After time, she’d imagined it would get boring. That she’d grow weary of having to juggle not just one guy in her life, but three. As it stood, she’d yet to reach that point, and considering they were all so damn elusive, she was starting to think that she’d forever be in a state of wanting them.
Not that that was something to complain about.
Xavier cut her a look, razing her defenses to the ground with that one simple glance. “Fancy showing me your new bedroom?”
She bit her bottom lip, still sore from the teasing nips her lover had gifted her. “Yes?”
He laughed. “Not too certain about that answer?”
She smirked. “Well, Prince Charming over there is obviously in a snit.”
George protested, “I’m not in a snit.”
“You only pace when you’re in a mood or angry,” she instantly retorted. “You forget, I know you too well to fall for your bullshit.”
“My ego is mortally wounded.”
“Your ego is always mortally wounded in my presence,” she said, her tone cheerful now because he was right. “That’s my job, don’t you know? To keep you down-to-earth and grounded. Otherwise you’d be such a big-headed jerk I couldn’t stand to be in the same room as you.”
George rolled his eyes as Xavier snickered. “That’s your job, is it? Your official role?”
She grinned. “Yup. Screw all this ‘queenie’ nonsense.”
George shook his head, but she could see in his deep brown eyes his own humor sparking to life.
“What’s wrong, George?” Xavier asked patiently, but she could see as he settled back into his seat, he was dealing with his own arousal. He crossed his legs, resting his ankle atop his knee, and grimaced at the positioning.
Yum.
All hers.
“That isn’t helping,” he said absentmindedly, not looking at her, but talking to her nonetheless.
“I never claimed to be helpful. Just a grounding presence,” was all she said.
He heaved out a laugh, then to George, mumbled, “Spit it out, man. Perry’s calendar is clear for the next two hours. Do you know how rare that is?”
George’s pacing came to a halt. “Two hours?” Xavier nodded. “I checked with the Dragon.”
The Dragon was Perry’s nickname for Rose—she hadn’t realized they were aware of it.
Perry folded her arms across her chest. “Why do I feel like I’ve just been micromanaged?”
“Because you have?” Xavier said. The grin he shot her way was wicked, his intent evident.
He’d come here with the purpose of seducing her.
Wicked, naughty, wonderful man.
She licked her lips again, then murmured, “Yes, George, get on with it already. The two of you could be doing something more pleasant with those mouths of yours than talking.”
“She’s a minx, isn’t she?” George said on a growl, but he’d stopped pacing at last, and leaned back against the wall at the side of the fireplace.
The position was an odd choice. With his shoulders hunched as he pushed his hands into his pockets, he looked surprisingly vulnerable.
“Come on, darling. Something’s obviously on your mind.” She knew that; he’d gone on a ride. Edward was the horseman. Not George.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Sure, you don’t,” she teased gently. “That’s why you barged your way in here. Because you don’t want to talk about it.”
He pulled a face. “I’m torn.”
His wistful tone had her cocking a brow at him. “About what?”
“You still trying to decide where you should work?” Xavier asked gently, surprising her with his insight.
She tensed, displeased by the idea George was struggling with something she wasn’t aware of.
Now that she thought about it, when was the last time she and George—her best friend, as well as her lover—had sat down together and had a really good chat?
She blinked because she couldn’t remember when.
Outrage flushed through her at the thought, and it was aimed wholly at herself.
She’d been so focused on the nuttiness that was her new role as queen, that she hadn’t sat down with any of her men and really talked about what was going on with any of them.
Perry didn’t hate herself too badly because they were still reacting to recent events. Reacting didn’t give a person much time to deal with and process the things that mattered.
But still, now that she was aware of the lack in her relationship with all of them, she’d make damn sure to rectify that.
In fact, she’d pin Rose down and start shuffling things in her schedule.
There were a million and one things Perry had to do in a day now, but not a single one of them was more important than her men’s wellbeing.
“What’s going on?” she asked, frowning but otherwise not showing her displeasure at being kept in the dark.
It wasn’t George’s fault she hadn’t been paying attention.
“George wants to work in the private sector, but feels like he should be directly involved with the Ministry of Finance.”
Xavier’s succinct summary surprised her. “You hate politics.”
George winced at her blunt retort. “I know.”
“Well, why the quandary then?”
“Because it’s what I should do.”
She blinked. “Why should that bother you?”
He sighed. “Duty, Perry. It comes to us all in the end.”
“Not in this instance it doesn’t have to,” she argued. “I mean, I know Edward’s pushed some responsibilities onto you…”
George immediately shook his head. “Not enough. Not as much as he should.”
His self-deprecatory wince had her tilting her head to the side. “Then, if you know you’re not being fair to him, why are you letting him get away with it?”
Xavier snorted. “Why change the habit of a lifetime?”
George’s shoulders stiffened, but just as his mouth opened to blast Xavier, the wind dropped from his sails. He sighed. “You’re right.”
“I know I am,” Xavier said smoothly, cutting her a look. He flared his eyes once, and she knew he was telling her to shut up.
She huffed, a little aggravated at being verbally leashed, but sank back into the armchair and let Xavier take this where he wanted to.
George, totally missing this byplay, murmured, “My working in the Finance Ministry wouldn’t ease Edward’s load, would it?”
“No, but it would help him to have eyes in there. It seems the likeliest place to put you considering your expertise,” Xavier reasoned. “But, you know full well you can have your pick of the ministries. The government views it as us having pet projects, you know that as much as I do.”
It was Perry’s turn to wince.
What a patronizing way of seeing things.
As far as she’d learned, being a Royal was actually one of the hardest freakin’ jobs out there.
She knew other countries might only have had token royals nowadays. Where they did more waving and spending than anything else.
But here?
No way.
It was more than a full-time job. It was like a divorce lawyer in Manhattan and a cardiologist had combined to create a power-job, where there was little sleep, more work than either job could handle, and a hell of a lot of luxury.
George blew out a breath. “I’d be put to better use taking some of the tasks off Edward’s shoulders. That way he can at least spend time with us.”
“He will eventually. He’s just finding his place. Don’t forget, there’s a lot of internal power plays to manage at the moment. He’s finding his feet in Uncle Philippe’s world. Things will settle down shortly.”
Perry perked up at that. She’d barely seen her husband since they’d been crowned.
At some time during the night, he’d wake her climbing into bed, and when she awoke the next morning, he’d already be up and about.
/> Being King played havoc with his Queen’s sex life, that was for damned certain.
Xavier grimaced. “Anyway, that’s why I’m going to throw my lot in, too.”
George scowled. “What do you mean?”
“I finally put finishing touches on that fertilizer I was developing…”
Perry’s eyes widened and she scrambled out of her seat and plunked herself on his lap before he had the chance to do anything other than take in a breath. “Oh my God! You did it?”
He grinned as she slipped her arms around his neck and tugged him into a tight hug.
“Feels like it. It’s onto larger-scale trials now. I’m working with one of our agricultural research labs over in Helstern to further develop the product, but it needs to be tested on grander scales than I can manage with my acreage.” He shrugged. “That cuts down my research exponentially, and rather than looking for something else, I’m going to stick with my current projects and help Edward out.”
She worried her bottom lip. “You’re doing that for me, aren’t you?”
He tugged at said bottom lip. “I know he’s not spending hardly any time with you, and that worries me. Because he needs you just as much as we do.
“But I’m also just doing it because I’m as guilty as George of taking advantage of Edward. He puts his everything into doing something he doesn’t like, and he does so because it’s his duty. It’s time George and I started pulling our weight too.”
Perry reached up to kiss his cheek. “Thank you.”
“It’s for all of us,” he said dismissively.
“Maybe, but still…thank you.” She turned to George, who’d folded his arms across his chest as he stared at them. “What put you in that mood before you came here?”
He frowned. “Blevins James…”
“The bank you contacted about work?”
“Also the biggest hedge fund this side of London,” Xavier inserted wryly.
“They’ve offered me a job,” George said wistfully. “I want to take it…but I know I can’t.”
“Hence the pacing and the ride,” Perry murmured, sadness welling in her. “I’m sorry, sweetheart.”
He pursed his lips. “You don’t have to be sorry. It’s not like it’s your fault.” He moved away from the wall, his jeans and shirt rustling as they pulled against the silk wallpaper, then slouched his way over to her.
Turning around, he crouched down on the floor, then leaned against Xavier’s legs. It meant she couldn’t see his expression, but she figured that was why he’d maneuvered himself into that position anyway.
She slipped her hands through his silky hair, unable to help herself. Her nails scraped against his scalp, and he leaned back into her tender touch.
“What will you do?” Xavier asked quietly.
“If I can keep an eye on the Chancellor then it will help Ed, won’t it? He needs all the eyes, ears, and hands he can get to monitor this current farce of a government,” George replied, his tone stilted. “I can’t help him out if I’m in a hedge fund in the center of Madela.”
Duty…
It was a four-letter word, and one she hadn’t shirked from in her life. As a child, there’d always been something to do on the farm, and when she’d left the farm for Boston, her sense of duty hadn’t disappeared with it—her higher calling had been to protect the Earth. To keep it safe for future generations as she tried to combat the many ways humans, corporations, and governments were destroying it, little by little.
She knew what duty was. But until she’d seen how it had torn up the DeSauvier family, she hadn’t truly known it on a personal level.
Blood had been spilled to preserve the Crown for Veronia. Her men sacrificed their own ways, their own needs, to rule a country where people lived who had murdered their family members.
She wasn’t sure if, just then, she wanted to weep because she was proud of George for stepping up to the plate, or because she was so dreadfully sorry for both of her men. They were stepping away from their callings to fall into line for the Crown…
It was a thankless job they were about to leap into. A world of responsibilities and cynicism and unpleasantness.
And for all that, at that moment, she was just glad she was there.
There had to be some sugar in everyone’s life—otherwise the lack would drive anyone mad. She could be that sweetness to soften the bitterness, and she’d take on the role willingly to give her men some semblance of peace as they maneuvered a world they’d been born into, but didn’t particularly want.
George’s shoulders bowed. “I’ll inform Edward in the morning.”
Xavier sighed. “It comes to us all, George.”
Duty, Perry knew he was saying.
“I know,” he said grimly. He got to his feet again, his restlessness surprising her. Then, with his back turned away from them, he carried on, “I’m going to tell him now. Get it over with. Otherwise I’ll procrastinate…and he needs me.”
Before Perry could open her mouth, he strode off, his pace swift. She stiffened on Xavier’s lap, made to scramble off and head for George, but he tugged her firmly into his hold.
Only after the door had closed did he murmur, “No, Perry. Let him go. He needs to do this. For Edward’s sake. He’ll kill himself to make us happy. To let us do what we want to do while he buries himself in work.” Xavier’s tone was grim enough to make Perry bite her lip. “George had to reach the decision himself.”
She turned wide eyes up at him. “Being King really sucks, doesn’t it?”
He snorted out a laugh. “Pretty much.”
“You know when you know someone’s gorgeous? But you don’t actually realize it?”
The words came from the doorway, and George frowned at his wife’s voice. Turning away from the mirror where he’d been checking his form as he did bicep curls, preferring real eye contact over a reflection, he asked, kind of dumbly, “Huh?”
She snorted, folding her arms across her belly in a way that plumped up her breasts. His mouth watered and his dick began to harden. It was inappropriate considering the thoughts that had been going through his head just seconds before, but then, Perry had a habit of making him hard in even the most difficult of circumstances.
“I know you’re handsome.”
Okay. He blinked, unsure where she was going with this. “What have I done wrong now?”
Her chuckle made him uneasy. “Nothing, dumbo. Why would you think you’d done something wrong?”
He’d stormed off earlier; leaving her and Xavier like they meant nothing to him, but the need to think, to clear his thoughts in the mindlessness that came when he worked out had been a siren’s call he’d been unable to avoid. Only when his blood was pumping, his pulse throbbing in his ears, did he seem to find any clarity.
It was one of the reasons why he’d been camped out in the gym since they’d made it back home, had endured his mother’s funeral, as well as his brother and wife’s coronation.
He stacked the dead weights down on the ground, carefully placing them as he bent over in a deep squat to protect his back from the strain. As he straightened up, he saw that she’d taken three steps into the gym, but more importantly, had closed the door.
His lips curved. Perry usually left doors open. It was a weird habit of hers he’d noticed when she’d camped out in his apartment back in Boston. He, accustomed to life at Masonbrook, always closed them, knowing if they were open, he wouldn’t get any privacy at all.
Perry, on the other hand, who’d had a normal life, just left them open without a care in the world.
He cocked a brow as he jerked his chin, motioning to the door. “You just cut off the air flow in here.”
“I did?” She tapped her chin. “My bad. Want me to open it?”
“Depends.”
“On what?”
“What you do to make it worth my while?”
Her eyes brightened at his teasing, and a wicked smile gleamed his way. “Oh,” she drawled. “I have t
o make it worth your while, do I?”
He nodded. “Without a doubt.” It was his turn to fold his arms across his chest, but unlike her, he took a seat on the bench beside him. It was flecked with sweat from his workout, but he didn’t mind—it still needed clearing down with antibacterial spray before he left here, and he’d only been halfway through his intended session. As he moved position, he also moved his arms, stacking his elbows on his knees as he watched her continue approaching him.
The way she moved had his cock hardening further. That sinuous sway of her hips was mesmerizing; hell, it practically had his gaze gluing to those round, ripe swells that were made for carrying babies and for his hands to grab a tight hold of.
A growl rumbled in his chest at both thoughts. God, the day she discovered she was carrying their child was a day he was going to fuck her raw until they were both sweating and had to collapse in a pile of sweaty bones.
Fuck, the things she made him think drove him insane.
And, the wonderful thing was, with her in pricktease mode, just like with the workout, his mind was otherwise engaged.
He clung to that with both hands, grabbing the lifesaver eagerly until he could grab a tight hold of her instead.
She finally moved nearer to him, her legs coming to a halt between his spread knees. She smelled clean and sweet, a bright floral perfume that added to her musky scent. She’d changed clothes from earlier; wore a cream sweater now, thin and silky with a boat neckline that exposed her throat and collarbones, and a pair of jeans that made him want to bend her over and slap her ass for daring to give anyone, save for him, Xavier, and Edward such a sight.
They clung to her like a second skin, and he knew she’d lost weight from that alone because the Perry he’d grown to love in Boston would never have dared to wear such an outfit. She’d been too rounded, too plump in her eyes. Definitely not his. He missed her generous curves and thought that with time, she’d grow more comfortable, more at ease with her position, and as a result, her appetite would return.
He really hoped so because he’d had so many wet dreams over the Perry of before, and he needed to reenact them. Badly.
His hands came up to cup her hips as he’d been wanting to do since her first words had shaken him from his mindlessness. He blew out a breath as he stroked down the sides of her pants. “These are nice,” he murmured.
Long Live Queen Perry: Contemporary Reverse Harem (Kingdom of Veronia Book 3) Page 7
