The Royal Heir - The Valtoria Diaries 2

The voyeuristic squirrel

** This chapter is also NSFW... these two have a job to do you know :) **

Drake was actually impressed when he saw the hire car they'd been assigned. It was more of a truck really, a Toyota RAV4 with a decent specification. After he'd signed off all of the paperwork and the keys had been handed over to him, he circled around it a few more times, like a lion inspecting its prey, then opened the driver door and sat in the seat for a few minutes. It was going to feel good spending two weeks on the road in this thing.

Then he remembered who he was going to be spending those two weeks on the road with, as they all came strolling over with their cases and hastily purchased last minute snacks.

"Yay, it's blue!" Jones yelled.

"Ooh, nice!" Maxwell said, jumping into the front seat. "I call shotgun!"

"Aw, not fair," Jones grumbled, jumping into the back seat.

"I hope you're not talking about an actual shotgun," Hana looked a little concerned.

"Oh my god oh my god, Jen, look, it has an iPod deck!"

"AAAA! Your roadtrip playlists are go!" They exchanged a high-five. Then a low-five.

Drake looked up at Hana, who was examining the car's exterior. "Can we just leave those two behind?"

"You would miss them really," Hana acknowledged. "Shall we get the cases in the trunk?"

"Let's get the cases in the trunk guys..." He looked across to find Maxwell leaning into the back of the truck, his lips parked on Jones's. "Oh no. No no no."

Jones giggled and pulled away. "I was just showing him my snacks."

"Listen up. There are two rules on this trip. Rule number one. I'm the driver. Terms of the rental."

"Pretty sure you're the only one of us who can drive anyway," Jones pointed out.

"Wait, didn't you drive Drake to the safehouse after he'd been shot?" Maxwell looked confused.

"Yeah, I kind of figured it out, but I don't actually have a license..."

"The less I have to remember about that ordeal, the better," Drake sighed. "Rule number two. No making out in the car."

"Awwww..." the two of them chorused.

"Now go stick your cases in the trunk. We've got a lot of mileage to cover if you want to get to Niagara Falls today."

"Aw, yeah! My epic itinerary awaits us!" Maxwell pulled out his phone. "I'm so pumped for our route."

"The route's stupid," Drake pointed out. "We almost get to Texas then we go back up to Kansas..."

"And there is a very good reason for that, Drake my good man. Which you really won't want to miss! Trust me. This will be the best ten days of your life!"

"Somehow, I doubt that," Drake said, but there was a big part of him that was relishing this roadtrip. The simple life on the road, seeing the sights, finding some authentic places to stop over, some good times with some good friends away from all the courtly dramas. And the thought of spending some time on the ranch at the end of it all before the wedding was quite appealing too.

Once they were all packed in and seated, Drake set the satnav for Niagara, and drove from the compound onto the open road.

"Woooo!" called Maxwell from the passenger seat. "Step on it buddy! Pedal to the metal!"

"I'm not getting pulled over five minutes into this trip," he pointed out.

"Spoken like a responsible driver," Hana said with a tease of disbelief in her voice.