"Oh, god, Joseph…" Clarisse whispered, embarrassed, as she felt him kiss her neck and place his arm around her waist. He grinned against her skin and slowly pulled away, looking at her as she gritted her teeth: "not here!"

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself" he winked and let go of her hand as they rounded the corner into the busy square. She frowned, mostly because she did want him to continue.

"No one knows yet! We have to be careful!" She admonished him, looking around to see who was listening. People were becoming more accustomed to seeing the queen about the town since the king had passed away. They hardly even noticed her anymore, but she knew they were always watching. She walked around as if she were any resident of the area. She moved in and out of the shops – picking out her own clothes and making her own choices made her feel normal. Joseph was never far away from her, as he was her head of security, and completely in love with her. She loved him, too, but this degree of normal was the scariest thing she could encounter in her life.

"Yes, your majesty." He went immediately stone faced and made sure to be one step behind her. She couldn't help but giggle at his over-dramatic reaction.

"Anyway," she let her laugh fade into a smile, "I must look for a dress for Amelia's party. I know Louis said he was making me one, but I need some inspiration to tell him what I want. I can't really decide on a color. She's wearing red, so that's no longer an option."

"I have a few suggestions of what I'd like him to make…" He growled close to her ear. Clarisse shot him a warning glare. He looked down like a scolded puppy, and fell into stride with her.

"Will you please keep yourself together?" She said with pursed lips. Her palms were becoming warm.

"It's very hard, your majesty, as you are so beautiful, and I want nothing more but to kiss you right now, in the middle of the street." He was whispering to her now, his warm breath on the back of her neck. Her hair stood on end.

He guided her into a store and snuck his hand onto the small of her back. She melted at his touch.

Though they had been waiting many years, Clarisse asked Joseph if their relationship could begin slowly. He reluctantly agreed, understanding that this familiarity that he suggested had never been a part of her life. As a consequence of their agreed-upon "slow" relationship, she hadn't yet invited him into her bed. Of course there were many long sessions of kisses and lost jackets, undone buttons and hands under blouses; but Joseph was beginning to get very impatient, and wasn't exactly secretive about it. She didn't mind that he shared this with her. She was completely confident that he would respect her, and wait as long as necessary. Plus, his impatience amused her, and never failed to quicken her heartbeat.

She relished in the fact that he wanted her so badly. She couldn't believe that a man wanted to make love to her, at her age. She had only been with Rupert, and truthfully wasn't sure she knew how to be with Joseph. She knew that, when they did finally cross that line, everything would make sense. Everything always made sense with Joseph.

She thanked him every day for being patient with her. After every rendezvous late at night in her suite, she apologized for not being ready, and he would kiss her and tell her everything was okay. He told her he would wait forever just to touch her again, when she was fully prepared to take that step. He had no interest in making her uncomfortable.

She was completely aware that he had every interest in getting into her bed as soon as possible. He'd shared that he had not been with anyone for several years, and had never been in a long term relationship, because no one was Clarisse – she was whom he had really wanted. She had cried that night, after he left her suite. He hadn't said it, but she knew he loved her more than anyone ever had.

Clarisse looked around at the selection in the store and gasped. Lace and mesh stared at her from every angle. Everything was black, white and red. She could feel the warmth rising from her core. Joseph had ushered her in here with many ideas, she was sure. She was not ready to tell him that she beat him to it; having made her own birthday plans for the end of the month.

"I'm sorry," she said to the attendant, "I believe we have entered the wrong store."

"Oh, your majesty, are you sure? You were just here last week! Don't you want to pick up the items you ordered? They have not been claimed yet." The attendant was French, speaking to the queen softly in her native language. Clarisse shook her head and told her, in perfect French, that she would send someone around to get the items later. Joseph does not understand French, she thought.

She was wrong.

Joseph's head was spinning. Could she have possibly ordered something to wear only for him?

"So what did you buy?" he whispered briskly as she hastened out of the store.

"Oh, I didn't, I just told the clerk that she was mistaken."

"Clarisse?" he urged.

"Oui?" She turned away from him, heading to her favorite chocolate shop.

"I speak French."

Her face went pink, her cheeks hot. She thought back to all of the things that he must have heard her say over the years when she thought he couldn't hear her muttering under her breath in her native tongue.

"Why would you hide that from me?"

"Because it's really cute when you speak in French when you think I can't understand, mon ange" He smiled and touched her arm. "Especially when you swear…" She pulled away, pretending to be angry with him, but her arousal was currently too amplified for her to be infuriated.

Eventually, they came to an alley, and she looked at him with heavy, suggestive eyes. Joseph grabbed her hand right in the middle of the street, and pulled her around the corner, past a small café, and into a courtyard that seemed abandoned.

He put his hands on her breasts, and pushed her gently against the wall, and kissed her. His mouth was hot and full on hers.

She kissed back, wrapping her arms around him, her hands running up and down his back. His lips were warming her, and his tongue traveled, exploring her mouth. She moaned as he pressed his hips against her, and she could feel him swelling though his jeans. He nibbled at her bottom lip, a heavy moan escaping his mouth.

"Joseph…" she sighed as he grasped her hips and pulled them forward. She could feel herself reacting to his touch. He couldn't help himself anymore. He wanted to be closer to her. They kissed fervently, their bodies as near as they could be with Clarisse forced up against the brick of the building. He covered her so completely that no one would be able to recognize her body writhing beneath him.

His hands began to wander as he rocked against her, and they came to rest at the bottom of her skirt. He pushed it up, inch by inch, and she gasped, her eyes wild with anticipation or fear, she wasn't even sure. She gasped, unable to see what wasn't right in front of her. He wanted her; she wanted him. It wasn't a debate anymore. She was completely ready to make love to him.

"I love you, Joseph." She whispered while she nodded her consent. His hands moved up and under her skirt, curving around her bottom and lifting her slightly above him. She felt his fingers exploring her, slipping into her slowly, and she leaned into the steady brick of the building, moaning his name.

"I love you, Clarisse." He said aloud, pushing his fingers into her fully. She whimpered at the fullness she felt for the first time in ages. He moved his fingers, stroking her, building up the tension in her body. She tightened, digging her fingers into his back, under his jacket. She moved with him, feeling everything he was doing to her with powerful detail. She moved her hands to the bottom of his shirt, pulling it out from his pants, slipping her hands into his shirt in order to be nearer to him. Her fingers raked up and down his spine.

After a few minutes, she pushed his hand down, found the ground with her feet, and placed her hands on his shoulders. He pulled his hand away, stroking her inner thigh as he slipped out of her.

"I'm sorry. I can't finish this. Not here." She pulled down her skirt, feeling the wetness of her panties. Joseph kissed her forehead, an apology. He was so thrilled to have been able to touch her, to finally have been inside her like he had always wanted to be. She was soft, warm. Her face was flushed with the glow of her awakening. It didn't matter to him that they didn't finish what they started; she had opened that door, finally.

"Clarisse, it's all right. This isn't the place, my love. I'm sorry I even started it." She handed him a tissue from her purse, and he wiped his hands on it. He leaned in to kiss her, and she pulled away and grinned.

"Are…you…okay?" She looked down at his pants, and raised her eyebrows. He chuckled, surprised that she had even mentioned his swollen erection, as she usually tried to ignore it.

"Yes, yes, I'll be fine, my darling." He kissed her gently, stroking her cheek, sincere, but still slightly disappointed that their tryst had ended.

"Are you….sure?" She moved her hand slowly and firmly down his chest, and over his belt. He shook slightly as her fingers teased across the top of his pants, touching him through the fabric.

"No." He gritted his teeth as he felt her fingers press at him, "not sure. I could use some help, you know." He pushed himself into her hand as she began to pull away.

"Well, I wish I could help you…" she wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Clarisse!" He pouted, moving his head to nip at her ear. "I think you enjoy having this power, love."

"Mmmm…maybe…I do…" she moved her hips against him. He groaned, the pressure was becoming too great, but he didn't want her to feel guilty.

"You are killing me, Madame" he sighed as she began to walk away. He closed his eyes and tried to make his arousal go away. But her scent was on his hands, and her perfume in his clothes. It proved an impossible task.

"Joseph, I did order something for you. I wasn't going to tell you, but it seems the surprise has been spoiled. Perhaps we can go back and retrieve it?"

"Anything you want, my love." His eyes scoped the courtyard, and he saw a woman on her balcony, who gasped and ran inside when he looked up. He suppressed his chuckle, realizing that Clarisse would be mortified if she knew they had been found out by an inhabitant of the courtyard.

Clarisse made it halfway back to the café before Joseph called out to her.

"Yes?" she said, squealing as he grabbed her around her waist and kissed her firmly on the lips.

"Sorry, I just needed one more before we went back to not loving each other." Clarisse looked him in the eyes.

"Joseph." She said seriously. "Don't you EVER think that I don't love you. I have never loved any person the way that I love you. If you consider for one instant that hiding our relationship means that my love for you is concealed, I will declare to the world that…"

He cut her off with a blinding kiss.

"Never." He let her go, reluctantly, and smiled. "I love you, too."