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“I do so enjoy watching you stab people.”
As Camila finished lacing his corset, he thanked her – at leastthatwas something changed for the better, as he expressed his gratitude to our servants a lot more these days – and veered past the table to grab himself two oranges for breakfast. He paused, added a third, and then looked over his shoulder at me where I was sitting on the edge of the bed and pulling on my boots.
“Will I see you for dinner?”
“It’s more whether I’ll see you,” I muttered, and then flinched. “Sorry, I didn’t mean...I know you’re busy.”
I ran a hand down my face, wincing at how I’d let my tongue get the better of me again.
Ren swallowed. “No,mi cielo, you’re right. I’ve been distracted lately, but that’s not an excuse. I’ll be there.”
I shook my head, playing with the laces of my shirt so I didn’t have to look him in the eye. We had our nights together – when he wasn’t working, which he often was – and I was being greedy demanding he give me time during the day as well. “I don’t expect you to do that. There’s much more important shit for you to be dealing with, including Lukia’s nonsense.”
His hands wrapped around mine, stilling their awkward fidgeting.
“Nat. Fuck.”
My king sounded so bitter, soangry, that I kept my head bowed, unwilling to see the truth of his frustration with me written across his face.
“I’m sorry-”
“You havenothingto be sorry for,” growled Ren, and then I no longer had a choice about whether to look at him when his fingers gripped my chin and forced it up. His brown eyes were steeped in sorrow. “Youare the most important thing in my life, Nathanael, and if you don’t realise that, then it’s me who must apologise.” He leant in and kissed me, his lips and tongue conveying the rest of what his words hadn’t, and I reminded him of my own affection in turn.
Minutes passed like that; perfect, heavenly minutes where I didn’t know where I ended and he began.
“Will you walk with me to my meeting?” he asked me when we reluctantly pulled apart.
Will you. Another change, for it would surely have beenyou willa year ago.
I smiled. “Of course.”
“I would like to spend a little more time with you,mi sol,” Ren murmured, picking up only one of the oranges he’d discarded and threading his fingers through mine. “Unfortunately my Council will not be put off, otherwise I would skip this morning’s meeting entirely.”
“It’s fine.”
But my husband’s lip curled. “It isnot. We are due to discuss a decidedly distasteful matter, despite my vehement protests otherwise. And my attempts to ignore it entirely for the last twelve months, but that could only work for so long.”
“The Lukia thing?”
“No,” he growled. “A subject even more objectionable.”
“Then I should be there,” I offered as we drifted hand in hand through our rooms and into the palace corridors. Our guards peeled away from their posts and followed a few discreet paces behind, our newest appointment – Aitor – obediently beginning to cut up the orange the king blindly tossed back at him. The tall, bald-headed man learned quickly.
“Don’t worry,” Ren assured me, his tone fond. “I have watched you work enough times to be quite competent in disgusted, judgmental glares myself.”
“I’m coming.”
He snickered at the wording and I scowled, my cheeks heating as I tried not to catch the eye of either of our guards. Parvan and Aitor had heard more than their share of Ren’s inappropriate commentary during their time in our service, but it didn’t make his public teasing any less embarrassing.
“Mathias,” added Ren, laying his other hand on my arm in comfort. “I’ve got this. I promise.”
“Is that a real promise or a Ren promise?” I asked.
He blinked and then dramatically clutched at his heart, staggering backwards. I grabbed his arm before he could fall down the stairs he was wavering towards, and he took the opportunity to snatch the cut fruit from Aitor’s hands. “Ouch,mi amor. When have I ever broken a promise?”
“To you, Nat,” he amended quickly, straightening up. “Clearly no one else counts.”
“Uh huh,” I said, and then lowered my voice so only he could hear. “You just want to get laid again tonight, don’t you?”
