Chapter 15
Catherine would never know what possessed her to kiss Jacob like she did. It had been a clear, conscious decision to do so, even if she hadn’t thought it all the way through to the end result. Every step of the way, they had been two, consenting, married adults.
At the same time, she’d been grateful for the eternal night this time of year, leading to a dimly lit room despite open curtains. Once dressed, she snuggled down into the covers with her back to Jacob’s chest as he wrapped an arm around her waist.
Waking some time later, she pulled her robe on over her pyjamas and went to find a snack.
She made her way down to the kitchen, grateful she remembered how to get there.
As she searched through the refrigerator, a door opened behind her.
Pushing the door closed, she quickly jumped back, all while knowing it made her look even more guilty.
"I'm pretty sure you own the place."
Jacob's presence surprised her, though - conceding that - the amused tone did not.
"I know, but I still feel like I'm a little kid sneaking around trying not to get caught." She opened the fridge again. "I need a snack..."
"A snack sounds like perfection." He went into the butler's pantry and emerged with a container. "Is there any milk?"
"What did you find?" Catherine took the milk out of the refrigerator and set it on the counter.
"Cookies. It's not common here, but eating them with milk is a taste I acquired in Southern Santiero."
"Interesting." She started searching through cabinets looking for glasses that were more functional for daily - or nightly, as it were - use.
Where could they be?
She couldn't find any sort of dishes, not ones designed for daily use or the fancier ones like they used for the family's daily meals at the palace.
With her hands on her hips, she turned in a circle and looked around the kitchen.
It definitely had more of an industrial feel than the one at home in the cottage, though not as much as the main palace kitchens.
"What are you looking for?" Jacob leaned against the counter, his forearms resting on top.
"Cups. Glasses. Anything to drink out of really." She opened a metal drawer to find measuring cups. "These will work." The two biggest ones went on the counter next to the milk.
"Really?" Jacob reached for the smaller of the metal cups. "They won't hold much milk."
"But the openings are definitely wide enough to dip cookies in," Catherine countered.
He tipped his head to one side. "That's a good point." Pouring milk into both of them, he left enough room to dip the cookies without it overflowing.
Opening the container, Catherine took a cookie out and dunked it in the milk, surreptitiously watching Jacob to see exactly how he did this.
After a bite or two, Catherine decided that it might not ever be one of her favorite things, but she could see why Jacob enjoyed it.
They each ate several cookies with the only sounds being those of cookies dunking in milk.
Jacob dunked a cookie and didn't look at Catherine as he spoke again. "I think we probably need to talk about what happened earlier."
She stared at her cookie as she dunked it in and out. "Probably." However, looking at Jacob wasn't going to happen while they discussed what she'd started and they'd gone through together.
"I don't think either of us planned for that to happen while we were here."
"No." She sighed and leaned more heavily against the stainless steel counter. "I hadn't really thought it through. I don't know what was in my head..." Her voice trailed off.
"I know. I don't know that it matters what went through your mind, or my mind, or anything else. We're married adults. We're consenting married adults. To an extent that's all that matters."
Catherine still didn't look at him. "Yes."
"But there's still a lot of layers to what happened, what it says about our relationship from here on out, what it says about the state of our relationship beforehand, and any number of other things." He reached over and covered her hand with his own. "And where we go from here."
She curled her fingers around his. "I don't know where we go from here.
We're married. That won't change. Obviously.
" Sucking in a deep breath, she went on.
"As for our relationship, I think we're still getting to know each other, and we're on our way to falling in love, to being in love.
We're not there yet, but we're getting there. "
"That sums up my thoughts on the matter as well.
" His hand twisted until he could intertwine their fingers together.
"We're finding a way forward, together, into a life together.
A life that will eventually include children and grandchildren.
That will include travel around the world on behalf of your people.
A life that will include us growing old together. "
She didn’t mention how that worked out for her parents.
Catherine wasn't quite sure exactly how it happened, but somehow he'd moved to her side and wrapped her in his arms.
There, in his arms, she felt something she'd never felt anywhere else. It wasn't like what she'd felt earlier in the day. She felt... safe.
Not physically safe, though that was a part of it, but emotionally safe. Like she'd found her person, the one who would be by her side for the rest of their lives. The one who would support her unconditionally.
Yes, her father had been there for her.
Yes, he would support her, but it felt different. Not that he had to support her, but that he would.
But he was her father.
Jacob had a choice. Maybe not quite as much of one as if they'd fallen in love before getting married but still a choice.
Resting her cheek against his chest, Catherine closed her eyes. She could probably fall asleep standing up.
"Come on." Jacob's voice rumbled against her. "You need to get some more sleep." He quickly rinsed their dishes and left them in the sink. With her hand fit snugly in his, he led the way through the house to their suite.
Snuggled back under the covers, Catherine let the warmth help her succumb to the call of the Sandman.
The next morning, she woke early while Jacob slept on.
Clothes for the day had been set out for her in her closet.
Once dressed, she doctored a cup of coffee and curled up in a chair overlooking Novilacu Lake.
As always this time of year, it was still dark outside.
There would be some light later in the day, but the sun wouldn't be seen above the horizon for weeks.
With the lights turned off inside her suite, and minimal lights turned on outside, she could see stars twinkling in the sky.
She loved that her mother had pressed for their small nation to be a Dark Sky certified country.
Her mother had started the campaign before her marriage to Catherine's father.
It had taken over a decade to gain the certification, but the ceremony for the certification was one of the last official things the previous queen had done before her death.
Though it wasn't a huge thing in the scheme of all the things her mother had done in her life, or in her reign, Catherine knew it was one of the most important to her mum. It helped maintain the beauty of the wilderness that made up the majority of their countryside.
It also meant the stars and the Milky Way and the Northern Lights were more readily visible near the urban parts of their country than most places. Just a few miles outside of town the light pollution visible from most urban areas on the planet was nowhere to be found.
Movement behind her told Catherine that Jacob was awake. "Good morning," she said quietly. "There's coffee in the carafe if you want some."
"Thanks." The gravelly tone of his early morning voice made her smile.
A few minutes later, he was in the chair next to her. He still wore his pyjama pants and socks, but one of the things she noted out of the corner of her eye was his lack of apparel on his upper body.
She could feel her face begin to heat as she took another sip of her coffee.
This change in their relationship might take some getting used to, but she found herself looking forward to it.
Maybe once she started being more comfortable in her personal life she'd start to be comfortable in her professional one.
It was a long shot, but just maybe it could happen.
Could he manage to pull off the surprise?
Honestly, Jake was surprised he’d made it a full week without letting something slip to Catherine.
The state dinner to celebrate the Sargassian Treaty of Friendship wouldn’t be until the next night, but the royal families from those countries and a couple of others would have a much smaller dinner the night before.
And there, he hoped his surprise for his wife would be a good one.
One thing he detested more than anything about being the prince consort was the seemingly -constant requirements for formal wear, but he tugged on the sleeves of his shirt where they peeked out from under the sleeves of his coat and knew he had to grin and bear it.
He’d worn these sorts of things more in the last month than he had in his entire life prior to his return to Eastern Novigradia.
The room he occupied now had another purpose the rest of the time, but he had no idea what it could be.
A sitting room? A formal meeting room of some kind?
He only knew it had been transformed into a dressing room for the evening, as it had been several other times.
Could it be that was actually its sole purpose - a dressing room for those who weren’t staying or living in the palace?
Maybe he should ask Byron for a detailed floor plan of the palace - if such a thing existed outside of the security offices. Maybe a basic one could be found online. That could suffice. Probably.
“Sir?”
Jake looked up to see Byron waiting for him to finish primping in front of the mirror. “Yes?”
“They’re ready when you are, sir.”