by Leslie North
12
Felicity put Hope down for a nap, and found her thoughts circling the place they had been coming back to over and over again for the past week.
Rafael.
Specifically, Rafael’s reaction to Joy’s interview.
They’d had the meeting about it, and she’d let him hear her thoughts on the matter. He hadn’t brought it up again.
There had been plenty of time, too, because Rafael made it a point to spend time with Hope and Felicity every day. He was, Felicity had to admit, really stepping up into his role as a father. He liked to be the one to read Hope her bedtime stories, and Felicity found herself coming to rely on his company. Throughout her pregnancy, she’d known that she could handle being a single mother—in Felicity’s mind, there was no reason to assume she couldn’t. She’d done a lot of hard things in her life, and nothing had been more important to her than this.
But it was easier with a partner by her side.
She went out into the living area of their suite and picked up Hope’s toys, tossing them into their baskets. It wasn’t that she wanted to dwell on the way Rafael had reacted to the interview, but…here she was.
It was a wrench, because as attentive as he was to her and Hope, he didn’t seem to understand how this kind of thing affected all the women of Stolvenia. It had been only a few weeks ago that Felicity had been in the same situation of being a full-time breadwinner and caretaker, one crisis away from utter disaster—but back then, she hadn’t had the time or the energy to think about it much.
Now she did.
And she should be grateful that her fiancé was considerate of her needs. He was insistently considerate, actually.
So why wasn’t he the same way for the people of Stolvenia?
There was a knock at the door to the suite, and Felicity rushed to answer it. They’d been in the palace long enough now that Hope was used to the various daytime noises, but still. A longer nap would do her daughter good.
She opened the door to find Sara standing there with another woman. She was gorgeous with sandy blonde hair, a wide smile, and a pregnant belly. Sara slipped past Felicity with a pat on the shoulder.
“Hi,” said the woman. “I don’t think we’ve had a chance to meet. I’m Amy, Prince Artur’s wife. I would have been here earlier, but the goodwill tour—you know how it is.”
Oh. Oh. “Right! That’s right.” Felicity took her hand and shook. “Come in, out of the hallway. I’m sorry our paths haven’t crossed at any of the…you know, the official events. Rafael usually has me stay close by.”
“Kings. Am I right?” Amy laughed, and Felicity liked her instantly. “No, I get it. I’m usually a little more behind the scenes, since I’ve been working with Artur to coordinate new committees ahead of the referendum. Committees, and events…” She blew out a breath. “It’s a lot. But it’s also why I came to see you.”
“The referendum?” Felicity shoved down the feeling that she paled in comparison to Amy, at least when it came to getting involved. That had never been part of the deal, though, so…
“International Women’s Day.”
Felicity blinked at her. “Is that…coming up? I haven’t been on top of all the international days, what with—”
“Next week,” Amy said with a kind smile. “You’ve had some time to get settled in, though I know it never seems like quite enough. But you’re going to be part of the scene here, and I thought you might like to be part of our events for International Women’s Day.”
“What kinds of events?”
“Tomorrow, we’re hosting a series of meetings with different advocacy groups from around the country. We’re going to be leading a series of roundtables on women’s issues, among other events.” At the look on Felicity’s face, Amy put a hand on her elbow. “Not that you need to lead any of them. I promise you. But I thought you might want a seat at the table.”
Felicity’s head was spinning. “Doesn’t—does Rafael know about all this?”
“Of course,” said Amy. “He’s the king. He has to be kept apprised of all the goings-on with the different committees. Why? Has he not mentioned them to you?”
“No, he didn’t. We—” Felicity gave Amy a careful look. “You might have heard about my sister Joy’s interview.”
Amy’s eyes went wide. “Oh, yes. She was brilliant. And when I read your response, I thought you’d be game for the upcoming events.”
“Rafael wasn’t…quite so enthusiastic about it.”
Amy waved a hand in the air. “Rafael is the most cautious of all the brothers. He’s been in deep with the referendum, so I can see why he wouldn’t want to personally wade into what we’re doing. Don’t get me wrong—I think he should—but I would never ask you to go behind his back on this. I was half hoping you’d have already discussed it, but that doesn’t matter now. Here I am, with your engraved invitation.” She laughed. “Sadly, not literally. But I’d love for you to come in on this.”
“I want to,” Felicity said. “I think that would be a good idea.”
One day, Felicity was going to be the queen. Whatever happened behind closed doors between her and Rafael, that would be her official title. There was no reason she couldn’t use her position to be a good influence for the people of Stolvenia. And this could be something she did by herself. She had been the one advocating for more equality for women—why shouldn’t she lead the charge by taking the reins herself?
Amy beamed at her. “Great.” She pulled out her phone and got Felicity to enter her number. “I’ll text you a list of where to be and when, and you can jump right in with both feet.” She brushed away a lock of hair that had escaped from her chignon. “In the meantime, I’ve got quite a few loose ends to wrap up.”
Felicity walked with her to the door. “I’ll let Rafael know,” she said.
Amy winked at her. “Best of luck.”
Felicity closed the door behind Amy, feeling more invigorated than she ever had in all her life.
Now there was only one thing left to do: inform Rafael of her plan.
* * *
This was not what Rafael had had in mind when he’d wanted Felicity to find a way to feel invested in Stolvenia.
Felicity had come to him with fire in her eyes and a smile on her face and let him know that she was going to be participating fully in the International Women’s Day activities. He’d had to stifle a groan. As King of Stolvenia, Rafael was fully on board with the events that had been planned—he had to be, otherwise they couldn’t have gone forward. But after the way their first conversation had gone, he hadn’t thought it prudent to bring up those events with Felicity. He’d thought he could keep it from her—or at least keep her from it. So much for that idea.
From that Monday forward, the week was consumed with planning and roundtables and committee discussions, and Felicity attended as many as possible. He found himself slipping into their apartments more and more often, checking in on Hope.
By Thursday, he was worried.
Felicity always seemed to be on the run, and today was no different. He’d expected her involvement to be on the lighter side—a few photo ops, perhaps, and a short speech if the PR team thought she was up to the task. Instead, Felicity had made it a point to be everywhere.
She breezed in as he was heading for the door, having read Hope a story before her nap. Her cheeks were pink, and she looked like she needed a moment to catch her breath.
He’d been stewing, but in the space of a second, all of that was replaced by a heated desire.
“Hi,” breathed Felicity. “Are you on your way out?”
Her raised eyebrows asked him a question that his body wanted to answer, even while his mind struggled for control. He’d wanted to talk to her about the fact that she was drawing more and more media attention. On the plus side, it was nearly all positive. The Stolvenian people loved her involvement. They were listening to her, but what if he couldn’t live up to all the promises she seemed to be making?
The words that came out of his mouth were: “I have a few more minutes before I need to be anywhere.”
Felicity came close, tilting her head up and brushing a hot kiss over his lips. “Mind spending them with me?”
No. No, he did not.
Inside of two minutes, they were in Felicity’s bedroom, fumbling with clothes until both of them were undressed just enough. With a growl, Felicity pressed him back on the bed and straddled him. She was already wet, already waiting, like a tigress…like it had been in the old days.
He put his hands on her hips and lifted his mouth to her nipples while she rode him, fast and furious. The way her hips rocked beneath his hands wiped everything from his mind, everything except Felicity, and the sweet, clean smell of her, and the way her fingernails dug into his chest…
Rafael forgot everything else in the world when she started rolling her hips the way she did when she wanted to come, and come hard. It didn’t take long and the sheer energy of it, the potent, sensual energy of it, pulled him along with her until they both panted on the bed, spent.
Felicity got up a few minutes later, still smiling. “I’ll have to take a quick shower before my next event, but that was—” She tugged her shirt over her head on the way to the bathroom. “That was worth it.”
“It was,” he agreed, but as the door closed and the shower started up, the worries seeped back into his mind.
The spontaneous sex, the way their schedules made him feel like they were two ships passing in the night—it was what they’d agreed to. It was more than he’d thought he’d be able to get, back when he’d proposed to her, never thinking she’d end up in his bed again. She’d agreed to marry him, to raise their daughter to be queen, and he hadn’t thought he had the right to ask for anything more. Rebuilding their intimate relationship had been an unexpected gift. But…it wasn’t enough. With every day that passed, Rafael felt Felicity slipping further into her future role as queen and away from the Felicity who could belong to him rather than to his people.
Not that he could argue with that—not entirely. It was only that he wanted, now more than ever, an emotional connection with her. And as physical as things had been, there was a cold fear gathering in the pit of his gut.
Maybe the business arrangement version of marriage wasn’t what he wanted, in the end.
He stood up from the bed and pulled on his clothes. His own shower would have to wait until his meeting ended.
Rafael only hoped that standing under the water for a few minutes, alone, would give him some idea of what to do.
13
The week rushed by, pulling Felicity along in its current, and waking up on Friday morning was like coming to the surface of the water after a long, deep dive.
It was a little nerve-racking in a way. Amy had pulled her straight into all the lead-up to the meetings. Most of it had been planned before Felicity had come back to Stolvenia, but there were plenty of final details to iron out. The roundtables and meetings had put Felicity right in the thick of it. Rafael had acted like nobody associated with the royal family thought of women’s issues at all, but that wasn’t quite true—it was only that Rafael himself wasn’t ready to take a public stance.
Felicity had hardly had time to think about that once she dove in. She’d been concentrating so hard on listening during the roundtables that her own frustration with Rafael had taken a backseat.
She peeked out into the living area. Hope was running in circles, a little toy airplane in her hand, and Sara sat nearby on the floor, narrating the plane’s flight. Everything was in hand.
Felicity shut the door to her room as softly as she could and stretched her arms over her head. She’d been relying on Rafael and Sara to handle Hope’s care since Monday.
It wasn’t that she was ungrateful, she thought as she headed toward the bathroom. Ah, there it was—that familiar stab of guilt. She should be the one waking up early with her daughter. But this was the first opportunity she’d had to do something beyond a photo shoot. It was a real introduction to the women of Stolvenia, and it was going to have a real impact.
She laughed as she caught sight of herself in the mirror. Felicity had pinned her hair back in a demure bun the previous day. It was one of the hairstyles that Lydia had strongly recommended, and at every possible event, Felicity found herself referring back to that advice. The bun had been mostly destroyed while she slept, though, and her hair stuck out at odd angles. She should have taken it out, but she’d been exhausted.
Well, there it was. Felicity might feel guilty, but the scrambling mom life she was used to in the United States simply wasn’t going to be an option here in Stolvenia. Not when she finally had so much to do in her official role. Felicity pulled the hair elastic out of her hair and turned on the shower full blast.
This was the weekend, she thought as she shampooed and conditioned her hair, then scrubbed herself down. The next set of events for International Women’s Day—at this point, it should have been called International Women’s Week—didn’t start until Monday, so Felicity would relax. She and Hope could spend a little more time together. The thought of Hope had her on the alert for the sound of her daughter running into the bathroom, but of course that didn’t happen. Sara had things well in hand.
There were no meetings planned for Friday, so the weekend technically began…now. She went back into her room in a towel, wearing nothing else but a big smile on her face.
Felicity wasn’t expecting Rafael.
The sight of him perched on her bed surprised her, but the surprise quickly melted into something more complicated. “Hi,” she said, putting a hand to her towel to hold it on.
He gave her an impish grin. “Good morning. I see you’re feeling a bit shy.”
She suppressed the urge to stick her tongue out at him. “I wasn’t expecting company,” Felicity said primly, then went over and kissed his cheek. She bent forward enough that the front of the towel brushed against his arm. Just like that, she pulled herself back, going for the closet.
Rafael groaned. “All right. Enough teasing.”
“There will never be enough teasing,” Felicity called from the closet. She slipped on underwear, then a comfortable but well-made pair of pants, and a boatneck shirt. Lydia loved boatneck shirts, so she knew she couldn’t go wrong with one, even if today was going to be about spending time with Hope. She went back out into the bedroom. “What brings you here so early?”
Rafael laughed at the joke. He was always up early. “To get a head start on our plans.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Our plans?” As far as Felicity knew, there were no plans for the weekend. And she’d liked it that way. But Rafael looked so pleased with himself.
“Yes,” he said, standing and coming close. Rafael took her hand in his, then raised it to his lips to brush a kiss over her knuckles. “We’re going to get away.”
That was a different tune than he normally sang. “You mean with Hope?”
“No,” murmured Rafael. “Just the two of us. I want to take you away to the countryside.” He looked up at her, and his gaze heated her up from the inside out. “A little vacation, if you will.”
Felicity hesitated. She’d finally been getting into the swing of things, now that Amy had made it so easy. It would be just as easy to get back out of the habit. And what about Hope? She’d been looking forward to spending time with her daughter.
But this was one busy week out of the whole year, and Rafael…he looked so hopeful that it nearly broke her heart.
“Okay,” Felicity said, her soul lighting up at the sight of Rafael’s pleased grin. “When do we leave?”
* * *
The royal estate in the countryside was absolutely beautiful. Felicity felt herself relax the moment they got out of the car. There were, after all, no rope lines and no crowds—only a charming estate house that looked like a smaller version of the palace. It was nestled in the midst of many green, rolling hills with a forest bordering the property.
“No.” Felicity took in the land around them. “I wish I did.”
“No obstacle,” Rafael said, and he meant it. Within the hour, they were riding out, Felicity’s arms around Rafael’s waist. He had been right after all. It was a delicious luxury to be out breathing the fresh air without a camera in sight. She chuckled to herself. It hadn’t taken long, had it, to go from living in Des Moines to riding through the Stolvenian countryside with a king. Her king.
And in this brief break from reality, they had time to take it slow.
In the massive king’s suite of the manor house that night, Rafael undressed her with a reverence that made Felicity feel like everything was right with the world. Yes, she’d been afraid to leave behind the life she made to start over in Stolvenia. Yes, it had been a rocky transition. But now, with Rafael sliding the straps of her bra gently off her shoulders and laying her back against the bedding on the antique king-sized bed, none of that seemed to matter.
He started by kissing her mouth, then moved down to her breasts, circling her nipples with his tongue, and then lower…until the king of Stolvenia knelt between her legs and licked and teased and sucked until she had the sweetest, hardest orgasm of her life.
Felicity curled onto her side, grinning into the comforter, and Rafael climbed up next to her.
“Oh no.” His voice sent another aftershock of pleasure down her spine. It settled between her legs. “I’m not finished with you yet.”
That was how they spent all day on Saturday. A private meal, followed by a ride out into the hills, and then…bed. By Saturday night, Felicity was tired in the most delicious way. She was lying on the sofa with her head in Rafael’s lap, a book balanced in her hands while he read the newspaper.