Page 89 of Striking
“Like what you see, my queen?” His rough, sleep-deprived voice is like a rough caress, waking up desires that have lain dormant for weeks. Damn hormones.
I pad softly into the room, my bare feet sinking into the plush pale-green carpet. The nursery has been decorated in creams and pale greens and pinks. Soft, silk drapes hang from the twelve-foot ceilings. And our princess has a stuffed white wolf, which stands nearly as tall as me, sitting in the corner of the room and protecting her from bad dreams, according to her uncle.
“I love what I see.” Gently, I lift our girl from his chest and place her back in her crib. “But she needs to learn to sleep, Rhys.”
“She can sleep. She just prefers to do it on my chest.” He smirks and takes my face in his hands as he stands. “Just like her mother.”
The air around us heats with the touch of his hands to my skin, and I lean into him, capturing his lips with mine. “It’s after midnight.”
Rhys’s gaze narrows. “It was late when I came to bed. I didn’t want to wake you.”
I twine my arms around his neck and tangle my fingers in his hair. “It’s been six weeks, Rhys.”
An understanding dawns in my husbands heated eyes, and his hands drop to my ass as he lifts me from my feet and carries me back to our bedroom. He lies me gently on the bed, his body covering mine. Hunger and need and so much love roll off him in waves. “It’s been a long six weeks, love.”
“We better start making up for lost time then, Your Highness.”
He sweeps my hair away from my face and stares at me for a long, quiet moment. “You are everything I never thought I could have, Bellamy.”
“And you’re everything I prayed I could have when I was begging the universe to let me live, Rhys.”
“Thank you for loving me,” he whispers against my lips, and I cling to him, never wanting this moment to end.
“Thank you for giving me the fairytale.”
EPILOGUE
BELLAMY
Raise your children to be so certain of their worth and their place in the world that even the loudest voices can’t rewrite their story.
—Bellamy’s Secret Thoughts
As the summer holiday hits the high season, our royal family has taken off for warmer pastures, or more accurately, sands. They were kind enough to send a press release, including a picture of our king, queen, and Princess Estella, as well as Prince Atticus, PrincessLennon, Maddox Beneventi, and their children, Brennan and Ophelia.
This marks the first time the Windsor family has been together since the funeral of their father at the beginning of the year.
“Don’t trust a vasectomy. That’s my advice,” Everly warns us as we sit on the warm white sand beach outside of the villa. My brother’s wives, my husband’s sister, my best friend and I are all enjoying the most delicious margaritas while we watch our husbands and a few nannies playing with our children on the beach and in the ocean. The babies are asleep inside, but there are enough toddlers to go around, so it’s all hands on deck. All but the wives—because last night, the guys lost a bet and are on their own today.
On their own with nannies, so I don’t feel bad for them.
What I do feel is tipsy.
And sentimental.
“You know, I remember the night Cross met you, Everly. He brought home cold food, and Ares and I bitched up a storm. We didn’t know the food got cold because you two got busy.”
Gracie snorts her margarita, and it spills out of her nose. “Oh my God, I didn’t know that.”
Everly blushes and sips her drink. “We may have christened the couch in Maddox’s office that night.”
“I’ve christened that couch a time or two.” Lennon smiles.
“Same,” Cait adds, and I snort as we all look at Gracie, who finishes her margarita quietly and pours another glass, then topsoff mine and passes the pitcher down to Cait while we all wait to hear her answer.
“Fine... Ugh, you guys suck.” She looks out at the ocean where my brother tosses Molly high into the air before catching her and dipping her into a wave. “So maybe the triplets were conceived on that couch.”
“Am I seriously the only one who never had sex on that couch?” I ask, shocked. I knew Maddox’s office was a Kroydon Hills hot spot, but I didn’t know it wasthathot.
