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My mom’s note reads that they’ll return at 4:30. I smirk.
“What is it?” Torben says.
“She went to buy groceries. Apparently, she doesn’t think whatever she has in the house is good enough to cook for you.”
Torben’s eyes are full of emotion as he blinks. “She’s very kind to me. I don’t need any fuss.”
I lift one shoulder. “If she wants to feed people, we should let her. And…she wrote exactly when they would be back. She never does that.”
“So?”
“So, she’s low-key telling me how much time we have alone.”
I lean in and kiss the base of his throat. “Hm…why do you still smell so good after everything we did today?”
He growls and runs a hand over my breast brazenly as I push into him. “How much time did you say we had?”
* * *
Moments later, we’re in the shower together.
There’s nothing overtly sexual in it, but it turns into the most sensual history lesson of all time.
Torben turns me so I face away from him in the cramped little stall. I try not to think about the fact that my brother also uses this shower, so it’s a good thing we’re not having sex in here. I couldn’t, even if I was still feeling frisky.
Torben’s big hands smooth over and through my hair, wetting it thoroughly. He works the shampoo through my strands, carefully keeping it out of my eyes.
As he massages my scalp, I tease him. “Hmm. I hate to waste hot water, but I’m almost mad that we only have 30 minutes. Mama likes you.”
“That’s very sweet. I look forward to introducing her to my mother. I think they will get along famously.”
Internally I wince, and I catch myself. What’s that about? Why wouldn’t my mother get along with his mother? Just because my future mother-in-law is a queen, does that mean they’re all that different from each other?
Nope. Still too crazy to think about. I need more time to process the idea of me potentially meeting a king and queen, let alone my family meeting monarchs. We have time to let that thought bake.
Torben senses a shift in me even as he massages my scalp. “What’s wrong, love?”
The prince snakes his arm around my middle and presses his face closer to mine. I can feel the hairs on his chest tickling my back.
“I just…I don’t know. I think some things that Toad said are starting to get to me.”
“Is there nothing I can do to reassure you?”
I turn slightly to let him see my smile. “I was worried you’d be mad that those negative thoughts are creeping back in.”
He begins to rinse the suds from my hair, carefully making long strokes down to the ends of my strands, one lock of hair at a time. “Why would I be upset by that? Bothered that thoughts are troubling you? Yes. But angry? No. You can share them with me. But let me reiterate that I will care for you and your entire family.”
His gentle hands guide the water through my hair and squeeze out my strands.
I want to suggest we limit how much he plans to “take care” of us.
“You might have access to a royal fortune, but I don’t want to be the wife who fritters it all away. And I worry your family will think I’m only into you because of your money and power.”
He chuckles as he squeezes out the last of the sudsy water from my hair and picks up the bottle of conditioner when I point to it. “Hand me that, thank you.”
I squeeze out as much as I need into the well of his hand in front of me.
His chuckle vibrates against my back. “Yes, so much power we will yield,” he says, his voice dripping with amused sarcasm. “Me, the future king of a tiny island country in the freezing North Sea that exports beer and wool. Not to mention Gravenland is run by a parliament, to which the palace belongs in an advisory capacity. The political power of the palace is not what it used to be, and rightly so.”
