Claimed Princess (Princess Series Book 3) Read online

  Claimed Princess

  The Princess Series

  Alexa Riley

  Contents

  The Princess Series…

  Claimed Princess

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Epilogue

  Epilogue

  Thief

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Also by Alexa Riley

  Stalk the Author

  The Princess Series…

  We’ve taken our love of crowns and glitter to the point of no return. Our best advice is don’t get caught up in the details… just enjoy the over-the-top romance! Each book is a stand alone, and a happily ever after.

  CLAIMED PRINCESS

  by

  Alexa Riley

  Heavenly and Carlos have been best friends their whole lives. But it’s almost time for Heavenly’s birthday, which means she’ll be married off to a king.

  Carlos has been King for a few years now and is being pressured to choose a bride. But he’s only ever had eyes for one princess, and he’s had to wait for her to turn twenty-one.

  Heavenly doesn’t have any idea the plans Carlos has made for her, so when she offers to marry his brother, things don’t go so well. Girl, they don’t go well at all… Carlos isn’t having that. She gets a dose of alpha when Carlos lays down the law. But when she runs…how far will she actually get?

  Warning: Do you really wonder if there’s a happily ever after? Because you know that’s kind of our thing, right? Look, he chases her, but it all works out. Also it’s really hot. Get it!

  Copyright © 2017 by Author Alexa Riley LLC. All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, email to [email protected]

  http://alexariley.com/

  Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.

  Edited by Aquila Editing

  Cover Designer Mayhem Cover Creations

  For fairytales… they are alive and real in your heart.

  And maybe your lady business.

  Chapter One

  Heavenly

  I flip through a magazine while lying on the floor of Carlos’s office. I’m bored as I lie on my stomach, swaying my feet in the air. I roll over when I come to a picture of Princess Star. I’m not shocked to see her in the magazine. I’d be more shocked if she wasn’t. The paparazzi are always trying to find out what she’s wearing and what she’s doing. Or better yet, who she’s doing. What kind of name is that? It makes me want to roll my eyes as much as her face does.

  “You sure you don’t want to pick Star?” I tease, rolling fully to my side to look at Carlos. His eyes are trained on me, his face set in a hard stare. I don’t know why he looks so angry. He’s been grumpy for the past few months, which isn’t normal for him.

  Okay, that’s not true. He’s usually pretty abrupt and a little cool with people. Except with me. I’m always the one who can get away with anything. I can show up at his office, flop down, and do whatever I want. Like I am now. It’s been that way since I was a little girl. But then he wasn’t always king. He’s only held the title for the past few years. I thought things might change. That he wouldn’t have time for me anymore. Instead I’ve only been granted further access into his family’s castle.

  His eyes move to my legs, and it’s then I see my dress has ridden up. I sit up quickly and pull it down, my face turning red knowing he saw my underwear. I want to die. Of course when the man I’ve been in love with since I was fifteen sees my underwear, I’m wearing plain white ones with little hearts on them. Kill me now.

  “I suggest you get rid of that dress, Heavenly. I’m sure whoever your intended might be wouldn’t like hearing his wife wore dresses and flashed what was his to other men.”

  My mouth falls open at his words, then I narrow my eyes at him. He’s never talked to me like that before. I take the magazine and throw it at him. My aim is terrible, and it ends up knocking a vase off the table next to his desk. It causes it to crash to the floor, shattering into a hundred pieces.

  I roll back over and grab another magazine, ignoring him. I’m not even sure what I’m mad about. Maybe it’s the casual talk about me being passed to whoever my husband might be. My coming of age is fast approaching, and I’ve been ignoring it, hoping that maybe no one will call on me. My heart already belongs to a man who’s been searching for his own wife since he became king. I’m not even a blip on his radar in that area. I’m like his cute little sister in his eyes, someone he has to protect and shelter.

  He’s been my everything from the first moment we met. I came to stay with my grandma, whose home is right on the edge of Carlos’s land. I’d moved here after both my parents died and my brother had taken the crown. I love my brother, but he had no idea what to do with a grieving little sister. He had a country of his own to run.

  I climbed the wall that surrounded the castle from the rest of the world, only to come up against two guards when I’d landed on the other side. Boredom and curiosity had gotten the best of me that day. They dragged me kicking and screaming back to the castle with the intent to have me arrested for trespassing. Which I was. But it was Carlos who’d saved me.

  I’d broken away from the two guards and taken off, only to run right into Carlos. He was like a hard wall of muscle, and I would have fallen on my ass that day if he hadn’t grabbed ahold of me. He pulled me back to him and stopped me from falling.

  I’d never seen someone go from angry to sweet in a flash. He ripped into the guards for having sent a girl running from them in fear. Since that day a guard has never touched me or stood in my way here. Most won’t even make eye contact with me. No place ever been off limits to me either. Something about that makes me feel special, but I have a feeling it’s something I’ll soon lose. I can’t imagine whoever Carlos chooses as a wife will allow me to still roam the castle and estate like I do now.

  Sometimes when I can’t sleep at night I sneak over from my grandmother’s and climb into his bed, where he’ll hold me close until I fall asleep. I don’t think that will be happening anymore once he takes a queen. Especially since he asked me to stop the last time I did it. It cut deep. Deeper than I thought it would. Yeah, things are going to change, but I don’t want them to. I want to stay here forever. This feels like my home now - the only home I’ve known since I lost both my parents.

  The room remains quiet as both of us know I’m not going to clean up the mess. I glance over at him, and his eyes are still on me. We stare at each other for a long moment.

  “I’m sorry, Heavenly. You know I’m very protective of you.” I nod, understanding. He has always been that way with me, even when it comes to men or boys poking around me. “I don’t like the idea of men being able to see up your dress.” He leans back in his chair, rubbing a hand over his face. “Things
have to change,” he mumbles, and I feel my stomach turn.

  “I’m not going to be allowed here after you choose your wife,” I say, and I hear the defeat and sadness in my own voice. This wife thing has been hanging over my head for two years now. It’s bittersweet. Part of me loves the fact that he hasn’t picked one yet, and another part wants him to do it so I have to face the music.

  “Why would you say such a thing?” He sits back up in his chair.

  “I mean, I know I can come over, just not like now. You already won’t let me in your room.” My gaze drops back down to the magazine.

  Carlos gets up, coming around his desk and picking up the magazine I threw. He looks at the page that’s open to the picture of Star. He rolls his eyes and tosses it into the fire that’s cracking quietly in the fireplace.

  “You’re days away from coming of age,” he reminds me.

  I know. I turn twenty-one soon. I’ve been dreading it, wondering who might be calling for my hand in marriage. I secretly hoped that my brother had forgotten all about me and I wouldn’t have to worry about that day. But I think that chance is slim to none.

  “I know,” I mumble. “Maybe you should worry about your own little problem. You know, picking a wife? How many women have showed up here and you still haven’t picked one.”

  His jaw clenches at my words. He hates when they come. That makes two of us. I want to say it out loud, but I keep it to myself. I always try to keep the anger out of my voice. I can’t let my jealousy show. That wouldn’t be good. Then I really wouldn’t be allowed over anymore.

  “Heavenly. You will never not be allowed here. You’re a part of this family, and you know it.”

  I want to tell him he’s wrong. If he were mine I sure as heck wouldn’t let him hang out with some girl in his office all day.

  Then it hits me. I jump up and rush over to him. “Maybe I could marry your brother!”

  I almost run into him I’m so excited at the idea. But he catches me and puts his hands on my shoulders. I’d never have to leave! I could still see Carlos and his mom every day! Carlos’s brother Romy is nice, but if the rumors in the magazines are true, he’s a little bit of a player. But I wouldn’t care. I’m sure his mom will be pushing him to get married soon, too. Maybe we could just be married in name. He could still do whatever he wanted, and I could stay here. Romy and I get along well. We often team up and give Carlos a hard time when he gets into one of his grumpy moods.

  Carlos tightens his grip on my shoulders.

  “You want to be with my brother?”

  The look on his face changes to anger. I’ve seen this face on him many times over the years, but never has it been aimed at me. I don’t understand why he’s so mad. I know he’s protective of me in a brotherly way, but this seems excessive.

  “He wouldn’t treat you as you deserve to be treated,” he half-growls. He brings his hand to my cheek and strokes it softly. The touch doesn’t match the anger in his words.

  “Romy is sweet to me,” I say, trying to make him understand.

  “He wouldn’t be loyal,” he throws back.

  Loyalty is everything to him. I know Carlos would be faithful to his wife. He’s a man of great honor. That’s probably why I’ve never seen any magazine pictures of him out on a date. It’s also why he’d never think of being with me. I’m too young. Not only that but although I’m a princess, I’m a little brash and blurt things out in moments I shouldn’t. My parents kept me away from the social scene, then after they died I was out here living with my grandmother. She barely leaves the house. My only social interactions occur with him, when I come over here and hang out. I even completed my schooling at the castle with private teachers. It was easier to do it here. I practically live here, for the most part. If I wasn’t with Carlos, I was with his mother, helping her plan some charity event or dinner, ones I never went to. Carlos always said I was too young. I often wondered if he brought dates to those events. But at night, when he’d get home, I’d sneak over, faking I had a bad dream. When I crawled into his bed there were never any other women. Nor did his bed smell like one had been with him.

  The doors to Carlos’s office open, and his mom Nina walks in. Carlos drops his hand from my cheek, but the other on my shoulder only digs in a little tighter. I shake him off, turning to greet the woman who has become like a mom to me over the past five years.

  “Nina, I have the best idea! I should marry your son.”

  Chapter Two

  Carlos

  “She hasn’t come of age!”

  My shout echoes through the room, and both women turn to look at me as if I’m crazy. And maybe I am. What man wouldn’t be driven mad by the teasing temptation of Heavenly?

  “She’s not old enough,” I say, calmer this time, trying to show some control, something I find I have none of anymore. No, sweet little Heavenly has chipped it all away over the years.

  My mother fights a smile as she steps into the room. “Carlos, she’s days away. I think it’s something to consider. We love her like family, and having her stay with us would be a dream come true for me.” She walks over to Heavenly and kisses her on the cheek. Heavenly beams up at her and leans into her embrace. My mother loves her. She dotes on her every chance she can. I can’t blame her. Heavenly is easy to love. I fell in love with her the moment I laid eyes on her. She has a little bit of a wildness to her that is coated in sweetness. “Give Carlos some time, sweet child. He’ll come around.” She kisses Heavenly on this head this time as she winks over at me.

  “What?” I say, choking on the word. I can’t believe how easily my mother said that. As if it’s no big thing that we marry, that she would be all mine. I thought having her would be some big battle - a battle I’m willing to fight when the time comes, but a battle nonetheless. I’m too old for her, they will say. Questions of if I crossed a line before I should have would linger in people’s minds. “She didn’t mean me,” I push out, hating the words as the fall from my lips.

  I want to scream again, but they’re looking at me like I’m a lunatic. I feel the very last of my control when it comes to Heavenly slipping away. I clench my fists at my sides and grind my teeth to keep from yelling and ripping the walls down around us. How can they both be so blind?

  “Oh? Did you mean Romy? I’m so sorry, Heavenly. I had assumed you meant Carlos since…well.” She looks over at me and leaves the implication hanging there while a smirk plays on her lips.

  “Mother - ” I begin, but she cuts me off.

  “Romy would be perfect. He adores you, Heavenly, and I’m sure he would be agreeable. I’ll go talk to him personally.”

  “Thank you, Nina, I knew - ”

  “Enough!” I shout, loud enough I’m shocked the walls don’t shake.

  I can feel my blood pressure spiking and coming to a boil. I’m breathing hard at the thought of my sweet Heavenly being touched by any hand other than my own, and I won’t allow it. I’ll burn this castle to the ground before I ever let that happen.

  “She will marry me. That’s final.”

  “But you don’t want me,” Heavenly says, looking away from me, but not before I catch a glimpse of her face. She’s wearing an expression I’ve never seen before.

  “I said it’s final. In three days’ time, on your twenty-first birthday, I will make you my queen. End of discussion,” I growl.

  “Carlos - ” Heavenly starts.

  “Mother, make the arrangements.”

  “As you wish, Your Highness,” she says, and dips her head to me. If I’m not mistaken I see a trace of a smile pulling at her lips.

  I unclench my fists, feeling the blood circulate back to my fingers. As the adrenaline rush caused by thinking about Heavenly marrying someone else slips away, shock takes its place. I’m going to marry her. She’s going to be mine. Any thoughts of her being with someone else better be leaving her mind. Her fate is sealed. I will have her like I was always meant to.

  The sound of the door closing snaps me out
of it, and I look up to see that my mother has left us alone.

  “Carlos, you can cancel this. I know you didn’t mean it.” Her voice cracks, and I can see the sadness on her face. I don’t like it. Not one bit.

  “Heavenly - ”

  “No,” she says. “I might not be as famous or as beautiful as Princess Star, but damn it, I deserve to be someone’s first choice. Not their pity.”

  With those words, she turns on her heels and sprints out of the room. I don’t have time to blink before she’s gone, and I’m still in a shocked state at what just happened. I shake my head and run after her, determined to make this right.

  She truly has no idea how I feel about her, probably because I haven’t told her. But I thought at some point she would realize why I hadn’t chosen a queen. That she’d understand that she was the only woman I ever wanted, long before I even knew what that meant. I’d always thought of her as mine, but over the years what that really meant started to make itself clear. Every time she snuck into bed with me, it grew ever more painful for me not to make love to her. How I ached to sink into her soft, wet heat and bind us in the most primal way possible. How I dreamed of making babies with her and growing old together.

  Deep down I knew that one day I would finally tell her that she’d always been the love of my life, but I wanted to wait for the right moment, try to make her fall in love with me in that way. Now that moment has come and gone and I blew it. I wanted my proposal to be special. I wanted to talk to her brother Karim and get his permission. I wanted to do this the right way and make it the most perfect day of her life. But instead the plans have changed and I’m forced to make it right.

  When I get to the end of the hallway I can’t tell which way she went. I hope that I make the right choice and go left towards the orchard. If she’s trying to get away from me, that’s where she’ll be. But as soon as I make it a few more feet, Romy steps out of the kitchen and into my path.