The day of my convocation came quickly. And, like my first ball with the community, I could not be more thankful to have Holly by my side. She helped me pick out a gorgeous jade green dress that made me feel like a true queen. Even Adeline had approved of it. Holly and I giggled like school girls that morning. She insisted on curling my hair though I protested greatly. My hair had always been unrelentingly straight. But, somehow, she made it conform to her will and it twirled down my shoulders and stayed in beautiful form the whole morning. 

When I crossed the stage to accept  my degree I noticed a group in the stands. It was almost impossible to not notice them, but that's how the royals had always been. Even without their crowns they radiated regal energy and power. And it was hard not too hear Ajax when he was cheering from the stands beside Noah, who was on his feet clapping for all he was worth. The sight warmed my heart, my little cheering section.

But, as I moved down the stairs, I eyes that I knew as well as my own and dark black hair. A timid smile shone beneath. 

My mom.

I sat quickly through my ceremony, so blissful that I was almost numb. And when it was over and the masses began to move, I knew what I had to do. She wouldn't want to see the royals but I had to see her. I couldn't let her slip back into hiding just yet. 

Unfortunately, like me, my mother was quite short and small. We were easy to lose in a crowd. I squeezed and elbowed my way through the multitude of people, cap and degree in hand as people found their loved ones and hugged tightly. I worried I would never find her in this crowd, it was too dense and moved too fast. 

But when my gaze landed on her my eyes filled with tears.

"Mom," I breathed. 

She turned as soon as she heard my voice. 

I think parted of me was still mad at her. I hated that she had hidden this whole world from me, that she hadn't let me be who I needed to be. And I hated that she had made all of these decisions without asking me how I felt, even in my adult years. She had undermined me when I needed her most. And when I had my world tipped upside down she disappeared. 

But she was still my mother. She was still half of our little team. 

And having her here meant the world to me.

"Oh Keiko," she gasped. 

It was something my mother had never done, but when she ran to me and opened her arms I fell into her embrace, jamming my eyes shut and holding her to me. She even wore the same perfume that I had always associated with her. And holding her just felt so damn good. This was it, this is what I needed today. 

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," she whispered against my shoulder. "I should've done better, should've been better. I just didn't know." Her words were thick with tears and I couldn't remember the last time I had heard this much emotion in her voice.

"It's okay," I soothed, pulling away ever so slightly. And in that moment, it felt like it was okay. Having her here was enough. 

And when we saw each other all red eyed and snuffly we laughed a little, then hugged tightly again.

"I'm so proud of you, Keiko," my mother said, wiping one of her tears when we stepped back for the second time. 

"Thanks mom, and thanks for coming." I knew that this must've been hard on her. 

"I wouldn't miss it for the world. And I needed to tell you how sorry I am," she began again.

i just squeezed her thin arm and smiled at her as best as I could in that emotional moment. "I'm not angry anymore, mom. But I miss you. I'd love to see you more."

"I miss you too."

"How about you come see our new place sometime? It's really close by, would only take you an hour to get to," I suggested. "It'll just be me and Ajax most of the time anyway."

"Honey, he might not want-"

I cut her off. "He would love it. And so would I." It was true. Ajax would do anything to make me happy and being cordial with my mother for a couple hours was more than realistic. 

"Then you give me a call and we will make a plan," she agreed, though she seemed a little hesitant. To be fair, I would be nervous to be under the same roof as my royals after I had just spat in their faces. "Now you better run along before that boy releases another search party for you," she teased, but glanced around nervously.

We hugged again, then I was back weaving through the crowds. I had a thousand things that I wanted to say to my mother. I wanted her to hold me while I cried and answer for what she had done, but this was not the time or place for this. And, I didn't know what would happen if the royals stumbled upon her here so I had to let her go and believe that I would see her again.

"There you are," Ajax sighed when I approached. "I was beginning to think you had gotten lost."

"I did," I lied. "There's thousands of people here, it's hard not to get carried away by the flow of traffic."

And, as the fib left my mouth, I saw Adeline follow me with her eyes. There was a knowing smirk on her lips. It was impossible to keep anything from a woman like her. But when I glanced back at Ajax, worried that he knew as well; his face was full of naive bliss.

"I'm so proud of you," he announced, wrapping his arms around my waist. He held me tightly and lifted me so I was just hovering above the ground as he peppered my face with kisses. 

I giggled at the affection, feeling blush heat my cheeks. The royals didn't seem to be the kinds of people who approved of public displays of affection. And, though I was coming to love all of them, this was his family, not my own.

Finally, Ajax placed me back on solid ground, but only to plant a kiss on my lips. 

"I'm so proud of you, Keiko," he repeated, his eyes glowing with adoration. 

As per usual for the royals there was a party hosted afterwards. Adeline soothed me, saying it was only going to be a small party. But small by royal standards was still over a hundred people. However it was all a whirl of champagne, smiling faces, and shaking hands. And, for once, I wasn't nervous about pleasing all these people. I had come to the conclusion that they needed to please me as well.

Soon enough I was in my bedroom in an empty house with Ajax splayed out on my bed.

"You're so beautiful like that," he murmured.

"You're kidding," I said, still rubbing the last of my makeup off with a moist face cloth. "I put in all this effort with the makeup and the hair just so you can say that."

He laughed, a low raspy sound. His voice always changed when he saw me like this, in barely any clothes and fresh faced. It sounded like he was struggling to control himself. "I just think that this side of Keiko is beautiful. My personal favorite is when your eyes are half open and you're all sleepy with this mess of hair."

"Well this is my favorite version of you," I said, discarding the face cloth in a laundry basket and slipping into the bed. 

"Oh yeah?" he murmured, letting out a soft breath when I moved on top of him, straddling his hips and sitting on his lap. "Why's that?"

"Because," I whispered, rolling my hips so I could lean forward. His eyes closed at the movement. "You still have gel in your hair, even though you tried to brush it out. And you still smell a little like your cologne. They're reminders of the fact that you are a king, but you're here, relaxed and shirtless. You're a king, but you're my king when you're like this. This is the side of you that only I get to see."

He kept his eyes closed as I ran my fingers through his hair, but his mouth curled up into a beautiful grin. And I just had to bend down and kiss him. 

The kiss was supposed to be a sweet peck on the lips. And it started like that. But when I moved down to kiss him the pressure on his cock shifted, making him gasp. I took the opportunity to brush my tongue against his, hyper aware of the fact that he was only wearing boxers and I a thin shirt and panties. His hands grabbed at me, pulling me to him as he deepened the kiss, locking my mouth with his.

When he released me we both gasped.

"I'm sorry," he panted, but he was still holding onto me. "I know you wanted to take your time, but it's so hard for me. I want you and when you said that I just...It made me need you, Keiko. I need my queen."

I had pushed Ajax away for months. I had told him that we were going to take this as slow- if not slower- than a human couple. We weren't going to be swayed by mate bonds and heats. We could sleep in the same bed, but we were not to have sex until we both felt like we were in a place where we could handle such an emotional thing.

But I couldn't see a better moment than now. 

I pulled my shirt over my head and tossed it aside.

Ajax said nothing, just stared at me. So I kissed him while he began touching my bare skin, caressing me with gentle hands.

For how dominant he had been verbally when I had first met him, he was incredibly gentle. He talked of pulling my hair and making me beg. He talked about making me so wet and so needy that I would do anything just to have him. I'm sure he had it in him, but that was not the case now.

His fingers were light, almost nervous as they glided over my smooth skin. He stroked my thighs, my back, my arms, and my small breasts. I would let out soft mews when he touched my nipples. And in between, he would cup my cheeks and kiss me tenderly. I touched the strong muscles on his chest and used his arms for support as I rocked back and forth on his length.

When I felt my wetness grow I moved to pull my panties to the side and he lifted his hips, sliding out of his briefs. It was our silent confirmation. I slowly slid down on his length, my mouth falling open in a silent moan.

"Oh God," Ajax groaned. His hands had found my hips, but he was only using them as an anchor for himself. 

I moved on my own accord, letting myself adjust to him, taking him only as deep as I wanted. And he let me. The man who wanted me all to himself only touched and kissed the parts of my body he could reach and told me he loved me over and over again. 

It was the opposite of rough. It was passionate and tender. Slow and easy. We weren't pushing each other. He wasn't pinning me down onto the mattress. I would move the way I wanted to and when I leaned back, propping myself up with my hands on his thighs, his moans got louder. I went faster, loving the sounds he made. They made me wetter and pleasing him gave me great satisfaction. 

"Oh, Keiko," he moaned when I started going faster. "Baby, I can't last if you keep doing that."

"Ajax," I whimpered, feeling so close to my edge. 

Then, I let myself get swept away by bliss. 

~~~Distraction Section~~~

So I said I would have a little surprise in this chapter. And my surprise is that I didn't decide to do two chapters to wrap this book up. You all love Ajax and Keiko and frankly, we could all use another ten minutes or so of reading, right? Anything to make staying inside a little easier. So, After this chapter there are two more additional chapters coming. I'm really excited to have you all see where this book goes :)

Question of the Day:

What would your ideal date look like?