Page 20 of Sapphire

I nudged his foot with my own under the table. "You're looking like someone pissed in your pint and then told you to smile about it."

Liam glanced up at me, his eyes narrowed, his jaw tight. "Nothing. Just thinking."

Finn snorted, taking a swig of his own drink. "Thinking about a certain Italian queen, more like. I've seen the way you look at her. Like you want to eat her alive and then beg for seconds."

Liam scowled, his cheeks flushing a dull red. "Fuck off, Finn. I don't know what you're talking about."

I grinned, leaning forward and resting my elbows on the table. "Course you do, Liam. Aria's got you all twisted up inside, hasn't she? Got you panting after her like a dog in heat, even as you're trying to convince yourself you're too smart, too fucking tough, to fall for a woman like that."

Liam's scowl deepened, his hands clenching around his glass. "A woman like what? A cold-blooded killer? A fucking Black Widow?”

I shrugged, unconcerned. "Way I see it, if those rumors are true, it just means she's strong enough to do what needs to be done.”

Finn nodded; his expression serious. "Seamus is right, Liam. Aria's not waiting for a man to come along. She's a queen, so if you want a chance with her, if you want to be the one she lets into her bed, you need to be man enough to handle that.”

Liam was silent for a long moment. "And what if I'm not?" he asked finally. "What if I'm not man enough, not strong enough, to be the kind of partner she needs? The kind of partner a queen like Aria deserves?"

I exchanged a glance with Finn, a silent conversation passing between us in the space of a heartbeat. Because fuck, we'd been there. We had faced those same doubts when we first started falling for Kamilla and Cara. It wasn't easy, being the man behind the throne. Being the one who had to watch his woman walk into danger and darkness all in the name of duty and honor.

Was it worth it?

Every second. It was worth every second of wondering if we were enough, if we were worthy, if we could be the men they needed us to be. We were still the ones she came home to, the ones they trusted with their hearts and their souls and their fucking sanity.

I leaned back in my chair. "Let me give you a piece of advice, Liam. Something Finn and I have learned, through trial and error and a whole lot of fucking groveling."

Liam raised an eyebrow, his expression wary. "And what's that?"

"When you're lucky enough to have a queen in your bed, you make damn sure she comes first. In every sense of the word."

Finn barked out a laugh. "Damn right. Cara might be the Emerald Queen to the rest of the world, but when she's writhing under me, begging for my cock and my tongue and my fucking fingers, she's just a woman. My woman, and it's my job to worship her until she forgets her own damn name."

I nodded, my own smile turning filthy. "Same goes for Kamilla. She might be the Bratva's queen, but when I've got her on her back, her thighs spread and her cunt dripping for me, she's mine. My responsibility, my fucking privilege, to make her feel so good she can't remember why she ever put on that crown in the first place."

Liam stared at us, his eyes wide, his throat working as he swallowed hard. "Jesus fuck. You two are- I don't even know what you are. Insane, maybe. Or just so fucking whipped you can't see straight."

I shrugged, unrepentant. "Call it what you want, but the fact is, Kamilla and Cara are queens, aye. They're powerful and fierce and they need men who can match that.”

Finn leaned forward, his expression serious. "But they're also women, Liam. Women with needs and desires and fucking vulnerabilities, just like any other. And it's our job, our fucking honor, to be the ones they can let down their guard with. The ones they can be soft with, be vulnerable with, be fucking human with."

I nodded, my own face softening. "Aye. At the end of the day that's what matters. Not the crowns or the thrones or the fucking empires they've built. But the love, the trust that comes from knowing you've found your match. Your equal, your fucking soulmate in all the ways that count."

Liam was quiet for a long moment, then slowly, a smile started to curve his lips.

"I think I get it," he said softly, almost to himself. "I think I fucking get it now."

I grinned, raising my glass in a toast. "About damn time, Liam. About damn fucking time."

As we clinked our glasses together, as we drank to love and queens and the fierce, fucking unbreakable bonds that held us all together and that Liam was in for one hell of a ride.

My sapphire eyed queen and our soon to be child.