PAM—POV

I could scarcely keep from laughing out loud as I pressed Rachel's hand firmly against my knee. She'd been trying to discreetly pull it away for the last ten minutes as the queen outlined the plans for Arkansas . Tante Aurelie raised an eyebrow at me but I kept my innocent smile in place.

"Is there some sort of problem, Rachel?" Sophie-Anne asked impatiently.

"No…no, there isn't" Rachel's hand went perfectly still as she struggled to be casual. "When do we leave?"

"In a couple of days, so I wouldn't unpack too much. Until then, you are welcome to enjoy the house, but I expect you to keep working with your aunt."

"Yes, Sophie-Anne."

She waved her hand. "You may go. I need to speak privately to you, Aurelie."

"But of course. Rachelle, come to my rooms een an hour or two."

"Okay…oui."

We were dismissed. Once the door to the Blue Room closed behind us I let go of Rachel's hand, but before the look of relief had finished dawning on her face, I wrapped my arm around her waist.

"Uh, Pam? We're out of the room now. You don't have to—"

"I want to." I laughed as I pulled her closer. "Oh darlin' this should teach you not to make such a big boo-boo."

She groaned, "Why? I'm not even thin!"

That only made me laugh harder. "So what? You're here, aren't you? And I've been waiting for this for a while now." I bent my head to rub my cheek against her hair. "After all, if I have to come all the way down here just to babysit you, and make sure you don't get us all killed, I should have some compensation, don't you agree?"

Rachel made a strangling noise, which I took to be agreement.

"And you'll have to keep it up, you know" I purred as I kissed the top of her head. "Sophie-Anne will never ask for you again; she would never take anyone's sloppy seconds. And if she finds out it wasn't real, she'll be furious and believe me honey, you don't want that."

The queen's pet appeared at the far end of the hall, giving me a perfect excuse to push Rachel against the nearest wall.

"Well, you didn't waste much time, did you?" the pet sneered at Rachel.

"Don't answer!" I whispered against Rachel's lips. "I'll handle this." Raising my voice, I drawled, "Run away, darlin'. I'm busy."

"I can see that."

The pet may have seen that, but she sure as hell wasn't moving. Maybe she wanted to see more. Deliberately, I pulled one of Rachel's legs over my hip. The pet snorted with disgust. "Do you have to do that here?"

"I have a fetish for silk wallpaper."

"Don't know what you see in her, anyway. She's a whore."

"Honey, I'm only going to ask this once" I sighed as I released Rachel and turned around. "Does your maker know that you have terrible manners?"

The pet took a step back. "What about yours? It's just plain trashy to make out in the hallway of someone's house!"

"I'll be sure to mention to her Majesty that you think so" I smiled so that the little bitch would catch both meanings in my words. She and Sophie-Anne had probably fucked on every rug and piece of furniture in the place. The pet roller her eyes but she left us, which was wise of her. I didn't really want to have to damage Sophie-Anne's personal property.

Rachel let out a long breath and leaned her face against my neck. "Thank you."

"Anytime. Now, where were we?"