"That's my boy," I said. "Make it a challenge. Bye, Max."
"Goodbye, Your Highness."
I switched the communications off and headed down the hall, whistling and smiling to myself. The servants I encountered all looked absolutely shocked to see their king walking the halls without an escort, his sleeves rolled up, his jacket removed. They shouldn't have been surprised, since they all knew me fairly well.
I was a notorious playboy after all. Starkland loved its bad boy prince. And truthfully, I had a hell of a time playing into that fucking role.
Right now, though, I wasn't the bad boy or the king. I was just Trip, and I wanted to see that girl again.
I finally found her apartment and knocked. After a second, she pulled the door open.
And stared at me, shocked. She was probably surprised to see the king actually coming to her door alone like this.
I grinned at her, loving the look on her face.
"Invite me in," I commanded after a second.
That snapped her out of it. "Aren't you supposed to ask?"
"I'm the king," I said. "I get to make commands."
She shook her head. "You're not my king."
"I'm everyone's king."
"What do you want?" she asked.
"I just came to see how you were liking the castle so far."
"It's nice, thank you."
I laughed, my smirk getting bigger. "You know, I had to shake a security detail to come say hello without five men hovering around me. The least you can do is invite me in."
"I guess that's as close to asking as I'll get out of you," she said, sighing. "Come on in."
She stepped aside and I walked into the room. I'd never been in it before, which wasn't unusual. The castle had hundreds of rooms, and I hadn't had time to explore them all.
"Nice," I said. "They gave you a good one."
"Yeah.. It's really nice."
I sat down on a chair and crossed my arms. "So, Bryce, I guess this is us officially meeting."
"I guess so. What do I call you? King Christophe?"
"Just Trip, please."
"Okay, Trip." She sat down on the couch across from me, biting her lip. "Look, about earlier."
"You mean about you slapping me in the face?" I smirked at her, leaning forward. "Yes, let's talk about that."
"Look, maybe I shouldn't have done it, but what you said surprised me. It was just a reaction."
I nodded. "I understand."
"I'm not sorry, though."
"Good. I'm not sorry, either."
She looked annoyed. "You should be, though. Do you say that to every foreign guest or just the girls?"
"Just the attractive girls," I said. "Only the ones I really do want to see in nothing but a pair of panties."
She turned a bit red and crossed her arms. "I'll slap you again, you know."
"I bet you will." I grinned even bigger. "I think I'd like that."
She sighed, shaking her head, and I saw a little smile playing at her lips. "I read about you, you know."
"Did you?" I asked.
"You're the Partying Prince."
I laughed. "It's better in Starklandian. ‘Bad boy prince' is probably a more accurate translation."
"Whatever," she said, shrugging. "I'm just not really surprised, is all."
"Maybe you're not yet," I said, "but I think you'll find I'm full of secrets."
"I'm sure," she murmured.
I stood up. "How about a personal tour? I'll show you parts of the castle you'll never get to see otherwise."
She shook her head. "I don't think so."
"Afraid I'll corner you in a dark corner and slip my hands down your body and find out just how wet you are?"
"No," she said, shaking her head, "but I am afraid you'll try."
I laughed, grinning hugely. I liked this girl. I could feel a thrill in my bones, an excitement over her that I hadn't felt for a woman in a very long time. She was so unlike every other girl in Starkland. She didn't seem at all impressed that I was the king, or that I used to be the bad boy prince.
"Your loss," I said. "If you change your mind, just call me." I got up and walked over to her control panel. I entered my private number into her contacts section. "You'll be able to get me anytime you want with this."
She frowned at it and walked over. "Why do you guys have such an advanced castle? I mean, shouldn't this place be all swords and shields?"
I laughed, nodding. "Yes and no. We like to update this place from time to time. But there are some swords and shields left lying around somewhere."
"Great. I'll make sure to check them out."
"Good. I bet you'd look nice wearing only a belt and a nice piece of steel."
She looked away. "I guess we'll never find out."
"We'll see." I stepped over to the door. "I'll talk to you tonight at dinner, Bryce."
"I guess so, King Trip."
I laughed, opened the door, and headed out.
My security detail found me a few minutes later. They were annoyed that I had lost them, and the ministers were annoyed that I was late for the cabinet meeting.
But I didn't much care. They were fine without me, and I hadn't been able to help myself going to see Bryce again.
I was glad I had. She was as beautiful as I'd remembered and then some.
This was going to be a very, very fun visit.
BRYCE
Trip's visit kept playing over and over in my mind as I got ready for dinner. It was supposed to be a big welcome ceremony for our family, and it wasn't exactly something I could skip.
Even though I wanted to. Trip was a cocky, arrogant asshole. I couldn't believe the way he talked to me, but I probably shouldn't be so surprised. He was royalty after all. Trip was probably so used to having whatever he wanted that he thought he could just have me.
But that wasn't going to happen, even if he made my stomach do flips. Trip was by far the most handsome man I'd ever seen, and I was sure that didn't help his insane self-confidence issue at all. The guy probably thought that all he had to do was ask and I'd throw myself at him.
Maybe I would. I sighed, looking at myself in the mirror. I wore a tasteful cocktail dress, blue and slim, hugging my hips. When he asked if I was afraid that he'd find me soaking wet, I had to admit to myself that he was right. I was soaking wet, and I couldn't stand the thought of him knowing what he did to me.
The man was just too arrogant. I didn't care that he had a perfect jaw and full, kissable lips. I wasn't about to throw myself at him like every other woman probably did.
Trip was probably used to women simply falling all over themselves to get involved with him. The guy was royalty in this country after all. Any girl would be lucky to be with the king.
Except for me, of course. I didn't want Trip. I wanted to stay far, far away from him.
A knock at my door pulled me in that direction. I walked over and peeked through the eyehole instead of just opening the door.
Dad was standing there. I opened the door and he smiled at me.
"You look great," he said. "Ready?"
"Ready."
Dad was wearing his nice suit and tie. He usually wore a suit and tie every day to work, but this was his fancy outfit. He looked so dapper when he decided to dress up.
"You'll fit right in with the other royalty," I said to him as we left my room, the door shutting behind me.
He laughed. "I doubt it."
"Really, Dad. Isn't it weird being here?"
"A little bit, but it's also been nice so far. Everyone is so kind."
"Despite the fact that I hit the king."
He laughed and shrugged. "Well, kings, you know? That's why we kicked them out of America."
"It just seems so crazy. I mean, it's the twenty-first century, and this country still has a king."
He nodded, frowning. "I've been reading about that. Apparently there are a lot of people who want that to change."
"I read about that, too."
"But I don't know. This country has a lower crime rate and a higher literacy rate than America does. They seem to be doing okay."
"That's a good point." I frowned at him and he just smiled.
"Don't worry too much about it. It's not like we can change anything."
Just then, Lucy stepped out of their room. She was wearing a floor-length gown with her hair in a complicated updo. She looked like she was going to prom.
"You look great," Dad said to her, kissing her on the cheek.
"Thanks, Robert." She gave me a look. "Are you going to behave?"
I glared at her. "I don't plan on hitting anyone, if that's what you're asking."
She smiled. "Good. Let's go enjoy ourselves, shall we?"
As we moved down the hall, a servant appeared out of nowhere. It was like he materialized from the wall.
"This way, please," he said. He was wearing the same outfit all of the servants wore, a black jacket over white dress pants. Even the women wore a version of this outfit, which was strange, but no stranger than everything else we'd seen so far.
He led us down a series of twisting hallways. I was too busy staring at the art on the walls to really notice exactly where we were walking. The place was just so overwhelmingly beautiful, and every inch of it was decorated like an art gallery. Twisting sculptures depicting famous battles and myths from their history dotted the place, and I didn't recognize a single thing.