Page 18 of Modern Romance September 2025 5-8

CHAPTER TEN

S OFIA WOKE UP when the shaft of bright midmorning sunlight slowly moving over her face eventually reached her eyelids.

For a moment, as she blinked away the sleepy fuzz clouding her vision, she couldn’t work out where she was.

Something was missing… The sway of the train…

But then she heard a rustle to her right, felt the faint brush of a hard male leg against hers, and it all came flooding back in glorious technicolour detail.

What a night , she thought with a wide satisfied smile.

It had been everything she’d dreamed of.

Better, actually, because her imagination had not had the ability to conjure up some of the things Ivo had done to her.

His dedication to the job wasn’t limited to his position as King.

His passion had collided with hers and detonated with the force of a nuclear explosion.

More than making up for lost time, he’d repeatedly drenched her in pleasure and by the time they’d finally succumbed to exhaustion just before dawn she’d barely been able to string a sentence together.

She’d never been so in sync with anyone.

He’d understood what she’d needed before she had.

Again. He’d taken her to heights she’d never dreamed of and she was still in one piece.

And because she had not imploded as a result of the experience, it occurred to her now, while she was feeling all warm and sated and mellow, that rather than being something to avoid, perhaps this intense connection they shared was something to build on instead.

They were tied to each other for life. They had to forge some sort of a relationship outside the bedroom and work, and she couldn’t deny that, after his ardent and unguarded confession last night, she was fascinated by the thought of what else might be going on beneath his very attractive surface.

How much of a risk to her heart would it be to find out a bit more about her husband, the man behind the crown?

How dangerous could simple conversation be?

Not a lot, surely. It needn’t get heavy.

And, OK, so the trouble she’d always had in making friends indicated that she wasn’t exactly an expert in this field, but Ivo was going nowhere and she did enjoy a challenge.

And maybe if her parents had talked more about how they felt instead of letting their grievances fester, they’d have argued less.

So the voice in her head that was trying to remind her of both her intention to keep this strictly physical and all the reasons she should not be encouraging even the lightest of emotional entanglement could pipe down.

She’d keep her guard up and her feelings contained. Everything would be fine.

Deciding that there was no time like the present to activate this plan, Sofia summoned up every drop of strength she possessed and glanced over to find Ivo lying on his side, propped up on his elbow.

Their gazes met, his dark and smouldering, and longing shivered through her.

She could scarcely believe she and the man she loved were actually in bed together.

It didn’t seem real. Beneath the sheets, she pinched herself.

Hard. Too hard, in fact, which was why she winced and let out a gasp.

‘Good morning,’ he said gruffly, as she surreptitiously rubbed the stinging spot on her thigh and wondered how on earth she’d survive the day if he put his mind to surpassing the night.

‘Good morning.’

‘Are you all right?’

‘I’m fine. Just a little achy.’ It wasn’t a lie. ‘Muscles I wasn’t aware I had are making themselves known. I’ve never had a workout like it. You definitely proved your point about delayed gratification. Plus, I seem to have stubble rash everywhere.’

He ran his gaze over her, hotly, languidly, as if cataloguing every spot he’d set his mouth to, which was why it took a while. ‘Not everywhere.’

‘No,’ she agreed, as fire licked through her in the wake of his scrutiny. ‘You avoided my face. That was clever of you. The press would have had a field day if I’d appeared in public with red patches on my cheeks and chin.’

‘I know what I’m doing.’

‘You certainly do.’

‘Want me to prove it again?’

Her blood thickened and slowed and desire began to throb in the pit of her belly, but she ignored it. She was on a mission of a different kind. ‘Later.’

‘Why waste time?’ Leaning over, he ran a hand from her jaw, down her neck, and would have slipped it beneath the sheet she was clutching to her chest had she not removed it and given it back to him.

‘You’re insatiable.’

‘And you aren’t? I distinctly recall you begging me for more on a number of different occasions.’

Sofia swallowed hard. He wasn’t wrong, but this little trip down memory lane wasn’t helping her focus one little bit. ‘I need a break,’ she said. ‘And sustenance,’ she added, flushing when her stomach chose that moment to rumble.

‘I’ll order breakfast. We can’t have you fading away.’

He rolled back to reach for his phone and she fought the urge to reacquaint herself with the bumps and ridges of his abs. ‘I know what we can do while we wait.’

He glanced up from the device and a gleam lit the dark depths of his eyes. ‘That’s an excellent idea,’ he said, evidently thinking of something she hadn’t. ‘Showering together is good for the environment. And I would enjoy lathering you up.’

She’d enjoy that too. But not just yet. ‘I meant, we could talk.’

He stilled and arched an eyebrow at that. ‘Talk?’

‘About last night. Before this—’ she waved a hand between them ‘—happened.’

Ivo deposited his phone back on the bedside table and frowned. ‘I’d rather not.’

‘It was quite a speech.’

‘Yes, well, as I said at the time, I’d reached the end of my tether.’

‘I could see that. You paced.’

‘I did,’ he agreed with a grimace.

‘You looked and sounded crazed.’

‘As if I need reminding.’

‘It was actually rather flattering,’ she admitted, shifting so she lay a bit more upright. ‘I’ve never had that effect on anyone.’

‘No one’s ever had that effect on me.’

‘Now I’m even more flattered.’

‘I’ve also never been married before or spent so much time with one woman in such intense circumstances,’ he said. ‘So don’t overthink it.’

Right. Of course. Good of him to set her feet back on the ground, because getting swept away by fancy was not part of the plan.

But was that all it was? Would any old wife have driven him to such distraction?

‘So how long have you wanted me?’ she asked, silently cursing her need to be told she was special despite her best efforts to kill it.

‘For about a month,’ he said, confirming what she’d known since the start—that she wasn’t special at all—which tanked her spirits even though it shouldn’t.

‘As my Communications Secretary you were automatically off-limits. I didn’t even go there until the moment I decided to take you as my wife.

I’d summoned you into my office to instruct you to launch a marketing blitz that would broaden the country’s appeal, and mine.

Then it struck me how suited to the role of Queen you’d be, and suddenly your hair reminded me of the cornfields in the north.

Your eyes made me think of the sea where it meets the beach.

The poetic nature of my observations came as quite a shock. ’

‘I can imagine.’

‘And all you admired was my integrity.’

‘Don’t forget your sense of duty and responsibility and your equanimity.’

‘How could I?’ he observed dryly. ‘I never thought I suffered from vanity until you mentioned those.’

‘They’re valuable traits.’

‘I know. But they’re not all you admire about me, are they?’

No, they weren’t. Because, as she’d come to realise, they weren’t all he was, and her feelings were expanding to embrace every new glimpse into his character she got, despite the depressing fact that to him she merely remained convenient.

And then there was his body, to which no doubt he was referring.

‘I think I’ve made that abundantly clear,’ she said with a shiver as she thought of the many inventive ways she’d worshipped him with her hands and mouth.

‘If you could have read my mind when I joined you in the lobby yesterday evening before we went down to the ball, you’d have been shocked to the core.

Or maybe you wouldn’t, given the past twelve hours. ’

‘You said I looked nice .’

Had her understatement stung? Surely not. For that to happen he’d have to care what she thought of him, and he didn’t. He just desired her body. ‘I lied,’ she admitted, thinking back to the moment she’d laid eyes on him and almost forgotten her name. ‘You looked magnificent. You always do.’

His eyebrows lifted. ‘Always? How long have you wanted me ?’

Damn. That was careless of her. The last thing she needed to do was admit the truth and invite questions it would be too risky to answer.

So she’d better get that guard back up—and fast. ‘I’ll admit to having a crush on you when I was fifteen,’ she said, choosing her words with care.

‘But I can’t have been the only teenager in the world to have an image of you pinned up on my wall.

The crush faded soon enough. As did the poster.

And naturally I’ve been aware of your looks since we’ve been working together.

I’m not dead. But it was never a problem until you proposed. ’

Which was true. Sort of. It hadn’t been a problem, at least not on a professional level. ‘The kiss at the altar threw me too. And you aren’t the only one who unintentionally lost control on our wedding night. It’s been a struggle getting it back.’

‘I’d never have guessed.’

‘That was the point. My self-respect was under attack. And anyway, you’re hardly one to talk. You’re just as good at concealment as I am.’