Page 75 of Striking
Kind of funny coming from her. But I guess we’re all a bit much in our own way.
“He’s just... I don’t know. He’s just Cross. He’s always been the oldest. The one who looked out for Ares and me. The one who stepped in when Dad wasn’t home and then stepped up when he died. I’m not sure he’ll ever realize I’m an actual adult.”
“Little bee.” I turn around as Joss steps aside, and Rhys moves next to me with his phone in his hand. “Why is your brother texting me, asking if you’ve found an oncologist?”
I’m going to fucking kill my brother.
“Tell me he didn’t . . .”
Rhys looks down at his phone again, and I hold out my hand, silently asking for it, then wishing I hadn’t as a new message pops up.
Cross
I don’t care if you’re a king. She’s your wife. She comes first.
“Care to tell me what I’m missing, love?” The steely edge to his voice sets my nerves on edge. “Why have you not found an oncologist? Better yet, why do you need an oncologist? Is something wrong?”
He softens and gathers my face in his hands. “Are you feeling okay?”
“Nothing is wrong.” I step out of his hold and hand him back his phone. “Cross is just being a dick.”
“I watched my mother die of cancer, love. Try again. And this time, try actually answering the question.”
“It’s just a check-up, Rhys,” I snap back. “I’ve already told you I see my doctor twice a year.”
It’s the first time Rhys has ever raised his voice to me, but it’s fear talking. Not anger.
I’m an asshole, but I’m an angry asshole, and I can’t stop now.
“Nothing about your life isjust, Bellamy. If you need a check-up, it’s important. Your life is important. You are important.”
“Why? Because I’m the queen? I’m no better than anyone else, Rhys. My life isn’t more important than anyone else’s.” The hurt in his eyes is immediate, and my heart sinks as he grabs my chin.
“Because I can’t lose you” is a pained admission ripped from his chest. “Not the way I lost her.”
Tears pool in my eyes as much from anger and frustration as from sheer, overwhelming emotion. “Why do you care?”
“Do you really not know?” He gathers my face in both hands and wipes my tears with his thumbs. And I know... deep down in my bones... I know. “I have loved you since the very first day I met you, my queen.”
“Really?” I whisper, my heart struggling to accept what my head already knows. I wrap my fingers around his wrists, holding him here. Holding him close.
“More than my kingdom, my love.”
Those words soothe my soul in a way I didn’t know I craved.
His thumb caresses my cheek, and I press my lips against his palm, scared to admit the truth, because loving this man... loving this king will never be an easy life. But not loving him will never be an option.
“I love you too, Rhys. Not your title or everything that comes with it. Just you.”
“But can you live with the title and everything that comes with it? Can you love me in spite of them?”
I watch out of the corner of my eye as the door in the other room closes behind our guests, leaving us alone. “It’s all a part of who you are. Loving you means accepting the crown. And you are worth it.”
Rhys’s eyes glow with a need I know is reflected in my own. “I fucking love you, Bellamy.”
I drape my arms around his neck and give in to everything I’ve tried to ignore for months. To the magnetic pull I’ve knownwas more than just a physical attraction. To my husband who I married on a whim but fell in love with, little by little, each day with each tiny act of kindness.Of love. I give in to the paralyzing fear that I could never be enough. I give in to it all and trust Rhys to catch me when I fall.
“With you by my side, it all makes sense. This life... it’s different with you in it. Better. You make it better.” He slides his hand into my hair and tugs as my skin heats with his touch. “You are my true north, love. You are my direction. My reason why.”
