The next note is in the pocket of a coat I haven’t yet worn. I dressed from a selection hung on the valet rack for me to go out into the community ahead of Rhys’s coronation. Maeve has been amazing about seeing to my fashion and comfort whenever I’m away from home. At home, I choose to hide out in the coziest loungewear I have, as if it can calm my mind. So imagine my surprise when I pulled on a coat on my way out the door to another pre-coronation engagement that when I slipped my hands into my pockets to keep them warm on the way to the car, I felt the crisp edges of folded paper.
At that moment, my heart sinks because I know that this was not a secret love note. Rhys wouldn’t be so careless with something so private, something that could be picked up by anyone and sold to the highest bidder. For all his faults, he’s pretty good about protecting my privacy when away from public duty.
Leo holds the door open for me and I nod my thanks to him with a wooden smile on my face. I know it’s fake, he knows it’s fake, but neither of us is willing to break the silence until we’re safely in the car.
The driver holds the door open for me until he’s replaced in his position by Leo, their movements like a synchronized dance as they come together to provide protection and coverage for me. I slide onto the seat and buckle my seat belt as he closes the door behindme. Leo opens the front passenger door and climbs in, securing his door.
He turns around to look at me. “Everything all right, ma’am?”
“Of course,” I answer. “Why wouldn’t it be?”
“No reason, I suppose,” he says before turning to the driver for the day and we begin to pull through the drive.
I carefully slide my hand into my pocket so as not to be noticed and pull out the folded piece of paper. As soon as I open it, I wish that I hadn’t. It makes my stomach turn and bile crawl up the back of my throat.
You think that you’re safe but you’re not.
The small slip of paper crumples in my hand. I want to throw it away, throw it out the window, something, anything, but part of me rejects that idea. Acting in haste isn’t my best move right now. I could show it to Leo, but he reports to Rhys, not me. I’m just a piece on the board that Rhys rules and he has already made it clear that I’m not going anywhere.
I could show it to Rhys. He would be furious for sure, with me and whoever sent them. But what can he do other than more security? I love down time with comfy clothes, books, and my kitty, Leo, but on my terms. Being locked down against my will is notsomething that I’m a fan of or ever see myself growing attached to.
I’ll have to hold on to it and figure out what to do with it later.
It’s the best that I can manage in the moment. For now, I’ll have to make my brittle smile seem more real because for however long I’m alive, this is my job and I’ll do it the best that I can.
• • •
“Hey you,” Rhys says as he finally climbs into bed. It’s late.
When my protection detail dropped me off this afternoon, I washed my face, brushed out my hair, and put on a pair of sweats. Sure, they’re expensive from some luxury athleisure brand that all the upper crust rave about, but right now I’d kill to have my college sweatshirt and knock off leggings from the rainforest app.
I knew Rhys was working late, he has been since we got back, and I’m fine with it. I need to be able to be on my own in this new life. In fact, I like the quiet alone time, it lets me reflect and process all that’s happened. I’m not sure there will ever be enough time in the rest of my lifetime to reflect on and make peace with all that I’ve learned and experienced in the last couple of months. That’s not even unpacking the fact that my parents’ plane crash wasn’t an accident andthey weren’t archeologists.
“Hi,” I whisper.
Rhys rolls me over and presses his lips to mine and then his mouth is gone as he whisks my sweatshirt over my head and cool air hits my heated skin.
He curls over me, covering me with his naked body and I cradle his hips between my thighs. His hard length presses against me.
“I’m sorry I’m so late,” he whispers in my ear. His voice is husky and deep and sends a shiver down my spine.
“It’s okay.”
“I missed you,” he says before pressing his lips to the side of my neck on that spot below my ear that makes me a little starry eyed. “Did you miss me?” He sinks his teeth into the side of my neck, just enough to make me arch against him and for my breath catch in my throat.
He leans back, sliding my tank top over my head and leaving me bare to him. He kisses his way down my chest before pulling my nipple into his mouth while he plumps its twin, his thumb teasing at that nipple. It’s too much stimulation all at once and my core clenches.
“Mhmm,” he purrs as he licks around my nipple. “If I touched you now, would you be wet for me, hen?”
“Yes,” I pant as he pulls the peak deep into his mouth and sucks at it hard again.
“I wonder if you could come just like this,” he says, and I don’t wonder at all because I will if he keepsgoing and I’m not even sure that I’m fully awake yet. I was mostly asleep when he found me, not that it was much of a hunt, but I’m in our bed where I’m supposed to be. He’s the one who wasn’t. “I bet you will. I bet if I peeled down these pants and slid my fingers through your cunt, you’d be sopping wet for me, wouldn’t you?”
“Yes,”
“I’d love to watch you come like this, but I find that I hate the idea of your delicious pussy empty and squeezing around nothing when she could happily come on my fingers or my tongue or my cock.” He bites the tip of my nipple, sinking in with his teeth. There’s an edge to the way that Rhys makes love to me tonight and I’m not sure if it’s a good thing or a great thing.
“Rhys,” I plead. For what, I don’t know. I only know that I need him to stop the ache that he’s built inside of me.