by Lucy Lennox
Chris seemed to make a gagging sound in his throat before turning away and helping himself to the Wildes’ kitchen cabinet stock. There was no doubt in my mind he was looking for the hard liquor.
Jackie stood up to get a good look at me. Now that she knew Felix was really dating a royal, she seemed to be assessing my worth.
“Christ Almighty, you really are that new king, aren’t you?”
“Indeed, I am,” I said with a sniff. Arthur called it my annoying imperious tone. I didn’t pull it out often, but when I did, I was able to channel a thousand years of royal ego and prestige.
“What are you doing with my son?” The question was asked with suspicion like I would only be with him to take advantage of him in some way.
“Whatever he will let me, madam. As long as we’re both naked, I don’t much care what we do—oof!”
Felix elbowed me in the gut.
“Cut that out and behave like a fucking adult,” he chastised. “You can either pull the imperious king crap or act like a petty child, but trying to do both at once is pushing it.”
This time, it was Doc’s voice that spoke. “Oh, I don’t know. I rather like seeing him do both at the same time. Keeps us entertained.”
“Dad!” Jackie’s exclamation came out before she could control it, and for a microsecond, I saw the young girl she must have been years ago. The one who loved her fathers and would have been happy to see them. But just that quickly, she was gone. Jaqueline Wilde the actress was in her place, smoothing her hair before sliding her manicured hand through Chris’s arm. “I’d like you to meet Chris Corbin, my fiancé.”
Chris reached out a hand reluctantly, and I couldn’t help but lean forward to remind him of something. “Oh hells bells, there’s another one. Told you—contagious.”
Chris’s jaw tightened, but he ignored me and shook Doc’s hand before reaching past him to shake Grandpa Wilde’s as well.
But that was apparently as far as he was willing to take it.
“Jackie, dear, shall we get to the reason we’re here?”
Felix’s grandfathers busied themselves making coffee and pretending not to listen. Everyone in that room knew they were listening.
“Felix, Chris has an exciting offer for you and Lior. Tell them honey,” Jackie said excitedly.
“My network has agreed to let me interview you two during a prime-time spot,” Chris said, leaning forward like he was offering us the moon.
I blinked at him.
“And?” Felix asked.
“And what, Felix?” Jackie said testily. “He’s offering you two a chance to tell your story. He wants to interview you on television!”
Felix looked at me in surprise. “Is she serious?”
“I believe so,” I said with a smirk.
Chris interjected. “Listen, if it’s flexibility on the date you need… or if you have certain demands of the setup…”
“Are you serious?” Felix asked him with a louder exasperation than before. “What in the world makes you think we’d want to be interviewed by a conservative talk show host on a bigoted network?”
Jackie sucked in a breath. “Felix! You will speak to Chris with respect!”
“Come here, baby,” I said to Felix with a grin. “Come sit a little closer. I think we should consider it.”
Felix looked at me like I was crazy before quickly catching on.
“But, Lio,” he whined while moving over to perch on my lap. I couldn’t miss the look of disgust on Chris’s face. “I only want to do the interview if I can sit on your lap and snuggle you.”
After dropping a kiss on his nose, I turned to Chris. “Surely Chris wouldn’t mind a little PDA on camera. Would you?”
Chris cleared his throat but couldn’t bring himself to respond.
I ran my hand up the side of Felix’s neck and into his hair. “I love you.”
Felix shifted until he was straddling me on the barstool. His arms were wrapped loosely around my neck, and his eyes were twinkling.
“I love you too.”
We leaned toward each other and kissed slowly, taking our time to nip and tease before going in for the good stuff. By the time we pulled back, Doc and Grandpa were holding up scores scribbled on the back of envelopes.
“Perfect ten!” Doc cried. “Encore!”
Grandpa just giggled and waved the envelope around gaily.
Chris Corbin’s face was purple, Jackie’s was resigned, and Felix’s was enraptured.
I turned to the talk show host. “If you think there isn’t a network on this earth who wouldn’t offer us the world for an exclusive sit-down interview with our choice of reporters,” I explained calmly, “then you’re mistaken.”
Jackie sighed and looked at her fiancé. “I told you Felix doesn’t like reporters.”
Felix climbed down off my lap and kissed his mother’s cheek.
“That’s not it. I’m actually looking forward to Lio’s and my first interview on television. I want the world to know how lucky I am that he’s mine. But it’s not going to be done with someone who can’t stand the sight of us together. And the fact that you’re tying yourself with someone like that for the rest of your life speaks volumes to how you feel about me. We’re done here, Jackie. I won’t let you claim me as your son anymore.”
He gestured to Grandpa and Doc. “I’m their son, and have been for twenty years. Thank you for giving birth to me, Jackie. More than that, thank you for gifting me with the two best dads I could have ever asked for. But please understand that I’m done being Jacqueline Wilde’s son. I thought maybe when you showed up here, you wanted to see me. But you just wanted to use me, yet again. It’s about what’s best for Jacqueline Wilde. Well, from now on, I’m all about what’s best for me. And you’re definitely not part of that.”
Felix turned to Chris Corbin. “And you’re so far from what’s best for me, I can’t even believe you’re standing here. Do you have any idea how many gay people are at this ranch right now? There’s the four of us and a good six or seven of my cousins still asleep in the bunkhouse out back. All gay. So unless you want to be associated with the queerest family in Texas, you should probably take this opportunity to skedaddle.”
Jackie mumbled something about coming back another time when peoples’ “dander” wasn’t up. After she pulled her bigoted partner out of the house, I turned to Felix and lifted a brow.
“Skedaddle?”
The corner of Felix’s mouth twitched up. “I’m from Texas, sugar lips. Get used to it.”
“You keep talking like that, and you’re fixing to rile me up right quick,” I said with an exaggerated drawl.
Felix wrapped his arms around me and kissed me full on the mouth.
“Next time try not pronouncing the g sound at the end of those words, hotshot,” he teased against my mouth. “Or I’ll have to find one of Grandpa’s old lassos and teach you a lesson.”
Epilogue
Felix - the following December
“I’m sitting here with King Lior and his partner, American stained glass artisan Felix Wilde,” Valerie said into the camera.
We were sitting in the Great Room at Gadleigh in front of a blazing fire in the enormous stone fireplace. It was the closest we could come to recreating the feel of the treasury room without letting anyone into our most private sanctuary. Lio had been adamant that I feel comfortable for our first in-depth interview on camera.
“I’m going to stop you right there, Valerie,” Lio interjected with a sheepish grin. “I believe instead of partner, you’ll want to refer to him as king consort from now on.”
Valerie froze for a moment before catching on.
“Sir, do you have some news for us?” she asked with an excited gleam in her eye. A royal scoop was quite a coup.
Lio looked at me. “Felix?”
“I thought we agreed on the term ‘queen,’” I teased. Lio’s face flushed with a laugh before he turned back to Valerie.
“He’s joking. I marr
ied a jokester,” Lio said.
“You’re married!” Valerie exclaimed. “Tell us more. How? When? You married in secret?”
“In private,” he corrected gently. “We were married here in the Gadleigh chapel last Saturday, just before Christmas. It was the anniversary and location of our first meeting, so you can imagine it holds special memories for the two of us. I wanted our wedding to represent a promise I made to Felix from early on in our relationship.” He gazed back at me with the love in his heart as clear as day all over his face.
Valerie prompted him. “And what was that?”
“He comes first. Felix is my heart. Being the king of Liorland is amazing and wonderful and important. It’s a big part of who I am and what I do, but my relationship with Felix is too. It’s all those things. And just because I am a king does not mean I owe the people of Liorland access to my most private moments. Marrying Felix was beautiful and special. I want the people to celebrate with us, which is why we will hold a formal gala when we return home. But the ceremony itself…” He looked over at me. “That was for us.”
Valerie smiled sincerely and turned to me. “He’s awfully romantic, isn’t he?”
“He’s just trying to embarrass me by making me cry like a baby in front of the whole world,” I said.
“What do you have to say about marrying into royalty, King Consort Felix?”
I wrinkled my nose. “I’m not sure about that new title. Just Felix is fine for now. As for marrying into royalty… I’m not sure I think of it that way. I mean, of course there are many rules and traditions to learn. I’ve been up to my eyeballs this year in Grimaldi history, but really I think of it as marrying the love of my life. Who, oh by the way, happens to be a king.”
“That’s sweet. What’s your favorite thing about King Lior?”
I turned and studied him for a moment. He took the opportunity to wink at me, which did stupid things to my stomach even after a year of being with him.
“His big, generous heart. His sense of humor. His love of family. The way he takes care of me. When he lets me win at chess. The way he looks when he—”
Lio cut in. “One, she said. One!”
We’d been holding hands during the entire interview, and I lifted them up to drop a kiss on the back of his with a grin.
“And what about you, Sir?” she asked Lio. “What do you love about your new husband?”
“Husband,” he said slowly and deliberately. “I like the way that sounds. What do I like about my new husband… Well, when he gets particularly angry, this adorable Texas twang comes out.”
“Oh my gosh, stop,” I said with a laugh. “That’s unfair.”
“And he’s carrying on a family tradition by making the most beautiful stained glass. Have you seen his work?”
I felt my face ignite as Valerie nodded and gushed over a small show I’d had recently with some other artisans in Monte Carlo.
“And he laughs at all my jokes, which is unusual and a little crazy. But I guess I’d have to say what I love about him the most is his bravery.”
Valerie’s head tilted in question. “Tell us what you mean by bravery.”
“He’s been hounded by the paparazzi off and on his whole life, and yet he’s still willing to be with someone whose very identity requires constant press attention. Instead of running away or chickening out when I asked him to drop everything and come be with me, he walked into this life with the utmost bravery. I’m in awe of his strength and grace. Whenever I wobble in my own convictions, I just have to look at my best friend to see the best example of constancy, love, and devotion.”
Dammit. Now he really was going to make me cry.
“That’s right,” Valerie continued. “Your mother is Jacqueline Wilde, the actress.”
I cut her off. “No. I was raised by my grandfathers in Texas. I don’t have a relationship with Jacqueline Wilde.”
She blinked at me and got the message.
“All right. Moving on, then… There’s been plenty of speculation about the two of you making it official. Some of the concerns with a same-sex royal couple are, of course, related to the succession of the monarchy. Do you have an idea whether or not you’d like to start a family? Would you consider non-blood-related children to be eligible for the throne?”
Lio and I had prepared for many of the questions we expected her to ask once we made our announcement. He squeezed my hand before answering.
“Felix and I would love to consider having children one day, but we are both still young. In the meantime, my sister and her husband announced a couple of months ago they’re expecting twins. I would love to see one of Henriette’s children in line for the throne, especially if I’m around to show them all the tricks of the trade before then. In the meantime, according to Hen, the babies are actively competing to see who gets to come into the world first.”
Valerie chuckled before turning to face the camera. “We’re going to take a short break, but we’ll be back with more questions for King Lior and King Consort Felix here at Gadleigh Castle. In the meantime, I hope to convince them to share a snapshot from their wedding day. Stay tuned.”
When the cameras were off, Valerie and the crew scrambled to congratulate us on our big news before setting up for the next segment.
Lio turned and nuzzled into my neck before whispering in my ear. “Tell me something, anything, to get the image of you across that end table last night out of my mind. All I could see when I looked past Valerie during that segment was your gorgeous—”
“Zzzt!” I blurted before he could continue that description. “You’re wearing a microphone, dumbass.”
My face felt like it was on fire. The night before, he’d rimmed the hell out of me while I lay bent over that table begging for it. He’d said all kinds of dirty things about my ass when he was licking and sucking it, and now I wasn’t going to be able to get the memory out of my head either. Bastard.
His deep, warm laughter vibrated through his chest where it leaned against my side. “I took the microphone off, baby. Even unplugged yours from the battery pack too. I’ve heard too many horror stories to get fooled by a hot mic.”
At least my heart rate could come down from the stratosphere.
“Regardless, please save it for later. Now I’m not going to be able to think of anything else for the rest of the day,” I grumbled.
“Good,” he said with evil eyes. “Then you’ll be primed and ready for what I have planned later, dear husband.”
I couldn’t help but shudder from the top of my head down to the tips of my toes.
I wanted it to be later right now.
Epilogue Continued
Lio
Later that night, after stuffing his bright pink hat on his head, I blindfolded Felix and led him out to the dovecote. Arthur had helped me get everything ready for the surprise even though he’d griped the entire time about always being the bridesmaid and never the bride.
Thankfully, this time I’d thought to have our royal guard plan ahead and set up a small security van nearby so they could keep an eye on the dovecote from the comfort of a heated vehicle. The other benefit to the plan was soundproofing. They wouldn’t be able to hear us from inside the van. Not that we had much privacy left from our personal guards… but still.
Once we approached the dovecote and stepped over the threshold, I pulled off his blindfold.
“Oh my god,” he breathed. “Oh my god.”
The entire circular space was filled with candles. A fire blazed in the large stone fireplace at one end, and a four-poster bed stood right in front of it, made with the finest royal linens from the castle. To one side was a picnic table covered in white cloth and laid out with all sorts of Felix’s favorite treats.
He turned to me and hopped into my arms, squeezing me around the neck with his arms and around the waist with his legs.
“How did you do this? Please tell me you didn’t send Bert off to set it up with a team of under gardeners.”
> “I beg your pardon,” I said with a sniff. “I’ll have you know I carried the pillows.”
Felix laughed, the best sound in the entire world. As long as Felix Wilde—Felix Grimaldi—was laughing, all was right in my world.
“Thank you for doing this, Lio,” he said with a shy smile. “You didn’t have to. I would have been just as happy in our room in the house.”
Ever since he’d moved in with me, he hadn’t been able to admit to living in a palace or a castle. It was cute as hell. Every time he tried to refer to our home in Monaco, he called it the house. And when he referred to Gadleigh, he called it the Gadleigh… house.
“Have our royal residences become so commonplace to you now that you just see them as any old house now?”
Felix’s eyes sparked at me as he immediately began undressing where he stood. “This is my real-life fairy tale, and I’m afraid it will all end at midnight. So quit teasing me and get naked. Husband.”
The word started my engine, and I nudged him toward the large chair I’d had placed by the fire. His pants were still on, but he was naked from the waist up.
“As you wish, husband. But just so you know, it’s going to last way past midnight.”
“Prove it, big talker,” Felix teased. His bare skin was glowing golden in the candle and firelight. I couldn’t resist taking in my fill of the view for a beat.
“I got you something,” I murmured, reaching around for the wooden box I’d stashed there earlier.
Felix’s eyes lit up. “What is it?”
He pulled the lid open to find the colorful hourglass nestled inside. His eyes flashed up to mine. “It’s gorgeous!”
I pointed out the stained glass ornamentation along the delicate wooden frame of the hourglass.
“Calum made it to my specifications,” I explained. “It is actually calibrated to take an hour to empty and the most important part is what’s inside. Gadleigh sand.”
Felix’s eyes shimmered in the firelight. “Oh my god, Lio. You have no idea how much this means to me. That’s magical sand for glassmakers.”
