“I know you do. You owe me. Big. Like really motherfucking big, you know that, right?”
Nate somehow smiled and winced at the same time. “I know. I won’t let you down.”
“See that you don’t.” He gave Nate a hug. “Proud of you, Nate. You did good.”
Nate hugged him back tightly. He had lost a love years ago, and Ethan knew what a struggle it had been for him to love again. Oh, Nate had slept with his fair share of women—he, along with Lorenzo, alternated titles of ‘Playboy Prince’ in the tabloids for years—but he’d never loved again until Charlie.
Nate slapped him on the back before stepping away. “How long are you here for?”
“I was just going to ask you the same. My schedule changed and I’ve only got a few more hours of R and R, then I’m back on ship until we leave in a week or so. You?”
“Final trade talks are tomorrow, followed by a state dinner. We’ll fly out afterwards and land back in Valleria in the morning.”
“Not much of a honeymoon.”
Nate grinned. “There is a bedroom on the plane, you know.”
Charlie slapped his arm. “Nate!”
Nate just kept grinning, tugged her against him, and put an arm around her. “Sorry, my lovely wife.”
Ethan shook his head; he did not need to hear this. “I’d have our lawyers confirm the ceremony was legal once you’re back in Valleria. Better yet, just find someone in Valleria to do the small ceremony again, just to be on the safe side. Unless you want the big, swanky wedding that Alex and Rebecca are getting?”
Both Charlie and Nate replied at the same time. “No.”
“That’s what I thought.”
“When are you back in Valleria? Could you do it again?” Nate asked, hopeful.
“I won’t be back for some time, maybe not even for Alex and Rebecca’s wedding.” His thoughts flitted to Anda, who’d still been naked in bed when he’d left her. After Australia, it would be months and months until he saw her again, and until he even saw any of his family again.
Nate gave his shoulder a squeeze. “Then we’ll see you when we see you. Call in the meantime when you can.”
There were times when his ship might go into ‘blackout’ mode—no calls or communications in or out unless mission-related. As a royal, he knew Marcello could always get word to him, if needed, and he could do the same, even during a blackout. Another princely perk none of the rest of his men on ship enjoyed, and one he was grateful for.
He gestured to the door of his med bay. “Come on. Let’s pretend to finish the ‘tour’ you’re on, so we can get you off ship.” He said a few words to Admiral Fraser, then escorted his family out.
Charlie assumed a more ‘royal in public’ pose, her hand loosely linked with Nate’s. “Do you think anyone suspected?”
“I doubt it.” Ethan glanced around as they wove through the belly of the ship and slowly ascended to the top deck. Crewmen came to attention as he passed, though that wasn’t really for him this time, it was for Nate. Word of another royal on board spread like wildfire. Gossip never spread faster than it did on a contained ship, that was the truth, but no one would have dared come near the med bay with him, Nate, and the Admiral there unless they’d been injured or called to the bay by one of them. It was incredibly unlikely that anyone had overheard the ceremony behind the med bay’s closed doors.
The sun was bright and warm as they stepped onto the deck in Australian summer. It was strange to think of it being winter back home, to imagine the cold, crisp air that would swirl in the sleeping palace gardens where he’d often go for a run, the slight chill inside the palace walls that fires and localized central heating never quite dissipated. He loved the traveling aspect of the Navy, but the longing for home hit him straight in the gut at the oddest times.
He wished Anda were here, so he could share his thoughts with her, see if she felt the same way. Did she miss home when she was off on acting adventures or spy-related travel? Did she—
“Earth to Ethan.” Nate bumped a shoulder against his. “Where’d you go?”
“Sorry, just thinking of home.” He realized with a start that Anda felt like home to him, too. “Let me arrange the chopper for you.”
After speaking to the pilot and deck crew, he walked back to Nate. “Take care, brother.”
Nate gave him a kiss on each cheek—a traditional Vallerian greeting—and brought him in for another hug. “Take care of yourself, Ethan. I’ll not forget what you did for me today.”
He took a few moments to absorb the words, to catalogue the feeling of his big brother’s arms around him and their warmth and comfort and compassion. Nate could be annoying—really fucking punch-worthy annoying—but they were still brothers, and they always would be, which wasn’t annoying at all.
As they broke apart, Ethan returned the cheek kisses and gave the same to Charlie before hugging her, too. He whispered low so Nate wouldn’t hear. “Take care of him. He needs you more than he realizes.”
“I will. Thank you, Ethan. Truly.”
