Earning the Love of a Princess-Chapter 238: There Will Be Other Dances

Camilla beamed up at him when he approached, then sat next to her. Lord, she was exquisite.

"Are you having a nice time, despite all your complaining about how long Meg took to get ready?" she smiled.

"I am now."

"Was that young girl you were dancing with, one of Robin’s sisters?" she asked him. "She looks a bit like him."

"Yes, the little rascal. She’ll need to learn to curb her tongue if she intends to make it within noble circles."

"Really? Why?" Camilla gave him a smug look. "You never did."

"That’s true. Luckily, I’ve always been able to rely on my subtle wit to get me out of trouble." William grinned as she reached for the bowl of honey dipped almonds in front of her and placed a nut in his mouth. He quickly chewed and swallowed, then motioned for her to repeat the action. So she did.

He had a terrible weakness for sweet things. Especially when his wife was feeding them to him.

"For fuck’s sake, Will. Try to show at least a little self control at another man’s wedding." Robin’s voice suddenly reached William’s ears. He looked up from where he’d been focused on licking all the honey from his laughing wife’s fingertips and saw the groom himself next to their table. Robin looked like he didn’t know whether to be amused by the sight or a little sickened.

"You should mind your own fucking business, my brother." William replied cheerfully. "Worry about keeping your own wife satisfied and I’ll worry about mine."

"Husband!" Camilla hissed in embarrassment, covering her eyes with a hand.

William chuckled and stood up. "I suppose I should go dance at least once with the bride. Isn’t it supposed to bring good luck?"

Robin gleamed at him suspiciously. "Only if you’re unwedded. If you already have a wife, then I don’t think it’ll make any difference at all to your luck."

"Is that so? You seem rather confident about that, Robin."

"I am." the groom replied stonily. "And the same applies - even more so - to kissing the bride when you’re already a married man, Will. So don’t even think about trying it."

William feigned shock and widened his eyes at Robin. "Whatever do you mean? You couldn’t possibly mean the way you kissed my bride at my wedding?"

Robin’s face turned so red, even his ears seemed to glow. Camilla tried to smother a giggle.

"That was different!" Robin finally spluttered. "I was unwed then! It’s tradition!"

"Tradition, aye?" William deadpanned. "It’s tradition to literally bend the bride backwards over your arm and kiss her repeatedly while her new husband is forced to stand there and watch?"

Robin closed his eyes with a defeated groan. "It truly never dawned on me that such a gesture would eventually come back to kick me in the ass."

"Well, then. If you’ll excuse me for a few moments." William said with great dignity. "I have a bride to go and find, so I can make her feel awkward."

A few moments later, William was laughing and dancing with the bride herself. He whirled Meg around, who was the picture of happiness, a crown of white and yellow roses woven through her loose hair.

"So how long have you and Robin been sneaking around behind everyone’s back? I overheard Lady Sainsbury telling a group of guests that you fell in love last summer, but I’m not sure I believe her." William couldn’t resist teasing.

"Oh, she’s not wrong! It was definitely summer." Meg replied archly. "Just not the summer you’re thinking of, my lord."

"Wait, what?"

"We started exchanging a few notes while you were all away fighting up north. Then when the army returned to Westerhaven, we started speaking more in person, and it grew from there. We used to talk about our favourite books a lot."

"Since when do you send notes? Or read books, for that matter?" William was thoroughly confused.

"Since your wife taught me to read and write." Meg said nonchalantly, then gave him a sly smile.

He shook his head in resignation. "Tell me something then, Lady Sainsbury. Has literacy made you ladies all the more cunning? Or were all of you troublemakers already?"

"There’s probably a little bit of truth in both statements, my lord." Meg laughed. "But you can’t really blame us. You men are such silly, malleable creatures. How can we resist creating a little chaos sometimes?"

"Silly and malleable?" William scoffed. "You shouldn’t talk that way about your new husband. And you shouldn’t assume we’re all just like him."

At that comment, Meg burst into giggles. "Oh, Your Grace! You make me laugh so much! If anyone is malleable, it’s you."

"What are you talking about?"

"The princess plays you like a fiddle! But you look so happy to go along with it." Meg patted him on the arm jovially as the music wound down, thanking him for the dance. She was quickly spun away by another guest.

William walked back to where Camilla was sitting.

"Are you feeling alright?" he asked as he gently rubbed her back. "We can head back to our apartments as soon as you grow too tired."

"I’m well." Camilla replied. "And I’d like to stay a little longer. Everything is lovely and Meg looks so happy. Besides, I already missed the Banquet of Love last week."

"Oh, that." William gave a careless flick of his hand. "You really didn’t miss much at all." It hadn’t been much different to other banquets over the years, except that he’d been utterly bored without his wife at his side. Feeling King Edward’s piercing gaze on him that night, William had danced with Princess Blanche and with a lady he knew to be the wife of one of his captains. Then, feeling like he’d done his duty, he’d bowed his goodbyes.

Spending the rest of that evening pressed up against the lush curves and delicious scent of his wife had made for a far better night, in his humble opinion.

"Are you up for one dance? I think I can manage that." Camilla asked him, breaking into his thoughts.

William smiled and took her by the hand. When he turned her to face him on the dance floor, he looked down and choked back a laugh. "But how exactly is this going to work, wife? I literally can’t get any closer to you."

Her large, round belly was pressed up against his hard one. As if sensing they were being talked about, the baby aimed a swift little kick that Willian felt against his own muscles.

Camilla glared at him through her lashes, then started laughing as well. "You don’t know how happy I’ll be when I can see my own feet again and no longer waddle when I walk."

"Oh, I’ve grown to like your waddle. It reminds me of the ducks Malcolm used to rave on about."

"Thank you." She didn’t look or sound overly thrilled at being compared to a duck.

William slid his arms around her and pecked her quickly on the lips, though he was dying to kiss her until they were both breathless. "Never fear. There will be other times, many other dances for us."

She nodded, looking both sleepy and content in his arms.

"Do you think I’m malleable?" William suddenly asked her.

"Um, what?" Camilla looked up at him blankly.

"It was something Lady Meg, I mean Lady Sainsbury, said to me earlier. Is it true?"

Camilla gave a small laugh. "Did she look like she was teasing you, William?"

"Is suppose she did, yes." he admitted reluctantly.

"Meg teases everyone, we both know that. She’s always enjoyed getting a rise out of you. And you, my dear, have always made it very easy for her. You fall for it every single time." Camilla winked at him in amusement.

"Hmmm, yes. I suppose you’re right." he mumbled, feeling a little grouchy.

It was only later that night, when William was pressed up against Camilla’s bare body and was steadily sliding in and out of her, that it struck him. She’d never properly answered whether Meg had been right and she thought him to be malleable.

Camilla’s hands were behind her and in his hair at that point, then clawing desperately at his shoulders as she gasped and moaned. William’s breath was tearing out of his lungs harshly, almost painfully, as he rocked his hips. Over and over and over again he moved, seeing flashing spots behind his closed eyes.

Oh, who the fuck was he trying to hide from, he thought hazily? He knew he was an utterly malleable, ridiculous fool for love. A fool for the woman who was currently keening her pleasure as she threw her head back against his shoulder and tightened around him.

That’s my lot in life, William told himself as he gripped Camilla’s thigh to brace himself and choked out a rasping groan. Outrageous bliss rolled through him in waves and he quaked against his wife’s back.

There were worse things to have to endure, weren’t there?