Tagan's Child (47 page)

He dropped his
wallet on the ground and took his boxers off. I removed the rest of
my underwear. We stood naked, facing one another, neither of us
saying a word. Ahran gently cupped my face in his hands and stared
into my eyes. It felt like a hundred years passed before his lips
actually touched mine, the delay making my heart pound so hard I
thought it might bruise my ribcage. My hands hung limp at my side,
paralysed by the wave of emotion I felt. He took a small step
forward and I felt his arousal up against my abdomen. I reached my
hands around his back and pressed him to me.

He gently eased
me down until my body came into contact with the soft, cool grass.
He broke away briefly to roll on some protection and then straddled
me, clasping my hands on either side of my head. I was more than
happy to surrender myself to him.

He kissed me
tenderly, soft warm kisses fuelling the fire that was already
burning in my veins. I tilted my hips towards him. How could he be
so slow and deliberate when every nip of his mouth and stroke of
his tongue made me want to grind myself into him like a scarlet
woman?

I felt his
chuckle rumble in his chest. “Easy, Mootya. I want to take it slow
and show you how much I appreciate your beautiful body.”

“Slow, schmow,”
I panted scornfully and grasped his buttocks. How I’d changed.
There had been times in my gloomy sexual past when I had dreaded
the moment of penetration but with Ahran I almost begged for it.
What had this man done to me? Whatever it was, I loved it and I
couldn’t get enough of him.

“Okay, you
don’t make it very easy for me. One day we will make love slowly
and I will worship every beautiful part of you,” he promised
breathlessly.

He gently eased
himself into me and I held myself still, providing the resistance
he needed. We both moaned quietly when he made contact with my
deepest parts. He didn’t make any attempt to move immediately and
we stared deep into each other’s eyes, our emotions flowing freely
between them. I disentangled one of my hands and touched the side
of his face, marvelling at the strange twist of fate that had
brought us together. There was a God and he was lying here in my
arms.

Ahran began a
slow unhurried rhythm. I moved my hand away from his face and down
to his backside pulling him into me every time he made a downward
sweep. We took and we gave and we savoured every sweet sensation
until the moment we both fell into one another.

*****

Ahran pulled
the front door shut and locked it. He turned back towards me. “It’s
been an incredible day.” He smoothed my hair and concentrated on
tucking a strand behind my ear.

I looked up at
him and nodded in agreement. We had spent a blissful hour or so by
the river and when we had walked away from it my doubts and fears
about us had drifted away like the leaves floating on its surface.
It was as if a large and suffocating stone had been lifted off my
chest and for the first time in my life I was able to draw in a
deep satisfying breath.

He positioned
himself squarely in front of me and took my face in his hands. He
rubbed his thumbs over my cheeks and paused meaningfully.

“I love you,”
he said, his eyes blazing into mine.

I absorbed his
words into my heart. If I’d had any lingering doubts about what the
future might hold those three little words had just blown them
away.

Our day was
over far too quickly. We’d spent the journey back to the palace
holding hands, our fingers laced together in Ahran’s lap and taking
turns to stare at each other like lovesick teenagers. I didn’t want
this feeling to ever end but unfortunately our day together had to,
as we dutifully adhered to Halsan’s parting words this morning.

“Who’s going to
be there this evening?” I asked.

“Most of
Dinaran nobility, I would imagine.”

“That’s not
daunting at all,” I said.

“You’ll be
fine, most of them are okay and you’ll meet my parents
tonight.”

“You didn’t
mention anything about your parents being there.” I swivelled in my
seat and looked at him in horror. I wasn’t ready to meet them,
especially his father, who I had begun to dislike with a passion. I
don’t know why it hadn’t occurred to me that they would be there,
of course they would be there, they were part of the King and
Queen’s royal circle.

“They won’t
bite,” Ahran said.

“After what
I’ve heard about your father, I’m not so sure about that.”

He chuckled.
“Don’t worry, he usually behaves himself in company.”

“You’re not
making me feel any better.”

Ahran put his
hand on my thigh and gave it a squeeze. “It will be good for you to
meet them sooner rather than later, it will make it less daunting
for you when I eventually introduce you to them as my
girlfriend.”

Panic flooded
my body.

Ahran brought
my hand to his mouth and planted a reassuring kiss on my knuckles.
“You’ll like my mother, she’s nice.”

I couldn’t help
thinking this said more about his father than his mother.

“I know she’ll
like you.”

“That might not
last when she finds out I’m the reason you broke up with Talina,” I
said, feeling unconvinced.

“Let’s just
take things one step at a time.”

Some things
were easier said than done.

We drove
through the gates and pulled up in front of the palace. I looked up
at the King and Queen’s understated residence. I was dreading the
next few hours and half contemplated grabbing Toby and running off
with Ahran somewhere away from it all. But instead, I would have to
endure the evening pretending that Ahran and I were nothing more
than just friends.

I gave him a
peck on the cheek. “See you later.”

“Goodbye for
now, my beautiful Mootya,” he said softly.

I only had an
hour to get ready. When I got back to my room Toby had already
changed and was playing on a game console I hadn’t seen before.

“Hi,” I said,
kissing his hair and squeezing his shoulders.

“Hi,” he
replied, tearing his eyes away long enough to give me a quick smile
before turning his attention back to the screen.

“Where did you
get that from?” I asked.

“Leylana gave
it to me. She said it was a late birthday present.”

I rolled my
eyes. “That was nice of her.” I sighed. As I suspected, he was
going to be utterly spoilt. “Have you had a nice day?” I asked over
my shoulder, walking into my bedroom.

Toby came and
sat on my bed, his desire to tell me about his day outstripping his
desire to continue playing his computer game.

“It was
brilliant! You should’ve seen the foals they were so cute, their
legs looked too long for their bodies. I even sat on one of the
racehorses.”

“You
didn’t?”

“Yep! Halsan
said he was their best horse and hasn’t lost a race yet. In a few
weeks’ time, he’s going to take me to the races so I can watch him
race.”

“Wow! That’ll
be exciting.” I tried not to feel irritated that Halsan was making
plans involving Toby again without asking my permission. I silently
counselled myself that it was okay for the King and Queen to give
Toby gifts, and that it was important he spent time with them. I
was hoping that the more I said it the more I would believe it.
Other than with Katie, I’d never had to share him.

I sat down on
the bed next to him. “How are you feeling about everything now?” I
asked, wondering how he was coping with so much change.

“Don’t worry
about me Auntie Sophie, I’m fine. It’s really nice to have a
family.” I flinched at his words, even though I knew having the sum
total of a single auntie hardly constituted a family. I’d spent so
much time worrying about whether I was losing Toby, I hadn’t
realised how much he was enjoying being with his grandparents. On
so many occasions he had witnessed other children’s grandparents
waiting at the school gates ready to whisk them off for an
afternoon treat. I should have been pleased he now had grandparents
of his own. And in a way I was, but it was such a big adjustment
for me.

“I’m so pleased
you are happy.” I gave him a hug. “Right, I’ve got less than an
hour to do something with this hair,” I pointed to my head and
pulled a cross-eyed grimace.

“You’ve got
grass in it,” Toby said, reaching over and plucking it out to show
me.

“How on earth
did that get there?” I said quickly and jumped off the bed. “I must
get ready, or we’re going to be really late.” I scooted into the
bathroom to avoid giving him an explanation.

I ran a bath,
lowered myself into the warm suds and laid my head back, my eyes
closing automatically. I tried not to dwell on the evening ahead
and for the next twenty minutes replayed every perfect moment of
the day I had just spent. Ahran had told me he loved me. Who needed
poetry when those three little words existed? I couldn’t quite
believe it. Ahran was in love with me and I had never felt
happier.

After I’d
washed and the water had begun to cool, I pulled myself out with a
sigh. I wrapped my hair in a towel and went back into my bedroom to
see what had appeared in my wardrobe. It was like something out of
a children’s story book, every time I opened the doors new clothes
had appeared.

I had been
provided with a number of beautiful dresses that wouldn’t have
looked out of place on the red carpet at an L.A. premiere. It only
served to heighten my nerves. I chose a floor length, dusky rose,
satin dress with a surprisingly plunging neckline. If I didn’t know
better I would say Leylana wanted me to attract the attention of a
certain ineligible bachelor. After blow drying my hair I carefully
applied make-up and chose a silver vintage style clutch bag and
shoes to match. I stepped in front of the mirror to assess the
overall look. I was pleased with the result, the dress clung in all
the right places without being too revealing.

Our servant
escorted me and Toby to the gathering and took us to a part of the
palace I hadn’t been before. We entered a large banqueting hall
decorated with swathes of fresh flowers and greenery. At one end
were beautifully laid tables with more fresh flowers and there were
a number of servants circulating the room with trays of champagne
ensuring that no-one’s glass was empty. I wondered if Ahran’s
parents were here yet. I put my arm around Toby, more to reassure
myself than him. Out of nowhere, a young man appeared and I lifted
a glass off his tray. I took a sip and scanned the room for Ahran.
There were more than two dozen people here already. The King was
deep in conversation with a tall slim man sporting a short pointy
beard and the Queen stood at his elbow. That was until she spotted
us. She came over to where I was standing. Toby was fidgeting by my
side.

“Ah! There you
both are. I’d like you to come over and meet my aunt and uncle the
Duke and Duchess of Tulkan, they are very keen to meet you.” I knew
the Queen probably didn’t mean me, but I went with them anyway.

The room began
to fill and I was amazed at how patient Toby was as he was whisked
from one group of people to the next. I kept my eye on the door
wondering where Ahran had got to.

I was on my
second glass of champagne when he came through the door accompanied
by an older couple. The man was slightly shorter than Ahran and had
sandy coloured hair peppered with grey, a well-defined brow and a
jawline that was familiar. His moustache was the same colour as his
hair and he stood ramrod straight like a colonel in the army about
to deliver orders to his brigade. I silently shot daggers at him.
The woman at his side was slim, elegant, and beautiful with white
blond hair, artfully styled into a feminine bob. They made a
striking pair, but even their combined attractiveness was no match
for their son’s, who had clearly inherited all their best features
and then some. He looked resplendent in a beautifully tailored dark
grey suit, crisp white shirt and matching grey tie. It was the
first time I had seen him formally dressed. He looked like a
successful, international business magnate and the sight of him set
my pulse racing.

Ahran was
scanning the guests and I was half tempted to hide but he soon
spotted me.

Luckily, his
parents stopped to talk to another couple and he made his way over
to me on his own. He let out a low whistle. “You look utterly
gorgeous, I shall look forward to making love to you in that dress
later tonight,” he whispered as he kissed my cheek.

“You look
pretty good yourself,” I said quietly. He smelt divine.

“I can see that
Toby is doing the rounds.”

I followed his
gaze to find Toby standing next to the Queen who had her arm draped
protectively around his shoulders. They were talking to two women
of Leylana’s age and Toby was doing his best to be polite and grown
up. Every now and then he scratched the back of his head, which was
something he always did when he felt awkward and uncomfortable. I
felt the urge to go over and rescue him but I chose not to. Social
engagements were another thing he was going to have to get used
to.

“Do you want to
meet my parents whilst Toby is busy?”

“I don’t think
I’ve had enough champagne,” I declared.

“Come on,
you’ll be fine,” he said with a chuckle, steering me in their
direction.

I panicked.
“You won’t leave me, will you?” I whispered.

“Never,” he
replied fervently.

We walked over
to where his parents were.

“Father,
mother, I’d like to introduce you to Sophie McAllister, Toby’s
aunt.”

“Sophie.
Driscan and Belayne Elessar,” Ahran said courteously.

“Hello, it’s
nice to meet you,” I said, extending my hand.