“My queen, my love, my eternity,” he says, his velvet voice a low rumble. “You render me in awe.”
I place a hand over his heart.
It beats as wildly as mine beneath my palm.
“Good,” I whisper.
With a small laugh, he leaves a soft kiss upon my cheek.
Not enough.
My lips crash into his, demanding more. And he gives it—his tongue greets mine in slow and languid brushes and tastes. Too quickly I’m rendered drunk and at risk of melting in his arms. My fingers curl into his shirt, keeping him close.
He’s become an obsession—and he knows it.
Heavy with reluctance, I draw back.
“The castle has seen enough of us in the last day,” I say, laughing.
“Later then,” he replies, the words racing along my spine.
“Keep the cloak,” I add.
His eyes sparkle with amusement. “The cloak? Not the crown?” A dark brow arches.
“The crown does nothing for me,” I reply with a small shrug.
“But the cloak?”
“But the cloak,” I say, my voice low as I leave a lingering kiss on the corner of his lips.
“Done,” he laughs as he sweeps me into his arms, lifting me off my feet.
Laughing as he makes lightwork of the stairs I would have struggled with, he sets me upon my feet at the bottom. He offers me his arm.
“I have a request,” I say, refraining from taking the offer.
His brows crease. “It’s yours,” he says without hesitation.
Always the damned fool.
“I’d like to stop there.” I point to the office door. “All the mirrors in my quarters were covered. I never got the chance to see my own reflection.”
“Well, we’re already breaking one tradition today. What’s another?” he returns with a growing smile.
It’s my turn for brows to crease.
“A Sovereign King and Queen typically reserve the first viewing for their people. We were expected to see each other for the first time today in their company,” he explains as I take his arm. He laughs as we cross the foyer. “I wasn’t going to wait to see you.”
Tearing my eyes from the tables and arches of flowers and ferns to his, he offers me a breath-stealing smile.
“But why cover mirrors?” I ask.
“It’s a gesture of trust,” he says. “Your people strive to do right by you, just as you do the same for them.”
Again withyourpeople.
Who, in all parameters of the word, aremypeople after today. Along with Ryc, I’ll be responsible for their health, safety, and ability to prosper—even if it’s for a short time.
