American Queen by Sierra Simone pdf download
Details of American Queen by Sierra Simone Book
- Book Name: American Queen (New Camelot #1)
- Authors: Sierra Simone
- Pages: 203
- Genre: Adult, Romance, Fiction
- Publish Date: Oct 25, 2016
- Language: English
Book Review:
American Queen by Sierra Simone prologue love is patient love is kind love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude it does not insist on its own way it is not irritable or resentful it does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in truth
It bears all things it believes all things it hopes all things it endures all things it endures all things i stare at the last line of the bible verse as my cousin abilene and her mother continue to fuss with the edges of my veil
The entire passage from first corinthians is etched into a marble block in the cathedral's narthex and any other bride standing here might have seen these words as a comfort and an encouragement perhaps
I'm the only bride ever to stand in front of these massive sanctuary doors and wonder if god is trying to give me a warning but when i think of what awaits me at the end of the aisle of who awaits me i straighten my shoulders and blink away from the verses from the moment i met ash
I knew i was destined to love him i knew i was destined to be his there's no place he can go that i won't follow no sacrifice he can demand of me that i won't give no part of myself that i won't offer willingly and completely to him i will bear believe in hope for and endure ash's love until the day
I die even if that means robbing my own soul and it will mean robbing my own soul my only comfort is that i won't be alone in my suffering with a deep breath i step in front of the doors just as they open the airy notes of pachelbel's cannon and d drifting through the stone nave my grandfather takes my arm to guide me down the aisle the guests are standing the candles are flickering my veil is perfect and then
I catch sight of ash my pulse catches races trips over itself as it rushes to my lips and face and heart he wears his tuxedo as if he were born wearing one his wide shoulders and narrow hips filling out the tailored lines perfectly even
If he didn't stand at the top of the stairs leading up to the altar he would still seem taller than everyone else around him because that's just ash he doesn't have to exude power and strength he simply is power and strength made manifest and right
Now all of that power and strength is bent toward me as we lock eyes and even across the distance of the knave begin to breathe as one shock seems to ripple through him as he fully sees me the dress the veil the tremulous smile and pleasure kindles and glows in my chest at this he wanted to wait to see each other until the ceremony he wanted this moment
I have to admit that watching his handsome face struggle to contain his emotions feeling my own blood heat at the sight of him in his tuxedo it was worth it no matter how outdated the tradition is no matter how much it inconvenienced our guests no matter how long those hours were this morning without him it was worth it and then as my grandfather and i move closer
I see him right next to ash dark-haired and slender with ice blue eyes and a mouth made for sin and apologies sometimes even in that order embry moore ash's best friend his best man his running mate because of course i'm not just walking down the aisle to the man i've been in love with since
I was 16. i'm walking down the aisle to marry the president of the united states the hundreds of guests fade away the massive stands of flowers and candles vanish and for a moment it's only the bride and the groom
The best man it's only me ash and embry there's no presidency or vice presidency or a freshly painted first lady's office awaiting me after the honeymoon there aren't hordes of cameras inside and outside the cathedral and the pews aren't filled with ambassadors and senators and celebrities it's the three of us ash stern and powerful embry haunted and pale and me with bite marks on the inside of my thighs and a hammering heart it's when i'm almost to the front that
I see the best man has a bite mark of his own peeping above the collar of his tuxedo large and red and fresh it's when i'm almost to the front that i see that the small white square in ash's tuxedo pocket isn't a silk handkerchief it's undeniably the familiar lace of my panties no one who hasn't seen my panties before would know but he's so blatantly displaying them like a trophy the last time
I saw them they were clutched in embry's strong fist my grandfather lifts my veil and kisses my cheek putting the veil back down over my face ash extends his hand and i slide my fingers into his and we step up to the priest together one of my bridesmaids straightening my dress after we find our places and stand still
I don't realize i'm crying until ash lets go of my hand reaches under my veil and swipes his thumb across my cheek he lifts his thumb to my lips licking the taste of my tears off his skin his dark green eyes smolder with promise and behind him embry's hand unconsciously goes up to touch the bite mark
I'm certain ash left on his neck i shiver the priest begins the guests sit and i wonder one last time if god wants me to stop this if god can barely stand to look at the three of us if god wasn't trying to warn me before because what did i really think i could endure what did i really think the two most powerful men in the world would be willing to endure from me but then
I catch sight of ash's eyes still flared with unmistakable heat and embry's long fingers still probing the mark on his neck and i decide now that this fairy tale couldn't have ended any other way i mean god can warn me all he wants but that doesn't mean i have to listen part one the princess one eighteen years ago i was cursed by a wizard when i was seven years old it was at a charity gala
I think save for the wizard it wouldn't have stood out from any other event my grandfather took me to ball gowns and tuxedos chandeliers glittering in opulent hotel ballrooms while string octets played in discreet corners ostensibly these events raised money for the various foundations and causes championed by the rich and bored
But in reality they were business meetings political allegiances for this candidate or that were sounded out potential donors were identified and wooed business deals began here and marriages in the upper reaches of society began here as well because among the wealthy what were marriages but lifelong business deals i understood some of this even as a young girl but it never troubled me
It was life or at least grandpa leo's life and it didn't occur to me to question it besides i enjoyed dressing up in the expensive flouncing dresses grandpa leo bought for me i enjoyed having adults ask my opinion i enjoyed seeing all the beautiful women and handsome men and most of all i enjoyed dancing with grandpa leo who always
Let me stand on his shoes and who never forgot to spin me around and around so that i could pretend i was a princess in a fairy tale and late at night when the big black car would pick us up and take us back to the manhattan penthouse he would let me chatter happily about everything
I'd seen and heard asking me questions about who had said what about how they said it if they had looked happy or sad or mad as they said it he would ask me who looked tired who looked distracted who grumbled under their breath during the keynote speeches it wasn't until a few years later that
I realized that grandpa relied on me as a kind of spy a watcher of sorts because people will behave around children in a way they won't around adults they let their guard down they mutter to their friends certain that a child won't notice or understand but i did notice i was naturally observant naturally curious and naturally ready to read deeply into small comments or gestures and at grandpa leo's side
I spent years honing that natural weapon into something sharp and useful something he used for the party but that i used for him because i wanted to help him wanted him to be proud of me and also because there was something addictive in it something addictive in watching people and figuring them out like reading a book and deciphering the big twist before the end but the night
I met the wizard all of that was still in the future at that moment i was giddy and wound up from spinning in circles and sneaking extra plates of dessert from the winking waitresses i was still spinning when my grandfather beckoned me to join him near the doors of the ballroom
I skipped over expecting another of his usual friends the beltway wheelers and dealers or the snappish board businessmen it was someone different something different a tall man only in his mid-twenties but with crow dark eyes and a thin mouth that reminded me of the illustrations of evil enchanters in my fairy tale books unlike the evil enchanters
He didn't hunch over a cane or wear long trailing robes he was dressed in a crisp tuxedo his face clean-shaven his dark hair short and perfectly combed my grandfather beamed down at me as he introduced us mr merlin reese i'd like you to meet my granddaughter greer greer this young man is moving here from england and coming in as a consultant to the party the party even at seven the party was a force in my life as strong as any other a risk
I suppose that came with having a former vice president for a grandfather especially when that former vice president had served in the white house with the late penley luther the dead and revered demigod of the party it was president luther who was referenced in all the speeches and op-eds it was luther's name that was invoked
Whenever a crisis happened what would luther do what would luther do mr merlin reese looked down at me his black eyes unreadable in the golden glow of the ballroom seems a bit dull for a girl your age he said softly but also not softly there was a challenge in his words lodged somewhere in those neatly folded consonants and airy vowels but i couldn't puzzle
It out couldn't sift it away from his words i kept my eyes on his face as my grandfather spoke she's my date grandpa leo said affectionately ruffling my hair my son and daughter-in-law are traveling out of the country for humanitarian work so she's staying with me for a few months she's so well behaved isn't that right greer yes grandpa i chirped obediently but when
I caught the frown on merlin's face something chilled in me as if a cold fog had wrapped itself around me and only me and was slowly leeching away my warmth i dropped my eyes to my shoes shivering and trying not to show it the glossy patent leather reflected the shimmers and glitters of the gilded ceiling and i watched those shimmers as merlin and my grandfather began discussing midterm election strategy trying to reconcile what
I felt with what i knew i felt fear the kind of creeping neck prickling fear i had when i woke up at night to see my closet door open but i knew that i was safe that grandpa leo would keep me safe that this stranger couldn't hurt me in a room full of people except i wasn't afraid of him hurting me or stealing me away necessarily no
It was the way his eyes had bored into mine the way his disapproval of me had enveloped me so completely that frightened me i felt like he knew me understood me could see inside of me to all of the times i'd lied or cheated or fought on the playground that he could see all the nights
I'd been unable to sleep my closet door open and me too afraid to get up and close it all the mornings my father and i went walking in the woods behind our house all the evenings my mother patiently taught me tai chi all the fairy tale books
So adored all of the treasures i'd gathered in the little treasure box stored under my bed all of my secret childish dreams and fears everything this man could see it all and to be seen really seen was the most terrifying thing i'd ever felt leo a man called from a few feet away
He was also with the party and grandpa gave my hair a final ruffle as he gestured to the man to approach him one moment mr reece merlin inclined his head gravely as my grandfather turned to speak to the other man i willed myself to meet his eyes again and then immediately wished
I hadn't his eyes i now realized had been shuttered when speaking to grandpa and they were unshuttered now burning with something that seemed a lot like dislike he said in that soft not soft voice something like a welsh lilt emerged in his words as if he'd lost control of his voice as well as his eyes i swallowed.
Also read: Breaking the Billionaire's Rules by Annika Martin
Also read: After Ever Happy by Anna Todd
Also read: Bonsai by Alejandro Zambra
Also read: Grandparents Bag of Stories
Also read: It Starts with Us PDF by Colleen Hoover
Also read: Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li
Also read: Reminders of Him by Colleen Hoover
Also read: The Fortunes of Jaded Women by Carolyn Huynh
Also read: The Immortals of Meluha
Comments
Post a Comment