facial hair just hinting at sideburns, his chiseled face serious and handsome, the other light-haired and gray-eyed, a hint of a smile around his mouth \u2014 but they\u2019re both incredibly, world-shatteringly, earth-shakingly gorgeous<\/i>.<\/p>\n At the same time, they both bow to my father in unison, but as they stand up straight, they both<\/i> glance my way for just a moment.<\/p>\n I think my heart tries to escape through my mouth, because despite being here, in this throne room, behind my father<\/i>, it\u2019s the sexiest, filthiest, most wicked<\/i> look I\u2019ve ever gotten.<\/p>\n And I got it from two men at the same time.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m pleased that San Javier and Materbourg could join us this year,\u201d my father says smoothly. \u201cI\u2019m honored by your attendance, Princes Dominic and Bruno.\u201d<\/p>\n I nearly gasp out loud.<\/p>\n Oh my gosh<\/i>, that\u2019s who they are.<\/p>\n I can\u2019t believe it. The last time I saw the respective princes of San Javier and Materbourg, I was thirteen and at the royal wedding of a distant cousin. They<\/i> were sixteen, and though I didn\u2019t say more than three words to them the entire weekend, I nursed crushes on both of them for years<\/i> afterwards.<\/p>\n And now they\u2019ve grown up\u2026 very<\/i> well.<\/p>\n \u201cThank you, your highness,\u201d Dominic says smoothly.<\/p>\n Just like that, they step aside and sit, leaving me just about breathless with surprise.<\/p>\n But there\u2019s one more delegation, of course. The big doors swing open a final time, and in stride four guards in military uniforms, all staring straight ahead, not looking at anything. Behind them are three men in very expensive suits \u2014 two of them flanking the one in the middle, clearly<\/i> his assistants.<\/p>\n The man in the middle takes off his sunglasses, folds them into his pocket, and holds both hands out toward my father.<\/p>\n \u201cYour highness,\u201d he says. \u201cThe pleasure is entirely mine.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s Sven, and just standing<\/i> there he looks greasy. Maybe it\u2019s his slicked-back hair, maybe it\u2019s the thing with the sunglasses, or maybe it\u2019s the way that his suit buttons are pulling the tiniest bit, like he\u2019s a little too fat for the suit, but he\u2019s just kind of gross.<\/p>\n \u201cTomassia is honored to host Norograv\u2019s delegation yet again,\u201d my father says smoothly.<\/p>\n I tune out the rest of their conversation \u2014 it\u2019s all diplomatic niceties anyway \u2014 and look over Sven with something like stomach-churning horror.<\/p>\n They can\u2019t be serious<\/i>, I think. Him? <\/i><\/p>\n Despite myself, I look back at where Dom and Bruno are sitting, listening politely to the conversation, and my heart skips a beat.<\/p>\n