Olivia laughed as she nuzzled his chest. “I think I’d like that.”
Any thought of the morning faded away as they talked quietly through the rest of the night, making love one more time before the sun came up and Quincy had to hurry back to his rooms. Olivia didn’t want him to leave, but the servants would start bustling around and Allete would be there to get her ready for the day’s events. If only those events included her and Quincy staying in bed all day long. That she could handle.
Chapter 13
Several weeks passed, and the royal wedding drew closer. They were a month out, but Quincy had stopped caring about anything that did not directly involve Olivia. Nearly every night, he snuck into her room for bouts of sex and wine. He enjoyed watching her paint inside her rooms, usually half naked. Her hands moved so gracefully across the canvas, he couldn’t help but watch her work.
—Or interrupt her until they were both covered in paint in their rush to be close again.
Their conversations were filled with laughter and light he never felt with any other woman before, but he had seen it in the way his father used to look at his mother. He knew their marriage had been arranged, but it seemed like destiny had brought them together, just as it brought Olivia to the isle.
“Sir? You’re doing it again,” Pascal said, interrupting Quincy’s daydreaming.
Last night, he and Olivia had tried several new positions and discovered she was quite flexible in bed. He couldn’t get the images out of his mind as pleasure had taken over her body and her eyes had widened in surprise at being able to feel so much.
“Sir? Prince Quincy? Am I interrupting your dreaming with your dressing?”
Quincy shook his head and laughed. “Sorry, Pascal. What is this ball for again?”
“You should know more than I, sir. I’m just a servant.”
“Ah, but any good royal knows the servants know everything.”
Pascal raised a brow. “Like why there are women’s panties in your room, sir?”
Quincy froze. The other night, Olivia had surprised him and climbed over to his balcony. He thought she’d taken everything with her. Apparently not. “I’m not allowed a little comfort?”
“As long as the lady in question is not caught by your father sneaking out of your rooms, sir, I see no issue with it.” His tone implied that he did not approve, but he didn’t know it was Olivia.
Mentally, Quincy let out a sigh of relief as he stared at his reflection in the mirror. “I suppose I have to attend the ball tonight. There’s no getting out of it.”
“Not unless you break a leg, I’m afraid, sir.”
“Damn. I don’t feel much like being groped this evening.”
Pascal chuckled. “As much as you won’t like to hear it, Lady Gigi is the one your father is rooting for, last I heard.”
“I don’t know why.”
“Several reasons, from what I gathered. One of which being that her family is the second wealthiest on the isle,” Pascal said as he adjusted Quincy’s tux jacket. “And second, he is trying to prevent them from gaining any more power.”
“What do you mean?” A little wiggle of worry wormed into his mind. “They can’t go any higher than where they are now, and if I marry her, she would be the future queen.”
“Yes, but if you do not marry her, do not take a wife, or do not perform your duties and lose the crown, the Pentacrafts will inherit it. They are next in line after your family.” Pascal’s brow furrowed. “Prince Quincy, you know your father worries for you.”
“He worries I won’t be able to maintain my own crown?”
He’d been mad at his father before, but this was ridiculous. Did he really think Quincy would mess things up to the point where he would let another have his crown or his kingdom? Did Lamont think Quincy lacked that much love and respect for his own people? Marrying Gigi would be a smart political move, if only to keep her close at hand and away from her family’s influence. They would not be so keen to make a move for the crown if she were queen, but any child he had would be related to them.
It was a dangerous game he hadn’t realized his father was playing. Why was he so worried all of a sudden?
“Sir? The ball starts soon, and we must have you ready on time.”
Quincy let Pascal get back to it while his thoughts wandered over the last few months. Before Olivia arrived, he might have spent most his nights out at clubs, dancing away the hours with the ladies and drinking, but he had never caused a scandal. The worst thing he spent money on was his Jeep, and that was only because his bodyguards frowned on him driving himself around. And since finding Olivia, he’d left the nightlife behind.
Sometime soon, he needed to have a discussion with his father and figure out what was going on. He didn’t want to admit it, but maybe he’d been spending too much time with Olivia and not enough listening to what was happening in court.
“There, you are presentable, sir,” Pascal said and stepped back.