“Ah, it appears that you have deeper feelings for my son than you want to admit. I am pleased, Rachel, very pleased. I will leave you alone now to sort through your thoughts. Thank you for taking the time to meet with me today.”
Queen Octavia stood and quietly left the room. When Rachel was sitting glued to her chair several moments later, she realized she hadn’t said a word. She hadn’t even stood up when the queen had exited. That had been unpardonably rude.
Yet too lost in her thoughts to dwell on it, she finally rose and walked from the palace, her stomach still heaving. She had to get some fresh air, calm the churning within. It seemed the ocean was calling to her, for her feet moved that way of their own accord.
She needed to clear her head and figure out what she was going to say to Adriane. Should she tell him how she felt — see whether there was any chance of him loving her back?
Reaching the white sandy beaches, Rachel slipped off her shoes and walked on, anticipating the feel of the gentle waves splashing against her legs.
The clouds were rolling in, but far enough off in the distance that she wasn’t concerned. The fine sand squished between each toe soothed her as her mind continued racing with her newfound knowledge.
When she turned her head and saw Adriane walking toward her, she tensed, not ready for this talk with him, not sure of what she wanted to say to the man who had dominated her life over the past month — the past four months, in fact, if she went back to the beginning.
It was almost ironic that she would be realizing she was in love with him while standing on a beautiful beach. It was, after all, where their journey had begun. Of course that had been in another country, and at quite another time.
The wind blew his short black hair as he stepped closer, and his eyes crinkled slightly at the corners as he smiled her way. He looked relaxed and sure of himself, something she couldn’t say for herself right then.
When he reached her, he pulled her immediately into his arms, his skin warmed from the hot sun and easily heating her body as he held her close.
Rachel leaned against him, inhaling his all too familiar scent. What a handsome and dangerous man he’d turned out to be. Their thoughtless weeks together had altered the course of her life forever.
She closed her eyes as she remembered when she was seventeen and thought she was in love, and what her mother had said to her:
Never do anything irrevocable with a man you don’t want as your husband. You must be sure that you can live with yourself, and with him. It may seem like only a moment, but you will be forever locked to him — emotionally, physically, or even more.
Rachel hadn’t thought of those words for a long time. She hadn’t been able to go all the way with the boy she’d been dating back then, and she’d been grateful she hadn’t, because soon afterward, he’d broken up with her. That was when Rachel had found out he had two other girlfriends in neighboring towns. They’d been giving him what she hadn’t, all along.
She would have given her heart to him, along with her virginity, for nothing.
She probably would have been much wiser to take her mother’s advice the day she’d met Adriane. But nooo. She’d thought only of her own immediate pleasure. Now she was forever locked to Adriane, both because of the twins she carried and because of her love for him.
As Adriane leaned back and lifted her chin, she met his eyes before taking a moment to admire the strong shape of his high cheekbones, the perfect angle of his nose, the beauty of his tanned skin, and the sensuousness of his full lips.
He was beautiful, on the inside as well, she was discovering. He was just very good at hiding that man deep beneath a thick skin.
He was also a king. He would do his duty and marry her, but would he ever love her? Was he even capable of that? From the time he’d known he would one day rule Corythia, he’d been groomed to find a princess, marry her, and continue his royal line, as the kingdom expected.
Instead, he’d ended up with her.
How could they possibly have anything more than a marriage of convenience? Sure, he was most likely fated to a marriage of convenience, but at least if the woman was of royal blood, the royal lines would stay pure. Her children weren’t fully royal, not with her as a mother.
Before she was able to dwell too much on that thought, she began thinking again of their nights of lovemaking. He was a phenomenal lover, taking her to a new level of luxurious satisfaction each time he pleasured her body.
Maybe that was enough. Passion and loyalty.
Rachel didn’t think Adriane would betray her by taking another woman. He just didn’t seem the type of man to do something so horrendous. This was a new age where kings didn’t need concubines anymore, right?
“My mother said the two of you had lunch. I am glad she returned home from her trip. You will spend a lot of time together, and the two of you have much in common.”
“Your mother is a beautiful woman and was very kind to me,” Rachel told him as she lowered her head to lean it against his chest.
As the sea swirled around their feet, Adriane’s hands moved slowly up and down her back. Feeling unstoppable, Rachel lifted her chin as Adriane’s mouth descended and he gently caressed her lips.
His smooth touch only confirmed her love for him. Tears filled her eyes as he nibbled on her bottom lip.
It was too much.
She had to get away from him for a while, had to gather her thoughts, figure out what she was going to do with this new information.
“Do you want to go back to the room and lie down?”
She knew he was offering her more than just a nap. She knew he wanted to take her again, and her body ached to accept his offer, but she couldn’t, not right this moment. She had to reel her emotions in and figure out what to say to him.
“I’m not a child, Adriane. If I am tired, I will let you know,” she said, purposely misinterpreting his words.
She felt like a monster as he flinched, showing hurt in his eyes for the barest second before he masked his expression.
He was a master at aloofness, which explained her complete cluelessness about what he was generally thinking or feeling.
She began to shake in his arms, and the anger he’d briefly shown seemed to fade away instantly as he looked down on her flushed face, and the line of sweat beginning to bead on her forehead.
“You look unwell, Rachel. Let me get you to your bed and call in the doctor. I want to make sure you aren’t catching something,” he said, and he leaned down to pick her up.
“I will not break just because I have a slight ache, Adriane. Are you really so worried about your heirs that you won’t give me five seconds to work it out on my own before alerting the doctor?” she asked in exasperation as she pulled back from him.