Hilo sighed and turned around, putting his arms around her and touching his lips to her forehead. She knew that even after making her his Pillarman, he struggled with his instinct to shield her. He wanted to trust her as he once did, but sometimes his questions were sharp and suspicious. Wen tried her best not to resent him for it, and to consciously shake the engrained habit of omitting information about her activities when they might meet with his disapproval. She could not win back his confidence all at once; trust that had been so dramatically spilled could only be refilled one drop at a time.
Wen propped the open schedule book against her husband’s chest. She’d gone from a stealthy involvement in clan affairs to facing them daily as a complex, shifting arrangement of color-coded appointments and tasks. “Don’t forget your meeting with General Ronu was moved to this afternoon. It’s to review the report he’ll be making to the Royal Council next week. Your sister phoned this morning and said she’s not feeling well, so if she isn’t able to be there, Woon will attend in her place.”
Hilo’s eyebrows rose. “Again? That’s the third meeting she’s missed this month. It’s not like Shae to leave me alone in meetings when she thinks some random fact might come up that she knows more about than I do.”
Wen fought hard against a smile. “Maybe you should ask her why she’s feeling so unwell lately when no one else in the family’s been sick.”
“I suppose I should,” Hilo said, so obliviously that Wen had to turn away and clap a hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh. Hilo’s eyes narrowed with dawning realization. “No fucking way.” When Wen smiled and shrugged as if she knew nothing, he burst into laughter. “Good for them. I didn’t think Shae was the type, but it’s just like her to wait too long and come around in the end.”
“I didn’t tell you anything,” Wen declared. “Be nice to your sister and let her tell everyone herself when she’s ready.” She moved her finger down to the next note. “The Espenian ambassador called again about the destruction of the Anorco mining ship. I referred him back to Woon Papi.”
Hilo snorted, then tugged the schedule book out of her hands. “Good. Woon can ignore him on the clan’s behalf, that’s his job as Sealgiver.” He laid the book down on the kitchen counter. “Do you remember back when you used to lie in bed stretched out naked in the morning, tempting me away from clan business? Now clan business is all you want to talk about.”
Wen tilted her chin as she looked up at her husband slyly. “Would you rather I neglected my duties as Pillarman?”
Hilo took her by the shoulders and turned her away from him. His lips moved near her ear from behind, warming the skin of her neck. “There are other ways to help your Pillar prepare for the day.” He slid a hand down the front of her dress and squeezed her left breast. “I have half an hour in my schedule right now—it says so in your book. And you look so nice today, dressed up for other people and not even for me.”
Wen braced against the kitchen table as he bent her over. Hilo lifted the dress over her hips and pulled down her panties. He nudged her legs apart with his knees before disappearing from view behind her. She felt him seize her inner thighs, spreading her wide open. Then the wet heat of his mouth. Wen shivered and rose onto her toes, lifting one leg to better accommodate him as he stood, unzipped his pants and plunged deeply into her with one smooth motion. She smiled as she bore down rhythmically on his thrusts. They were not young anymore, but Hilo was still impulsive by nature and there were undeniable advantages to having the house to themselves more frequently these days.
_______
An hour later, her dress back in place and the inside of her thighs wiped down, Wen checked her makeup in a hand mirror. The driver opened the car door, and Wen stepped out of her Lumezza 6C convertible and walked through the entrance of Wie Lon Temple School.
She considered the hypocrisy of being concerned about her son visiting a friend two blocks inside a Mountain-controlled district while she strode straight into the heart of enemy territory. Wie Lon was the oldest martial school in the country, the Mountain’s feeder school, the alma mater of Ayt Madashi and nearly every high-ranking Green Bone in that clan. Its spacious and imposing main training hall was also occasionally rented out for large private functions such as this one. Wen took in her surroundings with curiosity. Unlike Kaul Dushuron Academy, which was situated within Janloon, Wie Lon was a forty-five minute drive west of the city and had the feel of a secluded forest camp. A fitting place to put important patrons in the mood for supporting nature conservation.