Page 1 of Forever King

RONAN AND KATE

1

Ronan

My phone’salarm blares on the nightstand next to me, and I roll over to swipe that damn noise away as fast as I can. Still half asleep, I fumble with the phone, and it drops to the floor.

“Jesus!” I groan in frustration before leaning over to pick it up as it still screams out that annoying sound.

Finally, I silence it and set the damn thing back on my nightstand before lying back down to stare up at the ceiling for a few moments as my brain struggles to accept it’s time to get out of bed. Next to me, Kate stirs, somehow able to sleep through the noise I chose a few months ago since I couldn’t seem to wake up to anything more soothing.

“You okay over there?” she whispers, the sound of amusement filling her words.

“Uh-huh,” I grunt out, still struggling with achieving full consciousness.

“I don’t know why you choose that sound for an alarm. It reminds me of the noise I think alerted the town folk whenChernobyl happened. I wake up every day sure I’m in the center of a full nuclear reactor meltdown.”

Fully awake at last, I roll over toward her and see a stream of sunlight poking through the curtains across the room. As always, she looks beautiful lying there trying to wake up to begin her day.

Kate smiles up at me before gently touching the tip of my nose. She worries about having bad breath in the morning, so she refuses to kiss me until after she brushes her teeth. Typical Kate concerned about things I never even think of. I’ve tried to convince her it doesn’t matter since I have morning breath too, but she insists on the nose thing.

So every morning instead of kissing me, she touches the tip of my nose and asks, “Did you sleep well?”

She asks me that now, and I nod. “I think so. At least until my phone decided to ruin things. You?”

Stretching her arms above her head, she sits up and swings her legs off the side of the bed. “I did. I couldn’t get to sleep at first last night because you were sawing wood over there, but it was probably more because I was thinking about my meeting today with Jonas Brinley’s parents after school.”

By the time I remember who Jonas is, she’s already in the bathroom brushing her teeth. He’s the kid who doesn’t seem to be progressing as well as Kate thinks he should. From what she’s told me, he’s a nice kid. He just seems to be distracted by things at home.

His parents, on the other hand, aren’t as delightful as little eight-year-old Jonas, unfortunately. They’ve postponed this meeting twice already because neither one of them seems to have the time in their schedules. Kate practically had to bring the principal into the matter to get them to agree to today’s meeting. From what she’s heard from the little guy, he spendsmore time with his nanny than either of his high-powered and very successful parents.

I roll out of bed much slower than Kate and crack my neck. My prosthetic hand sits on the dresser a few feet away, and on most days, putting that on would be the first thing I do.

I’ve got something better in mind for this morning, though.

“You’re going to be great. It’s not like you’re asking them to come in because the kid’s a problem child. You’re just hoping to work with them to get him to where you think he can be,” I say as I make my way toward the bathroom.

Stopping in the doorway, I lean against the wall and watch as she finishes up the all-important first task of her day. She’s so beautiful, even first thing in the morning when her hair is a mess (her words, not mine) and she’s wearing one of my old T-shirts from college that comes down almost to her knees.

When she finishes rinsing the toothpaste out of her mouth, she looks over at me and smiles, shaking her head. “How is it possible you always wake up looking as good as you do when you walk into a room in a tux while I need an hour first thing before I can even think of walking out in public?”

“You don’t. You just think you do. You’re just as gorgeous right now a few minutes after waking up as you are dressed to the nines.”

Kate mumbles something about life being unfair as I step into the bathroom and move behind her. Wrapping my arms around her waist, I nuzzle her neck as I tilt my hips forward to let her know I’m up and raring to go.

“I think you need a little Ronan to get you set for your day,” I whisper against her skin just below her ear.

She looks at me in the mirror and grins. “Nothing about you is little, honey.”

Glancing up, I shrug. “Well, he’s little Ronan to my big Ronan. Whatever you want to call him, he’s ready, and I thinkthe two of us will be sorely disappointed if you say you want to shower alone today.”

Even now, after being together for so long and living together for nearly a year, she blushes, utterly seducing me. She has no idea she can do that with just a little smile and her cheeks growing pink. Turning in my hold, she looks up at me, stands on her tiptoes, and presses a tiny kiss to my lips.

“How am I supposed to say no when you’re so sexy and clearly up and at ‘em?” she asks while she slides her palms down over my chest and ribs.

I dip my head and kiss her minty fresh mouth. “You’re not.”

Kate palms my cock and rubs the pad of her thumb on the underside, sending waves of need coursing through my body. She knows exactly what to do to make me go wild for her.