Page 10 of Falling for the Queen Mother

The young man pushed the silver delivery cart into the room and left it next to the small dining table. He turned and bowed toward the queen again. "Have a good evening, ma'am, sir."

"Thank you."

A moment later, the door was closed again and Nathaniel set the domed plate on the table. "The smell is already making my mouth water." He nodded toward the other seat. "I'd love to have your company, if you don't mind watching me eat." If he wasn't so hungry, he would have set the food to the side and spent the time with Alaina then eaten later.

The expression on her face waffled a couple of times then she nodded before taking the seat.

While he ate, they talked about a few different things, but nothing overly serious. He shared a couple of stories about his children when they were little and she did the same. When he talked about his grandchildren, he detected a hint of wistfulness in her voice.

She seemed ready to be a grandmother, but her children hadn't become parents yet. It likely wouldn't be long before the current king and queen made an announcement, but they hadn't yet.

Once he finished, they went back out onto the balcony. This time they took a seat in the chairs provided. The conversation continued in much the same vein as it had before, lighthearted and avoiding any mention of the potential scandal in the archives.

He didn't realize how long they'd been talking until dusk settled in. The balcony faced east, so they couldn't see the setting sun, but eventually daylight began to disappear. As the first stars began to peek through the twilight, the Queen Mother stood.

"I believe it's time for me to return to my own quarters, Nathaniel. Thank you for a lovely evening."

He stood to walk her to the door, but before he could open it, she looked up at him.

The same desire he'd had before came back in full force and Nathaniel took a step closer to her.

"Alaina." He said her name softly and reached up to brush a bit of her silver-streaked dark hair back off her face. "It's been a long time since I wanted to kiss a woman.” The back of his knuckles brushed along the side of her jaw as her eyes fluttered closed. "But I want to kiss you."

Her hands came to rest on his abdomen as she leaned in a little closer. "I wish you would."

So he did.

The kiss probably should have caught Alaina far more off-guard than it did, but she had encouraged it.

As Nathaniel pulled her closer to him, her fingers grasped hold of his shirt and she let herself melt into him. Not completely. Not to the point that she couldn't hold herself up, but with her thinking as muddled as it already was, she probably couldn't have told anyone her name at that point.

One of his hands found its way into the hair at the base of her neck, holding her even closer to him.

Out of one spot in the back of her mind, she realized something. A sound. But it couldn't be nearly as important the connection between herself and Nathaniel.

There it was again.

And again it didn't matter.

But then...

"Mother!"

The sound of her eldest son snapping at her was enough to break Alaina's kiss addled mind out of its stupor.

She didn't let go of Nathaniel's shirt even as he tried to move away from her. "Yes, Frederick?"

"What exactly is going on here?" he demanded.

"Nothing that is any of your business." She let her heels sink back to the floor, her eyes still closed as she felt Nathaniel's breath against the hair at her temple.

"It's my house, Mother. Anything that goes on here is my business."

That was enough for her to step back, her eyes flashing as she turned to her son. "No. It's not. I'm an adult. So is Nathaniel." She took a step toward Frederick. "I am your mother, not your dependent, and I'm sure the people would have something to say about this being your house. It is your home, where you live and work, but you do not own it and you know that."

His arms crossed in front of his chest. "And I'm the king."

It took everything in Alaina not to laugh. He looked so much like he had as a small child when he wasn't getting his own way.