‘In an aeroplane. Do you remember?’ He’d been half asleep when they’d boarded the flight. He still wore his little emoji-themed pyjamas, a gift from her parents at Christmas.
‘No.’ He shook his head and she smiled softly. ‘Who’s that?’ Leo pointed a finger at Matthias.
‘A friend of Mummy’s,’ she said quickly, earning a swift look of rebuke from Matthias.
‘I’m your father, Leo,’ he said over the top of her, and now it was Frankie’s turn to volley back an expression of outright rage. Her lips compressed and her eyes held a warning.
‘Father?’ Leo blinked from Frankie to Matthias.
‘Your daddy.’ The words were said softly but when Matthias looked at Frankie she felt a sharp dagger of judgement. Of anger. She held his gaze, determined to show him she wasn’t going to back down from this fight—or any.
‘Daddy?’ Leo’s eyes went huge. ‘You say Daddy so kind!’ Leo enthused, and Frankie’s heart clenched in her chest. She had told Leo that, and many other things. She’d invented a father for Leo that he could be proud of, needing her son to believe a wonderful man had been a part of his creation, even when he couldn’t be a part of his life.
‘We’re going to stay with Daddy for a while,’ Frankie said gently, ignoring the way Matthias’s eyes were resting on her with startling intensity. ‘Would you like that?’
Leo’s lower lip stuck out and he shook his head stubbornly. Frankie dipped her head forward and hid a smile in her son’s curls. Let King Matthias, who ‘always got what he wanted’ suck on that!
‘Are you sure?’ he asked teasingly, as though he wasn’t remotely bothered by Leo’s rejection. ‘Because I happen to have a swimming pool right outside my bedroom,’ he said. ‘And you may use it any time.’
‘A pool?’ Leo tilted his head to one side in a gesture that was so reminiscent of Matthias that Frankie’s chest throbbed. ‘What a “pool”?’
‘What’s a pool?’ Matthias’s gaze lifted to Frankie’s, subtle accusation in his eyes. ‘How can you not know this? It’s like the biggest
bath tub you can imagine,’ he said, not looking away from Frankie. ‘The water is warm and salty, and you can kick and splash to your heart’s content.’
‘Mummy says no splashing in the bath!’ Leo was dubious.
Matthias’s eyes held Frankie’s for a moment longer and she fought an instinct to defend herself, to defend her parenting, before dropping her gaze to Leo’s. She breathed out, not having realised she’d been holding her breath until then. ‘In a pool you may splash.’
Leo jumped up and down on Frankie’s lap, his excitement at this relaxation in the usual rules apparent.
‘Do you know what else?’ Matthias leaned forward, smiling in a way that caused Frankie’s breath to catch once more. ‘We are very near the beach. You can go swimming whenever you like.’
Leo gleefully clapped his little hands together.
‘What else do you like to do?’
That was it. Leo began to speak as best he was able, and Matthias listened and nodded along, even when Frankie was certain he couldn’t understand half of what the toddler was offering.
The plane drew to a stop and the cabin crew opened the door—sultry heat immediately blew in, replacing the climate-controlled cool of the aircraft. There was sunshine on the breeze and Frankie sucked it in, deep inside her lungs, pressing her head back against the seat for a moment, letting the air stir through her body, praying it would bring a sense of calm and acceptance to her.
She had no choice but to marry him. She could even see the sense of what he’d suggested. He wasn’t just a mere man—a mortal amongst mortals. He was a king, and she’d been foolish enough to sleep with a stranger—she hadn’t cared who he was; she hadn’t wanted or needed to know anything about him, besides the fact that she’d wanted him with an intensity that had refused to be quelled. And so they’d found themselves in bed—he’d been so experienced and charming that what little instinct she might have had to pause, to wait, had completely evaporated.
She let out a small sigh of impatience. Why bother analysing the past? It had happened, and she couldn’t even say with any honesty that she wished it hadn’t. Sleeping with Matthias had given her Leo, and not for all the gold in the world would she wish him away.
Nor, if she were completely honest, would she wish she hadn’t slept with Matthias. He hadn’t deserved her, he sure as heck hadn’t deserved her innocence, but he remained, to this day, one of the best experiences of her life.
An experience she wanted to repeat?
For a second she allowed herself to imagine that future, to imagine Matthias making love to her, the nights long with passion, rent with the noise of her pleasure and delirious need, her insides slicked with moist heat.
Foreign voices filled the plane and she looked up to find Matthias watching her, even as Leo chattered to him. Heat burned her cheeks, the direction of her thoughts warming her, and she was sure he knew, and understood; she was sure he was watching her with the same sense of heated arousal.
Frankie forced herself to look past him, to the cabin crew who were making their way into the plane. A woman was at the front and she held a garment bag in her hands. No, several, Frankie noted with disinterest.
Matthias stood and spoke to his servants in his native tongue. Their deference was fascinating to observe. All bowed low and, though they spoke in their own language, she could hear the awe with which they held him.
‘This is Marina.’ Matthias turned to Frankie, his expression unreadable. ‘She’s going to help you get ready.’