Page 48 of Vows to a King
Cupping her hips, Adonis stared up at her. “In pain. He begged to be free of the crown, Jem. Insisted that I was the better option for Thalassos.”
“Then Adamos is a better man than I gave him credit for,” she said with a bold imperiousness she had learned from him.
Adonis grinned, his palm stroking her from her neck to her thighs in mesmerizing touches. “Such a harsh queen you are,agapi mou! I’m afraid to see how I will fare with you.”
Leaning down, she rubbed her breasts against his chest, and kissed his lower lip. “I’m sure you will come up to scratch, Your Majesty, since you have the rest of our lives to prove yourself to me.”
“I will never again give you reason to doubt my love for you,yineka mou. That is a vow this king makes to his queen.”
There was no more to be said after that. Nor did she have enough sense left to. For her king ordered her to impale herself on his thick shaft and Jemima was nothing if not an obedient queen.
Raising the billowing skirts of her dress, she did as he ordered her to. Fingers laced, eyes held, they moved together to a desperate, wanton rhythm, the shimmering future laid out ahead of them imbuing the moment with a rich depth. Head thrown back, Jemima gave herself over to the climb, knowing that she would never be alone ever again.
“Come for me, Queen,” Adonis murmured huskily, his hands stroking every inch of her, his hips pumping away at her as if their connection was the very air he needed.
And soon, he took her to the heights of passion and tumbled her from it. Making sure he caught her in his arms. Over and over again.
EPILOGUE
ILEANA ANDAJAXVASILIKOSwere born healthy and hale and screaming their hearts out a few months later, but far earlier than either the Queen or King of Thalassos had accounted for.
Breaking their papa’s tender heart, as only their mother knew, because His Majesty Adonis Vasilikos was out of Thalassos at the time, on a scheduled trip to their neighbor Ephyra. To check up on his brother, Adamos, whose progressive blindness had completely spread over one eye.
I don’t want to leave your side for a few months after that, Adonis had said, worry etching deep lines into his face.If I check on him now, then I won’t have to feel guilty that I’m abandoning him later.
So he’d gone with Jemima’s blessing and urging, despite his brother’s protests that he“didn’t need to be coddled like a child”by either him or“the blasted queen.”
But of course, fate had other plans, as it always seemed to have where she and her husband were concerned. And she didn’t much protest it, given labor pains had consumed her. Though Adonis couldn’t muster up the same level of equanimity.
He railed and cursed at the fact that he would miss the birth of his children. Only his mother’s soft entreaty that he might upset his queen further with his own outburst had eventually calmed him.
Jemima was eternally thankful for Queen Isadora’s constant attendance, and for the fast labor and easy births at the private clinic, even as a part of her—the one that wasn’t out of its mind with pain and agony, wished it had taken longer so that Adonis could return.
Of course, the fact that her children—as temperamental as their father, had chosen a stormy night to make their sudden appearance into the world meant Adonis’s return had been delayed further.
In the end, it was two whole days before he appeared at the entrance of the large, bright room, looking as ravaged as she’d felt only two days earlier. Although it seemed he was less recovered from the ordeal than she.
Jemima scooted up on the lavish bed, hiding the grimace of pain so that she could better look at him.
Not that her wonderful husband missed it. “Are you in pain?” he whispered, his words coming as if he was speaking them through a heavy, clogged throat.
“A bit,” she said, drinking him in.
Dark shadows cradled his brilliant blue eyes, making them pop even more. His hair looked like he had taken out all his frustration and urgency at it, the thick, short waves standing up every which way.
Then there was the thick blond stubble on his jaw. He looked thoroughly disreputable and utterly gorgeous.
“Are you going to stand there forever, Your Majesty?” Jemima teased, her own stomach twisting into fresh knots. She had known, all through the pregnancy, that the birth of their children was going to affect him more emotionally than her. Now, she could see that her fears had been right.
Anguish and affection and so much more swirled in the blue depths, disbelief stretched those sculpted lips, and his nostrils flared.
“I thought you would be dying to meet them, Adonis,” she said, emotion coating her own words. She’d been so worried about his feelings and how he would process them that she hadn’t let herself acknowledge her own. “And me…” she said, speaking her heart now. A wet gurgle, not unlike her infant daughter’s, escaped her throat. “I missed you.”
“I’m angry still,agapi, that I missed it. I feel cheated.” He rubbed a hand over his face, seemed to realize he had to shave, and grimaced. “I’m not sure I should touch them with that emotion pulsing through me. I want them to know me, need me, love me so much…”
Jemima’s heart gave such a hard spasm that she had to open her mouth to draw in a breath. Tenderness and love engulfed her throat, making it several minutes before she could speak again. “Darling, one look at your face, one whisper of your heart, one touch of your rough hands, and they will know that. One glimpse into those blue eyes and they will never doubt your love, Adonis, just as I never doubt it. Ever.”
“You think?” he said, and Jemima nodded.
