Page 58 of Royally Drawn (Resplendent Royals #3)

All Booked Up

INGRID

T ravelling to America with him at the controls of his private plane wasn’t how I anticipated starting my first Kentucky Three Day. It was the crown jewel of the American eventing season, and I could not refuse. I was supposed to ride my second horse, Bea. Cici kept her fit while I was gone. Everyone pulled for me. So, Keir or not, I sucked it up and proceeded.

Lars wasn’t cleared to fly. His Uncle called him to attend a remembrance ceremony for something. King Olav and Queen Kiersten already arrived to see Cecilia compete. So, Keir, Betty, and I headed to America together. Betty and Keir crewed the plane while I slept all the way there. And, somehow, we made it. It was late when we arrived, but we made it to the hotel in Lexington.

Betty retreated to her hotel room. I was about to do the same—hoping to just sleep through until the early morning hours when I could go get my horse and do a warm-up. Once I was back at the barn, I’d feel much better. However, as soon as I planned to leave Keir at the check-in desk, I was confronted with another problem. I wasn’t sure if he was waiting for me to thank him so he could go or was expecting much more.

“You’re relieved,” I said. “Thank you for your service, Lieutenant.”

“You know I haven’t been a Lieutenant in years, darling,” Keir said. “But you’re welcome.”

“Go on. Can’t you just… fly back?”

“I’m grounded,” Keir said. “I’m just waiting to get a room.”

The desk attendant returned. “Sir, we truly do not have a single room. Everything from Louisville to Cinci is booked.”

“I have no idea what any of that means,” Keir said. “But I am assuming that is not good?”

“It’s a no-go,” she winced.

“You can just fly back,” I said.

“No, Ingrid. I legally cannot. I just flew for twelve hours between flight and prep. The clock is up. I’m done. Legally, I’d risk my licence—not to mention my life.”

Fuck . I’d put him in this pickle. He hadn’t orchestrated being stranded in Kentucky during its busiest two weeks of the year. He’d done this for me—out of love. I may not have wanted to jump back into bed with him, but I didn’t want to leave him sleeping on a bench in the cold, either.

“Can I get another room key?” I asked the desk attendant.

“Sure,” she agreed. “You’re 544?”

I nodded.

She clicked the keys and slid me a second room key. “Here you are, ma’am.”

“Thanks,” I said, handing the car to Keir.

I turned, expecting he would follow me. Instead, he didn’t.

“Are you daft?” I asked. “It’s a key to my room. If you want to sleep somewhere, you have to follow me. We’re still stuck together, Keir.”

“You’re not going to kill me?”

“You just saved my ass, so no,” I said. “Come on!”

He trotted after me. We climbed on the lift together.

“I will be on my best behaviour,” Keir promised. “I am too knackered to do anything anyhow.”

“Is flying really that exhausting?”

“Over the Atlantic? It’s so boring,” Keir said. “But you get body sore. It’s a real thing. ”

“Sorry.”

“Why are you apologising? I’d do it a dozen more times if you’d talk to me like I existed, Ingrid.”

I was wounded, fighting tears. I could have written it off as him just trying to get into my pants again. I could have said he was just being selfish, but any selfish man wouldn’t take up his holiday time chasing a princess across an ocean to a horse show. That wasn’t a thing. It was like he said—he loved me.

The room was a welcome relief. I changed and tucked into bed. Keir tried to throw himself onto the sofa in the corner. It was ridiculous.

“You can sleep in the bed,” I said. “Just mind yourself. You’ll be miserable over there.”

“I’m good.”

“You don’t look it.”

“Ingrid, if I go over there, I’m just going to be honest with you… you’re will weasel your way into my arms overnight through some annoying magic.”

“You think so?” I asked.

“And I’m going to be hard as a rock—again, whether I want to be or not—and freak you out. Because even if I am exhausted, I cannot quit you, Ingrid.”

Fuck . Now, I couldn’t stop thinking about his cock. I was exhausted, emotionally fried, and frightened about competing. Still, I wanted him inside me.

“So, I’m gonna suffer on this couch. It beats sleeping rough out there or in many places I had to sleep in the past eight months.”

“Fine, suit yourself,” I said, trying to beat down the urge to throw myself at him.

I flicked off the light and lay there in silence. I thought about what it might be like to wake up next to him in the morning—how it would feel to touch him again and to have him do everything to me. I was too awake and too horny to rest. I contemplated getting out of bed, thinking I could run to the bathroom to shower and get myself off. It would work.

“Ingrid?”

I stopped.

“I am going to die over here,” Keir said. “I talk a big game, but this is the world’s most uncomfortable couch. If I promise to behave, can I please sleep in the bed? I could be gone before you even wake?—”

“Just come to bed,” I said. “Really. It’s fine. I trust you.”

Whether I really trusted him was immaterial. The image of Keir tempted me as he climbed into the bed. He lay a foot away from me, looking up at the ceiling just as I was.

“This is so fucking awkward,” Keir said.

I giggled. “So awkward. Betty couldn’t have expected this to happen. Of course, she’s proud of herself.”

“She really is. I must hand it to her. It’s more of a grand gesture than I ever imagined. And then only one bed? It’s like a movie.”

I smiled and looked over at him. “What did you imagine then?”

“I thought about writing you a letter,” Keir said. “I wrote and rewrote it hundreds of times, but I could never get it quite right. I also considered trying to engineer a sailing holiday where you ended up on my sailboat.”

“You just like shagging me on boats.”

“Anyone would like shagging you on boats.”

I snickered.

“There wasn’t a perfect way. I spent eight months thinking about you—eight months torturing myself and wondering what I could do to fix it,” Keir admitted.

He met my glance. I wanted to say something, but there was nothing to say. I reached for his hand and squeezed it. He turned. Even in the dark, his eyes showed so much love for me.

“I fucked up. I only wanted to promise you what I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt. The thought of losing you made me think to love you and to risk it all for kids… if you died, I’d end it all. I couldn’t do it without you.”

“And what’s changed?” I asked.

“I was without you for eight months, and it wasn’t better than with you. I dunno. I thought it would feel freeing and better, but I immediately regretted it. And I couldn’t say anything to you about it because…. I wasn’t around. ”

“I didn’t want you to stay back,” I said. “Of course I did. But I didn’t expect you to, Keir. I just wanted to discuss what would happen after we survived that six months. And you… you broke my heart. You couldn’t… wouldn’t even talk about it.”

“I wanted to be honest with you because I loved you—I do—even more, Ingrid. The minute I saw you again… I was hit with this same feeling. It’s you, or it’s no one.”

His words cut me to the core. It was me or no one .

“But it won’t work unless?—”

“I want you. I want a life with you, Ingrid—the whole thing. I’d be miserable if I didn’t try, okay? I’m ready when you’re ready. I will do what you want me to do. Take a desk job… whatever you want.”

“I don’t want you to give everything up for me,” I said.

“I won’t. I have about a year left. I will stay stationed at Marham and talk to my aunt about that—and we’ll have a nice little life in Norfolk until we figure out what is next. You can have your horses. I will play groom as much as I need.”

Tears welled.

“I will do whatever I need to earn your trust, Ingrid. Please.”

I crawled across the bed, landing in his arms. Resting my head on his chest, I let out the tears I’d been holding in for longer than even I knew. I let them flow. I didn’t have words. I was broken. I was happy. I was exhausted. I was in love. I was everything. There were no words for everything all at once. Keir held me close. He said nothing as he rubbed my back and let me get it all out.

Finally, I pulled back and looked at him.

“I want happiness. I deserve happiness. If you can promise more of that than what we’ve been through, I will give you a chance.”

“I love you, Ingrid. I’d give you everything—a house, kids, fifteen dogs, a thousand horses.”

I snickered. “A thousand horses? Really. That’s too much. Even for me.”

“I don’t care. Whatever brings you happiness. I am sorry I suggested you were simple for wanting any of it.”

“But do you want it? Or are you just trying to make me happy? Because making me happy won’t solve your problems if you aren’t. ”

“ You make me happy. I want us again. I want to wake up with you next to me, sketching something. I want to lounge in bed with you all day and follow you wherever you want. Ingrid, it’s you. It’s just you. Only you.”

“You still owe me almost a million I-love-yous,” I said.

“I will make up for it in earnest if you’d let me.”

I brushed his cheek, realising I wasn’t the only one who’d shed a tear. Keir pulled me into a kiss, running his fingers through my hair. My lips parted. Our tongues tangled, both of us hungry to quench this burning feeling. I had never wanted anything more than the security of knowing he was mine—forever—and that he wanted me to be happy. It was everything

He pressed me back against the bed and then stopped.

“I don’t want to do this right now,” Keir said. “Not while we’re both exhausted. Not before you have time to think it through and?—”

“Keir, I want this,” I said. “If you’re too tired, that’s fine, but… I’m not. I have thought it through, and this is all I want.”