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"Cordelia," she heard Aral whisper as he gently shook her awake.
She'd fallen asleep soon after returning from the hospital. Miles had finally been released from recovery after his third surgery of the year. Today was the first day in the last week she’d come back to the palace to sleep.
"Where's Miles?" Aral asked, still quietly. She could feel him moving to lay down next to her in bed. Which was good; she doubted he'd had much more sleep than her in the last week. When she opened her eyes she could see his handsome, tired face and felt a smile grow on her own. It was, maybe, worth waking up. They hadn't been this close since a brief hug three days ago—both too busy.
"Asleep, I hope, from the amount of painkillers they gave him. He's in his room."
He brushed some hair from her face and kissed her. "Good. The report said he was fine, but I wanted to hear it from you."
Cordelia rolled her eyes. Getting a report on the health of your child—probably from the director of the hospital—still seemed ridiculous to her. Although she did have to admit that Aral was constantly busy. He snorted quietly, seemingly amused by her reaction and moved closer. It was the first time they’d both been awake in bed together in, well, more than two weeks. Aral had had God knows what amped up political machinations to deal with in the run up to the Summer Solstice Party tonight. Cordelia had been trying to help Alys arrange that between caring for Gregor and Miles’ latest medical problem, but really it had come down to Alys.
“Is it time to get ready now? Or can I sleep for fifteen more minutes?” she asked Aral.
“No, no,” Aral said. “The party is still two hours away, but…”
Two hours didn’t mean two more hours of sleep, but set up and dressing wouldn’t take more than an hour for her. She’d insisted on cutting down her outfitting as much as Alys could be convinced.
Aral looked a bit sheepish, she suddenly realized. His hand moved to her side, where his thumb stroked in little circles. “It's been awhile since we had time together.”
“Oh! That’s certainly worth losing a bit of sleep,” she answered cheerfully.
“If you need the sleep—” he tried to offer, but Cordelia stopped this by pushing herself into him. With hands on his cheeks she kissed him. His hand snaked inside her shirt and held her close. It was tempting to let the time get away from them, but they had so very little left before someone came to take one of them away. Cordelia set to work on his buttons.
Her shirt followed his, with his hands poised to strip her pants next. He kissed his way down her stomach. Her hands interwove in his hair, gripping and pulling.
At which point a knock came on the door. Both of them froze, as if by not moving the person might just move on.
“Cordelia,” called Alys through the door. “Your hairdresser is here, and Gregor is kicking up a fuss over Lord Vorvolk not attending. I need you awake.” She knocked again for good measure. “I’ll tell one of the maids to send coffee in five minutes.” They heard Alys’ skirts swish back down the hallway.
Aral’s head rested on the dip of her hip and her hands slipped to the bed at her sides. “Five minutes isn’t enough, love,” she said, resigned.
“Not anymore anyway,” he mumbled into her hip.