NOAH
NICHOLAS DIDN’T LET go of me the entire drive back to Montclair Palace—and for much of that time we weren’t wearing much of anything, so thank God for the privacy screen.
It felt like I was still in a dream, like any second I was going to wake up with my heart still crushed.
Maybe it was habit, the way we’d had to sneak around for so long, but I kept waiting for Nicholas to let go of my hand, the one I couldn’t stop looking at.
The one he’d put his family’s thick sapphire-and-white-gold ring on.
“If you don’t like it and would rather have another—” he’d started, but I’d shut him up with a kiss, because it was perfect. Truly, it wouldn’t have mattered what it looked like as long as I belonged to Nicholas. It was all I wanted, to never have to leave his side.
That didn’t stop my stomach from twisting when the palace gates came into view, though. It all came crashing down, what was about to happen, and Nicholas must’ve felt the change in me.
“You’re quiet,” he said, brushing his thumb over the back of my hand.
“I’m, uh, trying not to panic.”
“And how’s that going?”
“Terribly.”
He brought our hands up to his lips and pressed a kiss to my knuckles. “Would it help if I told you I’m also trying not to panic?”
I met his eyes and saw every emotion I felt mirrored back at me. A nervous sort of hopefulness, but mostly determination, because he was mine and I was his, and there was nothing truer than that.
“Not really,” I said. “But I appreciate the honesty.”
His smile deepened, and for a brief moment, the palace outside the window didn’t feel like the place that had broken us. It felt like the place we were returning to together.
“Oh God.” Past Nicholas’s shoulder, I could see the staff lining the front entrance the way they did when the king arrived home. My fingers tightened around his, and as the car slowed to a stop, I had to remind myself to breathe.
“It’ll be okay,” he said. “All that matters is you and me. Whatever anyone says or does has no bearing on our relationship.”
I gave him an unsteady smile. “Because you’re the king, and who would defy a king?”
“Now you’re getting it.” His answering grin reached his eyes, making them sparkle a lighter blue. This was my Nicholas, the man I’d fallen in love with, and now everyone was going to know.
I can do this, I thought as I took in a deep breath and gave Nicholas’s hand one last squeeze.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Nope.”
“Good.” He chuckled and rapped on the window. “Neither am I.”
Then the door opened and Nicholas stepped out of the car, but he never let go of my hand. Something I was grateful for, because my knees were shaking as I stood up.
As a rule, Montclair staff kept quiet, with just bows and curtsies for the king, but they had barely bent the knee when I stepped out too. Protocol went out the window as their wide eyes and soft gasps were all that I could see and hear.
Even unflappable Baxter, who had been waiting for the king at the foot of the stairs, hesitated for half a second before bowing deeply.
“Your Majesty. Welcome back,” he said, before inclining his head at me. “Bennett.”
“Mr. Bennett,” the king corrected him, and Baxter’s back stiffened. Whether it was from surprise or the fact that he’d never put even a foot out of line before, I wasn’t sure.
But he took the king’s words in and said, “Of course, sir, my apologies. Mr. Bennett, it’s nice to see you again.”
Nicholas smiled, and when I looked around at the expressions on the faces of my fellow staff—well, formerly fellow staff now, I supposed—I saw Charlie’s mouth fall open, his jaw on the ground.
Violet, on the other hand, stood beside him, and when our eyes met, she gave a gleeful but silent clap and bounced on her toes.
I knew what everyone else was thinking: it went against every rule I’d ever learned, because footmen did not hold the king’s hand. They did not return to Montclair Palace in rumpled travel clothes with an old bag in the trunk and the king’s family ring on their finger.
As the driver took my bag out, I automatically moved to grab it, but Nicholas’s hand tightened around mine and he shook his head.
“That is not your place anymore,” he whispered, holding my gaze. “Reynolds, would you please take my fiancé’s bag up to my chambers?”
A shocked but excited gasp tore through the quiet, and it sounded a lot like Violet.
He’d really just put that all out there, letting everyone know who I was to him in no uncertain terms. Surprise filtered through me, but more than that, there was a warmth I couldn’t describe even if I wanted to. A sense of belonging, of pride, of love at that simple claiming from Nicholas.
My entire world had changed.
Reynolds took my bag from the driver, and as he walked up the stairs, I said, “Thank you.”
Reynolds stopped and turned, then bowed his head in my direction. “Sir.”
I blinked.
Sir? Did he mean me? I was sir?
I was in shock as Nicholas led us up the stairs. He leaned in by my ear and whispered, “Breathe.”
“I’m trying.”
He smiled and brought our joined hands up to rest them on his chest. “Well, if you faint, I’ll catch you.”
I hoped he made good on that promise, because I thought I might pass out just walking through the front doors of the palace—doors I’d never been allowed through before because I’d always taken the staff entrance.
But here I was, stepping through them with Nicholas’s hand in mine, at his side, like he’d vowed on the cliffs at my parents’ home. This was really happening, no matter that my brain couldn’t comprehend my new reality.
I was engaged to the King of Valoria.
We’d just walked through the main foyer of the palace, with its shiny marble floors and columns, when Gilbert came rushing out of the doors of the grand ballroom looking down at his ever-present tablet.
“Your Majesty,” he said, “if you have the time, I’d like to go over the schedule for—” He came to an abrupt halt when he raised his head and saw me. The footman who had traveled by the king’s side throughout his tour.
Gilbert had never once questioned my presence those couple of weeks. But as his eyes fell to our joined hands and then came back up to meet his king’s, shock and confusion waged for dominance on his face.
“Gilbert, business can wait for the moment,” Nicholas said. “I’d like to introduce you to my fiancé, Mr. Bennett.”
“Fiancé?”
“Yes.” Nicholas cocked his head toward his private secretary, as if daring the man to question him, but Gilbert knew better.
“Of course. It’s an honor to meet you, sir.”
Again with the sir, the polite head incline, and the ruddy cheeks when he straightened.
“I wasn’t aware—” he started, but Nicholas cut him off.
“Well, now you are. I’ll be showing Mr. Bennett to my—our”—Nicholas smiled at me, and I felt my entire face heat—“chambers now. I’ll check in with you soon.”
“But sir—”
“Later, Gilbert.”
Gilbert swallowed and gave a small nod. “Of course, Your Majesty. Take all the time you need.”
“Thank you. We will.” Nicholas squeezed my hand and pulled me toward the left side of the grand staircase.
As we started up them, I leaned in to whisper in his ear, “That is never going to feel normal.”
“What’s that?”
“Everyone calling me sir. You calling your room ours.”
When we reached the top of the stairs, the second floor split off into two grand halls up either side of the palace.
Behind us were the guest quarters and Prince Gabriel’s chambers.
The left side of the hall housed the study, the right the library, where I’d had my game of mahjong with the both of them.
It was surreal walking down the hall now toward the back of the palace where I knew Nicholas’s chambers were. I’d been in there so many times that this should’ve felt somewhat normal. But never had I entered through the front door holding the king’s hand and wearing his ring.
As we approached, the guards stationed outside snapped to attention. They never smiled, weren’t allowed to, so it was a welcome relief to enter the room with no judgment from any outside party.
When the door finally closed and it was just the two of us, I turned in his arms and took his lips in the kiss I’d been dying to give him.
Nicholas wound his arms around my waist and drew me into his embrace. The minutes between exiting the car and now had felt like forever. But now that we were alone, I couldn’t wait to taste him, touch him, claim his as mine.
I cradled his face and teased his lips with my tongue, and when he parted them to let me inside, I moaned. It felt like coming home, and I reveled in it.
“Noah…” He tore his mouth free, then kissed his way along my jaw to my ear. “If you don’t stop that, I’m going to introduce you to your new bed sooner rather than later.”
I crooked my neck to the side as he kissed his way down it, and had to grip his jacket so my knees wouldn’t give out. “Promise?”
“Promise.” His voice was rough and deep, and the sound vibrated through my entire body, making my cock ache.
I was just about to pop open the button on his pants when the door to his—our—chambers flung open and I jerked back, out of the king’s arms.
No, out of my fiancé’s arms. My fiancé who was currently glaring at our uninvited guest.
“Brother,” Prince Gabriel said, clearly not having seen the both of us yet, “I hear you have returned from your— Oh.” He drew up short. “I see the whispers were correct.”
“How many times must I tell you to announce yourself before you enter my chambers?”
“Well, in my defense, you’ve never had any reason to need privacy before now.” Gabriel’s lips twitched. “Hello, Noah.”
I swallowed and inclined my head. “Your Highness.”
Nicholas turned to face me, and the flush on his cheeks and his swollen red lips made me want to throw Gabriel out myself. “You can call him Gabriel.”
“Oh, can he now?” Gabriel said as he moseyed over to the chaise in the sitting area. “And why’s that? Does Mr. Bennett have a new title now other than the guy?”
“Gabriel,” Nicholas gritted out, but I could tell by the smirk on his brother’s face that the prince was—as usual—trying to get under Nicholas’s skin.
“What? If you can’t be bothered to call ahead and tell me what’s going on, you can hardly expect me to know that he’s your—”
“Fiancé,” Nicholas said, reaching for my hand once again and drawing me to his side. “I asked Noah to marry me, and he said yes.”
Gabriel sprang back to his feet. “Bravo, brother. This is going to cause quite the scandal.”
Nicholas rolled his eyes, but Gabriel ignored him and looked to me.
“I have to be honest, I didn’t think he had it in him. But then, love makes all of us act like fools at least once in our lives, am I right?”
“Then what’s your excuse?” Nicholas said before I could respond.
Gabriel tsked and shook his head. “You know, I really thought you’d come back happier. Maybe I should’ve given you thirty minutes to settle in instead of ten. But alas, I decided something altogether different might brighten your spirits.”
“Oh God. I hate to even guess,” Nicholas said, groaning.
“It’s nothing to worry yourselves over. Just a small dinner to introduce Noah here to those who are in the need-to-know circle—before, you know, the whole world finds out.”
My entire body stiffened, the idea of being around anyone as Nicholas’s other half a daunting prospect, even as excited as I was.
“When?” Nicholas said, and Gabriel’s devious smile flashed wider.
“Two hours.”
“What?”
“Just because you didn’t call, big brother, doesn’t mean I wasn’t prepared. There was a fifty-fifty chance we’d need to call off one wedding to plan another. So I’m going to leave now so Noah can remind you how to smile again, and then I’ll see you both at lunch.”
“I’m going to kill you.”
“No you’re not,” he said as he walked toward the door. “But Noah, make sure you loosen him up. Good to have you back, Mr. Bennett.”