Chapter Twenty-Five #3
Reaves kept his weight carefully braced above her until she tightened her arms around him.
"You can lie down," she murmured. "You're not going to crush me."
He rolled onto his side instead, taking her with him and tucking her against his chest.
"Better?"
She nodded.
His fingers moved tenderly through her hair. "How was the advanced class?"
She laughed softly. "I might need some additional instruction."
"I'll clear my schedule. I should take you on as my sole student—book you in for nightly tuition."
She tipped her head back to look at him. The humor faded from his eyes as he traced the line of her cheek.
"You okay?"
"I am." The answer came easily this time. Nothing like the empty fine she'd used to keep him out. She meant it. "I really am."
He kissed her forehead.
She rested her hand over his heart and listened to it slow beneath her palm. "I was afraid this might feel like too much."
"Does it?"
"No." She looked around the room—the room where he'd grown up, the bed where he'd probably slept as a boy, in the house that was becoming home to her and Zia. "It feels like what you said—a life I can believe in."
His arm tightened around her. "Because it is."
"I should get back. I don't want Zia waking up and looking for me."
"No."
Neither of them made any move to get up.
After another minute, she smiled against his chest. "You're waiting for me to ask you to come with me, aren't you?"
He cocked an eyebrow and smirked. "Not sure I can again just yet."
"Reaves!" She slapped his arm.
Laughing, she pushed herself upright. He caught her hand before she could move away and pressed a kiss to her palm.
"I want to come with you—if you think it'll be all right. I don't want to confuse Zia. If she wakes up and comes in…"
She nodded.
"What do you think?" he asked.
"You know what I think, Reaves. You must know." She smiled. "She'll be beside herself with happiness. And you'll hold her little heart in your hands—right there with mine." She rested her palm against his cheek. "But then, you already do."
"Then we're good," he said. "Because I plan to spend the rest of my days keeping both your hearts safe."
~ ~ ~
Reaves cracked an eye open when he heard water running in the bathroom. The sun wasn't up yet, but the birds were already singing.
His arm was curled around Alara's waist, and she nestled back against him. They'd slept that way all night—well, all night except for the hour or so they'd spent whispering in the darkness and making love again.
The sound of little feet padding across the bathroom tiles pushed that memory out of his head.
He tensed, waiting for Zia to appear. Then panic shot through him when he remembered that he hadn't thought to bring his clothes when he and Alara came back to her room last night.
Alara looked up at him over her shoulder. "Are you ready for this—or are you panicking?"
"Only about being naked." He looked down at his bare chest.
She chuckled and ran her hand over his thigh. "Relax. She's seen you in the pool before."
"Oh. Yeah. Right." He ran a hand over his face, feeling foolish.
Alara pushed herself upright and piled the pillows behind them. "Here. Lean back against those, and we'll pull the covers up over you. Right up to your chin, if you like," she added with a laugh.
He caught her and pressed a kiss to her lips. "I'm thinking about Z, not my modesty."
"I know. And I love you for it."
"I love you more."
At that moment, the door from Zia's room opened, and she appeared, dragging a large stuffed bear behind her with one hand and rubbing her eyes with the other.
"Mom, is it time to get up now? I dreamed that—"
She stopped.
Her eyes grew huge.
"Prince Daddee!"
She dropped the bear and ran toward the bed, scrambling up onto it with a huge smile on her face.
"You're here!"
"Morning, Z. Yeah, I'm here."
She flung her arms around his neck and peppered his cheek with kisses. Reaves laughed and hugged her with one arm while using the other to keep the covers securely in place against her enthusiastic clambering.
"You love Mom, don't you?" she asked.
He nodded happily and when she let go of him, he wrapped his free arm around Alara's shoulders. "I do."
"I knew it!" Zia punched the air before leaning in to kiss Alara's cheek. "You're the best mom in the whole world. Prince Daddy had to choose you." She sat back with a satisfied smile. "We can all live happily ever after now, here in the castle."
Her little eyebrows drew together. "But we still need to rescue Homer, too."
"We don't get to live here in the castle forever, Z," Alara told her.
"I know. But Grandpa Grape does, so we'll come here lots to see him." She turned back to Reaves. "I think your apartment might be a very tall tower in the forest."
"It might," he agreed with a smile, though he didn't expect that she or Alara would want to live there once they knew what his dad had in mind.
"We get to be happy ever after wherever we live, though, don't we, Prince Daddy?" Zia asked. "You're ours now, aren't you?"
"I am," he assured her. Then he turned to Alara and held her gaze. "Forever and ever."