Royal Rock:A Bad Boy Royal Romance(28)

27





BRYCE





That was the magic I had been looking for, ever since I came to Starkland.

In my mind, when Dad got the invitation in the mail, I couldn't help but  envision an ancient land full of princes and princesses. Of course,  Starkland was ancient, and it did have princes, but it wasn't a fairy  tale. It was real life with real modernity butting up against the  idealized image I had stuck in my head. I wanted it to be a storybook,  but of course it wasn't.

It was real and gritty and dirty and terrifying. But that afternoon in  the forest was my first true moment of magic since we went on the  vacation. I couldn't deny it, and I wouldn't even bother. Trip's body  against mine, his muscles tense as he lifted me into the air to fuck me  deep and rough, that was what I wanted.







Sure, that sort of thing wasn't exactly in Disney princess movies. They  didn't often show the prince's bulging muscles as he slammed his thick  cock inside Cinderella. But you know he did, and you know she loved it.

Just like I absolutely loved it when Trip took me and made me his. That  was what I wanted from a king, all strength and raw power. His body was  incredible as he worked me, fucking me rough and hard, making me come so  deep that I could barely think afterward.

That was my real magic moment. There were no flying birds or magic  pumpkins or creepy dwarves. There was just flesh and blood, Trip in his  family's ancient forest, surrounded by real magic and real history. I  didn't need the Disney crap anymore. I was beginning to realize that the  real stuff was so much better than anything they could draw up in  cartoons.

Real bodies, real sweat, real skin. That was what I wanted. And Trip gave it to me, more and more.

Life at the estate was simple. I didn't see Trip much for a few days  after that time in the forest. I spent my afternoons walking the  grounds, hanging out with my father and sometimes Lucy, and basically  trying to entertain myself. It wasn't like I was bored, exactly, but  there was no conflict, no real goals.

The estate was essentially the opposite of the rest of the country,  though. As we spent our days in paradise, the rest of the country was  getting worse and worse. The war in the south was intensifying as Trip  moved his troops in and attacked the rebels. They kept getting foiled,  though the rebels never actually won any battles or anything like that.

Meanwhile, Stehen itself was going through some stuff. During the day,  people were protesting the use of a curfew and the Secret Police were  blamed for several bad things. Trip publically denied that the Secret  Police were doing anything illegal, but I wasn't so sure. He had seemed  so torn about using them to begin with, which had to mean that he knew  they were capable of doing some pretty intense and bad things.

One report concerned the Secret Police breaking into a tenement house on  the poorer side of town and terrorizing the citizens. There had been  reports that a terrorist was hiding in their building, but eventually  they figured out there were no terrorists there. People claimed the SP  broke furniture, screamed at people, and threatened violence, though no  claims of any actual violence were verified.

All in all, things were getting darker and darker, and Trip was getting  more and more busy. He sent me notes and texts, but that was the extent  of our contact over those few days. I knew he wanted to speak more, but  he just couldn't take the time away from his important duties.

He was the king after all. He had a duty to his people to rule them and to help them during this awful time.

I felt like I was in the way. I felt completely useless and unnecessary,  just a distraction to him, though he never once said that.

Three days of not seeing him passed, and I found myself sitting in my  room early in the morning, frustrated and a little bored. I sipped some  coffee and looked out the window, wondering what I was going to do all  day. I could try relaxing, but I'd been relaxing already.

I wanted something else.

As I sighed to myself, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," I called out.

Trip opened the door and smirked at me. "Hey there," he said. "Long time no see."

"Trip." I stood up. "Hey. How are you?"

"Better now." He stepped into my room and shut the door. "Sorry that I  haven't been able to see you. Country is going mad, apparently."

"I know. I've been following the news."

"Yes, well, don't believe everything you're reading."

"I'm not."

"Good."

I noticed that he was holding something behind his back. I cocked my head at him. "What do you have there?"

He laughed. "I thought you might like to try something."

I felt a thrill run through me. "I'm up for anything."

"I wouldn't say that," he replied, stepping toward me.

"It's true."

"I don't think you can handle what I really want."

I bit my lip. "Try me."

"I will." He moved his hands out front, and he was holding a  strange-looking black helmet. "But not right now. Instead, have you ever  ridden a horse?"

I laughed, shaking my head. "No way. Never."

"How about you try it?"

"Are you serious?"

"Very serious. Come on, I love riding."

"I don't know how."

He smiled. "I'll show you. We have this old horse named Jacques. He'll be perfect."







"I can't. Really, Trip, I just don't know."

He walked over to me. "I promise it'll be fine. You trust me?"

I sighed and nodded. "I trust you."

"Come on. Let's go."

I stood up and he handed me the helmet. I held it up, inspecting it. "You want me to wear this?"

"You'll look cute." He opened the door and I followed him out into the hall.

"I don't know about that," I said.

"You can pull it off. I have faith in you."

We walked through the house and out the back door. He led me down to the  stables where Al and George were standing beside two horses.

They were gorgeous, big and broad. Trip walked up to the one Al was  holding, a big black thing that snorted as he approached. Trip touched  his flank and calmed him down.

"This is Destroyer," he said.

I couldn't help but laugh. "That's a horrible name."

"I know," he admitted, smiling. "I named him when I was much younger. Isn't that right, boy?"

Destroyer snorted.

My horse was smaller than Destroyer. Jacques was a beautiful white-gray  color with dark spots along his body. I walked up to him tentatively,  and George gave me a reassuring smile, which was unusual for security  guys. I reached out and touched Jacques, and he moved his face to nuzzle  my hand.

I laughed. "He's nice," I said.

"That's why I picked him. He'll do most of the work." Trip got up onto the back of Destroyer and moved him slightly.

George helped me up onto Jacques. I strapped on my helmet, hating that I  was actually wearing it, but as soon as I was up on top of the horse, I  realized how high I really was. If I fell, I could get seriously  injured.

George walked me through the basics. He showed me how to use my feet to  tell Jacques to go, how to use the reigns to steer him, and other basic  horse-handling things. Meanwhile, Trip rode Destroyer around the paddock  slowly, talking to him the whole time.

Finally, George let go of the reigns and I took control. Jacques walked calmly forward, responding to my gestures.

"There you go," Trip said. "Now, follow me."

Al handed Trip a package, which Trip put on the back of the horse. Then  he opened the gate and we were off. Jacques basically moved without my  commands, following close behind Destroyer.

I couldn't believe I was riding a freaking horse. This was just too  unreal. I was up so high and I could feel how much power was inside the  animal. I knew that if Jacques wanted to, he could trample me and run  away faster than I could scream, but he seemed so calm and was happy to  have me on his back.

It was amazing and terrifying all at once. Trip looked back at me, grinning as we rode.

We followed a new trail this time. It moved upstream, away from the  forest. The view was beautiful. The land stretched out, green and lovely  all around us. I knew that it probably went on for miles in all  directions, and that I could probably ride Jacques for miles if I wanted  to.

Not that Jacques seemed to care either way. I didn't have to do much, as  he was already just following after Destroyer. I guessed that Jacques  had done this before and that Trip knew I'd be fine.

Up ahead, there was a grouping of trees. They weren't aspens like the  other forest was, and they were spaced farther apart. It took me a  second to realize it was an orchard.

"Apples," Trip called back to me.

"Amazing," I said, laughing.

We rode right into the orchard. Trip reached out and grabbed an apple,  biting into it. When Jacques got me close enough, I grabbed my own  apple. It was delicious, tasty and as fresh as could be.

We rode farther on, past the orchard. The only interruption on the ideal  journey was the scream of a helicopter up ahead, flying past us and  away from the compound. If that hadn't come past, I could have forgotten  where and when we actually were.