ETAN

Ayleth squeaked and, instinctively, Etan pushed himself up to hide her, and swung the quilt over her, hiding her from the morning light, though his eyes grieved the loss. The door cracked, but did not open. "Are you awake?" It was Falek, his voice tense.

"Yes, but do not enter," Etan snapped.

"We have made some breakfast. We will need to be moving within an hour. Dress and come outside when you can."

"Thank you," he said as Ayleth sighed. "We'll be out soon."

Falek hesitated, then. "Ayleth, are you well?"

"Yes!" she said into her hands, her voice too high. "Very well!"

"That's… good to hear. We'll be out here when you're both ready." Then the door closed and Etan shook his head.

Ayleth, however, still had her face buried in her hands.

"Love, what is it?" he asked, still leaning over her, trying to peel her hands away from her face, but she wouldn't stop hiding. He caught glimpses of her flaming cheeks.

"They know!" she whispered, horrified.

Etan chuckled. "Yes, and they will never mention it. They are both… experienced in these things, Ayleth. They would never embarrass you."

She groaned. "I cannot face them."

"Of course you can. You think they've never tumbled a woman, then had to bring her among other men? They will be protective of you, Ayleth, not… anything else. If anything, they will have me at sword point to make sure I took care of you," he grumbled.

"That's even worse!" she squeaked. "Everyone thinking it, but not talking about it. Gah!"

"Ayleth, love, look at me. Look at me," he said, gently peeling one of her hands away from her face. She returned it immediately, but spread her fingers, looking at him between them like a child.

He had to stifle a laugh. "You are my wife," he said, a thread of pride and awe creeping into the words. "It would be strange had we not been together. They have no judgment. You did nothing wrong."

She muttered something and sighed, dropping her hands finally. "It isn't that I think they will judge. It is only… they know."

"Yes, they do. And they are good men who treat women with respect. They will do the same for you."

"Yes," she hissed. "But they'll be thinking about it!"

Etan swallowed a sudden surge of rage at the idea of Borsche of Falek picturing his wife… he shook off the idea. That was not helpful. "I assure you, Ayleth, they will be doing everything in their power not to think about… you."

She eyed him skeptically, but at least she wasn't covering her face anymore.

She sighed again and began to stroke his chest. His cock twitched and he grunted. There was no time now, blast it.

"I don't want to leave this place. I don't want to leave this bed," she murmured, her fingers curled at his neck.

"Neither do I, love," he sighed, pulling her into a kiss. "Neither do I."

*****

It was only sheer determination that pulled him out of the warm embrace of his wife and into the cool morning air. Neither of them was willing to be parted, so they dressed slowly, standing close, helping each other with buttons, stroking, touching. Etan watched her pull on a proper riding dress, though no corset. As she asked for his assistance to tighten the laces at the back, he watched over her shoulder, silently farewelling her nipples one by one.

"You look like a puppy whose bone has been taken away," Ayleth giggled when she turned to face him again.

He snapped his gaze to meet hers, then gathered her in with a growl, burying his face in her neck, bringing one hand up to palm her breasts through her bodice.

He hadn't meant to start anything, but she hummed when he did it and arched into his touch, pulling him into a kiss.

Taken by surprise, Etan almost gave in to the temptation, his mind scanning how quickly he could lift her skirts, and how much it would delay their departure.

Then he groaned and caught her wrist as her hands began to move down his body. "No, Ayleth," he rasped. "We can't." No matter how much he wanted to.

She sighed, but didn't argue. Instead, patting his chest as if she, too, was saying farewell, and muttering something about abdicating the throne, that made him want to giggle like a child.

A minute later they had everything stuffed back into their bags, and they stood near the door facing each other.

Ayleth put a hand to his stomach and stepped right up, between his feet, craning her neck. He circled her waist with his arms and just took her in.

"Husband," she whispered.

"Wife," he replied, smiling.

"Forever," she said.

"No one can take that from us, Ayleth. No one. It is in here." He tapped her chest, between her breasts, forcing himself to keep his mind on the truth of it, not her body.

Her hand flat on his chest in the same spot, she nodded. "I love you, Etan."

"I love you too, Ayleth. Don't ever doubt it. No matter what."

She shook her head. "I never will."

He kissed her then. Not the heated embrace of their lovemaking, but the soft, sweet meeting of lips to remind her who she was to him, to comfort, and just for the joy of having her close.

Her breath tumbled out and she wrapped her arms around his neck. But she didn't deepen the kiss either—instead, savoring the touch and barely whispering her tongue along his.

Then they embraced and breathed together. He knew this was it, the moment the world intruded. The moment their lives began—whatever they would be from this point forward. The moment he would have to start sharing her again.

His heart resisted, but his mind knew… there was no real choice here. If they were to truly come together, to bring their people together, to change the world, they had no option except to push forward, though everything within him resisted the idea...

When holding her became too much temptation to never let go, he forced himself to straighten. She sighed, but let him, putting her arms around his waist. He combed her beautiful hair back from her temples and gazed at her, an ache deep in the pit of his stomach.

"Are you ready?" he asked quietly.

She shook her head. "But I know we must, so we will. That is the curse of being a ruler," she said.

Etan nodded. Curse indeed. "I love you, Ayleth."

"I love you more."

*****

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE! Thank you for being willing to come on this very up-and-down ride with me. And thank you for purchasing privilege, and your summoning pens. I am so humbled by your kind words and dedication to these characters.

In September I am going to try and make sure you have at least a couple updates a week. If I gain more time, I will release more chapters. But we'll have to see how it goes. Regardless, I wanted to throw an extra chapter to you today to say thank you for still being here! I hope you enjoy!