Work Text:
“Hello? Drake?” Ice settled in his veins as the voice echoed through the room.
“Are you expecting company?” Riley whispered, her eyes wide, her fingers stilled from drawing patterns on his shoulders.
“No…” He hissed back, reluctantly slipping out from underneath her. He stood, lunging for a towel on the wall rack, wrapping it hastily around his waist. He went for the ensuite door, but hesitated, glancing back at Riley as she sat, hunched up, hugging her knees under the steady stream of the shower. “Don’t…” he pointed at her, wondering whether if he walked out the room, he’d find this was all just his mind playing tricks on him. “…go anywhere.” Riley smiled and nodded back at him, pushing her hair out of her face.
He grasped the outer door handle of the bathroom and pulled it to behind him, leaving it slightly ajar, as he entered his room. He was shocked to find Kiara stood almost in the centre, staring at his rumpled bedsheets.
“Kiara!”
She spun to face him, her mouth falling open in an ‘o’ of surprise, her hand flying to her cheek as if to cover her eyes, then thinking better of it. “Mon dieu!” Drake clutched at his towel, suddenly feeling much more exposed than he had around Riley and Hana at the Spa after the barnraising. Surely this wasn’t that much different though? “Drake, I…” Kiara started, but her words seemed to fail her. He watched her, cocking an eyebrow up, his face set in confusion. He shook his head slightly and leant forwards, as if she had whispered something he couldn’t hear. “I didn’t realise you would be so…sous habillé…” a blush crept up her neck as her eyes dropped downwards, making Drake squirm. “…indisposed. I hope I haven’t interrupted…”
“No! Not at all, I er… I’ve only just got up.”
“Ah, oui. Taking advantage of the end of the social season?”
Drake nodded thankfully, hand still tightly gripping his towel. Kiara’s gaze wondered once more to his bed, then back to him, her eyes drooping in what he presumed to be an attempt at seduction. “Er, pardon me, Lady Kiara…” he gulped as he motioned towards her. “…to what do I owe this… surprise?” Her eyes lit up suddenly.
“It is a surprise, non? A pleasant one, I hope.” She twisted a strand of her hair around a finger, letting her other hand fall to her waist, playing with the hem of her dress shirt. She looked meek and scared, but Drake dared not underestimate her, she was a noble lady after all. The presumed art of getting what she wanted was not wasted on Drake.
“It’s certainly… a surprise…” With his free hand, he scratched at his forehead, then ran it through his sopping wet hair. He tried leaving it hanging on the back of his neck, but found he felt more comfortable trying to cross it over his chest, even without his other arm to support it. The hand embedded into the towel had started to go numb from how tightly he was holding on.
“As I say, the social season is over, and I will be returning back home soon.” She tilted her head to one side and hung it slowly, carrying an air of disappointment.
“I’m sure the Royal Court will not be the same without your presence.” Drake’s mind was racing as he tried to come up with something that sounded complimentary, but not misleading.
“Unless you can think of a reason I should stay?” At that point, Drake heard wet footsteps thundering behind him. He quickly scooted backwards, pulling at the door with his spare hand and slamming it shut. As he began to hear Riley protest, he tried covering it with a loud flurry of coughs. Kiara stepped forwards, concerned, but he quickly, keeping one hand on the bathroom doorknob as he could feel Riley trying to twist it from the other side, the other elbow digging into the towel in case it dropped, used his hand to thump against his chest and motion for Kiara to stay back at the same time.
“Wrong-“ cough “-pipe-“ cough “-sorry!” As soon as he heard Riley had gone quiet he finished his coughing fit and let go of the doorknob, his face burning indignantly. “Do you ever have that? When you breathe and the… water… from your mouth, it just goes down the wrong hole? No? Just me-” Drake stuttered as Kiara took one more step closer, a hand reaching out as if to check if he was alright. “I’m fine! Really!” He carried on, his voice a little higher than he had expected it to come out. He cleared his throat and side stepped away from Kiara as she approached. “Really, fine.”
His shoulder banged into a tall oak stand, upon which stood a precious marble-bust of one of the Former Kings. It began to teeter dangerously as Drake whirled around on the spot, lifting both hands up to try to steady it, letting go of the towel. To his horror, it started to slip down his waist.
One hand flew up to try to catch the marble bust, the other lunging downwards to try and stop the towel from revealing himself completely to Kiara, but in his haste, he pushed the marble bust forwards, causing it to crash right to the floor by his feet as his other hand completely missed the towel; his knees seemed to catch it just fine though. He turned to face the wall to hide his beetroot red face and to keep his modesty in one piece.
“Zut alors!” Kiara cried, frozen in place.
Half of Drake couldn’t help but wonder just how he looked right now as he pondered on whether to clench, or unclench his derrière to best hide his manhood, whilst the other half wished the floor would open up and swallow him whole.
When he finally opened his eyes, his glanced over his shoulder to see that Kiara hadn’t moved, nor had she taken her eyes off him. He cleared his throat once more, and called out to her. “If you would be kind enough to…erm…”
“You’d like a hand?”
“No! God, no!” He shouted, his head hanging in shame. “Sorry, if you could just…” He took a deep breath and held it. “Give me a minute, please?” He gritted his teeth, unable to believe he had to ask for his privacy.
“Perhaps I will see you again? Before I absolutely must leave for home…” her voice trailed off sadly as Drake waited impatiently for her to leave, frozen with, he had decided, his butt cheeks clenched tightly together, facing the wall of shame, with the chipped marble bust of a Former King lying at his feet, dead eyes staring up at his limp manhood.
“Laugh it up, old man…” he grumbled.
“Pardonnez moi?”
“Yes, perhaps we may meet before you leave for home!” He called out over his shoulder, trying to muster up a convincing enough smile for her to leave without wanting to come back again, as he really didn’t want to see her at all after this excruciatingly painful exchange.
“Mais oui, of course,” she said happily, floating out of the room. Drake scowled as he turned to find she had left the door wide open. He crouched down to grab the towel and strode across the room, slamming it shut just as Riley ventured out of the bathroom. She had dressed into her underwear and wrapped a towel tightly around her chest and was now watching him with a heavy frown set on her face as she leant against the doorway.
“What was that about?” She asked, one eyebrow venturing upwards on her creased forehead.
“That was Kiara, doing goodness knows what!” Drake threw up his arms in exasperation, forgetting he had yet to secure his towel once more. He got the feeling from the way Riley was staring at him that it may not be quite appropriate for him to be fully undressed at this time. Her eyes were definitely more salty than sultry.
“I know exactly what she was doing…”
“Please feel free to enlighten me as I seem to be the only person kept in the dark about her motives!” Drake’s frustration was mounting. Not only did he consistently seem to feel underdressed, something that had never before bothered him, he also had gone from Riley staring at him as though she couldn’t bear to be apart from him, to her glaring at him as though she couldn’t wait to tear him apart, limb from limb.
“She wanted you to ask her to stay in Cordonia.”
Drake stared at Riley in disbelief. “Why would she want me to do that?”
“Because she likes you.”
Drake’s brain short-circuited as Riley’s words set in. “Wha… Lady Kiara likes me?” He turned as if to try and glance out the door, forgetting it was closed. “No noble lady has ever been interested in me…” He looked back at Riley, whose face had turned a deep red colour. “I mean, of course, you are, but you’re not exactly a noble lady, you’re just a-”
“I’d be really careful with what you’re about to call me, Walker.” Riley hissed.
“No! I didn’t mean it like- I don’t understand… “ he took a step towards Riley, who cautiously stepped over the fallen marble bust to pick up her dress. “I haven’t done anything wrong!” he cried out, watching helplessly as Riley shielded herself from view as she slipped back into her dress.
“Why didn’t you let me out of the bathroom? Are you ashamed of me?” she said accusatorily.
“No! Most definitely not!” He strode forwards to try and take Riley into his arms, but she shrugged away.
“I don’t believe you,” she threw his own words back at him, making him freeze.
“Riley-” he whispered as she slipped past him and headed for the door. The only other sound that echoed through the room was the sound of Riley slamming the door shut, followed by Drake collapsing from exhaustion onto his bed, confused beyond all reasoning.
What the hell just happened?
_______________________________________________________
Fuming, Riley forced her way past servants and maids until she found herself wandering the Palace Gardens, staring back up at the beautiful mansion wistfully. Without realising, she had walked straight towards the Maze Garden that her and Liam had snuck out to after the Masquerade Ball and played tag in. She walked slowly through the maze, admiring the striking flowers and the fairy lights, despite the warm sun flushing them out. As she neared the centre of it, she couldn’t help but be reminded of her first kiss with Liam and the feelings that it coaxed out of her. She placed a hand over her stomach to settle it as she pondered upon whether she had made the right choice. She had once told Maxwell that she had fallen for somebody else at court, and he had told her that she wouldn’t be able to trust those feelings and that she was here for King Liam, after all. Perhaps she had done herself, King Liam, House Beaumont and Cordonia a huge disservice by persuading Liam not to pick her, so that she could be with Drake. Perhaps Drake had only been after one thing, and now that he had got it from the likes of a lowly waitress like herself, he would set his sights higher, say perhaps, for a noble lady who was interested in becoming a foreign diplomat.
Riley was thankful to be pulled out of her thoughts by Hana, who appeared suddenly by her side.
“Riley! I was starting to think I wouldn’t be seeing you at all today!” Riley plastered a large smile on her face and scooped Hana up into a warm hug.
“Oh, Hana! Thank you so much for convincing me to come back! I’m not sure it’s the best idea, but I’m so glad to see you again!” Hana pulled away, grinning at her.
“Did Drake find you? He was looking for you earlier, but Liam and I-” Hana let her voice trail away, still unsure about mentioning Liam around Riley.
Riley resolutely widened her smile and nodded. “Yes, he found me.” Hana nodded back, her pearly white teeth showing just how happy she really was. “And you! Future Queen of Cordonia!” she changed the subject instantly, ignoring a small pang of jealousy that fired up inside her.
“I can hardly believe it myself! Of course, my parents are thrilled.” Hana sighed, her smile dropping suddenly as she dragged her teeth over her lips. Riley caught Hana’s chin with a soft grip and tutted at her.
“Don’t do that, you’ll spoil your lip gloss.” Hana released her lip from her teeth and dropped onto the large swing. Riley sat down next to her, squashing up against the taut rope. “It’s not all about what your parents want, Hana, you know that, right?”
“Yes, I know. It’s not that, it’s just-” Hana looked at Riley, then down at her lap where she twisted her hands in and out of each other. “It should have been you, Riley, and I don’t understand why he picked me. If he didn’t want you, which I know he did – does, I think – then it should have been Olivia, or even Madeliene. I’m not fit to be Queen! I don’t know what I’m doing, and I don’t know who I’m doing it for, if not for my parents, and I don’t want to be living their dreams for them, I want to be living my dreams!”
Riley took Hana’s hands in her own and smiled sweetly back at her. “Whoa, there, calm down. Take a deep breath.” Hana did as Riley asked and took a few deep breaths before Riley continued. “Things between Liam and I were complicated. Yes we had-“ she paused, thinking. “We have a connection, but it’s not like that. We just understand each other, and I think that during the social season he needed me to help him see that he could pick somebody for love, and not just for duty. And I think that somewhere along the way, he realised who it was that he really loved…” Riley let Hana make the connection herself.
“Do you really think so?”
“He wouldn’t have picked you otherwise,” she said, smiling softly at her. “And you’ll be a fantastic queen. You may not know the ropes that well right now, but you have a killer instinct and a loving heart. You’ll be just fine, and Liam will be there to guide you.”
“Thank you, Riley!” Hana swept her up in a tight hug, squeezing around her shoulders, until Riley coaxed her out of it. “What would I do without you?”
“Oh, fall into a pit of burning despair?” she joked.
“I asked you back to see if you wanted to become part of my Royal Court. I need people that I can trust-”
“Of course I do! Hana, I’d love to be one of your Ladies-in-Waiting! It would mean the world to me to be able to support you through this!” Hana beamed back at her, giving Riley’s hand a squeeze.
“Thank you! I can’t wait to start planning the Royal Engagement Tour, you’re going to have to help me plan the best tea parties and fondue experiences!”
“If you want me to help you plan it, then we’ll be hitting the clubs, not just the tea rooms!” Hana laughed loudly, wiping at her eyes.
“Stop! You’ll make me smudge my make-up!” Riley giggled next to her as Hana leant against the rope of the swing, surveying Riley with a curious twinkle in her eyes. “Riley, can I ask you one more question?”
Riley nodded, forcing a smile to stay on her lips. “Of course, anything for the future Queen of Cordonia.”
“Why is your hair wet?”
______________________________________________________
“Isn’t it a little early for whiskey?” A cheery voice called into the empty drawing room.
“It’s never too early,” Drake grimaced, his hangover from the night before having hit him in full. He had a short reprieve inbetween his drunkenness and his hangover that he had spent with Riley, but after the turmoil of this afternoon and the utter confusion that followed, his only solution had been the hair of the dog.
“Whiskey is a little hard-hitting. Why not try a light, fresh glass of white wine instead? Or Champagne? The bubbles tingle as they go down, whizz-popping all the way! Much more acceptable before dinner!”
“Maxwell-” Drake growled back. “-what are you doing here? I thought you left late last night.” He swirled the whiskey around the tumbler before drinking a finger of it. Maxwell stepped forwards, looking in the mini bar for a small bottle of something sweet.
“Yes, but we got called back pretty quickly by Liam and Hana.”
“That’s King Liam to you.”
“King, Schming,” Maxwell waved his hand lazily over as he picked up a Champagne flute and a small bottle of cherry flavoured liquer, pouring a dash for himself, then topping it up from the Champagne bottle by the side. He finished it off with a raspberry from an ice cold bowl and took it to sit closer to Drake. “He’s still Liam. He’s asked me to be part of his Royal Court, so I guess I’m staying here longer than I thought! I think Bertrand was relieved not to have to worry about me going home just yet so that he can enjoy a few weeks by himself.”
Drake massaged around his eyes as he recalled his earlier conversation with Liam, where he had been trying to ask Drake to join his Royal Court. A conversation that Drake had thrown to one side to try and displace his own feelings of inadequacy onto Liam.
“I bet Betrand is loving life without you right now.”
“And now it’s your turn to love life with me!”
“Maxwell! Could you just…not?” Drake slammed his open palm on the table, making Maxwell jump.
“Come on Grumpy Guts, you can talk to me!” Maxwell’s infectious smile did nothing to win Drake over as he sipped on his purple Champagne, licking around the edge of the glass in an attempt to suck up the raspberry.
“I’d rather not.”
“Suit yourself.” Somewhere deep in the Palace, a bell rang out to signal dinner. Maxwell stood, stretching, and finishing off his drink quickly before placing it back onto the butlers tray beside the mini bar. “Are you coming?” Drake paused, looking up at Maxwell while considering his options. He was sure that Riley would be at dinner, so it would certainly give him a chance to try and understand what exactly had gone on earlier, but if she didn’t want to talk to him, he wasn’t sure he could handle the rejection. He sighed, standing up and draining his glass, crunching the ice with his back teeth.
“Yep.” Maxwell bounced up to Drake, raising his arm up to clap his shoulder, but Drake sidestepped him, slipping just out of his reach.
“Ha! Nice one!”
They began to walk towards the dining room, Maxwell chattering away about nothing in particular while Drake ran through his head what he was going to say to Riley.
“About earlier-“ “Kiara misunderstood-“ “You misunderstood-“ “What I meant to say was-“ “What I should have said was-“ … what was he meant to have said? He had been stood, barely dressed with a broken ornament at his feet while one Noble Lady ogled him close by, and then had been faced with a livid Riley because – why had she been angry? He hadn’t said anything to Kiara that might have given her the wrong idea, and he had been perfectly polite and gentlemanly towards her, despite the fact he would have loved to have just kicked her straight out of his room and avoided any embarrassment whatsoever. What he would have loved to have said to Kiara was actually something along the lines of “What the hell are you doing in my room?” and “Get out of my room!” mixed together. But she was the daughter of an important foreign diplomat and he had known it wouldn’t do any good to insult her like that within the Palace walls, or at all, even.
What was it that Riley had said before she left? In all the confusion, he remembered her saying something about being ashamed, but he couldn’t quite recall the meaning behind it.
He set his face into a hard grim as he entered the room to find only two spaces left among the table between all the noble gentlemen and ladies; one beside Riley, and of course, one beside Kiara. As he tried to manoeuvre himself towards Riley on the opposite side of the table, Maxwell jumped forwards, enveloping her in a large hug before plonking himself right beside her. Drake frowned as he caught Riley’s eye just before she dragged her gaze away from him, then let his eyes settle upon the seat next to Kiara, which she patted happily, motioning for him to sit down. He looked behind him, momentarily considering sneaking out of the Palace to go to his favourite small restaurant to eat Ratatouille rather than the stuffy mouthfuls he was about to be given. But here, he knew where Riley was, he could see her, try to talk to her, and even follow her if she tried to leave this time, seeing as he was fully clothes.
Thanking Kiara as he sat down, he couldn’t help notice Riley’s frown. Penelope was sat opposite him, to the left of Riley. He glanced down the table to see more of the Royal Court assembled together, chatting amongst themselves, but found Liam, Hana, Former King Constantine and the Queen Mother Regina nowhere to be seen.
“Bonjour, Drake,” Kiara said, nudging him softly with her elbow. “So we meet again…”
“So it would seem,” Drake replied, glancing across at Riley who had turned to talk to Maxwell on her other side. He sighed, resigning himself to a conversation with Kiara.
“Were you able to disentangle yourself from your earlier predicament?”
“I don’t think disentangling myself was the problem,” he huffed, not thinking before he spoke. Kiara chuckled, covering her mouth with her hand.
“Non, I suppose not.” She winked back at him, causing a full body shudder to claim him.
“Lady Penelope,” Drake ducked his head in a greeting as she turned give him her full attention. “When will you be returning back home?” She frowned slightly, and Drake felt seeds of doubt settle in the pit of his stomach. As the wait staff began to place the food upon the table, his stomach began to flip in on itself and he considered just leaving as his appetite had disappeared completely. He glanced up at Riley quickly, to catch her gaze upon him before she ripped it back to Maxwell.
“I would love to be able to go home to see my precious poodles, but I will be staying in Cordonia for the foreseeable future as Lady Hana has requested I join her Royal Court.”
“So that’s all of you then? What about Lady Madeleine and Lady Olivia?”
“Oh yes, but they’ve both declined to stay.” Kiara continued for Penelope. Drake glanced down the table where Lady Olivia sat, scowling into her soup bowl. “Lady Madeleine left early this morning, and Lady Olivia is staying for a few more days before she returns to Lythikos,” Kiara’s voice dropped so that Drake had to lean closer to hear her. “I think she’s hoping that the King will change his mind, although I don’t see how. He’s had a whole season to decide upon his bride, so I can’t imagine he would change his mind after he’d picked her.”
“It was quite a shock!” Penelope cried out, her hand fluttering to her face. “We all thought it was going to be Riley!”
At the sound of her name, Riley turned to face Penelope.
“How are you taking it, Lady Riley?” Kiara leant over Drake slightly, making him sit back in his chair and baulk as she steadied herself with a hand on his thigh. “I can’t imagine how it feels to have been built up as a front runner, made to believe that you had the King in hand, for it to be snatched away right underneath your nose, by no less than your closest female confidant!” Drake tensed, acutely aware of Kiara’s fingertips digging in to the flesh of his thigh, then releasing slightly as she leaned back in her chair with a smirk. His heart began to race as he glanced up at Riley to find her eyes trained on him, glaring suspiciously.
“I’m extremely happy for Lady Hana and King Liam. They both deserve the best, and now they have each other. It’s happily ever after for them both.”
A scoff down the other end of the table made everybody turn to glance Lady Olivia’s way. “If that’s how you really feel, then you’re more of a fool than I had thought you to be.” She placed a delicate morsel of food into her mouth and chewed gracefully, not meeting anybody’s gaze.
“If you have something to say, Olivia…” Riley replied, and Drake could hear the underlying ire in her voice. Much to his surprise, Kiara’s hand gave his thigh a squeeze and started to edge up towards his hips. He flung his hand on top of hers to stop it climbing any higher, then gently removed it and placed it back into her own lap. She glanced at him and smiled shyly as he managed a weak smile back.
“Lady Hana is not fit to be the next Queen of Cordonia, nor does she understand what it means to support the King. She may know how to bake an apple pie, or play the piano prettily, but all that makes her is one step up from a one-trick pony. Ask her how to handle anything that she hasn’t already been taught, without time to study up, and she’ll fall flat on her face.”
Drake looked to Riley, seeing a fury building behind her eyes as Olivia continued to insult Hana.
“Hana is twice the lady you’ll ever be, Olivia.” Riley growled back, lifting her spoon slightly as if deciding whether to try and inflict some special kind of pain on Olivia.
“Please, Riley. If you can’t handle a few home truths that aren’t even yours to be handled, then what purpose do you really have being here?”
“I’ve suddenly lost my appetite.” Riley stood up suddenly, throwing her spoon down with a crash into her soup bowl. Maxwell leapt backwards to avoid the splash on his Italian silk shirt.
“Perhaps it’s for the best, I didn’t want to mention how tight your clothes are fitting recently. I could recommend a good seamstress to adjust them for you, if you’d rather stay…” Olivia smirked at Riley as she clenched her fists, before walking sternly around the table and out the door. Maxwell stood to follow her, but Drake stood up quickly.
“I’ve got this…” he said, motioning for Maxwell to sit back down. He turned to leave, excusing himself from the table as he did so.
“Yes, let the commoner see to her. I’m not quite sure why he was allowed here in the first place.” Drake paused, a scathing remark itching to be let loose from the tip of his tongue, but he hung his head to stop himself and carried on past the threshold of the room and into the corridor. It seemed cooler out here, a gentle breeze hitting his hot face as he glanced around to see where Riley had gone.
His hangover wasn’t helping as he tried to fight past the foggy thoughts of where she might head to. The logical place would be her chambers, but he figured it would be too easy to find her there. He thought back to where he might want to go to think things through, and was hit by a recent memory.
His body turned swiftly down the hall, past beautiful oil paintings of Royal Ancestors and gorgeous landscapes of Cordonian Orchards, across a the balcony of the Great Hall and over the main staircase, trailing the velvet carpet through and into the large open ballroom. Across the way, he could tell a curtain had been pulled back, and could feel a strong breeze coming from behind it. He stepped through, unsurprised to see Riley there, yet filled with elation that she was where he would have gone.
She had a short tumbler in hand, a quarter filled with an amber liquid.
“A girl after my own heart.”
Riley didn’t move to greet him, she just tipped the glass up to her lips, allowing Drake to watch as the liquid slid seductively down her throat, the flexing muscles within highlighted from the brightly lit garden lights down below. His pulse began to race, his hands turning sweaty in an instance.
“I’m not good at this-” he started, interrupted by a derisive noise from Riley.
“You want to talk about feelings?” This time she turned to look at him, her eyes hard and cold.
“Brooks, I’ve never done-” he waved a hand between the two of them, motioning to the space that existed there. “-this before. You need to give me a chance to adjust.” He rammed his hands into his pockets as she raised an eyebrow at him. She patted the chair next to her, extending an invitation for him to sit down. She seemed unwilling to reply, but instead gestured towards an empty tumbler that she had pulled out from behind the bar before he had got here. She expected me to follow her. He grimaced, shaking his head. “No, thanks. I’m still feeling… sore from yesterday.” He saw a smile ghost across her lips as she sipped at the whiskey. As he sat next to her, he resisted the urge to touch her arm, or caress her cheek. He wasn’t sure whether the action would be appreciated, and so he struggled to keep his hands splayed firmly down on the bar’s granite work top, one of his fingers tapping nervously.
“I’m not entirely sure what happened earlier-” he stole a look at Riley’s face, which gave nothing away. “- but I get the feeling you’re angry at me for something, so I’m going to try and guess what I did wrong…” he let his voice fall away as she lifted both her eyebrows up in disbelief. “I would appreciate it if you gave me some kind of sign if I hit the nail on the head, so to speak.” A curt nod helped ease some of the nerves that were swimming around his stomach. “Okay so, I don’t think there was a problem with what happened before…” a smile flickered over Riley’s face, and Drake noticed the conflict that raged there. She was thawing out, her softer side dying to show through, but the remaining anger not willing to let it. “So I’m guessing it started after Kiara arrived-” a dark gleam caught Riley’s eyes and Drake inched a hand closer to hers where it sat cupping her glass. “Were you upset that I went out in just my towel?” Riley rolled her eyes. “Okay, good, because believe me, if I’d have known what was going to happen, that wouldn’t have been an issue!” Riley cocked an eyebrow up questioningly. “There was a slip, it involved the Former Former King’s bust – it – it doesn’t matter now.” He waved his hand through the air as if batting away an annoying fly. He took a deep breath and watched Riley once more. “Was it because I told her she’d be missed from court? Because I was just trying to be respectful and I didn’t know what else to say…” a small shake of the head gave Drake another answer. “Can you help me out here at all?” He asked in exasperation, lifting his hands up from the work top. “I’m literally drowning out here! Throw me a line, please!”
“You shut me in the bathroom, Drake. You were ashamed of me.” Riley’s gaze settled on him as the cogs began to fall into place.
“Right, that’s what you said before you left…” he clicked his fingers.
“You flirted with Kiara-”
“You call that flirting? I was flailing!”
“-then you almost followed her out the door, and you didn’t want her knowing that we were…” she faltered, looking back at her hands, suddenly finding a hangnail intensely interesting. “You were ashamed of what we’d done.”
Drake felt his stomach bottom out suddenly. “No,” he whispered. “No.” He grabbed her hands, sliding his fingers inbetween hers, surprised when she didn’t immediately try to pull them away. Instead she let them fall loosely together. He brought them up to his face and kissed the inside of her palm. “I wasn’t ashamed. I’m not ashamed of us.” He took a deep breath, gathering his courage, half wishing he had accepted a finger of whiskey. “You are everything I ever dreamed of, and more. You are grounded, funny, good-looking and gracious. You’d move the heavens for other people if you could, without a single thought for yourself. And I am scared shitless that you will realise that you’ve made the wrong decision.” Riley glanced away from his gaze, but he placed his hand on her cheek and guided it back to him. “I didn’t want to force anything on you by revealing to Kiara what had happened.”
“You were keeping your options open, you mean.” Her voice was sharp, yet blunt at the same time, cutting through him savagely.
“What, with Kiara?” He ran his thumb across her cheek bone, grateful that she didn’t try to turn away again. “Never. You’re the only girl for me, Brooks.” The nerves jumped up from his stomach into his throat, making it constrict painfully as Riley’s gaze lowered to his lips, her tongue slipping out and whetting her own. “It’s not even been twenty-four hours since the Coronation, and I’m so, so fearful that you’re going to regret choosing me. I don’t want you to ruin your relationship with Liam, with Former King Constantine, with the Queen Mother Regina, and even with the people of Cordonia. They love you, and if you wanted to, even now, I know Liam would pick you in a heartbeat.”
“So you’re just looking out for me? You didn’t want Kiara to know about us, because you were worried the people of Cordonia would hate me? That’s a leap, and you know it.” Her tone was accusing, but her eyes were sad, yet hopeful.
“If Kiara found out, she’d have told Penelope, who would have told Olivia, who would have told everybody. Where do you think it would stop? With Bastien? With the Palace Guards? The maids? The kitchen staff? Once word gets out there that not even one day after Liam picked someone other than you, you jumped into bed with me, how would that look? The press are unforgiving and would love to spin such a story of betrayal against you and Liam. You, the frontrunner, going behind his back with his so-called best friend, the affair of a suitor. They wouldn’t have painted a pretty picture.”
“You thought about all of this as soon as Kiara walked into your room?”
“No, of course not. I’d thought about it before then. Before you came back this afternoon. Before you left last night. Weeks before the coronation, even. I had thought that even if there was some chance that Liam didn’t pick you, or that you did choose me, we still couldn’t have been together for fear of reprisal.”
“Not publicly…” Riley echoed what was most on his mind, causing his brain to disengage. She leant forwards, sliding a hand round the back of his neck, pulling him towards her excruciatingly slowly.
“Brooks…” Drake whispered, his voice catching.
“Shush…” her breath ghosted over his lips as he shut his eyes and closed the distance. The instant their lips touched, a fire grew under his skin, itching to press harder into her.
“Riley!” She pulled away quickly, turning her head towards the bar as Drake rested his forehead on her shoulder, Maxwell illuminated from the light inside the Ballroom at the entrance to the balcony bar, frozen in place by shock. “I’m sorry! Was I interrupting-”
“Yes!” growled Drake, turning to scowl at him as his heart began to slow down, thumping loudly in his chest.
“No, Maxwell, it’s fine…” Riley turned to look at him, her hand still intertwined with Drake’s.
“I – I just wanted to check if you were alright, and you weren’t in your room… I might have alerted the Palace Guards…” Drake groaned, hiding his face in his hand as he turned away from Maxwell and banged his head on the bar. “So, you two, huh?”
“I’m sorry, Maxwell, I couldn’t stop myself from-” Drake glanced back up at Maxwell, as Riley continued. “Will you keep our secret, please? Liam and Hana already know, but if word gets out so soon after the Coronation.”
“Say no more. No, really, say no more. Bertrand might actually kill you. Or Drake. Probably Drake. He’d blame him for some sort of witchcraft. Off with his head! Or burnt at the stake. It wouldn’t be pleasant. Drake on a stake… ha! I’m just going to slip back out now, or in… I haven’t seen you. Although I’d best tell the guards I have… maybe I’ve seen just you, Riley. I don’t know where Drake is. But he’s certainly not missing. I wouldn’t want the guards to change their search orders from Riley to Drake, although maybe they wouldn’t be too bothered?”
“Maxwell!” Beside him, Riley was holding a silent laugh in, her shoulders shaking stiffly. “Just go!” Drake shouted back.
“Leaving!” Maxwell darted back through the curtains before Drake could find something worthless enough to throw at him. Drake glanced down at Riley who was almost doubled over, clutching at Drake’s arm for support.
“Are you…alright?”
“Yes, yes, I’m just…” She sat back up, her eyes twinkling, her face split into a huge grin as she shuddered. “…trying to catch my breath back before you steal it again!” Drake searched her eyes for a clue of what to do next. He was completely out of his depth. The only person he had ever felt so comfortable with before was Liam, and he had never wanted to kiss Liam, so it was definitely new territory.
“So are we-” he paused, trying to think of a word that could surmise their relationship. Nothing seemed worthy.
“We’re together, yes.” Riley eventually finished off for him, once the shaking had subsided. “We just need to work out what you’re going to tell Lady Kiara, seeing as she’ll be sticking around.”
“I still don’t understand…”
“Her hand on your thigh wasn’t enough of a hint for you?” Riley raised an eyebrow at him, and not for the first time today, he felt thoroughly exposed.
“How did you-?”
“Please. I’ve only ever seen you nervous when I’ve been teasing you, and during what little dinner we stayed for, you were the most uncomfortable I’ve ever seen you! Coupled with what happened earlier with her seeing you butt naked!” Riley burst into giggles again as irritation drifted over Drake.
“You knew I wasn’t interested in her, and you still let me believe you were angry at me!”
Riley straightened up, suddenly serious. “Oh I was angry. I was fuming. But I had the time I needed to think things through, and I realised that you’ve never been in this situation before. You’ve never had two people interested in you at one time. And I thought maybe you needed space to decide what you wanted. I left dinner tonight to give you an excuse to chase after me. I’d know then who you’d rather have.”
“Olivia didn’t upset you?”
Riley scoffed, shaking her head. “I know Olivia well enough now to realise that she’s all bark and no bite. She’s jealous of Hana and there’s nothing she can do about it, so she lashes out.”
Drake stared down at Riley’s fingers, running his own over the top of them as the quiet infiltrated their conversation. He picked up her hand and placed each fingertip to his lips, kissing them gently, then turning her hand over and kissing her palm and the inside of her wrist. Glancing up at her, he took in her beauty. She had tipped her head back slightly, her hair cascading over her shoulders, her eyes closed to the world so she could better feel his lips. He surged forwards, claiming her neck with his mouth, leaving small, wet marks down her throat as she uttered soft hums of appreciation. His hands clamoured at the back of her neck, turning her towards him as his lips seeked out hers. She met him halfway, capturing his mouth in a desperate kiss fuelled by desire, her hands flexing around his arms as she trailed her fingernails down them.
“There is only you, Brooks,” Drake whispered into the corner of her mouth as they caught their breath.
“I know.”