Page 90 of Tall, Royal and Grumpy

“Want to do it again?”

Considering how hard I had just come, I shouldn’t have been able to feel heat surging through me all over again. But my dick defied the biology of man and was ready to have her again.

Chapter Twenty-Six

ESMERALDA

“Hello?” I said into my mobile phone, eyeing the black court heels I was wearing against the blood red carpet of my bedroom.

“Esmeralda…dude,” my best friend, Mariyah, whisper-groaned on the other end of the line. “What time is this to call, man? And my ringtone scared the fucking life out of me too.”

I winced, glancing at the digital clock on the bedside cabinet from where I sat at the edge of my bed.

10:17 AM flashed in red across the rectangular screen, which meant it was five-thirty-ish in Raven. Not exactly an appropriate time to ring someone, but she was my best friend, so that etiquette didn’t apply to her.

“Sorry, it’s early, I know,” I said. “I had some time before I head down to the car with Shehryar for the service, so I thought I’d try my luck.”

“Well, you’re in luck.” She yawned. “Lilly, Drew, and the kids are here. And my dear nieces and nephew think it’s great fun to wake Aunty Mari up before six o’clock every morning to play trucks and dolls—and ask questions I don’t have answers to—so I was already half awake anyway.”

I smiled at my lap, picking off a piece of fluff from my black, princess-style coat. “How are they all?”

“The kids are great, as curious and adorable as always. Lilly’s good too—excited. And I’m still not sure if my brother-in-law was crying happy tears or sad tears. They’re having another baby.”

“Oh,” I cooed happily. “Girl or boy?”

“Dunno yet. I think they want to keep it a surprise this time though.”

“Well, tell them I said congratulations.”

“I will, I will. When we’re watching ‘Aunty Mari’s princess friend’ on TV for the Memorial Service,” she said, and I grinned. “So, why did Aunty Mari’s princess friend call so early in the morning? Something big must’ve happened otherwise you would’ve just messaged me.”

My smile turned smug and coy at the same time as heat warmed through my face and belly, memories of last night flooding my mind. Not that I needed the memories. The sweet aches lingering through my muscles wouldn’t let me forget the way Kai railed me into his bed all night long.

“I, uh…” I swallowed down the giddy feeling soaring through my chest.

Mariyah gasped down the phone. “Esmeralda…you didn’t…”

I let my silence speak for itself. But even if I had wanted to say anything, the massive grin on my face left no room for words.

“You little slut!” A giggle jumped from my mouth. “You fucked TRG!”

I threw my head back and laughed up at the ceiling. “You can’t call him that!”

“Dude, Orange as his nickname went out the fucking window the moment you told me you called him ‘tall, royal, and grumpy’, so TRG is here to stay, okay?” I rolled my eyes, laughing. “And don’t try to change the subject. Tell me. Did you fuck him?”

I nibbled on my lip, trying to tame my beaming smile. “I mean…technically, he fucked me. But—”

Mariyah squealed so loudly I had to pull the phone from my ear, her excitement for me sparking my own happy laughter. “Yes! Yes! Yes, yes, yes,” she said, and I could perfectly picture her fist pumping the air. “Finally. Six years of pining paid off. I’m so happy for you my gorgeous, gorgeous girl!”

Everyone needed a friend who hyped up their every achievement the way Mariyah hyped mine up. I loved her so fucking much. She was my friend equivalent of a soulmate.

“Thank you—I think.”

“So—so is this it? Are you two like official now? Because if you tell me you’re still ‘figuring it out’, I swear I’m gonna come to Touma and smack both of your asses.”

“I mean…” I fiddled with the belt of my coat. “Neither of us have really asked what we are, but with how things have been between us the last two, three days, I don’t think there’s any question about it. He’s so…” A longing sigh slipped from my mouth as a sweet ache clamped down on my chest. “He’s better than anything I could have ever asked for, Mariyah.”

She made a giddy sound on the line. “I can literally feel how much he cares for me in everything he does, and I…” I swallowed the lump of happiness in my throat. “He feels like it to me. Like there could never be anyone else other than him. Not even a book boyfriend, Mariyah.”

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