"Are you both sure you don't want to include Adrie in any of this?" Maia said as she scrolled through the intel Willem and Lars gathered on Jorien and his band of loyalists scheme for the country. "Aren't some of these things going to affect her and Levis' area of work?"

"Yes," Eline said, yawning. "But we can't involve her. She's got enough on her plate with the wedding and this will stress her out."

"Adrie doesn't do well with confrontation. It's best if she and Levi are kept out of this and focus on the excitement of their nuptials," Mateo said, lighting a blunt. "Speaking of which, you should get some sleep, Eline. We've talked about this enough and you have a long day ahead of you with the hen do tomorrow."

"Yeah," Eline said, checking her watch. "I'm meeting Adrie in the morning and then I'll be back to go with you to the restaurant tomorrow evening for the hen do festivities."

"We can pick this up after the weekend with Willem and Lars," Mateo said, passing Maia the blunt. "There's no point in doing much more now."

"That's true." Maia nodded. "Is there anything I can help with for tomorrow?"

"No, you just relax for the day," Eline said, getting up from the chair. "You need it."

"Yes you do," Mateo said, kissing her head. "And you fell asleep before we could finish our afternoon together."

"That's because your massage was far too good, sir." Maia grinned. "But I'd like to know what else you had planned."

"Riiiight. I'm going to bed. I don't need to hear anymore of this conversation," Eline said, laughing. "Good night."

"Good night, Eline," Maia said, giving her a small wave.

"Good night," Mateo said, rubbing his hand over Maia's thigh. "Close the door on your way out, please."

"Uh huh." Eline shot a knowing look over her shoulder. "This house is big, but I don't want to hear anything, alright?" she said, closing the door behind her.

"She's a mess." Maia laughed softly, shaking her head. "But before we revisit your afternoon plans," she said, placing the blunt in the ashtray. "Are you okay?"

"Not really." Mateo sighed. "I was hoping it wouldn't come to this, but deep down I think I knew. I just..." He pressed his forehead against hers. "I really thought I could keep you out of this and I'm afraid of what Jorien will do once he finds out I'm going to take the crown from him."

"I know," Maia said, sliding her hand to his cheek. "But we have time to figure this out and make sure we're all protected, right?"

"Yes," he said, sliding his hand over hers and caressing the back of her hand. "But you can still get out of this, Maia. You can go home. No one will think badly of you if you walk away from this life."

"Yeah, I could do that. We could break up and Faye could spin the story to keep my public image intact, but that's not what I want, Mateo," she said, caressing his cheek. "I don't want to spend my days wishing for you and thinking about what we could've been if we just had the courage to stay together. And I don't think you want that either, do you?"

"No," he said, kissing her softly. "I don't want to spend my days wishing for you, either," he whispered. "I want forever with you."

She smiled against his lips. "So do I."

Maia knew a life with Mateo wasn't going to be easy and the small glimpse of royal life she'd been privy to so far was probably nothing compared to what it was going to be like when Mateo officially announced his intention to be king.

But she couldn't imagine a life without him either. He was her match, the imperfect Prince Charming she'd hoped would leap off the pages of her novels to love her for all that she was and she wasn't prepared to let him go.

Maia lay awake in Mateo's arms in the plush bed of his secret sex cove which was far more lavish than her own and she felt as though she was transported to another place entirely. The room was dotted with white candles on top of standing black candle holders that gave off a soft glow to the burgundy painted walls. His toys were displayed in cases in intricately woven iron frames as if they were treasured pieces of art.

The cases were half empty as a few of the paddles, ropes and glass dildos were left on the plush black bench on the other end of the room next to the full length gilded mirror and the wardrobe full of carefully crafted leather and lace lingerie and bejeweled heels that Mateo filled for her pleasure after seeing her own collection of erotic outfits.

A smile tugged at her lips as she kissed his chest. While she didn't indulge in any of those treats last night due to Mateo's ravenous love making, she couldn't wait to try on each one and tease and torture him with her fantasies.

"Good morning," Mateo murmured, kissing her head as he caressed her backside, sending a delightful tingle down her spine. "Did you sleep alright in here?"

"Yes, I think passing out would be more accurate than sleeping." Maia chuckled softly. "And I can't tell, but I don't think it's morning."

"Probably not." He grinned, squeezing her ass. "I'm sorry I got a bit carried away with you last night."

"Oh no, lekker ding. Never apologize for that," Maia said, sliding her hand over his chest. "You know I liked it and next time I want to use some of your toys on you."

"Mm, I'd like that," he said, taking her hand and kissing her palm. "Why don't we take a nice long bath and then I'll make us some lunch?"

"Yes, I think my body needs a good long soak before the festivities tonight," she said as they shuffled out of the bed. "What are you going to do tonight, anyway?" she asked as Mateo draped a black silk robe over her shoulders and led her to the ensuite bathroom with an oversized clawfoot tub that sat in the center of the room and looked out over the sun kissed meadow of Vijverwoud.

"You remember my friend Gerrit from the market?" he said, starting the bath.

"Yeah, the one who made the good brownies?"

"Yeah." He nodded, pouring rose and jasmine scented oil in the water. "He's been wanting to get together for a few drinks so I thought I'd see if Demetri wanted to hang out with me tonight and meet up with him."

"I'm sure Dem would love that. He hasn't seen the nightlife in Oost den Burg yet and I'm sure he's itching to do something like that," Maia said, sitting on the edge of the tub. "Maybe we can all meet up later depending on how this bachelorette party goes."

"Only if your night allows for it," Mateo said, sitting beside her and pressing a kiss against her neck. "But I wouldn't mind taking you and Demetri to my favorite club in the city."

"That sounds naughty."

"It is," he said, nipping her ear. "I think we deserve to be as naughty as we like this weekend."

"Mm," she said, slipping her hand beneath his boxers and wrapping her fingers around his thick cock. "You're going to have me wanting to ditch this party tonight."

"No ditching my sisters, liefje," he said, sliding his hand between her thighs. "You just call me when you're ready to see me."

"It's a date, mijn prins."

"I'll be waiting, mijn prinses."

A/N: It's a bit of fluff, but I love their fluffy moments....but Mateo wants forever with Maia 😭🥰 I mean Maia already has a ring on her finger and maybe I'm getting ahead of myself, but do you think Mateo will propose to Maia again? Or you think they'll just keep going as they are? Or maybe they might not think they need to get married???

Also...kind of concerned about them meeting up after the bachelorette party...I think they should go their separate ways because we have NO IDEA what Arnaud Haro's people are going to do 😬😭😈