“Strange,” he muttered then focused on me. “There are men, and women, who holiday in Fleuridia just to visit Fleuridian whores. They are the best in the Northlands.”
“That’s…well, I guess I find that kind of shocking,” I told him.
“As I find it equally shocking providing such a service and being celebrated for your talent in doing it would be looked down upon in your world, as your reaction clearly states they are.”
He looked like he was disappointed in me.
“We’re not as free sexually as you are here, I’m getting,” I explained.
His eyes grew dark and I would know why when he inquired, “Do you feel guilt for what you do with me?”
“No,” I told him quickly.
“If our coupling would be looked down upon in your world, why not?”
“Because I enjoy it and I like you and I like spending time with you and being close to you. So much, if we were in my world, I wouldn’t care what people think.”
His eyes shot straight to tender and he said softly, “This is a good answer, my poppy.”
I felt the tenderness in his eyes sliding through my insides, however, I did feel it necessary to point out, “Just to say, the men who pay for it in my world, and the women who get paid, are what’s looked down on, Apollo. There’s more sexual freedom for those who are free to be…uh, sexually free.”
“Very odd,” he murmured and again focused more closely on me to say, “If Celise made you uncomfortable, my poppy, I apologize. She was not scheduled to meet me that night. However, she has favorite clients and I am one, so I’m not surprised.”
And I wasn’t surprised he was a favorite of the famous Celise whoever-she-was.
But I did wonder if he’d ever spanked her, drank adela tea with her or “explored” other things with her and I knew, for some reason, if he had, that would upset me.
A lot.
“Now, are we done with this topic?” he asked.
“Yes,” I answered, not about to get into how much he explored the beautiful Celise.
His hands moved over my nightgown and he urged, “Then let’s move on to the other ones so I can get this charming but entirely in the way nightgown off you.”
I was suddenly not all that fired up about the other ones since they were harder but also because I wanted him to get my nightgown off of me.
Nevertheless, I persevered by stating, “What happened to bring us back to Karsvall, you’ve not mentioned it again.”
“No,” he confirmed readily. “This is because naught is happening. We’re waiting for men and missives to arrive but I don’t expect any of either until tomorrow.”
I loved it that he explained that to me but that wasn’t where I was going.
“Thank you for sharing that with me, baby,” I whispered and his hands stopped roaming so his arms could wrap around me again. “But that wasn’t why I mentioned it. I had a question.”
“And that question would be?”
“Well, the boys said frequently during dinner that night that we’re kind of at war.”
“Yes,” he stated.
“I’ve been thinking on it and that seems weird.”
“All of it is strange,” he agreed.
“No, I mean the part about being at war and that happening because someone attacked you and your family. I mean, a king somewhere, I would get. But why were you a target?”
His body went still.