With Blythe.
Pipe dreams that had no place in the present.
Peremptory knocking interrupted Blythe's Saturday chores. She turned off the vacuum and went to answer, wondering what Janne was doing in New York.
The last she'd spoken to her friend, she'd thought the queen had no plans to travel.
Blythe had moved into a building, complete with doorman and private security, after her friend married into royalty. The king had insisted.
The only people on the list for the doorman to let up without calling her first were members of the Tapt Oyerian Royal Family and the only one of those who would surprise her with a visit was the sister of her heart, Janne.
Making no effort to tidy her appearance for her best friend, Blythe flung the door wide, her hair up in a messy bun, wearing a tank top and Yoga pants. "What are you doing in New York…"
Her voice trailed off, her voice failing. It wasn't Janne standing there with a bevy of bodyguards, but Tor.
Wearing a dark, perfectly tailored suit, his hair as short as he'd kept it in the military, his stance filled with royal confidence.
Blythe's heart surged with completely inappropriate joy, her body wanting to lean toward him. She hadn't seen him in a year, and she had missed him every single day.
Stifling the urge to throw herself into his arms and belatedly schooling her expression, Blythe stepped back in silent invitation for Tor to come into her home. "Tor…I mean Your Highness, what are you doing here?"
The prince put his finger to his lips in shushing gesture and then waved two dark suited men carrying some kind of equipment into her apartment.
One of the men came up to her and scanned her with a small handheld device before nodding silently to Tor.
Tor indicated the hallway with a tip of his head.
Blythe followed him, the door to her apartment shutting behind her.
She spun back, intending to knock and get it open again.
But Tor's hand on her arms stopped her. "Let them do their job."
What job? Blythe wanted to ask, but she couldn't make herself speak.
Every atom of her focus was on the feel of Tor's fingers against her skin.
He tugged her around to face him, but did not release her. "Come with me."
She didn't ask where. Blythe just nodded.
Tor's hold shifted to around her waist and she shuddered.
He cursed, but did not loosen his hold. In fact, it became all the more possessive, their hips brushing as they walked down the hall toward the elevator.
His security stepped onto the elevator first, pressing a button as Blythe and Tor stepped into the small space, the second security man following as the doors slid closed.
The first security guy tilted his head and spoke to someone else saying they were on their way down. The elevator doors opened to the parking garage where two black SUVs waited.
Diplomatic flags flew on either side and the doors were stamped with the Coat of Arms for the House of Asgersen.
Tor was making no effort to hide this meeting with her.
Blythe shivered in the chilled air of the parking garage. Tor shrugged out of his suit jacket and settled it over her shoulders, his warmth and scent surrounding her with aching familiarity.
The two security men split up, opening the backdoors on either side of the vehicle. Neither she, nor Tor spoke as the climbed into the car and did their seatbelts. One of the suited security men slid into the driver's seat and the other the passenger seat in front.
The other SUV pulled out first and then the one she and Tor were in followed.