“I had to,” he says. “Can you bear to have me touch you ever again?”
“Of course,” I tell him. “I love the way you touchme.”
“That’s good.”
“If you’re up to it, you can touch me again now,” I tease. “But then again, you are pretty old. It’s all right if you can’t get it up again any time soon—” My snark is cut off with a swift swat to my backside, and I squeal as he tosses me over his shoulder.
“Old,” he grumbles, swatting my ass again and making me laugh. “I’ll show you who’s old.”
Rhys tosses me down on our bed and covers me with his body.
Relishing the privacy in the moment, I happily wrap my arms and legs around him and cling to him. “So what are you going to do about it?”
“I’m going to make love to my wife,” he says and then he proceeds to do exactly that.
Chapter 18
Ruins
Not even a week later, Rhys and I are boarding the royal jet for North America. Apparently, part of being the new King and Queen of an important nation means travelling to other important countries to “make friends” as Craig put it. He did not find it funny when I asked who needed friends when all my enemies keep trying to kill me.
Rhys was also not impressed.
Personally, I think keeping a sense of humor while my life constantly teeters on the verge of imploding is important. It makes me remember my dad, someone I haven’t thought too deeply about in a long time. Not because I don’t miss my parents every day, but because it’s been so long since they left me. Dad always had a sense of humor. He told terrible jokes and loved agood—or bad—pun.
Our first stop is Mexico.
“Don’t look so mad,” my husband says from the seat across from mine.
“I’m not mad.”
“Liar.”
“I’m not,” I repeat. “I just want things to die down. We don’t know where Maeve is or if she’s all right.”
“She was gaslighting you into believing Suzanne was alive and working to turn everyone against you,” he says with a straight, unimpressed look on his face.
“But why? That’s what I don’t get,” I ask. “After all this time?”
“I don’t know.”
“Your Majesties,”the pilot says over the loudspeaker.“It’s an honor to fly you. We’ll be landing shortly. Cabin, prepare for landing.”
I buckle my seatbelt and yank it tighter than normal out of sheer frustration. “But that’s what I mean. We don’t know anything and now here we are, halfway around the world with no answers in sight. This is pointless.”
“It’s no’ pointless, hen,” he says with a measured tone. “We are here to remind our friends that we are still strong and our enemies that we’re stronger than ever.”
“I don’t feel very strong right now,” I admit.
“That’s silly,” he says. “Because you’re one of the strongest women I know.”
“That’s sweet but don’t placate me.”
“I’m no’,” he says. “It’s true.”
The wheels touch down and we taxi around to where stairs leading down to a deep red carpet await us. The press and a solid who’s who of dignitaries are gathered for our official welcome. It’s not often that dignitaries from Isle of Saints make the rounds but since we didn’t immediately after our wedding, I’m told now is the time to strengthen our relations.
When the hatch is opened, we step down together, Rhys just one step ahead of me, and we smile and wave. The wind whips my skirt around my legs and I begin to panic. The last thing I need to do is flash the whole world while disembarking from an airplane.