Page 43 of Falling for the Queen Mother

She set the ereader to the side and padded across the plush rugs that covered the floors until she could open it.

Blinking, her head tilted. "Nathaniel? What are you doing back here?" She hurried on. "Not that I'm not happy to see you. I just thought you were headed to your quarters to sleep."

"I was." He shrugged. "But my things were no where to be found. When I asked about it, I was told all of my things had been moved here."

Alaina tried to assimilate the information but it wasn't quite sinking in. She stood to the side and held the door open. "Well, then. Please come in."

The information began to sink in.

She was going to be living with her husband.

15

It clearly hadn't been Alaina's idea to have his things moved to her quarters.

When Nate hadn't found his things in his own quarters, he wasn't sure who to ask about it. Finally, he'd decided just to go talk to Alaina and see if she knew.

On his way to the family quarters, he ran into the king who asked where he was headed. There hadn't been any concern or caution in his voice, rather only genuine curiosity. When he'd told his new son-in-law where he was headed and why, the king had told him his things had been moved to the Queen Mother's quarters.

"Your son told me that the staff members who'd brought our things in assumed they'd be going here since we're married." He turned to look at Alania and realized she looked quite comfortable - and adorable - in a pair of pyjamas. "Did I wake you up?"

Alaina shook her head and held up a small device in a case covered with books. "No. I was trying to do some reading."

He tilted his head. "Does that say 'Just One More Chapter' on it?"

She laughed. "Yes. I rarely stop with just one, though."

"I can get a few of my things and go back to my quarters. You can get a bit of reading done and then get some rest." He leaned over to give her a kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you in the morning."

With a shake of her head, Alaina set the ereader down on the table next to the sofa. "They're not wrong. We are married. We've shared a suite for the last couple of days. Regardless of what's going to happen, we probably need to at least live in the same place."

The reactions to the story continued to roll in. Most of the population seemed to think that the two of them were "so cute together" and "made a great couple" and everyone was "so happy for Queen Alaina!"

While public opinion wouldn't make any of their decisions for them, it certainly could influence things. Was that how his things ended up in her quarters? Were some of the staff members keeping an eye on opinions? Or trying to play a little bit of matchmaker on their own?

Nate wouldn't put it past them, but he didn't know any of them well enough to know who might do such a thing.

Alaina pulled out the band holding her hair in place and shook it out over her shoulders before sliding the band onto her wrist. "Unfortunately, this is a one-bedroom apartment. I haven't needed more space in years. Frederick didn't kick me out of the Monarch's Quarters immediately, of course. He didn't want to press too much change on me all at once, though it would have been well within his rights to do so." She took a seat on a chair. "I didn't want to stay, though. It was too much."

"I understand." On so many levels. "I still live in the same house, the same room, that I've lived in since we were first married several decades ago. I slept on the couch for a long time, though." He'd never told anyone that before.

She gave a nod of understanding. "There's so much that those who never lost a loved one like that don't quite get."

Rather than settling into the maudlin that could overcome them, Nate decided to change the subject. "So, I'll take the couch." He offered his hand to help Alaina to her feet. "You need to get some rest. We both have a big day tomorrow."

Once she was on her feet, Nate surprised himself by pulling her closer to him. He ran his fingers through the hair at her temple, brushing along the silver streak. "I love your highlights."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Highlights? I'm going gray."

"You're going silver, and it's quite beautiful." His thumb ran along her hairline. "I suspect you're going to have gorgeous silver hair someday, but until then, you have this streak." He let his fingers brush against it again and let go of her hand to do the same to the other side. "And this one here."

Nate leaned forward slightly and pressed a kiss to the hairline at the top of her brow. "And right here."

Electricity zapped through him and his eyes closed as her hands came to rest on his abdomen. He wanted to kiss her.

In this moment, he wanted to do more than just kiss her.

She took the choice out of his hands and raised up onto her toes. Her lips brushed against his.