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Chapter Text

Then

“Mama, when can I spend the night at Dorma’s house?”

Ramonda pauses her vegetable chopping to look behind her at her only daughter. “Not until you’re old enough to fend for yourself. You don’t know those people.”

“I’ve known Dorma since kindergarten!”

“I said what I said. Now go make sure your room is all clean before she gets here. I do not need her telling her folks that we have a messy home.”

Twelve year old Shuri doesn’t roll her eyes until her back is facing Ramonda. She goes into her room, shoving the mess on the floor underneath her bed and calling it a day. She breaks out into a smile when she hears the doorbell ringing. The sound of it has awakened her father, who jumps in his relaxing chair while Shuri practically slides across the floor to answer.

Her best friend is standing on the porch, a red backpack slung over her shoulder. The girls giggle, and Shuri pulls Dorma inside. 

“Hi, Mr. Udaku!”

“Bah…” 

They stifle their laughter when the older man falls asleep in his chair again. Ramonda appears in the living room, a hand on her hip, smiling at Dorma. 

“Your mother better not have fed you. I expect you to be licking your plate tonight.”

“I came here starving!” 

Ramonda winks at her. “That’s what I like to hear.”

Shuri and Dorma go to her room, and Shuri gently closes her door, not wanting her mother to know that it’s shut. They sit on her bed together, holding hands as Shuri’s eyes grow wide with excitement. 

“So,” she whispers. “What happened?”

“He kissed me!”

The girls squeal together. The prepubescent Shuri lives vicariously through Dorma, whose body began developing while they were still in elementary school. All the boys have a crush on Dorma, and she has recently caught the attention of a high school freshman. 

“How did it feel?”

“Like kissing,” Dorma shrugs. “Our lips touched and I felt all tingly inside.”

“Did he touch your face?” Shuri asks nervously. “Mrs. H told us in that one special class that if a boy touches your face while kissing it might lead to something more.”

“No, but he did touch my boob!”

“Ew!”

The girls laugh so loud that it has Ramonda hollering at them to come help in the kitchen. After they eat dinner and go through their sleepover routine, the two young girls lie in bed together, their faces covered with a mud mask that Ramonda made them. 

“Shuri?”

“Yeah?”

“You ever think about your future husband?”

Shuri stares at her ceiling fan going around and around. 

“Sometimes. Baba says I can’t date until I’m married, so I dunno how I’ll ever meet him.”

“What do you want him to be like?”

“Mm… I want my husband to love me so much and also be cute.”

“Well I want my husband to be rich like a king and have lots of money to spoil me with!” 

Shuri turns her head to the side when something catches her eye. She squeezes Dorma when she spots a shooting star through the window, and the girls quickly kneel, wishing upon that star that they get the husbands of their dreams one day. 

Now

“Hola.”

Dorma hands the passports over to the border security guard. From the passenger seat, Shuri sees the man not even checking their identifications. He’s smiling flirtatiously at Dorma, handing the passports back. 

“You ladies here for spring break?”

“Isn’t everyone?” 

The guard laughs, his eyes scanning Dorma’s breasts before meeting her gaze once more. He taps the truck. 

“Enjoy your stay in Puerto Peñasco!”

Dorma winks at him before rolling the window up. As soon as they finally make it through the traffic and onto the trail that will take them to the private condo a friend of theirs gave them a discount for, Dorma holds onto Shuri’s hand. The two women grin excitedly at one another while the truck travels over the sandy road. 

“Our last Spring Break as college juniors, girl!”

“And we’re finally old enough to drink!”

Dorma lowers her eyelids. “The legal drinking age in this country is 18. We’ve been old enough. You’re the one who has been wanting to wait for 21.” 

“And now I am!” 

“Mmhm, and no longer a virgin,” Dorma sings and Shuri feels her face warming up. 

Last summer, she lost her virginity to her ex-boyfriend, Eden, before he moved away. The long distance relationship provided too many temptations for Eden and he broke her heart. The sex wasn’t that great, either. It was awkward and it hurt, but at least she finally experienced it. 

“I don’t know if I ever want sex again,” she murmurs. “I don’t understand the hype.”

“That’s because you haven’t experienced sex with a man who knows what he’s doing. I’m helping you bag a real one tonight.”

Shuri can’t be too excited about it. After all, when going out with Dorma, she is the center of attention. Men gravitate towards her, and it’s not difficult to see why. She has killer curves, a nonexistent waist, and a gorgeous face. She is intelligent and a fun time to be around. Her only downfall is that she’s extremely picky. All she desires in life is a rich man, hence why all her boyfriends are much older and why she pays no mind to those who hit on her. They’re often too disappointed by Dorma’s rejection that they pay dust to Shuri.

And Shuri doesn’t mind, really. 

She knows her future husband will find her one day, and that is why she never goes out of her way to reel anyone in. She thought she had found him in Eden, but that proved to be a fluke. 

While Dorma is hellbent on finding a man this week, Shuri is thankful to be away from the stress of college, and to enjoy the sunshine and the beach and maybe a few drinks before they have to go back to it. 

But alas, Shuri can’t allow Dorma to go to this club by herself tonight. That is why they are currently standing in front of the full length mirror, trying on different outfits. Dorma does a spin in her red bathing suit, with her red heels on, and her red hair in big, long curls. It is her signature color, and she looks damn good in it. 

“How do I look?”

“Hot. But isn’t it a bit strange going to a club in swimsuits? What if we are mistaken for strippers or something?” 

“Shuri, there’s a pool on the outside of the club. Look it up. You’ll see a bunch of girls in bikinis and men in swim trunks or Speedos. It’s the norm.” 

Shuri glances at her reflection. She is still wearing the denim shorts and black t-shirt she had on during the road trip. 

“I’ll just go in this.” 

Dorma gives her a look, then pulls something out of her bag. It’s a skimpy golden bikini. Very stringy. Shuri points at it.

“Your titties and ass are going to be falling out of that.” 

“This is yours. Picked it up yesterday. Try it on!” 

Shuri waves her hands in front of her. “No way! I can’t be seen in that!” 

“Just try it. Bet you’ll love it.” 

Sighing, Shuri steps into the bathroom and changes into the bikini. When she sees herself in the mirror, she’s stunned. The gold looks so beautiful on her skin, and she actually feels kinda… sexy? 

Dorma enters and gasps. “Oh, you’re getting someone’s dick up tonight.” 

“I…” Shuri turns a bit, checking out her perky ass that is on full display thanks to the thong-like bottoms. “I can’t go out in public like this! This is the kind of outfit reserved for the bedroom!” 

“It’s a damn swimsuit, Shuri. You look hot. I look hot. We are going to find two men to spoil us all week long. Let’s go.” 

Knowing that Dorma is an expert in that department, Shuri musters the courage and confidence to grab her small purse and follow her best friend out the door.  

Once they arrive at the club that’s apparently crawling with high rollers, Dorma immediately guides Shuri to the dance floor. The two of them move provocatively together, unable to do such intimate dancing back at home due to their strict religion. Here, they can be themselves, their hips rolling and swaying to the beat as they touch one another. 

“Don’t look now,” Dorma whispers in her ear. “But there are two handsome men watching us from up in the VIP section that’s heavily guarded. I guarantee one of those guards will be down here soon to take us up there.” 

Shuri doesn’t glance up, knowing that it’s useless. Whoever is watching them, they both want Dorma, that is what she knows for sure. So she smiles and continues dancing, simply happy to be here. 

Prince Namor of Talokan stretches his legs out in the backseat of the SUV, glancing at the back of his driver’s head. This driver is the first one he has had who is his age, which is 28. 

“Attuma.”

“Yes, Prince Namor?”

“Why don’t you join me inside this club tonight? It is better than going alone.” 

Attuma stares at him through the rearview mirror, smiling. “You are never alone, sir. Your guards will be surrounding you.” 

“Guards are not friends. They cannot even drink. They are there for my protection.” 

“I have noticed that you did not invite your usual friends. Is this a solo vacation?” 

“Those boys are too pretentious to be around for long. I came to this place to find something.” 

“And what is that?” 

“I will tell you later. That is, if you are joining me.” 

They exchange grins. 

“It would be an honor to hang out with the Prince.” 

Namor leans forward, squeezing Attuma’s shoulder as a thank you before he finally pulls out the phone that has been vibrating inside his pocket for far too long. As soon as he breathes, his mother is going off.

“When I call, you are expected to answer! I was about to contact Interpol believing you were kidnapped by drug lords!” 

“Naa, this place is swarming with college students and other tourists. But when I see a drug lord, you’ll be the first to know.” 

“I am serious, Ch’ah. I have no idea why you took this vacation in the first place. You have plenty of eligible bachelorettes to choose from in Talokan as your princess. And do not tell me that you did not go there to find a woman. I know you too well. There is nothing in Puerto Peñasco this time of year except for wild girls in skimpy swimsuits.” 

“I did not come here for that,” Namor somewhat lies. “I came here for the seafood.” 

“Talokan has the best seafood in the world.” 

“It’s flavored a bit different here. I’ll send you pictures.” 

Fen sighs heavily on the other end. “When you do return here, you need to start courting one of your options. Your father and I are not getting any younger, and you are our only child. The Almehen family must expand.” 

“You will get your grandchildren eventually, Naa. Let me enjoy this week, and I’ll tend to my usual duties.” 

“Behave yourself,” the queen tells her son, and Namor is grateful she can’t see his face through the phone. “I do not want to see any reports while you’re on vacation.

“Yes, Naa. Talk to you soon. Bye.” 

Once Attuma parks the car, which soon becomes surrounded by an entourage of other vehicles, Namor gets out and begins stripping out of his suit, leaving his driver confused.

“What are you—“

“This club is known for a beachwear dress code.”

“Oh… I do not have my trunks, sir.”

“Don’t call me sir, call me Namor. I have a pair of blue ones in the back. Wasn’t sure what color I wanted to go with.” Namor lowers his pants, revealing his green swim shorts. The length is a bit above his knee, showing off his muscular thighs. “Green is my color, no?” 

The prince looks back at Attuma, who now has the blue shorts on. He taps the driver’s arm, and the two of them are guided into the club by a host who brings them through a private entrance that leads to the VIP section. 

There are many gorgeous and young women in here tonight, with outfits that reveal their physiques. Namor, and he also notices Attuma as well, receives plenty of flirtatious smiles and sultry eyes. 

The men are brought to their section, where their drink orders are taken by a sexy brunette in small purple shorts and a white top. The service is top notch, which Attuma comments on. 

“Damn. I don’t think I’ve ever been delivered a drink this fast before.” 

“The perks of being royalty and rich sometimes outweighs the negative.”

“That reminds me… Are you going to tell me why you came to this place by yourself?” 

“I am looking for love, Attuma,” the prince tells his friend over the sound of the club’s music. “A woman who truly wants me for the man that I am, and not for my status and wealth. I have learned my lesson one too many times.”

“I see. But don’t you have a variety of women waiting for you to select as the next princess?” 

“Gold diggers or dowry. I do not want some money hungry or robotic-like wife. I want a genuine connection.”

“This country might be the place to find her. All of Talokan knows who you are. We are too small of a nation to be recognized elsewhere.”

“That’s the plan,” Namor murmurs before taking a drink. He slowly lowers the cup when he sees two women on the dance floor. 

One is a red head, with an even redder swimsuit that shows off her curves. The other one wears a golden bikini, pulling her braids back as her body glistens from all the dancing they’re doing. 

“You see them, too?”

“Have one of the guards get them to this section,” Prince Namor instructs without taking his eyes off of the young women. “I need you to go along with some lies once they’re here with us.”

Attuma squints at him. “Lies?”

The redhead continuously glances up at them while the golden girl pays the men no mind. Is his princess one of them? 

“Let’s do a little roleplay, yes? You’re a rich prince and I am your driver.” 

“Uh—“

Namor removes his gold chain and puts it around Attuma’s neck. He’s pleasantly surprised to find their wrists are the same size when he places his nearly million dollar watch on it. 

“It is temporary. They’re going to be curious as to why we have a guarded section. No ordinary person can be up here. One of us needs to be the prince. If I tell them the truth, all they’ll see are dollar signs when they look at me. I’ll know which one to pursue further when she selects the driver over the Prince.”

Attuma blinks. He’s beginning to sweat underneath the strobe lights. 

“Sir— Namor, I’m broke as shit and I’ve never been inside your castle. I don’t know the policies. I can’t answer anything they might ask me!” 

“That is why it is a lie, my dear friend. We won’t tell them where we’re from, we’ll say it’s classified for privacy reasons. You can make anything up. It’s not like you’ll be with the woman for long. If I fall for the one who chooses me, I will tell her the truth eventually. If she turns out airheaded and superficial, at least I can say I had fun with a beautiful girl for a week. No harm done. Come on…” Namor gestures to the dancing women. “Look at the potential.”

Dorma can’t believe they’re even hotter up close.

Both men.

The shorter one, although still towering above herself and Shuri, catches her eye first. He has a beautiful bearded face, eyes so dark they’re borderline gray in this light, a muscularly thick body, and a fat bulge that can be seen through his swim shorts. His much taller friend is just as thick, with long hair, well-defined jaw, and a package just as big. She takes note of his jewelry, briefly, but decides that the shorter one is more her type physically. 

For now.

“Ladies,” he says. “Will you please sit with us?” 

“Sit by the taller one,” Dorma whispers to Shuri, who takes her rightful spot. Dorma sits as close as she can to the shorter man without seeming desperate, their thighs nearly touching. “Hi, there. Thank you for inviting us. I’m Dorma, this is Shuri.” 

Her best friend awkwardly waves at the men, earning a quiet chuckle from the one beside Dorma.

“Pleasure to meet you two. I’m Namor, this is Attuma.” 

The greetings go around. Dorma is a woman who does not enjoy wasting her time, nor is she going to allow Shuri to waste her time with a dud. She’s ready to get down to business. 

“Personal guards in a VIP section, hm? I’ve never seen that before. What do you two handsome fellas do?” 

Namor touches his chest. “Well, I’m a driver to his highness.” 

“His highness?” Both girls say in unison, gaping at Attuma. The tall man laughs.

“Uh, yeah. I’m a prince.” 

“A prince!?” Shuri asks excitedly. “Of what country!?” 

“It’s classified information at the moment for privacy reasons. I’ll just say that it’s rather small.” 

Dorma eyes the gold chain around Attuma’s neck. It appears to be solid. Her heart beat quickens when she notices the watch on his wrist. Whether he is fucking around about being a prince or not, that watch is nearly a million dollars. 

He’s rich rich. 

“How about you, Dorma?” Namor asks, and she’s snapping back to reality. Fine as fuck or not, she’s not going to get herself involved with some broke ass driver when a rich prince is sitting across from her. She ignores him, addressing Attuma instead.

“Would you like to dance with me?” 

“Oh! Sure. Yeah.” Attuma grins wide, causing Dorma to do the same. “I’d love to dance with you.” 

“Perfect!” 

She gets up quickly, locking her arms with the prince and gazing up at him with adoration. She quickly breaks her eye contact to glance at Shuri, who is wordlessly pleading for help, never doing well when she’s alone with an extremely attractive man. She winks at her, letting her know she’s hot shit and that she’s got this. Leaving her behind, Dorma heads down to the dance floor with Attuma. 

She presses her backside against his front, giggling as soon as she realizes that he’s hard for her already. His large hands are wrapped around her waist, and she guides them to her chest, tilting her head back to smile at him. 

“It’s okay. You can touch me there.” They begin grinding together, and although they’re surrounded by plenty other people, it’s like they’re the only ones here. “You’re really not going to tell me what country you’re the prince of?” 

“I can’t. Not yet.” 

“Mm, fine. What can you tell me about yourself, aside from how gorgeous and fine you are?” 

Attuma dips his head, finding her ear. Dorma’s eyelids flutter shut at the sensation of his warmth breath, sensing a heartbeat in her pussy because of it. His hands feel so good on her, too. 

“I really have a thing for redheads.” 

Shuri is burning up on the spot as Namor stares her down. Never in her life has she seen a man so beautiful, so… sexy. It’s making her ache terribly and all he is doing is looking at her. 

Freaking Dorma. 

Despite what her best friend thinks, Shuri is not good with the opposite sex. She’s painfully awkward around people she doesn’t know, and it’s even worse considering how damn fine Namor is.

“What has brought you to Puerto Peñasco, Shuri?” 

She plays with her thumbs underneath the table. “I’m on spring break. College, not high school. I’m—I’m a junior. How long have you been a driver?”

Namor drinks from his glass, his eyes soft as he keeps them on her. “A few months. I was a fry cook many years before then.” 

“Oh! I worked at a fast food restaurant my first year of college but now I have a paid internship twice a week that also counts for some course credits and—“ Shuri stops herself when she realizes she’s rambling. All Namor is doing is smiling at her. He’s probably bored out of his mind, as most men are when she’s left to deal with the ones Dorma didn’t want. “I’m so sorry. I’m talking too much about nothing.”

“On the contrary, I don’t think you’re talking enough. Are you nervous?” 

“Um, yes, a little.” 

“Why is that? You’re doing wonderful.” 

Because you’re so damn beautiful, she thinks, then clears her throat. “I just find myself to be incredibly boring. We don’t have to continue this if you don’t want to. I don’t blame you.” 

“Is that what you’re picking up from me, Shuri? Because it couldn’t be further from the truth. You’re charming me.” 

She sits upright. “Really!?”

“Yes,” he laughs, and when he reaches his hand across the table, she hesitantly holds it. She just about dies on the spot when he kisses her all over, his facial hair adding a slight but soothing tickle. He remains holding it when he’s done and she’s stunned. “Please. Continue. I’d love to hear everything about you. What are you going to school for?” 

She speaks once she’s able to. “Nuclear physics. I can tell you everything about atomic nuclei.” 

Namor’s eyebrows raise, impressed. “Such as Ernest Rutherford discovering it in 1911?”

Her jaw falls open while he takes another drink, clearly proud of himself for knowing that random piece of trivia. “What else do you know!?”

The two of them go back and forth for a while, spitting out facts about something nobody in this club could possibly be talking about. Shuri’s throat is raw, having spoken more than she ever has with anyone other than Dorma. Their conversation doesn’t end until she has no choice but to drink water to replenish herself. 

“Hey,” Namor then says. “Take a walk with me down to the beach. I also enjoy astronomy.” 

Shuri glances at the dance floor, where Dorma has Attuma’s tongue inside her mouth, their bodies having no space between them. She looks at Namor, who is awaiting her answer. 

“While I am certain you are a good man, I still do not know you well enough to be alone with you. I don’t want to go missing this close to graduating.” 

“I love that you’re cautious, and although you have no reason to be, I will have one of the prince’s guards follow us. A woman, if that will provide you with some comfort.” 

Oh.

Oh, what a sweetheart. 

So rare when a man is that good-looking.

“That would be lovely. Thank you.”

To be completely honest, Namor knows not a single thing about the stars other than the Northern one. He only wanted to go somewhere private and quiet with sweet Shuri, and thankfully, she does not ask many questions about the night sky. 

He looks down at her as they walk hand in hand down the shoreline. How precious she is, and he’s quickly finding out that the inside is even more beautiful. 

But he needs to be sure. 

“May I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“You were originally sitting by Prince Attuma. Why didn’t you pursue him further? Was it because of your friend’s sudden interest?”

“That’s only part of it. Dorma has always been interested in successful and well-off men, though Attuma is much younger than her previous flings. That’s not what I’m after.”

“But you could be a princess. You could be rich. A driver cannot give you that kind of expensive and spoiled life that most young women dream of.” 

Shuri sucks in air through her teeth and tilts her head to the sides. “Ehh. Again, that’s more of a Dorma thing, and there’s nothing wrong with that. You know…” She laughs suddenly, a faraway look in her eyes as though she’s traveled to a different place in her mind. “When we were twelve or so, we wished upon a shooting star for our future husbands. Dorma wished for a wealthy man. I wished for someone that loves me. I’m talking about head over heels, earth-shattering, soulmate kind of love. Silly, isn’t it?” 

Namor cannot stop the words from coming out of his mouth after hearing that confession. 

“I want to kiss you.”

They pause. Shuri turns to face him, her doe eyes so large and round and beautiful and captivating. She closes her eyes and he leans in, pressing their warm lips together, just touching for a moment.

Then he moves. 

His lower lip slots in between hers, then he drags it ever so slowly up, catching it on her upper lip, his mouth painting a hint of wetness on the bow of it. He groans, white hot electricity shooting through him and then southern. 

Their lips fit together again, a slow, almost chaste dance. Shuri tentatively parts her lips ever so slightly, tilts her head just a little, and Namor darts just the tip of his tongue across her top lip, earning a whimper from her that he eagerly swallows.

Then, their tongues are teasing each other, slow, shallow licks, until as if by unspoken agreement, they both open wider, tilting in opposite directions to deepen the kiss, lips dragging and brushing wetly together, her hands threading through his hair, and his fingers glide underneath the string thong bikini, exploring her smooth, warm skin. 

Their tongues make deep, slow sweeps into one another's mouths, tangling together eagerly. They part briefly, panting against one another's lips, eyes opening only enough to look at each other in awe. A bead of sweat trails down Shuri’s neck, and Namor traces it with his tongue. Shuri throws her head back with a whimper, and Namor growls against her throat before sucking at her pulse.

“Oh, Bast,” she breathes out heavily, nails lightly clawing at his muscular back. “Oh…” 

She feels too amazing against him. If he does not stop now, he is going to fuck her on this shoreline. 

But she is a woman worthy of courting first. 

So he pulls away suddenly, his chest heaving, staring into her dilated pupils and knowing he has the same disheveled, hot and bothered appearance. 

“I must see you again,” he breathes out, and she holds her hands against her heart. 

“The café across the street sometime in the morning would be wonderful.” 

Namor nods, his dark eyes searching her deeply, wondering if somehow, someway, he has found the one. Never has a kiss done this to him before. Shuri notices him staring too long in silence and whispers, 

“What?” 

“I apologize. Just thinking about how gorgeous you’ll be in the sunshine when you look this perfect in the moonlight.” 

“Shut up!” 

Shuri kicks her legs wildly and screams along with Dorma as the two of them lie on the king-sized bed together. There’s so much space, but they choose to be shoulder to shoulder, gushing about the prince and the driver. 

“On my mama, that’s what he said! I’m so perfect in the moonlight that I must be more gorgeous in the sunshine!” 

“Oh, Shuri. He’s smitten by you, the dear. So sexy, too.” Dorma’s head falls onto the pillow as she sighs dreamily. “Prince Attuma is everything I’ve ever wanted. If I can work my magic this week, I’ll be on a flight to his country by the summer and his spoiled, rich princess wife by the time senior year is supposed to start.” 

“Did you ever find out what country that is, by the way?” 

“No, the tease. I’ll get it out of him soon.” Dorma turns her body and so does Shuri, the two of them now facing one another. “The two of you only kissed tonight, right?”

“Right.”

“Good. Don’t give it up too quickly. Men love a chase. The sex is better after you drive them crazy, too.”

Shuri blinks. Namor soaked her bikini bottoms tonight with that kiss. She fears she won’t be able to hold back much longer if it happens again. 

“How long should the wait be?”

“Hmmm…” Dorma taps her chin, then shows Shuri her teeth. “Maybe until tomorrow.”

The girls laugh hysterically, then end the perfect first day of their vacation snuggled up together. 

Chapter Text

“I cannot believe you convinced me to wear this!” Shuri continuously reaches behind her to double check that her ass isn’t hanging out of the white bodycon dress. 

Dorma, wearing shorts and a red bikini top, looks at her. “Namor is going to see you in that and start thinking about making you his wifey. You have such sexy legs. Flaunt them.”

Shuri briefly glances at her reflection in the glass of a shop they’re walking by. Her body does look good in this, and Namor is so insanely attractive that she has the need to appear as close to that level as she can get. If she weren’t so insecure about herself, this would be much easier. 

They enter the café, and immediately, there is a guard who greets them and walks them over to where Namor and Attuma are sitting. The gorgeous men immediately rise, greeting them with embraces and kisses to the cheeks. Shuri becomes flustered when instead of backing away, Namor holds onto her a bit longer, checking her out slowly. 

“So I was right,” he murmurs, spinning her around in a circle delicately. Her heart is thumping wildly when they’re facing one another again. “You’re even more beautiful in the sunlight. How are you doing this morning?”

“Fine,” she whispers, unable to control the volume at which she speaks. “You?”

He gives her that perfect smile that has her stomach all twisted. 

“Better now. Sit with me.” 

Instead of being across from him as she was at the club, Namor has her sitting right next to him in the crescent-shaped booth. Prince Attuma is on his other side, and Dorma is beside him. The young women are in the perfect line of vision across from one another. Dorma, as always, knows exactly what to say to prevent any awlward silences from occurring.

“What do you boys have planned for us today?” 

Namor glances at Attuma. “Prince?” 

“Oh…” Attuma drops the menu and smiles at everyone. “The beach and dinner always hits. My treat.” 

Dorma fluffs up her hair and straightens up, showing off her ample chest. “How sweet! We have new bikinis we can’t wait to wear, right, Shuri?”

Dread fills her, recalling the bikini Dorma showed her this morning. It’s a leopard print one, and somehow more revealing than the golden bikini she wore last night. Her nipples will be covered by tiny triangles while the rest of her breasts are just…there. 

Shuri smiles the best she can at Namor, who has not taken his eyes off her yet.

“Mmhm. What do you enjoy the most about the beach?” 

“Kissing you last night was rather pleasant, but if you must know, I have found myself fond of the resort benefits that have come with Prince Attuma’s stay. Beach club access that includes a hot tub, a pool that overlooks the sea, and another on the rooftop where there is also a restaurant. Does that interest you?”

Shuri can feel Dorma’s foot touching her underneath the table. She accepts Namor’s hand that he’s offering her, the butterflies going wild as his thumb strokes her knuckles. 

“We would love that,” she tells him kindly. “Thank you.” 

“May I kiss your cheek again?”

Shuri nods wordlessly, and closes her eyes when Namor presses his lips against her warm flesh. Her breath hitches when he whispers into her ear,

“I love your dress.”

Oh, how he makes her feel things she shouldn’t. His words travel right to her core, causing her thighs to rub together. 

“Thank you,” she manages, her eyelids heavy as she looks at Dorma briefly. Her best friend has her lips parted in shock, with an impressed gaze. She winks at her before giving her full attention to Prince Attuma. 

Namor moves to kiss her cheek again, and Shuri feels as though she’s going to be set on fire from the way his dark eyes search her face. 

“I’ve been thinking about your lips since last night. May I kiss them again? Lightly this time.”

“S-Sure…” 

His lips brush hers for a tender moment, then he’s staring into her eyes once more as he holds her face. Shuri is in a haze, under hypnosis. 

“Am I being too affectionate with you?” 

“N-No. Not at all. I’m…” Shuri swallows as she places her hands on his thick chest. “I’m not used to being treated this way, that’s all. But I think I love it very much.” 

His eyebrows crease in the center. “You’re not used to being kissed?”

“Um…” Bast, it feels good to be held by him. “It has been a while.” 

Even so, Eden has never made her feel this way, as though she’s something so precious, attractive, and special. Certainly never in public. 

“If you enjoy it, it would be an honor to continue kissing you. Your face is too beautiful and you’re too sweet to ignore.” 

“Oh…” Shuri closes her eyes, then feels his lips against hers. Again and again and again. 

Dorma cannot believe her shy bestie is in the arms of a handsome man who clearly already adores her. Shuri deserves this. She is always kind to everyone, but never receiving  that same care in return. Dorma smiles as Namor keeps his arm around Shuri even as they eat, continually pausing to kiss her and make her nose scrunch. 

Dorma flashes her eyes up at the prince as she strokes his muscular arm. “What did you do last night after leaving me?”

Attuma holds her other hand. Dorma isn’t the type to fall easily in love, for that is not what she is searching for. She grew up poor, raised by a single mother who most often wasn’t home due to how hard she worked and still works to this day. Dorma never wants to be in a position like that. Her father was some older gentleman her mother got with for one night and never heard from again. That is why Dorma plays it smart, taking her time to find a husband who will leave her with eternal wealth no matter the outcome of their marriage. 

So no, love is not what she is after. 

She is not going to sit here and blush and turn giggly the way Shuri is doing now with the prince’s driver. 

But Dorma cannot deny that the touch of Attuma’s hand on hers feels different than the sugar daddies she has been with. Maybe it’s because he is only seven years older than her compared to decades apart and she’s genuinely attracted to the prince. 

“Was up for most of the night thinking about dancing with you. I hope you’ll give me another chance this evening.”

“Are dancing and redheads all that interests you, Prince?” Dorma bats her eyelashes, then takes a sip of her frozen coffee. Attuma watches her mouth all the while.

“No, but I doubt you want to hear all that.”

Dorma swipes some whip cream off her drink. She paints the corner of Attuma’s lip with it, licking it off. He catches her tongue before she can pull away, giving it a few strokes and leaving the two of them smirking. 

“Try me, handsome.”

“I went to school to study marine biology, although I have yet to do anything with my degree.”

“Guess you don’t really need to when you’re royalty, huh?” Dorma asks, then continues when he smiles small at her. “Marine biology… so the ocean interests you.”

“Oh, yeah!” Attuma has an excited, youthful look now, prompting Dorma to sit up straighter. “You show me any sea creature you happen to find, and I can identify it! I love them all, especially sharks. How about you?”

“I…” Dorma blinks. She is not used to a man asking her questions about herself aside from clothing, shoe, panty, and bra size. Attuma is genuinely interested in her. It’s… different. Different, but welcoming. “I guess sharks are cool, but I have to say I love fish. Colorful, cute ones.” 

“I think you’d be a big fan of the red snapper. They’re huge!”

“Mm, I do love everything huge.” Dorma laughs when he appears to be blushing a bit. She squeezes his muscular arm and rests her head on his shoulder, dropping her voice to a whisper. “You know, if everything goes well the remainder of the day, I wouldn’t mind if you invite me over to where you’re staying. I bet it’s grand.” 

“I see no issues with that,” he murmurs, and she sucks in a breath when she feels his lips on her ear as they were last night. “In fact, it will be a guarantee.” 

“Chaac, Attuma. Look at her. I fear jealousy will get the best of me when I’m out with her.” 

Attuma glances at Shuri in her revealing leopard bikini. “She is very beautiful, but I prefer my women with something more to grab onto… you know?” 

Namor watches her basking in the sun while lounging in the private pool area. Her friend is convincing her to move to the edge where the two of them are given drinks as they look out towards the sea. 

“She’s perfect to me. What’s even better is that she’s beautiful on the inside, too. I’m trying very hard not to force anything on her, but…” Namor groans, running a hand through his wet hair as he stands under the canopy with his driver. “I just want to show my appreciation for her. I can tell she’s not used to physical affection.”

“Dorma has been giving me hints all day for something to happen tonight… Do you give me permission to stay in the penthouse with her tonight and pretend that it’s mine?”

“Of course, my friend. I’d like to keep this lie a bit longer. Let me see what she reveals to me tonight about herself. Dorma seems to be the type to love riches, so I won’t ruin that for you, either.”

“Thank you. And thanks for giving me your card to use. I’ve been impressing her all day. This kind of life is nice.” 

Namor winks at him, but doesn’t say much more as he gazes at Shuri while accepting his drink. The grass is always greener on the other side, after all. Namor would give up everything to live a life as normal as Attuma’s, without expectations, policies, and watchful eyes. At least here in Puerto Peñasco, he can pretend. 

The men climb into the pool and join the girls. Namor holds Shuri from behind, kissing her shoulder and loving the smile it puts on her face. What a sweet thing. She’s far better than any of his choices waiting for him in Talokan. 

“The prince has requested some privacy in his penthouse for a few hours tonight with your friend. Would it make you uncomfortable for me to spend that time with you elsewhere?” 

She cranes her neck to make eye contact. The sunlight catches those amber irises, setting them on fire. Namor licks his canines. 

“I think I can trust you enough by now that you aren’t some serial killer. But… I hope you’re not expecting something from me, if you know what I mean. Because if you are, I’m sorry to disappoint you.”

“Itzia, do not apologize to me for that, because you haven’t disappointed me. All I want is to spend some time with you as I said. A few movies, maybe. Or talking. Or both.” 

Shuri searches for Dorma as though to ask her friend for her permission, but she’s busy making out with Attuma. She shrugs her shoulders, smiling at him again. 

“Okay. Sure. I’d love to have a movie date with you. I have a lot of snacks!” 

Namor chuckles, finding her too adorable for words. He kisses her softly and squeezes her tight, feeling at peace with a woman he’s barely starting to know. 

“Let’s wash off this chlorine and walk down to the beach together.” 

Shuri goes with him, the darling following him into the public showering area. They stand together underneath the head, soaking themselves with water, their swimwear the only thing keeping them from being completely naked. Namor grabs her by her slender hips, waiting for her to give him the go-ahead, which she does when she closes her eyes and puckers her lips. 

Water seeps into their mouths very lightly as they exchange tongues and bits of saliva. It’s so hot inside of her that it has the undercover prince hardening, and Shuri’s thigh brushing against his erection doesn’t help. 

“Oh,” she whimpers when she feels it, staring up at him with heavy eyelids. Her gaze then falls upon his chest, and she steps backwards. “I suppose we are all clean, aren’t we?” 

Namor turns the shower off. While Shuri dries off outside, he waits to calm down, then avoids checking her out when they hold hands. The fact she’s gripping him tightly tells him he hasn’t messed up yet.

“You’re, um…” Shuri giggles, switching her eyes between him and the ocean they’re approaching. “You’re quite special, Namor. I like you a lot.”

“I like you, too, itzia.”

“That is the second time you’ve called me that. What does it mean?”

“Princess,” he says with a smile, and the one she gives him in return is too lovely for him not to kiss her, so he does, a simple peck on the lips. He always seems to find himself holding her again. “I’m sorry if I’m coming on too strong. You’re very special, I saw that right away. If I need to slow down, tell me.”

“I like the speed you’re going,” she confesses, biting at her lip as the ocean breeze hits them. “But… none of this feels real, as though someone is going to come out from around the corner and tell me this is all part of a prank. I mean, have you seen yourself?”

Namor arches an eyebrow. “What about me?”

“You’re like a movie star or a model or something. Guys like you don’t…” Shuri stops herself, sighing. “You asked me about my interest in Attuma. Do you have an interest in Dorma and you’re being kind to me for that reason?”

“I am not attracted to gold diggers.”

Shuri crosses her arms over her chest. “She is not a gold digger! She just has a very specific type!”

As much as he doesn’t like having disagreements with her, he finds her anger to be sexy. All he wants is to get her off this beach and inside her condo rental. 

“And you said your type is a man who loves you. We do not know each other well enough to make that decision, but what I do know is that I’m very, very into you, Shuri. I find you achingly beautiful inside and out. You can continue questioning me and my motives, or we can go back to your place and I can prove my attraction to you more than I already have.” 

Shuri is speechless, about to get something out when the tide comes in, touching her feet and making her squeal.

“Ew, ew, ew!” 

“What is it?”

“There’s something on my feet!” she whines, and Namor investigates, laughing as he pulls the seaweed off her. 

“Harmless. Although, the crabs here are sometimes in a pinching mood.”

She screams, then leaps up onto his back. He holds her by the thighs, perfectly content having her ride on him. 

Dorma checks the time on her phone while she has a moment to get ready in Attuma’s bathroom. 

“Shit,” she whispers, realizing how late she is in taking her birth control pill. She shrugs it off as she swallows it, knowing that she has been on it long enough for there to be no issues. She then sends a message to Shuri, checking in on her.

Dorma: You good bestie? 

Sis🎀: girl he won’t stop kissing on me trying to watch this movie ! 😩😩 idk if I can last 

Dorma: let him kiss you everywhereeeee 😜and if he’s being a good boy tell him to hit it raw. Men love that 

Sis🎀: raw!?!

Dorma: you have an IUD, what’s the issue?

Sis🎀: just seems so intimate… I shouldn’t even be having sex before marriage. Mama will be so disappointed 

“Shuri,” Dorma sighs with an eye roll. She loves her best friend dearly, but she needs to loosen up and stop being so scared of disappointing her mother. 

Dorma: you had sex with Eden and nothing happened, right?

Sis🎀: he broke my heart. What if Namor does the same thing because I’m not good? 

Dorma: Then he’s a bitch and we’ll handle him in the morning. But you’ll never know if you don’t try. Have fun sis 😘😘 

She turns her phone off for her own sanity, hoping Shuri will give in to her desires for once and enjoy herself tonight. She’ll undoubtedly hear all about it soon. 

Dorma changes into her white lace lingerie set, which includes a garter with a darling red bow in the center and crotchless panties. She looks irresistible, and she’s ready to reel Attuma in. 

She covers herself with a silky black robe and saunters out of the large bathroom in search of the prince. The penthouse he’s staying in is so glamorous and large that she knows the castle she’ll be living in one day will be even better. She finds Attuma in the entertainment center, and he immediately turns off the futbol game when he sees her.

“Chaac damn,” he murmurs, adjusting himself on the cushion. Dorma crawls right onto his lap, holding his neck and giving him plenty of kisses while he strokes her leg. 

“If you like this robe so much, you’ll love what’s underneath it even more.” 

She rises, leaving Attuma breathless on the couch as she strips the robe while standing in between his legs. He curses loudly, running a hand down his face and using the other to give her a spinning motion, prompting her to turn in a circle for him. He curses again when she shows him her ass, bending over to give it a spank and reveal her bare pussy to him. 

“Fuck… How do you look like this?”

“Got it from my mama,” she teases, placing her hands on her wide hips. “Now let’s see what the king gave you.” 

The prince moves quickly, removing everything until all he’s left in is a pair of red boxers. She raises a hand to his chest and trails her fingertips across his collarbone. “You’re so big and sexy. I can’t believe you haven’t found a princess yet.”

Attuma’s chest rises as his erection gets bigger. Dorma is nearly salivating at the size already. 

“None of them look like you. None of them make me feel like you do…” 

“See what you do to me, too,” she purrs, grabbing his wrist and yanking his hand between her thighs so he can feel the soaking warmth down below. She gives a pleasured hum, so hot and horny that a tingle travels up Attuma’s spine. She then cups his throbbing bulge in a palm. “Let’s have some fun tonight, my prince.” 

She urges his boxers down, and his cock springs up between her shapely thighs. She rises on her tiptoes to better accommodate it, rocking her hips forward so his cock protrudes under her thick ass and out behind her. She reaches her right hand back to roll and knead over his tip. 

“You are a big boy…”

“Dorma,” he murmurs, but she shushes him by brushing her plump lips under his own.

“Be good for me, Prince. Let your princess lead for a bit. You deserve the royal treatment, after all.” She rocks her hips, grinding her soaking pussy over the bridge of his huge cock, huffing and puffing as it sends waves of pleasure through her tight body. “Mm, I don’t think I’ve ever been with someone this big.”

He grunts as she grasps the base of his cock and pulls, guiding him toward the bedroom, step by uneasy step. When she finally sits her ass down on the edge of the bed, his cock runs up the length of her torso, knocking briefly against her huge, plump tits before hovering in front of her mouth. She breathes hot gushes of breath over his twitching erection, gazing up at him with hungry eyes, jerking him off with one hand and touching herself through the opening of her panties with the other. Attuma sees her two fingers curled inside her gleaming wet cuntlips and his cock throbs even stiffer, leaking white precum onto her outstretched tongue. She groans as she swirls the taste around her mouth, then swallows.

“I hope you’re the type who lasts.”

With nothing more to say, she opens wide and takes his cockhead deep into her mouth, bobbing her head rhythmically on his pulsing length. Her left cheek bulges in and out. She doesn’t  stop stroking him with one hand, even as she sucks and licks his huge cock with her mouth and skilful tongue. Her eyes never leave his, even when she presses further forward, and swallows his cockhead down her throat. Now her slender neck bulges around it, lurching up and down as she rocks back and forth. There becomes less and less room for her right hand to pump his cock, so she massages his balls instead as she swallows him. 

Attuma, helpless in his lust, rests a hand atop her head and bites his bottom lip. She’s giving him way too much pleasure not to moan, and he drags his fingers through her red tresses, rocking his hips in time with her oral thrusts. Her eyes start to water as he thumps his hips against her, slapping his balls against her chin, creating a mess of saliva that hangs in ropes down to her jiggling tits as he picks up the pace. She loves getting her gorgeous face fucked and takes it, her head rocking back with each pounding impact, stuffing the folds of her throat full of him.

Squeezing her hair tighter, he leans over her head and starts to pump without concern for anything else. Her eyes lose focus, rolling slowly back in her head as he shakes her brain with impact after heavy impact. She manages to slide three fingers into her needy pussy and grinds her palm hard on her clit, coughing and spluttering in lieu of moans. 

Soon his other hand joins the first in her hair, and he bucks into her with unrelenting fury. The sensation of her teeth brushing against his cock as he hammers her throat only adds to his pleasure, and before long he throws his head back in a load groan, letting her know he is about to cum. Her own groans are barely audible over the rampant smacking of his balls against her chin. She spreads her thighs wider in preparation for her own orgasm. He leans forward and rams the remainder of his cock down her throat, flattening her face under his chiseled pelvis and growling as he explodes. 

There’s a blossoming sensation in her core as she swallows Attuma’s cum, feeling it traveling down her throat to her belly. She stares up at him in amazement as he squeezes her hair, clenches his teeth, and dumps everything into her mouth. His shoulders settle, and he gives a deep groan of pleasure while his hips retreat at last. She hadn’t even noticed that she climaxed. Her thighs are drenched in her arousal, her cuntlips fluttering.

“Damn,” he breathes, stroking himself. “I’m impressed. You took all of me. Never seen that before.”

She rises unsteadily from the bed, cum-drunk. ”Imagine what I’d do for you if I were your wife.” 

Attuma gives her a singular intense, primal stare before he spins her hips and pushes her forwards onto the bed, with her curvy ass high in the air.

His cock drops on her back and starts to rut back and forth, masturbating using her asscheeks. He spanks her hard, making her cry out in pleasure. He angles himself towards the hole in her crotchless panties, then grasps her waist in a tight grip. He takes a breath, and pushes forward. His cock pries her open, stretching her wider than she’s ever imagined possible, making her moan in shock and pleasure as her walls latch around him. When he is secure inside her, he starts to pump hard and fast, rutting her guts, showing her no mercy. Her tits hit the bed sheets, which she claws at helplessly as her cunt trembles under his rapid pumps. 

When he hooks an arm under her belly and bears down on her with all his weight, she whimpers and growls,  lifting her hips to meet his thrusts but finding it is of no use. This beautiful large man is too overpowering. She has lost control. Soon she simply gives up, falling forward on the bed and panting, gasping in her pleasure while his giant cock thunders in and out of her pussy.

He spanks her as he pumps, toying with her ass, making her whine out loud and bite the bedsheets. She can feel his giant dick penetrating her core, thumping her inner walls, making her tummy punch the bed again and again. All she can do is moan as he works her toward her next orgasm. She shudders as bolts of bright-hot bliss fire up and down her body, dripping all over his pounding balls and muscular thighs.

Attuma snarls, hooking his arms under her thighs, and lifting her into the air. He fucks her standing, her knees against her shoulders, stirring her pussy stupid as she goes cross-eyed in delight. He fucks her savagely, noisily, drilling her until he bottoms out and erupts in her guts. He keeps thrusting through his orgasm, bouncing her in his arms until, at last, his body is completely drained.

He lets her down slowly, placing her on the bed and resting on top of her, still rooted inside her pussy, groping her big breasts.

“Hope I didn’t disappoint you.”

Dorma gasps for air as she runs her fingers through his long hair. A prince that’s hot, rich, and has a bomb dick?

She’s not letting him go. 

Not too long after their session is over, she feels a warm rag being gently pressed in between her thighs, cleansing and soothing her. She smiles over her shoulder at Attuma with a lazy, appreciative smile.

“Thank you.”

“I know you’re not too big on talking about yourself, but it would mean the world to me to get to know you better. What are you going to college for?” 

She buries her face in the sheets once more. “You’re going to laugh when I tell you.”

“Try me.”

“Elementary education.”

She can hear the joy in his voice. “A teacher!? For little kids!?”

“Yeah. I don’t plan on working in my future but it’s something. I like kids.”

“You want some of your own one day?”

Dorma looks back at him again, catching that twinkle in his eyes.

“With the right man, yes. You?”

“I can’t wait.”

Good to know. 

“There she is.”

Shuri has re-entered the bedroom after texting Dorma repeatedly but getting no more responses. Namor, who is above the blanket, rubs the spot where she was snuggled up to him before. She curls him against him as he turns up the volume of the melodramatic movie that’s entirely in Spanish and she has no idea what’s going on. Neither of them do. 

For the second their skin touches, they’re lost in one another again, Namor holding her neck as he kisses her deeply. His tongue laps the inside of her mouth before he moves to her jawline, then underneath it where he sucks lightly and makes her pulsate between her legs. 

“I want you,” he growls, and Shuri gasps when he pins her underneath his weight, continuing to kiss and suck her slender neck. 

“Wait,” she pleads, fearing that he will never speak to her again after this. “I don’t… I can’t…”

Damn her sensitivity. 

She begins to cry, which Namor notices immediately. He lifts his head and touches her cheek, speaking tenderly. 

“You do not need to cry, itzia. If you want me to stop, I’ll stop. We can do whatever you like tonight. I’m not pressuring you.”

“You don’t understand,” she rasps, now completely embarrassed by her flowing tears that she covers her face with both hands. “I want you, too. I want you so badly. But I’m so afraid you’re not going to like it. You’re going to treat me differently like my ex did and… I’m not ready to get hurt again.”

How shameful to be crying over something that happened more than half a year ago. But it truly does hurt, to have given herself to a man who ended up having no interest in her at all. She whimpers and sniffles behind her hands until Namor clutches her wrists and gently pries them away until her face is revealed.

“Shuri, there is no way in hell that I’m not going to love sex with you when your kisses send electricity through me. But if you’re not ready, I am happy lying here beside you watching foreign films. I can heat up another bag of popcorn. That is good enough for me.”

Her lip quivers while staring up at his beautiful face. How she wishes religious guilt and her upbringing did not damage her confidence. 

“No… I want to have sex. But… In addition to not wanting to get hurt, I have body issues. I don’t like the way I’m built. I was bullied relentlessly growing up for how skinny I am. I used to be called a boy because of how flat chested I was. I think the reason my first time was more awkward than necessary was because I was so insecure about how I looked that I couldn’t fully enjoy it. And now I’m talking too much. I’m sorry.”

“Itzia,” Namor sighs, resting his forehead against hers. “Your body is perfect for me. If you feel comfortable showing it all, I will once again prove that to you. But only if that’s what you want.”

Oh, and she does. She wants that. She wants him. 

“Where do I show you?” Shuri whispers, and he smiles. 

“How about the bathroom where there are mirrors?” 

She nods wordlessly, allowing him to carry her to the bathroom on the other side of the master bedroom. He sits her on the counter and stands back, his large arms crossed. 

“Start with your top.”

Shuri breathes out as she grabs the ends of her t-shirt. She lifts it over her head, remaining in the leopard print bikini she wore on the beach. With shaky fingers, she unties it. It falls to the hardwood floor, and her breasts are completely exposed. 

“There.”

Namor steps forward, cradling each one in his large hands and making her writhe in pleasure when his thumbs stroke her now erect nipples. He’s admiring them, never looking away as he speaks. 

“You know what I love the most about them besides how cute and perky they are?”

Shuri burns up. She has never heard her breasts be called cute before. 

“What?”

“That I can fit one entirely into my mouth.”

He then lowers his head, consuming a breast into his heat. Shuri released a sharp moan as his tongue swirls around the flesh before sucking on her nipple while he kneads the other breast. Her back arches and her legs wrap around him, feeding herself to him. Her cotton shorts are dampening as her clothed cunt is pressed right against his thick and heavy bulge. 

“Oh… Oh, you don’t know what you’re doing to me…” 

“I think I do,” he murmurs as he transitions to the other breast, gently kissing the valley between them. “I can feel your pussy pulsing through our clothes.”

“You can?” Shuri breathes out, then melts into another lewd moan as he eats her other tit. She’s so incredibly turned on that she begins thrusting upward, dry humping his erection. She’s on the verge of her climax when he pulls away suddenly, his eyes dark and wild, his voice rough.

“The bottom. Show me that pussy.”

Feeling faint, Shuri hops down from the counter for a moment to shimmy out of her shorts. Her heart pounds as her thumbs hook around the strings of her bikini bottom thong. Namor continues to eye her ravenously, waiting, which only makes her shyer. 

“Can you look the other way, please?” 

Without hesitation, he shows his back to her. She quickly gets out of the thong, then sits on the counter once more, keeping her legs crossed. 

“Okay. You can look.”

Namor turns, then cracks a grin when he sees the positioning of her legs. 

“Spread them, baby.”

Her brain short circuits at the pet name. Nobody’s ever called her baby. The way Namor says it sounds so sinful and needy that her legs are magically parting on their own. She sees his mouth fall open, and his clothing quickly comes off. She nearly falls off the counter at the sight of his long and thick cock, which he wraps a hand around. 

Then, while staring hard at her pussy, he strokes himself, uttering words that has her aching with need. 

“Fuck, Shuri. Fuck. That’s the prettiest pussy I’ve ever seen. So small. So wet. Look at that clit…” He steps forward suddenly, closing the distance again, choking her lightly with his hand that isn’t jerking him off. Shuri’s tongue hangs out of her mouth as Namor angles his leaking tip at her slit. “I know you’re heaven to be inside of. Heaven to taste. Let me eat it until you’re shaking.”

“Oh, Bast,” she blurts out. “Yes! Do it!”

And so he sinks to his knees, tossing her legs over his broad shoulders, and shoves his face where no man has before. 

“Oh, fuck!”

The rare curse just falls out of her as Namor’s tongue slithers everywhere, her clit brushing his nose. She grips his hair tightly and throws her head back against the mirror, never feeling this type of pleasure before. She looks to the right where another mirror is, watching herself get eaten by this very sexy gentleman. She sees him watching her. She glances downward, dying at his intense gaze. His fingers massage and sink into her, telling her to keep watching. 

She looks into those beautiful gray-ish eyes as he laps a long, strong lick on her cunt before he musters up saliva to spit onto the twitchy bud of her clit, bubbly and thick on his tongue as he laps it right back up. A constant string of breathy whines fall from her lips as his tongue abuses her cunt, thrashing and jamming.

He is practically making out with her pussy, tongue filled kisses swirling on her clit, venturing further to sink into the supple clench of her hole, feeling each and every twitch on his tongue and flex of her bud against his nose. He is a mess with spit and cream dribbling down his chin, smeared up on his nose, lips pursed and plump with use, face surely sticky with her essence, but he doesn’t seem to care. He relishes in her, indulging in her pretty scent. 

He’s fucking the fat of his tongue against her dripping hole, lapping up all the cream she leaks for him. His licks are rough and pleasurable, bringing her closer and closer to the threat of her release.

Is this what it feels like, to be adored? To be worshiped? To have her body become a man’s full course meal? 

He slips two deft fingers into her cunt, her arousal pooling around his knuckles like sweet creamy milk. His precision is a deadly thing, knowing exactly where to curl the pads of his digits, hitting that sweet spongy spot inside of her that has her hips craning, arching to meet with the suckle of his lips and the slow, fucking curls he makes in her pussy.

Her sweetness wraps around him, the ring of her stuffed hole twitching kisses against his knuckles, taught and squeezy with every fuck he makes. It has her dripping more for him, squelchy and wet, more of a mess for his tongue to mop up with a loud and lapping suckle. 

“Right there, Namor… Right there, please!” She has to gasp to catch her breath, feeling the quick build of her threatening orgasm. Namor moans , his hot breath and warm purring doing wonders for her arousal. His eyes catch hers again, seemingly just as desperate as she is, looking pussy-drunk, greedily pressing his face into her, the tip of his nose crunching with the motion, fingers squelching in her wetness with a newfound fervor.

Her hands clench in his hair, tugging the strands right at his scalp, thighs jerking with an aching hard twitch, snapping him into a snuggly trap as she finally lets go. Her squeeze on his fingers, pussy fluttering quick pulses as she comes, clit jumping against his tongue while he drags out his licks, coaxing her through the hot brunt of it all. 

A pretty and wet orgasm gushing against his rough tongue, enough to bring up a prick of tears at the corner of her eyes, accompanied by a silent plea barely piping up from her throat. His free hand soothes the outside of her thigh, carefully bending her leg at the knee to free himself all while he peppers soft kisses against the wet of her cunt.

She mouths a silent swear, voice whining in her throat as he keeps playing even through her high, milky-wet kisses pressing into her twitchy core, that rough tongue of his licking up the mess. He chuckles soft, damn near having hearts in his eyes as he looks up at her again, more and more of those sweet kisses landing around to her mound, inner thigh, and right against the soft of her tummy. 

His cock presses against her wetness when he’s standing once again. What remains of her breath hitches, when he nuzzles his nose right below her ear. 

“Need you, baby. Beg me for more.”

She shivers as he kisses her cheek. Her phone is vibrating on the counter from where she left it earlier. She quickly eyes who is calling and sighs. 

“Hold on… Have to answer or suffer the consequences.”

Namor kisses her again then backs away. As she answers the caller, she gapes at the sexy man who is stroking himself once more, this time looking into her eyes as he does it. 

“H-Hi, Mother.”

“Shuri! How is volunteer work at the children’s camp? I have yet to receive pictures!” 

Shit. 

She’s been so distracted by Namor that she hasn’t Googled images of random Christian youth group camp activities to send to her mother, who has no idea she is in Puerto Peñasco for spring break. 

“Ah, I have been trying, Mama! Service is terrible out here! I—“

She becomes distracted, watching as Namor pleasures himself to her, biting his lip to keep himself from making any noises. The clenching of his abdomen has her a bit nervous, not wanting him to relieve himself this way when she has been longing to have great sex for once. 

“Oopsies! Losing bars! Love you!”

Shuri hangs up quickly, then jumps off the counter to wrap her arms around his neck, kissing him a bit possessively, teeth taking his lip in between them as his cock rests underneath her slit. They’re pulsing together in rhythm, making them hornier than they already are. 

“Bite me,” he demands, and she does so on his neck, causing his cock to twitch and his veiny hands to squeeze her ass roughly. “Bite me again.”

After doing so, he brings her over to the counter again as he kisses her. He spins her around, placing her hands on the edge as he stands behind her as he bends her slightly, the two of them facing the mirror.

“What do you think of my cock, Itzia? Hm?” His hand travels down her spine and back up again, wrapping around her neck briefly, discovering that she enjoys being choked the way he seems to love being bit. “If you want it, tell me. I’ll wear a condom.”

Shuri, finding her inner vixen while remembering what Dorma said, meets his gaze in the glass. 

“I’m safe. I want you to fuck me raw. I want to be stretched and filled and feel my desire for you dripping down my legs.” 

“Shit…” He rubs his length against her slit. She sighs, feeling that coil building up inside her again. “Keep your eyes on the mirror. I want you to watch yourself get fucked. I want you to see how beautiful your body is.”

His tone is so gentle and sexy. The thought of watching herself giving in to her deepest desires and getting lost in pleasure has her on fire. 

She keeps her eyes on the mirror as he continues to rub his cock against her, paying special attention to the way his head rubbing against her clit makes her moan and throw her hips back against him.

Spreading her cuntlips, he watches as his cock gets lost within her walls inch by inch. She moans and rolls her hips back as he fills her up, aching for friction as he stretches her.

His pace is languid, as if he could fuck her into the early morning if he wanted to. Her reflection looks so needy, her mouth open as she moans and begs for him to fuck her harder and faster. He has one hand on her ass, spreading it to see the way his cock stuffs her. Any embarrassment and insecurities fade to a mixture of pride and lust as he uses her for sexual gratification.

Picking up the pace, his strokes are rough as he ruts into her with shallow thrusts. His hand gently pulls her hair to make sure her head isn’t down and she can see everything that he is doing to her. She feels herself burning hot with excitement as she watches the way his eyes are trained on her ass, the way his gaze trails up and down her body as his hand holds her in place by the hip.

Skin slapping skin and heavy breathing fills the air as the frantic need for release builds between them.  

Caught between a cycle of moans, sighs, and curses, she begs him to continue fucking her just like this, to keep on hitting right there. 

But then he comes to a still inside her. He gives her a smile before leaning down to whisper in her ear.

“I want to watch you fuck me and get yourself off on my cock, pretty girl.”

With a groan, Shuri rolls her hips back against him, bringing them both closer to orgasm. 

“I love seeing myself going inside you,” he husks, encouraging her further. “Love how soaked you’ve made me. And look at that sweet face of yours, itzia. Never doubt how beautiful you are again.”

He reaches a hand down to her clit, knowing that he can’t wait any longer for either of them to come. She moans his name as she fucks herself on his cock. His fingers against her clit are rough as he rubs it. It is becoming difficult to focus on riding him with the way he is touching her right now.He stops her as she tries to do it once more, shoving the fingers that were on her clit in her mouth, making her taste herself. 

And then he closes his eyes at the sensation of her sucking the digits and the way her walls grip him tightly. He’s so gorgeous when he loses control, pulsing his release inside her with a grunt she’ll remember forever. Her pleasure travels through her in waves as he fucks into her a few more times, then he remains inside her, moving her braids to the side as he kisses her neck softly. 

“Bathe with me.”

Namor keeps his arms wrapped around this precious woman as they soak in the tub surrounded by candlelight. He wants to remain here until the water turns cold. He wants to sleep with her tonight and forever after that. 

But he cannot get ahead of himself.

He cannot rush into this, no matter how certain he is that she’s the one. 

He may not be as vocal as her about it, but he doesn’t want to scare her off, either. He still needs to eventually confess who he truly is, and from what she’s shown him so far, the life of a princess isn’t one she seems to be fond of.

But maybe none of that matters if she falls in love with him. 

He fears that he has already fallen in love with her. 

“The prince’s guards will be taking me to the penthouse soon. If you desire another night with me, all you have to do is ask and I will be here. Or perhaps we can go elsewhere. A boat where we can have dinner and see sea turtles.”

She turns around, excitement in her gorgeous eyes. His heart aches. 

“Prince Attuma would do that for us?”

Namor half smiles. How badly he wants to impress her without getting caught. He wants to decorate her neck and ears with the finest jewels. He wants to give her everything. 

“I have some money I’ve been saving up. There’s nobody else I’d want to spend it on.” 

“Oh, I can’t possibly ask you to do that. I’m perfectly happy with a picnic underneath the stars. Ooh!” Her grin widens, causing him to do the same. Her joy is contagious. “Why don’t we do that? We can go to the store in town and buy food to make for a picnic!”

The prince, who can’t cook for shit, tries to save himself. 

“Such as sandwiches?”

“Wonderful,” she comments, kissing him on the nose and then falling into him again. “A picnic. Yeah. It’s perfect.”

Namor tightens his hold on her, thinking about how she was bullied in her youth. 

“It makes me angry that someone could be cruel to you, Shuri. I wish you never heard any of that growing up. I know how words can stick with you no matter how untrue they are.” 

“It’s okay, really. You made me feel so special and beautiful tonight. If someone like you sees me like that, I know it must be true.” She snuggles against him, cradling herself in between his legs with her damp cheek on his equally damp chest. “Thank you.” 

Her comments stay with him long after they dry each other off and get plenty more kisses in before he has to go back to the safety of the penthouse. When he walks in, he sees Attuma on the couch with his head thrown back.

“I take it that you enjoyed yourself given that position you’re in.”

“Fuck…” Attuma lifts his head, shaking it with a grin. “She’s amazing. Going with you on this trip is the best job I’ve had yet.” 

Namor laughs as he sits on the couch with him. They both have the scent of their women on them. His thoughts immediately go to Shuri, having never wanted to leave her. 

“Do you believe that love at first sight is possible, or am I deeply infatuated?”

“I’m starting to think it’s possible. Nobody has ever made me feel the way that Dorma does.”

“Same with Shuri.”

Attuma raises an eyebrow. “You miss her?”

“You miss Dorma?”

“I think we should go see them.”

Shuri keeps her eyes closed as Dorma applies the face mask on her, listening to her share all the filthy details about her night with Attuma. 

“He had my eyes crossing! God, I can still feel that huge thing inside me. So much better than all those old dudes who can barely last.”

Shuri opens her eyes, smiling at the fresh feeling her skin now has and looking at her best friend. 

“You guys are really cute together. I’m so happy you found your perfect match.”

Shuri wants to add that she hopes Prince Attuma is genuine, given Dorma has bad luck in that department. The sugar daddies and other rich men she’s been hopeful about end up having a wife and secret family on the side. But she stays quiet, not wanting to ruin Dorma’s happiness. 

“And what about you? You’re damn near glowing since he left! Bet you found a man who makes you love sex, huh?”

“Bestie,” Shuri groans and Dorma giggles, the two friends hitting each other playfully. “It was too good. He was being hot and sexy, but also super tender and considerate? Like I never knew sex could be like that. He really made me feel like a princess.”

Dorma gathers her into a hug. “Aw, that’s my girl. I had a feeling he was going to be a good one for you.”

“Who knows, friend… Maybe I found my husband.” 

The girls gather together in the bed Shuri made out with Namor in. She attempts to sleep despite Namor taking over her every thought. And then Dorma asks,

“Have you ever given a blow job?”

“Uh, no?”

“I’ll teach you a few useful tricks for when you decide you want to spoil him in return.”

Shuri scrunches her face, thinking of his size and how that must hurt going into her mouth. 

“I don’t think it’s possible to do that to someone that big.”

“Oh, you’d be surprised what our throats are capable of once we train them.”

“You’re nasty.”

Just then, there’s a sound. A tapping noise, as though someone is tossing something at some glass. The girls sit upright, staring at one another suspiciously before they take their pepper spray out of their purses and creep into the living room area. The rocks are being thrown at the balcony door. Dorma instructs Shuri to stand behind her as she peeks through the curtain first.

“No fucking way.”

“What is it!?”

With a smile, Dorma pulls the curtain all the way to the side and steps out onto the balcony. Shuri follows her, and she feels as though she’s levitating when she looks down to see Namor and Attuma standing down below. The guards are surrounding the condo. 

“What are you two doing here!?” Dorma shouts, and Attuma responds.

“We missed you and couldn’t stay away. Are you going to let us in?”

Shuri quickly unlocks the gate while the men travel up the walkway. It’s not until she’s face to face with Namor that she realizes what she looks like right now. He quickly lifts her by the thighs before she can react, carrying her into the condo. He kisses her and she’s laughing, knowing he’s tasting her mask. 

“I can’t believe you’re here! You’re going to get the face mask all over you!” 

“I don’t mind wearing one,” he tells her, going in for another kiss as he walks her towards the guest bedroom. “I missed you. Needed you.”

She rests her chin on his shoulder, smiling so wide that it makes her eyes close. 

“I’m in my bonnet.”

“I’ll wear one of those, too. Kiss me.”

And as she does, he kicks the bedroom door shut behind them. 

Chapter Text

For the first time in her young life, Shuri awakes to kisses, from soft lips with facial hair that scratches lightly against her skin, belonging to a body that crushes her like a weighted blanket. She’s smiling before she opens her eyes, and once she does, she’s greeted by the loveliest pair of dark brown eyes. 

“Hi.”

“Hello, itzia. Good morning.”

She giggles, both from her giddiness and how silly he looks in her bonnet. She rips it from his head and holds it while her arms are around the back of his neck, returning all of the kisses he was giving her.

“Mm… You haven’t heard my phone going off, have you? My mother will be very upset if she believes I’m ignoring her.” 

Namor kisses her one last time before he admires her. “I take it that you have a strict mother.”

“Pretty much… She loves me a lot but she can be a bit much at times.”

“Ah… I understand that quite well. My mother is strict, as well. She has a lot of high expectations for me, as does the rest of my…” Namor pauses, then laughs with his head lowered. “Well, being a driver, you can imagine she is disappointed in me.”

“What’s wrong with being the driver of the Prince, though? You might not make much, but shouldn’t it speak volumes that the royal family trusts you enough to transport him back and forth safely?” 

“It is not a life they expected me to have, that’s all. They want me to be more successful, and they’re the type that do not believe in marrying for love.” 

Shuri frowns. “Why not? Aren’t your parents in love?”

“I am not sure sometimes. All I know is that I do not want a marriage like that.” 

She begins to play with the hairs on the back of his head, twisting them in between her fingers. She can feel him melting against her, as though this brings him pleasure. She makes a mental note to continue doing it. 

“What kind of marriage do you want, Namor?”

He meets her gaze, cracking a grin. 

“To be as happy as I am now is not such a bad thing, is it?” 

“No,” she whispers, sighing when she feels his erection against her thigh. “No, not at all.” 

He captures her lower lip, sucking it into his mouth. Little gasps escape her as he moves along her jawline, and onto her neck, kissing it deep. His hands move to trail lightly across her skin, all smooth curves and dipping planes. Her back arches when he reaches her breasts, whimpering when he brushes his mouth against one teasingly. He gives in to his impulse to taste, and takes her nipple into his mouth. She’s gasping and crying out as he licks and sucks, reminding her that he adores her breast size.

Her eyelids flutter open as he disappears down her body, now hidden beneath the sheets. She flings the upper part over her head, now trapped underneath the fabric like it’s their little cave, like two young kids reading books far too late but nobody is coming in to interrupt them. 

Yet that hungry, seductive stare of his as he yanks her shorts down her legs is anything but innocent. 

“Bast, please,” she moans, hand fisting in the sheets. "I want your mouth on me."

“I don’t think it will ever leave you.” 

He runs his hands up her legs, mapping the curve of her calf and the bend of her knee. She moans when he reaches the skin just above the back of her knee, and he strokes his thumb carefully to hear it again. As he works his way up her thigh, he can feel her start to shift restlessly against him. He lowers his mouth to kiss along her upper thigh and brushes his beard against the delicate skin there. 

“I can smell how wet you are,” he whispers. “And your taste is as good as your scent… I never want to let you out of this bed.” 

Oh, she’s never had anyone talk to her this way before. It makes her head spin, makes her moan low. 

He meanders his way up to the edge of her panties, placing a few sharp bites and swipes of his tongue to her lower stomach. He wraps one arm around her right leg and presses his other hand to her belly. He strokes the skin there reassuringly, and she tries to shift, realizing he's made it so she can't move unless he releases her. 

"You don't play around, do you?” Shuri murmurs, trying to relax a little in his grip.

He decides against answering her verbally and trails his mouth up to the edge of her panties, licking along the skin of her hipbone and inner thigh. The cotton between her legs is soaked through, and he loves it, loves knowing he did this to her. She raises her hips against his mouth, trying to urge him closer, to give her more. He moves to her other thigh, brushing his lips and beard against her. His hand spreads out on her right leg, pulling it to lie flat against the bed and opening her completely.

"Please, Namor! Please take them off!” 

“Mm… Wanted to take my time feeling how soaked I can get you through your panties, but seeing how you’re already begging and you’re such a sweet girl… I’ll be nice.” 

He unwraps his hand from her leg, and she helps him take the panties off her. She settles back, hands fisting tightly in the sheets, and he eases her legs open again, his breath catching at the sight of her.

“So beautiful,” he murmurs, so soaked to the core. 

She shivers at the feel of his breath against her, and he dips his head to taste her. She tastes salty and rich and scorching hot. She throws her head back and cries out, causing him to leave fingerprint-bruises on her hips and thighs. His tongue flickers against her clit, testing and relearning what she likes best.

“Shuri,” he moans, and she’s even more flustered than she already is hearing it, covering her face.

“Hm?”

“It is a crime for someone to be with a woman like you and never please you the way you want. All I can think about is all the places I can put my mouth on you to see what makes you scream.” 

“Oh…” Fuck, he’s something else. 

And she’s so loud in bed, unable to stop herself from making such sounds. Low moans when he sucks on her clit. Panting cries when he works his tongue around it. A scream that actually crescendos into a wail when he lets her feel his teeth.

She's dripping wet, flooding his mouth, and he can feel the telltale trembling of her legs underneath his hands. He allows it to build until she's arched off the bed, muscles taut and shaking, and he flicks his gaze up the line of her body to watch her curse and thrash and rock incessantly against his face.

She comes in a gasp and a rush of liquid on his tongue, just like he'd hoped. He licks his lips, and lets go of her legs, those same legs that are going to have bruises for days and he’ll be the only one who knows how they got there. She reaches for him, pulls him up beside her and makes him groan as she kisses him, slow and dirty, licking her taste out of his mouth. 

Attuma did not plan on having sex with Dorma this soon after the night they had together, but here he is, bouncing her up and down on his cock as they stand in the shower together. Her waist is so small that his hands cover it completely, and those breasts slap his face, the most perfect wake up call. 

She moans into his mouth when she comes, the water from the shower head pouring down upon them, and he fills her. She remains clinging to him as they catch their breath, then he gradually lowers her. He stares at the gorgeous woman as she begins scrubbing his chest with a loofah. 

“I tried looking you up last night.”

Attuma’s heart races. He is not quite ready for her to know the truth, enjoying their relationship so far. Prince Namor has not told Shuri about his identity yet, either. 

There’s no greater time than to be without any social media. 

“Oh, yeah? What did you find?”

“Nothing.” Dorma pouts, moving to clean his arms. “I searched Prince Attuma and could not find anything at all. Why is that?”

He thinks quickly to cover both their asses. Namor did say he could make up anything for the time being. 

“My country is very private and rural. The Internet is not a huge concept there. The only people who have access to it live in the richer areas, and even then it’s heavily censored.” 

Dorma arches an eyebrow. “That’s…odd.”

“My country does not like interacting with others. We tend to keep to ourselves and take care of our own. I am sorry if that disappoints you.”

“So… if I go there, you’re telling me that I’ll have no access to anything at all?”

Shit, he’s losing her. 

“No, no, no. Nothing like that. The royal family are elitist. They have access to everything. If you’re in with us, you’ll be well-known there and everywhere. I promise you.”

Dorma’s tongue pokes the inside of her cheek as she now scrubs his torso, taking her time to massage the crevices of his abdomen. 

“And when are you going to tell me the name of this mysterious country, hm? What else do I need to do to prove that I am not a threat?” 

“A few more days when it is time for you to return home. You will know everything.” 

After the two of them kiss and cleanse, Attuma puts on the clothes he brought with him overnight. The prince let him buy a whole new wardrobe while out here to keep up with his rich appearance. 

While Dorma blow dries her hair, Attuma enters the kitchen area of the condo and begins cooking up some breakfast.  Namor exits the other bedroom, his hair wet from his own shower, so gone off ecstasy that he looks high. It makes his driver laugh. 

“Fun night?”

“And morning.” Namor stands by his side, squeezing his arms and shaking him while Attuma tries to make an omelette. “Fuck… I’m ready to tell her everything.” 

Attuma panics. “Already!?” 

“Yes, already! I cannot have her returning to her home surrounded by all those… college boys without knowing who adores her! She will choose me, I know she will. And her strict mother will be over the moon to meet me.” 

“You don’t want to see how she behaves the remaining few days, sir? Especially now that you two have had sex? What if she begins acting odd?”

Namor releases him, keeping his eyes on him as he opens the fridge door. “You are the one who is acting odd.”

“Fine, I’ll bite. I enjoy being you and want it to continue a little longer. Is that so wrong?” 

The prince stands there after taking one look at the uncooked food inside the fridge and changing his mind about taking anything out. 

“You are genuinely that interested in a woman who only seeks riches?” 

“She’s more than that. You wouldn’t understand.” 

Namor sighs after a moment, running a hand through his hair. “Then so be it. I will be needing the keys to your rental car, by the way.”

“Why?”

“I am driving the girls and yourself to the store today, as the prince’s driver that is what I must do, yes?”

Attuma resumes cooking. “Do you even know how to drive?” 

“Of course! I was taught at the age of sixteen!” 

“Uh huh. And have you driven since then?” 

“You know as well as I do that my mother would never allow it. But driving a car is the same as riding a bike. You never forget.”

“But unlike a bike, a car can kill someone instantly. Why don’t you ask one of your guards outside to do it instead?” 

“No. I can’t blow my cover.”

When the sound of the hairdryer turns off, Namor and Attuma end the conversation. Dorma walks out, wearing a short red dress with an extremely low-cut top. 

“How cute. Are you teaching the prince how to cook?”

“I am!” Namor announces proudly, slapping Attuma on the back. “I am a better instructor than those little videos!”

Dorma hops up on the stool, smiling at Attuma flirtatiously. “And what is the big boy making for me, hm?” 

“An omelette and potatoes. Does that work? My personal chef cooks way better than this, but I’m trying.”

Dorma’s grin widens. “Personal chef? Ooh. I like the sound of that.”

While those two talk about the chef that Attuma doesn’t have, Shuri finally enters the kitchen area. Seeing her in one of his T-Shirts over a pair of leggings has Namor zooming around the counter to get to her. He’s speaking endless praises in Yucatec Mayan as he holds onto her face, not stopping until she’s laughing.

“What are you saying?”

“That this is the most beautiful you’ve been yet, Princess.” 

There are only a few rough instances that Namor encounters while driving to the store down the road, which include roughly braking the vehicle when his foot slips off the gas pedal. All in all, the girls don’t seem to mind too much or say anything about it. They’re too busy trying to teach Attuma about where they’re from. 

“We went to an all girls school until it was time to go to college! They believed it best for us to be separated from the boys so we weren’t such a distraction.”

“Ha, as if that ever stopped boys from noticing you!” Shuri teases, and Namor glances at her through the mirror. “Dorma had her first kiss at twelve!” 

“What about you, Shuri?” Namor asks quickly, hands tightening on the wheel. “When did you receive your first kiss?”

“About a year ago,” she admits shyly, eyes meeting his. “And you?”

“Look out!” Attuma shouts, and Namor, having been distracted by Shuri’s gaze, narrowly avoids hitting the back of another car. He decides to keep quiet, allowing Dorma and Attuma to carry the conversation while Shuri occasionally chimes in. 

He learns that both girls have had a very religious upbringing, they live minutes apart from one another, and are close to their mothers. For the two of them to have similar childhoods, it surprises Namor that Shuri is so humble compared to her best friend. 

After parking the car horribly and hoping they don’t notice, Namor goes around to open both back doors, waiting near the one that is closest to Shuri. He holds her hand, assisting her as she climbs down. Then he doesn’t let go. Shuri smiles up at him as they walk towards the store. 

“Where are the prince’s guards?”

Namor glances over his shoulder where he can see familiar men in suits discreetly following them. There is no use when the people of Puerto Peñasco do not know who he is, but under his mother’s payroll, they’re not giving up.

“They’re here and there. Do you like ice cream?” 

Before she can ask why, he points to the stand outside of the store. She wears a smile that’s so youthful and innocent as she drags him towards it. She orders a mango ice cream in perfect Spanish, then Namor drags her somewhere private. As they share the ice cream, their tongues touch until they’re practically feeding one another, pushing the ice cream into each other’s mouth until there’s nothing left but the cone, which Namor quickly discards before their arms are around one another, kissing passionately and roughly and without abandon. 

“Goodness,” she breathes when he gives her a chance to. “Where did all this come from!?”

Namor takes her hand, calming himself down. “I like you very much, Shuri. Maybe too much.”

“I’m not complaining,” she murmurs, giving him one more kiss, a gentle one. “But I really would like to get the groceries for our picnic now. Dorma never gets the right stuff.” 

Namor guides her inside, where he watches her selecting the perfect fruits and vegetables to add to her basket. There’s a deep longing in his heart for her, knowing that if she were some random woman he was just now encountering inside the grocery store, he’d want to approach her. 

He feels it so strongly that she’s it for him. 

He needs to tell her the truth soon. 

He needs to know if she’s willing to be courted in Talokan and become a real princess. 

Shuri chews on her sandwich slowly, watching Dorma and Attuma playing on the shoreline together. Those two barely even ate, whereas Namor and Shuri are enjoying their picnic to the fullest. 

Shuri smirks at Namor’s shadow as he adjusts the umbrella to keep them shaded. His bulge and large chest are outlined. She still can’t believe she was all over that sexy body last night and this morning. She can’t believe any of this. 

“There,” he grunts before lowering himself back onto the towel. He takes a swig of his beer, and she feels just as thirsty watching him gulp it down. When he sets it down, she straddles his lap, surprising him. His lips curl back while his hands grab her ass. “Hello, gorgeous.”

“Hi. Is it okay if I sit here?”

“You fit perfectly, don’t you?”

Her cheeks burn as he throbs beneath her. She holds onto his broad shoulders, massaging them. 

“Are you going to tell me how old you were when you received your first kiss?”

“Somewhere in my early teens. It wasn’t memorable enough to fully recall.” Namor lifts up her shirt in the back, playing with the knot that’s keeping her bikini top together. “Unlike every minute I have spent with you. There is something I’d like to ask you, if you don’t mind.”

His hand slides up the front of the shirt now, groping her breast underneath. She quickly looks around, then relaxes when nobody appears to be focused on them. 

“I’m listening.”

“If you were the princess of a country, what would you do?”

He twists and pulls at her nipple lightly. She releases a shaky breath as the feeling travels straight to her core. 

“I would humbly serve my country and play the part I’ve been assigned. I would care for everyone, rich and poor, strong and weak. I would host events to support people in need. And… I wouldn’t mind wearing corsets from time to time.”

Namor kisses her suddenly, lowering her back onto the towel. His fingers enter her bikini bottoms, where he glides them inside her pussy and massages her. She moans and writhes beneath him, lips parted, breathing heavily while he ignites her and stares at her intensely. 

“You would look so lovely in a corset or a harness made of jade. You would make the perfect princess.” 

She feels flushed when he enters her deeper, hitting those wonderful spots, his warm breath in her ear. Her hands clutch the towel. 

“Why… Why do you ask?”

“Because you deserve to be spoiled royalty, to be treated as such…Oh, Shuri. You’re dripping for me.”

With a soft groan, she gives in, her body his for the taking. He touches her in public, clearly not giving it any thought at all, scissoring his way in, pumping those thick fingers until she comes all over his hand. 

“You’re very gentle when it comes to this.”

Dorma sits behind Attuma, brushing through his long hair. They can hear Shuri getting put through the mattress inside the other room. She turns the volume up on the TV as some telenovela plays.

“My mother was always gentle with me.” 

“You haven’t spoken much about her.”

Dorma sets the brush down and begins working his hair into a singular braid. “There isn’t much to say. She’s worked her ass off since I was born because there was never a man in the house to do it for her. I love her, but that is not the life I want for myself. I want work to be an option, never an obligation.”

“I see…”

She stays quiet, knowing the prince could never understand poverty and everything it has kept her from. She also despises when someone pities her, which she does not need Attuma doing. She needs to be convincing that she is not with him for the money. 

“But more important than security is love.”

Dorma feels nauseous saying those words out loud. Nothing is more important than money. When shit hits the fan, love isn’t going to come through the window to save the day. Money will. Lots and lots of money. Anyone who believes otherwise has too much or doesn’t know what to do with it.

Attuma turns around to look at her, his eyes soft. 

“I see how beautiful your heart is. I know you’re a good woman. Come here.”

She allows him to pull her into a kiss. As he works to undress her, she thinks about the life she’s always dreamed of, knowing it’s within her reach at last, and she smiles. 

Shuri’s body remains twitching after Namor leaves the bed. He’s returning with a damp washcloth to clean her, which he does while lying on her, kissing her cheek, licking the salt away from her temple.

“It seems as we’re finishing, they’re getting started.”

Shuri laughs, hearing Dorma moaning on the other side of the condo. She then loses her smile, realizing that she’s had something she’s been wanting to ask Namor since they met. 

“Can you tell me the truth if I ask you a question?”

He pulls his head away, then the washcloth. He places it against her thigh. 

“Go ahead.”

“Attuma isn’t lying to Dorma, is he? She’s starting to really fall in love with him and I’ve never seen it before. Every time she gets close to a man, he ends up having a secret life. Attuma isn’t married, is he? Does he have any kids?”

Namor is silent for a moment. Then he licks his lips before speaking. 

“No. Attuma has no wife or children. He is single.”

“Oh, good,” she sighs. She can rest easy now. Unless… “Do you?”

“No… But there is something I have been dying to tell you. Let me take you out to a nice restaurant for your last night here. Just you and I, no Dorma and Attuma. Please say yes.”

“What do you think he’s going to ask me!?”

“Probably to be his committed girlfriend!” Dorma finishes zipping up the back of Shuri’s tight orange dress, then spritzes perfume on her. “What are you going to say?”

Shuri reapplies her lipstick in a hurry, knowing Namor will be here in any minute to take her away. She would say yes in a heartbeat if she weren’t so damaged by her former long distance relationship. But maybe with Namor, there’s a possibility that it can and will be different this time around. 

“Pretty sure it’s going to be yes!” Shuri then screams, causing Dorma to do the same. The two girls are grinning from ear to ear. “You look so good. Is Attuma taking you somewhere, as well?”

“He says he wants to talk to me here first.” Dorma shivers. “Ooh, I have a feeling he’s going to ask me to go back to his country with him to meet the King and Queen!”

“Gosh…” Shuri holds Dorma’s hands, feeling so happy for her friend. “This really has been the dream vacation, hasn’t it? Like our shooting star wish from almost ten years ago finally coming true.”

“God, I love you. I love us. I can’t believe it.”

There’s another sound of rocks tapping at the glass, and Shuri runs in her heels towards the balcony door. She opens it wide, seeing Namor standing down below, dressed in a navy suit with a white shirt underneath. He looks so devastatingly handsome, especially when he reveals the white roses from behind his back, and motions her to come to him with two fingers. 

She hurries down the walkway, and she would’ve tripped and ate it if he didn’t catch her. He kisses her as he holds her, and she has never felt anything as magical as this. 

“Get in the backseat with me, Princess. I’m having someone else drive us for a change.”

When he walks her around the corner, she’s stunned by the sight of a limousine. She has never been in one before. She smiles wide as the driver opens the door for them, and Namor helps her inside. 

He gives the driver their address before he rolls up the blackened window, giving them the privacy they need. 

“This particular one is soundproof, just so you know.”

With this man looking and smelling so good, Shuri wastes no time before wrapping her arms around him, and vice versa. They passionately embrace as she crawls into his lap while hands roam her back. She begins unbuttoning his jacket before he leans back, grinning. 

“Itzia, you look too damn fine to be making a mess of.”

Shuri says nothing at all, leaning down into another kiss. He reverses their positions, grabbing her at the waist and turning her, laying her on her back on the L-shaped seat that is in the back of the limo.

"I won’t make you sweat too much. These seats, however…”

He hikes her dress up to her hips, giving himself the proper access he needs. Shuri cannot believe what a sexy deviant he appears to be at this moment. He’s a sight to behold, with his jacket unbuttoned, her lipstick smeared on his face, and his large cock threatening to burst through his pants as he kneels down in front of her. 

Her thoughts are interrupted by his tongue. He licks a stripe up her core through her panties, causing her to gasp.

“You sure do love doing this to me, don’t you?”

“Can’t resist.”

He pulls her panties down with his teeth, then tosses them somewhere behind him. He places his mouth on her and glances up through his eyelashes, smirking when seeing her flustered face. 

His tongue slides into her opening and his thumb rubs her clit. He uses his other arm to reach up and cup her breast through her dress. One of her hands covers Namor’s on her chest and the other threads through his hair.

Before coming to Puerto Peñasco, she would’ve never once thought that she’d be a girl getting eaten out in the backseat of a limo. But here she is, the most handsome gentleman ever, devouring her as though she is some precious fruit. 

He removes his tongue from her center, and her expression changes quickly from a pout to heavy panting when his finger replaces it. He moves his mouth back to her clit, then  alternates between kissing, sucking, and licking all over her pussy. She yanks on his hair lightly, causing him to groan, a sound she can feel through her entire body.

Her loud cries reverberate throughout the limo, grateful that it is soundproof. She falls silent with her mouth wide open as she always does before erupting, the calm before the storm. Her eyes clench shut and she moans loudly as she comes. He eases her through it, slowing his pace until she rides out all the waves of pleasure. He lowers her gown back down and joins her up on the seat, his face and beard drenched in her essence. 

She cups his face in her hands and kisses him languidly, reveling in the taste of herself on his lips and committing his current look to her memory.

"I am so into you, Shuri.” 

She smiles against his mouth, kissing him again and again. They’re approaching their destination now, but she knows after this, with all his pent up arousal, he’s going to tear her up tonight. For now, they cuddle together in silence until the limo comes to a stop.

The indoor window rolls down and they thank the driver before stepping out into the warm night air. She’s so overcome by being on this date with him that she completely forgets about her panties still in the backseat, which now become a souvenir for the driver. 

They’re all alone on the roof of the most exclusive hotel. Shuri has no idea what strings Prince Attuma pulled to have this happen. They’re being served entree after entree, drinks filled to the brim as soon as a glass empties. The ambiance is impressive, but there’s nothing that intrigues her more than the oh so attractive man across from her. 

“This is so amazing. I can’t thank you enough. What a beautiful way to end my spring break.”

Namor wipes the corners of his mouth with a napkin, then folds it neatly on the table. He sips his water. He takes her hands. 

“Shuri, there’s something you need to know about me. Understand that I did not keep it a secret to hurt you, but to find out if you’re genuine, and there’s nobody I’ve met as sweet and as kindhearted as you.”

There’s a deep pang in her chest, one that pierces her heart. 

He’s been keeping a secret?

“I knew you were too good to be true,” she murmurs, wishing she could escape his hold but suddenly not having any strength. “Come out and say it. You’re married.”

“No, Shuri. I–“

“You think I’m a great girl but you’re not that interested.”

“Shuri, I’m the prince of Talokan.”

Her breathing stills. 

“What?”

“I am Prince Namor Almehen of Talokan, son of Ch’ah and Fen, heir to the crown. If you do not believe me, look it up.”

Shuri finally pulls her hands away, frantically searching her small purse for her phone and yanking it out. She looks up his title, name, and country. She covers her mouth seeing photo after photo of Prince Namor in his royal regalia. 

“Shuri.”

Her watery eyes land on him when he suddenly at the side of her chair, down on one knee. There’s a jade bracelet inside the box he’s holding. 

“I am Prince Namor of Talokan, and I wish to court you for marriage.”

“I…” She’s nearly dry-heaving as her eyes dart around the room, watering as they land back on him. “Why didn’t you tell me this from the start!? Who is Attuma?”

“He is my driver, and just like you, I have been longing to find true love. I have not had any luck when others know of my status. They are money hungry and not sincere. You have bewitched me from the start. Your heart is pure. You took me as I am, not caring that I wasn’t a rich or important man. You are far better than any other woman in Talokan and this whole damn world. Please, Shuri. Let me court you, and give you everything you deserve.”

Shuri cannot form any words. She cannot even think about anything other than the fact that Namor truly adores her, for she has been authentic this entire time. He is a man who could have anyone. 

And he has chosen her. 

So she nods, crying happily as she does, watching the prince tie the bracelet around her wrist. 

“What about school?” she rasps. “I can’t just go…”

“We will remain in constant communication during your first week back and over the weekend, I will fly you out to Talokan to meet my parents and get to know our kingdom. The following weekend, I will meet your parents. And if all goes well, we will become husband and wife in the summertime. How does that all sound?”

This is all so insane. 

Beautifully insane.

Something out of a fairytale. 

She throws herself at the prince and he cradles her, the two of them kissing and laughing as the jewels on the jade bracelet shine brightly.

Dorma taps her fingers against her thighs as Attuma paces around the living room. He has been doing so for the last five minutes. She imagines it is not easy asking such a beautiful woman to be his princess.

“What’s going on, handsome? You can tell me anything. You know that.”

Attuma finally pauses in front of her, sweat on his brow. 

“Look, I’ll just say it straight up. Dorma, I’m not a prince. I’m not even wealthy.”

She stiffens. 

“Excuse me?”

“I’m Namor’s driver. We lied because he had his own reasons and I saw no harm in it since I didn’t think I’d be getting close to anyone. But Dorma, I swear I’m falling in love with you.”

Dorma hangs her head, feeling faint and sick. “Fuck!”

His hands are on her knees. She doesn’t look up at him. 

“I know you desire a man with money, and even though I don’t have a lot, I can make enough for you to be able to stay home. I can take care of you. I know I can. I wasn’t lying about my degree!”

Dorma leaves him abruptly, locking herself in the bathroom and glaring at her reflection, rage bubbling within. That broke ass man wasted her fucking time. She should have stuck with her first pick of the two men…

Shuri.

She whips her phone out from between her breasts, seeing a text from her best friend. There’s a bunch of bullshit but then finally something useful. 

Sis🎀: Prince Namor Almehen of Talokan 

Dorma looks him up. Her jaw falls at how his gorgeous face is plastered everywhere. Photos in front of the castle, photos from global events, and personal events. 

She always thought he was the sexier of the two. 

Dorma: you’re not really into him like that now, are you? A Prince. Shuri? Really? That’s not you and you know it 

Sis🎀: I know it sounds so crazy but you saw how we bonded this week! He said I bewitched him and he’s flying me out to Talokan next weekend to meet his mama! 

Dorma seethes. If she owned this condo, she’d throw her phone through the wall. How dare Shuri take Namor from her when she knows damn well he is what Dorma deserves, who she has been waiting years for! 

More humiliating, Namor is in love with Shuri and not her. She can not let either one of them ruin her life. 

It doesn’t matter if Shuri is her best friend. Shuri has spent her entire life spoiled and loved, with a father who takes care of everything. Her house is bigger, her meals are nicer, and she’s never had to spend a single night wondering if she’d have to end up on the street because mortgage money is low. 

What’s wrong with wanting to live well, wanting to have what others have, what life didn’t give her? 

After recomposing herself, Dorma walks out of the bathroom to find Attuma waiting there, his face full of concern. 

“I’m so sorry that I lied to you at first, but I saw a glimpse of what I’m capable of doing for you. If you give me a chance, I promise I’ll do you right. I understand if you’re ready to move on, though. Just know this week with you has been the best one of my life.”

Dorma eventually puts her arms around his neck, smiling reassuringly. 

“Oh, none of that matters to me now. I’d rather be like Shuri, looking for love. She told me the name of your country just now, by the way. Talokan is so gorgeous. Do you think you could fly me out there next weekend?”

His eyes light up. “Yeah! Of course! Damn….” Attuma’s voice lowers as he wraps his arms around her tightly, resting his chin on top of her head. “You don’t know how happy you made me.”

Dorma smiles against his chest. 

Staying in a relationship with Attuma means she’ll be able to get closer to Namor. 

Chapter Text

“Call me as soon as you’re home.”

Shuri has been kissing Namor nonstop for the last thirty minutes or so, not wanting to leave him. 

“Of course I will. How else am I going to survive the week without you?”

“Sweet girl,” he murmurs before pulling her in for another kiss, one that cannot last long since Dorma has already said her goodbyes to Attuma, and she’s honking her horn impatiently. 

Shuri continues to stare at the prince as Dorma drives the truck away from the condo, heading back to the border they entered from. Shuri tries not to get too emotional about leaving Namor — after all, they’ve barely started this relationship — and she decides to focus on something else. 

Her best friend. 

Her best friend, who did not seem too happy for her when she returned to the condo this morning after the truth of Namor’s and Attuma’s identities were revealed. 

Shuri glances at her, seeing Dorma has her jaw clenched. 

She seemed happy to continue a relationship with Attuma despite him not being rich, but Shuri knows Dorma has always desired wealth, and how badly she wanted a prince to sweep her off her feet when this vacation started. 

“Hey. Are you mad?”

“Why would I be mad?”

“Well… Namor is the prince and all that. I don’t know. I know you wanted Attuma to be a prince so badly, but I can’t just break up with Namor. We’re already falling for each other, and all that sex, all those words, how he makes me feel…” Shuri sighs. “I’m sorry. I would stay with him whether he was the prince or the driver. I hope you’re not mad at me for choosing love.”

Dorma looks at her when they’re at a red light, smiling. “You’re my best friend, Shuri. I’m happy for you. Truly. You deserve to have a man who worships you. Besides, Attuma’s sexy. Even if he isn’t the guy I want to marry, I’m fine having some fun with him in the meantime. Other men will come along for me. Don’t worry.”

Feeling relieved, Shuri rests her head on Dorma’s shoulder. 

“I love you, bestie.”

“Love you more, bestie.”

Despite being 21, Shuri still takes her calls in private, hiding her conversations from her parents. Late at night when T’Chaka and Ramonda are asleep, Shuri creeps into the backyard and hides by the orange trees. She takes Namor off mute and bounces on her heels as she whispers to him. 

“Hi, Prince Namor.”

His attractive laugh followed by an even more attractive voice has Shuri wanting to scream into a pillow. 

“Hello, itzia. I arrived in Talokan earlier today. Did you receive your ticket?”

Shuri plays with her hair as her back rests against the shed. “I did, thank you. Dorma said that she also got one on behalf of Attuma. I haven’t stopped looking up images. It’s so beautiful there.”

“It’ll be more so when you arrive. I miss you already, Shuri. Miss your lips. Your tongue. Your face. Your body.” Namor’s voice becomes huskier, causing Shuri to ache. “Miss kissing you, tasting you. There’s a guest quarters at the palace where it’s completely private. I look forward to some alone time with you after you get to know my parents.” 

Shuri’s arousal suddenly dies, being replaced by nervousness. Never in a million years did she think she’d ever be meeting a real life queen and king. It makes her more anxious knowing that they could potentially be her in-laws one day soon. 

What if they don’t like her…

“Shuri?”

“Oh! Sorry! There was a bug flying around. Um, but yes, I would love that. All of it.” She swallows, wanting to change the subject. “What are you up to? What time is it over there?”

“Ah, yes, we have very different time zones, don’t we? It’s noon here.”

“Nighttime over here. Do you have anything special planned for the rest of your day?”

“Other than talking to the perfect girl I found while in Puerto Peñasco? Eh. I do have to meet with the former potential partners of mine and let them know I have found my wife.”

Shuri is so caught up by being called his wife that she skips over the idea that he’ll be talking to other women. 

“Wife? Yeah?”

“Yeah. My atan. I already know my mother is going to adore you. How could anyone not love you?”

His confidence reassures her, and she happily falls to her bottom on the grass, smiling up at the moon. They talk for another hour or so, and then they take forever to decide who is going to hang up first. Shuri does the honors, but not without sending a few cute texts to him before she heads back to the house. She’s smiling down at her phone when she hears her mother clearing her throat. 

“Ahh!”

Ramonda has her hands on her hips, her hair in a bonnet, and her slippers on. 

“Who has you grinning like that?”

“Dorma,” she lies at first, and her mother continues to eye her suspiciously, seeing right through her. She isn’t about to tell her that she fell in love with a prince, who is flying her out to a foreign country this weekend to meet his parents. She’ll do that after she secures the wedding date, because by then, there’s no other choice. “Alright, fine. I met someone while I was volunteering at that camp during spring break. He was a brother of one of the counselors.”

“Oh? And what is his name?”

“Namor.”

“Any pictures?”

All the ones she has of him are either shirtless, naughty, or the visible beach in the background. 

“Uh, no. But I will.” 

Ramonda gestures for her to come inside, where she begins to make tea for the two of them to share. Shuri sits at the table while her mother talks with her back to her.

“What can you tell me about this Namor, then? Is he a good man? Religious? Does he love Bast? Is he smart? Is he respectful?”

“Well, I don’t know the name of his exact religion, but I know he’s willing to learn and love Bast. He’s very intelligent and very respectful. Beautiful, too.”

Ramonda grins as she pours tea into the cups on the table. “Beautiful? I have never heard a man described as beautiful before.”

“There’s no better way to put it, Mama. He’s decently tall, strongly built, gorgeous bronze skin, these hypnotic eyes that are sometimes gray, sometimes brown, this handsome face… Gosh, Mama. I’ve never seen anyone like him, in real life or in the movies.”

“Shuri,” Ramonda gasps as she takes a seat. “Child, you are smitten! Now I must know more about him. Does he live close by?”

“Unfortunately not, but if all goes well as we remain long distance, he’s willing to travel here and meet you and Baba… Would that be something you’d be interested in?”

Ramonda taps her nails against the mug for a second, and Shuri fears she’s going to hear a rejection. But then her mother surprises her. 

“If he treats you better with this… long distance whatever it is compared to how Eden was with you, I would not mind meeting the man who has my baby so flustered.” 

Shuri is nearly dancing in her seat. Ramonda is so strict, and this is huge. 

“Yay! Thank you, Mama!”

“Mmhm. Is there anything about this man that concerns you?”

Shuri keeps it to herself that she’s meeting the king and queen of Talokan on Saturday, but finds a way to discuss her worries with her mother. 

“I’m supposed to meet his parents over video chat this weekend and I’m a little nervous.”

“About what?”

“About them not liking me.”

Ramonda laughs loudly to the point Shuri ends up scrunching her face and saying, 

“It isn’t funny!”

“Child, you are gorgeous, you are brilliant, you are everything a mother desires in a daughter-in-law! If that woman believes otherwise, put me on that Facetune and I’ll give her a piece of my mind!”

Shuri doesn’t bother to correct her mother that it’s called FaceTime. Instead, she smiles and shakes her head. 

“Mama, you say all that because I’m your daughter.”

“No, I say it because it’s true. And if they’re mean to you, fuck them and fuck him! There! I said it!”

“Mother!” Shuri gasps, never hearing her mother curse so casually. Ramonda shrugs her shoulders and sips her tea. 

“Know your worth, baby girl. Never spend a second where you’re not valued. There isn’t a damn thing wrong with you and there never has been. The right man will stick up for you, and if he doesn’t, it isn’t meant to be.” 

Namor sits across the table from a pretty woman named Diana, who he is patiently waiting on to stop talking before he can let her down easily. 

She pushes her dark hair behind her bare shoulders and bats her eyelashes at him.

“Have you ever been to Paris?”

The prince holds her hands on top of the table gently, looking into her eyes as he speaks. 

“You’re very beautiful and interesting, Diana, but I am afraid I have found my princess.”

Her smile falters and fades. Namor hands her a napkin when she begins to tear up. 

“Oh…”

“I’m sorry. I tried to tell you through a phone call to avoid this awkwardness, but our mothers wouldn’t allow it. Would you like me to—“

Diana storms off abruptly, leaving Namor alone on the patio of the restaurant. From where he sits, he sees her faraway, climbing into a vehicle. Shortly after that, his phone goes off. He ignores it when he sees it’s from his mother, but her following voicemail is threatening him to return to the palace immediately. 

Sighing, Namor rises and heads through the lobby to the outdoors once more. Attuma rises from where he sits with the other drivers, saluting him. 

“Where to, sir?”

“Home, please. I’m about to be chewed out.”

“Sorry, sir.”

“I told you not to call me that. We are friends.” 

Attuma stares at him through the mirror once they’re both inside the vehicle. “Yeah? Still?”

“Of course. Am I insane for believing we formed a special bond during our vacation or something?”

“No, I just…” Attuma smiles. “It’s nice. I like being your friend. Thank you for paying for Dorma’s ticket, by the way. I look forward to the four of us hanging out again.” 

Namor smiles despite the annoyance he’s about to go home to. Thinking of his Shuri does that to him. 

“If only those girls weren’t so invested in their education. We could make them stay here in Talokan for good instead of for the weekend.”

“To be honest, I think Dorma would be down for that.”

“Consider me stunned that she’s continuing this relationship with you despite the truth coming out. I was so certain she was a gold digger.”

“Hey, man, what can I say? Love prevails.”

Namor leans forward to give Attuma’s shoulders a squeeze. The car pulls up in front of the palace after the car is allowed in through the gate and the prince groans. 

“I’ll be 30 in a couple of years and they still control me the way they did when I was a child.”

“The downside of being a prince, I assume. Lots of expectations.”

“Indeed. Thank you. We will speak later.”

Namor enters the palace doors and finds his parents in the dining hall, sitting at the table. Fen speaks immediately when she sees him. 

“Diana phoned us recently. She has been rejected, the same as every other bachelorette your father and I have carefully selected for you. Care to explain yourself?” 

“It is unnecessary for me to court any of them when I have already found my wife.”

“Eh?” King Ch’ah squints at him. “Who? When have you had the time?”

“Oh, mehen.” Fen suddenly looks a mixture of horrified and disgusted. “Please don’t tell me you’re talking about some woman you met in Puerto Peñasco.”

“I am. What is wrong with that?”

“Because I assume whoever she is, she is a commoner without a single ounce of royal blood, zero money to her name, and desperate!” 

Namor can feel every vein throbbing in his head. “Shuri is not royalty, nor is she wealthy. She is a college student studying nuclear physics, she’s highly intelligent, she’s humble, she’s gorgeous, and she’s good to me. None of those other women have ever made me feel the way that she does. She is coming here this weekend for the courtship to begin.” 

Fen groans into her hands, murmuring curses while Ch’ah scratches at his beard. 

“An Almehen marrying for love is uncalled for, but I suppose we should give her a chance before we pass judgment. I will arrange a feast with Talokan’s finest cuisine.”

Namor nods at his father while his mother continues to avoid him. If only the king was the one to make the final decisions around here. 

When Dorma is clinging to her arm and squealing the way she used to as they’re escorted out of the airport, Shuri knows for certain that her best friend has forgiven her. This week had been odd, with Dorma more distant and quiet than usual, having the briefest conversations in between classes and rarely answering her texts. Maybe she’s been too occupied with Attuma, judging by the way the driver holds her by the thighs and spins her around as they kiss. 

Right when Shuri figures that Namor is at the palace waiting for her, the door opens wide. The first thing she sees is a large bouquet of purple and blue flowers, and when she accepts it, she sees the handsome face of the man who has gifted it to her. Namor gently cups the back of her head as he presses his lips to hers, soft and warm. 

“There’s my girl,” he murmurs before kissing her again, this time adding his tongue to it and making her so lightheaded that she has to cling to him to prevent from falling.  How was the flight?”

“Worth it…” 

The kisses last long after they’re in the backseat together, with the prince holding her face non-stop. She has no idea what Attuma and Dorma are doing or saying in the front. All she can focus on is how good Namor kisses, and how wonderful and right it feels to be reunited. 

“You look beautiful, by the way.”

Shuri is thankful she was able to shower and change inside the airport. She might not be wearing a designer gown, but her long yellow dress works for now. 

“Thank you. So do you.”

And of course, it’s true. He must have endless suits and he wears them so well. This one is navy with a pink under shirt. 

“Look outside, itzia. Look at your future home.”

Shuri turns her head to the left and gasps. She could tell by the images that the palace was huge, but none of that could prepare her for the actual size of it. It stretches on for acres, with various buildings that aren’t part of the main castle. There are plenty of spaces for sports and leisurely activities, farm land, gardens, and so much more that she can’t see. 

When Attuma drives through the gate, her nerves are shot. There are tons of soldiers standing around, and at the end of the two lines they make are who she assumes to be Queen Fen and King Ch’ah. They’re older, but attractive nonetheless. Prince Namor is a perfect combination of the two of them. 

They don’t smile like he does, though.

They don’t smile at all. 

Attuma helps Dorma, Shuri, and Namor out of the car, then stands behind them as the king and queen approach. Shuri holds in her breath without intending to. Queen Fen reaches her hand out, but instead of it going towards Shuri, it’s for Dorma.

“You must be Shuri. We’ve heard so much about you.”

Her best friend laughs while pressing a hand against her chest. “Oh, you’re mistaken! I’m Dorma, Shuri’s guest.”

Fen quickly looks at the real Shuri, and Shuri gives her an awkward little wave when Fen refuses to shake her hand. The queen stares between Dorma and Shuri, then makes a comment in Yucatán Mayan to Namor that appears to piss him off. The mother and son are arguing, with the king seemingly attempting to cool it down. Eventually, Namor and Fen stop yelling. The prince takes Shuri’s hand, controlling his breathing. 

Whatever was said must have been bad, and it was about Shuri. 

Between that and Fen refusing to shake Shuri’s hand, she isn’t feeling too good about this at all anymore. 

Dorma touches her arm gently as they walk side by side, and she gives Shuri a look that tells her to be strong and keep her head up. Also remembering what her mother told her, and seeing how Namor did stick up for her about whatever was said, Shuri shakes it off. 

As they’re taken on a brief tour around the palace, she’s so amazed by all the Mesoamerican artifacts, paintings, and history that she’s starting to forget about that earlier encounter. It helps that Namor never releases her hand, proud to be seen with her. 

They end up in the dining hall that smells divine. The food looks absolutely delicious, a mixture of dishes special to the Maya along with various seafood creations. Queen Fen and King Ch’ah sit at both ends of the long table. Shuri sits next to Namor on one side, while Attuma sits next to Dorma on the other. Shuri notices that not only is she the one receiving judgmental stares from Fen, but Attuma is as well. The only guest who isn’t is Dorma for whatever reason. 

Well…

It’s not hard to understand the reason. 

When Fen saw Shuri and Dorma standing next to each other, she was probably so disappointed to see that her son didn’t select the busty beauty queen. 

“So tell us about yourself, Shuri,” Fen speaks to her at last, wearing a smile that Shuri can tell is forced. “My son says you’re in school.”

“Oh, yes. I want to be a nuclear scientist.”

King Ch’ah snorts. “What need would a queen, or a Princess for that matter, have to be a nuclear scientist? You’re not running a power plant.”

“With all due respect, sir, it has been a dream of mine to be a scientist more than it is to be a princess.”

“Excuse me?”

Shuri turns her head to face Fen, who has spoken sharply. 

“Prince Namor mentioned the possibility of a summer wedding, which I would adore and would do, but after the wedding, I intend to graduate school before attending to my duties as the princess.”

Fen eyes her son now as though burning holes through his head. “Mehen, has she made you aware of this?”

Namor holds her hand underneath the table, rubbing his thumb on her knuckles in a comforting manner. “We discussed this a few days ago. I am fine with that. Shuri has worked hard her entire life to reach her goals. Those goals came before I did. I respect and admire that about her.”

“For Chaac’s sake,” Fen mutters. “What is happening? Do you know how humiliating it is going to be to explain to the press that the princess isn’t present because she’s studying!? This is why you don’t go for a child, mehen!”

“She’s far from a child, Naa! And of course the only thing on your mind is how you would feel!” 

Fen ignores him, focusing on Dorma next. “Tell me, Dorma. What would you do?”

Dorma sets her fork down and pats the corners of her lips with her napkin. She speaks in a softer tone that Shuri has never heard before. 

“Well, Queen Fen, I would quit school because I know the kingdom needs their princess around. What use is there in having a degree when you’re royalty? Representating Talokan is far more important than anything else.”

What the fuck? Shuri thinks to herself, and knows it’s written on her face when Dorma glances at her then quickly looks away. 

No, seriously. 

Why would she say something like that?

“Thank you!” Fen proclaims loudly. “See that, mehen? That’s an acceptable answer!”

“Naa, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with what Shuri wants for herself. She isn’t like other women and I’ve told you this. That’s what I love about her.”

“Not like other women,” Fen scoffs. “Next thing you know she’s going to say that she doesn’t want any children.”

“Oh…” 

All eyes are on her now. Since she’s facing Attuma, he’s the one she notices first, and he’s quietly begging her to stop talking. She can’t stop herself now that she’s under pressure, especially when Fen demands, 

“What do you mean oh? Is it true? You don’t want children?”

Shuri gulps. Even Namor now looks concerned by this. 

“Well… No. I don’t.”

The dining hall is silent. 

Namor is the first to speak after a minute or two. 

“You don’t want children, Shuri?”

“Do you?” is all she can manage, her body aching. 

“Yes. I do.” His voice is serious and his stare is intense. Has she fucked up? “I am an only child, the last of my bloodline. I may not agree with my parents all the time, but my lineage is very important to me. I expect my wife to provide me with many heirs and heiresses.”

Shuri blinks. She wants to cry. 

This isn’t going at all how she expected it to. 

“I—“

“I can’t do this,” Fen announces suddenly. “I cannot stand this.”

The queen exits the dining hall, and shortly after that, Namor rises. Shuri expects him to make a run for it, too, and leave her for good. But he offers her his hand. 

“Let’s go to the guest house. We need to talk.”

Namor paces the room while his dream girl remains quiet on the couch. He hates that her cheeks are stained by her tears, and he hates himself for not consoling her. He’s too in his feelings about Shuri never wanting children to do anything but walk back and forth, trying to find the words to say to her. 

“Namor,” she whimpers, and it breaks him. He pauses in the center of the room, staring down at her. 

“Yeah?”

When she looks up, her pretty eyes are glistening. “I’m—I’m sorry. I’m not perfect. I know that. What I was trying to say was that I don’t want kids right now at this moment, but I’d be more than happy to start a family in ten years from now or so when I’m in my thirties.” She rubs her arm self-consciously, sniffling. “But I understand you and your mother want them immediately, and I understand if you’d prefer to find a woman who will do that for you. I’m sorry for wasting your time.”

Namor’s face softens immediately. He kneels in between her legs, holding onto her waist. 

“You don’t want kids right now, but you’re willing to have them in ten years?”

“Yes…”

Namor’s chest rises and falls as he breathes deeply. His mother has been nothing but unpleasant to her, starting with that comment about her being less prettier than Dorma. For Shuri to not be breaking up with him already because of the queen and to put up with the disrespect tells him how strong she is, and how she truly wants to be his wife even if it means having a mother-in-law like that. He’s not going to let them ruin his happiness as they’ve been doing for years. 

“I am willing to settle with that if it means you’ll stay with me, Princess. I am fine having kids whenever you’re ready. And I’m sorry for the difficult evening we’ve been having. For the rest of the night and tomorrow, it’ll be just the two of us, exploring Talokan…” His hands travel downward, grazing her legs over her yellow dress until he’s squeezing her ankles that are on either side of him. “Fucking you raw. We won’t be making babies, but we can have the fun of pretending, can’t we?”

Shuri sighs, gradually lifting her dress upward, revealing her slender legs inch by sexy inch. 

“You’re so very lucky that I want you more than I dislike your mother, and no, I don’t care that I said that out loud. I hope it’ll change one day, but I’m upset right now.”

“I understand. She does that. A lot. Give her time, and we will see what happens.” Namor eyes her panties that are damp in the center. His cock hardens further. He slides the wet material down her thighs and off her feet. He inhales her scent deeply before wrapping her panties around his wrist. “Please… I want to be the only man who gets to see you in that little scrap of lace you call underwear. I want to be the only one who gets to watch you come apart on my fingers, my tongue, my cock.”

He pulls her down from the couch and on top of him, dragging her over his clothed cock. Shuri whimpers, clinging to his shoulders as he repeats the motion. She rocks her hips, chasing the fleeting pleasure, but the large hand on her hip holds her in place.

“I just want to be yours. I want you to be mine. Keep giving us a chance.”

She lurches forward, pressing her lips to his. “Yes,” she mumbles against his mouth. “I never wanted this to stop to begin with. I was afraid you were breaking up with me tonight.”

He presses a chaste kiss to the underside of her jaw. “Never, itzia. Never.”

He falls back against the floor, encouraging her to scoot up his body. He exhales a long hiss when her cunt smears a trail of her arousal over his stomach. They work of together they get one another out of their clothing until they’re completely naked, just the way they prefer it. 

He stares unblinking at her pebbled nipples, the beautiful skin just begging to be touched. His voice is strained when he finally speaks. “Come here.” He taps her thigh. “Sit on me. Let me relax you after this stressful day.”

She doesn’t argue with the barked command, crawling up his body until she is straddling his face. She grips  the couch for a split second before he pulls her down against his mouth. There is no teasing, no preamble. Just a week’s worth of lust and longing focused on a single point.

Her head tips back, a strangled moan clawing its way up her throat as he drags his tongue over her clit. He wiggles his tongue in a zig-zag pattern, toggling back and forth over her engorged bud. She whimpers above him, fevered bits of praise and confession pouring from her mouth.

“So good…oh, Bast… been thinking about this for days…”

She yelps then giggles when his palm comes down on her ass, then gives a strangled cry when he latches onto her clit. One of her hands makes its way into his dark waves, pulling enthusiastically as she grinds against his face. He reaches down with his free hand, gripping the base of his cock firmly.

Shuri glances over her shoulder. One glimpse of his thick fingers squeezing and stroking his veiny cock is enough to send her over the edge. Her thighs press against his temples, her whole body shaking with her release. Namor moans into her cunt as she bathes his mouth and chin in her release. The vibration sends a shiver up her spine, prolonging the shuddering orgasm that still wracks her body.

As soon as her legs have feeling again, she shuffles down his body until she is perched over his stomach again. Namor smirks up at her, feeling tremendously proud at being the cause of her disheveled appearance. She swoops down without warning, capturing his mouth in a heated kiss and darting her tongue past his parted lips. 

Namor moans as she plunders his mouth, the taste of her own arousal only driving her on. His hands find her hips and he flips her onto her back. She releases helpless whimpers as he settles between her thighs, kissing his way down the long line of her neck.

His chin nestles between her breasts. His index finger lazily circles the tight peak of her nipple. “I’ll explain the policies and expectations of being my princess to you tomorrow morning. And no, I do not expect you to quit school for it. We will make it work.”

She gasps as he drags his thumb over the sensitive tip. “It seems I’m rather difficult, aren’t I?”

“You’re different, itzia. I love that about you. It’s what attracted me to you. Never change.”

He pinches her nipple hard, flicking his tongue over the captive tip. She rocks against him, rubbing her swollen clit along the length of his cock. He switches to her other breast, tongue swirling around the areola until she is writhing beneath him. When he finally takes the peak into the heat of his mouth, her back arches off the floor.

“Please, Prince.”

He releases her breast, grinning up at her. “Tell me what you want.”

“I want you to fuck me, Namor. I’ve been wanting you to fuck me for a week. I—“

He cuts her off with a surprised cry when he sheathes himself in one firm thrust. Her walls pulses around him as she struggles to adjust to him. Namor grits his teeth to avoid coming instantly from the fluttering of her tight pussy.

He kisses her forehead gently, his nose brushing hers as he cooes soothingly to her. “Since I intend to be your husband as you complete college, allow me to move in with you after the wedding.”

“Mm… Your, ah, your mother—“

“She’ll have to deal with it, because I’m never leaving you alone for another week again. I’ll fly back with you on Monday. Need to keep fucking you. Need you.”

Her walls clench around him at the thought, earning a strangled groan from him.

“Mine,” she whispers, her lips searching for his, desiring a kiss. Her hands slide from his arms up to his shoulders. “Move, Prince.”

He slowly withdraws, surging forward until his hips meet her thighs with a satisfying slap. A warning growl rumbles low in his throat when she digs her fingernails into his shoulders. The sensation of her putting her claws into his flesh has him drowning in lust.

He pounds into her, the force of his thrusts making her breasts bounce frenziedly. 

“Is this what you wanted, Princess?”

“Punish me,” she breathes out, and if he weren’t a man so in control of himself, he would’ve erupted at the command. 

He slips an arm under her knee, lifting her leg to open her up to his ruthless rutting. This time, she can make no response, her punched-out little whines climbing in pitch as he pistons into her. Her hands stroke down the length of his back, her nails digging into his ass encouragingly.

When his thumb drags over her swollen clit, she finally shatters, her greedy cunt holding him in a vice grip until his own orgasm crashes over him. They are both vocal in their release, calling out each others’ names in a lust-filled cry. Even after the first rush of pleasure recedes, he continues rolling his hips, relishing the feeling of her tight heat fluttering around him as he floods her with cum.

When he feels convinced she has drained every drop from him, he rolls over onto his back, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her into his side. She nuzzles his neck as he strokes his fingers down her spine soothingly.

“That could’ve been my daughter,” he murmurs, then grins when she laughs. 

After telling Attuma she needed to use the restroom, Dorma tiptoes around the palace while the driver waits in the car. She’s not ready to return to his tiny apartment just yet. She wants to pretend that this place is already her home, that it all belongs to her. The servants, the jewels, the space, the furniture, everything. 

As she rounds the corner, she hears crying coming from inside a room. Somehow, she knows it’s Queen Fen, and she wraps on the door gently.

“Be gone with you!” Fen shouts, and Dorma says,

“It’s me, Queen Fen. May I come in?”

There’s the sound of feet shuffling, and the door slowly opens. Rather than focusing on what a fucking mess Fen looks like, Dorma admires the spacious master bedroom in silence as she enters. She walks towards the balcony, speaking to the queen. 

“I’m sorry about Shuri. We’ve been friends since we were little girls, and she’s always been that way. There’s no changing her.”

“Chaac,” Fen sobs as she joins Dorma near the railing. “Tell me. Do you want children?”

“Oh, it is my biggest dream to be a mother,” Dorma lies, smiling at Fen’s changing expression sweetly. “I love children and it would be such a blessing to have them as soon as possible, as many as possible. Sadly, I have not found the right man to have as a partner.”

“Oh, good. I thought you were interested in that driver.”

“No, no. He is simply keeping me company while I’m here.”

“He is not your type. You are out of his league. My son is your type.” Fen inhales as she wraps her robe around herself tighter. “My heart was so broken when he showed me who Shuri was. She isn’t nearly a fraction of your beauty and your charisma. Even if she wanted children, that body doesn’t look capable of bearing healthy ones. She has no curves. Frankly, I don’t see the appeal.” 

“They formed a very special bond while in Puerto Peñasco that even I can't break.”

Fen picks up an empty glass, most likely going to refill it soon. She gives Dorma a sad smile. 

“Unfortunately, I doubt that I can, either. My son is stubborn as a mule. I hope he opens his eyes soon to what’s in front of him, or…” Fen shrugs. “We will have to help him, hm? Goodnight, sweetie. I’m feeling faint and need to lie down.”

After Fen crashes on the bed, Dorma quietly exits the bedroom, thinking about a lot as she heads outside and climbs into the car. Attuma is going on and on about the awkwardness at dinner tonight, and Dorma nods along, wishing she could be sleeping inside the palace instead. 

She’s so fucking glad that the day she accidentally took that pill late didn’t wind up with her getting pregnant with his baby. She gave up the pills after that scare, opting to wear a patch on her thigh instead. 

Getting pregnant with Namor’s kid wouldn’t be so bad, though. With Shuri not wanting any, and both the queen and prince urgent for heirs, Dorma could easily take Shuri’s place and become the Princess of Talokan. 

Dorma blinks as the car parks. 

Wait… 

That’s it. 

She smiles to herself while Attuma is getting out of the car, walking around to her side to let her out. She reaches under her skirt to yank the hormonal patch off, shoving it inside her purse. She immediately throws herself at Attuma, kissing him with plenty of tongue and rubbing herself against his erection.

“Damn,” he groans as he carries her towards his apartment building. “You missed me or what?”

“Mmhm. You better fuck me raw and hard tonight, Tuma. I’ve been dying to be stuffed with your cum.” 

It doesn’t take long after that to get him naked on his bed. Dorma rides his fat cock, loving the way that it feels inside of her, appreciating this beautiful man for what he is. 

Her ticket in. 

If tonight has proven anything, it’s that Namor and Shuri’s relationship has cracks in it. With Queen Fen’s assistance, those cracks can turn into holes, into moments of weakness. That’s when Dorma will be able to seduce the prince, if only for one regretful night.

In the meantime, Dorma will continue bouncing on Attuma’s dick, milking him whenever possible to get a baby inside her. 

Chapter Text

Before Shuri leaves with Namor to explore Talokan, she approaches Dorma, who is hanging around the courtyard with Attuma. She smiles small at the driver.

“Excuse me, Attuma? Do you think I can have a word with Dorma real quick?” 

“Yeah, no problem.” Attuma kisses his girlfriend, leaving the two women together. Shuri instantly loses her smile when she’s face to face with her best friend. 

“What’s up?”

“What was with that shady ass comment yesterday?”

Dorma blinks at her, brushing her red hair back. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about. You told Queen Fen that if you were the princess of Talokan that you’d be playing that role and choosing that over everything while I was in the middle of talking about my choice of finishing school. Why on earth would you find that appropriate to bring up!?” 

Dorma laughs softly. “Oh, Shuri. I was just giving my honest opinion, and I was feeling a bit nervous being addressed by a Queen. I shouldn’t have said anything at all, or shown support to you. I’m so sorry. Let’s move on and go hang out with the Prince.” 

Shuri’s hands ball into tight fists. She has excused a lot of shadiness Dorma has shown in the past, but this isn’t something Shuri can let go of easily. 

“Dorma, I was feeling under attack yesterday and you did nothing to help me. You didn’t vouch for my character, you didn’t tell them anything good about me, you just turned the situation into praise for yourself which I really don’t understand why. Are you trying to make Namor’s parents like you more than me? For what? Are you trying to become the princess?” 

Dorma laughs harder this time, looking at Shuri as though she’s crazy. “What!? I would never take a man from you! You’re my best friend! I told you I was nervous and that’s the truth!” 

“I’m sorry, but I don’t believe you. And…” Shuri swallows, never having to do this before during the course of their friendship. “And I think I need some time away from you. I’m not flying back with you tomorrow, I’m flying back on Namor’s jet. And I don’t want you to spend time with us today, I’m doing that alone with him. I think I need some distance from you for the time being.” 

Dorma says nothing for a while. Her eyes show some emotion, then nothing at all by the time she smirks. 

“Whatever you need to do. Just know that I’m sorry.” 

Namor, along with a body guard who drives the rental car, takes Shuri to her house right after the jet makes a landing. She has them park all the way down the street to avoid being seen by her parents, whom she still lives with. 

“My house is the one with the giant panther statue out front. Wait on the left side of the house. I’ll let you in through my window so we can spend a little more time together before tomorrow.” 

“Okay, Princess,” Namor murmurs right before kissing her softly, then going in for plenty more until Shuri manages to escape. He smiles to himself, loving the sensation she’s left on his lips while his bodyguard catches him trapped in his daydream. 

“You’re in love, Prince Namor.” 

“Oh, I am. I’ve never felt so complete with anyone before. I think I’m going to tell her.”

“You mean to say you proposed to this woman without telling her that you love her first?”

“I proposed to her the first week of dating her. When I tell you that she’s the one for me, I mean it. I couldn’t let her get away.”

“Young love,” the bodyguard sighs. “Go get her, then. I’ll be waiting for your call.”

Namor thanks him and jogs towards the house with the panther statue out front. He hides where Shuri told him, and waits. Her window eventually opens and he crawls right in, tackling her to her bed. 

“Why, hello, beautiful,” he whispers and she smiles while holding a finger to her lips, reminding him to be quiet. Namor gently moves her hand away and kisses her, his tongue hot and swirling inside her mouth, clutching her soft face with both hands. When her heart is pounding rapidly against his own, he pulls away for a second. “I have something to tell you.”

“What?” she mouths, and he uses his nose to get her to tilt her head, exposing her ear for him. He presses his lips to it.

“I love you.”

“Shuri Ramonda Udaku!”

They both yelp at the same time and scramble off the bed. An older woman comes in through Shuri’s open window, and if looks could kill, Namor would be buried deep beneath the ground. 

“The little boy next door was throwing trash away and informed me he saw a strange man crawling through your window! Here I was thinking the worst and here you are, putting your arms and legs around him like a damn koala bear to a branch!”

“Mama! I… I…” 

Sensing her nerves and unease, Namor steps forward and offers her his hand, which she does not accept. 

“Hi, you must be Ms. Ramonda. I’m Namor.”

Ramonda looks him up and down after taking a dramatic step back. “This is the brother of the camp counselor you were speaking of!?”

Namor arches an eyebrow. “Brother of a camp counselor?” He glances down at Shuri. “That’s what you told her?”

“Well, I—“

“Shuri, did you lie to me again!?”

Shuri groans and runs her hands down her face, mumbling behind them. “Mama, I didn’t tell you the truth because I didn’t want you to freak out knowing the Prince of Talokan proposed to me over spring break.”

“Proposed!?” Ramonda yells, which alerts who Namor assumes is her husband, who has entered the bedroom. “A man you barely know proposed to you and you accepted!? He didn’t even have the nerve to speak to your parents first!?”

“That’s why I’m here now, Ms. Ramonda. Part of the royal courtship is acceptance from the family, and I very much want your blessing to marry Shuri.”

“Royal courtship?” Her father asks while scratching his belly. “What did I miss?”

“I’m Prince Namor of Talokan, and I want to make your daughter Princess of Talokan and eventually the queen.” 

There are practically dollar signs in the old man’s eyes. “A Prince, you say… My love, we should hear him out!” 

“You are unbelievable,” Ramonda hisses, and T’Chaka puts his arm around Shuri.

“Our daughter is smart and responsible. If she sees something in this rich young man, we will be able to, as well. Come, kids. Let’s sit at the table and talk.”

When T’Chaka forces Shuri to go with him, she glances over her shoulder and mouths an apology to Namor. All the Prince can do is laugh,  but he quickly forces himself to be serious when Ramonda glares at him. 

At the table, Namor faces Ramonda while T’Chaka and Shuri are at each end. She begins to drill into him. 

“How old are you?”

“27, ma’am.”

“Have you been married before?”

“No, ma’am.”

“Do you have children”?”

“No, ma’am.”

“What are your intentions with Shuri?”

“To make her my wife, of course.”

“What’s the timeline? You are aware that she is a junior in college and still in the process of earning her degree, aren’t you?”

“Yes, ma’am. We have discussed this. If you and my parents approve, I will be marrying her in the summer and living close by as she completes her studies. When she is done, we will be moving to Talokan together. Unless, of course, Shuri decides to transfer to one of our universities…” Namor smiles at her, and she smiles in return. The most easiest option and they haven’t thought of it yet. “Either way, she is putting school first and I am more than happy with that. I love it about her.” 

Ramonda blinks in surprise, caught off guard so much that she’s quiet and T’Chaka speaks next. 

“What’s your net worth, young man?”

“Baba…”

“Well, my family is worth 1.4 trillion last time I checked, and I believe I may be 16 billion or slightly less?” 

T’Chaka clutches his heart, and for a split second, Namor thinks he’s going to have convulsions. 

“16 billion!? A man worth 16 billion dollars wants to marry my daughter!?” He stands up with his arms wide open. He has tears gathering in his eyes. “Welcome to the family, son!” 

“Sit down!” Ramonda snaps, and T’Chaka is quick to obey. She glares at Prince Namor. “Money is not everything, despite what my husband thinks. Your monetary worth means nothing to me if you aren’t going to treat my baby right.” 

“Ms. Ramonda, I would never do anything to hurt Shuri. When we first met, I lied to her about who I was because I didn’t want her to love me for the money, either. The week I spent with her, she revealed just how kindhearted and unselfish she is. I was originally attracted to her beauty, but seeing her soul shining through made me fall harder. I’ve never met anyone so down to earth, so loving, so tender, and so intelligent. I feel as though I found my soulmate.”

“Oh, Namor,” Shuri sniffs, and Ramonda releases a deep sigh. 

“Well… I am unsure of what my answer is yet, but you’ve nearly won me over with that response. What’s your next step?”

“I’m going to be taking care of a few things around here for a few days, then Shuri will be flying back to Talokan with me in a couple of weeks. She will spend time with my mother once more.”

Shuri makes a face that Ramonda quickly catches. She addresses it.

“And what does your mother think of my Shuri?”

“My mother is a very strict woman, Ms. Ramonda. She is not fond of the idea about me marrying a woman who is not of high economic status, and she doesn’t like the plan we have in regards to Shuri’s education. But I know the more of Shuri she sees, the more she’ll understand that there’s nobody else for me.”

“Mm…” Ramonda keeps her eyes on Shuri, who is smiling again, though Namor knows it’s a fake one. His mother hurt her feelings a lot the other night. “Well, then. You can’t stay here. Do you have a hotel or something?”

“I do, ma’am. I know it’s not appropriate to stay with Shuri when we aren’t married yet.” Namor refrains from licking his lips, thinking of all the nights they’ve spent together already, and everything they’ve done to each other. “I will wait outside for my bodyguard to come pick me up. May Shuri follow me to the door?” 

Ramonda exhales while looking at how eager her daughter is. “Fine, but make your goodbye quick. I didn’t like how you two were on the bed together.” 

While Shuri and Namor head to the living room door, Ramonda and T’Chaka begin bickering about what was said. When the younger lovers are out of sight of the older ones, Shuri holds onto the back of Namor’s neck and rubs the tip of her nose against his. 

“Hey.”

“Hm?” Namor hums, lost in the way her soft-spoken voice caresses him. 

“I love you, too.” 

Namor dips her, giving her the kind of kiss that lets her know he’s picking her up as soon as her classes end tomorrow and taking her to the hotel suite to fuck her brains out. She’s left biting her lip and waving as he heads outside, and once he’s there, he hears Ramonda shouting for her. 

Feeling lighter than air knowing that Shuri is in love with him, Namor walks languidly to the car. Something red catches the corner of his eye and he turns his head, seeing Dorma across the street. It confuses him until he remembers that the girls mentioned living close to one another. 

“Where are you going, Prince?” Dorma asks him, and Namor points to the car. 

“To a hotel.” 

“I have space at my house if you need to be closer to Shuri,” she offers, and Namor holds up his hand. 

“No, thanks! Goodnight!” 

Although the exchange means nothing to Namor, someone catches the entire thing through the window.  

“Shuri.” 

She breathes in deeply at the sound of her mother’s voice inside her room. She turns over on her side, wishing the questions about Namor would end. 

“Yes, Mama?”

“What’s going on with you and Dorma? You girls haven’t been acting the same for a while.” 

Surprised that she’s asking about someone other than Namor, Shuri sits upright. 

“We aren’t talking right now, Mama. She said something to Namor’s mother that really upset me, so I decided to create some distance from her until I feel better.”

Ramonda sits at the edge of the bed. “What did she say?” 

“Well… Like Namor mentioned, Queen Fen was upset about our plans for the future, and she decided to ask Dorma what she would do. Instead of ignoring that and defending me, Dorma said the complete opposite, something that Fen wanted to hear. It didn’t sit well with me.”

“Mmhm… You know what else doesn’t sit well with me? You say the two of you aren’t talking, but yet she was out there with Namor.” 

“What!?”

“It was a brief exchange, but I found it rather odd.”

“Well… she was probably just greeting him or something. Namor has expressed so many times that he isn’t interested in her, and she’s dating this cute guy from Talokan, too. Namor’s royal driver.”

“A driver!? Dorma!? I don’t believe it.” Ramonda shakes her head. “Mmhm. You were right to not trust her. I’ve never liked her, but I put up with her because she was good to you. Seems her true colors might be coming out after all.”

Shuri shrugs. “Well, I’m not going to let it affect me. I can’t see her hurting me again after that comment, and I definitely can’t see Namor doing the same.”

“Going back to Queen Fen. From the sounds of it, she was horrible to you. Do I need to book a flight to Talokan and give her a piece of my mind?”

“No, Mama. I want to deal with her on my own. She’s Namor’s mother whether I like it or not, so I'm going to do my best to make peace with her.”

“Fine, baby, but she’s on my list. One more time upsetting you and I’m handling it.” 

The doorbell rings. Ramonda and Shuri are in sync together as they peer through the blinds to see Dorma standing on the porch. 

“I got it,” Shuri whispers, then leaves her room. Her mother remains watching through the window while Shuri stands with Dorma. 

“Hey, bestie,” Dorma murmurs. “I know we aren’t on speaking terms right now, but there’s something I wanted to tell you.” 

Shuri crosses her arms. “And what’s that?” 

“I’m moving into Attuma’s apartment in Talokan. I want to make a life with him out there. My mom already knows, and I’ve dropped out of my classes. Just thought that I’d tell you, too.” 

“I… I don’t know what to say.” She really doesn’t. She never expected Dorma to finish school in the first place, but to leave it all behind for a man who isn’t rich is what’s shocking. “Damn. You must really be in love.” 

Dorma smiles. “I truly am. Money can’t buy you that now, can it?” 

Shuri finds herself smiling, too, actually happy for her friend no matter what they’re going through.

“No. It can’t. I’ll miss seeing you around,  but it’s nice knowing we can link up whenever I’m in Talokan.” 

Dorma opens her arms, and Shuri reluctantly gives her a hug, which turns into a loving one. 

“I really am sorry for what I said, Shuri. No matter how you feel about me now, I love you. Always.”

“I love you, too. I’m so happy for you.” 

Namor’s thankful she wore a skirt this morning. 

There’s such a brief amount of time between her classes ending and virtual meetings he must attend that the only choice they have is a quickie.

Her hands slide along his jaw before burying her fingers in his dark hair as he walks her backward further into the hotel room. Namor no longer asks for permission. All he needs is  the look she is giving him right now, a reckless, wanton look that shoots straight to his groin. It is the permission he needs to press her against the wall, his entire body flush against her smaller, softer one. 

Shuri, with his aide, moves just enough so that she can hoist herself up and wrap her legs around his waist.  They grip and pull at the other with hands, mouth, and teeth. Their lips meet over and over again, wide and open as they press them together in heated desperation, their breath mingling as their tongues dance. They have just begun and Shuri is already quivering with impatience.   

Namor slides his hands up her legs and under her skirt to caress her warm, soft thighs. His touches are feather-light, too much and too little for her all at the same time. He can feel her frustration vibrating off of her in waves and does his best to hide his cocky grin against her skin.  

Just when it seems she is about to open her mouth to tell him she needs more, it’s a gasp that sneaks out instead when his mouth drops to one of her clothed breasts, sucking at the mound. With his attention, her shirt quickly becomes wet with saliva as her nipples perk up into hard peeks becoming clearly visible through the cloth. He nips and fondles both of her tits, engulfing one with his mouth and tweaking the other's nipple with his fingers until the buzzing feeling he is causing her migrates to her aching core. She doesn’t try to restrain her moans or attempt to stop her hips as they begin to move frantically over the growing erection in his pants. Her panties are quickly becoming soaked and she is sure he feels her wetness through his pants as he grinds back just as hard against her.   

"Please, Namor. Now," she begs, no longer feeling shame in it when she knows how good he can make her feel. “Need you now.”  

He scooches her up further against the wall so that she is securely pinned there by his body as he peppers her graceful neck with open-mouth kisses while his clumsy hands undo his pants. He is so worked up, his mind so hazy with passion that it takes him a moment to remember exactly how buckles work. Once undone, he swiftly pulls her panties to the side, his hand grazing over her folds once, twice to make sure she is ready, and then in one beautiful motion, he slides into her, burying himself to the hilt. 

Moans escape them at the same time, eyes clouded with lust and longing as he remains unmoving and pulsing. 

“Wish I could fuck you every single minute of the day, Princess… You don’t know how good it feels to be inside you. So fucking soft and wet and warm.” 

His words are like pure sex in her ear. She’ll never tire of hearing him speak. Just a delicious man in all aspects. 

“Stop teasing,” she whispers, threading her fingers through his hair, attempting to buck up into his hips to achieve the friction she craves. She’s been pent up with tension since he confessed his love to her. She is consumed with a hunger that only he can sate. 

"So move," she commands through gritted teeth. 

“Can’t keep my girl waiting for long, can I?”   

Their movements are lively and wild as Namor thrusts into her welcoming, snug body. He loves every solitary moment of it. Loves how soft her body was, pliable and wanting, and how hot and gratifyingly wet she is inside. 

One of his hands sneaks under one of her legs, pulling it up and angling it just so over his torso to have a deeper access to her pussy. At the depth of this new position, Shuri mewls lustfully. Her arms tighten around him as he works them into a frenzy until both of their minds are blank and filled only with want. Every time her velvety inner walls constrict sweetly, he moves his hips harder, gropes her hip tighter, and kisses her more messily. There will certainly be bruises on her tonight from the force at which he is taking her. 

Suddenly, she gasps and her body stiffens, her eyes closing as her mouth goes slack. She comes with a wail, her entire small body convulsing as she overflows, soaking his cock that is still so embedded deep inside her. 

When it is over, she is still spasming slightly, panting, most of her energy zapped in that beautiful bone-deep satisfaction that comes after. But she knows it’s not over yet. Oversensitive as she may be in these moments following an orgasm, she never pulls away, not until Namor gets what he desires.   

Her cheeks are hot as she gazes up into his stormy dark brown eyes that are piercing through her, mesmerized. Like always, Namor had stopped his movements long enough to watch her come undone, always whispering in her ear how that’s when she’s her most beautiful.   

Weakly, she wraps her arms around his neck to pull herself up just enough so that she can bite at his throat, a gesture that causes his breath to leave his lungs. She doesn't let up, nibbling and licking with her dangerous teeth and wicked tongue. With a sultry voice, she pulls back from her assault on his throat just long enough to whisper against his ear, "Come inside me."   

Namor wastes no time and begins to move again. Her pussy is swollen and extra snug around him, dully throbbing, the sensation of it all was driving him wild. She's so ridiculously wet that he glides in with such smoothness that in the empty, quiet room, the sounds of their sexes moving, grinding together is heard. 

The lewd noises only serve to spur him on more as he picks up his speed, delirious until he feels the familiar coil in his stomach begin to tighten.  

"You want my cum?" Namor asks her, his movements quickly becoming clumsy. He is sure he is about to spill at any moment, but he needs this first. “Beg for it, Princess. Tell me how much you want it." 

He can’t seem to give a fuck about what’s coming out of his mouth whenever they make love. 

When he is inside of her, it’s as if he’s possessed and not in control of himself. It’s both shameful and exhilarating, wanting nothing more than to hear her beg for him, to tell him how much she wants him - all of him, and only him. And this time she's the one who obeys.  

"I want it! I want you! Please, please! You feel so good, Namor! Oh Bast!" She blabbers as she writhes sensually against him again. Her insides are fluttering, shuddering around his cock. Her second orgasm is rapidly building, and to aid her, Namor sneaks a hand in-between their bodies to toy at her stiff little clit. He wants to take her there again just as much as he desires his own release. 

He is concentrating so much on his task as Shuri leans in and places her lips against his ear. Her breath comes out in a whimper just before she delivers the killing blow that does him in every single time.

 "Please, my King." 

It means so little coming from others, if anything it is heavy with a weight he doesn't wish to bear in the future when it’s his time. But somehow, when it drips from her sinful lips, it does things to him he doesn’t think is possible. 

His hips cease their movement as he lets out a guttural groan, his entire body stuttering as he begins to cum with his lover following seconds later. She holds onto his hips to keep him buried inside her as he fills her with hot spurts of seed.

As soon as he can open his eyes, he takes a moment to enjoy the sight before him. She is slouched bonelessly against the wall, pinned there only by his body. Her breathing is severe and her eyes are half-masted and misty with moisture. He lets himself savor the last few pulses of her pussy squeezing him to death until every last drop of his essence has been milked. Only then does he even attempt to move.

His legs are weak and feel leaden, but he's sure hers are not much better. He makes sure to set her feet on the ground carefully. As he comes down from his bliss and back to his senses, he tries desperately not to stare too hard at her. She looks ruined and ravished. It's the way her lips are swollen, the glistening of her cheeks. How her shirt is wet from his saliva and now slightly see-through. But mostly, it's her still quivering legs. He tries especially hard not to stare at the cum dripping down from underneath her skirt, streaking down her legs. 

“Shit…”  

"Don’t you have a meeting to attend?" 

He nods, still feigning his search to evade looking at how alluring she is. Even though he had just come, the sight of his beloved in this wrecked state is already starting to stir something in him again. 

"They're probably already in the chat room and are wondering where you are."  

When he finally gazes up at her, he’s torn between wanting to start up his computer and attend the important meeting, and wanting to linger with her in the afterglow. 

Without a word, he kisses her with lots of tongue and exchange of fluids, wanting her to feel how much he wants her.   

"Quickies are called quickies for a reason," she breathes against his lips. "They're not called repeaties."   

Namor laughs loudly, scrunching his face at how damn cute she is. 

“Let me get rid of this I just got fucked look and I’ll join.”

The weeks have come and gone. 

After a tearful and painful goodbye with Namor, Shuri successfully maintained a long-distance relationship through phone sex, video chats, and constant exchange of I love you’s.

She has been dying to fly back to Talokan and reunite with her fiancé, and it’s finally coming true today, and surprisingly, Ramonda was okay with it after coming to terms with the fact that Namor might genuinely be good for Shuri. T’Chaka, of course, just cares about getting money sent his way. 

She greets Namor at the airport, who kisses her as passionately as ever, and it feels as though no time has passed between them at all as they talk endlessly inside the limo that Attuma drives. 

Shuri hasn’t checked in on Dorma much, but judging by the photo taped to Attuma’s dashboard, the relationship appears to be remaining strong. 

The limo stops in front of the castle, where Namor stands with her and cups her cheeks. 

“My mother has something special she wants to tell you.” 

“Oh… Great. I can’t imagine what that’s going to be.” 

Something beneficial and not traumatizing, Shuri hopes. 

When they enter the dining hall, Shuri is surprised to see Dorma sitting at the table with Fen, drinking some tea. They appear to be in the middle of a funny story, because both of them are laughing until Fen notices Shuri. Dorma gets up to embrace Shuri, who awkwardly returns it, still confused as to what Dorma is doing here in the first place. 

“Hey, friend. So good to see you. How are you?”

“I’m fine,” she says quietly, too nervous to say what’s really on her mind with the queen nearby. “And you?” 

“Oh, so amazing. Talokan really has become home to me. Is Attuma still outside waiting for me?”

Ah.

Of course.

How could she jump to conclusions? 

Dorma is here because she was waiting for Attuma to return. 

“Yes, he is.” 

“I’m going to go see my man.” Dorma touches Shuri’s shoulder. “We’ll get together sometime during your stay, yeah?”

Shuri nods, then after her friend leaves, Fen stands up from the chair. The queen takes both of Shuri’s hands, then smiles uncharacteristically sweet. 

“I apologize for how I was behaving the last time you were here, Shuri. I cordially invite you to a special party to celebrate the engagement before it becomes official to all of Talokan.” Fen looks at her son. “Ladies only, I’m afraid.” 

Namor holds his hands up. “I don’t have a problem with that at all.” 

“What do you say, Shuri? It would mean so much for you to forgive me and attend this special occasion. I’m ready to start a new chapter with us if you’re willing to do the same.”

How could she possibly say no to that?

One of the maids watches as Dorma exits a bathroom. She had been waiting for the visitor to leave before she could clean it. Now that it’s empty, she enters with her supplies and gets to work. 

Zyanya scrubs and scrubs, tucking a strand of graying hair behind her ear when it falls out of place. She goes over to the waste bin next, prepared to change out the bag when all she sees inside the current one is a white stick. 

With a gasp, she pulls it out and sees that it’s a pregnancy test.

A positive pregnancy test. 

Giggling to herself about having some gossip to talk about, Zyanya finishes cleaning the bathroom then hurries to the kitchen where she finds her friends, the other workers. 

“You will never guess what I found in the bathroom.”

The chef looks at her in disgust. “Nobody wants to know that.”

“No, no. It was a pregnancy test! A positive one!” 

The workers gasp. Zyanya giggles again, delighted to have brought something delicious. 

“Whose?”

“Couldn’t be Her Highness. She’s much too old.” 

“Was it the slender girl, the one Prince Namor has been courting?” 

“No, but I believe it was her companion, the redhead. She’s the one I saw leaving the bathroom.” 

“The redhead? Who would the father be?” 

“Perhaps the driver, Attuma’s. They’re an item, after all.”

“But doesn’t Queen Fen want the redhead to be with Prince Namor?”

“Oh, please. I highly doubt Queen Fen will want to claim another man’s child as an Almehen. There’s no chance she’d want Prince Namor to marry the redhead then. I should tell her what I know.” 

The door opens suddenly, and everyone jumps to attention when they see it’s Queen Fen. Zyanya approaches her, but is interrupted. 

“What are you doing in the kitchen when you have an entire wing to clean, Zyanya? Trying to fill up your fat mouth?” 

Zyanya brings her lips together in a straight line. She looks at the others, who are silent encouraging her not to let the bitchy queen know a damn thing. 

So she keeps it to herself, scurrying past Queen Fen, smirking.

Attuma doesn’t understand why Dorma hasn’t spoken a word to him on the drive to the apartment. When he kissed her, she didn’t kiss him back, either. He can’t remember doing anything wrong before picking up Shuri at the airport with Namor. 

“Babe… Can you please just tell me what’s going on so I can know how to fix this?” 

Dorma gets out of the car and hurries upstairs to the apartment they’ve been sharing for the last few weeks. She lets herself inside, and Attuma stands in the corner of the room, watching with a stabbing sensation in his heart as she begins packing up a large suitcase. He rubs the back of his neck.

“You going home to see your mother or something? I can come with you. I can—“ 

Dorma sighs and places her hands on her curvy hips. “God, are you so dense that you can’t see what’s going on? I’m leaving you. We’re done.”

Attuma can’t believe what he’s hearing. They’ve been having amazing sex for weeks, going on perfect dates, telling each other secrets, having the ideal relationship… 

“Baby,” he whispers, walking up to hold her, but she moves away from him. “Please tell me what I did wrong. I don’t understand. Why are you doing this out of nowhere?” 

“Look at me, Attuma. I’m young, beautiful, and I don’t want to live in this miserable place any longer.” 

“Miserable!? How’s it miserable!? You said I make any place feel like home!” 

“Beauty deserves more than this tiny apartment! I deserve more than this tiny apartment! I deserve more than what you could ever give me! I gave you a shot, but I learned that a poor man is not for me. I’ve been wanting to marry someone rich my entire life and I’m not going to settle for less.” 

Attuma touches his heart that’s beginning to break, feeling the tightness in his chest. He thought he was going to marry this girl. He thought that he had found the one. 

“Are you saying that you’re turning your back on our love just to marry someone with money?”

“No shit. Bye.” 

Attuma freezes as Dorma walks right past him with the belongings she came here with. He doesn’t cry until she’s outside, waiting on her ride. 

It’s not even the fact that she broke up with him that has tears bleeding from his eyes, but the cruel words she told him and the time he spent believing he was building a beautiful life with her. 

He’s never enough for anyone, and Dorma has confirmed that. 

“Fuck…I’m glad it’s a women’s only event, though the girl lovers might be fighting me for you later.” 

Shuri laughs as she checks out her reflection in the full-length mirror of the guest house. She’s wearing a beautiful green dress tonight that hugs her body tight and has a plunging neckline. Around her neck are beautiful pearls that Namor had purchased for her. She feels sexy and elegant all at once, especially when her fine ass man appears behind her, hugging her from behind with his hands on her abdomen and his chin on her shoulder. 

“I’m so nervous and excited. I can’t wait to meet the other women of the kingdom. It’ll be nice to see who I’m going to be spending time with when I’m the princess.” Shuri cranes her neck, pursing her lips for a kiss which he grants her. “What are you doing tonight while I’m gone?” 

“Attuma called. He didn’t say what was going on, but he sounded pretty messed up. I’m going to go over and check on him. Call me when you’re done though…” Namor’s teeth graze her ear, making her all hot and bothered again. “And we’ll have this dress on the ceiling fan.” 

After a few more heated kisses and saying their goodbyes, Shuri is taken to the auditorium. There are a few round tables there that have well-dressed women, sitting and eating. Seeing this has Shuri confused, and she looks at her watch. She came here right when Fen told her to. She thought that food and drinks would be brought out then. 

“Excuse me?” 

Shuri looks down at a short woman with her black shirt tucked into her black pants. She has an earpiece with a mic. 

“Yes?” 

“You’re Shuri Udaku, yeah? Your place is on the stage. Seat number ten.”

She remains confused, but goes to the stage nonetheless. She sits on the chair and stares out at the women at the tables, who are giving her funny looks. She plays with her hands, wondering if Queen Fen is going to have her play some kind of bachelorette game. 

But then other women are coming up on the stage. Beautiful women in beautiful gowns, sitting on different chairs. Shuri’s eyebrows pull together seeing that Dorma sits at number one. 

She has no idea what’s going on until Fen stands behind the podium, which causes the women in the audience to cheer for a moment before she silences them with a raising of her hand. 

“Thank you for joining us tonight, ladies. Up here on the stage are all of Prince Namor’s potential suitors. You’ve had time to read the brochures about them, and now they’re here for you to see in person. Please use your phones to vote for who you find the best match to be for my son. The results will be up on the screen after the final person has voted.”

Shuri feels as though she’s trapped in some sort of nightmare, like when someone dreams of being in their underwear during an important speech. She pinches herself, finding that this is her reality, and her heart pounds in her ears. 

Fen lied to her. 

This isn’t a celebration for her engagement. 

This is…

She doesn’t even know what to call it. 

A humiliation ritual? A deception? Downright cruelty? 

She fights back her tears while the other ‘suitors’ are smiling so prettily, even Dorma. Mama has been right about her from the start. Fake ass friend. A treacherous snake, just like Queen Fen. 

The results appear. 

Dorma isn’t first, but neither is Shuri. 

Shuri is dead last, with no votes at all. 

She makes hazy eye contact with Fen, and the queen shrugs her shoulders. 

“Sorry. I guess you see now what Talokan thinks of you.”

Namor has to leave a drunken Attuma abruptly, who he still doesn’t fully know what happened to him. He kept rambling about Dorma, so maybe it’s her, but Namor doesn’t care about that right now when Shuri left an alarming voicemail. 

I am waiting for a taxi to come and take me to the airport. My mother bought a ticket home for me. I’m done. Goodbye.

He gets out of the limo before it can stop, stumbling on the ground as he runs to Shuri. He’s out of breath by the time he’s in front of her, but that doesn’t stop him from pleading and grabbing onto her. 

“Itzia, what happened at the party!? Why are you going home!?” 

It’s not until she faces him that he sees all of the deep tear stains and her reddened eyes. She’s completely broken, and he wasn’t there to protect her from it. 

“Shuri,” his voice cracks, seeing her like this. “What happened? Tell me. Tell me.” 

“Your mother had me sit with all of your suitors on a stage. She had the audience vote for who would be best for you and Talokan, and I came in last. I see what your nation thinks of me, and I’m done. Someone else can be your princess.” 

“What the fuck!?” Namor holds her tighter. He can’t believe what he’s hearing. “Why would she do that!?”

Shuri laughs weakly, blinking her incoming tears away. “Isn’t it obvious? She hates me and doesn’t want us to be together. I don’t know if it’s my skin, my body, my attitude, my education… I don’t know. I don’t want to know. My mama taught me never to stay where I’m not appreciated so I’m going home. Talokan made their choice tonight.”

“Shuri, if those women you saw in the audience voting are the women I’m thinking of, those are my mother's friends and not a true representation of Talokan! They’re not a representation of me and what I want, and what I want is you! Nobody else! You’re perfect to me and for me! Don’t go, Princess. Please don’t go.” 

She stares at him with so much pain. He longs to pull it out of her and feel it all for himself. Nobody deserves to go through anything like that, but especially Shuri, who is the sweetest, most loving person he’s ever known. 

“Can you answer something for me?”

“Anything.” He squeezes her. “Anything.” 

“How much does the crown mean to you?”

“What?”

“How much does the crown mean to you?” Shuri repeats. “How much does being king mean to you? Your hesitation tells me everything I need to know. You’re never going to give it up for me. You’re never going to break ties from your mother and give up your title and status for a woman like me, and I don’t expect you to. But you also can’t expect me to stay in a relationship with you when your mother disrespects me and makes me feel subhuman. If she’s always going to be around, then I’m taking myself out of the equation.”

Namor’s eyes widen as Shuri removes the jade bracelet from around her wrist.

“Shuri… Wait!” Namor cries when she hands him back the jewelry he proposed to her with in Puerto Peñasco. “What are you saying to me!?” 

The taxi pulls up. Shuri controls her quivering lip and keeps her head held high. 

“I’m saying that I need some space from you and this place for a while. Don’t call me. Don’t text me. Don’t visit me. Just… leave me alone. Please.”

Namor, heartbroken and alone, watches as the best thing that’s ever happened to him is taken away. He stands on weak knees for as long as it takes anger to consume him, then he’s running to the castle, towards the auditorium. 

His mother is having a good laugh with her friends until he confronts her, glaring down at her. 

“Are you happy now!?” The prince roars, causing the other women to scream and run. Fen stands there, stunned and wide eyed when he throws the bracelet at her. “The woman I love is gone because of you! What did she ever do to you besides making your son happy!? Huh!? Having a public vote for her to believe that she’s undesirable when that couldn’t be further from the truth!? Thinking I’m going to select someone else when nobody compares to her!?”

“M-Mehen, I—“

“I don’t even want to hear it from you. Just know you ruined my life,  but that’s nothing new.” 

Namor ends up bumping shoulders with his father on the way out. King Ch’ah stares at his own wife in slight horror. 

“You really humiliated that poor girl?” 

“Iicham, you know as well as I do that Namor deserves better.”

“In the end, it doesn’t matter what we think, Fen. I’d rather have my son happy with her, than miserable with someone else. What you did was cruel. I’m heading out for a few days. I can’t be around you, either.” 

With her husband now turning his back on her just the way their son did, Fen is left alone to sit with the mess she’s created. 

Dorma slowly strolls up to the guest house where she’s been told the prince hasn’t left in days following his separation from Shuri. Apparently, all he does is sleep and drink. 

Fen’s plan worked. She intended for Shuri to break up with Namor, unable to handle the belief that the entire nation is against their relationship. What Fen doesn’t know is that Dorma is pregnant with Attuma’s child. She’s well aware that whatever she can get Namor to do to her tonight might not repeat itself, and there’s no guarantee that one night will get her pregnant with Namor’s baby, so she had to take these drastic measures. Namor won’t be able to return to Shuri if he believes Dorma’s carrying his child, something he’s been longing for. 

She balls her hand into a fist and knocks on the door. 

“Go away!”

Dorma rolls her eyes and turns the knob, stepping inside. Namor is all by himself at the bar, sitting on a stool. He glares at her briefly, then continues drinking whatever is in his bottle.  

“What do you want?”

She plops down beside him after removing her coat, revealing her white miniskirt and her blue corset top that hoists her already large breasts. She catches Namor gazing at them before he faces forward. Dorma trails her fingers along his spine, smiling when it makes him shiver. 

“Had to come see you. Heard about what happened between you and Shuri. Attuma dumped me, too. We’re both so alone, aren’t we?”

“She didn’t dump me. She needs… space or some shit.” 

“Oh… then why did I hear that her ex-boyfriend Eden is back in the picture?” Dorma lies, faking a concerned look when Namor stares at her, horrified. 

“The one who took her virginity before I could!?”

“The very same.” Dorma shakes her head and sighs. “But that’s Shuri for you. I know her better than anyone else. Once she’s made up her mind about something, there’s no turning back. And when she says she needs space, that means she’s over you. What a shame that is…” Dorma’s voice drops to a sultry whisper as her fingers find his hair, stroking through it while Namor’s eyes become dilated. She has him right where she wants him. “… When you’re so sexy, Namor. Every woman’s fantasy. Why don’t you be mine tonight since Shuri is underneath someone else?”

Giggling, they both tumble into the bedroom. Namor flicks the light switch up and down before realizing the lightbulb in the fan had gone out. 

“Oh, shit, it’s dark… are you afraid of the dark, Princess?”

The two of them stumble and turn, pushing the door shut. Dorma finds herself pressed between it and his large body, his lips finding her neck as he presses kisses along her jugular, his facial hair leaving behind a trail of tingling skin in its wake.

“Depends on who I’m in the dark with.”

He’s so close to her, and she sees the outline of his face, how his long eyelashes rest against his cheeks as he closes his eyes, his breath warm on her skin as she is surrounded by his scent, pine soap and single malt whiskey. 

“I’m a fucking monster,” he growls. “A demon.”

“I love demons.”

He drops to his knees in front of her, pressing a kiss to her stomach before his hands are beneath her skirt and pulling her panties down. 

“Hold your skirt up, show me that pretty pussy.” 

Doing as he tells her, she grips the pretty fabric in her hands as he hooks one of her legs over his shoulder, pressing kisses to her inner thighs before his thick fingers part her folds and he dives in. His mustache and beard pricks at her sensitive skin, but his tongue and lips soothe her aching core, desperate for attention and dripping with need as he goes to town on her. 

By God, she sees why Shuri spent so many hours straight with him. Drunk off his ass and still providing excellent service. 

He quickly brings her to orgasm before pushing her on for the next, his fingers now knuckle deep in her velvet walls, curling just right to find that spot that has her dripping, his tongue working against her clit to the point where she has to steady herself  by gripping his soft dark curls, riding his face as she cries out his name.  

After a few more lazy licks, he quickly stands, lifting her to kiss her roughly, his tongue pushing into her mouth and she can taste herself on his tongue as he grabs her ass, then unceremoniously drops her on the bed.

 “Strip,” he commands, smiling drunkenly with his eyes nearly shut. “I wanna fuck that pussy up. Don’t make me rip your clothes off.” 

She shimmies out of her dress and takes her top off, watching him watching her, the low light dancing over his body and enough for her to see the obscene bulge barely contained by his sweatpants. He stands at the edge of the bed, towering over her before he takes hold of her ankles and roughly pulls her to the edge. That’s when he pulls his sweats down and reveals his cock.  

“Fuck…”

“We’ll get to that, but first, suck it.”

When she takes him in her hands, he’s hot and throbbing at her touch, his thick dick patterned with veins, heavy and virile. She pumps her fist, her fingers unable to meet as she works him. She feels his hand on the back of her head, pulling her closer until she has no choice but to open her mouth and take him as deep as she can, gagging as he immediately hits the back of her throat and starts to fuck her mouth.

He holds her head in place with both hands as he rocks his hips back and forth, groaning as he stretches her lips almost uncomfortably. Once she has saliva running down her chin, he rains down a stream of degrading compliments, even though he calls Dorma by the wrong name.

“My cock hungry little Shuri, look at you with my dick in your mouth… Does it taste good? Fuck, I can feel your throat tight around me…” With a gasp, he pulls out, a trail of saliva hanging from her lips to his tip. He pushes her back until she is laying flat on the bed.

“Push your tits together,  gonna fuck ‘em and come all over your pretty face.”

Although Dorma doubts Namor is going to remember anything about this night, she needs him coming inside her and nowhere else.

“You can fuck my tits, but I need all your cum in my pussy. Need it. Want to get so full that it’s dripping out.”

With a growl, he climbs on the bed, straddling her lower torso while she pushes her breasts together. He rubs his tip full of saliva and pre-cum around the valley of her chest to lubricate it, then he settles his dick against the slick skin. He pulls his shirt over his head, revealing his glorious chest, thicker than she remembers seeing in Puerto Peñasco. 

His cock is heavy against her chest as he takes her hands in his and shows her how he wants her to hold her breasts for him, rocking his hips back and forth as his hot flesh slips through her soft pillows, the angry tip poking out at her neck with each thrust. 

 “So fucking pretty, Shuri baby, my sweet princess… Can’t get enough of this dick, can you?” Namor laughs, clearly intoxicated by the way it sounds, raspy and unhinged. “You sure you don’t want it on your face? Don’t wanna taste it?” 

She doesn’t  answer, the lust in his eyes making her drunk with desire. She tips her  head to his chest and opens her mouth, letting his dick slide into her mouth, the salty tang of his pre-cum hitting her senses.

His thrusts are becoming rough and violent, his hips squeezing her ribcage as he fights back against the urge to come, and that’s when she remembers what she’s doing this for.  

“Namor, won’t you please come inside me?” She bats her eyelashes at him innocently, and Namor wears a dangerous expression as he finally stops. 

“Your pussy, or your big ass?”

Dorma blushes hot. She almost feels sorry for Shuri, losing exactly who Namor claims he is. A demon. 

“My pussy first.”

He flips her body over with ease, then she feels his chest pressed against her backside. A large hand slips underneath her, smoothing over her stomach. His voice speaks softly in her ear as his beard brushes against her bare shoulders. 

“Treat you like a princess and fuck you like a whore. Don’t you love that, Shuri?”

At this point, Dorma doesn’t care what he calls her when she knows she’ll be a literal princess soon enough. 

“Oh, I do, daddy. Please fuck my little wet pussy, she needs you!”

With a mutter in his language, Namor starts to move, slowly climbing between her legs. She feels his hard dick resting against her folds, her pussy instinctively growing wetter. He slowly rubs against her,  the gentle nudge of his cock just stretching the ring of muscle that grants access to the heaven between her legs. It has Dorma begging, pleading to be the prince’s whore. He lets out a sigh of pleasure as he slowly sinks into her pussy, bare and unprotected, filling her.

“Oh fuck, you’re so warm.” He lets out a long, punched-out groan.

She feels a quick pinch before she’s suddenly full to the brim. After that, she loses track of the plot for a bit. Everything is heat and friction, and hitting her so, so right.

Namor loses all rhythm, thrusting into her at a frenetic pace, but she hardly cares about her own completion when all she desires is to be drenched in his release, becoming one step closer to her dream. There’s a groan from up above, then she feels a rush of warmth as he stills. 

Yes. 

She got him. 

Dorma glances over her shoulder, smiling at him even though he has his eyes closed. 

“Thank you, Prince.” 

“Anything for you, Shuri… Now scoot up the bed, baby. I wanna eat that pussy again.”

He swings his leg over so she can wriggle up the bed, and immediately flips her on her back once again. He lays between her legs, both of her thighs over his shoulders as he starts to sloppily eat her out again, except this time his fingers stray to her asshole and he already has one knuckle deep in her back entrance. She writhes against his tongue, and although not accurate in his targets with alcohol in his system, that wide tongue is driving her to heaven as his fingers pull her down into the dark pits of depravity. 

She is a complete mess, begging for more which he eagerly gives, a second and soon a third finger stretching her ass as he prepares her for what is yet to come. She orgasms with a scream as his tongue torments her pussy until she has to physically pull him by his curls to stop, breathless as she watches him kneel on the bed and spit into his hand, using that and the cum that’s already surrounding her to cover her asshole. He lines up his now raging hard on with her stretched hole. He pauses, looking down at her. 

“You ready for me to fuck you in the ass now?” 

“Yes… please, Prince Namor. I want you to pour into me.”

With a groan he pushes forward, slowly breaching her body and she feels the uncomfortable stretch of having a big cock slide into her ass. Even with the prep, it still takes a while for her body to relax enough for him to push in, but when he eventually is balls deep in her ass, she feels so full that she’s sure she’ll burst.

“Oh, God… You’re so big…”

“And look at how you take me,” he husks, and her eyes roll back in pleasure. 

“Fuck my ass Namor, do it hard. I want to feel it in the morning…”

With a roar, he starts to fuck into her, holding himself up on his massive arms as his hips piston into her, filling her depths as his pubic bone rubs against her empty pussy and her juices flood his crotch. 

 “So fucking wet, Shuri, leaking all down your ass, making me go harder. You’re not gonna be able to sit tomorrow, are you? Can’t wait to see you walking around here with my cum dripping down your legs because you can’t keep it all inside… Mm, you’re pulsing. You like that?” 

Shit… 

His dirty talk has her coming hard, squeezing him tight and yet he fucks her straight through it. She lies limp as he continues to fill her ass, slow and moving now, kneeling on the bed as he brings her feet to his broad shoulders, now fucking into her ass like she’s a rag doll. The new position is tighter, deeper, and as she starts to pant out with lust, his free hand rests on her throat, squeezing carefully but firmly.

 “Harder,” she pants, her head swimming as her airway is restricted, and as he pounds into her ass, they’re both getting close.

“Here it comes, itzia.” 

All that comes out of her is a tiny croak as his massive hand grabs her throat. Before she can even try again to speak,  her orgasm hits, her eyes rolling back in their sockets as she squirts, her body gripping him so tight he reaches his peak, pushing in as deep as he can as he pumps her ass full of his cum.

Namor releases his grip on her neck, pulling out gently. He places her legs on the bed, then without any sign that he’s exhausted, Namor falls face-first onto the pillow and begins snoring loudly.

Dorma, quite content being fucked so ruthlessly and knowing Namor will wake up to evidence of their love making, manages to limp to the bathroom to give herself some after care before she curls up next to him, smiling. 

Namor wakes to the sound of soft rain falling against the window. He peers out from beneath the covers, seeing the gray light of morning filling the room. 

His hand moves and he touches something. Something warm. A body. 

His heart feels overjoyed even though his head is pounding from his bender last night. Had Shuri come back to him without him remembering it? 

He shifts to his side, and that joy is quickly replaced by horror when he sees the red hair instead of the cute bonnet he’s been used to. 

“Fuck,” he whispers under his breath. “Fuck!”

His phone vibrates on the nightstand. Despite how sick to his stomach he is, he snatches it up, wondering if there’s any evidence of what led up to this. 

It’s even worse. 

There’s a message from Shuri.

Itzia❤️: Hey… I’ve had a few days to think about all of this and I want to talk. In person, if possible. I don’t want to lose you, Namor. 

Chapter Text

Dorma turns her head and smiles as her other cheek now rests on the pillow. The handsome prince is staring at his phone, appearing overwhelmed by something. 

“Good morning, Prince Namor.”

He jumps to his feet. Her smile widens, seeing his morning wood that she so enthusiastically took last night. He runs a hand through his hair, then points at her as she slowly sits up.

“I don’t know how or why you ended up in here, but you need to leave and never come back.”

Dorma allows the blanket to fall, flashing him with her breasts he was all over. She rolls her eyes. “Oh, please. You weren’t that drunk. You knew who I was. You knew what you were doing.” 

“I was drunk, and anything that was said or done didn’t mean a thing at all. I would never sleep with you. You were Shuri’s best friend, Attuma’s girlfriend, and I know how money hungry you are. You’re a selfish woman. I want nothing to do with you. Put your clothes on, and get the hell out of here.”

Dorma gasps. “Oh, you’re so mean. I came to you with a broken heart, trying to mend your broken heart, and now you treat me like this?” 

“Shuri wants to fix things. We aren’t broken up. I’m taking an immediate flight out of Talokan to go see her. Last night meant nothing. I don’t even know how it got that far, and you should’ve known better than to take advantage of me when I was drunk.” 

She rolls her eyes again. “Really? You’re almost thirty. You knew exactly what you were doing, fucking me that good and that hard, and I’ve had plenty of sex with drunken boys. They miss the mark because their brains are so gone. But not you…” She rests against the headboard, biting her lip. God, he’s so sexy, glaring at her like that while standing in nothing but his boxers. “You knew exactly what you were doing. You did call me Shuri a lot, but I think that was you trying to make yourself feel better.” 

His jaw clenches, and his voice darkens. “If I was saying her name, that’s because she was on my mind. I love her. Not you.”

“Last night wasn’t about love, honey. It was about sex. Hot, passionate sex.” Dorma twists her body, and gives her ass a swat. “You were deep inside here last night, and you’re still trying to convince yourself you were thinking of her? Does this ass look like hers whatsoever?” 

“Get the fuck out,” Namor hisses, pointing at the door again. “You will not speak a word of this to Shuri, either, or I guarantee that you’re going to have a lot of issues living in Talokan. Do you understand?”

Dorma sighs as she finally gets out of bed. She leaves her panties on the floor, and shimmies into her dress and heels. She walks over to the prince, who is breathing heavily from all of his anger. She gently cups his cheek. 

“Shuri and I aren’t on speaking terms anymore after what your mother did to her the other night. If she finds out what we did, it won’t be from me. But it speaks volumes you’re not coming forward. Some boyfriend you are.” 

Namor clutches her wrist, forcing her to stop touching him. 

“Get out.”

Shrugging her shoulders, Dorma walks out of the guest house, breathing in the fresh air. 

She wasn’t expecting Shuri to take him back this soon, but that doesn’t matter. She’s going to need a few weeks before she can announce her pregnancy, anyway. 

“You’re going to let that man inside this house after what he did to you?”

“It wasn’t him, Mama. It was his mother.” Shuri looks out the blinds again, hoping to find Namor and his driver. Nothing yet. He barely landed. She’s just too anxious. “He shouldn’t suffer for her wrongdoings. I shouldn’t give up so easily, especially when Namor is who I want.” 

“Shuri, there is no chance that woman is ever going to leave his life. Men and their mothers are too attached.” 

“You and T’Challa aren’t that way.”

“That’s because your brother is in his forties and married with a child. Prince Namor is a boy trapped in a man’s body. He should’ve protected you that night. He should’ve asked his mother thorough questions about what she was going to do.” 

Shuri glances over at her mother, sighing. “Mama, please don’t be acting like this when he gets here. I really need to talk to him alone. When we spoke on the phone earlier, I can tell that he wants us together as much as I do, and he’s not even on speaking terms with the queen right now. He told her off as soon as I headed to the airport. The king left her, too.”

Ramonda crosses her arms. “Really?”

“Yes, really. Can you please go?” 

“Not until he’s aware of my presence in this house.”

Knowing she isn’t going to win this at all, Shuri closes her mouth and resumes staring out the window. She jumps off the couch when Namor’s car pulls up, but Ramonda prevents her from opening the door. 

“You make that man ring the doorbell. Do not appear desperate. He must win you back. Can’t go around breaking hearts for nothing.”

“Mother, I’m the one who broke up with him.” 

“That doesn’t matter. Look at how quickly he flew here to make up with you. Wait for the bell.”

Shuri breathes through her nose, choosing yet another battle. Ramonda knows more than she does, after all. Once the bell rings, Ramonda steps aside, and Shuri pulls the door open. Her knees are shaky as she becomes face to face with her unfairly attractive prince. 

“Hi,” she says quietly. “Would you like to—“

He silences her with a powerful kiss, hands clutching her face desperately as he backs her into the house and right into her mother. 

“Watch it!”

Namor jumps, letting go of her. Shuri smiles and rocks on her heels while he laughs nervously, looking down at an unamused Ramonda.

“I am so sorry, Ms. Ramonda. I was just so happy to see your daughter.”

“Mmhm. I won’t be far. Be cautious.”

Namor nods politely at her, and Ramonda doesn’t stop making eye contact until turns the corner. Shuri then takes Namor by the hand, taking him outside with her. There, they are able to hold each other close and continue their sweet I miss you, I’m sorry kisses. Tears gather in her eyes as they make tender eye contact. 

“I shouldn’t have walked away from you that quickly. I was so hurt by what your mother did to me. I was so humiliated… I just had to get out of there. But I shouldn’t have taken it out on you, or let it or her come between us. I’m sorry.”

“No, Shuri. I’m sorry. I hate that you went through that. I hate that I wasn’t there for you. I hate that you felt like you had to run. I’ll never let her hurt you like that again, and you’re absolutely right. She can’t come between us. Nobody can. And if you’re able to, I want you to fly to Talokan with me as soon as you can. Your mother, as well.” 

Shuri’s eyes widen. “My mother!?”

“Yes. I have a plan. I want the two of you to attend an event with me. It’s one of my annual fundraisers. I host a little carnival to raise money for one of our underprivileged schools.” 

She breaks out into a grin. “Bast, I would love that. But—“

He’s holding her face again, those eyes smoldering whether it’s intentional or not. 

“None of those women who insulted you at that party will be present. You’ll be surrounded by genuine people of Talokan. The common folk who will be looking up to you as their princess one day. The ones who truly matter.” Namor gets down on one knee, and Shuri’s heart and stomach flips. He holds her hand with both of his, kissing each knuckle softly as he stares up at her. “I love you so much, baby. Please allow our courtship to resume. You’re the only woman I want.”

Shuri exhales carefully. As much as that evening traumatized her, Shuri isn’t the type of person to give up so easily. She wants to prove herself to the people of Talokan, and how much better she is than the queen believes.

“Yes. I want nothing more.” She’s smiling against the top of Namor’s head as he spins her around, maintaining that happy face as he sets her down on her feet. “I’m pretty sure my mother won’t want me to go to Talokan without her, so I know she’ll be down, too.” 

“Perfect,” Namor murmurs to her lips, wrapping his arms around her lower back tighter. “Perhaps when she’s asleep inside the guesthouse, you and I can enjoy ourselves elsewhere for a few hours.”

“A few hours isn’t possible with her. She has a sixth sense when it comes to her daughter missing. I’ll be grateful for a few minutes.”

“Our quickies are always the hottest, hm?” Namor rubs his nose against hers. “You’re so beautiful, itzia. Once you’re my wife and we are living in an estate of our own, I’m never getting off you.” 

“You better mean that,” she tells him softly, then she frowns. “I can’t believe I almost lost you.” 

“That was never going to be possible, Princess. I can’t stay away from you. We’re too tangled in each other’s souls. You have no idea how much I truly adore you. And Shuri?”

“Hm?”

His eyes search hers for what feels like minutes. 

“I’ll never let you experience that type of heart ache again. I swear it.” 

“And I won’t break yours. I promise. I love you so much, Namor.” 

Queen Fen has been without her husband and son for days now. She scarcely comes out of her room. She hasn’t been eating much. She doesn’t answer phone calls unless it comes from one of them, and neither the king or the prince have wanted to speak to her. 

On the day of her son’s annual fundraiser for the needy school children, Fen wears her best designer dress and her crown. She has her team style her makeup and hair, making her look like she hasn’t lost any sleep and that she’s on top of the world. Ch’ah is not expecting her at this event,  but with the press everywhere, she knows he won’t make a scene unless he wants to suffer for it later. 

The cameras are going absolutely wild as the guards protect her during her walk through the carnival grounds. She sees her son speaking underneath a tent where a line has formed. 

But he’s not the only one there. 

Fen pauses. 

Shuri is there, kneeling as she gets on eye level with a small child. A young girl. The two of them are talking and wearing smiles, then the little girl hugs her. When the child rejoins her family and Shuri rises, Namor puts an arm around her, causing Fen to gasp in shock. 

What is he doing showing a public display of affection like that, and with a woman whom he isn’t even engaged to!? 

When the cameras are going off again, Fen fixes her face and moves forward, bypassing the crowd that begins acting up upon seeing the Queen of Talokan. 

“Tell the paparazzi to give us some privacy, please,” Fen whispers to her strongest guards, and they do their job as they’re asked. She approaches where Namor and Shuri are, calling to her son from the side. “Ch’ah, I need to speak to you. It’s of the utmost importance.” 

The prince glances at her, then resumes talking to a commoner. Queen Fen fumes, calling out to him again. 

“Please!”

“Excuse me, folks! We need to take a brief break! We’ll continue the meet and greet momentarily!” 

While the crowd nods understandingly, Namor and Shuri turn. That’s when the young woman notices Fen for the first time, and an immediate look of dread crosses her features. Namor urges her to get a drink of water, and they share a kiss that yet again horrifies Fen, especially when the commoners themselves are snapping photos of it and cheering. 

When she’s finally alone with her son, she whispers low and with her guards protecting their faces to avoid being lip-read. 

“What on earth are you doing, mehen!? Shuri cannot be at public events with you! No woman can until she’s confirmed to be your fiancée and future princess of Talokan!” 

“Shuri is the woman I am courting. She is the woman I’m marrying this summer. That stunt you pulled nor your feelings towards her doesn’t change that.” 

Fen clenches her fists tightly. Just where was Dorma during all of this!? She was supposed to be seducing her son and winning his heart over while they were broken up, now suddenly they’re together again and stronger than ever!? 

“That also doesn’t change the protocols, mehen. Public displays of affection are not and never have been appropriate for any royal family member.” 

“Maybe I no longer wish to follow the protocols, Naa.  Now if you excuse me, my princess and I are having an event. Feel free to sit in the dunk tank or get pies thrown at your face.”

Fen gasps again as her son abruptly walks away from her, resuming the meet and greet. She’s about to make a scene when someone is tapping her shoulder from behind. She turns around quickly, seeing a woman around her age. One of striking beauty, with designer sunglasses and burgundy lipstick. 

“How did you get past my guards!?” 

“Are you Queen Fen?”

“I certainly am! Who are you!?” 

The woman removes her glasses, glaring at the queen. “I am the mother of that young lady up there, the one you are unable to keep down. Did it bring you joy making her cry? Making her question her beauty and her worth?”

Fen is unable to gather a quick comeback, slightly intimidated by Shuri’s mother, a rare occurrence. 

“Now look at her, up there shining brightly and making people fall in love with her. I thought I needed to be here to help her stick up for herself, but she’s doing just fine on her own. You’re lucky my baby is so resilient. She’s young and she learns. You, however, are too old to be having such a nasty soul. There’s no fixing it.”

With that, the woman walks off, standing protectively near her daughter while Fen has no choice but to leave, embarrassed by everything. 

Chaac, save her family from this mess. 

Someway, somehow. 

Namor leans against the hood of the car his driver had left for him in the woods behind the guesthouse. He has been taking lessons from Attuma from time to time, both to pay the man extra and to lessen his guilt of sleeping with Dorma. Neither Attuma or Shuri know about that night and they never will. It would destroy his relationship with both of them for good. He doesn’t want to lose the only man he considers a true friend, and he doesn’t want to lose the love of his life after experiencing that scare once. 

He feels as though he’s doing enough to make things right, though. Attuma has been doing better since the breakup with Dorma, and Shuri is doing so well here in Talokan, capturing the hearts of their people and being everything he always wanted in a wife. Now he can’t wait to make love to her, if only briefly. Their honeymoon is going to be explosive. He’s going to be inside her from dusk to dawn.

“Are you serious!?” Shuri whispers once she has made it to the car. “This is the super secret spot!? My mother’s window is visible from here!” 

“It’s either Attuma’s place or the castle since I gave you and your mother my guesthouse for the weekend, Princess. I wasn’t aware you were so into exhibitionism and being watched. Have I selected a pervert for a wife?” 

He can’t help but chuckle when she fumes at him. He loves that wild stare, those pouting lips, the little creases in her brows. 

"You're so fucking sexy when you're mad at me, sweetheart."

Before she can respond, he reaches behind her and hooks a thumb into the belt loop of her white jean skirt, pressing her firmly against him and tilting her chin with his other hand. He slips a finger up and over her lips, then drops his head, allowing his bottom lip to brush her ear while he whispers,

“You know you’ll take it wherever you can get it, the same way I will. You’re just too good, Shuri.”

He slides his hands down her body and grips the backs of her thighs so he can turn them easily, planting her body onto the hood of the car.  Her thighs cling to his waist, and their hearts are pounding as his fingers trail their way up her legs with treacherous patience. He takes her firmly by the chin again, tilting her face away from him to nibble at her earlobe, and whether someone is watching them or not, even if that someone is her own mother, she has no desire at all to tell him to stop. 

Her body quivers while he works her with his teeth and his tongue, taking advantage of the distraction to press her body down until she lies there against the hood like a lamb served to him for dinner. 

His fingers slide inside of her panties to tease her. She gasps, subconsciously opening her legs a touch wider to allow him better access, and chews her lip to stifle the groan that almost follows.

“You’re really going to fuck me here, Prince?” Shuri sucks in a hard breath as he slides his finger inside of her, working her patiently as if she said nothing at all. His other hand hikes up her skirt a bit, balling the fabric into his enormous fist while he keeps a slow pace, until moments later, her head falls back in pleasure when a second finger joins the first. 

He smirks at her,  delighted with how easily she always responds to him, no matter the torture. Her body is clay beneath him and he manipulates it expertly, drinking in the sight of her melanated skin and the way her fingers clench against the hood of the car. He will never forget the subtle nuances of how she surrenders to him so fully, and as the juices from her body begin to drip down the backs of his knuckles, he growls under his breath, impatient and aroused.

“Yes, I’m really going to fuck you right here," he murmurs to her, sliding her panties down her legs in a smooth motion. As he expects from his sometimes bratty girl, she begins to protest only to have her panties shoved partway into her mouth. He follows the gag with a slick finger pressed against her lips and leans in, his whisper thick with desire. "Be a good girl for me, Princess." 

She nods and watches with anticipation as the gorgeous man she loves unfastens his pants, grunting with relief when his thick erection finally springs free. He teases her with the head of his cock instead of his fingers. She is always soaking wet when she’s around him, regardless of previously being touched or not, allowing him to glide himself effortlessly through her folds until he finally sheathes himself in her fully. 

His body shivers at the feeling of being completely surrounded by tight, slick silk. He can’t resist the temptation to hike her hips up a bit further and lead into a punishing pace, still reeling from the rush of the chase and how unnervingly beautiful she looks in the shadows of the woods.  

As much strength as he can keep to his thrusting, he is careful not to meet her body as often, keeping their little love making as quiet as he can. She’s spread before him, saturated with pleasure, biting down hard on the little slip of cotton he knew she needed to stay silent. He wishes desperately that he could hear her scream his name, but Ramonda coming at him with a sandal or a butcher knife isn’t ideal right now, so he continues his frantic pace as it is, settling for what he can get. 

Oh, how he wishes his perfect girl would be ready for babies immediately. He can’t wait to give her one. He can’t wait to witness her body change as she carries the child they created, to know they’re bringing something into this world that is half of each of them. She’d make a beautiful mother, so loving and tender and kind and intelligent. He can’t wait to be a father, either. 

He grits his teeth against the muted feeling of her walls sliding around his cock. He won’t last much longer, desperate to find some relief after being apart from her, after believing that he had lost her for good. 

Shuri shifts, trying her best to focus on what he is doing but growing increasingly uncomfortable with the lip of the hood scoop pressing into her back. She doesn’t want to interrupt him when he is so close, looking so beautiful like this, so wild and untamed and vulnerable, and so she sits up and clamps her legs around him, drawing him into a heated kiss that sends lightning through her body. He shoots a hand down to rub at her clit and soon that lightning turns into wild fire, setting her entire body ablaze as she comes.

Namor grunts, pulling himself from her body and planting his feverish forehead against the side of her neck as he meets his end from all her clenching, pumping himself furiously and shooting thick streams of cum into her.  

She cradles him for a moment, savoring the way he moves his mouth across her skin in relieved, delicious kisses. She spits out her panties and holds them awkwardly in one hand while she runs her fingers through his hair with the other, surprised when he plucks the white cotton from her fist without looking and slides them into his back pocket. 

“I’ll sleep good with this against my nose tonight,” he murmurs, and she scrunches her face.

“You’re so nasty.”

“Only for you.” He kisses her as he stands her upright and gives her ass a squeeze. “Go back inside and get some rest. I’m so proud of you for today. You have no idea how loved you are. By Talokan. By me.”

Shuri steals as many kisses as she can, running back to the guest house when she notices a light coming on. Ramonda is opening the door before Shuri steps onto the porch, looking at her through tired eyes. 

“What were you doing, child!?”

“I went to see Prince Namor to give him a kiss goodnight!”

Ramonda clicks her tongue and yanks her daughter inside. “You two were kissing plenty all throughout the day. He needs to back off. At least I’ll know you’ll be giving your father and myself plenty of grandbabies.”

After cleaning her body and her face, Shuri dresses in her usual bonnet and pajama shorts set before crawling into bed with her mother. They face one another, smiling. 

“Are you happy now, my daughter?”

“I’m beyond happy, Mama. Words can’t even describe it. I really found my literal Prince Charming.” 

“He surprised me. He is a good man. A very good man. You’ve done well.” Ramonda strains to kiss her cheek, the faces the other way. “Goodnight, baby.”

“Goodnight, Mama.”

As they sleep that night, neither of them realize that underneath the bed is a pair of panties that don’t belong to them. 

The weeks have gone by achingly slow. 

Dorma had to suffer seeing Shuri being mentioned in the news, on social media, and in the paper. Prince Namor and Shuri Udaku, the woman he is courting to become his wife and princess. Shuri Udaku, the brilliant girl with a brilliant smile. Shuri Udaku, a refreshingly humble choice. 

She is so sick of it. 

But now it is time, and Dorma needed it. She has been running low on funds staying in this motel, not having a place of her own in Talokan after dumping Attuma, but not wanting to return to her mother as a sign of defeat.

Especially carrying a baby. 

She’ll be exactly like Mama, having a baby out of wedlock and tragically young, bringing a son or daughter into this world dirt poor. 

By marrying Namor, she’ll not only have all the riches imaginable, but this baby will be spoiled rotten. A little heir or heiress, having the life Dorma was robbed of. No more struggles. 

She’s going to have it all. 

Now that Shuri and Ramonda had returned home weeks ago, Dorma knows that Namor is staying at the guest house again. After flirting with the guards and having seen her plenty of times before, Dorma enters the property and walks right up to the door. When Namor answers, he’s shirtless and as delectable as ever. 

“What are you doing here!? I told you to never return!” 

“I wouldn’t be here if there wasn’t something serious I need to talk to you about.”

“What could we possibly discuss that’s of any importance, Dorma?”

She pulls her ultrasound picture out of her purse. After making money from selling some objects she stole from the castle last time she was inside it, Dorma was able to pay the technician to adjust the estimated due date and how far along she is. She’ll be giving birth sooner than expected, but not too soon to concern others about the baby’s health. She has been scheming perfectly. 

Namor takes the picture from her. She watches his face completely change when he realizes what it is. 

“I’m pregnant, Namor. The baby is yours.”

His skin has lost all color. He begins shaking his head, handing the photo back with a trembling hand. 

“N-No. It can’t be. I…We had protection, didn’t we?”

“You had sex raw with me, Namor. We were too wrapped up in passion to have a care in the world and now…” Dorma forces herself to tear up. Namor ends up falling into a chair. 

“This… This can’t be. There’s some mistake. We had sex once. That’s it. Once.”

“I don’t know what you want me to say. Scientifically, once is all it takes.”

He looks like he’s going to throw up. Dorma doesn’t laugh even though she wants to. She’s trying to win. 

“No… it’s Attuma’s. It has to be.” 

“I was on the patch the entire time I was with him. You can ask him yourself. I stopped taking birth control after we broke up because I didn’t want to keep doing that to my body if there was no need. But then we had that night together and now…” Dorma holds onto her heart, pretending that it’s breaking. “Prince Namor, I hope you’re not forcing me to raise your child on my own. I thought you wanted a baby.” 

He doesn’t say anything at first, rising to his feet. He still appears close to passing out as he lingers in the doorway. 

“I’m… I’m going to change. Wait right there. I need to speak to my mother.”

Fen is surprised to see her son and Dorma waiting for her inside the dining hall. She takes a spot at her seat, looking between the two of them. Dorma appears as beautiful and as calm as she always does, while her son looks sick to his stomach. 

“What is going on, Ch’ah? Why is Dorma with you, and not Shuri?” 

Wordlessly, Namor slides a picture across the table to her. Fen picks it up, her lips parting wide upon seeing that it’s an ultrasound. She then looks at Dorma, whispering, 

“You’re pregnant?”

“I am, Queen Fen. Prince Namor is the father. There’s no room for doubt.”

Fen quickly looks at her son again, now understanding why he’s so ill. 

“But I… How did this happen? You seem committed to Shuri Udaku.”

“I am,” he says quickly, his voice hoarse. “I-I was… I don’t know what’s going on, Naa. After Shuri took a break from me, I made the wreckless, horrible choice to sleep with Dorma one drunken night and now she’s pregnant. I don’t love her. I don’t want her. But… she carries my child. I need help, Naa. What should I do?” 

Chaac has answered her prayers.

Oh, what a beautiful and blessed god he is! 

Trying not to smile at her son’s misery, who doesn’t realize this is all a blessing in disguise, holds both of his hands. 

“I believe you know the answer to that, mehen. Dorma will not keep quiet about this secret love child. She will undoubtedly reveal the information to the press and humiliate our family and Shuri. Isn’t that correct, Dorma?”

“Oh, yes, Queen Fen. I’m not going to stay quiet about this being Prince Namor’s first child.” 

What a brilliant girl. 

She didn’t think Dorma had it in her to betray her friend. She certainly didn’t think that Dorma would let herself become impregnated by Ch’ah before marriage, either. 

Brilliant, beautiful girl. 

One who now carries her first of many grandchildren. 

“So if you wish to save Shuri the embarrassment later on and explain to the press that you were courting both women at the same time and ended up selecting Dorma, and the marriage takes place in weeks before she begins to show, nobody will know what truly happened. Whatever you decide to tell Shuri will be between the two of you.” Fen glances at Dorma. “I’m sure you will go along with the story we give the press, yes?”

“Of course. All I want is for the baby I share with Prince Namor to be raised as an Almehen and not forgotten about.”

“That won’t happen at all. My son is a responsible man, who is capable of doing the right thing. He will marry you, and end things with Shuri once and for all. There’s no other choice. Everyone’s images will be saved.” Fen squeezes her son’s arm. “I know how much your heart is hurting, but we have to live with our mistakes and own up to them. It is better to break Shuri’s heart now, then to have this sprung on her later in your marriage. She deserves better than that, don’t you think?”

The prince gets up suddenly, storming off. Fen holds a reassuring finger up to Dorma, letting her know all will be well. She goes into the parlor where she phones her husband, hoping for an answer this time. She ends up leaving a message in his inbox. 

“Iicham, I need you to return home immediately. Our son has a baby on the way, and he is to be wed in a few weeks. He needs his yuum, and I need you. Goodbye. I love you.”

She hangs up, then waits near the phone anxiously. Relief floods her when it rings.

“Hello?”

“I’m coming home, atan. Wait for me before any statements are given.”

“Of course,” Fen cries, feeling so whole again, especially when her husband tells her, 

“I love you.”

Yes, Chaac is such a loving, blissful god to have given her this beautiful blessing. She’ll have her husband, her son, the daughter she wanted, and a grandchild. 

She couldn’t be happier. 

Shuri waits excitedly on her porch, overjoyed that Namor recently called her and told her that he has landed. She wasn’t expecting to see him again for another week, especially with how much she has going on at school, but she’s not complaining a single bit. Ramonda has been so won over by him that she doesn’t give Shuri hell for waiting alone for him, and has gone to sleep to give Shuri complete privacy.

Wearing her favorite orange dress, Shuri rises from the porch swing when the car appears. Mama told her never to act too desperate, but she can’t help it. She runs down the walkway to him, tackling him with so much strength that he stumbles back a bit but doesn’t allow them to fall, holding her tightly. 

He does something different this time, burying his nose in the crook of her neck and inhaling her deeply as though memorizing her scent. He does this for a while, too, and she’s left furrowing her brows. 

“I’m not wearing any special perfume.”

He doesn’t say anything. He continues inhaling her, squeezing her, and then he kisses her. It’s so soft and beautiful. Too soft. Too beautiful. It gives her an unsettling feeling in her stomach. When she pulls away from him, he’s crying.

“Namor…? What’s going on?” 

“Dorma’s pregnant.”

“Oh…Kay?” Shuri steps back, letting him go. “What does that have to do with anything?”

His eyes are red rimmed as he rasps, “Because I’m the father, Shuri, and I have to marry her. It’s the right thing to do.”

Shuri, who now has blood buzzing in her ears and a pounding heart, begins to walk backwards. She shakes her head slowly. 

“No… No, no, no. You’re lying. You wouldn’t do that to me.” 

“I’m so, so, so sorry, Shuri,” he chokes out, more tears bleeding down his cheeks. “I’m so sorry.” 

She’s breathing heavily now. Her heart feels as though there’s an open wound that can never be healed. Everything that tied her to the world is gone in just a few words.

“How… How long have you been sleeping together!?” She’s delirious now, unsure of whether she wants to laugh or break down. “Huh!? The whole time!? Since Puerto Peñasco and I’ve been a fucking idiot!?”

“No, no. No. It happened only once. That’s it. It was a few nights after you left me. I became very drunk. That’s all it was. I was drunk. She came over. We had sex that I can’t remember. But that’s all it took…” Namor holds his arms out as though he wants to hold her, but Shuri continues backing away from him. “I didn’t want this, Shuri. I wanted you. I love you.”

“Oh… “ Shuri nods, anger quickly replacing everything else as a defense mechanism. She now laughs, showing her teeth. “Oh! Is that what love is to you, Namor? Fucking my best friend while I needed time to myself after your bitch of a mother humiliated me!?”

“Shuri, I was drunk! I thought about you the entire time!” 

Shuri laughs louder this time. “Oh! Oh, thank you, Prince Namor! Thank you soooo much for thinking of me while you pounded Dorma’s fat ass! Thank you for thinking of me as you put a baby inside her! Oh, my one true love, everybody!” 

“Itzia—“

“Nah, you know what?” Shuri walks up to him, getting in his face, lowering her voice to a level of darkness she wasn’t aware she was capable of doing. “You go ahead and marry her. She’s exactly what your family deserves. Your mother gets her perfect daughter. I can’t wait her to fuck all of you over. And as for you, I’m so disappointed in you. I really thought you were different. I thought after that first fight that we could make it through everything, but you only tried so hard to ease the guilt of cheating on me. So, yeah. I never should’ve taken you back and I never will. Thank you for wasting my time. Stay the fuck away from me.”

Shuri turns around quickly before she can cry in front of him, keeping it all inside until she locks herself in the house and enters her parents’ bedroom. 

Ramonda and T’Chaka sit up immediately when they hear her crying, and T’Chaka turns on his bedside lamp as she crawls into their bed. 

“Shuri,” Ramonda whispers. “Baby girl, what happened?”

She can’t get the words out. She gets in the safe space she had as a child, right in between her mother and father, sobbing harder than she ever has before as they hold onto her. 

Chapter Text

“Good morning, citizens of Talokan. As you know, I have been searching for quite some time to find a princess for our country. I spent many months with two beautiful women, and I have made my decision. Our next Princess, and my wife, will be Dorma Atlantea!”

Attuma drops his phone as he watches Dorma appear on his TV. She sits right next to Prince Namor, smiling in that wickedly beautiful way that she does. 

“What the hell is this?” he murmurs, leaning forward as though that will change anything at all that he’s seeing right now. 

Since when did those two ever speak aside from meals with Shuri? Since when did Namor ever show an interest in Dorma? Since when did his good friend decide to propose to his ex-girlfriend!? 

“Hello, citizens of Talokan. I am so honored to have been accepted by Prince Namor and the members of the royal family. I am looking forward to serving my country proudly, and to be as loving to all of you as I will be to Prince Namor.” 

Attuma shakes his head in disgust. He picks up his phone from off the carpet, and sends texts to Namor that immediately return to him. Now he’s blocked him, too!? 

He leaves his apartment and gets into his car, driving towards the palace. He swallows down the lump in his throat, his mind racing all over the place. Had Dorma broken up with Attuma not because of his wealth, but because she was either having an affair with Namor or pursuing him? And what about Shuri? What happened to her? Namor was so in love and now he’s marrying Dorma!?

Attuma’s hands clench tight around the steering wheel. The guards let him pass through, most likely assuming he’s there to give the prince a ride somewhere. The camera crew that was here filming pass him by in their van, and Attuma spots the royal family, along with Dorma, standing in front of a fountain.

He parks the car, and the prince must hear his feet stomping the grounds before Namor turns around quickly, his face overcome by unease. 

“Attuma, please listen to me!”

“I spent so many nights crying on your shoulder over Dorma breaking my heart, now the two of you are getting married!?” 

“Guards,” the king announces loudly. “Please escort this young man off the premises.” 

Attuma ignores him, getting close to Namor’s face instead. “How long have you been seeing her? How long have I looked like a fucking idiot wearing my heart on my sleeve in front of you just for the two of you to be having an affair this whole time!?” 

“I slept with her only one time and it was after the two of you broke up!” Namor yells, and Fen is whispering for him to lower his voice. “I’m sorry! I was drunk and I’m sorry!” 

“So just because you slept with her once, you decide that you’re going to marry her?” Attuma glances at Dorma, smirking and feeling petty after remembering the nasty, mean things she told him. “Her pussy’s not that great and neither is her personality for you to choose her over Shuri.” 

Dorma gasps, and wears those crocodile tears she manages so well. “How could you say something that horrible!?” 

Queen Fen wraps her arms around her soon-to-be daughter-in-law. “Get out of here! Now! That vulgar language will not be tolerated!”

Attuma laughs, looking at Namor once again. “Oh, Shuri. She was too good for any of you and the only person I feel sorry for. Did she find out the same way I did, through a damn public announcement?” 

“Attuma…You don’t understand…” Namor lowers his voice, his eyes beginning to water. “This wasn’t my choice. I have to marry her.” 

“I don’t see anyone holding a gun to your head.” 

“Damn it, she’s pregnant!” Namor shouts, then quiets down again as he repeats himself. “Dorma is pregnant with my child!” 

Without thinking much about it, Attuma strikes the prince on the jaw, who ends up stumbling backward. As the guards begin forcing Attuma back towards his car, Queen Fen is screeching at him.

“You will no longer be driving my son around! Consider yourself fired!”

“Consider myself glad!” Attuma shouts back. “You’re all such shitty, selfish people! Every last one of you!” 

Shuri has had her heartbroken before.

Exactly once. 

But this pain is so beyond what Eden has caused her, and Shuri knows it’s because she was truly in love with Namor. 

And truthfully, she still is. 

Maybe that’s why it feels as though she has been stabbed multiple times in her vital organs, barely able to function. 

After a few days of crying in bed and lying to her professors about being sick with something, Ramonda encouraged Shuri to go back to school, to keep herself busy until one day she’ll realize that her heart has healed itself. Mama says that Dorma and Namor and his mother aren’t worth a damn, and yes that’s true, but Bast…

It’s going to take so long to get over this.

Dorma had been her very best friend since they were little girls until that trip to Puerto Peñasco. She began acting strangely once she learned that Namor was the prince instead of Attuma, and in hindsight, she should’ve seen this coming. Those shady comments during their first dinner inside the palace…

What she didn’t see coming was betrayal from Namor, too. Even if they were on a temporary break, that’s no excuse for him to sleep with Dorma. He didn’t have to let her in wherever it had happened, and if he loved her as much as he said he did, then Namor wouldn’t have slept with anyone at all until she had time to recover from being so humiliated by Fen. He should’ve known better. He did know better. 

No matter how drunk he claimed to be, there’s no excuse for it. In his subconscious, maybe he wanted Dorma this whole time.  Dorma sat with him first at that club, after all. He was intrigued by her at one point. Some attraction existed, and came forth that night. 

And as far as Dorma, she used the moment of weakness in their relationship to sleep with him, and it wouldn’t surprise Shuri if Queen Fen had planned that, too. 

Now Dorma is pregnant… 

With Namor’s baby… 

Shuri begins to tear up as she zones out during her professor’s lecture. She begins illustrating in her notebook, trying to distract herself and not cry but her aching throat is making it so difficult. 

She told Namor that she wanted to wait years after their marriage to start having babies, and now that she knows Dorma is currently carrying his child, all she can think about is how that should be her. 

And more sinisterly, Shuri wonders if she should’ve baby trapped Namor before Dorma could do it. Queen Fen would’ve had to suck it up and accepted the marriage. Namor would’ve stayed by her side and kept giving her baby after baby after baby and Dorma would’ve been kicked to the curb and ignored.

Shuri sighs, hating these terrible thoughts about what will never be. 

She closes her notebook, then heads to her car after she somehow managed to make it through a full day of classes. 

Namor hasn’t bothered messaging her or calling her. 

Not that she should expect him to. 

He has his perfect fiancée now, and they’re probably busy with appointments for the baby.

Knowing better than to doomscroll, Shuri does it anyway, opening up her favorite social media app and scrolling through everything, from good news to bad news until she comes across something tragic. 

A press conference. 

Namor and Dorma sitting together, announcing Talokan’s new princess and the royal wedding that will be had very soon. 

“Oh,” Shuri whimpers, then bursts out crying after holding it in all day. She tosses her phone into the backseats, then covers her face with her hands as she sobs into them. 

This hurts so much, too much. 

Her radio that connected to the Bluetooth on her phone goes off, and she sees that her father is calling. She answers immediately, needing someone. 

“Daughter, what is my blasted PIN number on my debit card?”

“Baba,” she sniffs. “Are you close to the campus? Can you meet me at the ice cream parlor? I need you.”

“You need me, then I’ll be there,” he tells her softly. “The PIN, child.”

“0000.”

“My genius girl. I will see you in a few minutes.”

Shuri’s tears dry on her cheeks as she drives to her favorite ice cream place. She waits on the bench outside, then rises to give her baba a tight hug. After she orders a scoop of mango on a waffle cone and he orders mint chocolate chip in a cup, they sit together. 

“Believe it or not, I am as heartbroken as you are.”

She glares up at him. “You’re heartbroken because I’m not marrying a billionaire.”

“On the contrary, dear, the money doesn’t matter the most to me — although it would have been a great help. But what matters to me is your happiness, and it pains me to see my only daughter suffering.” 

“Oh, Baba… I’m trying really hard to move on, but it really, really sucks. How could either of them have done that to me? All I’ve ever been was a good friend and a loving girlfriend.” 

“My sweet girl, my words may have no meaning right now, but I promise you that it will get better when you least expect it.”

As Shuri licks her ice cream and thinks of only Prince Namor, she doesn’t see how that’s possible unless a Time Machine exists to undo everything. 

After rehearsals, Namor goes inside his room in the palace. He wears the royal armor he is expected to get married in next week as he sits on the edge of his bed with his phone. 

He has been wanting to call Shuri since the day he had to break her heart, but he knows there’s no point in doing so. He would only be hurting her more when there’s no chance of them ever getting back together with Dorma carrying his baby. 

He hasn’t been able to get Shuri’s face out of his head. He destroyed her. He could see it behind all that anger she wore, and that’s what had him crying on the way back to the airport. She’s the woman of his dreams, the one he has been waiting all these years for. 

Now she’s going to end up making another man the happiest bastard in the world, and it’s killing him to think about that. 

Attuma was right to punch him the other day. Namor deserves all of that and more. He should’ve never gotten that close to Dorma. He should’ve never let Shuri leave Talokan that night. He should’ve fought harder. 

It’s too late.

The door opens.

He looks up to see Dorma slink her way in, her curvy body adorned in a white dress with plenty of jade jewels. She stands in between his legs, and holds onto his shoulders as she speaks softly. 

“I know this isn’t what you wanted. I know I’m not what you wanted… But I wish you could at least pretend to care about me. About us. Can you try to make the best of this?”

Namor stares at her belly where their baby will soon be growing into. 

She’s right.

Of course, she’s right.

No matter what, Dorma will be bringing his son or daughter into this world. That’s the only fact that there is. Anything with Shuri is a fantasy that will never become a reality now. This is his reality, standing in front of him. 

He wraps his arms around her waist and nestles his face against her stomach, giving it several kisses. She begins to stroke through his hair with her long nails, and he tilts his head back to smile up at her. 

“Forgive me. I will be better for both of you… my princess.” 

And although Dorma tears up and settles into his lap to kiss him, Namor can’t help but think that word doesn’t sound right when it’s not directed at Shuri. 

With all of Talokan buzzing about the wedding that’s happening in a few days, and Attuma still anxiously awaiting a call from the marine biology department to inform him if he’s gotten the job he interviewed for or not, he decides to fly away until it’s all over. 

The points he has from his previous flights can only afford him to fly to the country where Dorma once lived with Shuri, and that’s just something he’ll have to accept no matter how much everything still stings. 

At least he’ll be able to go to the café he enjoyed while he was visiting Dorma that one time. It’s part of a bookstore, and on a Friday night during the after hours, the coffee turns into alcoholic cocktails. There’s no better place Attuma can think of to spend his time than getting nicely buzzed and reading a good book. 

After checking into his hotel, Attuma catches a ride to that café. There are two lines formed inside the busy space, and as Attuma stands in one of those lines, he glances to the right when something yellow catches his eye. 

It’s Shuri. 

She’s bundled up in a yellow coat despite the weather being warm outside. Her hair is straightened, a style he hasn’t seen her wear before. She’s…

Well, she’s beautiful. 

“Shuri.”

She turns her head, eyebrows raised and then a smile forming when she realizes her name is called by someone familiar. 

“Oh! Attuma! What are you doing here!?”

“Best café in town,” he laughs. “Come stand in line with me so I can pay for our stuff together.”

“I couldn’t possibly allow you to do that.”

“Hey, I’m not as broke as someone might’ve told you. Get over here. I have a feeling you can use as much cheering up as I can.” 

Smiling wider, Shuri walks on over to his line. She’s so small compared to Dorma, both body and height, and it’s both adorable and sexy how he’s able to tower over her. He doesn’t know why he overlooked her so much before. 

Oh.

Wait.

Yes he does. 

Unlike Prince Namor, Attuma was a good friend who stayed away. 

“So…” Shuri sighs. “I suppose you’ve been hearing about the big news more than I have, with you living in Talokan and all that. That’s why you’re here?”

“Yeah. Everywhere I went, people were talking about the royal wedding. I had to get away. My favorite café was it.” 

“Hmm, great minds think alike. That’s why I’m here. I don’t like to imagine it… Well, I don’t like to imagine anything these days. Been trying to stay busy. You’re not still working for them, are you?”

“Hell no! I recently applied and interviewed for a job at Talokan’s marine biology department. Nothing special at the moment, just a record keeper. But I’m trying to move my way up and hopefully get inside the ocean to do research.”

“Marine biology… How wonderful. I hope you hear some very good news soon.” 

“Finding you here is good enough for me,” he says without much thought, and both of their eyes widen. He blinks while Shuri smiles down at her feet. “I mean… I wasn’t expecting any company. It’s nice to have you with me.”

She looks up. There’s a sparkle in her gorgeous amber eyes. Attuma doesn’t know why but it makes his chest tighten. 

“Next customer!” 

They step forward together, and as Attuma pays for both of their orders, the cashier tells them,

“You’re such a beautiful couple.”

“Oh!” They’re speaking in unison, waving their hands. “We’re just friends!”

While they look at one another in shock at their synchrony, the cashier murmurs,

“That’s what they all say. Next customer!”

Attuma and Shuri wait off to the side until their coffee and pastries are ready. He notices she’s a bit quiet after that awkward interaction, and he nudges her to make her feel better. 

“Bet you can’t wait until the after hours when we can order that alcohol, huh?”

“That’s exactly why I’m here,” she admits with a giggle, and Attuma is at ease knowing he has made her comfortable again. “You planning on staying here late?” 

“That depends. Are you?” When she nods, he grins. “I’ll stay until closing as long as I’m with you.” 

Shuri noticed Attuma’s attractiveness that first night in Puerto Peñasco when she sat beside him. It’s funny how he was going to be her original partner that night until Dorma forced a switch. She wasn’t able to make a connection back then, being so wrapped up in and by Namor. Now that she’s learning  so much about him tonight, she simply can’t stop talking. 

Not wanting to think about herself too much, she gets Attuma talking about various species of sharks and what intrigues him about the water. 

“I believe that space is in the ocean.”

“Space?”

“Mmhm. So many undiscovered creatures and habitats lurking in the deep… it’s endless. The life forms people are desperate to find way up in the sky can be found beneath the sea.”

“I never thought about it like that,” she murmurs, her gears starting to turn. She hasn’t had much of her alcoholic coffee cocktail, but Attuma is already two glasses in, and she wonders if it has him loosened up enough for her to say what’s on her mind. “Attuma…?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you… doing alright?”

He tilts his head to the side. His eyes are like dark chocolate, and it’s giving Shuri a buzz the way he stares at her. 

“In what way?”

“I’m unsure… I’ve just been so angry?” Shuri scrunches her face. “Ridiculously angry. And sad. To think that someone loves you and cares about you and you’re going to have this whole life with them and then—“

“Beautiful.”

Heat blooms across her cheeks when she realizes that he’s calling her that as a pet name. 

“Huh?”

He doesn’t say anything at all until there’s a hand stroking the back of her head, another cupping her very warm cheek, and his lips inching towards hers. 

“Why don’t we turn all this pain we’re in into something else?” 

She closes her eyes and purses her lips, bracing for sweet impact, and breaching the unknown. 

Her lips are on his instantly, and she relaxes in his embrace. She knows he's taking her to the hotel room, but she can’t see what’s happening. All she cares about is how his tongue swipes across the roof of her mouth and how his lips curl into a smile against hers. 

Her back hits the comfortable mattress seconds after. His large hands undo her coat, and he breathes out steadily to see she has nothing but her lingerie underneath. 

“You were just walking around like this?” Attuma murmurs as he reaches underneath her to unlatch her bra. 

“I love this coat so much and didn’t want to be too hot,” she whispers. 

“You’re so damn cute… Come here.”

When he moves down to kiss her lips passionately, she pushes her hips up, enough to feel his hardening length against her. The short friction makes him groan, and Attuma leaves her mouth to latch his lips on her neck.

He kisses and sucks on her silky skin before moving to the space on her neck below her ear. She’s exceptionally sensitive there, something he discovered while on the ride here, and he takes full advantage of that knowledge. He opens his mouth to press a wet kiss in one spot, then he bites. Her head falls back as her fingers tighten around his long hair. She enjoys the harshness abundantly so that she ends up breathing out, 

“Do it again.”

So he does, biting her here and there like a shark. One particular strong bite has her yelping, and Attuma stops. 

He looks down to admire the work he painted on her pretty skin. "I'm sorry, beautiful." He breathes hotly over the expanse of skin before his tongue darts out to lick the already forming dark marks on her neck, making her sigh at the soothing sensation.

While his velvety lips press wet kisses down her chest, his hand slides up her body, finding the curve of her breast and kneading it with familiar movements. His mouth closes around the other, tongue swirling around her nipple.

He sucks on her breast as though he has been starving for it, making the amber eyed darling arch her back and feed more of herself into his mouth. Feeling the growing wetness between her thighs, she strokes them together, desperately trying to get some friction.

Noticing her needs, Attuma lowers himself to his knees on the ground, the sight of her clothed sex filling all of his senses. Not only the vision of her sprawled on the bed, but the smell of her arousal, the sounds of her gentle sighs of anticipation...

He’s damn near salivating from just the thought of what he's about to do. 

He pulls her near the edge of the bed with both hands behind her knees. He raises her ass from the bed as his teeth find the edge of her underwear, pulling the piece of clothing down her legs with his mouth, then his left hand moves to pull her leg above his shoulder. He turns his head to leave a trail of kisses on the inside of her thigh, both hands moving to keep her legs apart as he slowly gets closer to where she wants him. 

Maybe they shouldn’t be doing this.

But they’re both a little buzzed, and a lot broken. 

Who better to find temporary healing on such a devastating night than with each other? 

“Please,” she whimpers in a voice so soft that he’s regretting teasing her. “Make me feel better.”

Finally , his lips close around her clit, bringing out a drawn out moan from her lips. He gives her folds a long lick, tasting her wetness in his tongue. He squeezes her legs and pulls her even closer to him, his hands trailing up to rest on her hips as he devotedly eats her out. His tongue passes her entrance, curling inside her and making him moan against her lower lips.

"Oh, Attuma… Yes!" Shuri whines into the air as he keeps moving his skilled tongue inside her. 

He alternates between licking her folds and pressing wet kisses on her clit, sucking on the bud gently and slowly bringing her to completion to make sure she enjoys every single part of it.

When he feels her muscles tense, his tongue darts out to flick over her clit, the cries that fall from her lips traveling from his ears directly to his already rock hard erection. 

"Please don’t stop,” she begs. “It feels so good… Please…”

She’s trembling now, he can feel it in the way her legs twitch under his hold. He looks up from between her thighs and she comes as soon as their eyes meet. Attuma can't get enough of the addicting taste of her arousal and so he licks her folds a few more times, trying to savor as much as he can. 

Once she gets down from the high of her much needed orgasm, Shuri crawls up, laying a little higher on the bed, legs parted and sex glistening with a mixture of her previous release and his own saliva.

When he gets on top of her, she’s quick to unbutton his shirt, noticing how he's still fully dressed. He helps her by getting rid of his pants and boxers, heart racing when he feels her tracing the outlines of the muscles on his chest and abdomen. 

“I’ve never known any marine biologist to look as good as you, sir.” 

“Why, thank you, ma’am. Swimming is better on the body than driving, don’t you think?” He slides the head of his cock along her sex, making her moan from desire. He whispers in her ear, "You're so sexy when you moan for me, Shuri." 

Being with her is igniting something within him, something that starts on the fingertips that dance on her skin and travels through his entire being until it settles inside his heart and consumes them both. 

He doesn’t know why and finds it completely baffling that he feels loved of all things, by this young woman whom he knows does not share affections for him and who does not want a life with him, but it’s certainly nice to pretend, and it’s a sentiment he keeps captive within himself. 

"You're perfect." He praises her, kissing her temple, the side of her face, the corner of her lips…

And that’s when it hits Shuri that this isn’t just a quick healing fuck. It’s something more. 

She takes the next initiative and grabs his face, both palms pressed gently against his cheeks, and guides him down until their lips touch.

The sound that falls from her lips when he finally enters her is enough to force him to focus, trying his damndest to not start pounding mercilessly into her. She closes her eyes and moans softly when he slowly but firmly reaches the deepest part inside of her. 

Attuma groans quietly once he's fully buried in her warmth, appreciating how she moves her hands from his face to the back of his neck, interlacing her fingers into the longer strands of his black hair. 

"Slowly, baby,” she whispers, the pet name just rolling off her tongue. He sets a lazy but sensual pace, relishing in the way her walls tighten around his length. "Oh yes... it feels so good… You feel so good…” 

She embraces him, each slow thrust bringing out a soft moan from the small woman underneath him. He’s discovering quickly that she’s a very vocal lover, a crescendo of melodic and erotic sounds escaping her lips as he fucks her deep and gentle. 

They move together, his thrusts being easily met by the movement of her hips, and when he looks down and sees her lust filled expression, all he wants is to rail her as hard as possible. But she seems to enjoy this lovemaking far too much, and they’re both starved for passion that he doesn’t mind going slow. It’s just as mind blowing. 

He enjoys how she melts under his touch, and like this he's able to catch every single movement of her body, every single change in her expression. She locks her ankles behind his back, and usually he'd speed up his pace if this were any other woman, but with her, he finds the way Shuri leisurely moves her hips against his too delicious to ruin it.

One of her hands leaves his back, falling at their side. The heat of her nails scratching his skin lingers on him as she tries to grab hold of the sheets underneath her. 

His touch makes her burn inside out, his breath is hot against her damp skin and it makes her feel like she's flying towards the sun, higher and higher until she can't feel anything but amazingly pleasurable heat. 

She needs something to hold between her fingers so she can stay grounded, and he answers the call. Attuma’s fingertips trace over her wrist and he grabs it gently, raising her hand until it rests above her head before interlacing their fingers together. 

She squeezes his hand and looks up at him just to find his eyes already on hers. Her mouth hangs slightly open in a silent moan as their eyes stay trapped within each other.

There's no rush to reach climax. They’re completely focused on being close to each other, taking pleasure in the intimacy they share, and neither of them want it to end. 

She uses her free hand to guide his face down towards her, bringing her lips near his ear. 

"I want to get on top,” she breathes out, and he nods hastily. 

He moves to sit at the side of the bed, his legs off the mattress similar to the position she had been earlier. Next thing he knows, she is on top of him, smiling sweetly as if the way she's rolling her hips over his hard cock isn't driving him completely insane.  He’s gasping, dying to be inside her again, and she pushes him down gently, both hands on his large pecs as she slowly lowers herself on his cock.

“Lay there and enjoy the view."

Attuma groans, aroused by her words. What a gorgeous, stunning view she gives him. Low moans escape his lips when she starts riding him. His hands tighten on the curves of her waist, just enough to ground her but still let her have complete control of the sensual pace in which she moves. 

Her petite figure moving on top of him truly is an ethereal sight. Her lips curling upwards in a satisfied smirk as she looks down at his adoring eyes, and the bounce of her breasts that follows her every movement…

No.

He needs to be closer to her. Needs that comfort. 

He raises his upper body off the mattress, his abdominal muscles flexing even more as he sits up. Her eyes travel downward, unconsciously licking her lips at the sight. Her hands rest on his shoulders while his arms circle her waist to pull her closer to his chest. She arches her back, moaning when he takes the opportunity to latch his mouth on one of her nipples.

"Attuma!”

His hand travels up her back, his palm pressing against hot skin, tracing the curve of her spine before it reaches the back of her head, fingers grasping her hair gently. His mouth leaves her breast with a loud pop and she grips his biceps with more strength as the rolling of her hips becomes slightly more erratic. She looks at him through half lidded eyes, resting her forehead against his, enraptured by how amazing he feels inside of her.

She moans against his mouth as he runs his tongue over her lips, parting them enough to explore the inside of her mouth. Their lazy kiss makes her feel dizzy, and she feels the heat spreading under her skin, increasing the familiar tension in her belly.

"Thank you for this,” he whispers out of nowhere, the sound muffled against her own mouth. It makes her heart beat even faster. 

"N-No,” she tries to speak through shattered breaths. “Thank you… so much…”

Attuma is just as close as she is, his deep moans filling the space between them. Noticing how her legs start to tremble around him, he moves both hands to her ass, groping it affectionately as he helps her move.

"Ohh, I'm so close…" She looks into his beautiful brown eyes as she feels her orgasm nearing. "Attuma!"

Stars explode behind her eyelids. She screams his name again before her mouth hangs open in a soundless moan. He follows her right after, giving all of himself to her, bucking his hips up while hers spasm under his hold as she rides out her orgasm.

They groan in unison when his release fills her completely. He thrusts up a few more times as both their bodies slow down, leaving them panting hotly and enjoying the aftershocks of their orgasms. 

She falls against his chest, trying to catch her breath, forcing them both down onto the mattress. His cock pulls out from inside her due to the change in positions, causing her to gasp lightly at the loss.

"You're amazing." He hears her whisper from where she rests her head in the space below his jawline, trailing soft kisses on his neck. “Just… amazing.” 

Attuma smiles, taking in the sensation of her warm lips moving against him so gently. They’re both so blissed out that they forget what led them to this hotel room in the first place. 

Zyanya, who is the maid majority of the time but stepping up to be the tailor for Prince Namor’s suit he will be wearing at church before the outdoor ceremony, carefully takes his measurements.

She occasionally glances up at the man she has been taking care of since he was a little boy, wanting to smile and celebrate him but finding it so difficult when he appears so miserable. 

“Cold feet, my Prince?” 

“Something like that,” he murmurs, and Zyanya frowns. She has noticed that there is no longer a spark in his eyes and there hasn’t been for weeks. She stops what she’s doing, taking a step back to create some distance between them. 

“Are you alright, dear?” 

He shakes his head. Zyanya’s frown deepens. She’s starting to see that little boy again, only this time, he’s frightened by something. 

“You know that you and I can discuss anything. I have been by your side for two decades now. I know how to keep a secret.”

No, truly, she does! She only gossips with the other palace staff when she knows Queen Fen is involved because she absolutely loathes that wench. 

“I shouldn’t say it.”

“I am fairly certain that it would help you immensely for you to get it off your chest before you end up as repressed as your father. Oops!” Zyanya covers her mouth. “No offense.”

Prince Namor stares hard at her for a moment before he gives in with a sigh.

“Only my parents and Dorma know this information, so please promise me you’ll keep it between us.”

“You have my word.”

“I don’t want to marry Dorma, but I don’t have a choice. She’s pregnant with my child after I made a terrible mistake. The woman I truly want to marry is Shuri.” 

Zyanya’s eyebrows crease, then her mouth forms into the shape of an ‘o’ when a lightbulb goes off in her head, remembering something that she discovered over a month ago. 

“So you were having an affair with Dorma while courting Shuri?” 

His face darkens when he becomes offended. “No! There was never an affair! Why do so many others continue accusing me of that!? It was a drunken one night stand that occurred a few nights after that party where my damn mother humiliated Shuri!”

While the prince continues to rant and lament, Zyanya quietly does the math in her head, then it shows when she’s counting on her fingers and making faces. 

“But… If you slept with Dorma only a few weeks ago…” 

Zyanya gasps. 

The positive pregnancy test that was discovered after Dorma was in the bathroom happened way before that party, many weeks before Namor reportedly slept with her. 

He isn’t that baby’s father! 

“Zyanya,” the prince asks, approaching her closely. “Is there something you want to tell me?” 

Chapter Text

Zyanya opens her mouth, prepared to tell the prince what she knows about Dorma’s pregnancy, when the upcoming bride herself enters the room. Her eyes are cold and deadly, causing Zyanya to bite her tongue. 

“Sweetheart, your parents need you for a quick decision.” 

Prince Namor squeezes the maid’s shoulders. “We’ll talk when I return.” 

“But—“ Zyanya tries to let the confession come out, but Dorma shuts the door as soon as Prince Namor exits…

…with the two of them inside. 

The maid wrings her hands nervously as Dorma stands in front of her, too close for comfort. With Zyanya being so short, those large breasts of hers are right in her face. It does not take away that she’s a rather frightening woman. 

Dorma reminds her of Queen Fen, and that is never a compliment. 

“I heard you. What exactly were you about to tell my fiancé?” 

Zyanya swallows and stands as tall as possible. “I believe you already know, or else we would not be having this discussion.” 

The corners of Dorma’s red-painted lips move upwards. “No. Go on. Say it. Say the idiotic thing that would lead to your demise.”

“Demise!? Idiotic!? How could I be idiotic when you were the one who left a pregnancy test inside the royal bathroom!” 

“Ah. You know, when I went home that day, I stressed about that. I was afraid someone important might have found it.” Dorma loses her smile, and the way her face darkens sends a shiver down Zyanya’s spine. “But it was just you. I’m sure you’re aware that hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of items were stolen from the palace as well.”

“The… huh? What?” 

“Mmhm. Once the king and queen finally discover this, they’ll be wanting to know who did it. Let’s just say I can pin it on you very, very easily. A piece of the missing jewels inside your locker, or perhaps inside that cart you wheel around. Queen Fen would believe it instantly. She believes you’re beneath her and not above stealing. Now… That wouldn’t only get you fired, but sent to jail as well. So it’s up to you, Zyanya. Is Prince Namor knowing the truth about this baby more important than you spending your life in prison?” 

The maid is in tears, shaking her head rapidly.

Oh, she was so very, very wrong.

Dorma is much worse than Queen Fen. 

“I-I will keep this secret to myself… But…But just know you are being very cruel to Prince Namor, who believes that baby is his own!”

“Oh, what do you care? They give you a shit pay and mistreat you. Don’t feel sorry for any of them. They get their child and grandchild, I get to become the princess and future queen. I need to finish selecting a corset that’s going to make my tits look the best in my wedding dress. If Namor comes up to me and tells me that anything was revealed, you’re going down with me, but much, much worse. You understand that?”

“Y-Yes!” Zyanya nods again, sniffling. “I’ll take this to the grave!” 

“That makes two of us,” Dorma murmurs, then slips out of the room. 

Zyanya plops down on the stool she was sitting in earlier while taking the prince’s measurements, her heart feeling so heavy. She really doesn’t like the royal family, but she likes Namor a lot. To know she could’ve saved him from Dorma with this information she now has to keep secret in order to protect her own wellbeing really hurts. 

By the time the prince returns, Zyanya’s face doesn’t look like she has been crying.

“Sorry about that. What were you going to tell me?” 

The maid forces a grin. “Nothing of great importance, Prince. It is just that no matter who you’re marrying, you’re going to be a wonderful husband and an even better father. All that brings you stress won’t last forever.”

Namor’s smile is one of pain. “What you said is of great importance. Thank you, Zyanya. I will do my best to remain positive as I enter this new chapter, even though it’s not the one I wanted.”

Zyanya wants to cry all over again. 

“You’re welcome, my prince. Now let us finish these adjustments.” 

“How long are you here for?” 

“Why?” Attuma gives Shuri a flirtatious smile that has her giggling and rocking on her heels. “You interested in a repeat of last night?” 

“I mean… Would it be so bad?” 

His eye contact is strong, with very little blinking. “No,” he whispers. “It wouldn’t. I’m here for a few more nights… But I would really like the days with you, too. You have classes today?” 

Shuri can’t believe this is happening. For weeks, she has been depressed and devastated over what Namor and Dorma had done to her, certain that she’d never find love again. Although sex last night with Attuma definitely felt like something, she isn’t sure if this is love yet. 

But she would like to see what happens. 

“No. I’m all yours.” She instantly leans her head on him when he puts an arm over her shoulders as they begin walking away from the hotel. “When you were with… her, did she ever take you to the aquatic conservation center? It’s so much better than an aquarium. They care for these sea creatures with the intention of releasing them into the ocean once they show signs of readiness.” 

“She never took me anywhere except for that café, and I’m definitely down for that. Want me to drive us in the rental?”

“Nah,” Shuri sighs in content, wrapping an arm around him. He’s so tall that he provides shade from the sun. “It’s not far from here, and I really love walking with you.” 

“I love that, too.” Attuma kisses the top of her head, then after a minute or two, he asks, “What do you think, beautiful? Are we going to put a label on this? I want whatever you do.”

Her eyes flicker up at him. “After the kind of backstabbing we both went through not too long ago, let’s not label it for now. I’m really happy just enjoying whatever this is… If that’s okay with you,” she adds quietly, and he reassures her with another kiss. 

“It’s more than okay. I think I’m going to enjoy seeing what happens.”

Heat blooms across her cheeks when she smiles. 

“Me, too.”

Attuma was such a gentleman and so sweet at the conservatory to both herself, others, and the sea creatures that Shuri could not wait to get back to the hotel room to see that other part of him come out. 

For once, she didn’t lie to Mama about being with a boy. Her mother told her to at least guard her heart and her womb, and Shuri assumes Ramonda means not getting pregnant, which Shuri is well-protected against. 

Mama has to know by now that Shuri is not a virgin, after all. Those nights spent unsupervised in Talokan and Puerto Peñasco…

She squeezes her eyes shut to shake the memories of Prince Namor out of her head. None of that was real. Drunk or not, he would have never let Dorma get that close to him if he meant all those beautiful love proclamations. 

He chose his perfect girl, and they’ll soon be married. 

She sprays on her favorite perfume, wanting Attuma to go home smelling like her, wanting him to remember her and their time together every time he gets a whiff of it. She steps out of the bathroom, Attuma is tying up his long hair. 

It is when he turns to her that she sees the hunger in his eyes, the smirk that comes so easily when they are alone. He is over to her in an instant, her breath already hitching and he hasn’t even touched her. He props her up on the desk, and begins to strip her. 

Her boots are the first to go, discarded behind him as his hands run up her knees, her thighs, her hips, to hook into the hem of her blouse.  He growls when he lifts it and he sees her bra has been discarded. The peak of one breast is taken into his mouth, his hands dipping below the line of her skirt, finding she has left her panties in the bathroom as well. 

Pulling away from her, he cocks a brow.  

"Naughty girl."

She plans on responding when her words become a moan as his fingers dip lower, circling the bundle of nerves, his lips turning their attention to her other breast, his words mumbling around her skin.  

“And so wet for me already."

“How could I not be when it comes to you?” 

She is on the edge when suddenly his hands and lips leave her.  She whines, a pout coming to her mouth as he lifts his shirt off his head, revealing his thick chest and abdomen. 

So sexy…

His mouth finds hers once the fabric is discarded, kissing her hungrily, his tongue darting between her lips, tasting the mimosa they shared earlier on her tongue.  His hips begin to rut up against her, seeking friction for them both. His voice is broken as he pulls away. 

"I want you naked."

Slipping from the table, she does as she’s told, turning and shedding the remaining clothing, giving him the best view of the curve of her back and her ass.  She hears the rumble from his chest behind her before she yelps as she is scooped up into his arms and placed on the table.

"Naughty, naughty girl."

He kneels then, placing each one of her thighs over his strong shoulders, his hands moving to trail up the melanated skin to the ass he was admiring moments before. His dark eyes focus on her sex, a finger lazily exploring the outer folds, and she can feel the heat surging through her veins.

"Please, Attuma..."

He smirks before moving towards her, his tongue darting through her lips.  Her head falls back, her hands clutching his hair. He starts slowly, licking up and down between the inner folds, before sucking gently on them.  Her hips try to rub up closer against him, the pressure of his lips and tongue too light.  A large hand moves to her abdomen, pushing her hip back onto the table, a chuckle escaping from his lips, the vibrations only intensifying her need.

His tongue flattens as he moves to the base of her sex, one long swipe past her slit and folds until it flexes and teases her clit with the pointed tip. Her grip on him tightens as he moves back downwards again, lazily repeating the action.

“You’re teasing me too much, Tuma,” she sighs, then loses all train of thought as he moves in, tonguing her clit in earnest, alternating between teasing it with his tongue and sucking on the hardened nub.  One thick finger ghosts across her slit, circling her before dipping in.  Unintelligible words are falling from her lips, increasing in volume as he pleasures her.  

When she feels herself teetering over the edge once more, he shifts, his fingers taking their place at her clit, while his tongue moves lower to dip in and out of her.  His hold on her abdomen lessens as the hand that has been holding her down moves to cup one of her breasts, the fingers pinching and rolling the hardened peak.

Her hips move as he fucks her with his tongue, tasting her cunt as she gyrates.  His fingers press harder on the bundle of nerves and she feels herself topple, flinging her over the edge. She screams his name , then her moans are almost sobs as he continues his movements as she rides high.

She doesn’t remember him loosening her thighs from their iron grip around him, but when she comes back to herself, he is leaning over her, stroking her face.

"You're so beautiful."

Her lazy smile shifts to a grin as she raises her hips to brush along his, feeling the hardness still encased in his clothing.

“I’ve been wanting you to bend me over this table and fuck me since I saw it.”

She barely registers the heave of his chest at her words when she is pulled from the table and spun until her hands hit the hard surface with a smack.

One hand trails down her spine, the other she knows is freeing himself from his clothing.  He groans as the tip of him rubs tortuously slowly against her slit.

"Please, Attuma. Please. I need it.”

That is all he needs and he is pushing himself into her,  his hands digging into her hips tightly, exactly the way she loves it. Pleasure always needs some pain. 

He pulls back before slamming himself into her, his chest pressed firmly against her back.  She meets him with each thrust, whimpering each time he reaches his hilt.  A hand moves to her jaw, angling her so that he can claim her lips with his own, so she can taste herself on him.  

She knows he is close when the hand at her face moves back to her clit, rubbing until she climaxes again around him, her walls pulling him in.  The convulsions are enough to send him over the edge after her, spilling himself with ragged moans of her name.

They stay like this for several moments, their sweat-slicked bodies heaving air as he rests against her back.  Her elbows are wobbly, barely supporting herself and let alone him, but somehow, she manages until he pulls away, leaving her feeling empty. Several kisses are felt along her spine before he murmurs to the back of her head, 

“I’ll start a bath.” 

“Okay,” she replies with a smile, then goes over to where the clothes he bought for her at the mall are sitting in a bag on the bed. 

Her phone is there, too, lighting up. 

When she glances at it, she sees Namor’s face and his name. 

Her heart stops. 

The prince is calling her. 

She allows the call to go to voicemail, then she leaves her phone behind, forgetting all about it as she continues getting intimate with Attuma inside the bathroom. 

At the rehearsal for the ceremony happening on Saturday — just a day away  — Namor cannot get Shuri out of his mind despite standing in front of his pregnant fiancée as the shaman has them practice all that they are going to say and do at the altar. 

He told Zyanya that he was going to move on and embrace this life he has found himself unable to escape from, but it’s nearly impossible when he cannot stop dreaming about the one that got away. 

He stares at Dorma as he repeats the prayer of Ixchel, sending blessings to her womb. 

Dorma is stunning, no doubt. Absolutely sexually attractive. A pretty face, large breasts and ass, shapely legs… She’s carrying his child, and that makes her even more beautiful than she already is.  

But when he looks at her, he doesn’t feel a fraction of what Shuri does to him. 

That’s because he’s in love with that intelligent, sweet girl. 

He fucked up. 

He lost her. He knows he has. He’ll never hold her again, never taste her again, never hear her giggles and moans in his ear, never be at peace in her arms or with his head on her lap… 

“Mehen.”

He quickly glances at his mother, who doesn’t seem very pleased. He realizes that he hasn’t been saying anything for the last few minutes. 

“Excuse me. I need a few minutes.” 

The prince exits the church, and the queen is right behind him. 

“What is the matter with you!? Your princess has been following everything to a T, and you’re behaving so oddly.” 

“Huh, I wonder why that is,” he mutters without looking at her. His eyes are on the cobblestone path that leads to the woods. 

“We have all been cooperating and being positive while putting this grand wedding together within days because you could not use protection. You are going to be thirty in a few years. You are not a child. Get a grip and do your part.” 

Namor slides his hands into his pockets, cracking up although there is no happiness in it at all. His smile does not reach his eyes. 

“My soulmate is across the sea, and you expect me to be overjoyed that I’m marrying a woman I feel nothing for. Not everyone wants a marriage like yours, Naa. Loveless. Passionless. Dull.”

“And look at where this marriage got me, mehen. The most powerful woman in this country who has more say than your father. You men are not the prize; it’s the women you marry.  Dorma is perfect, and I thank Chaac every day that you didn’t end up impregnating that other one, considering how reckless you are.” 

His lips flatten. “She has a name and it’s Shuri. Shuri Udaku. And why would you say that?” 

Fen crosses her arms, looking the other way. “You know why.”

The prince enters her personal space, staring hard at her until she unwillingly looks at her son. 

“No. I don’t. Come out and say it. Why wouldn’t you want Shuri pregnant with my child?”

“Because the Almehen family could use generations that have lighter skin than us! It’s going to get them far in this world! You know it’s true!” 

Namor begins backing away from her, feeling more disgusted than he ever has before. “And there it is. There it fucking is.” 

“Where are you going, mehen!?” 

He ignores her, informing his new driver that he’d like to go home now. Avoiding all the calls and messages he receives from those inside the church, Namor stares at photos of Shuri that remain in his phone. She’s so fucking beautiful. Every single thing about her, especially her skin. 

He begins to tear up. 

So many fucking things have gone wrong that he could have prevented. He should have shielded her from this place. He should have ran away with her when he had the chance. He should have followed her home that night instead of drinking and getting involved with Dorma. 

Knowing it’s pointless as she’s been ignoring every single other call he’s been making this week, Namor sits on the edge of the bed and rings her. 

Just once. 

One more time. 

To his shock, her soft spoken voice is on the other end. 

“Why do you keep calling me, Namor? What do you want? Haven’t you done enough to me?” 

“I want you back, Shuri. I don’t want to marry Dorma. I don’t…” Namor squeezes his burning eyes. It’s going to sound so fucking awful because he’s wanted children for so many years now, and every baby is such a blessing and it’s not their fault that this happened. “I don’t want to raise a child if they’re not one we made together.” 

“Well… You should’ve thought about that while you were fucking Dorma.” 

“I… Look, I know reconciliation isn’t possible. I know my future is sealed. I know I have to take responsibility for what I’ve done. But I just needed you to know that this isn’t what I wanted. It never will be. I love you and—“ 

“I’ve been sleeping with Attuma for days.”

He hears the pounding of his heartbeat in his ears as he stands upright. 

“What?”

“Attuma’s been fucking me. And eating me. Kissing me. Touching me…” 

Namor runs a hand down his face as he begins pacing around his room. 

“You’re fucking lying.”

“If you don’t believe me, go ahead and call him. I just left the hotel today because my brother is in town now. But hey, if you want me to go back, I can gladly pass the phone over.” 

His forearm muscles twitch and grow taut while his tongue pokes against his cheek as he exhales. He hangs up on Shuri, dialing Attuma. 

“Come on, you piece of shit,” Namor murmurs, sniffing, more muscles twitching. “Come on. Don’t be a pussy. Pick up. Pick up…” 

“What do you want?”

Namor pauses, kneading his chest with his free hand. 

“Did you fuck my Shuri?” 

Attuma has the nerve to laugh. “Oh. I did.” 

A series of spiteful, incoherent curses spill from Namor’s mouth as he backs up against a wall, nearly tripping over his own feet in the process and becoming further enraged because of it.

“Ah. I see what this shit is. I fucked your ex, so you had to do the same to me. It’s revenge on Shuri’s part, too. You’re a damn rebound and nothing more.”

“Let me make this very clear to you, Prince, so you understand the type of personal this was for us. I don’t want you confused. I flew to Shuri’s city to get away from Talokan. It was the furthest I could get with the money I had, and wasn’t planning on encountering her. But I did, and she looked so Chaac damn beautiful in that café that I kissed her and brought her back to the hotel. I never thought about you or Dorma. How could I with a pussy like that?”

All Namor can do is breathe heavily as his hand slams against the wall to keep himself standing. He blinks rapidly, in disbelief. Shuri had to think about him. She had to. She did this for revenge and nothing deeper than that. She wanted to make him jealous.

And it worked.

Oh, it fucking worked. 

“You had her in a bed? You dirtied my woman?” 

“And she loved every minute of it. We have plans to travel together this summer. Plenty more hotels to dirty.” 

There’s an edge to Namor’s laughter, then he hisses into the phone. 

“Next time I see you, I’m fucking you up. Stay away from my Shuri.” He hangs up quickly, then calls Shuri again, his leg bouncing rapidly as he tries and fails to control whatever is overtaking him. 

“Do you have your answer now? Will you finally leave me alone?” 

“Come on, Shuri,” he husks into the phone. “I’ll fly out to you tonight and fuck you so much better than Attuma can. You know that. You know I will. Come on, baby. I miss you. I want you. I love you.”

“Namor—“

“What did you love about it, itzia? Was it the way his cock feels inside you? Was it his size? I made you so wet whenever we fucked. So wet and so hot. You made me hard. You’re doing it right now just by thinking of you and your tight little body.”

When she takes a shaky breath, he strokes himself over his pants. Yes, that’s all they need to fix this. Fast, hard, pleasurable thrusts into that wet, wet pussy. 

“Please stop…” 

“So are you two friends, or something more?” Namor licks his lips, feeling possessive enough to fly the damn jet himself and crash it into her backyard and just take her in all sense of the word. He begins pacing around, laughing to himself, the only thing he’s sure of right now is how irritated he is that someone else’s hands were on his Shuri. “You two planning on meeting again? I can come along this time, how’s that? Attuma can see what I do to you when I’m stroking your insides. Huh?” Namor laughs again, clenching his fist. “Oh. Oh, Shuri. You have no idea what I’m going to do to you when I see your beautiful fucking face again. I need my tongue in you, need my teeth on your skin.”

“You have a child on the way with my best friend,” she cries into the phone. “Leave me alone. I don’t want you anymore. I’ve moved on.”

“No. No, you haven’t. Why would you answer my call, Princess, if you truly moved on? You could’ve blocked me. You could’ve changed your number. But you answered. You wanted to hear my voice telling you how badly I fucked up and how badly I need you. Admit it.”

“Namor, you’re getting married tomorrow to someone else. In nine months, you’ll be taking care of the baby you had with someone else. The woman you need to be saying filthy things to is someone else. Not me.” 

“I don’t give a fuck that I’m getting married tomorrow. I’ll see you tonight. I’ll hit it so fucking good that you beg to marry me and I’ll do it, Shuri. I’ll marry you at the nearest courthouse. I’ll give you a baby. Chaac, I fucking adore you.” 

Her breath hitches and quivers. It’s a sexy, hopeful sound, one that has Namor aching and dying and longing for his Shuri. 

“Goodbye.”

The call ends abruptly. In a panic, Namor tries calling again and again and again every time he’s sent to voicemail. When he realizes that she’s blocked him, he throws his phone against the wall and screams into his hands. 

“Prince Namor?” Zyanya’s soft voice is heard. “Are you—“

“Where’s my princess?” Namor asks suddenly, hair and eyes wild and untamed. “Where’s Dorma?”

“She—She just arrived with your—“

“Send her in!” Namor shouts, snapping his fingers. “Now!”

Zyanya yelps, then hurries out of his bedroom. The prince grows hot and feverish as he awaits Dorma. 

Oh. 

So Shuri thinks she can let another man touch her, let his old friend inside her, and send him spiraling like this?

No, no, no. 

He’s going to fuck Dorma’s brains out. 

That’s what Shuri clearly wants since she refuses him.

Besides, he should be able to do whatever he pleases with his wife, yeah? He should be able to pound into her if Shuri is getting railed by Attuma. 

“Wow,” Dorma breathes once she closes the door behind her and looks at him, biting her lip. “Why do you look so sexy right now?” 

Namor approaches her rapidly, and pops the buttons off the front of her dress, letting those large, gorgeous tits breathe at last. His body is against hers, sandwiching her between himself and the wall.

“Tell me you want this. Tell me you want me.” 

The aching and throbbing between her legs increases. He can feel it. 

 “I do. I want it,” she bites back a moan as he grinds himself against her, making her feel his arousal. “Oh, you’re so huge, my Prince…” 

Her nipples are so hard, and one day they’ll be leaking something for him. He ghosts his lips over her collarbone as he lowers the straps of her dress. He blows air against her neck while pinching her nipples, and she’s melting, moaning with a shudder. 

“Mmm, what’s gotten into you?” 

“You like that, itzia?” 

He sounds so sexy to her, lust clearly in his voice, his accent thicker than ever. 

“Yes,” she groans, digging her nails into his back. “So good...” 

“I’ve been dying to see if my tongue remembers your flavor from that night.” His lips are at her ear. “Will you let me taste it?” 

She nods, frantically. Not good enough. 

“Use your words, baby.”

“Please. Taste me, Namor,” she groans, breathlessly.

“Such a good girl,” he growls before his hands hike up her dress. He slowly pulls down her panties, lowering to his knees. Draping one of her legs over his shoulders, his face is now staring at her cunt.

He growls, bringing his finger up to spread her lips. “Look at that pretty pussy. So wet. So plump. Begging to be filled.”

He swipes his tongue quickly at her clit. Dorma puts a hand over her mouth to suppress a scream. He immediately reaches up and knocks it out of the way. 

“We both know you have no shame. I want to hear you. Put your arms behind you against the wall until I tell you otherwise.”

“Oh, God, yes,” she whines, obeying him. 

“Keep your eyes on mine,” he purrs as he inches towards her pussy. His lips latch onto her clit, turning her into a writing and moaning mess, her moans bouncing through the walls of the palace bedroom. 

“Fuck, Namor!”

“That’s it, my princess. Scream for me,” his hot breath is against her core. “Go on and let those hands free. I want them in my hair.”

Her hands immediately fly down to grip his dark curls, pushing his head further against her. She doesn’t know whether she wants to throw her head back to scream or continue looking into his lust-filled eyes.

He’s gone completely feral. He feasts on her flesh as if she is the ripest fruit. Her breathing becomes frantic. 

“You taste so fucking incredible,” he groans, kissing at her flesh. He jerks himself off as he eats her, needing to release what Shuri has done to him. 

“Namor,” she whimpers, so turned on by the sight of him getting pleasure from her pleasure. “I need you to fuck me. Now. I’m aching for you.”

He pushes a finger in her instead. Her eyes widen at the intrusion. “Oh, God…” 

“A tight little thing,” he laughs, pumping his finger in and out. “That’s what I love.” He adds another finger, looking up to watch her reaction. She squirms and cries out. His thick fingers stretch her and pump in and out of her at a slow, teasing pace, rubbing at her clit with his thumb at a similar speed.

When he adds his tongue into the equation once again, she’s a goner. The coil finally snaps and she cries out loudly. 

You hear that, Queen Fen? 

This is what you wanted. 

His tongue doesn’t stop and he’s still pumping with his fingers at her sensitive core even after she orgasms. She’s a sobbing mess and it only urges him on, feeling possessive for a certain someone.

“Oh, please! I need your cock! I want you to ruin me!”

He pulls his mouth away from her dripping core and lies on his back, staring up at her hot, hot body. 

“I want you to ride me.”

She puts her legs on either side of his body. She lowers herself, her pussy hovering just above his erection. He chokes out a moan as she lowers onto his dick, taking his tip into her.

“Shit, you’re so fucking big…” Dorma brings her hands back behind her, resting them on both his legs for support. “I want you to watch your cock filling me.”

She lowers herself, taking him inch by inch. Groans slip from both their lips. She goes up again and slides back down. Eventually, she finds a delicious rhythm that has them both basking in its intensity. His cock glistens from her slick. 

After she goes up and down a few times, those breasts jiggling furiously from her speed, she brings her hands to his chest for support and slams down her hips. He bottoms out.

“Fuck…” 

She rides him as if this is something she’s done countless times before, and for all he knows, she has. A very experienced lover, whereas his Shuri was so innocent. 

He taught her so much and brought out her confidence. 

Now Attuma is fucking reaping the rewards, enjoying what belongs to him, what he desires to have. 

Dorma circles her hips and goes up and down, teasing him.

“You’re doing amazing, atan…” That word should not be for this woman, but who the fuck cares? He’s lost everything. 

She leans in, kissing him. The kiss is hungry and their tongues intertwine as she continues to ride him. When she pulls away, a line of saliva connects where their lips broke off against her chin, dripping down her sexy chest. Namor smirks. 

“You’re so wet everywhere. You feel so good around me.” He moans when she clenches purposefully. 

“I want your cum, Prince,” she whines. “I want you to come on my ass. I know you love it so much!” 

Namor growls as she rotates herself with his dick still inside, her back now facing him. He takes her hips and pounds into her. The pressure in their stomachs builds. 

“Rub that clit for me,” he moans. “Go on. Let me feel you come.”

Those words are enough. Her orgasm crashes into her like a freight train. She rubs at herself frantically, trembling violently on his cock. Tears stream down her face while she clenches too hard around him, making it difficult for him to pump in and out of her. Her breath is taken away, and she’s gasping for air as his thrusts begin to falter.

He pulls out of her with a groan, shooting spurts of warmth on her ass. As he massages it into her skin, Dorma glances over her shoulder at him. 

“Such an animal. What happened?”

Namor licks the sweat off his upper lip as his heart rate returns to normal. 

“Just realized what I have now.”

And what’s lost. 

Zyanya scurries around the palace, cleansing every inch possible before the Almehen extended family arrives to spend a few nights here. As she’s on her knees scrubbing the tiles of one hallway, she hears heels clacking and glances up. 

Dorma dirties the spots Zyanya just cleaned, giving her a smirk. Karma gets her though when she bumps into someone Zyanya wasn’t expecting until later. 

“Excuse you,” Dorma tells the new guest. “Watch where you’re going! Shouldn’t you be scrubbing something?” 

Zyanya glances at another maid, both of them wishing they had popcorn. This particular family member of the prince is not to be messed with. 

“Are you insinuating that I’m part of the help?”

Dorma looks her up and down. “Wearing those clothes? Yes.” 

“I’m the cousin of the man you’re marrying. Queen Namora of Mayapan.”

Dorma makes a face. “Oh. Welcome.”

As she struts off, Zyanya rises and runs over to Queen Namora, embracing her. 

“My love,  I didn’t expect you this morning! How your presence has been dearly needed.”

Namora places hand on her hip, looking to where Dorma has sauntered off to get dolled up for the wedding. 

“What a nasty attitude. I cannot believe Ch’ah selected her as the princess.” 

Zyanya breathes out, toying with her rag. Nicté, the other maid, is encouraging her. 

“You should tell her what you know, Anya. Maybe she can get you out of your predicament.”

“Oh, I mustn’t!” Zyanya literally cries, the tears bleeding from her eyes. “I can’t! I’ll be arrested!”

Namora arches an eyebrow. “Arrested? Now you have to tell me what’s going on. Whatever could someone like you do to be afraid of getting arrested?” 

Zyanya waves her hands in front of her face, trying to control her tears but she’s so scared of Dorma. Namora takes her by the wrist gently and pulls her into a vacant room, locking the door. 

“There. We have some privacy now. Please tell me what’s going on. I’m certain I can use some of my power to stop you from going to jail, but you have to tell me what’s going on.”

Zyanya nods, praying to Chaac that Namora will be Dorma’s downfall at last and has the strength to say what Zyanya cannot. 

“Dorma is pregnant with Prince Namor’s child, that is why they are rushing for this wedding to happen.” 

Namora gasps. “But of course! Fen is a thorough planner. I thought it was odd for this wedding to happen so quickly. What does that have to do with you, though?” 

“Well… You see, Prince Namor was originally with a lovely young woman named Shuri. You might’ve seen her pictures going around.”

“She’s gorgeous and seemed so sweet with the Talokanil kids. What happened to her?” 

“Okay. Prince Namor was courting Shuri, and his former driver, Attuma, was dating Dorma, who was Shuri’s closest friend. There was an evening here when Dorma left a positive pregnant test behind in one of the bathrooms. This was long before Prince Namor had a one time drunken affair with Dorma…” Zyanya takes a deep breath, preparing to drop the bomb while Namora listens intently. “The baby she carries belongs to Attuma, and she’s pretending it’s Prince Namor’s to trick him into marrying her! She’s after his money! That’s all she cares about, Namora, and I was going to tell your cousin but she blackmailed me! You have to do something!” 

After taking everything in, Namora forces a laugh, shaking her head. 

“So that bitch thinks she can play my cousin like that? She’s got another thing coming.”