“I missed you so much.” I cried out when he dragged a hand up, scraping my inner thigh and stopping at my clit. “So much.”
He looked into my eyes for a moment before closing them. As he breathed out, he pulled me against him and thrust inside of me in a long, deep stroke, filling me entirely. My hips arched in accordance, to beg for more, to demand more. He reached for the top of my dress, bringing it down to pluck my nipples as he continued to move inside me. With his other hand, he reached between us and began to rub circles over my clit.
“Fuck, that feels good.” He threw his head back, biting his lower lip, his hands continuing to move as relentlessly as his strokes.
I was so close. So close. I could feel the orgasm building deep inside me, begging to be let out. He brought his gaze to mine, hazy, seductive, completely lustful, and let go of my nipple, bringing that hand to the nape of my neck and pulling me into a deep kiss, his tongue exploring my mouth wildly as he moved inside me, his fingers against my clit. It was all I needed to go over the edge, and he followed quickly behind. We were panting breaths and heaving chests against each other as we lay there, in the king’s bedchambers, where so many before us had made love and history. It was exhilarating and daunting all at once.
Chapter 33
Elias
“Have you seen this?” Pierre walked into my office and set a pile of newspapers in front of me.
I glanced at the first headline. The Playboy King. I set it aside and looked at the next: King Size Womanizer. The Sinful Kings Continue. Is the Throne in Peril? And the next: King’s First Mistress Makes an Appearance. All of the photographs were of myself and Adeline at the party last night, and others of my father’s funeral, where I was with Emily, but couldn’t seem to stop looking at Addie. I set them all down and looked at Pierre as I stood up.
“Fuck.”
“I’m assuming Adeline is still sleeping?”
“Yes.” I sat back down with a heavy sigh.
Last night, we didn’t go back to the party. Instead, we left through my private entrance and I had my driver bring us to my apartment in Paris. I’d have sex with Adeline anywhere she’d let me, but I wasn’t sure I’d ever be comfortable sleeping in an almost four-hundred-year-old palace. The office doors opened and both Pierre and I turned in that direction to see Adeline, wearing a white cotton robe, her hair piled atop her head in a messy bun, storming in waving her phone at us. I stood up again.
“Did you see this?”
“Pierre just showed me.” I walked around the desk and hugged her into my chest. “I’m sorry, Addie. We were just about to start discussing what we should do about it.”
“I knew this was going to happen.” She pulled away, bringing her hands to cover her face as she started pacing the room. “They’re going to paint me as the bad guy. I’ll be the one who ripped apart an engagement. Or your mistress if you continue making appearances with Emily.”
“There will be no appearances with Emily.” I walked over to her and stood in front of her, so she’d be forced to stop pacing and look at me. “Hey, you and I are a couple. A real couple. There is no me and Emily.”
“Yeah, but the press thinks there is.” There was a question in her eyes that she obviously didn’t want to voice. I wasn’t sure if it was because of me or Pierre, but either way I had no answer to it.
“We need to address the public.” I faced Pierre. “I want a camera crew and trusted reporters in here to do a live press.”
“With all due respect, we’ve never invited reporters or the outside world to a monarch’s private residence,” Pierre said. “We can do it in Versailles or one of the other palace grounds.”
“I want it done here. I don’t want a stuffy interview. I want them to feel comfortable with me. I want the public to feel comfortable with me.” I looked between Pierre and Adeline. “I also want to visit some of the protestors’ houses with Adeline.”
“With me?”
“We’re a team now, remember?”
She nodded slowly, gnawing on her bottom lip. The way her eyes clouded made me uneasy. Would she back out of this to shield herself from the media? I wouldn’t blame her. They put her through enough in London once before.
“Will you excuse us, Pierre?” I said, still looking at Adeline. I waited until the door opened and closed before I moved into her space. “Talk to me.”
“What will happen with my company? I have clients to meet in London next weekend.” She searched my eyes. “Will I be able to meet with them?”