“Oh god!” she cries, her eyes rolling back in her head.
I reach between us, find her clit with my fingers, and start to circle it in time with my thrusts. Her reaction is immediate as she sucks in a sharp intake of breath and grips harder at my flesh.
I’m close already, the dual stimulation of her tight cunt and the sounds she’s making plow me toward the edge. I drive into her harder, the bed creaking and groaning beneath us, sweat beading on my brow. Her other leg climbs up my body to my shoulders, changing the angle, and allowing me to go even deeper. We move together, her body yielding to mine, taking everything I give her.
And when I can’t hold off another second, when she feels too damn perfect to even try, I utter, “Come now.” My voice strains with the effort of my own control. “Come for me, Bellamy.”
It’s as if her body has been waiting for those words. For permission from me to let go. She shatters instantly, her orgasm ripping through her with an intensity that has her crying out my name while her nails leave half-moons on my shoulders. The sight of her coming undone, combined with the pulsing of her pussy around my cock, triggers my own release. I thrust deep two more times, then still, pleasure exploding through me as I empty myself inside her with a low growl. Hot spurts of my cum fill her up, my muscles tightening and tensing,even as I force my eyes open to watch her as she watches me.
I collapse against her and roll us until we lie tangled together, our breathing slowly returning to normal. Carefully, I remove the plug, setting it aside to be cleaned later.
“I can’t believe you just did that.”
I quirk a eye down at her. “What?”
Her face is flushed. “Removed that. That was for me to do.”
I kiss her temple and hold her closer. “Except your body is mine as you are.”
“Freaking kings,” she grouses, but there’s no heat to it as she curls against me, her body soft and pliant in the way it only is after I’ve thoroughly exhausted her.
I press a kiss to her forehead and rub the muscles of her arms and shoulders. She sighs contentedly. “Did I hurt you, my sweets?”
“Not even a little. That was…”
“It was,” I agree, because I know. “It’s you.”
“It’s us,” she counters.
It is us. There’s something that goes beyond the physical into a realm of connection that defies explanation or even logic. It’s not something I knew could exist. Never dared to imagine it was possible.
I hold her close as she drifts toward sleep, her body warm against mine. “Happy birthday.”
She doesn’t reply, already asleep, and I’m content to lie here with her, watching her peaceful face, feeling the steady beat of her heart against my chest, feeling the diamond around her neck press into my skin. And I surrender to this, to this happiness, to this calm. I allow it to push the perpetual darkness and storm away, savoring it for as long as I can, knowing it’s just for now. That all too soon it’ll come raging back when we least expect it.
It always does.
23
BELLAMY
It’s been a week since our mini-vacation, and I could already use another one. I got a call yesterday morning from my father’s case manager. He was not having a good day, and I raced into Tourin and had to sit down with a few of the staff to discuss a care plan. My father had wandered again. Thankfully he didn’t get too far this time and didn’t get in any trouble like last time. Though, it feels impossible now to regret how I got my job and found Sebastian.
I need to go see him again today. I need to sit with him and be with him. Something I haven’t done nearly as often as I used to since I started working here at the palace. I’m finding it harder and harder to balance it all. My father needs me, and the children need me, and Sebastian needs me, and I need them all and I haven’t figured out quite how to do that effectively.
That’s where the exhaustion creeps in.
Which is exactly why at five forty-five in the morning as Phaedra climbs into bed with me, I don’t open my eyes at first. Thank goodness I’m alone. Not that I’ve slept in Sebastian’s bed all night yet or he in mine. Hell, I wouldn’t even let him come with me yesterday to see my father, though he offered.
I have no idea how his children will react to the notion of me being with their father.
This relationship is precarious. A lot can happen with it. But the longer this goes on, the more intense my feelings become, the more out of control everything feels to me. Maybe that’s why I’m so exhausted. I have a diamond heart around my neck, but what the fuck does it actually mean? I’m risking so much by loving a man I have no shot at a real future with.
This is when some prior experience or even a mother to talk to would come in handy. This relationship isn’t normal. It’s not average.
The world would see this as something sinister instead of beautiful. They wouldn’t understand. He can tell me all the pretty words he wants, but in the end, I’ll be the slut who seduced a widower, a king, a father of three. I’ll be splashed across every tabloid, and while I’m not sure how much I care about that for myself, I don’t want that for him and especially not for the children.
Besides, it’s no one’s business but ours.
