Adelaide hopped down from the counter and smoothed out the front of her dress. The heat of a few moments ago had simmered, though the taste of her still lingered on my tongue. I wanted more.
She tipped her head, eyes narrowed as she listened. “I think the music is still playing.” She walked over and circled her arms around my neck. I wrapped my hands around her waist and began to sway us slowly across the floor.
“Another cliché to mark off the list,” she noted with a smirk. “I wish I could tell what song this is so I could remember this.”
I closed my eyes and focused on the beat of the music. I knew that piano melody, but I just couldn’t place it yet.
I pulled Adelaide closer to me. Her fingers trailed up to play with the hair at the nape of my neck.
“‘It’s All Coming Back to Me Now,’” I finally said.
She paused, giving me a quizzical look. “What’s coming back to you?”
I let out a soft laugh and began moving us again in time to the beat. “The song. It's ‘It's All Coming Back to Me Now’ by Céline Dion.”
“Wow, I can’t believe you figured that out just by the piano.”
“Mum loves Céline Dion. She has a whole collection of her vinyls that she used to play on Gram’s record player on Saturday mornings.” Adelaide made a face. “What?”
“Your family really is just like a normal family, huh?” she remarked, sounding surprised.
I snorted. “I mean, once you look past the whole ‘running the country for hundreds of years’ thing and all of that, yeah, we are.”
She let out a soft little giggle. “I enjoyed tonight,” she said, looking up into my eyes.
I raised an eyebrow. “Even being shuttled around by my security team and locked in a bathroom with me?”
“Especiallybeing locked in a bathroom with you.”
We stopped dancing. Adelaide stood up to her fullest height and placed her mouth against mine again. The kiss started softly, with our lips brushing against each other until the ember sparked into a flame of passion. Sliding my tongue against hers, I ravished her mouth and pulled her to me until I could feel her breath meld with mine. I slid my hand around her waist and down to her ass, drawing her even closer. She pulled the hairs at my nape, and it was my turn to moan.
I wanted Adelaide. I had wanted her for months, andnow that she was here in my arms, kissing me, on the cusp of more, this was euphoria.
There was a knock on the bathroom door.
“Your Highness, we’re clear and ready to go,” Faxon called from the other side of the door.
“Yeah, just a second.” My voice dripped with annoyance at being interrupted.
I cleared my throat and met her eyes before grabbing her by the chin and bringing her mouth to mine once more. “Let’s get you home.”
The car ride back to Adelaide’s flat couldn’t have taken more than fifteen minutes, but it felt like an eternity. I shifted in my seat, trying unsuccessfully to ease the feeling of my erection pressing into my zipper. It took everything in me not to reach across the seat and pull Adelaide into my lap and lavish her long, perfect neck in kisses, but I had the sense that she would have a few more qualms than I did about that display of affection with Jackson in the driver’s seat.
We reached her building and parked in front of the flat. Adelaide’s hand grabbed mine before I could get out to open her door.
“Stay with me tonight?” she asked, her voice soft, like she was afraid I might say no.
“Of course. I had planned on keeping an eye on your place tonight anyway, just to make sure you stay safe. Faxon will want to sweep your place before we go in, especially after what happened earlier. Is that okay?”
She nodded and gave me a small smile before I kissed her swiftly on the cheek.
I rushed to Adelaide’s door to help her out, making eye contact with Jackson and dipping my head just before I shut the door, a silent acknowledgment that he would be parked out front until I was ready to leave. I knew that Steffan and Jenson were just behind us, ready to take up their positions out of sight but in close range of the garden-level flat.
Adelaide unlocked the door and let Faxon in first. We waited outside while he quickly checked the space, reappearing after a few minutes with a nod to indicate the all clear.
“Is your flatmate home?” I asked as Adelaide and I entered. The flat was small but cozy. The front half of the space was taken up by a living room with an assortment of mismatched furniture, while a tidy kitchen sat at the back. A gray countertop with two wooden barstools separated the spaces and seemed to serve as a dining area, based on the discarded bowl and spoon set in front of one of the stools.
A door to the left led to one bedroom, while one to the right led to another. A second door on the right opened into a bathroom. Framed prints of everything from watercolor florals to line drawings of cats decorated the walls, while colorful pillows and throw blankets made the space feel warm and welcoming. It was one of the most delightful homes I had been in in a long time.
