“I can’t stay.”
“Where’s my snow globe when I need it?”
“The object you threw at me?”
“Yup.”
“What was the point of that thing, anyway.”
“Just a nick nack. Something to sit there and look pretty.”
“Ah.” He took a step toward her.
“Don’t you dare touch me.” Adeo stopped, looking slightly bereft. He was a bit taller, a little more lean, but even more handsome than six years ago. Or perhaps that was just because she was staring at the drop of clear fresh water in a very large desert.
“I still love you.”
“Of course you do. I never questioned that… but then you made sure that we couldn’t.”
“I know. And despite everything, I don’t regret it. I do know that if I leave here without touching you, I will regret it.”
“Adeo, I already said-” But it was too late. Adeo closed the distance between the two of them. He put her arm around her bare torso. Her words left her and she sucked in her breath at the rush of blood zipping through her body. When his palm covered his handprint, she was overcome with what her fifteen year old self hadn’t really had the vocabulary or experience for: orgasmic bliss.
It took her a moment to realize he hadn’t even kissed her yet. Yet? What had happened to her will power? He was just standing there, staring at her, holding her up.
“ May I kiss you?” He was smiling, but his eyes brimmed with so much passion that she knew he would kiss her even if she said no. The problem was she wouldn’t mind. Six years of stewing over how he just disappeared, and when he’d as much as admitted he was about to disappear for another indeterminate amount of time, she still couldn’t stop herself. He was like a cheesecake sitting on the table, all ready for eating. Bad for her hips, but so rich and creamy Betsy couldn’t resist.
“Are you wearing a sword?”
“Yes, but I don’t think that’s what’s poking you. You didn’t answer my question.”
She pulled the collar of his shirt aside, and sure enough, there she found an imprint of her lips, still as dark as the first time she saw it. Betsy kissed him there, and exalted in the groan she felt rumble through him. A moment later they were both scrambling to rid themselves of clothes.
His sword and belt hit the floor with a clank, but wasn’t about to make another crack about his accessories now. She was too busy shucking her jeans and underwear off in one go. She tripped as she pulled off the second leg, but Adeo just used that momentum to lay her down on the bed. Like the first time, there was no foreplay. None was needed. Betsy wrapped her legs around Adeo and with only a few thrusts he exploded inside her.
“So are you leaving right now, or are you going to stay long enough to do a decent job?”
“I’m quite aware that you reached your pleasure, and before I did, so give me a moment to catch my breath and you will definitely regret that taunt.”
“That sounds like a challenge.”
“Tis a promise.”
“’Tis. You definitely are from
Adeo grabbed Betsy around the middle and put himself between her and Merry. His eyes darted to his sword on the floor.
“A fine nekked one at that,” Merry added.
Betsy put a hand on Adeo’s bicep. She felt him relax a bit. Betsy stared at her friend, who just stared right back at them, bug eyed.
“Merry!”
“It’s just an observation. I just thought all your you know gears were broken.”
Was it too much to ask just to get her to back out of the room quietly? Probably.
“Merry, this is Adeo.”
“The bugger who well, made you miserable?”
“She’s drunk,” Betsy said with a sigh.
“I thought you said he was gone forever. And when you said he was hot, I thought you were exaggerating. But you weren’t. Cor.”
“Merry,” Adeo said simply. Betsy was surprised by the sudden shot of jealousy that flashed through her stomach. “I need some time alone with Betsy. So you need to leave, shut the door, and make sure no one disturbs us for a few hours.”
“Oh. Ooohhh. You’re not done getting lucky!” Betsy turned into a tomato. “Righteo. Aye, Aye Captain.” Merry saluted them sharply. “Or is that Your Highness?”
“Merry. Goodbye?” Betsy stated. Finally Merry backed up out of the room on her tip toes and closed the door behind her.
“It’s Your Majesty,” Adeo said quietly, with a hint of regret. “My father is dead.”
“I’m sorry.” What else did one say?
“Three weeks. I’ve been king for three weeks.” His voice told her he wasn’t particularly liking the job either. She kissed him again, hoping it would take some of the pain. When it finally broke, she could tell he was definitely cheered up.
“You know, being at college and especially being Merry’s friend, I’ve heard about a lot of things.”
“Attending to your education?”
“Well, more edification. These things, I really haven’t gotten the chance to practice.”
“Why ever not.”
“They’re the kind of things that take two people.”
“Ah, well, if you’re looking for a second, I should humbly like to volunteer.”
“Oh, you don’t have to volunteer, you’ve already been drafted.”
“And what specific activities did you have in mind?”
Betsy started giggling before she could get an answer out. Adeo just smiled and waited for her to catch her breath. She took a deep breath, a pause, and then began giggling all over again.
“Are you going to share your little joke?”
“No. It’s not a joke really. It’s just I’m not used to talking about this kind of stuff.” At least not with a male… especially a male she planned to do said stuff with. She sat up and then straddled Adeo, suddenly realizing how easy it would be not to talk about it. There was no awkwardness when she leaned over and kissed him again before impaling herself. Adeo caught on quickly.
“You’re so beautiful.” His hands went to her hips and soon she was delirious with him inside her. There was no urgency in him this time. He seemed quite content to let her set a pace and experiment with the feel of him. By the time she’d collapsed on him, she was covered with a thin layer of sweat and was sure she’d worked off an entire cheesecake.
“Anything else you’d like to try?” He laughed at her little whimper. “Then perhaps I might take a turn?”
“I’m not going to be able to move in the morning.”
“Betsy…” He wanted to tell her bad news. She knew that way that he said her name now.
“Yeah, I know. You won’t be here in the morning. You’ll be gone back into the ether.”
“Yes, but-“
There was a sudden noise from the corner of her room. A slightly wet kind of gurgle.
“What was that?”
“Betsy, I-“
She didn’t wait for his answer. With a bit too much force on her part, she untangled herself from Adeo and stood up. She heard another gurgle, and determined it was coming from a basket nearly hidden on the floor.
She pulled back the edge of the blanket to reveal what she suspected was there.
“Who is that?”
“Poladorina Anamatheal Crown Princess of Shudador.”
Betsy didn’t know a whole lot about babies, but this one couldn’t have been more than a few weeks old.
“She’s yours?” He nodded.
“Where’s her mother?”
“Dead.”
“In childbirth?”
“No. She was weak, yes, but it wouldn’t have killed her.”
“What did?”
“He did. He did the impossible. He killed the Chosen One. It was easy for him. He razed the
“The Ultimate Evil Guy?”
“Yes.”
“But he didn’t kill you. You escaped with your daughter.”
“No. He let us go.”
“Why?”
“In the past year, I’ve stabbed him six times. Six! And we’re not speaking of flesh wounds here. Through the heart, the chest, and once through the eye! He thinks I’m amusing.”
The baby was well awake now and starting to cry. Adeo lifted her out of the basket and cradled her in his arms. He sat down on the bed, still naked, and oddly sexy. There was just something about the picture of father and baby that made her toes tingle. Betsy suddenly felt self conscious standing there naked in the middle of the room. She hunted down her panties and pulled a shirt over her head.
“You should have told me she was in the room. It just isn’t right to be doing the horizontal tango with a baby within watching distance.”
“Forgive me. She was asleep and when I saw you, I couldn’t stop myelf.”
“Or more like you’d-“
Betsy stopped mid sentence. His baby. Her mother. His wife. The woman he’d married instead of Betsy. The woman he’d.
“Do you mind explaining to me how every man I touch turns my stomach and yet you managed to make a baby?”
He grimaced. Her words came out a little more shrewish than she had intended, but there was that little jealous streak. He’d slept with another woman. It was flashing in big red neon letters on the back of her eyelids.
“It wasn’t easy. I didn’t have much choice.”
“Lie back and think of
“Girls just need to lie there, you know, and let the boys do all the work. But, boys, they need their… their swords to you know… be sharp. And hard.”
It now seemed Adeo’s turn to blush. “Tell me, love, sometimes late at night, do you think of me?”
“It’s not like I could forget you with your fingerprints following me wherever I go.”
“Do you think of me, and feel pleasure? When you’re all alone in your bed, do you imagine me there, touching you?” Again, it wasn’t fair that he was sitting there holding his daughter, and making her melt simply with a few words and heated eyes.
“A girl has to have some form of relief.”
“Well, once, very much in the same manner, I was able to fool myself into thinking I was making love to you.”
“That’s kind of gross.”
“Yes. She knew it too, and she hated me for it. It was brief, and despite the release, I took no pleasure in it. It was my duty.”
“An heir and a spare.”
“There will be no spare, and if you cannot protect her, the last of my line will be extinguished.”
It finally dawned on her that Adeo was going back to his world to complete what amounted to a suicide mission. He didn’t expect to win.
“Stay here with me. Live with me. Love me. We’ll raise a hundred more heirs. Okay, maybe not a hundred, but I could probably manage four or five. We could-”
He stood and kissed her to silence her. In the moment after, she realized he was handing her the baby. His eyes scanned the room for his clothing.
“I am a king. I cannot live in exile while my people die in fear. I will not abandon hope of finding a way to defeat Fred.”
“Mr. Ultimate and Invincible Evil’s name is Fred? What kind of fear does that instill? Har! I am Fred and I’ve come to kill you.”
“He killed my father quickly enough. It’s not his name, but the emptiness of his eyes that instills the fear.”
The sound of Adeo’s sword belt jingling into place brought tears to her eyes. “I didn’t mean-“
“I know, Love. I would stay, if I could.”
“One more hour,” Betsy said hurriedly. Perhaps if she just stalled him long enough, if she just showed him what life could be like with her, then he’d not go back to die.”
“The longer I’m here, the larger the chance that Fred may figure out where I’ve gone, and for both of your sakes, I shall not return. This is the last safe refuge, the only place I know he has not discovered. He doesn’t even know you exist. You’re my secret. My own little joy in the death and darkness that are now Shudador.”
He leaned down and kissed the baby’s head.
“I know you will love her. You will love her simply because she is mine. I’ve left provisions for your future in the basket.”
“Adeo, you can’t be serious. I don’t know anything about-“ He kissed, cutting off her objections.
“I love you.”
With that, he step back and disappeared, leaving… the baby… in her sole care.
“What was your name again?”
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