Page 102 of 2 Books in One Bundle
‘I did everything expected of me,’ Helia defended, recognising that she shouldn’t have to, but also that Andreas knew so much more than she did. He had so much power over the staff and the politicians.
She’d fought to keep the steel in her voice, and felt Vasili move to stand at her back. She so badly wanted to lean on him now, but that would show weakness. Something she was not. She had given up her career, sacrificed everything for this mission. She would lean on no one.
‘Meeting in a storeroom. Making promises that we don’t know if we can keep.Sitting on the floor.’
Andreas’s cheeks flared pink. Oh, he was angry.
‘Never in all my years has any royal done that. We are meant to show strength. That we bow to no one. And yet you behaved like one of those ordinary volunteers. You acted without thought.’
He was right. She had acted without thought. She’d seen those children and seen herself in them. She hadn’t felt like a queen when she’d played with them—she’d been just Helia. A woman who cared so much that she would say goodbye to the one thing she loved for them. Queens didn’t do that. Queens found solutions that didn’t affect them personally. But how could she do that when that very place was her past?
‘You are not one of them any longer. You are Queen Helia Leos and you need to start behaving as such.’
‘Enough.’
The gruff voice had come from beside her. There was a warm hand on her back, grounding her. Andreas fell silent.
‘That’s quite enough, Andreas. Leave us—and for your own sake, I suggest you do so quietly.’
Helia watched him march angrily through the door and once he was gone she turned to Vasili.
‘You behaved like those ordinary volunteers.’
What if she had embarrassed Vasili? She relied on him to help her with this cause. What was more, things had been going well. She was growing to care for him more and more with each day. She couldn’t bear the thought of hurting him in any way. She had to apologise.
‘Vasili, I’m so—’
He cradled her face, seizing her lips, cutting off her apology with a hard kiss that had her letting out an unexpected moan. His tongue plunged into her mouth, setting off an avalanche of arousal through her body. She gasped as Vasili hooked his hands under her thighs and lifted her, setting her on the edge of his desk, making her just a little taller. Flame licked at the base of her spine as he stepped between her legs, deepening the kiss. He tasted of mint. The scent of his aftershave—cool and fresh, with something spicier that she could only describe ashisscent—wrapped around her, chasing the apology from her mind. But she had to make it.
She pushed at his chest and he stopped immediately, his lips reluctantly leaving hers.
‘Vasili, I have to say this—’
‘No, you don’t.’ His voice was low. Rough. ‘Don’t you dare apologise.’
‘But Andreas—’
‘I don’t care what Andreas said. All I saw today was a woman who cares.’ He pressed a soft kiss to her lips. ‘And I’ve wanted to kiss you all day.’
‘Then do it.’
Vasili leaned in. Taking her lip between his teeth. Watching the way her eyes fluttered closed. He brushed his lips against hers, licking the seam of them, taking his time. Stoking the fire between them.
Seeing Helia interact with everyone at the orphanage had done something to his heart. He didn’t care what his advisors said. The woman before him was the Queen this kingdom needed. He had wanted to kiss her then, a million times over, but he hadn’t been able to. Their passion was behind closed doors. That was the agreement. But the need in him had built and built. Now, the noises she made as he tasted her had him growing hard. But he couldn’t stop kissing her. He trailed kisses and bites down her neck, marking her. Everyone would see it. He would see it. It was a primitive thing to want to mark one’s territory, but he couldn’t care less. Especially when she called his name in that breathy way that satisfied something deep within.
Vasili recognised that he needed to step away from her for a moment or he would have his queen laid out on his desk.
He picked her up and carried her over to the couch, where he settled her on his lap, tucking her head against his shoulder. While he knew he needed to clear his head of the lusty haze, he didn’t want to let her go. Not yet. He still had questions, and while they had privacy he was going to ask them.
‘I need to thank you, Helia.’
‘For what?’
‘Showing me how we’ve failed.’
‘Vasili...’
He looked down into her bright turquoise eyes. Her hand came up to his cheek and he laid his over hers. At first he thought he was going to remove it, but that wasn’t possible. He craved her touch too much.
