Royal Desire (Maid for the Billionaire Prince Vol 4) by Artemis Hunt Page B

national flower of Moldavia, and seeded with pearls
and little diamonds. The ivory gown is a puffed-up inverted flower,
so elaborate that you should see me float in it. I’m a shimmering
cloud.
    For my wedding gift, the Queen has given me
(yes, Queen Marie!) a diamond and emerald necklace so huge that my
neck is practically embedded by its weight. It’s apparently a
family heirloom. Her mother has augmented it with matching diamond
and emerald earrings and a diamond bracelet. The royals are
showering me with jewelry. Probably felt guilty for navigating me
out of a Queendom. The safe in my room is a veritable treasure
chest.
    I have a tiara . . . and a silk train. You
should see that train! It has to be carried by twelve
pagegirls.
    I am having a very public royal wedding.
Moldavia and the world need its spectacle. They want to see me and
Alex have our happy ending.
    It’s time for me to be ferried to the
church. I am going in a carriage pulled by horses. Yes! Just like
Cinderella! I hope it doesn’t turn into a pumpkin halfway. That
would totally ruin my dress.
    The people line up the streets to see me.
Since my Dad can’t be found, there’s no one to give me away, but
that’s all right too. My Mom is here, and I’ve invited Mr.
Mangorean and a few people from the hotel. (Not Cassandra
Pelicano.) I’ve even invited Deanna, my old roommate. I’ve decided
to forgive her.
    When she flew in, we hugged each other
fiercely with tears in our eyes.
    “I’m sorry,” she whispered over and
over.
    “It’s all right. You’re here and that’s all
that matters.”
    The people are cheering and waving at me as
I pass. I wave back, smiling. I’m on live TV coverage. Even though
I’m not Queen, this is an event big enough to rival Marie’s
coronation.
    I arrive at the cathedral. I climb out of
the coach, tucking my train around me carefully. Guess who is my
bridesmaid? Yes, it’s the new Queen herself! What a kick I’m having
– a Queen as my bridesmaid on my wedding day.
    Alex is waiting for me at the pulpit. So is
the Archbishop, who will marry us as a sign of his acceptance. They
both beam down at me as I enter. The guests stand on my account. I
am truly a princess today.
    Oh yeah, my new title. Princess
Elizabeth.
    I think I can get used to it.
    Alex is so handsome in his black suit that I
swoon. His hair is combed neatly and he has a mischievous look in
his eyes. Since his abdication, we have not looked back. He has
thrown himself into his work and humanitarian deeds, as befitting a
prince of the realm. I have organized charities and devoted myself
to causes. We set about healing the royal family and mending ties
with Nuernberg.
    As a sign of those mended ties, Tatiana and
her father are at the wedding. They are seated in the first row
beside the Queen Mother.
    Alex does not take his eyes off me as I
ascend the steps to the pulpit.
    I love you more than anything in this
world, they say.
    And I love you more than anything and
anyone, I silently say back.
    The Archbishop commences the ceremony, and
his words are half-drowned by the rushing of blood in my ears. I’m
alive and with the man I love. We’re together despite all odds. He
puts the ring on my finger – it’s a diamond so huge that it
eclipses every single bauble I have ever seen. And he kisses me.
Oh, how he kisses me. It’s sweet and filled with so much love and
hope for our future than I can melt into his kiss forever.
    Later, we will honeymoon in Indonesia. We
will make love on the sands and drink from coconut husks and live
like the beautiful, beautiful natives.
    But for now, we are blessed as man and wife
in the house of God. And happiness like I have never known it
swarms my entire being and lifts me to the light of the stained
windows.

 
    WORKS BY ARTEMIS HUNT
     
    EROTIC ROMANCES
     
    The ‘Inhumanly Handsome, Humanly Flawed Alpha
Male’ series
    A Virgin Enslaved
     
    The ‘Maid for the Billionaire Prince’
series
    Mysterious