Chapter 21 – Bellamy
BELLAMY
“This is quite possibly the most magical place I’ve ever been,” I exclaim, marveling from the edge of the balcony at the massive landscape of endless snowcapped mountains, my breath fogging in front of me.
Snow falls in tiny beads of ice like pixie dust floating from the heavens, making this moment even more magical.
Sebastian wraps his arms around my chest from behind me, his body heat nothing short of extraordinary in contrast to the frigid air. “Everything you ever dreamed of?” he murmurs in my ear.
“And then some.” I can’t stop smiling. I’m pretty sure that’s all I’ve done since we got here three days ago.
This last month has not been what I expected. At all. He loves me. King Sebastian of Messalina loves me. Is this really happening? I knew I was in love. That was an easy conclusion to come to.
But him?
The man I never imagined capable of such a thing with anyone, let alone me.
Such sweet and poetic words from such a rough and grizzly man.
But always so passionate. Everything he does is.
I want to bottle this up and never let it go.
It’s been like something out of a dream.
A fairy tale that I know any moment I’ll wake up from.
Sebastian, for all his broody, commanding ways, has been loving and kind and tender.
It’s as if the I love you bomb changed everything in him.
Well, not everything.
He’s still him. He’s just…softened a little.
Especially here.
We’re all hunkered down in a royally owned chalet in the Alps on the Messalinian border.
The grand chalet sits on fifteen thousand acres of mountainous land with only one road in and out of the sprawling compound, making it more secure than even the primary palace.
No shocker there, considering my father was able to break in and I was granted access with very little coercion.
Being here feels different than being in the palace. There is a sense of freedom here. It’s as if Sebastian left his crown and its heavy burden behind. I’ve never seen him smile or heard him laugh so much. He needed this more than I think he realized. We all did, the children especially.
More importantly, we’ve left the palace now on three other occasions.
Sebastian is very strict about it, and we have to follow a serious, no-fucking-around set of rules.
We haven’t gone anywhere in public. No one is allowed to mention to anyone that the royal family is leaving the palace.
As far as the country and the world are concerned, they still haven’t left in three years.
And any place the children go, Sebastian has to approve of it ahead of time and he is to be with them.
No one argues it. First, because have you tried arguing with that man? Impossible. Second, because they’re all just so happy to get out of the palace and stretch their legs they’ll take what they can get.
As for Sebastian and me? Well, it’s been a month of sneaking around. A month of naughty deeds under the cloak of darkness and secrets. Other than Althea, Rowan, Javier, and Emily, no one knows. The children know nothing. For now, that’s how I’d like to keep it.
Except this week it seems Sebastian has other ideas.
“Happy birthday,” he whispers in my ear before peppering my neck with a trail of wet kisses that make me shiver.
I haven’t celebrated my birthday in a very long time.
At least not in any special or meaningful way.
When it was just my dad and me, he’d get me a cupcake and stick a candle in it.
I didn’t have friends for a party. We were traveling from place to place and didn’t have the money for anything extra, and tangible gifts weren’t practical when we were moving so often.
But turning twenty-two wrapped in the arms of the man I’m finding it more impossible to go without, surrounded by his children who own every important piece of me, is not something I ever imagined I’d have.
Especially when he goes and does this…
His fingers glide up along either side of my neck, tickling my skin with something foreign. He latches whatever it is at the back of my neck and my hand shoots up, holding the heavy weight of a pendant.
“Sebastian,” I gasp as my gaze slingshots down and locks on a giant heart-shaped diamond. It has to be at least ten carats, easy.
“It was my great-grandmother’s diamond,” he tells me, his chin on my shoulder, our heads touching as we both gaze down at the necklace.
“The one married to the king whose bust I ruined?”
I can feel his smile. “The same. I felt it fitting. Rumor has it she never liked him, but he loved her endlessly. Sort of like us.”
I giggle lightly. “I like you sometimes. When you’re not being an intolerable grump or a domineering ass.”
A kiss to my cheek. “I like you all the time. Except when you’re being a brat.” Another kiss. “This was her engagement stone.”
“Sebastian.” It’s all I can manage as tears threaten. “It’s too much. I can’t…” Hard swallow. “I can’t accept this.”
“You can and you will. It’s yours. I had it removed from the garish setting it was in and placed in this one. Classic and beautiful. Like you. Wear my heart around your neck for it’s yours and no one else’s.”
God. This man. This king. He has no idea how fiercely I love him. I don’t even know the depths of it. It’s beyond explanation. Tears are freezing to my cheeks, and I don’t even care. I spin around in his arms and kiss him with everything I am.
“I love you,” I murmur into him.
“I love you too. More,” he whispers against my lips, and I had no idea a heart could feel this full.
This content. Here with this man is where I was always meant to be.
“Come on.” He takes my hand. “The children are downstairs waiting on us. Rowan too, unfortunately.” He gives me a cute wink.
Rowan is the ultimate ballbuster. He’s relentless and refuses to take orders or put up with any of Sebastian’s shit.
Needless to say, I absolutely adore him.
He grips my hand, holding it firmly in his even as we enter his bedroom and head down the stairs to where everyone is gathered.
If the children have noticed how affectionate their father has been with me on this trip, they haven’t commented.
When we’re in the palace, we try to keep physical boundaries while around them and others.
But here, it’s as if all those rules no longer apply. It’s something we haven’t talked about further, and I’m not sure I’m ready for them to know yet. What if they hate me for it or don’t want me to be with their father because I’m not their mother?
“Happy birthday!” the kids scream when they see me at the top of the stairs that lead into a solarium and the back of the chalet.
“Thank you!” I smile, walking down and hugging each of the kids.
“Yes, yes, happy birthday. We’ll celebrate you tonight.
But it took you long enough to come down.
I wonder what it is you were doing up there,” Rowan grouses, glancing at his smartwatch in an exaggerated way.
“I mean, it’s not as if we haven’t been down here waiting on you.
” Everyone is already in their snow gear, so yeah, maybe we did hold everyone up a bit.
“Rowan, remind me again how it is you came on this trip?”
“I simply got in the car with my bags.”
“Oh right. That’s it. Because we didn’t invite you.”
Rowan rolls his eyes and runs his middle finger down the bridge of his nose. I can’t help but laugh. Having Rowan around has been good for not only Sebastian but the kids as well. He’s the fun guy and his charm rubs off on everyone, even Sebastian.
“Where is it we’re going?” I question.
“To build a snowman!” Sabrina squeals, jumping up and down.
“Are you Princess Anna?” I tease. We finally watched Frozen a couple of weeks ago and the girls went batshit for it. They didn’t notice so much about the whole parents dying thing.
“That makes me Queen Elsa,” Phaedra demands, grasping my hand and dragging me away from Sebastian. “And as queen, I demand we go out and build a royal family of snow people. Not men. Snowmen is sexist.”
“Sexist?” Sebastian’s eyebrows hit his hairline as he stares at his six-year-old before his questioning—and maybe slightly perturbed—gaze slides over to me.
I shrug unrepentantly. “Well, we were discussing how certain words and terms are gender-specific even when they shouldn’t be and how this is based on a patriarchal society.”
“Yes, Papa. As queen, I plan to change that,” Phaedra continues while I put on my coat and slip into my snow boots. A foot of fresh powder fell last night, and I’m excited to go out and play in it. It doesn’t snow in Tourin ever, so I haven’t had a chance to play in the snow in a very long time.
“My darling girl, it is well past time someone did,” Rowan tells her, opening the back door of the chalet, icy wind and snow smacking us in the face as he does. “This world needs strong women like you to run it. So far, men have done a terrible job of things.”
“Yes,” Sebastian agrees with a weary sigh. “That is very true. I can’t even deny that, and you will be an excellent queen. But for now, can’t you just be my little girl for a bit longer?”
“Okay, Papa, but only for now.”
“I’ll take what I can get.” He scoops Phaedra up in his arms and runs the both of them out into the snow, tossing her into a heaping pile.
She squeals as she flies, and when she emerges, covered head to toe in white, she lets a fistful of snow fly.
It hits Sebastian in the face, and for a moment, everyone freezes.
Sabrina gasps. Rowan and I hide our snickers. Zayer is whining because the snow is high and he’s small and every step of his takes him twice as long as it does us.
“Did you just throw a snowball at me?”
Phaedra squares her shoulders, staring defiantly at her father. “I did.”