Chapter 194

“I can’t imagine that King James wants to show his face much in front of the goddess,” I said. “So Doctor Milton hiding under her protection doesn’t surprise me.”

“Not to mention, living as a monk in that northern temple seems like punishment on its own,” Charles threw in.

“It’s not if you’re devout,” I countered. “But I suppose for a doctor, it might be punishing. He probably lived quite the life of luxury before all of this happened.”

Mabel nodded. “Not that he deserved to be punished. My son-in-law knew it wasn’t his fault that Queen Rosemary passed. He did everything he could to try and save her.”

“Did he ever say you know why she passed?” I asked.

She shook her head. “I’m sure he didn’t want me to know so that it couldn’t be a reason for the king to come after me. The only thing I know is that he’s now living as Monk Blythe. Although, I suppose that’s plenty if the king wanted to come after him.”

I nodded. “We’ve taken as many precautions as we can think of to try to keep your anonymity,” I said. “But I can’t promise that no one’s going to come and ask about whether or not I was here.”

“Don’t worry about me, Dearie. I’ve lived a long life, and at this point, if the king really wants to take retribution on a poor old woman, then I can die satisfied with the way I’ve lived. It’s no small thing knowing that I’m helping you expose the truth about him. There are definitely worse ways to go out.”

“Don’t say that,” I said. “I know what he can do to torture people. It’s not pretty, and I wouldn’t wish that on you. You’re a nice lady.”

She reached across the table and patted my hand. “And you’re a nice young woman, too. I hope that King James gets what’s coming to him and you manage to escape his wrath. I trust the goddess will take care of you.”

“I hope so,” I said.

We finished our dinner with Mabel insisting that the boys tell all of the funny stories about their childhoods that they could remember, and we ended up laughing instead of being depressed.

Not wanting to linger and call attention to where we were, the four of us headed off as soon as dinner was over, and we’d helped Mabel clean up the kitchen.

We went back to the hotel room, checked in with the palace, and then booked a flight as far north as we could get. From there, the northernmost moon goddess temple was still hours of driving away—very remote.

The four of us settled in at our hotel and came up with our plan. Charles and David were going to stay behind at the hotel and pretend to be me, using the phone the palace gave me to check in every so often. They were also going to do some driving around to local towns to make it look like I was out on interviews if the palace was actually tracking the GPS on the phone.

Meanwhile, Theo and I were going to drive out to the moon temple. Because there was a high likelihood that we were going to be at least overnight, if not two, someone had to mislead the palace.

Theo and David retired to their room and Charles and I snuggled in together. I was nearly asleep, exhaustion riding me from all of the travel that we’d been doing. When Charles nudged my thighs with his knee, I opened myself up to him, kissing him sleepily on the cheek.

“Just a quick one tonight,” I murmured.

Charles moved inside me, and despite being as tired as I was, I welcomed his presence. Or at least my body did, being plenty wet and ready for him.

In comparison to some of our lovemaking, this was quiet and tender. He peppered me with lots of kisses. He hovered over top of me, gazing lovingly down at me while his hips pressed a gentle rhythm into mine. I closed my eyes, soaking in the scent of him, vetiver, and letting the soft glide of the pillar of flesh inside me draw up tender emotions.

As if they were intensified by being so tired and out of sorts, the connection between us threatened to overwhelm me. And I found myself gasping at the intensity of it all. My eyes moistened, and I turned my face to dry them on the pillow.

I often found myself wondering how I’d managed to get so lucky and have Charles fall in love with me. But what was with me? My emotions were all over the place. I seriously needed sleep.

This led me to switch my focus. I needed to stop thinking about connections and emotions. I pushed Charles off me and sat up.

He palmed his forehead. “Right. The condom.”

Oh yeah. I’d forgotten about that, too. Where the hell was my head tonight?

While he got the condom, I scanned the room. Inspiration hit me. I drew the upholstered armchair over in front of a floor-length mirror.

“What are you doing? Charles asked.

“You sit there,” I ordered.

He obeyed, but his face held nothing but questions. I ignored this and sat on his lap, facing away from him so we both faced the mirror. He groaned and wrapped his arms around me, cupping my breasts.

“You want to watch us?”

I nodded.

He groaned again. “So kinky. So hot.”

This time I had a front seat to our endeavors. I watched him tweak my nipple and spread my lower lips with his fingers, separating them so he could slide his cock along my slit.

His heavy breathing hit my ear hot and heavy. He watched us over my shoulder. After a moment, he gripped his cock, guiding it to my entrance, then thrust himself up inside.

I watched in fascination as he slid inside, pulled back out again, and then thrust until his balls slapped up against me.

I’d never watched porn or anyone having sex or anything like that. All I had in my head were the images surrounding my usual viewpoint of making love to Charles. This was erotic and naughty and a complete fucking turn-on.

A moan escaped my lips. I watched as instinct took over, moving my body in search of pleasure. How strange to watch when not in full control of your movements. I wasn’t thinking about where to move my hips or how to press back into Charles. I just did what brought pleasure.

He slipped his hand between my legs and started rubbing my clit. In the mirror, I had a clear view of the motions his fingers took as they coaxed my body to the brink of orgasm.

“Urg.”

Charles curled around my back, his cock a blur in the mirror as he frantically built up friction in an orgasm. The expression on his face twisted, his mouth open.

Wait, he was leaving me behind.

Charles thrust in the last pumps of his orgasm. But he kept his hand moving furiously. Suddenly, his free hand clamped down hard on my nipple.

I let out a cry and crested on my own orgasm, writhing against his chest in intense pleasure. Half my body felt this, the other half witnessed in the mirror, still intrigued.

Our motions slowed until Charles just caressed between my legs, which had clamped hard together. His cock slid from inside me, shrinking back to its normal state.

He kissed the side of my forehead. “That was fucking awesome.”

I giggled, then yawned. Not bothering with a shower, I headed straight for the bed, snuggling into my pillows, where I instantly fell asleep.