Even so, I didn’t miss what he’d said or the tightening of his voice, or the tell-tale tic in his cheek.
“There’s turmoil?” I kept my own tone calm and teasing. “Do you mean me?”
“Never.” He tugged me closer to him. “You’re part of my peace. I can’t have serenity or joy without you. No, I just mean ... the outside. The expectations and the demands of the family and the world. It’s exhausting, and I feel like I need a place where we can be us. Where we don’t have to worry about anything else but each other.”
“That is a sentiment I can get behind,” I said with feeling. “I can become one of those eccentric women who wears cotton dresses and sneakers and funny straw hats. I’ll get pleasingly plump, and when people come to visit us, I’ll serve tea in our garden and tell them more than they ever wanted to know about experimental farming techniques.”
Nicky chuckled. “I guess that means I’ll be your doddering husband in a cardigan and spectacles. I’ll always have a pipe with me, too, and everyone who visits us will leave saying what a devoted and yet odd couple we are.”
“What about our oodles of children?” I countered. “Where will they be?”
“Hmmmmm.” He shifted and braced himself over me, his hands spread and resting against the mattress on either side of my ribs, the skin on his forearms warm against the sides of my breasts. “I suppose they’ll be running around, getting into trouble and giving us something to talk about at night.”
“Oh, because by then, that’s all we’ll be doing at night? Talking?” Insinuating my hand between us, I reached down until my fingers closed around something interesting.
Nicky groaned as his eyes slid shut. “God, no. My Ky, as long as there’s life in this body and breath in my lungs, I can promise you that I’ll want to do much more than talk every night. Even our oodles of children won’t be able to stop me from that. I promise you this.”
“But maybe we should take advantage of this timebeforethe cherished offspring make their appearance,” I suggested, stroking him languidly. “I mean, if you wanted.”
Nicky lowered his body onto mine, and desire flared in my blood, making me go liquid in all the right places. His lips traveled up the column of my throat to murmur in my ear, sending shivers down my spine.
“Kyra, when it comes to you, I will always want.”
IHAD A FULL DAYof royal engagements on Monday, which meant that I didn’t have to be up early and running out the door to get to Honey Bee. That gave me time to do something I rarely did: I cooked breakfast for my husband.
“For someone who swears she’s a nightmare in the kitchen, you make the best waffles I’ve ever eaten.” Nicky drizzled maple syrup—that I had ordered directly from my favorite maple outlet in Maine—over the golden-brown deliciousness.
“I do breakfast well,” I admitted, setting down a plate of bacon on the table. “At least, I do American breakfast well. I don’t know if I’m able to tackle bangers and mash or whatever it is that you all call breakfast food over here.”
“That’s quite all right, because bangers and mash doesn’t happen to be one of my favorites.”
“Excellent. Then I’m totally your girl.” I sat down across from Nicky and beamed at him. “Just remember that my breakfast cooking is an occasional treat rather than a daily affair. And also remember that it’s more likely to happen on a morning after I’ve been spoiled with multiple orgasms the night before.”
“Duly noted, darling.” Carefully placing his fork on the edge of his plate, he reached for his mug of coffee, another Americanism I’d implemented in my breakfast menu. “Of course, that prompts one to ask if the breakfast cooking might become more of regular thing if the orgasms were given every single night?”
I shook my head. “Sorry, no. There’s no direct correlation. It’s just a fact that I’m more likely to treat you if I’ve been treated, too.”
“Hmm. Good to know.” He leaned over the table to cup my cheek. “But you should know, Ky, that giving you orgasms is neither spoiling you nor giving you a treat. Giving you pleasure is an entirely selfish indulgence on my part.”
I grinned, my face heating a bit. “That’s also good to know. Comments like that might get you breakfast more often.”
“All part of my wicked plans for you, my love.” Nicky winked at me. “So ... remind me what’s on your agenda today.”
“I’m representing Her Majesty at a luncheon honoring a retired police officers’ society in London. And then later this afternoon, I’m opening a playground in Southall, before coming back here quickly to change, and then I’m going with you to a reception for the opening of the new Oscar Wilde exhibit.” I sighed and dropped my head back dramatically. “Exhausting. Oh, and if I have a little bit of a lull between lunch and the playground, I might see if I can sweet-talk Harold into an impromptu side trip through Shepherd’s Bush. There’s a community garden there, and the organizers would like to work with our model in Tottenham to implement some of what we’ve done.”
Nicky pushed back a little way from the table, the smile fading from his face. “Kyra, I forgot to tell you something. I meant to mention it last night, but it just completely left my mind.”
Trepidation at his expression made my stomach drop, and I carefully set down my fork, suddenly finding my appetite gone. “What?”
“Harold’s ... not here. He’s been giving a temporary transfer—”
“What do you mean,not here?” My voice rose several octaves. “What happened to him? Why was he transferred?”
“Listen to what I’m saying, Ky. He wasn’t transferred, really—he was temporarily moved, because he requested additional training.” Nicky shrugged. “It’s not that unusual for our security officers to need some updates to the education they received at the start. It’s like professional development in a way, I guess. Harold was about due, and it worked out for him to go now.”
“Why didn’t he tell me?” I was still smarting over the loneliness I’d felt this weekend, and often, Harold felt like one of the few ports in the storm of my life. Losing him was inducing panic. My heart was pounding, and I felt as though I might cry.
“He didn’t know, darling. The opening came up very last-minute, and he left after his shift on Saturday. I’m sure he would’ve happily told you all about this, if he’d had the chance.” Nicky squeezed my hand. “But he’ll be back. I promise.”
