Page 30 of The Time Of Queens

But in the end, it turned out that my premonition had meant nothing. For the sight that met me was the very last that I would have ever expected.

Fear be damned.

12

COOK ME UP SOME REVENGE

KEIRA

Honestly, my husband was going to kill me with lust. Damn, the man knew how to flirt. Holy shit, at this rate I would need to carry around something to start fanning myself with. If the man didn’t kiss me soon, I would end up saying, “To hell with it all,” and throwing myself at him.

Of course, I knew how foolish it was for me to want him to kiss me, considering that would blow this plan out of the water. So, despite this desperate need of mine to have Draven act like my husband once again, I continued on. I waited until Draven was long gone before making my way back into the stables, so I could complete the very reason I had been there in the first place. Something that, thankfully, didn’t have me waiting too long as the rider turned up shortly after to take the letter. In fact, my husband was so distracting that I hadn’t even worried that the rider could have turned up while Draven had been there.

I had honestly forgotten all about the rider.

But then that was the power Draven had always held over me. The inability to think of anything else when he was in the room. Something the girls still teased me about, even thirtyyears later. I could have been talking about something and then it would trail off the second he entered a room. The ability to steal every ounce of my attention was like one of his superpowers. I didn’t know whether it was his commanding presence or just the fact that, even after three decades, I was still utterly obsessed with the man.

In fact, I kept having to remind myself that this wasn’t some long-standing, period drama, roleplay, with Draven playing Mr Darcy, or even better, Mr Rochester. Although, if I were honest, he blew them both out of the water, as I swear, I wanted to just climb the man like a tree and stake my claim. Like some little flag to plant on his head.

It was ridiculous to think of, but not as much as the fact that I had started to become jealous of myself. I knew the only thing that held him back from claiming me fully, was that he believed he had met his Chosen One already. The girl he now searched for obsessively, and while flirting with me!

Damn good way to make a couples therapist’s head spin before popping off like some pop-up pirate game, that was for sure. But then this did pose the question, if he was so obsessed with finding his Chosen, then why was he asking me to go riding with him? Well, not that he asked because by the end of it, he was definitely more demanding, he wouldn’t take no for an answer. Which then presented my next problem, as I knew that the more time I spent with him, the more he would question who I was to him. With or without Pip’s mojo.

Of course, I knew this from experience as he hadn’t exactly been subtle about it two-thousand years ago in Persia. Which was why Pip and Sophia found me pacing in Pip’s room by the time they returned from dinner.

“He wants to go riding with me!” I blurted out the second they came through the door. The look they gave each other wastelling, which was why I added, “Yes, I know… I know… you don’t need to say how much of a bad idea this is.”

“I am not sure how much longer this ruse will last, my brother is already acting so out of character, as I have never seen him so distracted,” Sophia said, making me feel guilty once more.

“That’s true, he barely said a word at dinner,” Pip added, causing me to release a heavy sigh before slumming on the bed.

“Well, now he wants to go riding with me, and trust me when I say, I have spent enough time on a horse since time travelling that I would be happy to never see a saddle again in my life,” I told them, thinking back once more to what they must all be going through right now. I knew it would have hit Amelia the hardest, and then there was my dear sweet niece, Ella…

All I could hope for was that Fate kept us all safe, but especially my girls.

“Oh, not me. I love a saddle, although I love riding Adam more when he is in that saddle.”

I rubbed my forehead at this, which I had to confess was a common occurrence with Pip, making me remind her, “Focus, Pip.”

“Although that is a fair point made. Will your focus on masking her from my brother stretch that far when they are on their ride?”

Pip shrugged and told us honestly,

“I am not sure; this is my firstElectus Hide and No Kingy Peekgame I have ever played.”

“Then there is only one thing for it,” Sophia said, making me ask in a dejected tone,

“What’s that?”

“We will have to come riding with you.” At this my head perked up.

“Great, it’s a double date,” I said. They both tipped their heads as if questioning what I meant, making me wave my hand and say, “It’s a future thing.”

“Future thing or not, we will have to sabotage his plans to be alone with you. Now, he will most likely ask for one of my riding habits in the morning and I purposely won’t speak a word about coming, so he won’t have the chance to argue. We will simply meet you in the stable yard once he has informed you of a time.”

I released a sigh and nodded my head.

“Yes, and who knows, perhaps the men will want to join us,” Pip offered, turning this into a real party.

---