Page 14 of Royal Bastard

6

Evie

I went home like it was any other normal night and didn’t wobble even once as I walked back to my empty apartment. That reminded me of my girls, and what I might jeopardize with this fling with Henry. He’d been sweet after he’d let me down from the window.

He’d pulled me into a chair and held me. He’d wanted to hold me and stroke my hair.

“I wanted to wait to do that, Evie, but I couldn’t stop myself.”

“It’s fine, I wanted it too.” I’d assured him and kissed his jaw. “We’ll just have to be careful. If you want to continue, that is.”

“Of course I do. I can’t get enough of you. You’re right though, we’ll have to keep it secret until you’re out of the office and in another assignment, at least.”

“It’s, well, it is what it is. I’m not looking for promises, Henry. I’ve had enough of those to last me a lifetime.” I didn’t want broken promises is what I meant.

“I know, Evie. I won’t make any, either, not until I know I can keep them.”

“Alright.” I didn’t know what else to say then, and I still don’t know. We’d put our clothes back on, he’d kissed me, offered me a ride home, and I’d refused.

I always walked home from work, every day. Somebody would notice the first time I didn’t. Now I was here alone. I should probably shower, but I didn’t want to erase his scent from my skin. I felt a moan swell in my throat as I thought about how his scent had got on me, but then I remembered my girls.

I haven’t seen them in so long. Violet and Dahlia, my little flowers. I had pictures of them every day, but Aaron and his new wife had made attempts to make them forget me. I knew they called the other woman Mom, and I never got notes or calls from them. Somehow, Aaron had managed to turn the courts against me, and I’d been able to do little about it.

In Yorik, a country ruled by a king, things could be odd. I’d heard other places didn’t allow things like this to happen, but I lived here and I had to deal with the consequences. I’d find the right lawyer when I had the money and I’d take my girls back. Aaron and his new wife could just fuck right off.

I kicked off my shoes happily and went into my tiny bathroom. A toilet, a sink, and a shower were all crammed into a room I could barely turn around in. The room began to fill with steam once I’d turned on the tap, and I slowly took of my clothes. I knew I’d be sore tomorrow, I wasn’t that inexperienced, so I took my time.

I wanted a long, hot shower, even if it would wash away Henry’s scent. I stood under the hot spray and let my thoughts drift. If Aaron found out about Henry, he might get angry. He might use the relationship as a way to fight against me. I was an adult, and for all the antiquity of our court system, our society was liberal. Nobody would hold it against me that I’d found a new relationship, surely?

I had mounds of shampoo in my hair when that thought struck. Would the court see it as a frivolous, carefree lifestyle? Would they call me loose or immoral?

My blood ran cold, then I remembered something. Henry was an attorney, a defense attorney, but still an attorney. Though our relationship was new, I knew I would only have to say a word to him and he’d find a way to help. I’d only do that as a last resort. I didn’t want him because of what he was, after all. I wanted him because of the way he made me laugh, because of the seriousness of his face when he was dictating notes for me to type.

He made my heart melt in so many ways, and now that I knew how sex could be with him, he made my body ache too. I knew I shouldn’t compare the two, but after so many years of catering to Aaron, it was nice—really nice—to have a man who wanted me to be wild and free.

* * *

Over the next few weeks,Henry encouraged that wild streak. He bought me lace lingerie that to wear under my second-hand suits. He delighted in taking down my hair to run his fingers through it, and he taught me to say no. If I didn’t want something, if I didn’t want to do it, or if I didn’t like it, Henry told me he knew because I’d stop moving. He didn’t like it and encouraged me to say no.

He wanted only to please me, and in turn, I wanted to please him. This wasn’t the same as the subservience I gave to Aaron, not at all. This was mutual satisfaction, and I might even say, a form of love. He built my confidence and I boosted his. He flirted with me, and I’d flash him a hint of lace-topped stocking beneath my skirt when nobody was around. It was playful, it was fun, and I didn’t want it to end.

“You know you’re keeping me sane, right?” I said to him one evening after a rather energetic session on the new couch he’d had brought to the office.

“Only as sane as you’re keeping me, Evie.” He was behind me, our bodies spooned together, and his lips grazed my shoulder sensually as he spoke.

“You know Alana suspects, don’t you?” It was a change of subject, but it was one we needed to talk about.

I cast an amused glance at the couch, one similar to the smirk Alana had given me when the couch was delivered earlier that day. I hadn’t said a word, and she hadn’t asked, but we both knew what that couch was for. Henry and I had wasted little time before we were on it.

“I hate this hiding. I really want to take you out, to take you to dinner, to the functions I have to go to alone,” he answered, interrupting my thoughts.

“Maybe once my placement changes. Or after I get my girls back.” That worry continued to plague me.

My time with Henry, after work usually, was a time of release for me. A time where I could relax and be a human being that hadn’t seen life kick her too many times. The reality was, that had happened, and the pleasure and peace he gave me could cost me far more. I couldn’t give him up though. I couldn’t make myself stop. I needed him to keep me whole. I hadn’t known just how much I needed him, but now that I did, I wasn’t willing to throw that away.

Even if we continued this dalliance as nothing more than an office romance, I needed it. I wasn’t greedy, I didn’t necessarily want my cake and to eat it too, I just wanted some peace in the storm that was my life. Henry gave me it.

“What if I promise nothing bad will happen?” His words broke into my thoughts and I sat up to look at him.