Playing the Royal Game

‘Not now.’

‘Allegra.’ It was Alex who wriggled away, because he was impossibly hard with her next to him, wanted her so badly, but was determined and weighted with responsibility, for an hour had passed and they had at best an hour or more. It had been so far from perfect for her, by his hand, by his cruel mouth, that he wanted at least to get this right.

‘Rest now,’ he said, ‘and then tonight...’ He could hardly wait, but for her he would. ‘I want to do you properly later.’ And sometimes his brain moved faster in his native tongue than his mouth allowed for translation, but if it was crass and not quite what he meant, from her peal of laughter he had not offended.

‘You’re going to do me properly, are you?’

‘Yes.’ He grinned. ‘Now rest. Or...’ He couldn’t wait to tell her. ‘I was going to give you this tonight.’ He reached over to the bedside table.

‘I don’t need a gift...’ She didn’t, especially when he went to the dresser drawer and pulled out a velvet box. She loved him and everything, and was completely, incredulously delighted that he loved her too, but she’d received so many jewels today. Really, the one she loved most and would love the most for ever was the emerald he had bought on the day they had met.

Still, she knew she had nothing to complain about, so she smiled as she took the box and was ready to say a big wow in surprise as she undid the clip, but instead, as she opened the box, she frowned.

‘Keys?’

‘They are the thing I miss most when I am here. Even the car is brought around, but as soon as I get to London...’ She smiled as she looked at the simple silver key ring holding two keys. Yes, Alex was right, she had not used a key in all the time she’d been in Santina. ‘I wanted somewhere for you as I know how much you need your family. I wanted you to have somewhere, a place that was yours when you visit, a place they can go if you choose....’ She looked at the man who must have loved her even when he didn’t know it because it was the most thoughtful gift in the world. ‘A home in London—maybe you can host Christmas one year.’ She laughed through her tears, laughed that he knew how important her family was, and she could feel all the love and hope for their future wrapping around her as did his arms. ‘There’s a car too,’ he said. ‘I have to arrange for it to be driven each week, so that the battery doesn’t go flat.’ She loved his constantly working brain, and he loved that she didn’t even care what make the car was and they loved that they finally had each other.

‘Oh, Alex...’ She didn’t know what to say. ‘I—’

‘Don’t!’ he interrupted. ‘I did not expect a gift. I don’t want you to be embarrassed.’

‘I’m not,’ she said, and she wasn’t. ‘And I do.’

‘What.’

‘I’m not embarrassed and I do have a gift. A gift I can only give one other.’ And she leant over and gave him a kiss, and then whispered into his ear. She moved back so she could watch it sink in as he found out that his modern bride was, in fact, rather old-fashioned after all.

‘Tonight,’ he said, overcome with the enormity, pale at the thought of how her first time might have been, for that morning in bed he would not have been gentle. ‘Tonight, we will take our time....’

But she could not wait now for tonight, because love unleashed her.

Not her love but his.

His love made her brave and she’d waited so very long, and even a few hours’ delay was an impossible task.

As he lay and tried to pretend that he was dozing, as he tried to force his breathing to at least sound deep and even, wondered if he should throw in a snore for good measure, he felt the soft roll of her into him, and the hand that swept along his chest and touched him. He tried very hard to keep breathing as her hand crept down.

She felt the flat firm plane of his chest, the flat smooth areola and the tautness of nipples that had never been beneath her fingers, and she toyed there for a moment, because she could.

Because he was hers and for exploring and she was more curious than shy.