In the morning she lay in his arms, wearing nothing but the necklace with the flour and the ring around her neck. Raising the pendants to her lips, she kissed them. His leg was in the middle of hers, sheets tangled around them. His arm draped over her gently, his hand resting on her breast. She could feel him up against her bare back.

She'd never woken with a man like this, and certainly had never woken like this with a man to whom she was not married.

But, for all intents and purposes, she was an engaged woman for the first time in over 40 years.

The first time and only time she was promised to a man had been Rupert. She was too young to remember their first meeting, but now she thought it strange that their first meeting had been when she was only 6 years old. He had been 17, and she wondered how he could have married her after she was basically his kid sister for 10 years. They met on holidays, and Clarisse was fully aware that she was going to marry him and become queen – she just wasn't sure what that meant.

No one had warned her about what would happen when they consummated their marriage, and though she knew it was her duty, she had stolen away from him and cried for hours afterward, making sure he never knew. Passion and love were not a part of Rupert's style. He was kind, and tried his best to be attentive, but he was not particularly skilled. She knew he cared, and that he never wanted to hurt her; though she wondered now if that was out of guilt for stealing her innocence on the day she turned 16. Because of this, sex had repulsed her for many years. As she aged, and grew fond of her husband, it became easier to attempt to enjoy. She knew now that her situation would be incredibly frowned upon in most societies. She was so young when she became the princess, and not much older when she became queen.

Now, she was willingly bringing a man into her bed; a man she was one day, hopefully, going to marry. And she wished he could stay there for the rest of their lives. Making love with Joseph was just that – it was an act of love more than it was a physiological response. He touched her one second as if she were made of porcelain, and the next second had her crying out in pleasure. This was how she had wanted to be loved.

How could he have known when I did not know myself?

She sighed as she looked at the time on the grandfather clock.

7:15am

In about twenty minutes, Charlotte is going to come looking for me. Priscilla and Olivia have probably already begun in the living room.

She untangled himself from his embrace, kissing his bare shoulder as she shimmied out of bed. She did not want to wake him. Her robe wrapped around her, she peeked into the other room.

"Your majesty!" The maids gasped. They must have expected her to be out of the room by this time, as she did not usually sleep past 6:30. They assumed quiet meant that she was gone.

"No, it's quite alright, would you be so kind as to return in an hour? I'd very much like my breakfast at 8:15, and some privacy until then. Please inform the guards to keep out everyone until that time, including staff." She almost added that in the event of an emergency, they may enter – however, their definition and her definition may not have been alike.

The maids agreed, but not without some confusion. They left while stifling giggles.

Clarisse cursed herself silently for drawing so much attention; though, it would have been worse if the maids had walked in on the queen laying intertwined with the head of security.

Maybe Joseph had been right – she was slightly embarrassed to be with him.

She shook the thought out of her head. She would be embarrassed to be found sleeping in her suite with any man – it wasn't Joseph. She loved him, and wanted to be with him.

She just wished the press hadn't run that article that sparked her anger and caused the fight that could have taken the man she loved from her. Dealing with the press had been a strong suit for Clarisse all of her life, but she couldn't stand them attacking the one thing she had ever wanted.

The article hit the front page. She made sure Joseph never saw it, but she knew that he knew.

It was a photograph of Joseph with his hand on her back, leading her into the lingerie store. The headline read: Composed queen comes undone for security. Even Clarisse had to admit that they weren't wrong. That had occurred, and she kicked herself for letting it happen. She was thankful that they had not been in the alley that day.

For once in her life – she had wanted to be bold and dangerous, and Elsie Kentworthy snapped her right back into her duty-driven, dignified place.

Looking around her suite, she finally decided the morning was best suited to soak in the quiet, and private, moment with her paramour.

Lover. She thought, Oh god, I've taken a lover.

Her thoughts made her chuckle quietly. This (prolonged as it were) tryst with Joseph was possibly the riskiest thing that she had ever done, and it made all her nerves stand on end with possibility.

Her body found the silken sheets, and she rolled gracefully into his embrace again. Strong arms gripped her, snaking around her waist and pulling her close. He inhaled, and followed up with a kiss to the back of her head. He was awake.

"Good morning, my love." Clarisse whispered, touching every inch of skin that enveloped her with featherlike touches. She wanted to feel like she had taken advantage of this time.

Joseph grunted sleepily.

"Not a morning person?" she asked, smiling and settling into his embrace.

These are the things that you can find out about him by spending the night in his arms.

He didn't respond, but pulled her in tighter and interlaced his fingers with hers over her stomach. His free hand stroked her bare thigh, his fingers travelling over her sensitive skin. He stroked up and down, feeling how warm her skin was under his touch. His hands came closer and closer to her center with each stroke, and she sighed softly.

"Joseph…" she warned, using her free hand to steady his. "We've only got a few moments. I caught the maids and asked them to give us until 8:15."

"You did?" he tumbled over top of her, switching sides of the bed in order to face her.

"Being impractical again, I see? I could have turned to face you, and avoided the bruise on my thigh."

"That was much more fun." He grinned at her. "Sorry." He sank down under the covers to kiss the spot that she had indicated.

"Sometimes you act remarkably like an adolescent, Joseph."

"You bring out the best in me, your majesty." He continued to grin as he ran his hands over her breasts.

She exhaled loudly, half out of frustration and half out of pleasure.

"To answer your question, yes I did. I wanted more time with you."

"Thank you." He said softly and earnestly. She kissed him softly.

"Do you think 30 minutes is enough time for us this morning?" She purred.

"There will never be enough time to spend with you my love." He said, placing his hand on her cheek.

"That isn't what I meant." Joseph perked up.

"Oh, well in that case…" he cupped her bottom and moved her hips to be flush with his, grinding against her slightly. "I think we could make that work if we absolutely have to."

xOx

At 9:13, Joseph had Clarisse against the door, kissing every inch of her face with short kisses as if he were mapping it with his lips.

She was laughing and trying to push him away.

"Knock it off…you'll see me in an hour at the most. You have to go before they see!"

"Okay…okay…" He grinned at her, placing one gentle kiss on her lips. "I love you."

"And I love you" She smiled, pushing him out the door. "Now get out." She winked and shut the door behind him.

Joseph started down the hall, looking around to see who was watching. Wearing the same clothes from last night, he was embarrassed to see the guards.

But he would take any amount of embarrassment in exchange for what he had just experienced.

He had finally been able to wake up with the love of his life, as he had dreamed of doing ever since he entered the walls of the palace.

She was opening to him, and trusting him. She wanted to marry him.

All of his life, he felt, had been leading up to the moment she accepted that ring. He was fully aware that it could take 10 years for her to finally step up to that alter, but the possibility was there where it had not been before. He straightened his shirt when he heard footsteps round the corner.

"Oh, good morning, Joe." Charlotte smiled at him and then realized the direction he was travelling.

"Good morning, Charlotte." He tried to sound normal, but he watched her eyes widen.

"Just leaving?" she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"Not a word, Charlotte. Her majesty will personally have us both killed. Hell, she may even brandish the knife. " Joseph shuddered. It was strictly the lack of privacy that was keeping him from making a nightly appearance in her majesty's bed.

"Sorry. I'm just glad that you two are okay." She said sincerely.

"More than okay." Joseph corrected, winking. Charlotte winced.

"Joe!" She acted offended, but secretly she was thrilled that they were together again. Now she had the very difficult and unwelcomed task of getting the picture out of her mind.