Earning the Love of a Princess-Chapter 182: A Lonely Man Dreams

6 September, 1360. Westerhaven Palace, Islia

Camilla was lounging on the bed with Malcolm swaddled asleep next to her, when William stomped in, drenched in sweat and already having half removed his linen shirt.

"Goddamn this fucking heat! Sword practice is like training in Satan’s den these days!" William snarled as he grabbed his shirt from the back and pulled it over his head, continuing to curse without restraint.

"Um, husband..." Camilla murmured.

"What?" she heard him call out, slightly muffled by the shirt sliding past his face. "Don’t worry about Malcolm. I’m sure he has no idea what I’m saying."

"That’s not my concern..." Camilla’s voice drifted off when William looked around, sweaty shirt in his hand, and realised he was standing half naked in the same room as his wife and her three blushing maids.

William stood rigid with shock for a moment. Matilda and Bonnie swiftly cast their eyes to the floor. Louisa openly ogled the prince.

Camilla, the only person in the room that wasn’t mortified, clapped her hand over her mouth to try and smother her giggles. She was unsuccessful.

William aimed a pained look at her.

Taking mercy on her husband, Camilla cheerfully told the maids they should leave the room so they could go fetch the prince his bath. She hopped down from her bed and closed the door behind the exiting maids. Pressing her back against the closed bedchamber door, Camilla then began teasing William relentlessly.

"Did you see how Louisa was staring at you? I heard her neck nearly snap clean." She couldn’t stop laughing. "Please make sure you have a shirt on when the maids return. Unless you want Louisa to stay back and help wash you?"

"Ugh! Please shut up, wife." William sulked, donning the shirt again and crossing his arms across his chest.

The maids returned a short while later with the wooden tub, which they dragged into the dressing room. Try as she might, Louisa couldn’t resist aiming sideways glances at William, much to Camilla’s amusement.

Eventually, the maids departed, leaving only the young couple and their baby, who slept peacefully in the middle of their bed. William aimed one last scowl at his wife before pulling off his boots and stalking into the dressing room.

Camilla perched on the edge of the bed, waiting for the inevitable call.

"Wife..." William’s voice drifted from the dressing room.

Camilla smiled to herself. She’d learned when they married that William was a creature of habit. He was also a creature that liked being fussed over and pampered like a child.

She drifted into the dressing room, where she found William in the bath, head lolling against the edge of the tub. He grinned up at her.

"Since you subjected me to such cruel teasing, I think it’s only fair that you help wash my hair, don’t you?"

"Is that so?" Camilla managed not to smile.

"Yes. So please make a start."

Camilla happily grabbed a bar of soap and knelt down on the floor behind William’s head. She started soaping up his dripping wet hair, running her sudsy fingers through the locks.

William tipped his head back and groaned with satisfaction as she slowly rubbed his scalp, his eyes closing.

"When I was on campaign, I’d dream of you washing my hair every morning." he sighed contentedly.

"Really? I thought you said you dreamt of waking up in my arms every morning." Camilla teased him.

"Yes, that too. I think a man is capable of having more than one dream in his life, don’t you?"

She gently made sure every strand of his thick, golden hair was coated in soap, having done the same for him many times as a newly married couple. The man seemed to crave physical affection like a never ending hunger and she was happy to oblige. There was a time not long ago when she was sure her husband would never come near her again.

Camilla wondered if William felt the same occasional prickles of fear that she did, tormenting her at unexpected moments. As if she were about to wake up from a beautiful dream and face grim reality. Or perhaps he’d just been able to put the turmoil of their separation behind him with relative ease.

All she wanted was to feel safe and secure in William’s love again, like she had before the war with Moraigth. Hopefully, it was only a matter of passing time.

"All done." Camilla kissed William’s damp cheek, then watched as he bobbed under the water to rinse his hair. She stood up and left the dressing room to check on the baby.

Malcolm had managed to wriggle his arms out of his linen swaddle again. The boy much preferred to sleep with his arms raised around his head, sucking on his fingers. Camilla was wrestling with the swaddle when William emerged from the dressing room, clad in only a clean pair of trousers, low on his hips. He had a towel over one shoulder and his hair was still dripping wet.

"I’ll wrap up the little lad again if you dry my hair first." William offered. "You do a better job of it than me."

Camilla bit back a laugh, knowing full well he was capable of drying his own hair and was shamelessly seeking another opportunity to be fussed over. Smiling, she nodded, then scooted back so he could sit in front of her on the bed.

Kneeling behind him, she picked up the towel from him and started blotting his hair dry. She used the corner of the towel to dry the water that had dripped from his hair and tracked rivulets down his shoulders and back, silently admiring the way his muscles flexed beneath the tanned skin.

She had no idea what she’d done to end up married to the most desirable young man on the continent but she certainly wasn’t going to argue. No wonder almost every woman at court went slack jawed when he walked by. And no wonder those same women loathed her for having married him.

William suddenly tipped his head back against Camilla’s chest, his wet hair quickly starting to soak her nightgown.

"When I was in the north and had to go for weeks on end with only the river to wash in, I used to think about-" he started.

"Yes, yes, about me drying your hair afterwards." Camilla interrupted with a smile. "It sounds like there wasn’t much you did that didn’t make you think of me."

"There wasn’t." William twisted his neck and looked up at her with a frown. "I thought of you all the time. The only thing harder than being so far away from you was being here but avoiding you. Not one of my finest ideas, I’ll admit." 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"I missed you terribly too. I was sick with worry here, with no idea if you were dead or alive."

"If I had died, the messengers would have let you know." William shrugged nonchalantly.

Camilla gave him a flat look. "Oh, I’m glad to hear it. What a relief to know that I wouldn’t have spent long wondering. Honestly? You talk like a soldier through and through sometimes."

William chuckled and slid one arm behind him and around her. With one strong, quick motion, she found herself pulled onto his lap.

She quickly noticed him staring at her chest, where the water from his hair had left a damp, nearly transparent spot on her nightgown. "That is your fault." she told him, flushing with embarrassment.

"Oh dear. Such a pity." William drawled as he quickly pulled her hand away. He then buried his other hand in her hair and did the most unexpected thing of all.

He kissed her. Hard.

Camilla’s eyes were round with shock before she found herself closing her eyes and sinking into the taste of him. She wasn’t sure how she’d managed to forget how delicious it was to kiss him. She slid her arms around his neck and pulled him closer.

A baby’s grumpy sounding wail suddenly cut through their air.

A sound that sounded like part groan, part laugh escaped William’s throat. He slid Camilla off his lap and spun himself around on the bed until he was sitting cross legged in front of Malcolm. The baby was now waving both free arms around as he cried.

"Calm down, calm down." William whispered as he swaddled Malcolm warmly again, leaving both of his arms free. Then he lightly patted the baby’s head until the little eyes drifted closed. William placed Malcolm in his cradle and then turned to face his very surprised wife.

"How did you become so adept at wrapping the baby?" she asked.

"I...practiced." William rubbed the back of his neck and looked away, visibly uncomfortable. "Sometimes he’d start unwrapping himself in his cradle and I didn’t want to wake you, so I’d try to teach myself."

"William." Camilla said firmly.

"Yes?"

"That’s probably the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me."

"Really?" He had her on her back in the blink of an eye, hovering over her. "Those were my best words? I thought I’d done a fairly good job of sweet talking you in the past."

Camilla rolled her eyes. "Trust me. Before we were married, you were nowhere near as charming as you think you were."

William grinned down at her, the gleaming, wicked smile that always made her feel so warm and silly inside.

"You’re not a very good liar, pretty girl. You never have been, actually."

He lowered himself to kiss her lips again. She sighed against him in contentment.