Chapter 145
RYKER’S POV
There was a nagging voice at the back of my head telling me, I should be more productive with my day but then again, that voice had always been there. Unlike most children, I never got the luxury of lazy days and doing nothing. I was always on the move, there was always something I didn’t do right or something I needed to learn with my father. It was almost like I was on a never ending ride most times and despite my father being gone for more years than I would like to consider, I still couldn’t shake off the effect of some of the things he had done to me.
I sat up in bed as I watched Camilla who walked around our bedroom with nothing but the sheets wrapped around her body. Her hair was in a mess but it fell loosely down her back just the way I liked it. I knew she wasn’t doing it deliberately to tease me but I wanted nothing more than to pull it off her and bend her over the desk she was standing in front of. As if she read my mind, she stilled and turned to me.
“Stop,” she warned me and I innocently raised a brow. “I know what you’re thinking, stop it. We just got cleaned, you can’t get us dirty again.”
“I can’t?” I asked in almost a challenge and she shot me a bland and unimpressed look. “I wasn’t even doing anything, Camilla. I was just staring at my mate. Is that such a problem?”
“It is when I’m trying to be productive and you want us to just sit inside all day doing nothing.”
“I don’t want to do nothing, I want to bend you over and f uck you until we are both too tired to move,” her breath caught in her throat at my words and her eyes darkened considerably. She opened her mouth presumably to respond but just as I had expected, no words could come out. “Is there something you would like to say?”
She shook her head. I rose from my spot on the bed and made my way over to her. I was wearing just breeches as I made my way over to her. Her breathing increased rapidly with each step I took and by the time I was standing between her and the desk, I was unsure if she was even breathing anymore. I reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind her cars and she gasped loudly.
The corner of my lips tipped up at her reaction. I liked when she was on edge like this, not knowing exactly what I had planned and what my next move was going to be. Every cell in her body was alive as she waited for my next move. I could see that her hand gripping the sheets was shaking and I gently covered it with mine.
“Ryker,” she warned but I simply ignored her. IF she wanted me to stop, she would have said it by now. The fact that she was only saying my name was more than enough of an indicator that she wanted me..
“I’m not doing anything,” I told her simply as I finally closed the gap between us. She moulded perfectly against me just like she always did and I murmured a silent thank you to the goddess for hand crafting the most perfect person I had ever laid eyes on and giving her to me. “I just want to kiss you, can I do that?”
She nodded. Normally, I would have asked her to use her words but I was too impatient. I leaned down and closed the gap between us. It was soft and gentle and the moment her hands left the sheets, I pulled back.
“If I keep doing that, we’re not leaving this room,” I whispered against her lips. “As much as I would like that, you need to eat and I don’t think our kids would appreciate being left alone.”
She blinked back the arousal as my words settled. Her cheeks were a light hue of pink and the truth was that I wanted to finish what we had started but her stomach grumbled loud and I knew I had made the right choice.
We both got changed and I made her leave her hair down as we left. The dining room was practically empty seeing as we were more than three hours late for breakfast. The maids were still around and had our meals in front of us within minutes.
“This feels different but in a good way,” Camilla spoke first. “When do we ever have a normal breakfast?”
“Almost never, you’re right, I love this.”
She reached out for me with her left hand and I wasted no time in intertwining our fingers. There were many reasons I loved being ambidextrous and this was one of them. I kept her hand in mine through breakfast and it gave me immense pride to know that she had no idea what I had planned for us after. Christine and the girls were already getting ready as we ate and I wondered how she would react to the news.
“What are you thinking?” she asked after a beat of silence and I turned to her. “I can see the wheels in your head turning. Do you ever shut them off? I haven’t seen you relax in forever.”
“I am relaxing right now.”
She rolled her eyes at me. “You know exactly what I mean, Ryker. We are meant to be having breakfast and your mind is somewhere else completely. Are you sure that everything is alright?”
“I’m positive, I was just thinking about some work I might have to check on,” I lied and she frowned.
“You have work right now?” she asked and I nodded. “I guess the life of a royal never ends. Can you at least promise to be done early? I was actually having fun.”
I kissed her softly. “I promise. Why don’t you go for training with Loris after this and once you are done, you can come find me?”
“Fine, you have a deal.”
She left soon after and I immediately went looking for Christine. I found her in Audrey’s room in front of a three suitcases. One was larger than the other and at first, I thought it was hers but on closer inspection, I realized that it was filled with baby things.
“Did you get her out?” she asked me and I nodded. “Okay, I’ll need an hour at least to finish packing for her.”
“I made things easier for you, I arranged a few of her things by the edge of the closet. You can just put them in the suitcase.”
“Alright then, thank you,” she made her way out the door before stopping. “She is going to love this, I promise you?”
She left after that leaving me with my daughters who were peering at me with wide eyes. Audrey announced that she was bored first and I knew I had less than ten minutes to do something interesting before I was on the edge of a possible tantrum. I offered to read a book with her but she didn’t want that. After a minute of deliberating, she announced that she wanted to take a walk but she didn’t want to walk, she wanted to be carried. That was how I ended up walking through the halls of the palace carrying two little girls.
I wasn’t complaining though, I never would. I loved my girls more than life itself and if it meant carrying them around the palace for hours just to amuse them, then I was more than willing to do so. We walked to the private living room and back. On our way back, I bumped into Juan. He looked like he was searching for someone and it didn’t take a mind reader to know that it was Christine.
“She’s doing something for me,” I told him and he nodded in understanding. “You have the next few days alone with her. Camilla and I are leaving for a short vacation.”
His brows furrowed in confusion. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Because if you’re going to win her over then now would be the time.”
I didn’t know what was going through his head as he looked from me to the girls in my arms and back to me.
“Thank you,” it came out sounding more like a question. “Why are you helping me though?”
“I’m not doing it for you, I’m doing it for her. The best that happens is she agrees to be with you and the worst is that she tosses you out on your as s. I don’t care which way it goes as long as she is happy.”
“Aunt Christine likes flowers,” Audrey announced suddenly, “and she likes chocolate but she doesn’t eat it much because she thinks it makes her fat. She also really likes water and snow.”
He gave her a soft smile. “Thank you for that. I’ll make sure to get her all the flowers that I can.”
Audrey straight up f ucking giggled and my eyes narrowed. Did she have a baby crush on Juan?
Before I could say anything however, I saw Camilla making her way back down the halls. As soon as she saw me, relief poured through her features and she made her way over.
Juan sighted her and smiled. “I think this is my cue to leave, thank you for your advice too Audrey.”
He walked away just as Camilla made her way over. Her eyes followed him with an almost questioning look and I shrugged. It wasn’t an important conversation and not one that needed to be repeated.
“I went to your office but you weren’t there,” she said to me as she kissed both girls on their foreheads. “Hey, Audrey, how are you?”
“I’m good, I was telling the nice man to get flowers for aunt Christine.”
“That’s awfully nice of you,” she turned to me. “What’s going on? I tried to get into the room but Christine told me there was a problem and they were trying to fix it. Is everything okay?”
“It is nothing to worry about,” I tried to assure her but I could tell that she wasn’t willing to let it go that easily.
“Tell me what’s wrong, is it bad?”
I knew there was no use keeping it a secret from her anymore especially since she was freaking out already. “We’re going to your father’s vacation house for the next three days.”
