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Zephy
There it was, out in the open.
My innermost fear spilled out to the world, in front of the staff, to humiliate me in the worst way. And worse, Cade now knew I couldn’t handle the staff on top of it.
“I’ll kill him,” Cade muttered to himself, almost dragging me back toward our suite. “I’ll kill anyone who speaks that way again.”
“That will show them that I am meant to be queen,” I remarked dryly.
He stopped abruptly and faced me, his expression twisted and furious.
“Why didn’t you tell me what was being said about you? Why did you suffer in silence?”
I tried to keep walking, but he didn’t allow me to pass, forcing me to answer him. I struggled to keep my composure, to not show him how much Janifer’s outburst had affected me. My throat closed up, and upset stole my voice, but I couldn’t let Cade know just how crushed I was to learn that the staff still had so little respect for me. Of course, I’d suspected it—it was blatant in everything they did. But to hear the driver say it, out loud and in front of the King…
Their hatred was growing, not diminishing.
“Zephy, why didn’t you tell me what was happening?”
I swallowed several times to lubricate my drying throat and forced a taut smile. “I’m handling it,” I lied. “Things are settling. It’s been a big change for everyone.”
“No!” Cade protested. “This should never have occurred. I can’t believe this disrespect has been happening under my roof, under my nose!”
I reached up to cup his cheek. “You have far more important things to worry about than the petty gossiping of staff,” I told him weakly, my own words faltering.
I meant them—Cade did have trying matters to attend to, issues pertaining to the kingdom. He didn’t need to be bothered about trivial things like this.
“You are the only matter of mine, Zephyrine,” he rasped, his arm encircling my waist, drawing me toward him. “Your pain is mine. Your suffering is my suffering. I will banish anyone who ever speaks a word against you again—”
I caught his mouth with mine, stopping him from finishing his promise. I knew he was sincere in his vow, but it was not what I needed to hear from him. This problem was mine to handle, not his. I wish he had never caught wind of it at all, but I would find a way to win the respect of the staff as my own being, without Cade’s threats.
“Is that supposed to silence me?” he growled, pulling away to stare at me.
“I want to finish our evening together,” I told him softly. “And forget about Janifer—and everyone else, just as you promised we would before we left.”
His expression softened, and he nodded, brushing his lips against mine gently before leading me the rest of the way to our bedroom, closing the door in his wake. He barely had a chance to turn when I pounced on him again, the stress of Janifer’s words motivating my movements. With more fervor than usual, I attacked the buttons of his shirt as he embraced me.
“Easy does it, Zephy,” he mumbled as my mouth trailed over his lips, down along the curve of his throat.
I didn’t slow my movements, and he danced me back across the room until my skirt rustled against the mattress, my calves impacting the bed. My hands reached up to twine in his hair, guiding his head down over the swell of my cleavage as I fell unceremoniously onto the curved mattress.
Without any effort, Cade’s hands propped my nipples from the low neckline, permitting his tongue access to the taut skin. A small groan escaped my lips as his mouth closed around the right one. My knee brushed against his crotch, and I felt him grow thicker inside his pants, beads of sweat collecting around his bare chest as he laid me back, head fully buried in my chest now. Goosebumps made the hairs on my legs and arms raise, the back of my neck bristling.
Suddenly, I was distinctly uncomfortable in the remaining clothing I wore, and I desperately wanted Cade naked, too. Tugging at my dress, I felt the fabric rip in my hand as the clothing gave way to the floor, Cade’s breaths increasing with the action, but his tongue continued to manipulate the prickled flesh of my breast, his hands fumbling to remove his pants in unison.
Only when we were both nude did he finally lift his head to peer at me, his vivid, cobalt eyes glowing in the candle-flickering chamber, setting my heart aglow.
Very slowly, he inched down, resting his face over my quivering belly, my pulse roaring in my ears as I watched him from my place on the mattress.
“You are my everything, Zephy,” he whispered.
“You are mine,” I told him shakily, my voice trembling as I raised my legs around him.
His hot breaths were driving me to an edge, bringing me high above myself, his hands sliding beneath me to cup my buttocks.
“I would do anything to protect you,” Cade informed me, the sincerity of his words piercing my soul.
I propped myself up higher and looked at him, biting on my lip, nodding.
