I arched a brow. “You expect me to eatfrom there?”
He leaned close, his voice dropping to a teasing rasp. “I expect you to obey your king.”
I gasped in mock offense, then climbed into his lap, careful not to upset the tray. His arms wrapped around me.
“This is absurdly comfortable,” I said, shifting enough to make him groan. “Maybe I’ll never sit in a chair again.”
“Careful.” He brushed a strand of hair behind my ear. “You might start a royal scandal.”
“Because the king’s feeding his queen?”
The word slipped out before I could stop it.
His voice softened. “Is that what you’d call yourself now?”
Heat climbed my neck. “If the throne fits.”
“It does. Perfectly.”
The silence between us hung thick and sweet.
He picked up a small pastry and held it out to me. “Try this. It’s my favorite.”
I took a bite, sugar melting on my tongue. “Mmm. I see why.” I chose a slice of pear, holding it to his lips. He took it slowly, his teeth grazing my fingertips enough to send a tremor through me.
“Behave,” I said. “Or I’ll spill tea on your royal lap.”
“Tempting.” He licked a trace of sugar from his thumb. “Would you lick it off?”
“Most definitely.”
We traded bites and teasing words.
He told me about his disastrous first attempt to bake as a boy. “Betina still won’t forgive me for the flour incident.”
I confessed to sneaking out of the castle—with Addie urging me on—to stride through the marketplace. That day, we’d pretended to be simple village girls. I’d never had more fun.
By the time we finished, laughter had loosened something inside me I hadn’t realized I still held tight. For the first time in what felt like forever, the world wasn’t pressing down on me. I leaned into him, resting my cheek on his shoulder, his fingers creating lazy circles on my back.
“Let’s spend the day together,” he said into my hair. “I’ll make the world wait.”
“As kingly decrees go, that might be your best one yet.”
He tumbled me down onto the bed and made love to me.
Later, we dressed slowly, unable to stop touching. Fingers brushed shoulders, kisses soon followed.
It took a long time to put on enough clothing we were safe to leave the room.
Taking my hand, he led me through a series of corridors until the castle’s stone gave way to green. The moment we stepped through the warded arch, the air changed, becoming richer, more alive. Everywhere hummed with his magic.
His garden. The camellias glowed even brighter than before, their petals shimmering with dew. Bees drifted lazily between blossoms.
He looked around with quiet pride. “I haven’t weeded for too long, but they still look decent.”
“They knew their gardener would come back.”
“Do you think they missed me?”
