The Kings Mate

Thunder echoes throughout the large vast room jolting me from my sleep. I’m back in the bed, even though I fell asleep on the couch, using Ryder’s arm as my pillow. I have no clue how I ended up in the mass of softness the warm sheets pulled up and tight around my neck giving no hint to the temperature outside.

Rain has been hammering down on the immaculate castle since before I arrived, only letting up for an hour every now and then. Despite the thick curtains being drawn over the long windows, behind them I know that the sky is still dark, small, tiny dots of cool blue light flecking the darkness, hinting that it is early in the morning.

Letting a shaky breath out, I drop my head back down to the pillow attempting to get back to sleep. My thoughts race over the warm feeling of Ryder’s hands moving softly and ever so slightly against my bare skin. The touch that sent tingles and waves of small electric shocks, through my body, along my spine moving to rest at the bottom of my stomach, forcing me and pulling me in closer to him.

Why was he touching me like that though? Why was I letting him touch me like that? We meet yesterday and already he has been touching me the way someone would touch their lover and not once have I rejected the smooth touch, accepting it as natural. It shouldn’t be though, I’m scared of the effect that he has on me and what my body is telling me to allow him to do.

Those thoughts that I had of him running his hands gently over the side of my bare body as his lips gently moved with mine as his strong muscled body hovers over the top of mine, shocks me but the feeling is enjoyable and I yearn for the real thing.

It was a dream, that the thunder just woke me up from where I was happy to be. Never before have I had thoughts like this and it twists deep in my stomach. The liking I have towards it makes me curious as well because it’s something that I’ve pushed back deep in my mind not wanting to have anything to do with it before now, it’s also something that will be difficult to achieve with a King.

Groaning I try to push it all away rolling over to my side, my eyes concentrating on the door that leads out of the room and towards wherever Ryder is asleep in one of the many rooms that I passed on my own mini self-tour of the top two levels of the west wing of the castle.

I wonder if I get up the two male body guards at the door will let me out. Even if I do get out, I don’t know where Ryder’s room is and he’ll probably be angry if I were to show up in his bedroom at this time of the morning. He also may begin to think that I want something else from him, I like the idea but I’m not ready to give it to him. I maybe never will be able give it to him even if offered.

“Miss,” a new voice says after a light knock at the door and it opens a crack showing me a new face from the bright light of the other room. “Is everything all right, can we get you anything?”

The voice at the door of the new guard is one of the softness I have heard, his soft brown hair that is cut close to his head curls slightly around the top of the tiny points at the top of his ears. His features are softer than that of what I would expect of the large muscled males.

“I’m okay, thank you.” I whisper pulling my eyes away from his feet, where they always seem to rest other than on Ellie’s hands and Ryder’s eyes, and move them to the ceiling.

Nodding he takes a step back away from the door. “If you do need anything, I’m Cyrus, and Theo and I are here.”

Cyrus’ presence in the room disappears with him out the door. It calmed me. Not the way that Ryder’s presence does. It’s all beginning to rest on my chest, weighing down on me in one of the most uncomfortable ways. I know I should leave but if I do, I leave Ryder and already I know that will weigh me down much more than what I am now.

Shivers shake through my body again at memories of Ryder’s skin against mine. His touch ghosts back over my skin and I can feel it lifting at the heavy weight pulling it off and allowing me to relax long enough to fall back into the softness of the bed and to sleep.

Shuffling feet, faintly hit at my ears and I blink a couple of time before I force my eyes open to see Ellie hovering around the room, a duster in her hand as she moves it over the dark wooded furniture in the corners of the room. The thick grey curtains have all been pulled back exposing the vast windows.

Bright yellow light floods the room bathing the bed in warmth, warming my skin through the thick sheets of the bed. It’s the first time I’ve seen the sun since being in the castle and I savour the sight knowing with Europe’s weather, this is not a regular occurrence throughout the cold winters.

“Morning miss,” Ellie smiles over her shoulder when she hears the rustle of the sheets when I push them down. Sitting up carefully I try to minimise the sharp pain of my torso.

“Ellie, please call me Lottie. I’m not all that comfortable with being called miss.” My voice is quiet as I watch her body tense.

Sighing she drops her head down her hands locking in front of her clenching tightly at the duster she still has. “It’s not professional, for me to call you by your birth name, but if it is what you wish then I will do so.”

Nodding towards her with a small smile, her knee’s bend slightly as she drops down in a curtsy, a small smile of her own gracing her already beautiful and feminie features. “If you wish mi-Lottie, his Majesty hasn’t eaten yet, and I do believe that he asked for your presence, tea will be served soon and you’re welcome to join him.”

Tea with Ryder? As much as I enjoy and am comforted by his presence, my unease is growing by the second as he grows so close to me and me to him. My thoughts from last night and the dream still plague me, along with some of the memories from the foster homes I ended up in.

Ryder won’t hurt me like that though and I know that I shouldn’t feel scared or threatened by him. I really do trust him, he’ll keep me safe. Without a doubt I know that he will. There’s just something different about him and the way that he touches me.

It was his touch that I felt on the street as the water from the road soaked into my clothes after whatever attacked me. Pain was coursing through my body from the injuries that I sustained and the warm tingles that I felt calming and distracting me from the sharp pinching. My eyes move down to the bandages that still wrap around the ripped skin of my palms and look to the table at my side and see that there is a glass of water and the two tablets that look the same as what Ellie gave me yesterday. Still now he is making sure that I don’t hurt and that I’m healthy as well.

This is the first time that I have thought of the attack against me. What and who it was that attacked me. One more reason to know that I am safe with Ryder if not even my thoughts have moved to something that was so dangerous, that if he weren’t there I wouldn’t have survived.

“Lottie?” Ellie calls me back from my trance. “Tea will be served in half an hour if you wish to join the King. Cyrus and Theo will walk you there when you are ready.”

Soft blackness fly’s quickly past the window to my right. The black feathers of the bird standing out starkly against the cream marble of the massive castle. Letting out a breathe I watch through the long windows as it swoops down over the gardens. I let it distract me as I try to think about whether I will join Ryder or not.

“Your doctor has put you on a diet plan to put your weight up to a healthy level and either way, if you want to be served in here we can do that as well, but you must eat.” Ellie continues not really allowing me to give much thought.

“I’ll eat with Ryder.” I say quietly my eyes moving over her body before moving them elsewhere.

Her head drops down a sympathetic smile stretching her cheeks. “Would you like me to help you get dressed?”

Ellie looks more like she wants to leave the wing of the castle then to stay here and help me get dressed. Letting out a small laugh I tell her that she can leave and her smile changes from the sympathetic one to a relaxed one.

Getting up from the bed, I pick up the clothes that have been rested on the back of the closest lounge. The clothes that I had on yesterday aren’t there anymore and I can only guess that Ellie has taken them.

Slipping on the clothes that still hang loose on me despite how much I was fed last night, my eyes move over my ribs as my fingers timidly move over the skin. Some of the bruises have darkened and some have turned a lighter yellow colour and the short raised and stitched skin has turned redder and I’m sure that it’s not supposed to turn that colour.

Sighing as I drop the shirt down I’m reminded to take the two tablets as I wince with the same sharp pulling pain from the area that I had that night. Swallowing down the tablets, I take a seat back down on the bed trying to calm my mind before I go to eat with Ryder, again.

Twenty minutes later there’s a light knock on the door and the guy that introduced himself last night as Cyrus takes a step in. He looks more relaxed now. His eyes are trained on my face and I try not to look him in the eyes.

“Are you ready to go miss?” Cyrus’ voice is quiet hinting to him being nervous, much like the others to begin with.

Why the guards are so nervous around me doesn’t make much sense to me. They may only have a hand gun sitting against their waist but by the build of their bodies and towering heights I know that they have possible trained there whole life to be guarding Ryder and to be guarding me for Ryder. If anyone was to be nervous around the other, it’s me around them.

“Where exactly are we going?” I ask quietly, begging to get nervous about being with Ryder again.

Cyrus’ head turns to scan the other room as he answers. “Just down to the next level, it’s not far.”

Nodding I move over to the door and I get a look at the other guard with him called Theo. He’s slightly taller than what Cyrus is but not as muscled and lean. His straight blonde hair is scruffy looking as if he couldn’t be bothered to even attempt to style it. His green eyes compliment it perfectly though.

“Morning, Charlotte.” Theo’s voice is deep like the others but he is the first to give me a genuine smile as he lightly nods his head at me.

“Morning, you can both call me Lottie. Miss, is too much.” I say my eyes moving over the windows, looking at the lush green grounds as I’m lead through the rest of the suite.

Theo is a step behind me the entire walk and Cyrus is one in front of me as he leads me out of the room. We pass three maids on our way down the stairs and down the wide corridor on the right of the sitting room on the floor below, towards the back of the castle underneath where my room would be. The three of them run their eyes quickly over my body before they dip their heads at me. Not once did they look at the two guards though which made me that much more nervous.

Theo quietly tells me to keep moving down the hall and its then that I realise that I stopped. My eyes had been continuously trailing over the ink that had been injected through all the layers of Cyrus’ skin on his bulging, strong arms. Up until now I haven’t fully questioned the reason why I’ve had the guards following me.

Safety seems to be Ryder’s number one priority with me and I just put it down to that. But there has to be more behind it with how close they are, barley leaving my side unless Ryder is around. Whether they fear that while they’re backs are turned, I’m going to run or not. There is not enough ‘danger’ for them to be as close to me as what they are. So why are they?

“Lottie, it’s just through that door.” Cyrus calls his voice pulling me from my thoughts as he nods at a double door in front of us.

The dark wood of the doors in front of me makes me chest shake a little. My thoughts coming back to how close Ryder is getting to me, I know I should be nervous of the way he touches me and by the way I feel when he does, I’m not though. I like it and right now the urge to have that touch is what pushes me through the door once Cyrus has it open.

Light pours into the room through the open wall, all the glass panels being pushed back letting the warm breeze into the cottage themed room. The pale blue walls with all the white vintage furniture make the room more fitted for the meal we’re about to have.

Ryder is sat outside on the balcony at a small three seated table with a phone pressed to his ear. He’s in black skinny jeans and a white button up shirt and his hair looks as though it was slicked back at one stage but now it’s slightly disturbed and I know that his hands have been locked tightly in it with frustration by the small crinkles. He seems to half have his Royal formal and his more casual look to him as well. I like the mix.

My feet feel glued to the ground as I watch the muscles in his back move beneath the material of his shirt. I don’t know if I should get closer to him or stay back and wait for him to be finished with the phone call.

I’m not stuck there for long as he throws the phone down onto the table. The force of his throw was hard and moved faster than what I thought would be possible. It makes me jump slightly out of surprise but when Ryder’s head rests in his hands as he braces himself on his elbows. He’s breathing is hard, so much that I can see the sharp movements through his back.

Slowly I walk over to him keeping my footsteps light so I don’t disturb him. Once I get behind him, I raise my hand running my fingers lightly over the back of his. “Ryder.”

My voice was quiet and nervous but as soon as my skin made contact with his and I felt the small electric shocks running through me, he had his fingers interlocked with mine his hand gripping mine as his warm breathes hit at my skin as he finally began to calm down.

“Morning,” he laughs out, a small smile warping his face but it doesn’t reach his eyes and the smile isn’t sincere. It worries me, deeper than what it should.

“Are you okay?” I ask ignoring his fake attitude.

His eyes run over my body quickly before they stop on my lips, moving them back up to lock eyes with me. He gives me a small nod as he releases my hand.

Cold seeps through my jeans into my skin from the cold iron of the seat as I sit down. There is a plate of scones in front of me with a bowl of cream and strawberry jam sat on the side. It looks nice. It’s something I’ve only ever seen from a window though and I desperately want to dig in but Ryder’s gaze is still locked on me.

“What?” Biting my lip lightly as to not split it again, I look up at him noticing that the smile he now wears is real and I know it’s for me.

“You look beautiful,” he whispers a sentimental look in his eyes. It quickly drops as a maid walks in the door with a tray in her hands. “What would you like to drink? Tea, coffee, water, hot chocolate even.” He continues his voice completely changed from before.

The maid bows down in front of the two of us and once her head is back up she smiles towards me waiting for my answer. Turning towards Ryder I can see that he has a concentrated look on his face, but his eyes are concentrated on my face.

“Um, I don’t really know. I’ve only ever had water.” Ryder lets out a small laugh when I say that.

“Bring her all off them in a small mug but still bring her a glass of water.” Ryder says towards the maid as he takes the plate of small sandwiches from her.

Giving me a nod she turns towards Ryder giving him one, “Yes your majesty, I won’t be long.”

“Thank you, Abigail.” Ryder sighs happily, his eyes still on me.

My eyes are concentrated on Ryder as he watches me carefully. His eyes only move form mine when his phone that surprisingly wasn’t broken vibrates on the table. He breathes out heavily, his eyes sympathetic as he looks back up at me. He leaves the room telling me that he will be back soon after he takes the call.

He still confuses me to no end. I shouldn’t trust him but I do. The way that I felt when he took my hand was unexpected. The way that he seemed to calm down from the contact of my skin against his even made me more comfortable to be there with him.

Abigail walks back into the room another smaller tray balancing perfectly on top of her hands. She steps up to the side of me but I don’t notice her. When she came back into the room she left the door open and I can see Ryder pacing in the hall, arguing quietly into the phone. Maxon is stood behind him and is talking to Cyrus, Theo and another two guards that were stood a bit further down the hall when I first arrived. The two of them gave the three of us a look until one of them gave a nod to Cyrus and he nodded back.

“Here, you are Miss Charlotte.” Abigail’s voice snaps me away from Ryder’s large menacing body.

“Sorry?” I question. There are three small white porcelain mugs placed in front of me along with a glass of water.

“Your drinks your maje- my dear, we didn’t know what type you like so we just got you King Ryder’s favourites.” She says with a bow, “Enjoy, if you need anything else, his Majesty will call us.” She’s out of the room now and Ryder looks even tenser.

Something’s wrong. I can feel it. Ryder’s arms are crossed strongly over his chest as he’s in a deep conversation with Maxon, now that the phone is gone from his ear. The both of them look angry but I can still see that Maxon’s eyes dart to the ground every now and then, Ryder is his King and he can’t outrank him.

With a growl that echoes from the hall into the room Maxon looks like he has finally given up. Ryder turns back to me, coming through the door and it’s closed behind him by one of the guards. He’s taking deep breathes trying to calm himself back down, again.

The skin of his tanned knuckles turns white as he strongly grips the back of his chair pulling it out. When he sits back down I notice that he has moved the chair closer to mine and now that he’s sat down his knee is rubbing lightly against mine. I can feel the material of jeans scratching together but I can still feel the warmth of his skin.

“Can I help with anything?” his eyes jump to mine when I say that and he gives me back a small genuine smile.

“Thank you, but I don’t think you can help, it’s very complicated.” His fingers dance over the back of my hand as he speaks. His eyes are narrowed slightly and a smirk replacing his smile as he looks back up at me. All the tenseness is gone from his muscles as he locks his eyes back with mine. “Try the drinks love.” He tells me with a rise of his eyebrows.

Its then that I notice how close I am to him, the warmth of his breath fanning lightly over my cheek from the short distance that separates us. I pull back away from him with a small gasp, slipping my hand from beneath his as I take the first of the tiny little baby mugs into my hands. The dark liquid inside the porcelain cup swirls as I lift it up towards my mouth. The sweet smell hits my nose and I don’t hesitate to take a sip, but as I get a taste I stop. It doesn’t taste as nice as it smells. I don’t even try the next milky coloured one when I can taste it through the bitter smell of it.

Ryder watches me carefully leaned back in his chair ignoring the vibration of his phone on the table. As I pick up the third and finally mug, I begin to feel slightly nervous as he watches me. He gives me a sheepish smile, as I let the liquid wash down my throat. It’s warm and sweet, perfection in a cup and before I know it the contents is gone and Ryder’s eyes that I haven’t broken from mine, crinkle a little at the edges as he laughs.

He looks so beautiful doing so. “Hot chocolate. Tastes better with marshmallows would you like me to order you another.”

Nodding at him he turns towards the door, calling to a guard. As he speaks to them it isn’t in English, and it’s the first time that I take note of his thick Jordanian accent and how much stronger that it is than everyone else’s that I’ve heard. It sends a pleasant shiver down my spine to hear it and makes my English one sound horrid.

His phone rings loudly before he gets the chance to even turn back to the table. He groans picking it up and continuing to speak in his native tongue. He pinches the bridge of his nose between his fingers his tone become rougher as whatever the person on the other side of the phone sets him on edge.

“I despise that thing.” He says with a heartless laugh as he places it in his pocket. “I have to go, but Abigail will be back with more hot chocolate and you’re free to stay here as long as you like but just tell Theo and Cyrus when you want to go back and they’ll take you up to the room.” He says sadly with a smile.

He doesn’t look like he wants to leave, but I realise that he is a King and that he has a country and people to rule, order and peace to keep, he can’t stay here with me.

“I’ll take you on a tour of the castle later.” He smiles genuinely now as he meets my eyes. “For your safety I’d rather you didn’t leave your suite unless it’s with me or to come meet me on these top two floors. It probably doesn’t sound very nice but hopefully it won’t be for long.”

Whether or not I should be annoyed with him, I can’t help the warm feeling rolling through my stomach at the thought of him protecting me so thoroughly. It doesn’t sit well though that whatever is putting me in danger he is reluctant to tell me about.

“Charlotte,” Ryder questions and I realise that I’m caught in my thoughts.

“Yeah, that um, that sounds nice, thank you.” I can feel the flatness in my voice and Ryder notices it, he’s eyes flicking over my body in worry. “I’m okay.”

Three sets of eyes fall on my face, as both of Ryder’s guards and him stare at me. Ryder said nothing to me about how uncomfortable he felt leaving me after seeing me in the emotional state of uncertainty and nervousness that my thoughts carried me too, that didn’t stop me from feeling the strong emoting pulsating off him in waves. It was obvious and I don’t know why it surprised them.

Ryder looks away from me with a nod of his head. “I’ll see you later. Try the marshmallows with the hot chocolate.”

The chair makes a small scarping noise against the ground as he steps up pushing it out behind him as he makes his way out of the room with a final fleeting look at me. I do as he says, staying in the room for as long as I can and trying the marshmallows in with the hot chocolate watching as they melted into the creamy hot liquid, the same with the second one that I asked Theo for. That was when I asked to go back up to the room, tired from the restless sleep that I had the night before.

When we walked back up to the room, we passed an older woman on the way up who was in conversation with someone who must have been a guard. She was just slightly taller than me and her thick, long blonde hair was piled on top of her head in a mass of braids and curls. She holds herself perfectly, her pale green eyes contrasting flawlessly with her pale complexion and she gives me a smile as I walk past, which I return.

There was something familiar about her to me even though there was no resemblance to anyone else here in the castle. It’s just a certain trustworthy power that she admits from herself even from across the room.

Getting into the suite is a relief especially when I sink back into the soft material of the large lounge. I’m not interested in watching the television though and I move to the bookshelf behind the large, immaculate desk, my fingers dancing over the spines as I scan the titles slowly looking for something that looks interesting and could hold my attention for a while.

My reading wasn’t the best in the first place. English was my strongest subject at Carlett, which was still poor in the first place and now that I was here I felt embarrassed that I didn’t know more. Ryder seems so knowledgeable just by the way he holds himself and the way that he speaks and then you have me.

When I pull a thinner one into my hands with block writing running the length of the spine a quite but piercing alarm sounds through the room in spurts and I jump back away from the window, clutching the book against my chest were my heart is beating rapidly. The windows make a large noise just as the doors to the suite open and, Theo, Cyrus, Reynolds and Charlie all enter the room.

Hands wrap around the top of my arms and I’m pulled back away from the window by Reynolds and placed behind him as Theo and Charlie make a quick scan of the bedroom before coming back out and closing the door behind them a grey panel coming down over the top of them the same with the doors that leads out into the hallway, Cyrus pulls back the curtains to revel the same thing over the windows, explaining the noise that I heard.

“You alright Lottie?” Reynolds ask and it seems to me that he’s the one that’s in charge of whatever is going on as he barks orders at the other guys in Jordanian.

“I’m fine.” I say to him as he leads me over to sit on the lounge the furthest side away from the window.

It feels awkward now to have the four of them in the room with me. It only lasts for five minutes as the door from the hallway opens the shield sliding up and both Reynolds and Cyrus who is closest to the door pulling the small hand guns from the holsters at the sides of their leg and aim at the person trying to enter the room.

Ryder doesn’t even react to the two guns that are pointed at him as he enters the room. They lower as soon as the guards see who it is and all four of them walk out of the room, instantly relaxing my nerves as I realise that it’s just Ryder in the room with me. It also makes me slightly nervous of what might happen, so much so that I forget the possibilities of what is going throughout the rest of the castle.

Ryder puts in a pin into a small pin pad that appears at the side of the door and the shield comes back down, he steps back looking at it and I notice that the white button up shirt that he had on before he been replaced by a grey tee and his shoes have been removed.

He lets out a sigh and turns towards me. “You want to watch a movie then?” he asks me and I can feel that he’s only saying it so I won’t ask him about what is going on.

He sits down a cushion or two away from me on the lounge, propping his feet up on the coffee table in front of him.

“Are you trying to distract me from what’s going on and you’re the biggest and most muscled person to protect me?” I ask a smile finding its way across my cheeks.

Really, at the moment I couldn’t care less of what is going on outside. I have him here in the room with me. As much as the way I feel towards him scares me, it scares me of how I feel when I’m not in the same room as him.

“I am, but just remember that you trust me.” he turns the television on with a cocky smile in my direction.

“How much trust am I supposed to give you Mr. Connolly?” I ask giving him another smile back.

The smile drops lightly and his eyes move over me in a questioning wonder like he did with me before in the tea room, he shifts slightly in his seat before he meets my eyes again.

“All of it hopefully.” He whispers huskily.

His eyes stay locked with mine for another ten minutes before a scream on the television causes me to jump and his eyes to flicker over to the screen and begin to decide on a channel to watch. His body is tense from the not so stare down we had before, I can’t stop my eyes concentrating on the muscles beneath his shirt as he settles back into the lounge.

He’s beautiful.