Chapter Eighteen #2
The regal smile on my face was anything but forced, and I followed a step behind Toby as he make way for the Queened our way to the front gate.
I saw the patrons waiting there with new eyes, and as I took a breath and began the opening gate speech, I really felt it for the first time.
I was a young Queen, healthy and vital. These were my people, and this was my Faire.
I was welcoming them in, and I was absolutely thrilled to see them.
We were all going to have the most wonderful day.
As the day went on, the support I felt continued.
Not just by the heavy brocade of the blue dress, but by the soft scent of the blue rose in my hair.
As Queen I couldn’t be running around kissing the Shakespeare-spouting guy as much as I wanted, but that rose reminded me that he was here, and he was never far from my mind.
Toby was also there; one of my best childhood friends, he flashed me a very out-of-character smile every time we had a spare moment, but otherwise carried a stern expression as my guard, hovering protectively when I posed for photos with patrons.
Even as I smiled, I panicked a little inside, hoping I wasn’t running late for the Queen’s next responsibility, but Toby was true to his word, taking over the shepherding duties now that I was the sheep.
My feet knew where to go, and my brain knew what to say.
Even the new choreography of the chess match didn’t throw me off—probably because after three weeks, it wasn’t new anymore.
I kept my manner calm and regal, but I did manage to drop a wink toward Alex at the end of the match.
He placed a hand over his heart in response, shooting me a secret smile.
It was too bad that the Queen couldn’t flirt, but she was supposed to be above such worldly things.
I swallowed a disappointed sigh; I could keep it in my proverbial pants for a little longer.
But when Nina unlaced me in the Hollow after pub sing, I was ready to be Caitlin again.
I gratefully shoved the top half of my costume down to my waist before shucking the whole thing, stepping out of the heavy outer layers with a sigh of relief.
Wearing only my oversize chemise, which was sticking to me, I was rummaging in my duffel bag for makeup wipes when the tent flap flew wide open.
I looked up in surprise, still bent over my bag, but dropped it immediately as Alex swept me up in his arms.
“Your Majesty!” he crowed. “You did it!” Sweaty underdress or not, he held me close, rocking me back and forth, and I couldn’t help but laugh against him.
“You really think I did okay?” I could barely get the question out before his mouth was on mine, and I sank gratefully into the kiss.
There was something about spending the day as an authority figure.
It was fun, it was empowering, but man, was it exhausting.
Feminism was great and all that, but sometimes it was nice to let someone else sweep you off your feet. Literally.
“Hell yeah,” he finally said when we came up for air. “I’ve been wanting to do that all day. Your girl as the Queen? I gotta admit, it’s kind of a rush.”
Smoked Red was smeared all over his mouth, and I swiped at it with my thumb before handing him a makeup wipe. “I’m your girl, huh?” My voice was teasing, even if I asked the question with all my heart.
“Pfft. You think I kidnap just anyone in my serial killer van?” He ran the wipe over his face, picking up ten hours’ worth of accumulated grime, before using it to attack the smear of lipstick across his mouth.
He sounded casual, but his eyes held mine.
I was thinking now about that serial killer van, and the heart-to-heart we’d had in its depths.
Memory hit me like a blow to the chest. I’d been so busy being the Queen that I’d forgotten: this was his last weekend as a Faire performer.
He only had one day left. I remembered the pain in his eyes when he’d confessed it to me, and I searched for that pain now.
But all I saw in his eyes was pride, his attention on me.
He plucked another wipe from the package in my hand and went to work on my makeup, coaxing me to close my eyes.
The wipe was cool on my overheated skin, and he tugged gently against my eyelids before moving across my forehead and then down my cheeks.
People were talking and laughing outside of the tent, and I heard the firm definitive sound of zippers on bags being closed as they packed up to leave.
I kept my eyes closed and stayed motionless, letting Alex take care of me, and my senses whittled down to inside the tent: the soft whoosh of him taking another wipe out of the pack, the smooth coolness and slightly astringent scent of the cleanser permeating my skin.
The soft strength of his hand cradling the back of my head, holding me steady.
He finished removing my makeup, and in the moment when I wondered if it was time to open my eyes, I felt the heat of him a breath before his mouth met mine.
Softly, sweetly. Our kiss tasted like clean skin and makeup remover.
Which doesn’t sound terribly sexy, but maybe you had to be there.
His forehead rested against mine, and I finally blinked my eyes open to study his.
“Spend the night with me.” His voice was low, desperate, as his eyes darkened with need.
If he kept looking at me like that I’d follow him anywhere. Okay, maybe not. “Not the van. Please, God, not the van.”
He laughed against my mouth as he stole another kiss. “I got a hotel room. It’s nothing fancy, but…” His eyes darkened. “I need a night with you, Caitlin. Just one. I want to fall asleep with you. Wake up with you. I know we can’t be forever. But…”
I leaned in, stopping his words with my mouth before my heart overflowed. “Just tell me where.”
—
A night with Alex was the best idea. The luxury of a long shower with him, in a place where we didn’t have to worry about running out of hot water, was the perfect end to my first day as a royal monarch.
We used up way too much of the complimentary bodywash, rinsing away the dirt and dust of the lanes, until our bodies were pink from the scrubbing and the steam.
Alex dropped the washcloth on the floor and reached for me, water pounding around us.
“My queen.” His voice was a rumble as he kissed the spot behind my ear that made my knees buckle.
“My queen,” he said again as his mouth moved down my throat and his tongue traced my collarbone.
He repeated the sobriquet over and over, a prayer as he made his way down my body, his hands tracing a path that his mouth followed.
I leaned back, pressing my back against the wall of the shower, flattening my hands against the tile as his mouth got to work between my legs.
My back arched, my hips moved, wanting more from him.
Wanting everything from him. It didn’t take long for me to fall apart, bucking, shuddering, reaching for him with hands that shook.
There wasn’t time to dry off. There was barely time to turn off the shower as he rose to his feet, his kiss desperate as we stumbled out of the shower together.
I grabbed for a towel, throwing it to the bed before he all but threw me after it.
I landed on my stomach, the terry cloth rough against my belly.
I started to turn over, but he stopped me.
“Just like that.” My body sagged at the heat in his voice, and I closed my eyes, listening as he tore open a condom from the box on the nightstand.
The bed dipped behind me as his weight settled between my legs, then his hands were there, pulling my hips up.
He parted my legs with his knees and I gasped as I felt him, lining himself up with my entrance, pushing himself in with a long, low groan.
My hands curled into fists, clutching the towel beneath me, the sound of wet skin against wet skin filling my senses.
Alex’s hands were firmly on my hips, anchoring himself, but now he slid one hand up my spine, his touch hot against my skin, tracing the curve of my back.
Then his other hand was on the move, gliding over my hip and around, hooking the pads of his fingers right above where we were joined.
“Caitlin.” My name was a choppy exhale. “My queen, my love, my…” His hips stuttered, his hands stroked faster, and before I knew it I was shuddering around him as we both came apart.
For long moments all we could do was breathe. I missed the warmth of Alex’s body as he left to deal with the condom, but he was back almost immediately, crawling over me, warm against my back. Then he wrapped his arms around me and rolled us both to the side, cradling me against him.
“I swear I just wanted to take a shower,” he said as his fingers traced patterns on my skin. “I was going to buy you dinner first and everything.”
That got my attention. “Did you say dinner?” My stomach rumbled against his hand, and he groaned and laughed at the same time.
“I love that sex makes you hungry.”
Love. It was the second time he had used that word. I tried not to dwell on it, but it kept echoing in my ears, even as we made our way through a ridiculous amount of takeout and recounted our day.
“I don’t know what the hell happened, but I completely blanked.
” Alex reached for a fry on the spread between us.
One of the hotel towels was laid out on the bed like a picnic blanket and we sat on opposite sides of the feast, wearing our comfiest sweats with the air-conditioning turned down low. My toes were cold, but I didn’t care.
I shook my head as I finished off the last chicken wing, the spicy sauce making my mouth tingle. “You seriously forgot ‘to be or not to be’?” I shook my head in disgust. “So much for Shakespeare Boy.”