Page 26 of Awakened On Her Royal Wedding Night
“Ask him,” Felipe invited. “Ah,” he said as there was a muted ping from some hidden device. “That will be Vinicio. I had him fetch something from the vault.” He opened the door long enough to accept whatever it was.
“You are not giving her any of the crown jewelry,” the Queen stated hotly.
“No, Mamma. Just the ring that Great-Aunt Ysabelle bequeathed to me.”
“Not—?No, Felipe.” His mother was truly shaken now, but Felipe seemed to have no pity for his mother.
“This belonged to Queen Giulia,” Felipe said to Claudine. “It was given to her daughter, my father’s aunt. She never married.” Felipe held out his hand in a request for hers. His steady gaze seemed to insist she read every significance into the fact he had chosen to give her this particular ring, because he likened her to that Queen who had been trapped, yet had triumphantly lived by her own rules.
Her hand was shaking as she allowed him to thread the ruby-red stone with its frame of diamonds onto her finger. He brought her cold hand to his mouth and kissed her knuckles.
“I’ll have Vinicio release the announcement,” Felipe said. “It includes a balcony wave at eleven.” He started to draw Claudine from the room.
“No, Felipe.” His mother stood, all of her visibly shaking.
Felipe paused, but didn’t look at her. He glanced at his father.
King Enzo nodded once.
Felipe’s mouth curled into the faintest hint of a smug smile and they left.
While he spoke to Vinicio, Claudine clenched her fist and stared at the blood-red stone on her finger, wondering,What have I done?
Felipe did not pander to things like brand and image the way his mother and brother did. He didn’t “sell a story” because he didn’t have to—even though he knew that eschewing such things was its own brand.
However, he was not blind to the popularity of a good, old-fashioned fairy tale. When a prince chose to marry a commoner, he made anything seem possible. When that commoner was favored to win a contest where half the country had already judged her the most beautiful and deserving, when they were already rooting for her and had grown worried for her because she had disappeared, it became a sensation. The part where she turned up at the side of the Crown Prince, seemingly no worse for wear, created the sort of fervor a public relations specialist could only dream of.
It amused him that his mother was so appalled by Claudine that she had taken the far end of the balcony away from her. She didn’t appreciate how well these pageants had prepared Claudine for this. She was not only flawless, having changed into an ivory coatdress and matching hat, she radiated grace and dignity as she offered a gentle wave.
The crowd had begun to amass outside the gates minutes after their announcement. It was now a throng who cheered so loudly the noise seemed to resound in his chest cavity.
“They’re waiting for a kiss,” he told Claudine. So was he, but he only watched to see how she reacted.
There was the tiniest crack in her composure, one that caused her smile to falter as she turned to face him.
He knew long-lens cameras would be trained on them. He was deliberate in the way he drew her close with one arm around her waist. He held her left hand so the ring would be visible where he cradled it against his chest.
He hadn’t been able to stop thinking of her in his bed last night, when the very air had seemed to be soaked with their mutual desire. Or her in the bathtub, when those snowy drifts of bubbles had hidden all but her shiny shoulders and upper chest from his sight. He wanted her naked beneath him so badly that he was in danger of revealing his lust right here in front of the world.
It was probably evident on his face, given the small shiver that went through her and the way her eyes widened before she dampened her lips with her tongue.
“I don’t want to ruin your lipstick.” He very much wanted to ruin her lipstick, but he kept his kiss as chaste as possible while also lingering long enough to feel the satisfying cling of her lips to his when he lifted his head. Damn, this need for restraint was erotic. He could have groaned out his suffering, it was so sharp.
The crowd cheered even louder while Claudine dropped her lashes, shy and disconcerted.
“Am I wearing your shade?” he asked, still holding her.
“Only a little.” She touched the corner of his mouth, causing yet more wild enthusiasm from their audience.
They shared a rueful smile, then her gaze flicked past him and she stiffened. When she would have drawn away, he kept his arm locked around her, waiting for her gaze to come back to his.
“Your mother isn’t pleased.” Tension crept in around her eyes. “I think this might have been a horrible mistake.”
Felipe expected she would feel that way often. “I gave up trying to earn her approval before I was old enough to ask for it.”
It was a throwaway comment, one that was meant to be self-deprecating and to advise her not to take his mother’s attitude to heart.
“That makes me sad,” she said with earnest sympathy.
