Lottery King 2, page 17
I grinned at her satisfied sigh as I walked around to the deep end of the pool, and then I teetered on the concrete edge for a second before I dove easily into the pool. The cool water surrounded me, and I instantly felt so much better. It was like the chaos and worries of the day were washed away in the brisk water. I swam the length of the pool and broke the surface just a few feet away from Helena’s knees.
“Better?” the beautiful harpy giggled.
“Yes,” I sighed, and I rolled onto my back to let myself float on the surface.
Helena braced her palms on the concrete edge of the pool, lifted her ass up, and slipped slowly into the cool water.
“Oooooh,” Helena hissed with pleasure as she sank into the water. “Oh, it’s perfect.”
“Yeah, it is.” I smiled at the sexy harpy.
There was a pull inside my chest that urged me to swim right over and pull the harpy into my arms and kiss her senseless, but I wanted to make sure she was as into me as I was into her. I floated nearby and held her gaze with a boldness my teenage self would have shriveled under.
“When was the last time you were in Greece?” I asked.
“I haven’t been able to come home in more than a year,” Helena answered, and her caramel eyes darkened with a touch of sadness. “It’s very good to be able to spend some time here, even if the circumstances are less than ideal.”
“We’ll handle this situation,” I promised her. “My guards are out there right now, and if I know Nyxx, she won’t stop until she finds something.”
“Your staff are very loyal,” Helena observed.
“Yeah, they are,” I agreed, and I started to shift around Helena a little to keep from losing my mind from staring at her collarbone. “I’m grateful for them.”
“Poppy especially, I expect,” Helena said in a wry tone.
“You could say that,” I chuckled, and I floated back around so I could see Helena’s face. “She’s going to make a wonderful first wife.”
I watched the harpy’s face carefully, and I wasn’t disappointed by her response. Helena’s cheeks flushed just a little bit, and her black eyelashes lowered as she avoided looking at me.
“I must admit…” Helena murmured.
Her tone was almost shy, but I shook my head at that idea because Helena was anything but shy.
“What’s that?” I asked in a soft tone.
“When I received the news of your engagement,” Helena almost whispered the words, and she forced her eyes up to meet mine. “I was rather jealous.”
“Jealous?” I was surprised by that.
Lady Helena was so self-possessed, bold, and strong. She had everything she could possibly want as far as I could see, but now she was telling me she was jealous of my engagement to Poppy?
“What can I say?” Helena said, and her shyness seemed to melt away now that she’d said the words. “You’re devilishly attractive, Michael, and you have a good heart. You have already started to prove yourself to be a fine ruler. What lady wouldn’t fancy themselves as able to catch your eye?”
I chuckled a little at that, but it was just another thing that was so wildly different from my life before. I’d never struggled to find a girlfriend when I’d wanted one, but it wasn’t like the ladies were falling over themselves trying to get to me. I figured I could chalk plenty of my new desirable status up to being king, but I was pretty sure that had zero impact on why Helena liked me.
“Well…” I sighed, and I took a deep breath to admit that Helena had caught my eye immediately as well.
Then she spoke before I could get the words out.
“I’m very happy for you both,” Helena said. “I suspect you will have a long and happy marriage, and I know the people will simply adore Poppy.”
I clamped my lips together, and I nodded my thanks for the compliment. Maybe I’d been wrong about Helena, maybe she’d convinced herself out of desiring me the way I wanted her. I couldn’t blame her if it was true, and I would respect her wishes if all she wanted was a friendly professional relationship with me. Even if it did cause an ache in my heart that I was completely shocked by.
I watched Helena for a moment as I tried to look through her eyes and into her thoughts, but she was as easy to read as a brick wall in utter darkness. It was like she closed her face off to me, but there was still a friendly smile lingering around the corners of her full lips.
A current of frenetic energy started to buzz at the edges of my mind, and I felt a need to understand what she was thinking.
But Helena cleared her throat and turned away before I could figure out what to say.
“Uh… I’m rather hungry,” Helena said as she swam toward the wide steps that led out of the shallow end of the pool. “Shall we eat?”
“Yeah,” I sighed.
I ducked completely under the water once more before I followed the harpy up the steps. We dripped water all over the concrete patio, and Helena took a moment to flick her wings out roughly. Water sprayed out from her feathers in every direction, and I laughed as a third of it splashed me in the face.
“Oh!” Helena gasped before she dissolved into giggles, and she covered her face with her hands. “I’m sorry! Did I get you?”
“Just a bit,” I laughed. “Good thing I was already wet.”
“Yes, good thing,” Helena murmured, and she flushed a bit.
I smiled as the tension between us relaxed back to normal, and Helena handed me a towel from the fresh stack on one of the lounge chairs.
“Thanks,” I said as I wrapped the thick cotton around my hips.
Helena draped her towel over her chair before we sat down at the table to enjoy our cold dinner. The food was delicious, and it was exactly what my body needed after the events of the day.
We chatted lightly about the weather as it finally started to cool, and Helena told me a bit about the celebrations for tomorrow.
“There will most certainly be a parade through the city,” Helena explained.
“Really?” I chuckled. “A parade for me? That’s so fucking wild.”
“You’re the King of the Eternal Realm now, Michael,” Helena mused. “You’d better get used to the royal treatment because it won’t ease up any time soon.”
“Yeah, I guess not.” I smirked at that.
We were quiet for a moment after that, and I racked my brain for another topic to enthrall Helena in conversation.
“Poppy tells me you have four sisters,” Helena said.
“Yeah, I do,” I said, and I grinned as I imagined what they’d say if they knew I was in Greece right now.
“Are you close with them?” Helena asked.
“I am.” I nodded. “My family is really close, but I’m closest with my sister, Katie. She and I are just two and a half years apart.”
“That’s a good age difference.” Helena nodded, and a wistful smile crossed her face.
“Do you have any siblings?” I asked.
“No,” Helena said with a slight frown. “I’m an only child. My parents struggled for many years to have a child, and they suffered many losses before I was born.”
“I bet they were so happy when you were born,” I mused.
“They saw me as a blessing from the Goddess herself,” Helena said, and then she frowned again. “They saw me as the perfect baby, and I felt the need to live up to that title as I grew older. I was always terrified of disappointing them.”
“Oh, that must have been hard,” I sighed as compassion for Helena’s inner child swelled in my chest. “Are they still like that?”
“They passed away many years ago,” Helena said with little emotion, but her eyes were a bit shinier than a moment ago. “I hope I made them proud, but I don’t really know for sure.”
“I can only imagine what that must have felt like,” I sighed. “I was lucky, my parents were really supportive. I hope I can be a dad like mine when the time comes.”
“Will you and Poppy have many children?” Helena wondered. Then she clamped her mouth shut and gave me an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, it’s not my place.”
“It’s okay,” I assured her. “Honestly, I don’t know… Poppy and I haven’t really discussed it…”
I suddenly realized that I did want to be a father, and I definitely wanted more than one or two. Which was a good thing, because with multiple wives, I was likely to end up with a dozen or more children.
“Are you well?” Helena asked with humor in her voice. “You’ve gone quite pale.”
“Oh, yeah,” I laughed. “I just realized I do want a lot of kids, and that’s a good thing, what with the royal expectation of many wives and all.”
“Indeed,” Helena mused, and a spark of devilish mischief lit up in her eyes.
“Do you want children?” I asked in what I hoped was a casual voice.
“I’m apprehensive about the prospect,” Helena said in a heavy tone. “I’d be afraid I would become the kind of mother mine was, and I would never want that. But I do feel a yearning in my heart for babies of my own.”
“I think you’d be a wonderful mother,” I murmured. “There’s a kindness about you.”
Helena’s lips parted and closed a few times as her face flushed a pretty shade of pink, and she finally smiled sweetly at me before she popped an olive into her mouth.
“Can I ask you a…” I said, and then I chuckled lightly. “A, uh… work question?”
“A work question?” Helena repeated with confusion. “Oh! You mean you want to ask me something as a representative?”
“Yeah,” I laughed.
“Oh course.” Helena grinned. “I am always your representative. It’s a twenty-four seven kind of job, your majesty.”
“What do you think about potentially moving the capital of the Eternal Realm?” I asked. “Back on this side of the Atlantic somewhere?”
“Oh,” Helena said with surprise. “I think there are pros and cons to that idea. May I ask, what has you considering the idea?”
“Well, the whole multiple wives thing, for starters,” I admitted with a wry grin. “There’s no way my family would understand that. Most of my sisters are hardly thrilled about how quickly Poppy and I became engaged. It would be a lot easier to keep that information, and literally everything about the Eternal Realm, from them if there was a whole-ass ocean between us.”
“I can see how that could be helpful,” Helena mused without really committing to an opinion on the matter.
“I also think it might be beneficial to immerse myself deeper in the cultures of my people,” I added. “You said there are more of my subjects in Europe and Asia than in the States, right?”
“There are.” Helena nodded, and the corners of her lips turned up in a smirk. “I know the people would be very pleased to have you return home.”
“Home?” I laughed at that because my home had been in Orlando my entire life.
“Most of the Eternal Realm consider this part of the world ours,” Helena explained. “We have much deeper roots here than any other region. King Roman had played with the idea of returning to Europe for a few years toward the end of his reign, but he passed away before he could act on those plans.”
“I expect King Vairn didn’t give a shit about trying to come back here,” I said without much question in my voice.
“No, he did not,” Helena said flatly. “His hard stance on remaining in the United States after King Roman had publicly proposed returning home rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. It was just another of the many things he did that were upsetting to a majority of his subjects.”
“Well, that just makes me want to do it even more,” I said with humor. “I obviously won’t make decisions that oppose Vairn’s policies just for that reason, but it does add a bit of appeal to it.”
“Certainly,” Helena said with a playful roll of her eyes, and she smiled at me with affection.
A suddenly cool breeze wafted through the tell hedges that isolated the pool from the rest of the world, and Helena shivered at the drop in temperature.
“We should go inside,” I suggested. “I hear tomorrow is going to be eventful, and I think we could both benefit from a good night’s sleep.”
“You’re right,” Helena said. “I am rather tired.”
I stood up, extended my hand to the beautiful harpy, and looked down at the plates and food that still covered the table.
“Don’t worry,” Helena chuckled. “Mrs. Baros and her daughters will clear the table after we go inside.”
“Alright,” I grumbled lightly. “It still feels so weird to just leave a mess behind me and not even offer to help tidy up. My mother did not raise me to be this way, that’s for sure.”
“You’ll get used to it eventually,” Helena assured me. “But I suspect that feeling will help you be a kind and compassionate king for your entire reign.”
“I think so, too.” I smiled at the Grecian beauty.
We walked up to the veranda together and went inside the house where it was a more comfortable temperature.
“Good evening, your majesty,” Helena murmured, and the coy look in her eyes assured me she chose to use my title on purpose. “Sleep well.”
“Sweet dreams,” I hummed in response.
Helena’s caramel eyes lingered on me for as long as possible while she strolled away down the hall. Finally, she wiggled her fingers at me in a little wave, and she rounded a corner and was out of sight.
“Uuuggghh,” I groaned softly before I headed down the opposite corridor to Poppy’s room.
I walked as quietly as I could into the dark room so I wouldn’t wake my fae lover, and I found her breathing deeply in the bed. The thick mattress barely depressed under me as I climbed between the light sheets beside Poppy.
“Mmmm?” Poppy hummed softly as she rolled over and reached for me.
“It’s me,” I whispered, and I gave her a kiss on the forehead. “Go back to sleep.”
“Mmmm,” Poppy mumbled, and she settled back into the pillow.
Less than a second later, she was breathing deeply once more, and I smiled as I arranged my head on my pillow.
I laid awake for a while after that, and as I thought back over my evening with Helena, a sensation of excitement bloomed in my chest. There wasn’t anything I disliked about the woman, but I still wasn’t sure what she thought of me. She was so hard to read, and she was pretty adept at hiding her true thoughts with me.
Finally, I fell asleep, and I was taunted by seductive images of my fae lover and the Grecian harpy the entire night. They paraded around me in skimpy clothes or nothing at all, and they danced just out of reach every time I tried to hold them. Poppy giggled playfully as she kept out of reach, and Helena’s eyes were hazy with desire.
It was a struggle to pry my mind free of the enticing dreams in the morning, but Poppy’s sleepy voice helped draw me out.
“Good morning,” Poppy murmured as she leaned over and kissed me.
“Mmm, morning,” I sighed, and I stretched.
“Come on,” Poppy said, and excitement started to color her voice. “I believe we have a celebration to go to.”
I chuckled as Poppy jumped out of the bed and started to get dressed in another pretty summer dress. This one was mostly white with brightly-colored tulips all around the hem, and she wound her teal hair up in the double buns I liked so much.
“I’m going to get a jump on breakfast!” Poppy announced, and she danced right out of the room before I could even say anything.
I dressed quickly and walked down the hallway to join my lover on the veranda for breakfast. Lady Helena was sitting beside my teal-haired fae, and they had a wide spread of breakfast options on the table between them.
“Good morning,” Helena said as she spread a thin layer of butter on a piece of toasted wheat bread.
“Good morning, how did you sleep?” I asked.
“Very well, thank you,” Helena replied.
We enjoyed a light and delicious breakfast, and all the while Poppy looked like she was about to jump right out of her chair with excitement. She finished before Helena and I were done and then tapped her toes impatiently.
“When do the festivities start?” Poppy asked.
“Soon,” Helena laughed lightly. “James will drive us into the middle of the city when we’re ready.”
“I can’t wait.” Poppy clasped her hands together.
“Then let’s get going,” I suggested. “I’m kind of excited for this, too.”
“Very well,” Helena said. “If we’re all ready, let’s go.”
“Yay!” Poppy squealed.
“Is James ready?” I asked.
“He knew we would be going out this morning,” Helena confirmed.
We stood from the table, walked through the large house, and down the steps to where James was already waiting with the car. Firo was standing beside a fast-looking motorcycle with a double seat, and the dragon-man nodded at us in greeting.
James promptly put down his novel and darted around the car to open the door for us.
“Madame,” James said as he bowed slightly for us. “Lady Poppy, your majesty.”
“Thank you, James,” I said, and I glanced over to Firo with an arched eyebrow.
“I’ll be right behind you all day, your majesty,” Firo explained. “Nyxx will ride with me in my shadow, and the rest of your guards will complete a perimeter around you, Poppy, and Lady Helena.
“Thank you, Firo.” I nodded and glanced quickly over the shadows around my tall head of security. “Thank you, Nyxx.”
A pair of all-white eyes blinked once from the dark space under the motorcycle’s handlebars, and then I climbed into the town car behind Poppy and Helena.
The Grecian harpy explained a bit about what we should expect from the day as James steered us through the hilly streets to the middle of the city.
“There will be streamers and party poppers everywhere,” Helena said. “It will be quite a mess to clean up tomorrow, in fact.”
“And what will the humans in the city think is going on today?” I wondered.
“They won’t really care,” Helena said with a grin. “They enjoy any reason to celebrate, but if a story is required, the mayor will come up with something.”
