I threw another rock in the lake, watching as it skipped across the water, just as my father had taught me to do years ago. When it sank I turned away, looking back at the house that had been in the royal family for generations. I had come to the royal family’s county seat for a few days of solitude with my father’s blessing. It was totally out of my character, but there had been a great deal of soul-searching going on. After my father’s confession about my mother, I didn’t quite know what to do. It almost felt like my father was playing a game of reverse psychology with me. Of course, it hadn’t helped that another bombshell had been dropped in my lap.

Andrew had pulled me to the side after my meeting with our father, a heavy burden upon his shoulders.

“What is it? I’m a little busy, Andrew,” I said when I bumped into him outside our father’s study.

“There is something you should know.”

“Something more about Rose?”

He shook his head and sniffed. “No. It’s more to do with the reasons why I did what I did. And you need to know before—”

“You already said, you’re my big brother looking after me. I get it, Andrew, I do. But I have to go… I have to go to her,” I said as I tried to skirt around him. I didn’t have time to waste. Another moment without her in my arms was a second too long.

“Edward, listen, please. I’m gay.”

I turned slowly around and saw the anguish that was all over his face, my heart lurching for him as everything began to slot into place. No wonder he’d done what he’d done. He pushed me hard to follow in his footsteps, encouraged me to stop fucking about and be a proper royal, and then of course what he’d done to Rose. He knew all along that one day after his reign as King was done he wouldn’t have any heirs to pass on the crown to. It would automatically fall in my lap, or my children’s if I weren’t alive.

I took a quick step towards him and he instinctively—after our last encounter—took one back away from me. But I was too quick. I got to him and pulled him to me, wrapping my arms around him. He stood frozen, and I held him tight before finally he relaxed and embraced me back.

“Shit, Edward, I thought you were going to hit me again.”

“Not a chance, brother,” I squeezed him again thinking of what he’d had to go through all these years—the hiding, the potential scandal… the fear? I couldn’t even imagine. But there was one thing I knew for sure: it didn’t change a single thing. He was still my brother, and I still loved him. “Thank you for telling me.”

We talked for the rest of the day. Rose would understand. Right then, I owed it to my brother to be there for him, like he’d been there for me all those years. He hadn’t decided whether or not to come out to Father, or the world, but I had a feeling that our father already knew. I could see that Andrew was struggling with the decision, had been for his entire adult life, but I made it clear that I would be behind him one hundred per cent whatever his choice.

I had my own thinking to do, too; I had to figure out, now that I knew what I knew, if it changed anything. I still of course loved Rose with all my heart, but didn’t I now have a duty to the country, too? Could I let it all end after Andrew, the crown jumping to some obscure relative far removed from the intended line of succession?

I skimmed another rock across the lake. My father, I guessed, would be proud; I’d worked through every single option and the consequences that might come of them, but in the end I said, “Screw it.” I still wasn’t going to give Rose up.

Once Andrew was king, and if he chose to share that part of himself with the world, then damn, I would fight right alongside him for his equal rights. It was the twenty-first century after all, and we could finally bring the monarchy into it! And just because he was gay, that didn’t mean he couldn’t have heirs. He and whoever he chose to spend his life with could always adopt. That certainly hadn’t hurt Rose, and hell, surrogacy was always an option, too.

With my mind made up, I didn’t want to waste another second, and I walked back to the house. It was peaceful here. I thought of how I really didn’t miss the sights and sounds of the city. This was a side of me that I rarely tapped into, some part of my mother’s family making me enjoy the tranquillity of the countryside.

My mum and I had lived on the outskirts of the city for so long before she had died, forcing me into another realm of life. I had forgotten that I actually enjoyed this. And it made me realise how I could do great things without ever becoming king. I was fine with that. I didn’t need to be in a position of power to help others, and that was rapidly becoming what I was destined to do. Rose had shown me that, and I would be forever grateful for her influence on my life and what she had done to make me see that. She had made me a better man, and I just hoped that she was going to allow me back into her world. I wanted to be the man she made a family with, the man who would give her everything she deserved in this life.

As I approached the house, I stopped in my tracks. A familiar form stood beside the car in the drive. My damn heart squeezed painfully as I drank in the sight of her, at first thinking she was an illusion I’d conjured up. But the flutter of her hair and her shy wave told me otherwise.

God, how I had missed her these last few days, multiple times throwing myself into the car with the intention of bringing her back here before I was ready, and perhaps before she was ready. She needed space, too, I believed. But now that she was here, she would be hard pressed to get away again. I wanted to be with her all the time. It was a scary realisation, yet I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I was drunk on her and only her now. Not the clubs, not the other women or the tomfoolery. There was just her.

“Hi,” she said softly as I reached her. She was dressed in a short dress that showed off her curves. My hands itched to touch her, and this time I wasn’t going to hold back.

I didn’t say a word or stop walking until she was in my arms. Her mouth opened with a gasp, and for a second I gazed into her eyes, then took her breath away again with a kiss.

“Hi yourself,” I said when I finally let her up for air. “How’d you get here?”

“The car—duh!” she laughed, holding onto me tight. “I had some help from Richard.”

“Oh, Richard is it now?” I teased, wondering what on earth my father had done. I would have never expected him to become directly involved in the relationship, but I was grateful he’d played a part in bringing Rose to me. I let her go and took her hand, and we fell into a casual walk. There was so much to discuss, so much I needed to say, but I wasn’t too sure where to start.

Rose looked around at the exterior of the house, the garden just beyond the drive. “This is a beautiful place.”

“So, what did my father want?”

“He came to spaghetti night,” she grinned with a shrug. “Apparently my mum’s cooking is becoming widely popular with royalty. She is thinking of bottling the stuff.”

“I’m sure that it would sell like hotcakes with a picture of my father’s face on it,” I grinned back, thinking of how excited her mum must have been to have my father there. I was mere chump change next to him. I stopped as we reached the soft grass. “Rose, I am so fucking glad to see you.”

She looked up at me, her beautiful eyes glimmering with tears. “I’ve missed you, too. I’m sorry I left like that…” she said softly.

“I missed you more,” I said hoarsely, flexing my fingers, “but you could’ve talked to me.”

“I-I thought you were better off without my past hanging over you,” she replied, a tear coursing down her cheek. “I couldn’t stand the thought of you being dragged down and that I could be the reason your future was blemished. I didn’t want you to resent me for losing everything. And to be honest, I wasn’t quite sure how you truly felt about me.”

“And here I thought you knew me by now,” I said with a smile. “I don’t give a damn about my royal position. And if it wasn’t clear before now, I want you, Rose, only you. Nothing else matters.” In all my life I never knew what I was missing until she had come into it and corrected the error of my ways. Now she was all that I could see, and it was a fucking great view from where I was standing.

She bit her lip. “Well, I know that now. I love you, Edward. It’s why I did what I did, no other reason.”

Her words warmed the cold hole that was in my chest, and I drew in the first deep breath without pain I had felt since we had been apart. “The question is,” she continued, looking a bit unsure, “can you forgive me for being a total idiot?”

I gave her a grin then, moving quickly toward her and wrapping her in my arms again, the smell of her shampoo overwhelming my senses. “Don’t ever leave me again, I wouldn’t survive it,” I breathed into her hair, all of the worry and stress melting away. “I love you, Rose Mathis. You. I don’t care about the royal family, the money, or our pasts. All I care about is being with you.”

I felt her tears seep through my t-shirt, and I exhaled roughly, my arms tightening around her. “Marry me, Rose. I can’t let you slip through my fingers again. For real this time, though I want you to know when I put that ring on our finger, I did mean every word.”

She drew back, her trembling hand touching my cheek. I closed my eyes, the feel of her fingers on my skin nearly setting me on fire. “I’m not going anywhere, Edward,” she breathed. “I love you.”

“You didn’t answer my question,” I replied gently, bringing my hands up to frame her face, my lips brushing over hers gently. “Will you marry me and live in this crazy place I call life? I’m not in line for the throne anymore, you know. So don’t worry, there’s no chance of being the royal consort… It’s just me.”

She scrunched up her nose and frowned. “Oh, damn. I better get back in the car then,” she said and went to turn away, but her giggle and playful smile betrayed her before I lost my mind. “That’s perfectly fine with me,” she replied with a laugh before searching my eyes. “Are you okay with that, Edward? Are you truly sure?”

“I am more than okay with that,” I laughed, my fingers stroking her cheeks. I was never cut out to be the leader of this country. I would leave that task in the very capable hands of my father and eventually my brother. I just wanted to be me, and I wanted her to be by my side.

“Yes, I will marry you,” she said, pulling me down into a kiss. I groaned and plundered her mouth with my tongue, forgetting how much she had fucking taken over my entire existence. I couldn’t function without her. I couldn’t live without her.

When we both finally came up for air, I pulled her toward the house. “Come on,” I said, a wolfish smile on my face. “We have some making up to do.”

She giggled as I led her into the house, her pull on my hand stopping me in my tracks as she looked around the foyer with wonder. “All of this history,” she breathed, looking at me. “I would love to photograph this place one day. It’s gorgeous.”

“I will take you for a tour later on,” I growled, tugging her along. It had been too damn long since I had tasted her skin, and I wasn’t about to let an ancient house stand in the way of making love to my future wife.

“You mean it?”

I looked back at her, trying not to let my sexual frustration show. Her eyes were sparkling with happiness, a glow about her that I hadn’t always seen. It made me feel like the luckiest damn man on the planet, the reality that she was going to be mine fully sinking in. I felt lighter than I had in days, the cloak of regret and some shame shaking loose off me. I had come to terms with how my existence had come about, how my father had been caught between duty to the country and the woman he loved and how much it hurt him to this day. It was a valuable lesson, but I had no intention of making the same mistake.

I tugged on her hand again, this time not in the direction of the bedroom I had first set out to get to. “Would you like a tour now?”

She gave me a saucy smile, leaning up against me to kiss at my neck. “No, I can wait. I want you.”

“Thank god,” I breathed, sweeping her up into my arms. She squealed with laughter and threw her arms around my neck as I strode toward the staircase that led to the bedrooms above.