A/N: I hope none of you are mad at me for the prolonged wait. I am going to be honest, it was a combination of everything in life, but I'm finally back. I have been writing diligently trying to get more chapters done, with minor success since I have a feeling this story is going to end soon (not for a few chapters, but sooner rather than later.)

With that, I have been writing other things to keep you all entertained after this one does end. I have one story in the works plus Midnight Pleasure which is a short collection of one-shots similar to this that you should check out for when this does inevitably end.

Alright, I'm done now. Please follow, favorite, and review. Enjoy chapter 40!

Maxon POV*

America was upset. God, it seems like recently she's been really upset about everything. I don't blame her, though. Despite being the strongest person I know, she has her soft spots and people who she cares about being mad at her for whatever reason are most definitely one of them. I watched my beautiful wife slowly walk out of the library. When she was out of my sight I sighed, rubbing my face. She was upset because Marlee was mad at her, but I was upset because Marlee was getting mad and accusing us of not getting stuff done. Not to mention that America and I were in the middle of something before Marlee came in anyway. Now everything has gone to shit, my wife is upset, and I just want to scream and punch a wall. I needed to talk to Marlee and remind her how she speaks to us, even if she is our friend. God this conversation is going to be a pain in the ass.

I exited the library, walking diligently, but being careful I didn't run into America. The problem was that Marlee stormed out and I have no idea where she could have gone. I saw a maid just as I began wandering around the first floor and I got her attention. "Excuse me, Miss?"

She turned, shocked by who was addressing her. She curtsied hastily, "Your Majesty. What may I do for you?"

"Would you be able to find Lady Woodwork and send her to my office as soon as possible?"

"Of course, Your Majesty. Anything else?"

I sigh. "One other thing."

"Of course. What else can I do for you?"

"If it's not too much to ask, I would appreciate it if you would send some strawberry tarts, hot tea, and some mint chocolate to Queen America's office. Just like a half dozen or so of tarts, a kettle of tea, and then like three or four chocolates for her from me. If you can, write a note telling her that I'll be in my office tugging my ear if she needs me. She'll understand it."

"Of course. No worries at all. I will have all of that done for you."

"Thank you. What is your name, Miss?"

She blushes. "Samantha, Your Majesty."

"Thank you, Miss Samantha. Your service is much appreciated. My apologies for not knowing your name sooner."

"No worries at all, Your Majesty. I'll get all of that done right away!" She curtsies again and leaves to do as I asked.

I smile to myself and hurry up to my office. No time to waste. I make my way up rather quickly, skipping steps and running through my corridors to make it to my office before Marlee does. I opened my door and closed it with a loud slam. I don't even care though because at least I'm in my office. I sit down at my desk, pulling out papers as if I need to appear busy when Marlee arrives. It's not like she would care. She probably knows why she is being summoned to my office, and it's not because I want to catch up with her. Appearing busy should be the least of my concerns, but still I take a second to make sure I have something on my desk that isn't my knick knacks. Instead of actually looking at them, I look at the photo of America and I on my desk. As much as I love the new pictures we've taken since our engagement, my favorite will always be the picture of us looking at her Halloween costume plans. She was so excited that I made this happen for her, and in turn I was happy as well. Seeing her bright smile as she talked about her costume or seeing her family made me equally as happy. Talking with Shalom about what I wanted for her made me happy because telling her what we talked about and my plan to marry her made her smile. I feel like that's when I knew she loved me. I still wanted to hear her say it, but seeing her excited to marry me was when it all clicked in my head that she must love me even a little bit because otherwise she wouldn't be that… overjoyed.

Knocking interrupted my thoughts. Right, Marlee. I went to the door, adjusted myself slightly, then opened the dark door. Marlee stood, waiting with her arms crossed over her chest. I opened the door wider for her. She entered wordlessly. I closed the door with a hefty sigh to turn back and see her looking at the same photo I was looking at on my desk. I smile.

"Do you remember those days as much as I do?" I asked her.

She sighs, "Depends on the part. The costume planning, sure. Little bits of it. Mainly our pictures together. I was so excited, but I had no ideas. I remember telling Carter how to spot me at the party when he told me he was going. I remember that America was beaming the entire time. She talked endlessly about how excited she was, and I couldn't blame her. She was going to get handed her entire world, you know? The events on that night and the following morning..." She gets the chills. Her hand instantly lands on her wrist, rubbing over one of the more raised scars. She sighs and squeezes her eyes shut, almost like she's trying to erase the memory, but things like that just don't disappear. I would know. "More than I care to remember. Carter was amazing to me that night. You were amazing too, but I'm sorry I had to put you through all of that because of our foolishness."

"I know you are. I'm sorry I had to even do that. But for what it's worth, I did what I could to make it easier afterwards. I wanted you to be here with him and I did manage that without my father knowing. Even more so, I wanted you to be around for America. She only had you here."

"I know you did. You did everything just right." She clears her throat. "So, what can I do for you, King Maxon? You did summon me here and I know it wasn't to talk about Halloween a year ago."

"Right." I sigh, "I wanted to talk about what happened in the library."

She looks down. "Go ahead."

"You do realize that you yelling at us wasn't correct, right?"

"I do. But I stand by what I said to you guys in there, even if I didn't use the correct tone. You all should have boundaries and behave while working, especially since you were told not to mess around during this one meeting."

"But you didn't see the 20 minutes before that. And you didn't know that we started early because I wanted to talk to America alone before Magda came to drop us off lunch, right?"

Her eyes widened like she was caught committing a crime or something. Then she bows her head down. "I did not."

"America and I are adults and we know how to conduct ourselves. We did the actual work before running off together. We do actually get things done when we are together, too. Were we being irresponsible and maybe even immature for doing it in the library? I hate to admit it, but yes because we are still young and we are still in the honeymoon phase. But we both said yes. We both did. And it was her idea. So, I don't need to be accused of just having my way with her like she's some sort of sex slave. I respect her and what her words mean when I ask her or if she asks me. If at any point she had said no or to stop I would have and she would do the same for me."

She sighs. "Look, I'm not going to pretend that in my fit of rage I was in the right because Lord knows that I wasn't completely there. I still think there are better ways to conduct yourself, and I guess I just expected something different from you guys."

"But was yelling at us the best thing?" I ask her. I try not to sound condescending or like I'm speaking to a child just because Marlee isn't a child. She's an adult and knows right from wrong, yet I can't help the tone that my voice takes.

"No."

"So are we going to yell when we get angry?"

"No."

"Good." I smile at her. "Relax, okay? We aren't going to fire you or anything. America and I need you too much for that. And America and I are not mad at you. I just wanted to make sure that you knew the proper way to handle that next time, if there is a next time. America and I appreciate you Marlee. Truly. Words and actions can hurt, and it's not your fault that you had an outbreak. Everyone has their moments, but America was very shaken after you left."

"Oh my god. How bad?"

"She was crying. She's been under a lot of stress recently, and I personally think that the stress is making everything she feels more intense. So normally, you raising your voice wouldn't phase her, but because of the stress, she just was breaking."

"I'll apologize to her as soon as I leave here."

"That's good. Look, Marlee. You do so much around here and you shouldn't be stressed about us and what we do. Okay? That's not in your job description at all. You have so much on your plate; please don't add babysitting America and Maxon to your list, okay? So, here's what I'm going to do for you. You are going to take the rest of the day off. Go rest and relax. Take a nap, read a book, watch a movie, hang out in the Women's room, whatever you need to do to relax and rest. Royal orders because America would agree with me, too. Carter has the rest of the day off as well. You can go let him know then enjoy some downtime together. Okay?"

"Of course. My apologies for my outbreak earlier."

"No worries at all. I just want you to know that we aren't mad at you, okay? Now, go rest. Enjoy it. You and Carter can even have a private date night, too. No need to come to dinner, alright?"

"That sounds wonderful. Thank you, King Maxon."

"Not a problem. Enjoy."

"Of course. Thank you." She curtsies and exits my office. I sit down on my couch and practically collapse as I do. I am so drained from this morning. A nap wouldn't kill me, I need to sleep. I turn my body to lay down and adjust so I'm more relaxed. I sigh in contentment. It's so comfortable. It would be so much better with America in my arms, though.

I must have fallen asleep on my couch because when I awoke, America was cuddling into my open arms with her head on my chest, practically laying on top of me. Which was more than fine because not only was it extremely comfortable to have her laying on top of me, she doesn't weigh a whole lot so it wasn't crushing me. I tried my best not to move or wake her if she was sleeping. Inevitably, I did wake my angel of a wife by my slight shifting to get more comfortable and hopefully fall back asleep.

She peers her head up at me, "Hello Sleepy Head."

"Hello Darling."

"Did you nap well?"

"Very much so. And what about you down there?"

She giggles. It sounds like music to my ears. "I did rest well. Although it was only 20 minutes since I'd even come in here."

"Oh really?"

"Yes. I was coming by to check to see how things with Marlee went and thank you for the tarts. When I came in, I saw you asleep over here. I couldn't help but join you. You just looked so… peaceful." She tells me. I see her face flush up when she admits to joining me on the couch.

"I'm always happy to have you with me."

"Same here. So, how did it go with Marlee?"

"It went well. I feel a little bad because I did kinda go off on her a little bit, but I think I made up for it."

"And how is that?"

"Well, Carter and Marlee have the rest of the day off and a private date night so she can relax. I don't want anything to happen to her, especially because she's pregnant."

America smiles up at me. "You are going to be so good to me when I'm pregnant."

"I better be or I'll never forgive myself." I admit, allowing myself to be truly vulnerable in this one moment.

"You will. Marlee isn't your wife and you gave her the entire day off to relax. Being stressed can lead to a miscarriage or early labor. You are really making sure that she's gonna be okay and that the baby is going to make it to term."

"I didn't know that you could go into early labor due to stress. To be fair, I don't know much about pregnancy, but still. How did you know that, my intelligent firecracker?"

She rolls her eyes at the little nickname but still replies with a slight smile. "When we found out that she was pregnant. We did reading and we both took notes so she could look them over and make sure nothing happened to the little baby inside her."

"That's sweet. God I wish there was a baby inside you."

"I know. One year. I want you for one year all to myself. Okay? Then you can get me as pregnant as you want and I will love both you and that baby so much."

"One year with the love of my life alone…" I sigh, "Alright, but only because I love you that much."

She giggles, "And I love you. You know I do want to get pregnant, right?"

"I know. We've talked about this. We both want a big family. Lots of kids."

"Exactly. Lots of mini you's and mini me's running around. Lots of laughter, too."

"Laughter, you say?"

"Yes. I want to hear everybody having a good time and laughing!"

"What? Like this?" I ask before reaching her side with my fingers. I start to tickle her and she squeals! I laugh at her as she squirms over me trying to get out of my reach all while giggling and squealing.

"Maxon! Stop it!"

"But you wanted laughter, right?" I kept tickling her side. She shifts over me even more.

"Maxon Calix Schreave, you will be paying for this later!"

I stop, "Oh will I?"

She stands up to dominate over me physically, "Yes you will."

Unfortunately for her, it doesn't matter how much she tries to tower over me, I still dominate her. I stand up, we stand chest to chest. I look down at her and she looks up at me. I see a wave of fear wash over her strong eyes. I smirked at her. I lower my voice to ask, "Wanna try that again, doll?"

She gulps, "You will be paying for that later."

I smile, "Meet me in my room. You have ten minutes to change into that strappy lingerie I haven't seen on you yet. Every minute you are late is one orgasm you are deprived of. You better get moving cause time starts now."

I watch her eyes widen as she turns and bolts out of my door. I grin evilly. Once I'm certain she is out of the hallway, I exit as well. Confidence washes over me like the sea washing against the shore. When I get to my room, I check the clock. Nine minutes.

I unbutton a few of the buttons on my shirt, exposing my chest a little bit. It cools me down just enough. I spray some of my cologne on my bare chest, patting it in with my hands. I check my watch. Seven minutes.

With time ticking slower than normal, I head to my closet. I grab the ties I have set aside from our first time doing this. I smile. I also grab the little purple vibrator I got for her, putting it back where it belongs in my dresser along with the ties. I look at my watch. Four minutes.

I decided to prepare the bed for her. Instead of allowing her body to ruin the bed sheets when she cums, I place towels out where her hips should lay. That way, it's as simple as getting rid of the towels, not our entire bedding. Besides, I won't have to explain it all to the butler who comes in, which was a mess in and of itself last time. I flip up the hidden latches from under the bed frame. I check my watch. Twenty seconds.

I watch it the entire time. She only has 5 seconds to be here.

Five. Four. Three. Two. I hear the door open and by the time the clock strikes, signaling it's been ten minutes, America is in front of me, on her knees, wearing that black lingerie that makes me wish I was inside her.

"You were almost late… Any reason why, Doll?"

"Unfortunately, this lingerie is harder to get on than I remembered. My apologies, Sir."

When she calls me 'sir' in this manner, I have to stop myself from jumping up and down with joy. She's the only one who ever calls me that, everyone else refers to me as 'Your Majesty'. So when she addresses me as 'sir', it ignites a fire in my body that no one can put out. It gives me a different type of power that is intoxicating and refreshing. It's addicting, and she's the only one who can make me feel that way.

"That is unfortunate because you, Doll, look so damn sexy… It makes up for it. You're forgiven for almost being late. Let's get this started. Doll, use the safe word if needed, okay? Now, up on the bed. You know what to do."

She rises from the floor to follow my command. I watch her turn to go to the bed, her ass shakes a little as she walks. God she's sexy.

"I lied." I changed my mind. She peers over her shoulder to look at me. "I want you to stand in front of me. I want to see your beautiful body, right now."

She turns back and stands in front of me, arms at her side. I smile. I look her up and down. God she's perfect. The bra barely covers her breast, but it's perfect. Then underwear are hot as fuck, too. It cinches her waist and gives her an allusion of a smaller waist, even though she's already pretty thin. I trail down more. It's just a simple high waisted black thong attached to this garter set, but it's still hot. The thigh garter is squeezing her thigh just right. I walk around her to stare at her backside for a minute. She tilts her head down, probably trying to hide any heat on her face as I stare unapologetically at her. I smack her ass, leaving a little red mark on it. I go back around to her.

"Sexy and perfect. I love it. I love you. You can go to our bed now. Thank you for indulging me."

"You're welcome, Sir." She responds with a smile before walking to our bed. I watch her from across the room as she lays down on the bed. Her legs spread out and her arms above her head, crossed at the wrist. She lays, eagerly waiting for me to do something to her. Oh how I want to do so much to her.

"You're behaving so well for me, Doll. You must want extra rewards, am I correct?"

She sheepishly answers me, "Yes, Sir."

I chuckle. "I couldn't hear you, Doll. Mind repeating that?"

"Yes, Sir. I do want extra rewards tonight…" She says a little louder.

"I appreciate your honesty, Doll. We'll get this going for you then, yes?"

She nods and I can't help the devilish smile that crosses my lips. I grab the ties from the drawer beside her. I can feel her eager eyes following my movements. I start with her hands, leaning over her to tie her wrist above her head. It goes much quicker than before. She pulls on them slightly, testing how much she is actually restrained. I smile inwardly. Then I shift to her ankles. One at a time they are bound to the post at the bed. She, once again, test how much she is actually restrained by attempting to pull her knees up. With minimal movement, she smiles; I can't help but smile back at her.

"Let's get this started shall we?"

She nods, looking at me with so much want, so much need. I crawl on the bed, through her open legs and over her torso, to plant a kiss on her lips. As we kiss, our lips and tongues mingling together, I think how lucky I am to love someone who loves me the same way in return.

I run my hand from her hip up to the side of her breast. I can feel her shift below me, trying to follow my motions. I just smiled into our kiss. As my hand trails down, I shift its actions to lead over her thigh and to her sweet spot. She writhes below me, arching her back and moaning loudly.

"Oh fuck…" She whispers softly, probably hoping I didn't hear her.

"It's gonna be a long night for you, but remember May is coming over for dinner, so try your best not to be a complete mess later."