She could see he wanted to object. And it occurred to her how tough it was for Leo to admit a weakness.
Up till now, Leo had been the expert. On everything. How to behave as a monarch, encouraging and supporting her while they were on her fake state visit. He’d even been the expert in bed, teasing out her pleasure and sending her senses soaring to heights she’d never believed possible. But now the tables were turned.
‘You’re not going to let this go, are you?’ he said.
Juno’s grin widened; this was one more precious memory she would be able to keep from their time out of time here. ‘Nope.’
He swore softly under his breath. ‘Fine, but don’t blame me if you get food poisoning,’ he added.
She laughed as she drew out a large metal mixing bowl from the impressive array of kitchen equipment. ‘I won’t.’ She smiled at his frown and passed him an egg. ‘Now let’s break some eggs.’
‘I think this has been my best Christmas ever,’ Juno murmured, stifling a yawn, as she placed her bare feet in Leo’s lap and relaxed into the sofa cushions, so tired and full of food she could barely keep her eyes open.
‘It has been mine, too,’ he said. The glow of firelight and the twinkle of lights from the tree in the corner of the room played over the planes and angles of his face.
Her heart expanded, the sincerity in his gaze making her chest ache with all the things she hadn’t been allowed to say, but knew now to be true.
This was Leo with his guard down, the man without the crown who she’d only been allowed a few rare glimpses of before—while talking to a small child, at the height of passion, over a snowball war—and he was adorable.
Her heart pulsed painfully but she pushed the emotion to one side.
Sensation returned as he played with her toes and she thanked God for the timely distraction.
Don’t ask for more, Juno. When this is all you can have, and all you’re entitled to.
‘Seriously, we cannot do it again. I’m exhausted,’ she said as the familiar tug of desire centred in her sex.
His rough chuckle made her insides hurt. ‘I never knew I had a foot fetish.’ His smile warmed the ache in her heart. He dropped her foot back into his lap, caressed the instep. ‘You have delicious feet, Princess.’
She grinned back at him, refusing to let the melancholy in.
The remnants of their Christmas feast—roast turkey, roast potatoes, a medley of vegetables and a red wine jus—lay on the coffee table where they’d devoured it after spending the afternoon and evening devouring each other in between bouts of industriousness in the kitchen.
Who knew Leo would look so cute learning how to make ham and eggs?
She resisted the tug of longing. They only had a few hours left—twelve at the most—before they would have to return to the palace. And Leo would be forced to don his crown again.
The unfairness of that pinched her heart, but she refused to let it in.
Not forced. Leo wore that responsibility willingly, because that was the kind of man Leo was. Overwhelming, tender, hot as hell, and loyal, but also damaged in ways she recognised, because she had been damaged in the same way. Never loved unconditionally, always knowing that, other than her sister, there was always a price to pay for affection. For approval.
Leo would never give up the throne—because his father had made him believe that was what gave his life value. And she knew that made a union between them impossible, because she knew she would always be second best. The way her mother had been, to her father.
She’d spent so much of her life resenting the monarchy. Resenting the choices her father had made, the decision to choose duty instead of family. In a strange way, being with Leo these past two weeks, discovering that she wasn’t as rubbish at pomp and circumstance as she’d thought, had been a revelation, a confidence boost, a way of finally putting those demons to rest. That she could tame her recklessness, control her rebelliousness, if she was given the right support, the right help and guidance.
Look at me now, Father. I didn’t disgrace you after all.
Jade had told her at the start of all this that she needed to come to terms with her past. Their past. All that she’d lost all those years ago. And she hadn’t believed her. But her sister had been right.
She’d needed Leo, needed to prove she wasn’t a nobody, that she was her father’s daughter after all. And that should be enough.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t, because she’d fallen hopelessly in love with Leo in the process.
A part of her wanted to blurt out the truth. But she couldn’t, because however strong her feelings were, she knew he didn’t return them.
She couldn’t bear to expose herself again, to b
eg for someone’s love and be rejected. To be told by another man she loved that she was not enough.