21. 21
Magnus
Selene isn’t at the castle when we get back.
She’s not in bed, or in our rooms. Or even her office.
“Where is the queen?” I demand when I finally find someone to ask.
“She went into town with Ms. Laz and Mr. Benny,” the chambermaid tells me, eyes widening when I bark at her.
“She’s with Dee, so it’s fine,” Duncan says. “Why don’t we drive back in and see what they’re up to?”
The suggestion takes the edge off my anger. It’s not that I’m mad that Selene is out, but because for the last few minutes of the drive, I had been thinking of what to say to her.
How to kiss her.
I was looking forward to seeing her, and now she’s not here.
“Fine,” I say to Duncan. “Where do you think they went?”
“I’d guess Sailor’s Saloon, since it’s the only one with a dance floor.”
“They went dancing?”
“Dee would want to go dancing,” Duncan corrects. “Whether Selene could be persuaded to join her is another story.”
Half an hour later, I discover that Selene can be persuaded.
I discover my wife and my best friend’s sister in the middle of an impromptu dance floor, watched by a crowd of admiring men.
Both have partners.
I don’t recognize the man who sweeps Diandra around the floor, but I know exactly who is holding my wife in his arms.
Holding her too tightly, his tall frame bending over her.
Mick Crow.
I’ve known Mick for years. He’s never liked me, even before I was king, and it certainly hasn’t improved in the last few weeks.
From the glance I get when I walk in, I might say he likes me even less now.
But he seems to like my wife.
Selene is smiling, but there’s a tightness around her eyes that I recognize. She’s not happy, but she’s putting on a brave face. It’s the only reason I don’t physically remove Mick’s hands from her person.
“Mag,” Duncan warns as I head over to my wife.
I’m not the type of man to get jealous. I’ve never been possessive or treated a woman like she belongs solely to me. But there’s a flash of something running through me, and I don’t like it.
It feels sour, and sick, and wrong.
“Selene,” I say, forcing a smile on my face. “Fancy meeting you here.”
“You’re home.” And the smile she gives me—the sweet, sincere curl of her mouth is the best welcome I’ve ever had.
It also sweetens some of the sour feelings.
But not all of it. “Mick Crow,” I say with forced joviality. “Last time I heard, you’d gotten yourself a wife.”
“I did, but I think I might like yours better,” he says, eyes rimmed with drink but without a slur in his voice. I’ve no doubt Mick has been drinking steadily all night but would still walk a straight line if you tell him to.
He also recognizes Selene.
He might be the only one, though.
“I’d appreciate if you took your hands off her,” I say smoothly, but with an edge. “I haven’t seen her in a few days, and I’d like to dance with her.”
“You shouldn’t leave her alone if you don’t want her to make friends.”
“She can make friends with who she likes.”
“Just because you’re king doesn’t mean you can act like you own this place,” Mick sneers. Selene has put as much distance as she can between them, but he still hasn’t let her go. And I know it’s because of me.
“Technically, I kind of do own the place.” I bought Sailor’s years ago so we’d have a place for the band to play.
Mick curses under his breath. “You think you own the whole country?”
“He does own the whole country.” Duncan stands beside me, with Diandra slightly behind him with Benny. A group of men have also stood up; I know they’re Mick’s friends, so I really don’t know which side they’ll be on if this becomes a fight.
It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a bar fight, and the last time was in here.
With Mick.
“Why don’t you let go of Selene?” Duncan suggests with his courtier charm.
“I’m fine.” And there in front of the whole bar, Selene does a little snap twist and has her knee up before I can blink. “I just thought I’d let you have your little pissing contest. Which is not attractive, by the way.”
She backs away from Mick, and Diandra rushes to her side.
“Get the dancing out of your system or do you need to stay?” I ask, even though every part of me wants nothing more than to throw my wife over my shoulder and get her as far away from Mick Crow as I can. The memory of her smile lets me stop the idiot from appearing.
“I think it’s time to go home,” Selene says. “Thank you for the dance,” she adds to Mick, who glowers at her.
I nod and taking her hand, head for the door with Selene, Diandra, Benny, and Duncan following behind.
“It was a good idea,” Diandra says under her breath as Benny opens the door for us.
“Sure it was. Maybe next time, wait for us to go with you.”
I slide in beside Selene. “I’ve been chaperoned my entire life,” she says in a tight voice. “This is the first time I’ve been out by myself, and it was fun. Before that gentleman started getting handsy. The rest of them were very respectable.”
“He knew who you were.” I take a deep breath. “I’m sorry I got jealous.”
“I’ve always thought I’d like a man to be jealous, but it’s really not something I enjoy.”
“I’ll try not to let it happen again. I don’t like Mick.”
“I don’t think he likes you either, which surprises me because you’re very likable.”
“Am I?”
“I think so.” And Selene takes my hand.
After we return to the castle, and after we say goodnight to Duncan and Diandra, I retire to my rooms with Selene.
I’ve gotten over my strange, sour jealous bit, but I’m still tense.
“How was England?” she asks, pulling a clean pair of pajamas out. Just like we’re a regular married couple.
Which we clearly aren’t.
“A success,” I tell her. “Our new house manager and lawyer arrive in a month.”
“That’s wonderful. You can update me about your meeting with Charles tomorrow because I’m very tired.”
Does she realize how cool her voice is? “I’m sorry,” I say again. “That was not who I wanted to be. Mick knows how to rub me the wrong way. He always has.”
Some of the tension leaves her shoulders. “You don’t have to be. It might not have been the best idea.”
“If you want to go dancing, you should go dancing,” I tell her. “I’m not your keeper. I want you to know that.”
She nods, but it’s not enough.
“You looked pretty good dancing,” I say, unsure of what to do with my hands. How to stand. Whether I should move closer to her. “Other than being with Mick.”
I probably shouldn’t mention another man.
“Well, obviously that won’t happen again,” she says.
“It could,” I tell her quickly. “The dancing part. I like - you like Billy Idol?”
“It has a good beat.”
“I’ve met him, you know.”
There’s a pause. “Are you trying to impress me?” she asks. The corners of her mouth curve up just a little.
“Is it working?”
“I’d be more impressed if you tried to kiss me.”
There is a stunned silence between us. “I… uh… you’ve been drinking?”
Am I an idiot?
Selene smiles sadly. “And that’s most likely the reason I said anything. Just ignore that.”
“No… I don’t want to.”
“I wonder if you have another arrangement, and that’s why you haven’t,” she says.
I continue to act like I have an IQ of ten. “What?”
“An arrangement. A commitment to someone else that might not have been appropriate for a king. Or a good fit for the position.”
It takes me longer than it should to understand what she’s asking. Too long. Because… what does she mean? How can she…? But then – “Are you asking if I have a girlfriend?” I demand.
Selene shrugs, pajamas in hand, and looks ready to retreat.
Pale blue. Satin. They whisper against her skin when she gets into bed.
She’s going to disappear into the dressing room to put them on. And then she’s going to crawl into bed, and I’m going to have to lie awake beside her for too many hours again, wishing I knew what I was doing.
“I don’t have… no,” I say a little too vehemently. “The only arrangement I have is with you. The only commitment I have is to you.”
She looks at me with those pale blue eyes, hair pulled back like it would only take a snap of my fingers before it came tumbling down her back.
Her lips are still rosy from the remains of her lipstick, no doubt wiped off by the drinks she had. I know she didn’t kiss anyone, but I’m jealous of the glasses in Sailors’, marked by the impression of her lips.
“The only one I want to kiss is you,” I tell her.
“Why don’t you?”
My heart hammers too fast. Is this what a heart attack feels like? This inability to breathe normally? How can I say what I want to when I can’t breathe properly?
“I’ve been trying to give you time,” I manage, trying not to wheeze. “I don’t want to rush you. I want a real marriage with you, with feelings and emotions and everything.”
“I want that too.”
My chest loosens. My lungs relax. Maybe, just maybe, everything will be okay.
“And what if I want to be rushed?”
My breathing stops again. “Are you sure?”
I am the king of Laandia. I’ve played for soldout crowds in stadiums all over the world. I’ve got a gold medal, for god’s sake, and right now, hearing what Selene is saying makes me feel like I’m twelve years old and Marika McKibbon just passed me a note in class to ask if I’ll be her boyfriend.
This clearly isn’t the first time I’ve been oblivious to what a woman wants.
“I’ve been raised to keep my emotions hidden,” Selene confesses.
“I’m sure it’s been difficult to be able to read me, and we still don’t know each other very well.
But I’d like to. And I’d like to make this clear.
I am sure. This is what I want. You’re what I want.
Not the king or the rock star—you, Magnus. ”
I start breathing again, because I’m going to need air for this.
I cross the room in two steps.
Selene stands there waiting.
I touch her neck, my fingers slipping into her blonde hair to find the pins or whatever is holding it up. “I like your hair like this,” I say, my voice suddenly husky. “It’s pretty. Messy.”
“I want to be messy.”
My heart gives a thump, and I nod, easily finding the clip holding it all in place. When I pull it out, her hair tumbles to her shoulders, and she shakes it out, like she’s doing a half-hearted attempt at the head shaking she might have been doing at the bar.
“I like the jeans, too,” I tell her, and hook my finger in her belt, tugging her closer
“Diandra got them for me,” she whispers.
“I’ll have to thank her.”
“After you stop being angry with her for taking me to that bar?”
“How can I be angry when it led me to this?” My hands are back in her hair, the silky strands sliding through my fingers, and I look down at her closely. “Are you sure?” I ask. “Screech can be a lot the first time—”
Selene reaches up on her tiptoes and kisses me.
She kisses me, and it’s everything.
Soft lips, a tentative touch, that suddenly isn’t all that tentative. Selene presses against me, pushing closer. One of my arms wraps around her waist, the other still tangled in her hair.
Her arms wind around my neck and this. This is what I’ve always wanted.
It feels like a moment. It feels like forever.
But finally she pulls away, her eyes bright and smiling.
“That’s the first time I’ve ever kissed a queen,” I admit.
“I hope it won’t be the last,” Selene says in a flirtatious voice. “Feel free to do it again.”
So I do.