Chapter 20 – Sebastian #2
“Three hours of hiking? Zayer will never make it.”
“That’s Rowan’s problem, isn’t it?”
I shake my head, my hands going to my hips. Sneaky bastard waited until I left for my run to do this. “I agreed to one outing yesterday. I did not agree to two. Where is Bellamy? Does she know of this?”
“Today is Bellamy’s day off, but she tried to call you as did I and you didn’t answer. Last I heard she was getting ready to leave to go see her father.”
“When did they leave?”
“Half an hour ago.”
I sigh, leaning against the stone wall by the stairs.
They’re already nearly there. I’m not shocked Rowan picked that spot.
It’s where we used to get into trouble as boys in the winter as the lake is a natural hot spring and keeps the area lush.
We’d skip rocks and chase animals and hike until our feet hurt, fancying ourselves adventurers.
“Should I allow this?”
Althea gives me a wry grin. “It’s done, Sebastian. But the trail is relatively flat and not terribly long, and this time of year, there won’t be snow.”
“This is a slippery slope.”
“But that doesn’t mean they’ll fall. We’ll just have to tread carefully.”
My gaze drops to the steps. “You think I’ve been wrong? Keeping us here?”
“I think Bellamy and Rowan are right. That it’s time to let the children grow and thrive beyond the palace walls. That does not mean I think you’ve been wrong. You did what you thought you had to do. Now that you’re with Bellamy, things feel different.”
I half smirk, but there isn’t much amusement in it. “You sound like Rowan now. Besides, how did you know about me and her?”
She raises a dubious eyebrow. “Never underestimate an old woman, Sebastian. We happen to know everything. Even before it happens.”
“Is that so?” I challenge.
She throws her hands up. “Rowan and I spoke about it last night. I also agree with him on Bellamy. I think she is the light to your darkness. The light this kingdom needs to break whatever spell you’ve felt cast under.”
I sigh. It’s a heavy fucking sigh. “I’m going to shower and take Bellamy to visit her father.”
“What?”
I grin at the shock and alarm striking Althea’s features. “If my children get to go out, I do too.”
Her eyebrow raises in a perceptive arc. “Is this an official date?”
“A date? I’m an old man. A king. She’s the nanny. How could I ever truly date her?” I’m not sure who the question is for. Me or her.
“You’re allowed to move on after Nora. Besides, I think the country would like to see you with someone. It would be good for your people to see you happy. To see the children happy. Love has a way of unifying and recharging.”
“Love? Who said anything about love? A moment ago you were talking about dating.”
“What did I just tell you about trying to fool an old woman? Besides, women talk. I’ll get the details from her.
Enjoy your ride.” She pats my shoulder and continues down the stairs.
This has already gotten out of hand, but Althea doesn’t seem put off that I’m with Bellamy.
If anything, the grin on her face indicated she was pleased.
It’s been quite the morning, and it’s not even nine yet.
Clamoring up the remaining stairs, I head straight for Bellamy’s room. Maybe I should have put more care into preserving this as a secret, but it seems the time for that has passed. I knock on her door, only there is no answer.
“Bellamy?” I whisper-shout into the door and press my ear to the wood. There is noise inside, but I can’t quite discern what it is. I knock again, and when she still doesn’t answer, I test the knob. “Bellamy?” I call out, creaking her door open no more than an inch or two.
The sound of water running through the pipes hits me, and I grin.
What do you know? I need a shower myself.
Slipping into her room, I shut and lock the door behind me.
This is likely crossing every line, but the temptation of her in the shower is too great to resist. I push the door to her bathroom open, and there is Bellamy in the shower, washing her hair, the foggy wet profile of her body instantly making me hard.
I tap on the door so I don’t startle her, but I do anyway, and she jumps, twisting to face me. “What the hell?! You shouldn’t be in here.”
“But I need a shower too.”
She shifts her stance, her hands going to her hips. “And you think I should let you join me?”
“I wasn’t asking for permission,” I tell her as I strip out of my sweaty running clothes and open the glass door to step under the scalding spray.
In a flash, just as she’s opening her mouth to no doubt give me shit, my lips are on hers, my body pressing her against the cool tile wall.
“Are you sore?” I ask as my fingers glide down her wet body, past her breasts until I’m cupping her between her legs.
On a moan, she shakes her head and repeats, “You shouldn’t be here.”
“Why?” I question as I hoist her up in my arms and force her legs to wrap around me. “Everyone already knows.”
Her head falls back and her eyes close as I start to play with her, rub her, work her up and get her nice and wet for me. “That’s not what I wanted to hear.”
“Are you ashamed of me?” I half tease.
“I’m going to look like the floozy nanny. The harlot who seduced a king.”
I smile against her lips. “Open your eyes for me, Bellamy. Let me see all that beautiful blue.”
Reluctantly she blinks them open, and though I’m touching her and her face is flushed and her pupils are wide, there is dismay twisting her pretty face.
I shift my hand to her ass, pressing my body in to support her weight so I can cup her face in my hand.
For a moment, I just stare into her eyes as the sound of the shower serenades us.
“What are you worried about with me?”
She licks her lips and tries to look away, but I won’t allow it.
“Do you not know? Do you truly have no clue what this is to me?”
Her eyes search mine in fast, nervous flicks, her vulnerability a palpable force. “What?” she finally asks, the sound barely above a whisper.
“I told you, you’re mine.”
She practically rolls her eyes, and I give her ass a quick smack.
“This isn’t something temporary. This isn’t fun and games for me.
I know you believed that, and at first, I didn’t dissuade you, because I wasn’t sure either.
But fuck if I’m not crazy about you. More than that.
” I suck in a shaky breath, ready to utter words I’ve never said to a woman before.
“I love you.” I stare at her as if she’s the only thing in my world. “I love you,” I repeat.
And it’s not nearly as awful or sickening to say as I imagined it would be all these years.
There is a lightness that comes with it.
A freeing. An unfurling of something incredible deep in my core, relaxing my muscles and coaxing a strange sort of smile on my lips. Especially with her incredulous stare.
“You’re serious?”
“Oui. Je t’aime. C’est pour toujours. Tu m’as libéré.” Whether the curse is broken or not—nearly impossible to believe that—she has set me free. She has forced me to face a world and a life I would have intentionally ignored forever.
A tear streaks from the corner of her eye, tracking down her cheek, and I wipe it away with my thumb.
“Do you not feel the same?” The thought that I may be ahead of myself here—we did only just start this—zings through me, louder and more resonant than the water crashing all around us.
Her arms cocoon me, dragging my chest in against hers, her face falling to the dip between my shoulder and neck as she clings.
“It’s okay if you don’t,” I tell her, kissing the top of her head. “But for me, this is real, and it’s lasting. You’re not some floozy, or however you say it, who seduced a king. You are the woman who found a caged man and set him free. And I will defend that to my dying breath.”
“Jesus, Sebastian.” She pants, her body trembling. “Such a beautiful heart lives in your chest. One I doubt you’re even aware was there, let alone beating.” Her head rises, and her eyes pin mine. “I love you, too. To the point where there is little else I think about. It’s you, all you, only you.”
My heart bursts in my chest.
“But, how can we—”
I silence her with my mouth. “We can because nothing else matters. If you want to keep it quiet for now until we’ve been together longer, we can.”
“Yes. Maybe just for now. It’s new and it’s a lot. And I am still the nanny.”
“Then that’s what we’ll do. It’s not for anyone else to know about yet anyway. But know, you’re what and who I want, and that will never change.”
I rub myself against her, and with one motion, I’m inside of her.
Where I belong. I take her slowly, sweetly, staring into her eyes and holding her close.
So unlike the savage I was with her last night.
I love her with my body, and it’s as effortless and exquisite as it is soul-rattling.
Because despite my assurances, this thing between us is not simple.
I already know if I’m going to be able to keep this new love alive, I’m going to have to fight like hell for it. And what happens if I don’t win?