Royally Duched Up: (Duched #3) Read online

  “Then why the bloody hell did you do this?”

  “Because you need Felicity.”

  Oh thank God Brie can’t hear him say that.

  “She is the missing piece to your dream come true. And that’s what this is Kellan. This is that moment you’ve been begging for for years. No. It isn’t ideal, but the fact is, when these moments arrive they rarely are. Now, I knew you could sit and have this brunch, just like I know you can sit and make this deal. I could’ve warned you beforehand about exactly what was waiting, but you would’ve done everything you could’ve to weasel your way out of it. Away from…the possible discomfort that you would’ve had to face. You would’ve made argument after argument as to why you wouldn’t even give this a chance, so I took that ability away from you. I protected you from yourself.”

  His point lifts my eyebrows.

  Of course I would’ve denied letting this happen! This seems like recipe for disaster even if having Hannah’s Hope come to life is one of the possible outcomes.

  “Kellan, you are in love with Brie. She is in love with you. An entire country has fallen in love with the pair of you. There is not a doubt in anyone’s mind that you belong together. That you will always be together. If there were, I wouldn’t have even bothered to entertain this notion. I forced you to take this risk because changing the country is your driven duty. I’m meant to be king someday, but you’re meant to help it be over a kingdom capable of more than they’ve ever believed possible. And that starts now by building this orphanage with Felicity Malone, who is not a threat to your relationship. She’s not a threat to your happiness. She’s not a threat to anything. Felicity Malone, Kellan, is just business.”

  I shove my hands in my pockets and nod my agreement.

  “My suggestion, little brother, is to go upstairs, remind your fiancé of that, jet off to the states next week, get married in a few more, enjoy your honeymoon, and come home to let your other dream start to take its rightful place.”

  A smile threatens my lips.

  Have I mentioned I bloody hate when he goes all big brother on me and does it well? It’s odd. And annoying. And the reason he will be the best man at my wedding.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I notice someone descending the steps. My attention lands on Soph who looks cranky.

  I take joy in knowing his sorrow is going to last inevitably longer than mine.

  “Soph.” Kris moves promptly to greet her. “How are you feeling?”

  “Like I want a chocolate chip cookie and two scoops of double chocolate chip ice cream on top of it.”

  “Nice choice,” I compliment.

  She offers me a smile. “Thank you.”

  “That seems…quite high in sugar,” Kristopher cautiously begins. “Perhaps one or the other?”

  The look of betrayal that coats her eyes is unmistakable. “Are you implying that I’m fat?”

  “No!”

  “That I don’t need a bloody cookie because I already look like a bloody beluga!”

  “No!” He rushes to say while shaking his head in denial. “No! No! No!”

  I cock a crooked grin and begin her way. “I think you look like an angel who hung the moon.”

  She helplessly swoons at me as I pass her.

  “If it were up to me, you could have all the cookies you want and ice cream and chocolate syrup.”

  There’s a small gasp and she bites, “I want syrup too, Kristopher!”

  Chuckling victoriously under my breath, I continue my way up the stairs.

  Oh don’t feel sorry for him. Need I remind you what he just put me through!? It doesn’t matter if he’s right and this is the opportunity I’ve wanted all my life. He could’ve given me a fair warning to properly prepare, as opposed to getting his rocks off from watching me squirm. True, he had a fair point about stopping me from getting in my own way, but it was miniscule. Being a brotherly asshole comes at a cost. This was his.

  Brie

  Do you think the kitchen will deliver liquor up to my room? They do that, right? They deliver hot chocolate and those fucking lattes Kellan loves so much so surely getting alcohol won’t be too hard. Maybe another pitcher of mimosas? Keep the brunch beverage going except no cherries. Fuck cherries.

  The door cracks slightly open and Kellan’s face appears around it, supporting an uncertain expression. “Mind if I come in?”

  I do mind actually. If it were up to me there would be a force field of protection and he wouldn’t have been able to touch the damn doorknob without being electrocuted. Too much? Hm. Easy for you to say. You weren’t the one trying to find sanity at the bottom of a pitcher to prevent from going to jail in a foreign country.

  “It’s your castle,” I grump from the edge of the bed.

  Kellan struggles to smile as he slips himself inside. “It’ll be your castle too in just a few weeks.” He braces his back against the closed door. “That is assuming you haven’t changed your mind.”

  “And what makes you think I would do that? Because of the brunch we just had with Cruella DeVille’s Granddaughter?”

  Only thing she was missing was the stupid gray stripe in her hair.

  “You know that’s more accurate than you probably intended. Felicity does hate puppies.”

  What kind of monster hates puppies?! Oh…that’s right. The cherry tatted, stiletto heels, hey you can see my nipples through my skin tight red dress type of person. And if you hate puppies, for whatever reason, just…try to keep that to yourself, okay?

  I cross my ankles. “Surprised that wasn’t mentioned during my drag down memory lane.”

  It damn sure wasn’t a stroll. I was basically hog tied and then driven at an agonizingly slow speed through their years of memories. At one point I contemplated getting up to go to the bathroom just to see if anyone would notice I was missing. And if they didn’t? I would’ve just had Kage take me home leaving them to carpool. Possibly exchange more unnecessary stories about their man whore days.

  His face falls. “I-”

  “Guess that wasn’t as important as her being there to rub lotion on your ass.”

  “Brie-”

  “I bet you answered her calls. I bet she never had to play voicemail roulette.”

  Kellan tries not to smirk at the comment. “It wasn’t like that between us.”

  “Really?” I scoff. “Were you at a different brunch than me? Because I just spent two and half hours learning about how I am not the only woman in the world who you’ve ever spent more than a weekend with.”

  “I-”

  “And that’s not even what bothers me! You dating or sleeping with other women before me, doesn’t bother me. But having you look me in the eye and lie about me being different when clearly there was someone you were in love with before me…does.”

  There’s no waiver in his voice. “I’ve never loved Felicity.”

  The lump trying to develop in my throat suddenly stops.

  God it feels amazing to hear those words even if I don’t think they’re true.

  “Yes, once upon a time we were mates….very close mates-”

  “Clearly.”

  Rather than attempt to calm me down once more, he folds his arms, and snips, “Would you actually like to hear what I have to say or would you prefer to continue to pout out loud like a child who had to attend a birthday party she didn’t want to?”

  My jaw hits the ground.

  I am not pouting! Fine! Ugh. Maybe I am!

  When I don’t argue with his statement, he begins again, “Felicity isn’t like the other women who have been in my life. More often than not she was more like a male mate. We bar hopped together, though we rarely went home with one another. Watched lacrosse and routed for opposite teams. She hates Westburg…I could never love a woman who hated my favorite team. She’s lucky we were ever mates at all with the way she’s always cursing them to lose.”

  The effort to lighten the mood isn’t lost and earns him a small smile.

  “Feli
city and I would go from days of consecutive conversation to weeks without so much as a text. Being around her was very much like being around my own reflection.”

  Pretty sure the intention was to make me feel better with that statement. Can’t say it does…

  “Yes. We had moments where we were intimate, but it was never anything more than that. There were no additional feelings involved. On either side.”

  Thoughtlessly I mutter, “I find that hard to believe.”

  “Why?”

  “Because most women can’t just screw the same guy continuously for years and not feel…something. And from the way she presented herself today, she obviously did.”

  Kellan’s lips press tightly together.

  See. I’m right, right? Score one for team Sanders!

  “Love, what once was between Felicity and I was many years ago. I think…seeing you, seeing me with you in person as opposed to just articles on the internet, were shocks she wasn’t sure how to handle. As you know, most people have trouble grasping the concept that not only have I quit sleeping around, but I’m engaged. The natural response is to poke the bear. To check if this is all some sort of façade I am putting on or if I am completely as head over heels for you as I seem.” Slowly, he begins to approach. “And I am. I am 110% percent, ball and chain, til death do us part, grow old and gray in a vintage suit in love with you, Brie.” His body drops down to a squat in front of me. “Nothing in this world could ever change that. She is my past and the only way she will even have a spot in my present is if you allow it.”

  Is it wrong to wanna sing ‘I’ve got the power’?

  “This deal will not happen without your blessing.” He takes my hands into his. “Hannah’s Hope can wait if it has to. I won’t risk one dream for another. Not again.”

  A deep sigh escapes.

  As much as I don’t want him spending any increment of time with Lucifer’s twin sister, I know how important it is to him to have Hannah’s Hope. I know how many years he’s been longing for it to be more than just an idea on paper. Having the orphanage is about more than just checking off a goal on a list of to dos. It’s about leaving a legacy. It’s about changing lives and making a real difference to those who need it. I won’t stand in the way of letting this happen, but I can’t promise I’ll be professional the entire time. Pretty sure that heifer could make Ghandi think about slapping her.

  “Make the deal,” I quietly encourage.

  His blue eyes widen in excitement and caution alike.

  “Just…promise me you’ll still include me in the process.”

  “Every. Step.”

  “And promise me that no matter what Ho White says or does or tries, that this is really just about getting the orphanage built.”

  He tilts his head at me in a comforting way. “It’s just business, Love.”

  The words do their best to burrow in my brain.

  Just business. Sounds right, yet something still feels incredibly wrong…You think it’s because my buzz is beginning to wear off?

  Kellan lifts my hand to his lips. I smile at the feeling of his warm mouth against my skin. With a devilish grin, he tempts, “What do you say we practice for our honeymoon once more? Perhaps give the palace a preview of what they’ll be missing?”

  He doesn’t bother waiting for an actual response before dropping his attention onto my exposed inner thigh. His tongue gives the delicate flesh a long, lecherous lick towards my pussy causing my head to fall backwards in anticipation.

  This counts as make up sex, right? We were…fighting? Diet fighting? Fighting zero? All the angst with none of the real issues?

  Kellan drops to his knees and uses his hands to gently push my legs apart. Slowly, he inches his mouth closer to the place I’m growing anxious for it to taste. Each unhurried drag adds a drop of gasoline to the steadily building orgasm waiting to burn me from the inside out. All of a sudden, he abruptly pulls back causing me to glance down at his sexually frustrated expression.

  Oh because I was the one close to giving him a mouth hug of forgiveness and unexpectedly stopped?

  “Seriously?” His voice is hot and heavy. “You didn’t wear panties to lunch?”

  A wicked grin crosses my face. “Nope.”

  He shakes his head in disbelief. “You didn’t think that’s something I’d want to know?”

  I lean back onto my palms. “I didn’t want you to know before brunch because I needed you to be focused on impressing the donor, but had I known we were going to be sitting down with Target brand Angelia Jolie, I would’ve made a point to have that information floating around your mind for the last two hours.”

  Kellan’s smirk returns. “You’re insanely adorable when you’re jealous.”

  Frustration flares. “I am not jealous.”

  “Good,” he whispers, attention falling to the exposed area between my thighs. “You have absolutely no reason to be.”

  In one swift movement, my legs are draped over his broad shoulders and his mouth returns its attention to the area begging for it. The feeling of his warm tongue pressed firmly against my clit instantly sends waves of ecstasy rolling throughout my entire body. A satisfied sigh parts my lips at the same time my fingers dig into the soft sheets. With fervor, he begins feasting on my pussy like brunch left him displeased in more ways than one. The combination of pressure continuously applied and the heedless speed to devour every ounce of wetness has my breath repeatedly hitching. His playful twirls against my clit rapidly tie my thoughts into knots, leaving me with only the ability to feel. Kellan yanks me closer, mouth drifting from delicious dedication to delectable determination in its pursuit to push me over the orgasmic edge. I thoughtlessly wind my fingers through his hair and slightly lift my hips, impatient to catch every stroke possible. The vibration from the pleased hum he delivers destroys my inability to hold back any longer.

  My eyes screw shut as I cry out, “God Kellan! I’m coming!”

  He hums an additional time and buries his face deeper. Sucks harder. Plunges his tongue to the point he’s pulling at a second pending climax I didn’t even know was lurking in the shadows. His commitment to continue consuming me until my body is nothing more than a shaking mess spurs my moans to shift into inhabited sounds that rattle the both of us.

  Once again Kellan unexpectedly pulls back. He drops my legs, moves to blanket my body with his, and positions his face just a breath away from mine. “You have the most beautiful screams…”

  Before I have a chance to counter, he sharply thrusts inside forcing my body to bow off the bed from the harsh yet heavenly invasion. My forehead bumps against his as he promptly repeats the action this time gripping one of my legs in the process.

  Kellan’s lips lightly feather themselves across my cheek towards my ear. “I love you…”

  I don’t hesitate to repeat, “I love you.”

  Our eyes lock while our bodies tumble into a tantalizing tandem of trembles and tremors. His hips take the opposite stance of the one his tongue had. They drag out every moment, toying with my pussy’s fear of totally being abandoned so close to another orgasm. His cock ceaselessly nudges at my g-spot in a twisted mission to encourage me to come as well as to remind me that I’m the only woman he cares to satisfy. Intoxicated by the idea, the intensity of his groans, and the tender, untamed rocking, I tilt my mouth up to connect to his. Kellan instantly grabs the invitation and rolls his tongue around mine. Within seconds, the motions of his mouth begin to mimic the ones of his cock, leaving me breathless all over again. I attempt to pull away to catch my breath, but his kiss becomes rougher, preventing me from getting away. A whimper spawns in the back of my throat and my nails anchor onto his biceps, desperate for something to hold onto. All of a sudden the teasing my pussy was enduring before is eradicated. His dick doubles its efforts to not only dive deeper, but to drag us into a delirious haven where the only thing that matters is us.

  My mouth finally falls from his at the same time my pussy begins to co
nstrict. “I’m coming…”

  The guttural growl of pride is unmistakable. Kellan’s face collapses into the crook of my neck while his entire body goes rigid, allowing my orgasm to milk his. The two of us come together in a harmony of husky whimpers and sweet sighs.

  After catching his breath, Kellan returns his forehead back to mine. “Wanna practice again?”

  Swear the man has some sort of weird natural Viagra just swimming around in his veins.