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“Good morning, my darling,” Petrus greeted her as Charlotte blinked her still-sleepy eyes open.
Charlotte mumbled as if she wasn’t fully awake yet and snuggled closer to him with a yawn. She wriggled until she was half spread over him, then rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes again.
Petrus smiled, warmed from the inside out. His beloved was the most wonderful and fascinating creature God had ever made. It could be argued she was thoroughly unsuitable to be a prince’s bride, but his natural brothers had all married unsuitable women, so why not him as well?
He’d made up his mind to let Charlotte slumber on, using his chest as a pillow, when Charlotte gasped and sat up so suddenly Petrus flinched.
“I’m here,” Charlotte said on a sharp exhale, glancing fitfully around the room. “I’m here, with you.”
Petrus was tempted to laugh at the degree of her alarm, but instead he said, “Yes you are, my dear. You’re right where you belong.”
He sat up as well, pulling her into his arms and stroking her back to try to soothe her. He even kissed her shoulders and would have lavished attention on her magnificent breasts, which he could now see in the light of day, but he wanted the moment to be about the connection between them, not about lust.
Charlotte softened for a moment, leaning into him and raising a hand to stroke his stubbly cheek. “You are handsome in the morning, all in a state of dishabille like this,” she said with a smile, then touched her lips to his in a feather-light kiss that went straight to Petrus’s heart.
He started to tighten his arms around her and rethink his determination not to make love to her again when Charlotte sucked in another breath and pulled away from him.
“What is the time?” she asked, wriggling for the end of the bed. “I should be back in my own bedchamber. I would hate to cause trouble by being found with you in such a state so early in the morning. Ooh, it’s cold!”
The last bit came out louder and sharper than the rest of her words and was accompanied by Charlotte dancing from foot to foot and hugging herself so she could rub her arms as she searched for her clothing from the night before.
There was something so artless and adorable about her unguarded ways that Petrus could only smile. He loved how unpretentious Charlotte was. She was so unlike Lady Jenny, and although Petrus did admire the Swedish noblewoman, he would have chosen Charlotte over her a thousand times over, even with her humble birth.
“Never fear,” he said, climbing out of bed to help her gather her clothing and dress, strangely unbothered by his own nakedness. “I will make certain you are returned to your own room before anyone in the palace sees you.”
Although, he knew it might be a challenge to whisk her past some of the servants, who would be up early, lighting fires to ward off the chill of the frosty morning.
“Thank you,” Charlotte told him with genuine gratitude. “You are a prince among men.” She paused in the middle of donning her corset, then laughed. “Well, I suppose you trulyarea prince, among men or otherwise.”
The two of them laughed together, then hurried through the arduous process of dressing to the point that they would not cause a scandal simply by being seen in the hallways undressed. As Charlotte finished with her fiddly buttons, Petrus dressed in the simplest pair of trousers and shirt he owned, throwing a dressing gown over it all. He could just barely get away with wearing a dressing gown in the halls of the palace, as long as they stayed in the private hallways.
Once they were marginally presentable, Petrus took Charlotte’s hand and led her through his apartment to the hallway running through the entire wing of the palace. He opened the door carefully and peeked into the hall before allowing Charlotte to be revealed at all, and when he was satisfied the hall was abandoned, he gestured for Charlotte to follow him.
The hallways of the palace were quite dim in the mornings, but they weren’t dark. Several lanterns in wall sconces were turned down low, providing enough light for the servants who lit the fires to make their way through the vast building without bumping into things. It was enough light to show Petrus the way down the hall to the juncture at the top of the stairs that divided the family quarters from the guest suites.
The tricky part was dashing across that exposed section of hall that opened out to the high ceilings of the grand staircase and the foyer below. Petrus motioned for Charlotte to wait just inside the hallway leading to the family apartments as he stepped out to take a look. But a door shut somewhere behind them, prompting Charlotte to squeal in giddy fright and to leap out into the juncture with him.
“Someone is coming,” she whispered, unable to keep her laughter inside.
That set Petrus to laughing as well as he grabbed Charlotte’s hand and dashed across to the guest hall with her.
It was impossible to maintain any sense of decorum from there. They both giggled up a storm as they hurried down the guest hallway, like two children caught searching for gifts from Santa Claus in their parents’ cupboards. Charlotte made him feel young again, like life was filled with joy and possibility. It was one of the many things he loved about her.
With a feeling of both relief and sadness, they reached the door to Charlotte’s guest room.
“That was wonderful,” she whispered as she grabbed hold of the doorhandle. Petrus could tell from the spark in her eyes that she meant their dash through the halls and everything they’d done the night before. “I most definitely think we should do it again,” she continued, lowering her head a bit and making eyes at him.
Petrus’s heart danced against his ribs, and his cock twitched as if it wanted to get started on their next time immediately. He pulled Charlotte away from the door and into his arms so that he could kiss her as lingeringly as he dared.
“We will most definitely do it all again,” he whispered to her. “And I shall speak to all the people who need to be spoken to so that we might do it every night for the rest of our lives.”
Charlotte giggled, her eyes sparkling with loving mischief. “See that you do,” she told him with mock scolding, then pried herself away from him and dashed into her room.
As soon as she shut the door, Petrus leaned against the wall, smiling to himself with his eyes closed, and just feeling the adoration he had for Charlotte. The two of them would be so happy together, always entertaining each other, and building a life that would be the envy of all. He pushed away from the wall and headed swiftly back to the family wing, already thinking up arguments he could use to convince his uncle that he should be allowed to marry Charlotte, and that Lady Jenny would be taken care of one way or another.
Those thoughts were cut abruptly short as he turned the corner into the connecting hallway only to nearly run headlong into Lady Jenny herself. The woman was hurrying as though the Hound of Asgard were chasing her. She was dressed in a nightgown and dressing gown with her hair in disarray down her back, and when she thumped into Petrus, she yelped and started to shake.
“Lady Jenny,” Petrus said, steadying her, then deliberately stepping away so as not to overwhelm her. “Are you quite well? Is something the matter?”
