Felicity’s head was spinning. “Doesn’t—does Rafael know about all this?”
“Of course,” said Amy. “He’s the king. He has to be kept apprised of all the goings-on with the different committees. Why? Has he not mentioned them to you?”
“No, he didn’t. We—” Felicity gave Amy a careful look. “You might have heard about my sister Joy’s interview.”
Amy’s eyes went wide. “Oh, yes. She was brilliant. And when I read your response, I thought you’d be game for the upcoming events.”
“Rafael wasn’t…quite so enthusiastic about it.”
Amy waved a hand in the air. “Rafael is the most cautious of all the brothers. He’s been in deep with the referendum, so I can see why he wouldn’t want to personally wade into what we’re doing. Don’t get me wrong—I think he should—but I would never ask you to go behind his back on this. I was half hoping you’d have already discussed it, but that doesn’t matter now. Here I am, with your engraved invitation.” She laughed. “Sadly, not literally. But I’d love for you to come in on this.”
“I want to,” Felicity said. “I think that would be a good idea.”
One day, Felicity was going to be the queen. Whatever happened behind closed doors between her and Rafael, that would be her official title. There was no reason she couldn’t use her position to be a good influence for the people of Stolvenia. And this could be something she did by herself. She had been the one advocating for more equality for women—why shouldn’t she lead the charge by taking the reins herself?
Amy beamed at her. “Great.” She pulled out her phone and got Felicity to enter her number. “I’ll text you a list of where to be and when, and you can jump right in with both feet.” She brushed away a lock of hair that had escaped from her chignon. “In the meantime, I’ve got quite a few loose ends to wrap up.”
Felicity walked with her to the door. “I’ll let Rafael know,” she said.
Amy winked at her. “Best of luck.”
Felicity closed the door behind Amy, feeling more invigorated than she ever had in all her life.
Now there was only one thing left to do: inform Rafael of her plan.
* * *
This was not what Rafael had had in mind when he’d wanted Felicity to find a way to feel invested in Stolvenia.
Felicity had come to him with fire in her eyes and a smile on her face and let him know that she was going to be participating fully in the International Women’s Day activities. He’d had to stifle a groan. As King of Stolvenia, Rafael was fully on board with the events that had been planned—he had to be, otherwise they couldn’t have gone forward. But after the way their first conversation had gone, he hadn’t thought it prudent to bring up those events with Felicity. He’d thought he could keep it from her—or at least keep her from it. So much for that idea.
From that Monday forward, the week was consumed with planning and roundtables and committee discussions, and Felicity attended as many as possible. He found himself slipping into their apartments more and more often, checking in on Hope.
By Thursday, he was worried.
Felicity always seemed to be on the run, and today was no different. He’d expected her involvement to be on the lighter side—a few photo ops, perhaps, and a short speech if the PR team thought she was up to the task. Instead, Felicity had made it a point to be everywhere.
She breezed in as he was heading for the door, having read Hope a story before her nap. Her cheeks were pink, and she looked like she needed a moment to catch her breath.
He’d been stewing, but in the space of a second, all of that was replaced by a heated desire.
“Hi,” breathed Felicity. “Are you on your way out?”
Her raised eyebrows asked him a question that his body wanted to answer, even while his mind struggled for control. He’d wanted to talk to her about the fact that she was drawing more and more media attention. On the plus side, it was nearly all positive. The Stolvenian people loved her involvement. They were listening to her, but what if he couldn’t live up to all the promises she seemed to be making?
The words that came out of his mouth were: “I have a few more minutes before I need to be anywhere.”
Felicity came close, tilting her head up and brushing a hot kiss over his lips. “Mind spending them with me?”
No. No, he did not.
Inside of two minutes, they were in Felicity’s bedroom, fumbling with clothes until both of them were undressed just enough. With a growl, Felicity pressed him back on the bed and straddled him. She was already wet, already waiting, like a tigress…like it had been in the old days.
He put his hands on her hips and lifted his mouth to her nipples while she rode him, fast and furious. The way her hips rocked beneath his hands wiped everything from his mind, everything except Felicity, and the sweet, clean smell of her, and the way her fingernails dug into his chest…
Rafael forgot everything else in the world when she started rolling her hips the way she did when she wanted to come, and come hard. It didn’t take long and the sheer energy of it, the potent, sensual energy of it, pulled him along with her until they both panted on the bed, spent.
Felicity got up a few minutes later, still smiling. “I’ll have to take a quick shower before my next event, but that was—” She tugged her shirt over her head on the way to the bathroom. “That was worth it.”