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“Like it?”
I twisted around. Raphael leaned against the opposite wall, watching me. The heat in his dark eyes practically scalded me.
“It’s perfect. The thick stone walls especially.”
In his bedroom last night, I’d been conscious of making too much noise. Castle Braithar was huge, and no doubt with thick stone walls, but I didn’t know how close his friends slept or who might wander past the door. Here, we could be as loud as we liked.
His lips curved, but he pushed off the wall and jacked a thumb at the bathroom. “Twenty minutes, princess, then we hit the road again. Don’t give me those eyes and make us late. I’m cooking, remember?”
Right.Getting my hair and make-up done in that time would be a challenge, but I wasn’t going to start without something first. I snagged his hand and stopped him, cupping his neck to bring his mouth to mine for a fast, hard kiss.
Raphael’s hand slid into my hair, and he returned the kiss with a passion that gave away how much hid under his controlled surface.
I broke away. “I’ve never had a place of my own that wasn’t just a bedroom. You don’t know what this means to me.”
Leaving him in my dust, I scrambled to get ready to meet his family. Another first. As far as I was concerned, he could have them all.
Our early evening drive took us through winding roads on the vast estate, and Raphael pointed out houses as we passed, telling me who lived where. There was a real community among the residents, lots of young families, many of them being relatives of Gordain McRae’s. Raphael told me how often the locals got together for parties and socials.
“Coming from my background of a broken home and every movement carried out on a public stage, you make me quite jealous,” I told him.
We were approaching a new property, clearly modern, but designed to blend into the landscape. He parked up and turned to me. “Most people would assume the opposite about ye. That your life is charmed.”
“I should check my privilege, right?”
There was nothing but kindness in his eyes. “That isn’t what I mean. Only that I know ye better.”
I wanted him to. I wanted to know about him even more.
“I grew up in palaces but with two parents who hated each other and made sure I knew it, then shipped me off to boarding school because that was the done thing for kids like me. My father changed his tune after he was ill, and mourned the wifehe’d lost. When drunk, he confesses that he hates the royal family and how it drove Mum away, though he can’t really blame it all on the family. He’d cheated on her all throughout their marriage. She did with him as well. Nowadays, I only hear from her if she wants palace gossip, and you know what’s happening with my dad.”
He watched me in that so engaging way of his. “Then came me and the university picture which put you in the headlines for all the wrong reasons.”
I stared right back, the whole scene shifting in my head. “More and more, I think I got that wrong. I saw it as a curse when it was something else entirely. It brought you into my life.”
Another car pulled up alongside ours, Jackson jumping down then rounding to let out a dark-haired woman who had to be Ariel. Our time to talk was over. I hadn’t been brave enough to ask Raphael any big questions.
Later, I would.
Inside the oldest Gordonson’s home, I was introduced to Raphael’s two siblings, and to Effie, Gabe’s wife, who was more pregnant than any person I’d ever seen before in my life.
“Almost two weeks overdue,” she griped. “And the bairn is an acrobat in the making.”
I gave a sympathetic smile. “You’re cooking that one up good.”
“Which means he or she is going to be huge. I’m so screwed.”
She grinned, though it was tinged with a grimace that had her cupping her lower belly while we all moved to the kitchen where Raphael laid out ingredients on the counter. At Effie’s request, he was making hot and spicy chicken noodles, and I sidled up.
“Can I help?”
Raphael grinned then gestured for me to take over what he was doing. I rounded to the chopping board then wrinkled my nose.
“This is ginger, right? Don’t laugh at me, but what do I do with it?”
Raphael set a pan down on the hob and came over, standing directly behind me with both arms around me to guide my hands. Having him this close heightened my awareness.
Especially when he stooped to put his lips to my ear. “See that teaspoon? Use it to peel the skin off the ginger, then grate it.”