Best Friend to Royal Bride

by Annie Claydon

  ‘You’re the only one, Marie, who knows who I am.’

  ‘I’m not going to call you Rudolf.’ She whispered the words. ‘I prefer Alex.’

  ‘So do I.’

  He lifted her up, feeling the friction of their bodies healing him. He knew exactly what to do now. When he tipped her back onto the bed she gave a little cry of joy that made him feel like a king. A real one.

  She was reaching back, her hand feeling behind her to the curved wooden headboard. Alex grinned, warming to the task of making it as hard as possible for her to concentrate on anything but him, and she moaned, her body arching beneath his.

  Long minutes of teasing ensued, but finally she managed to do what she’d set her mind on. Marie knew that about him too. She hadn’t forgotten that late-night conversation between five young doctors during which Alex had declared that the best place to keep condoms was taped to the back of the headboard. Always handy to reach, and never in the way.

  She pressed the packet into his hand. He wouldn’t normally reach for them so soon, but he knew they were both ready now. They’d waited for this for years, and there was no denying it any more.

  ‘I can’t wait any longer, Alex. We’ve waited too long already...’

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  ALEX WAS THE kind of guy who liked to talk. Marie liked that, because he knew what to say and he also knew exactly when to stop talking.

  The first time, he’d been as careful and tender as any new lover should be. It might have lasted hours if it hadn’t been for the groundswell of emotion making every gesture into something that had taken them both to the very edge. When he’d pushed gently inside her they’d both known there was no going back. And when the moment had come it had gripped them both with the same splintering, tearing pleasure, ripping the world as they’d known it apart. Marie could pretend all she wanted, but things were never, ever going to be the same again.

  He’d held her in much the same way as he was holding her now—curling his body around her as if she were finally truly his. They should have drifted off to sleep, but it had still been early, and light had been streaming in through the windows. Marie had felt more awake than she’d ever felt, and Alex had murmured comfortable words until shared jokes and whispered tenderness had become spiked again with longing.

  That seemed like a very long time ago now. They’d made love and slept in equal measure for hours, and now it felt as if his body and hers belonged together.

  ‘You’re awake?’ Marie shifted slightly in his arms as he spoke.

  ‘I’m too comfortable to open my eyes. What’s the time?’

  She heard him chuckle and felt the brush of his lips against her cheek. ‘Four o’clock. We don’t have to get up yet.’

  ‘Hmm... Good.’ They’d been in bed for ten hours already, but Marie didn’t want to move. Not yet.

  ‘I really liked ten o’clock...’

  Marie opened one eye. ‘You were looking at the time?’

  ‘You’re not going to tell me that you didn’t hear the clock chiming in the other room, are you?’

  ‘Yes, I heard it. Was that ten?’

  ‘I counted ten. Did you lose count?’

  The innocence in his tone made her smile. As the clock had chimed ten she’d been astride him, and he’d taken hold of her hips, moving suddenly in the same rhythm as the sound. Marie had got to three and then lost count. A couple more thrusts and she’d started to come so hard that ten hadn’t even existed.

  Alex knew how to break her, and he knew how to be broken. Marie had always felt that was what sex must be all about, but this was the first time she’d allowed it to happen with anyone. He knew how to make her beg, but he had no hesitation in putting himself at the mercy of her touch.

  ‘So what’s four o’clock going to be?’

  She snuggled against him, dropping a kiss onto his lips. They really shouldn’t be doing this. They should both be considering the benefits of an IV drip to combat exhaustion by now.

  ‘I can’t imagine.’

  The glint in Alex’s eye told her that he probably could imagine and that he was doing so right now.

  Marie closed her eyes again. ‘Surprise me.’

  His arms tightened around her and he pulled her back against his chest. Already desire was beginning to make her tremble.

  ‘You like this...?’

  One of his hands had covered her breast and the other was moving downward, nudging her legs apart. He held her tight, dropping kisses onto her neck.

  ‘Yes, Alex!’

  She wriggled, trying to make his fingers move a little faster, and heard his low chuckle.

  ‘Four o’clock is all for you...’

  * * *

  At six in the morning there was the smell of coffee. Alex had left two cups on the table beside the bed, and was gently kissing her awake. They wished each other a drowsy good morning, and Marie reached for a cup.

  ‘Mmm. That’s better.’ Neither of them spoke again until the caffeine began to kick in. Then she said, ‘I should be going soon.’

  Alex turned the corners of his mouth down. His expression of regret was just what Marie wanted to see.

  ‘I’ve got to go home for a change of clothes and a shower.’

  She didn’t want to go either, but the idea of turning up to work in Alex’s jeans was impossible. The dress code at the clinic was relaxed, but that was a little too relaxed, and someone was sure to notice.

  ‘You won’t shower with me?’

  Tempting. ‘We could try to leave one thing for next time.’

  Voicing that fantasy had prompted a slip of the tongue and turned into a suggestion that there would be a next time. Neither of them had broached the subject; last night had been an exercise in the here and now, and no forward planning had seemed necessary.

  He grinned suddenly. ‘I’m hoping that means you’re not going to break my heart and tell me that this is the first and last time this is going to happen.’

  Break his heart? Marie left the thought where it belonged, along with all the other professions of love spoken in the heat of the moment.

  ‘I want a next time, Alex.’

  ‘Me too.’ He gathered the scattered pillows and leaned back against them, putting his arm around her. ‘It’s not going to be easy to keep everyone from noticing at work today.’

  ‘We could just stay in our offices.’

  Marie didn’t really care if everyone knew, but it was common sense not to advertise the fact when you were sleeping with someone you worked with—especially not until you knew exactly where the relationship was going.

  ‘Nah. That’s not going to work. When two people suddenly start avoiding each other at work, the first thing everyone thinks is that they’re sleeping together.’

  ‘Hmm. True. How about being so busy that we don’t have time to think too much about it?’

  ‘Might work.’

  He thought for the moment. ‘Although I’m not sure I can sustain that level of busy for more than a couple of hours. I guess we’ll just have to wing it.’

  He took the cup from her hand, putting it down on the table.

  ‘Alex! Not again!’

  ‘We have time. You could be half an hour late for work, couldn’t you?’

  ‘No, I couldn’t. And neither could you. What kind of example is that?’

  He chuckled. ‘It’s a dreadful example. We shouldn’t do it...’ His eyes flashed with boyish mischief as he raised her hand to his lips.

  ‘There you go, then.’

  She really wanted to stay...just for another fifteen minutes. But temptation was there to be resisted.

  Marie pushed him away, and he flopped back onto the pillows, laughing.

  ‘Can I at least watch you dress? Crumbs to a starving man...?’ She was picking her clothes up from the floor.r />
  ‘You are not starving, Alex.’

  He couldn’t possibly be—not after last night. She pulled on her underwear, and then his jeans, belting them tight around her waist. Then she crawled onto the bed, keeping the crumpled duvet between his body and hers.

  ‘One kiss.’

  ‘Just a kiss?’ He grinned at her.

  ‘Yes. No cheating, Alex...’

  He held his hands up in a gesture of surrender. Those hands were his most potent weapon. She dipped down, planting one kiss on his lips, thrilling at his sigh of disappointment as she left him, hurrying into the sitting room to find her top and shoes.

  She drove home in the clinic’s electric car, with the radio playing and Alex’s scent still on her body. Even after she’d showered it felt like she was still his. He’d claimed her, and she couldn’t escape by merely being apart from him.

  She dressed, drying her hair in front of the mirror. There was something different...something she couldn’t quite put her finger on. Her expression made her look like the cat that had got the cream, and try as she might she couldn’t persuade her face to assume her usual smile.

  But Marie need not have worried. When she saw Alex at the clinic, he smiled his usual greeting. He made the Monday morning meeting easy, not seeking out her gaze but not afraid to meet it. He acted as if last night had never happened. If anyone should divine that something earth-shaking had happened to her over the weekend, they never would have connected Alex with it.

  It was slightly unnerving. Marie didn’t want anyone to know any more than he did, but her vanity felt he might have made this appear a little more difficult.

  But it was just the way Alex was. He was protecting his privacy and hers. He’d grown up learning to maintain a face for the world that didn’t show any of his true feelings, and it had become a matter of habit for him. She shouldn’t confuse that with the real Alex. The one who’d made love to her last night, who’d listened to her heart calling him, and whose heart had replied so eloquently.

  Alex had phoned the hospital and the news was good. Charlie’s leg had been operated on yesterday afternoon and he was recovering well. Zack was eager to visit him, and Alex had said he’d go too. Marie had decided that three around his bed might be a little too much for Charlie, so she contented herself with packing a bag full of things he might need, along with a few treats, and had given it to Zack to take in.

  ‘So how is he?’ When Alex walked into her office later, she breathed a sigh of relief that she no longer had to pretend to work while she waited for them to get back.

  ‘He’s okay.’ Alex closed the door behind him and sat down. ‘He’s pretty sore and he’s got a real shiner. But I spoke to his surgeon and he’ll mend.’

  ‘Great. That’s good.’

  Marie wondered if she was supposed to keep the pretence up now that they were alone. Perhaps the rule was that they only referred to last night when they were off clinic premises.

  ‘I saw his mother as well. I told her we’ll provide whatever Charlie needs in the way of rehab and that either you or I will personally oversee his case.’

  ‘Good. Thanks. She’s happy with that?’

  Knowing what to do with her hands was a problem. She’d known exactly what to do with them last night, but that wasn’t appropriate here.

  ‘She asked me to thank you for everything you did yesterday. Charlie might well have bled to death if it hadn’t been for your decisive action.’

  Marie’s heart was beating even faster than it had been. Rolling a pencil round and round in her fingers took the edge off the tension a little. ‘It’s...you know...’

  He grinned. ‘Yes, I know. All in a day’s work.’

  So far there was nothing. Not even any of the in-jokes that they cracked all the time. Marie could do this. She just wished that there was one hint from Alex that he hadn’t already left last night behind. That he didn’t regret it.

  ‘I’ve sent Zack out to get an MP3 player and a decent pair of headphones. Charlie’s phone got smashed in the accident and the hospital radio doesn’t play his kind of thing.’

  Marie frowned. ‘What is his kind of thing?’

  ‘I’m not completely sure. Zack’s going to help me with that; we’ll download some music for him after work. You want to join us?’

  Something sparked in his eyes. Maybe it was just the mention of music, and the prospect of exploring a few new artists. But even if it was just that, the thought of spending a few hours with two of her favourite people was incredibly tempting.

  ‘I can’t—sorry. I’d like to, but I promised I’d call round and see Mum after work. She wants a chat.’

  A crease formed on Alex’s brow. ‘Okay.’

  It wasn’t okay with Marie. She wished now that she’d asked her mother whether it really needed to be tonight, instead of just automatically acquiescing. But that was what she’d always done before.

  ‘We’ll miss you.’

  What would have happened if he’d said that before? All the times when their friends at medical school had gone to play softball in the park, or gone to the pub to talk out a long day’s work.

  Marie dismissed the idea. She’d always tried not to think about the things she was missing out on, and concentrate on the things she needed to do instead.

  Suddenly he got to his feet, leaning across the desk towards her. Meeting Alex’s gaze was hard, because his grey eyes held all of the promise of last night. It wasn’t over between them.

  ‘Could I persuade you to come back to mine after you’ve seen your mother?’

  The pencil snapped suddenly in her fingers. Marie jumped, dropping it onto the desk, and saw the edge of Alex’s mouth curve.

  ‘Yes. That was what I had in mind, too.’

  ‘You want to snap pencils with me?’

  ‘All night.’

  ‘I might be late... I won’t get away from Mum’s before about nine.’

  ‘I’ll wait. I have a spare door key downstairs; you can let yourself in. And take one of the clinic cars—you’ll get back to me sooner...’

  ‘It’s an emergency?’

  ‘Yes.’

  He brushed a kiss on her lips and her whole body went into overdrive. Definitely an emergency...

  * * *

  It was ten o’clock before Alex heard the key turning in the door of his flat. He’d decided to go to bed and allow himself to doze a little before Marie arrived. She’d know where he was.

  She did. He heard her footsteps in the hallway and the light outside being flipped off. The warm glow of the lamp in the corner of the bedroom threw shadows across the floor.

  Alex watched as she took her clothes off. No words. She knew he couldn’t take his eyes off her, and it seemed that her movements were slower and more deliberate than usual. She took the time to hang her dress carefully across the back of the easy chair that stood next to the lamp, and he devoured the shadows that played across her body.

  When she was naked, she walked over to the bed. She hesitated, as if she’d forgotten something, and then ran her fingers across one breast and down towards her stomach. The sudden urgent wish to take her now crashed over him, but he resisted it. Waiting would make the having so much better.

  ‘Get into bed...’

  His words sounded suspiciously like an order, which made Marie smile. Her movements seemed to slow even more and Alex grinned. She knew exactly how to tease him.

  When she slipped under the duvet he moved towards her, wrapping his arms around her but keeping thick layers of down between them. He could tease too.

  Alex leaned forward, planting a kiss on her mouth, and she let out a gasp.

  ‘Everything okay?’ He smiled innocently at her.

  ‘Yes. Mum just wanted to say how pleased she was about Zack.’ She turned the corners of her mouth down. ‘She could have said that
when she called me.’

  Alex resisted the temptation to agree. He loved the way that Marie was so close to her family, and wished he could have had a measure of that himself. It was hypocritical to say that he wished they’d give her a bit more time to herself. Because what he really meant was that he wanted her time.

  ‘We’ve got a few hours to catch up on...’ she said, disentangling her arm from the duvet, caressing the side of his face.

  ‘Hey... You know I don’t mind if you’ve got something else to do.’ Tearing Marie in two wasn’t going to solve the problem—it would only make things worse.

  ‘I know you don’t. But I mind.’

  The thought shattered the last of his self-control—that Marie had wanted to give up the responsibilities that she clung to so ferociously in favour of this.

  He pulled the duvet away from them and rolled her over onto her back, covering her body with his. She could see and feel how much he wanted her.

  ‘Where do you most want to be now?’

  He wanted to hear it. If she screamed it out, then all the better. He wanted every moment she spent with him to be time that she didn’t want to be anywhere else.

  Her eyes darkened suddenly, the light playing that trick he loved so much and turning them to midnight blue. Marie reached behind her, giving an impatient huff when she remembered that they’d used all the condoms taped to his headboard last night. Her fingers searched the surface of the bedside table until she found the packet he’d bought on his way home.

  He gritted his teeth, waiting while she fumbled with the wrappings. Then she reached down, and he felt his blood begin to boil as she carefully rolled the condom into place.

  When she took him inside her it felt as if he was coming home after a long journey. He stared into her eyes, watching every small movement, listening to the way her breathing started to quicken and match his as he pushed deeper.

  One moment of stillness.