Charmed By The Mountain Prince (Crown Me Book 2): Crown Me, #2

By Frankie Love

"This is happening, Princess. It's time you took my royal c*ck."

PRINCE GARRICK

Being a Prince may be my f*cking duty, but there's no way in hell I'm living in the stuffy castle.
I prefer my cabin in the woods; the one I built with my own two hands.
The time has come for my arranged marriage.
Hell, there are worse things than having a woman in my bed every night.
Regardless of who this Princess is, I'm not changing my ways.
But then Iris shows up with ultimatums and a perfect p*ssy.
One of us has gotta give.

PRINCESS IRIS

I leave home with optimism … somehow I've got to make this work.
So what if this prince has a reputation for being a royal ass?
It's still an adventure — which is all I've ever wanted.
Garrick is ruggedly handsome and our chemistry is undeniable.
But the rumors are true…
He's more than a jerk; he's stubborn as hell.
But I have a plan to change his cocky ways.
He just has to agree to it.
Wish me luck.

DEAREST READER: It's time to cozy up with a new mountain prince. Garrick is filthy dirty and needing to be tamed. Get ready to fantasize about all the ways you can whip him into shape. ;)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Frankie Love
• Release date: Oct 4, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201607920

Frankie Love

Frankie Love writes filthy-sweet stories about bad boys and mountain men. As a thirty-something mom who is ridiculously in love with her own bearded hottie, she believes in love-at-first-sight and happily-ever-afters. She also believes in the power of a quickie. Get ready to fall in love … you deserve it! **Frankie also writes under the name Charlie Hart!

Book preview

1

As far as I can tell from movies and books, being a princess is the pinnacle of most girls’ childhood fantasies. I get it.

There’s a lot about being a princess that’s pretty damn sweet.

For example, the title: Princess. And the crown jewels. I mean, put a tiara on any woman’s head and she’s going to look ten times hotter. That’s not even a question. Diamonds literally are a girl’s best friend.

But there are a lot of other things about being a princess that aren’t so cush. Especially when you’re a princess in a country that’s virtually bankrupt.

Because the truth is, I’ve never had a place to wear said tiara. There aren’t any balls or galas to go to—mostly because Father sold the private jet a decade ago, and his foolish spending has kept us under lock and key. In fact, I’ve been stuck on the island of Elexia my entire life.

And all I want in the whole wide world is a chance to explore. I want to travel to exotic lands and experience different cultures and take in everything this planet has to offer.

Instead, I’m here in this provincial country, surrounded by oceans.

I know, boohoo. The princess doesn’t get to leave her majestic tropical island where palm trees sway in the salty breeze and fresh fish is caught for an outdoor supper.

And I’m grateful, I truly am—but still, I want to see something. Anything. Here in Elexia, I can’t really work to pay for a plane ticket to a new locale. I’m a princess and my life is not my own.

So I’m stuck staring at my Instagram feed, because it allows me to imagine a life bigger than the one I have.

I follow travel bloggers hiking across Morocco or backpacking through Europe. I imagine a life that’s more than the selfies I take at the same beach year after year, attempting to make my life look more exciting than it really is.

When Father calls my sisters and me into the throne room, I know something big is about to happen. My life is finally going to start.

Which is good. I want a reason to live somewhere besides my virtual reality on the Internet. I want a reason to delete a dozen apps and go all in with something new.

So here we stand in the throne room—and honestly, this room really needs a new title. My sister Dahlia has reupholstered the cushion on that throne a thousand times and polished it with her own spit, to no avail. It still looks old, and not in a cute, shabby chic way. This throne room is just plain old dingy.

Not that it matters. No one is coming to Elexia to see my father. He isn’t exactly a political force to be reckoned with. He’s more like a nice, slightly stressed man who’s pretty much in over his head.

The only person who ever comes around this place is Gibraltar, my cousin, who will inherit the crown after my father dies. My sister Violet has a stick up her rear, but Gibraltar is a whole other level of insufferable. At least Violet helps people, and looks out for everyone else. Gibraltar though ...

I don’t even know why I’m talking about him. I’m just grateful royalty stopped marrying their cousins a hundred years ago. I may be desperate for a ticket out of here, but it certainly will not be as Gibraltar’s bride.

So when Father gathers us together, and tells us that we have the ability to save our poor impoverished country, I’m all ears. I’m ready for some freaking excitement, something that has a wider scope than my cell phone camera.

I pocket my phone, not that I have anything interesting to Snapchat anyways, and look at my father.

This poor man has been through the wringer. I mean not having a single son born to you, when you’re a freaking king, is terrible. I honestly feel bad for the guy.

So here he is calling in his three daughters with big news. A Cheshire cat grin spreads across his face and for a moment I think maybe something good is finally going to happen to our family.

My older sister, Violet—she deserves the world. She literally hands out soup to the hungry, and blankets to those without. And Dahlia? She’s so completely innocent, and I want her to stay that way, even though she would be content twirling around on the sandy beach, eating fruit from nearby trees, and daydreaming of her nowhere-to-be-found Prince Charming.

Which makes me look like the girl who has screwy priorities—but I like to say I’m just misunderstood. Because for all of Violet’s helping, and all the gentleness Dahlia doles out, I’m the one who has always wanted more.

When I was six years old, I tried to run away. I packed my knapsack and tried to go, only to learn I was living on an island. And that I wasn’t going anywhere. Ever.

I cried for days.

I remember my mother sitting me down and explaining that it wasn’t the worst thing in the world to have a home.

And I remember looking into her pensive eyes and telling her that for me, a girl who wanted to fly, having clipped wings was unbearable.

She held me, nodded sadly, as if she knew.

And maybe she did. She was once a Princess too.

For some women, being a Princess is enough. For me, though, I’d give it all up if it meant I could soar.

My sisters just thought I was a brat for trying to run away. They never understood what it felt like to be tethered to a place you wanted to leave.

How can I help, father? Dahlia asks. I’m just a princess.

I can practically hear Violet roll her eyes. Those words just a princess grate on her more than any other phrase.

Marriage, my father explains. The plan for you, my daughters, is to enter into arranged marriages to Princes in other countries in exchange for dowries that will replenish Elexia’s momentary monetary deficit.

I blink, thanking my lucky stars.

FINALLY, PEOPLE.

As my father announces that the recklessly handsome Prince Hunter is going to be Violet’s husband, my older sister sinks to the floor. Dahlia will marry the agreeable Prince Lucas, and of course she has only one reaction: selflessness. She’s on the floor consoling Violet.

I haven’t even heard who my husband will be, but already this is the best news I’ve heard all year.

All decade.

I’m getting the heck out of dodge.

I want more. And yes, I know I sound like a VHS recording of Ariel in The Little Mermaid. But is that the worst thing in the world, to want more than this water-locked island has to offer? Because I feel like I’m drifting in a circle, like I haven’t started my life, and all I see when I look at social media on my stupid phone is a big, bright world waiting for me.

I want in on it.

And who am I to marry? I ask tentatively. My fingers are already wrapped around my cell phone; I’m ready to Google the shit out of whoever he says is my royal ticket out of here.

You’ll be marrying Prince Garrick of Alpinweiss, my father says, holding up his hand. And before you put up a fuss, Iris, let me explain. His family is incredibly wealthy. The country of Alpinweiss is an abundant land, full of natural resources and a military that has kept them front and center in international negotiations. And while Garrick is known for being a bit of a recluse—he hasn’t shown his face in the public sector for years, but...

I tune out the rest of his words. Because literally none of them matter.

The country of Alpinweiss is abundant. That translates to the more I’m looking for. The more I’ve been dreaming about.

I wrap my arms around Father, never having been so excited in my entire life.

I am going to marry a prince.

I am leaving Elexia, finally!

I’ve never dreamed of finding Prince Charming ... but I think my own happily ever after fantasy is just about to come true.

2

Oh, hell no.

Look, my parents have been running potential wife options by me for the last two fucking years. I’ve vetoed every last one of them. I’m not opposed to marriage—of course not. I want a woman to keep me warm just like the next man, but I’m not interested in a woman who doesn’t understand a mountain prince like me.

Alpinweiss is a country full of money. We’re rich for one motherfucking reason: we’re not idiots. Though I tend to think the people my parents surround themselves with are a bunch of fucking jokes, always holding their heads high like they’re better than everyone else, never thinking about the common man who needs a leg up.

That’s why I live like I do. I don’t think just because I have a title I should have any special privileges.

We told you after you nixed the last princess we found that the next time we found a viable option, we were agreeing to it with or without your consent. Remember? my father says.

I swing my axe into the final log, chopping it into a good size for my wood-burning stove. I remember the conversation from last month, clear as the crisp morning air. My parents aren’t forcing me ... hell, I forced this upon myself for taking so damn long to make up my mind. I knew this day was going to come.

So, Son, my mother says, we found a princess whose father will actually send his daughter out here, to you, in the middle of nowhere—though of course we didn’t detail the state of your housing.

Mother looks