There is so much weight in the words she’s spoken. It’s as if there’s a sadness at the end, and it makes my heart ache.

“That’s exactly what I’m hoping for, Princess.” I give her ass one last smack, just because I can, as I walk through the doorway of my bedroom.

“I didn’t even say a bad word that time,” she complains as she smacks my ass back.

“I know. I think I just discovered I like spanking you. We’ll keep testing it to see.”

She makes a growling sound that makes me think of a baby tiger, and I smile. It makes me want to cuddle and protect her just like I will our young.

I toss her off my shoulder and onto the middle of my bed. The fluffy blankets on it cushion her fall, but as soon as she lands she’s climbing off of it and stomping over to me.

“How dare you punch Karim. What’s he ever done to you?” She points her finger in my face and looks mad as hell.

“He stood in the way of what’s mine. I’ll remove anyone and anything that stands between us, Princess. You belong to me now. So act like it.”

I snatch her wrist in my hand and move her finger out of my face while jerking her body flush to mine.

“All those nights you snuck into my bed, and now that I throw you into it you can’t wait to crawl out.”

“You asked me not to do it,” she throws back at me with a smug look on her face.

“Because I knew at any moment I’d take your innocence and smear it across my bedsheet like a badge of honor and hang the sheet out the window for my kingdom to know you were mine and mine alone like it’s three hundred years ago. I knew if I let you lie in my bed one more night that I’d breed you as my queen long before you came of age, and I didn’t want to bring that shame on your family. On you. You know I always protect you over everything else. Been doing it from the first moment I laid eyes on you.”

“But. But you - ” She looks to my mouth and then to my eyes.

“From the first fucking day I saw you, Heavenly. The first fucking day.”

I’ve had enough of playing games, and I pull her to follow behind me.

“What are you doing?” she asks as I lead her across the room and to a side door.

“This,” I say, flipping on the light.

I release her wrist and let her step into the room. She looks around and then brings her hand to her lips as she sees exactly what I’ve done.

Chapter Five

Heavenly

I feel the tears run down my cheeks as I see what Carlos has done. I close my eyes and open them again to see if I’m dreaming, because this can’t be real. It’s a dream that’s always been in my heart and one I’ve never really voiced out loud. Except to one person.

“You remembered.” I turn around to look at Carlos, who’s still standing in the doorway. It’s then I realize how disheveled he is. His pants have a small rip in them, and his shirt shows evidence of dirt down the side, which I’m sure is from running through the orchard. I haven’t seen him like this since we were young.

His face is unreadable though, and I watch him swallow hard like he’s trying to hold all his emotions back. He’s on the edge of something, but I don’t know what.

I pull my eyes from him and look back to the room that’s been transformed into a nursery. But it’s not just for one baby, it’s for multiples. And it’s not only decorated for a baby, but toddlers as well. The room is twice the size of Carlos’s own suite, which is like an entire wing of the palace. Cribs, changing tables and small beds decorate the room, surrounded by more toys than most children would know what to do with.

“You said you wanted at least four close together. And that while they were little you wanted them all to share a room so they could be as close as possible.”

“Thick as thieves,” we both say at the same time.

I smile at the memory and turn around to look back at the baby room. It’s more beautiful than any of my dreams could have conjured. It was something I’d talked to him about so long ago that I’m surprised he remembered. After I lost my parents and then my brother disappeared for a little while, I knew I wanted a family that was close. That if something ever happened to me or my husband, I’d know our kids would have each other.

“Our kids,” he whispers right next to my ear. I didn’t even hear him come up behind me. “You were talking about our kids that night. I knew when those words left your lips that I’d give you that.”

Another tear slips free, and I turn around in his arms to look up at him. His thumb brushes my cheek, and I watch a trace of insecurity cross his face. If I didn’t know him as well as I do I wouldn’t have caught it. Then his face hardens a little as if catching himself.

“This is happening,” he growls.

It sounds like thunder in his chest, low and deep. It makes my eyes widen in surprise. I’ve seen Carlos snap at people a lot of times over the years, more so since taking the throne, but never has it been directed at me.

“You will never be with my brother. I don’t give a flying fuck if I have to ban him from this country. Romy will never so much as put a finger on you. Only I deserve your touch, and that’s final.”

He picks me up by my hips suddenly and sits me on a dresser. He knocks baby toys and folded clothes off of it as thick jealousy coats the air around him. It’s then that I notice a picture on the dresser beside me. It’s of the two of us in his office. I’m lying on the floor in front of his desk reading a book, and his eyes are on me. I don’t even know when it was taken. But it’s something we’ve done a thousand times before, something I’ve always been scared of losing.