A light kiss on the lips woke me the next morning. I rolled onto my side, burying my face in the pillow, and Chevalier’s fingers brushed across my face, tucking my hair behind my ear before he kissed me on the cheek.
“Good morning, little dove.”
“Mm…did I oversleep?”
The bed shifted as he moved closer, and his hand came to my back, pulling me into a warm, comfortable embrace. “No.”
“Then why are you awake?” I mumbled, snuggling into his chest.
He chuckled and kissed the top of my head. “You forgot.”
“Forgot what?”
“Your birthday.”
That got me to open my eyes. I looked up at him sleepily, finally registering the oddity of him waking before me. He hadn’t done that since our honeymoon. But he was awake, and he was smiling, a smile that lit up his crystal blue eyes and wrapped my heart in a warm, fuzzy feeling.
“I did forget,” I admitted, smiling shyly, my heart skipping a beat when his eyes dropped to my lips.
He traced a feather-light finger around them, pressing my bottom lip just slightly before trailing his finger down my chin, then along my jaw, skimming in front of my cheek, across my cheekbone and up my nose, breaking my line of sight briefly as he continued around my eye. My heart was now beating double-time against my ribs, the breath caught in my throat at the growing intensity of his gaze. It felt as if he were memorizing every detail of my face—as if I were the only person in the world who mattered.
I never thought anybody would look at me like that.
A year ago today, I’d been the girl nobody cared about and nobody spared a second glance, living day-to-day on spare change and odd jobs. Now, I was the woman married to Chevalier. The king. And he was touching me as if I were as delicate as porcelain, meeting my eyes with endless oceans of pale blue that drank me in and drowned me in their depths, leaning in to kiss me so softly, so gently, there was no mistaking how much he treasured me.
I thought my heart might burst.
“I love you, Chevalier.”
He smiled against my lips as he kissed me again. “I love you, too, little dove.”
Early morning sunlight streamed into the room and played across his hair, blonde strands dipped in gold whispering across my face as we kissed and cuddled. This time last year, I’d been walking along a dirt road, already done with morning chores and on my way to the palace to see about a job. I liked this much better. Sweet kisses, warm hands, all the time in the world.
Until the knock at the door interrupted us.
I sighed and pulled back from Chevalier, expecting to see the usual flash of irritation whenever someone disturbed us, but he was still smiling. And he got out of bed before I did. I sat up, watching him curiously as he answered the door in my stead. He took a breakfast tray from Theresa with barely any acknowledgement, then he shut the door in her face and brought the tray to me.
“You could have at least said ‘thank you,’” I chided him as he propped the tray over my lap. “And what about yours?”
He climbed back into bed beside me, his smile morphing into a smirk that made me blush even before he spoke. “We’re sharing. Open up.”
My eyes widened as he picked up a piece of fruit and brought it to my mouth. “Th-that’s very sweet, Chevalier, but—”
“Are you defying the order of the king?” he teased.
“But this is embarrassing!”
“You let the doctor feed you.”
“That was a little different, Chevalier! And I’ll have you know that’s the same line Clavis used on me when he made me breakfast in bed!”
Those beautiful blue eyes narrowed as his smirk lifted the corner of his lips more. “Then I’ll have to take a different approach.”
He popped the fruit in his own mouth and leaned toward me, and before I realized what was happening, he’d placed a firm hand on the back of my head and his lips against mine. I couldn’t pull away, frozen by shock more than his restraining hand as his tongue pushed my lips open and he passed the fruit into my mouth. My face must have been as red as a tomato when he let me go.
“Chew,” he instructed me, a devilish glint in his eyes. “Or do you need assistance with that as well?”
I shook my head frantically, covering my mouth with one hand and holding him back with the other as I chewed and swallowed. At this rate, I wouldn’t live to see tomorrow, let alone my next birthday.
He picked up another piece of fruit and held it out to me.
“I will get you for this,” I threatened him, shooting him the sharpest glare I could manage when the flush reached to my ears and a swarm of butterflies had my stomach doing backflips.
“Do you want breakfast, or don’t you?”
My options were to play along or to refuse, and I felt certain I’d faint if he fed me through a kiss again, so I opened my mouth reluctantly. But when he put the fruit on my tongue, inspiration struck. I rolled the fruit to my cheek and closed my lips over his fingers, twirling my tongue around them and making as wet of a sucking noise as possible when he pulled them free.
His eyes widened. And a hint of pink colored his cheeks.
For the first time since we’d met, I’d made him blush.
It was time to press my advantage.
“Your turn.” I picked up another piece of fruit and held it out to him. “Open up.”
But his eyes had already narrowed again, and his smirk was back. I suddenly remembered how ticklish I was—too late. He grabbed my wrist and took my fingers in his mouth, repeating what I’d done to him as I giggled and tried not to upset the tray over my lap with my squirming.
Breakfast took longer than usual.
Much longer.
When we finally finished, there were crumbs everywhere, along with more than one stain on my nightgown, his shirt, and the sheets.
“And people say I’m too young for you,” I muttered, surveying the damage as he took the breakfast tray to the table across the room. “Look at this! This won’t come out. You’ve ruined a perfectly good nightgown, Chevalier!”
“Not for the first time.”
I threw a pillow at his smug smirk, which he dodged easily. He ducked another pillow and lunged at me, pinning me against the headboard and kissing me hard. I smacked his shoulder a few times before I gave up and clutched at his shirt, surrendering to the sweetest loss I’d ever tasted. A quick breath, and then he was kissing me again, leaning into his knee outside my thigh and dropping his hands from the headboard to cup my face. I kissed him back with a fervor. His teeth tugged at my lower lip, signifying a shift from lighthearted play to something much more serious, something that made the heat build in my stomach as we stretched the kiss out as long as possible.
We finally pulled apart, panting for breath. A sultry fire darkened his normally light blue eyes.
“You planned the whole day, didn’t you?” I asked breathlessly.
He was already kissing me again, painting my jaw with lips and tongue as he hummed in confirmation. The slight vibrations against my skin traveled through my body and sent shivers down my spine. I closed my eyes and tilted my head to the side.
“So, we have time for this?”
The heat of his breath had reached my ear, and the low purr he used to deliver his next words was enough to undo me: “Plenty of time.”
Everything was taking longer today.
Not that I minded.
It was late morning when we finally left our room. He wore his usual white and black attire, regal and imposing as ever, and I wore a new dress he’d given me, spring green with a full-length skirt and long sleeves made of a light, loose material that would keep me from overheating later in the summer. A king and a commoner. That was probably what the snobbier of the nobility would have thought had they seen us, not that any would have dared to say it. We didn’t care. When we had time off, we were more interested in comfort than in appearances. Chevalier’s formal attire was a second skin to him, but corsets were uncomfortable. And Chevalier liked me better in simpler dresses, anyway. He’d all but told me when I was putting this one on that he liked the feel of me better without the extra frills.
I still wasn’t sure my cheeks had cooled from that comment.
“So, what do you have planned next for us?” I asked playfully, already knowing what he would say.
“You’ll see.”
As I thought. Everything was to be a surprise today. But since Chevalier was in charge of the surprises, not Clavis, I had nothing to worry about.
“Hey, it’s the birthday girl!”
Leon’s booming voice carried easily down the hall, and his long strides carried the rest of him to us within a few paces. His amber eyes were warm with a friendly smile.
“Thank you, Leon.”
“Any big plans for today?” he asked, looking from me to Chevalier.
I glanced up at Chevalier, trying not to blush as I thought of what had already transpired. His face gave nothing away, of course, nor did the cool tone of his voice.
“None that concern you.”
“Be nice, Chevalier," I scolded him. "I should celebrate with everybody else, too.”
“You will, later.” He took my hand and led me past Leon without another word, leaving me to be the decent, socially acceptable one, as usual.
I waved back at Leon and called, “I’ll see you later, Leon.”
“Count on it.”
Our next stop was the stables, where the stable hands had Blade and Rose saddled and waiting for us. The boy who always seemed to be around whenever I was there held Rose’s reins, darting glances at me and shuffling from foot to foot nervously. He really reminded me of Jason, I thought, thanking him for getting Rose ready and watching a blush color his cheeks. An accidental look in Chevalier’s direction, and he suddenly paled, looking as though he might be sick. I mounted Rose and shot Chevalier a warning look, but I saved my words until we’d left the palace behind.
“You didn’t glare at him, did you?”
“No, I did not,” Chevalier replied, a smile back on his face.
“He’s just a boy.”
“And?”
I sighed, fighting a smile myself. “And if you’re going to be jealous of somebody, maybe you should be jealous of Clavis. You know he held my hand the entire time we were together yesterday afternoon? And he took me to his room?”
Chevalier didn’t take the bait. “Then he fulfilled his purpose.”
“To keep me busy? Yes, I suppose he did that. But I don’t want to bore you with the details of what we did in his room," I said airily, shifting my gaze forward and watching him in my peripheral vision, "since that doesn’t bother you.”
He nudged Blade closer, bumping my leg against his to get me to look at him and his arrogant smirk again. “Cyran was there.”
I pulled Rose away and scowled at him. “How do you always know everything?”
He laughed, a free, unguarded laugh I only heard when we were alone, a laugh that echoed across the empty fields of green surrounding us on all sides, and I couldn’t resist laughing, too. Blade tossed his head, as if he wanted to be part of the mirth. Or maybe because he was excited, since we hadn’t taken the time for a casual ride like this in a while.
I decided to believe the former.
It seemed as if we were riding with no destination in mind, but when we stopped for lunch in the forest's shade across the river from my old house, I knew Chevalier had planned this, too. He’d brought the picnic basket this time, and while he spread the blanket on the grass, I scanned the area for signs of the Stotts children.
“I hope you planned on us being interrupted,” I told him as I sat by his side. “I don’t see the boys yet, but on a nice day like this, they’re probably around somewhere.”
“They won’t bother us.”
I studied Chevalier’s confident expression. “You aren’t making them stay inside today, are you?”
He chuckled. “No.”
“Good.”
We ate in silence for a little while. It brought back memories, looking down at that little straw-thatched shack next to the proper wood home where the Stotts lived, both good and bad. It was getting easier, though. The good was beginning to outweigh the bad. Today, I felt only a dull ache in my heart when I recalled the years I'd lived in that little shack. Tomorrow might be harder. I never knew.
I missed Mother.
“Do you know what tomorrow is?” I finally asked.
“The anniversary of the day we met.” He moved the basket aside and scooted closer to me, putting an arm around my shoulder. “You really are too young for me.”
Of course, he knew. I smiled at him, unsurprised, but touched. “How old is old enough?”
“Hm.” He leaned in and kissed me, a simple, light kiss—until his tongue flicked out and licked my lips. “Maybe when you’re twenty.”
“Were you just tasting me?” I asked, feeling my cheeks warming.
He smirked and pushed me down onto the blanket. “And what if I was?”
He hovered over me, the sparkle in his eyes still visible behind his fringe of blonde hair, even with his broad shoulders and the trees behind us blocking out the sun. I brushed his bangs back to give me a better view.
“Do I have to remind you it’s my birthday, not yours?”
“Has anything been to your disliking thus far?” he asked, lowering his voice and running one mischievous hand down my side to my hip. If he felt free enough to be this affectionate out in the open like this, he must have arranged it so nobody would see us. Somehow.
So, I felt no qualms about licking my lips and reaching up to curl my fingers into his collar.
“I didn’t say that. But if you want a proper taste,” I yanked him down to me, “you need to come closer."7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4CNiusZVPT
