Please work.
I looked over at Simeth and realized he was focusing just as hard as I was.
The room seemed to go dark besides the bright pink glow, and I felt chills go up and down my arms and legs. Gran’s hand gripped mine so tightly it almost hurt, but I refused to complain.
Then, as quickly as it started, the procedure was complete.
Standing back, my fingers still tangled with Gran’s, I watched the witch doing some kind of chest scans.
“Can you please cough for me?”
Gran nodded, ready to give it a go.
She breathed in…
And there was no cough.
It was gone.
I wanted to cry from relief.
“It’s gone, the cough is gone,” I squealed, grabbing my grandma into a tight hug.
“I’m going to give her a long-term potion to try and restore her brain some. I’m afraid we’re still working on getting the speed up, but it will stop the degeneration immediately, so you don’t get any worse.
“Thank you so much.” Gran sobbed, making me want to cry as well. “I need one hell of a nap,” she laughed.
We left Gran with the witch to figure things out, but as we walked out of the medical center, I pulled Simeth away to have him to myself.
“I can’t begin to thank you enough for everything you’ve done for me and Gran,” I said softly.
“It’s nothing, I’d do anything for you.” He uttered with a smile.
I thought about everything we’d been through together and grabbed his hand out of a need I couldn’t put a name to. I loved him, and sometimes that just meant I needed him around me. Rounding a corner, I pulled him into a less-used hall and kissed him my thank yous.
“Wow, if this is how you act when I do something nice for your gran, I’m going to have to move her into our suite,” he joked.
“Hmm… I don’t know, I like having you to myself,” I replied.
“Hm.” He stole another kiss.
“You taste like black coffee.”
“Oh, then I’ll just go, I guess,” he joked and started to move away, but I laughed and grabbed the hem of his coat.
“Stop, no, come here,” I was smiling again as I kissed him. Simeth leaned down as I wrapped my arms around his neck. His hands slid into my untucked blouse, and I luxuriated in how warm his hands were. His lips were so soft, sogoodon mine. It didn’t matter how many times he kissed me; I’d never get tired of it. That seemed cliché, but we’d honestly seen too much trouble to worry about clichés anymore.
His hands skimmed over my hips down to my ass and he seemed happy to grope and feel every inch of me. I squirmed and laughed against his lips, tilting my face to deepen the kiss.
His tongue slid against mine, and for a moment I didn’t care if we were caught. It didn’t matter what the other royals, or their brides, thought about our arrangement and the binding glue of it. He was mine, and I his, and we’d enjoy each other as much as possible.
I gasped as Simeth pulled me up and pinned me against the wall. Wrapping my legs around his thighs, I hooked my calves so that I wouldn’t be at risk of falling down.
Kissing lower, going from my lips to my cheek to my jaw, I rewarded the sensations with soft, breathy gasps in his ear. I could feel the curl of his lips as he smiled, taking his time to kiss down to my neck. I squirmed against him, but made it clear I was enjoying myself.
Teasingly, he started to suck a slight mark into my neck, and I gasped and tugged at his hair.
“Stop that! Stop—that’s above the collar—what if someone sees?” I sounded scandalized, and the second I caught myself I had to laugh. He laughed with me and kept plucking my sensitive skin with his mouth.