Chapter 28

Joseph followed His Majesty into the suite. It had been a long day of meetings. Joseph couldn't wait to sit down and relax in the quiet of the suite. The constant chatter from the various representatives had given him a low level headache. Joseph slipped off his jacket and laid it across one of the chairs. Clad in only his dress shirt with his shoulder holster prominent he looked the epitome of a bodyguard.

His Majesty re-entered the sitting room sans jacket and tie carrying a bottle of pills. Shaking two out, he recapped them, and tossed the bottle to Joseph. Joseph caught them with ease, shaking two pills out before recapping them and placing them on the end table.

Accepting a glass of water from His Majesty, Joseph swallowed the medication before sitting down. He leant his head against the back of the chair and sighed.

"Peace and quiet at last," Joseph said, his eyes closed in exhaustion.

"Thank god," Rupert said from his spot on the sofa. Joseph opened one eye and glanced over at his sovereign. His Majesty had his legs stretched out; one arm flung over his eyes and the other balanced the water glass on his chest.

Neither man uttered a sound for some time, each relishing the quiet of the suite. The knocking on the suite door forced Joseph to stand. He walked to the door, peered out of the eyehole and opened the door, waving Anton and James inside.

"Dinner, Sir," Joseph announced as James set the table.

"Set two places please," Rupert instructed.

James did as instructed, while Anton opened the wine, before pouring two glasses. After they were finished, both men waited to be dismissed.

Rupert walked over to the table. "James, you and the boys are dismissed. Go get some sleep. Joe and I can clean up," His Majesty ordered. Anton glanced briefly at Joe. At Joe's nod Anton bowed and followed James out of the suite.

Tonight was the first night since arriving in Brussels that His Majesty wasn't attending some dinner or gathering. The past week had filled with meeting after meeting then diplomatic lunches and dinners. Joe had taken advantage of the lull in His Majesty's schedule to order a quiet dinner in the suite.

Both men spoke little as they enjoyed the meal prepared for them by the Staff at the Palace of Brussels. When finished, Joseph gathered everything and placed it on the cart before wheeling it out into the hall for Staff to collect. Securing the door to the suite he accepted the glass of cognac from His Majesty and sat down.

Rupert took his place on the sofa once again. After a few minutes he reached for the phone on the end table, dialled and placed the call on speakerphone. The distinctive dialling tone was heard before the phone was answered.

"Allô?"

"Salut, Clarisse. Comment ça va?" asked Rupert.

"Hola, mi riena. Cómo estás?" greeted Joseph.

"Bien, et toi?" Clarisse answered.

"Ca va bien…bien" the men answered.

"It is good to hear your voice, my dear," said Rupert. "How are things on the home front?"

A deep sigh and some soft rustling were heard before Clarisse answered.

"Parliament is being their normal irritating selves, especially Mabrey and Delacroix. They are determined to make the improvements for Ardua difficult. They even requested a delayed vote but thankfully Lord Palimore, along with a few others vetoed that request. The vote for the funding happens next Tuesday ," she said.

"Also, I had a rather productive meeting with the Italian representatives, their new representative Signor Constatine Notte is a lovely man. Very distinguished and extremely sweet. So unlike Signor Gravago, who from what I understand resigned rather abruptly. Something about his health," Clarisse said, her tone mild.

The look Rupert and Joseph shared spoke volumes, and both men prayed fervently that Clarisse hadn't learned of their behaviour from that night months ago.

"Other than the normal daily reports, mails and documents nothing else of interest has been going on," she added. "How are things in Brussels?"

"Boring," Joseph answered.

"Tedious," Rupert added. Both answers earned a laugh from Clarisse.

"You are in one of the most beautiful cities in Europe and you are bored," she said.

"The city may be beautiful but the company is not," said Rupert.

"I try to dress to please him and he never appreciates it. I go out of my way to be charming and entertaining, but all I get are complaints of being bored," Joseph quipped.

He dodged the cushion thrown at him by Rupert and smiled at the laughter from Clarisse. "And now he is attempting to abuse me with throw pillows. Your Majesty,"

Clarisse interrupted, "Clarisse."

Joseph corrected himself. "Clarisse, please allow me to come home, at least there I know I will be appreciated," pleaded Joseph, laughing at the two finger salute Rupert gave him.

"Clarisse, ignore any strangled noises you hear," said Rupert. "It will only be me killing our Head of Security."

"Now boys, there will be no killing, maiming or violence done by or to either of you. I want you both hearty and hale when you arrive home," she said.

"Fine," sighed Rupert. "You never let me have any fun," he teased.

"And for that I thank you profusely, Your Maj…"

"Joseph," Clarisse corrected.

"Clarisse…sorry," said Joseph.

"That's better. Now you both aren't really bored, are you?" she asked.

"Yes," the men answered in unison.

"Oh that's too bad," she said. The men heard more rustling in the background, the sound of what they were sure was water, an audible sigh and moan from Clarisse.

Rupert was the first to speak. "Um..Clarisse…where are you?"

"In the bath," she answered.

She smiled when she heard the soft…'in the bath'. Her smiled widened when she heard Joseph exclaim 'cristo' followed by Rupert's 'merde'.

"Clarisse, do you want us to call you back after you…" Rupert began to ask only to be interrupted by Clarisse.

"Don't be silly Rupert. We can talk while I am in the bath. It is not as if you are both here with me.." She smiled when she heard their soft groans. "Besides, this is not the first time I have taken a bath while we have spoken," she said. She fought the urge to giggle when she heard the twin groans and the soft 'I didn't need to know that' she was sure came from Joseph.

Deciding that a bit more teasing was in order she said, "I am going to put my phone on speaker, give me a moment."

She almost laughed when she heard Rupert say, "No, Clarisse that is not…"

"There. Are you able to hear me?"

"Yes," the men answered. Clarisse smiled at the obvious discomfort that was evident in their voices.

"Good now tell me about these boring meetings," she said. She wasn't surprised when both men jumped at the change of subject. Soon they were engrossed in regaling her with tales of the various representatives. She offered limited responses, she let the men think that she was simply listening to them as they spoke.

Her soft "oh yes" interrupted Joseph's story of the Swedish Prime Minister's bodyguard causing Joseph to stutter to a stop.

Joseph cleared his throat and began speaking again only to come to an abrupt stop at Clarisse's "Oh…hmmm.."

Both men leaned forward at the sound. Another moan, louder this time had their gazes shooting to each other.

"What the hell is she doing?" Joseph whispered furiously to Rupert. The moans from Clarisse were affecting him and soon, how much they were affecting him would be readily apparent.

"How the hell am I supposed to know," Rupert whispered in answer. Rupert could feel his pants tightening. He glanced quickly at Joe, noting he was equally affected. Rupert swore silently.

"She's your wife," Joseph whispered back.

"But she's your…," Rupert answered just as quietly. At Joseph's raised eyebrow he added, "soon to be lover."

Another deeper moan came across the telephone line and both men reached down to adjust their now unmistakable erections. Neither man made an attempt to interrupt. Instead, they both knelt on the floor next to the phone, Rupert on his side near the sofa and Joseph on his side near the chair. They leant closer to the phone, listening to the soft sighs, and moans that were emanating from the other end.

At a particularly loud moan, followed by a distinct 'oh yes' both men squeezed their shafts in response. Soon the only sounds heard were the soft moans and sighs emanating from one end of the telephone line, and the answering grunts and deep moans from the other.

The cry of 'Rupert…Joseph' from the Genovian side of the line triggered the twin groans of 'Clarisse' from the Belgium side. The harsh pants from the two men drowned out the softer "Good night" and soon a dial tone was all that was heard in the Palace of Brussels suite.