OMG, how great are you guys, thank you for the reviews, they get pampered and cuddled of course :D

So here´s the next part, hope you´ll continue to read, like and review!

---

The knock at the door wasn´t exactly surprising but Josef still hadn´t dared to hope that it would come.

It was late, almost midnight and as far as he knew everyone had gone to bed by now, the day had held enough excitement to exhaust everyone on the staff.

He opened the door and just like he had expected found the queen outside, dressed in a cream colored satin robe and matching slippers.

"May I come in?"

She simply asked and he nodded, letting her walk past him into the room before closing the door again and turning around to her.

Josef felt as though he was drawn to her by an invisible force and his arms wrapped around her waist before he had even noticed he was moving at all just as Clarisse´s hands moved up his chest and came to rest on his shoulders.

This time the kiss was sweet and slow, rather a promise of forever than the anxious fulfillment from earlier that day.

"You know, actually I thought we would talk" she whispered against his lips, her smile evident in her voice.

"Are you sure you want to talk?"

"Hm, no, not sure- don´t you think we should talk, though?"

"Is there any need to talk? You know that I love you, I know that you love me and we both know that right now there can´t be more than this, stolen moments no one can know about- I can do that, at least for as long as it´s necessary, I´d do anything to be with you, Clarisse."

She laid her head against his shoulder, relaxing and Josef kissed her temple, then said "Do you want to sleep here? I promise I´ll be a gentle man."

She laughed softly.

"Aren´t you always- you have to promise that you wake me early though, my maid will bring my tea at six thirty."

"That can be arranged, my Darling."

"Well- then I´d love to sleep here" she smiled up at him, a little shyly, reminding Josef of the girl he had carried upstairs to her bedroom so many years ago after one catastrophic state dinner.

Holding her in his arms almost felt too good to be true he thought when they were finally lying in bed, Clarisse´s head on his chest, his arms wrapped around her as he listened to her calm breathing.

---

"Clarisse, Darling, we have to get up."

He kissed her cheek gently, then watched as she opened her large blue eyes.

"This wasn´t a dream?"

He shook his head, smiling.

"No, it was real- it still is real- if you want it to be."

"Oh, I do" she replied, her hand closing around his neck and pulling him down to her and their lips met in a tender kiss, then Clarisse sat up and reached for her robe.

"Will you join me for breakfast?"

"Of course, Your Majesty" Josef answered in a very serious tone, causing her to giggle in a rather girlish way.

"Good, I´ll see you in half an hour then."

She leaned over to him and quickly kissed his cheek, then opened the door a crack and, after making sure no one was in sight, slipped out of the room.

---

Charlotte was standing in front of the sofa, a clipboard in hand when Josef entered the queen´s library.

"Good morning, Your Majesty- Charlotte" he smiled at the younger woman, then sat down in on the sofa in front of the desk.

"Good morning, Josef."

Clarisse sounded just like always but Josef could see a slight blush creeping into her cheeks- Charlotte didn´t seem to notice it but smiles brightly at him.

"Hello, Joe- aren´t you going to pick the princess up?"

"It´s Saturday, Charlotte, there´s no school today."

"Oh- right."

She turned back to the desk.

"That would be all, Your Majesty- anything else I can do?"

"No, thank you, Charlotte, you may leave- I´ll see you at lunch."

The younger woman smiled at Josef on her way to the door which closed behind her moments later, leaving Josef alone with the queen.

Clarisse rounded the desk and sat down on the sofa next to him, smiling when he seized her hand and kissed it gently.

"I think I´ll come with you when you pick Mia up later, what do you think?"

"I would like that very much- when are we going?"

"Right after lunch with the Greek ambassador- I have a feeling that everyone seized the opportunity to come to California to meet me."

"Well, I suppose it´s a nice change from the grey East coast weather and it´s much closer than to come to Genovia to talk to you."

"I suppose you are right- coffee?"

"Yes, thank you."

They sat in silence for a while, enjoying each other´s company until Clarisse finally said "I´m really sorry but I have to ask you to give Mia another dancing lesson, she desperately needs it for the ball."

"Of course- though only if you promise me to send her home straight away afterwards and stay a little while longer yourself."

Clarisse smiled lovingly at him, then nodded.

"That sounds like a very good idea to me."

---

"Darling?"

"Hm?"

They were dancing slowly, Clarisse´s head on Josef´s shoulder as the room slowly grew darker around them.

"You will have to change for dinner soon."

"I know" she sighed without lifting her head up or showing any desire to disentangle herself from his arms.

"Just a few more minutes."

"If it was up to me you could have all the time in the world, you know that- that reminds me, how did your dress fitting go?"

"Very well, you´ll like the dress."

"I like whatever you wear, you are always beautiful."

There was silence until the song they had been dancing to ended and Clarisse looked up.

"I´m afraid I really have to go now- I´ll meet you in the hall in an hour?"

"Of course, I´ll be in the security room till then, I want to check if everything is in working order."

---

She looked exceptionally pretty in a navy blue gown and matching heels as she swept down the stairs to greet the prime minister and his wife.

"Your Majesty, you look absolutely stunning" Sebastian gushed, kissing Clarisse´s hand and she laughed softly.

"Thank you, I aim to please- shall we then?"

She led the way over to the table where a few other members of the Genovian parliament were already waiting, there had been no way around inviting them to tonight´s dinner as they were already in town for the ball.

"Good evening, gentlemen" Clarisse allowed each of the men to kiss her hand, then sat down at the head of the table.

Her eyes found Josef´s and she smiled lightly, a tiny gesture that went unnoticed by anyone but him.

---

"It feels wrong, you know" Clarisse said as they walked down the garden path side by side, the queen still in her gown, Josef in his usual black.

"What feels wrong?"

"Treating you like this- not being able to openly smile at you or to have you sitting beside me."

"That time will come, Clarisse, for now I´m more than happy to have you near me at all."

"Oh, Josef."

She halted her steps and leaned against him, her arms wrapping around his waist as he pulled her closer.

"At times like this I wished I was just a normal woman."

"It´s at times like this that you are, my Darling- now come, let´s get you into bed, you are tripping over your heels already."

"You are awful- I am the queen, you should overlook things like that."

"I thought you wanted to be normal" he teased back, offering her his arm.

"Well, I suppose being normal might be harder than it seems."

"Well, you´ll never have to try it, it´s just a game."

She looked amused as he led her back over to the garden doors.

---

"Are you sure?"

Josef had knocked on the door of Clarisse´s rooms to say goodnight to her and now found himself being asked to spend the night there.

"Yes, of course."

She closed the door behind him and Josef looked around the room, he had been in here before but never had time to examine it at leisure.

"LIke what you see?"

The queen asked, turning around to him.

"Always."

He replied, his eyes traveling over her body clad in a purple silk nightgown and a matching robe and Clarisse blushed.

"I was talking about the room, not about- well- me."

"The room is very nice- tasteful, not too pompous but no understatement either, just like you."

"So you will be comfortable, good."

She hesitated for a moment, then extended her hand and Josef took it, following her over to the large bed.

The queen folded back the sheets, then motioned for him to get in and Josef settled down onto the mattress, feeling a bit awkward but the feeling got lost instantly when Clarisse shrugged out of her robe and joined him, the sensation of her warm body in his arms overwhelming him.

"I still can´t believe I finally told you how I felt" she admitted and Josef looked back at her curiously.

"How long have you wanted to?"

"I don´t really know, you were always more than a friend of course, you were closer to me than anyone, you were around me almost all the time, I shared a lot of things with you I didn´t share with anyone else- in the first years I never permitted myself to really ponder on it though but then the boys went away to school and I began to feel more lonely and at some point I couldn´t deny anymore that you were the man I thought of while listening to love songs or who I would imagine while reading a romantic novel or poem- and then it became more and more obvious how you felt about me and suddenly it was all even more dangerous and exciting at the same time."

"Your Majesty, I´m shocked, I´d never have guess that you could have second thoughts about your Head of Security" Josef joked, pulling her still closer and kissing her hair.

"I´m glad I finally found the courage to tell you" she stifled a yawn and Josef pulled the sheets a bit higher around them.

"Go to sleep, Beautiful."

---

"Is there anything you want to discuss?"

Josef asked, getting tired of Charlotte´s pointed looks.

"That depends- what would you say if I told you that I was a little bit distracted this morning when I went to give a printed e- mail to Her Majesty and forgot to knock?"

Josef´s face was impressive.

"I´d say I consider you as a friend- both mine and Her Majesty´s."

Charlotte nodded slowly.

"That´s all I wanted to know."

"Actually not exactly, there isn´t anything to know about- not more than what you might have seen."

"And is it going to stay that way?"

Charlotte now sounded curious.

"That my dear Charlotte is none of your business, as much as I regret to torture you like this."

Charlotte bit her lip to keep herself from giggling.

"I think I understand- so good luck then, Joe."

"Thank you, Charlotte- don´t you have to be somewhere?"

Charlotte looked at her watch and gasped.

"Oh my God, Her Majesty will kill me."

She hurried off, leaving a highly amused Josef alone at the kitchen table.