Chapter Eight

Max turned toward the apartment door when he heard a key in the lock. He rose from the couch and went to meet Christian. He stopped when he got a good look at the man. He was visibly exhausted. Max rushed to help when Christian almost stumbled as he was taking off his boots.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. It’s been a really long day. Sorry I didn’t make it in time to eat with you tonight. Before you ask, we did take a break and eat in the dining hall at seven.”

“Good.” Max pulled Christian into his arms and just held him for a few moments. “Come on. It’s almost midnight. Let’s get you to bed so you can get some sleep.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think I’m up for anything but sleep. If you want me to go…”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Sex or no sex, I want you with me.”

Christian sagged against him. “Okay. Good. I really want to be here. Today has been a really long and shitty day. I need to hold you for a while.”

“I’m sorry. Hopefully, things will look better in the morning. Come on. Let’s get our snuggle on.”

Christian honest-to-God giggled and gave Max a little more of his weight. “The only thing that’s kept me going today was the thought of seeing you tonight.”

Max shuffled them down the hallway and into his bedroom, where he plopped an unresisting Christian onto the bed. Max bent down and removed Christian’s socks, before reaching for his belt buckle and undoing his pants. Looking up, he found Christian staring at him through half-closed lids.

“You are so beautiful.” Christian’s tone was reverent. “How did I get so lucky to have you notice me?”

Max tapped Christian’s hip, indicating that he wanted him to lift, and he pulled his pants down and off when he complied. “I’m the lucky one.”

“How about we’re both lucky?”

Max was completely besotted. “I can’t wait to remind you of this conversation when you’re not completely exhausted. You are so cute like this.”

Christian tried to glare at Max, but the effect was ruined by a huge yawn. Christian sat up and scooted to the pillows, stripping off his T-shirt as he went. “I’ll have you know I am one of the toughest soldiers in the whole army. People fear me.”

“Oh yeah? Well, you don’t scare me, tough guy.” Max helped Christian under the covers then leaned down to give him a chaste kiss. Christian’s mouth chased his for a moment before he sagged into the covers and was asleep before Max could even straighten. Shaking his head, Max went out to the living room to turn off the lights and make sure the door was locked and his alarm was set.

Stepping into the bathroom, he completed his nighttime ritual before climbing in next to Christian. Shutting off the light and lying down, Max suddenly had an armful of cuddly soldier boy. Christian snuggled onto Max’s chest and relaxed with a contented sigh. Max tried to contain his mirth at the man’s antics. He so couldn’t wait to tease him about it the next day.

 

* * * *

 

Max woke up with a groan, to the wonderful sensation of Christian’s mouth on his cock. Max lifted the covers to look, captivated by the sight of Christian’s eyes twinkling at him with amusement and his mouth stretched obscenely around his shaft.

Christian pulled off with a slurp. “I was wondering how long it was going to take for you to wake up. I was beginning to think you were going to sleep through coming.”

“Well, I was having an amazing dream, so it was entirely possible.”

“Hmm. Tell me more.” Christian prowled up Max’s body as he spoke, dropping on top of Max once their cocks were aligned just right. He ground his hips, sliding their bodies together. Max reached down to grab Christian’s hips to help with the movement.

“That feels perfect. Yeah, baby. More.” Max leaned up for a desperate kiss as he ground up harder, morning breath be damned. Christian’s movements became frantic for a moment before he spilled between them. The heat and the added glide sent Max following a few thrusts later. Their movements slowed and their kisses became gentle. Max let go of Christian’s hips and started running his hands up and down his back instead. He placed a gentle kiss on Christian’s temple then wrapped his arms around him and just held him for a minute.

“I should get up. I’m probably crushing you.”

“No. Stay. I like the feel of you on me.”

Christian settled again without a protest. “If you insist.”

Max raised one hand to cup the back of Christian’s head, holding him in position, and placed another gentle kiss on his temple. “I love being able to hold you. I love the connection we have, even when we aren’t having sex. I love simply talking to you more than I like sex with most people.”

“That’s a lot of ‘I loves’,” Christian whispered, raising his face from where it was buried in the crook of Max’s neck and looking Max in the eye.

Max swallowed hard. “How about one more, then? I love you, Christian, body and soul. I know it’s fast, but it’s how I feel.”

“I loved you as a young man, with a young man’s heart. I pined for you as an adult with an adult’s mind. Now let me love you as an adult. I love you, body and soul.”

They shared another gentle kiss before Christian’s alarm started sounding. With a moan, Christian rolled off Max and onto his back, grabbing his phone from the end table and silencing the alarm. Christian rolled his head to the left to look at Max. “Good morning, love.”

Max reached out and twined their hands together. “The first of many, I hope.”

“I like waking up with my boyfriend.”

“Me too.”

Christian rolled onto his side and stared at Max for a moment.

“What?”

“Boyfriends until I can call you fiancé then husband.”

“Yeah?”

“One day.”

“It’s a plan…one day.”

Christian leaned in and took another gentle kiss. “I really do need to get going. Lots going on right now. What about you? You’re still off until tomorrow, right?”

“I’ve been called into a meeting with Princess Zia and Stefan today. They needed to change the date, for some reason. They have requested a meeting with me and the king and queen. I think they even pulled in Prince Sebastian and Princess Katarina to try to get them to make an appearance at the dinner.” Max stopped talking when Christian froze, and what Max called his ‘soldier mask’ came crashing down. It was disconcerting to watch Christian going from relaxed lover to emotionless soldier in the blink of an eye.

“Why? What reason did they give for rescheduling the meeting?”

“They said they need to make changes to the plans for the dinner and want to cut out the middleman, since they don’t have a lot of time before the event. Why?”

“What time is the meeting?”

“One o’clock. “

“Where is the meeting being held?”

“The king’s office.”

“Do you know if my father was invited as well?”

“I think so, but I’m not one hundred percent sure.”

Christian’s phone buzzed in his hand, and Max watched as Christian stared at the number for a moment before pressing the button to answer. “Princess Zia, what a surprise.”

Max couldn’t hear what the princess was saying, but guessed she was inviting him to the meeting also.

“One o’clock in the king’s office? Sure, I can be there. Castle Commander Diaz and I wanted to discuss how the background checks were coming with you and Stefan anyway. Yep. See you then.” Hanging up the phone, Christian stared hard at Max for a moment, before shaking his head.

“What’s going on, Christian?”

“I can’t tell you much, but promise me something?”

“What?” Max didn’t like how intense Christian was at the moment. He was vibrating with some strong emotion.

“If I tell you to do something in the meeting, I need you to do it without question.”

“That’s not cryptic at all, but I can do that.”

“Okay. Well, I need to go. There are things I have to get done prior to the meeting.” Christian hurried into the bathroom and took a quick shower. He was done before Max could even begin to figure out what had just happened. Christian returned to the room and pulled on a clean set of clothes from his bag. Christian stepped close to the bed and leaned down, taking one more kiss. Max decided to ignore that the kiss seemed a little desperate and focused on giving Christian what he needed. Christian pulled away and rested their foreheads together. “Please stay safe today.”

“I will do my best. You, too. I’ll see you at one.”

“See you at one.” Then Christian hustled out the door.

Max lay in bed for a few more minutes, trying to figure out what was going on, but gave it up as a lost cause. He would find out at one. There was no sense borrowing trouble, as his mama used to say. The sticky mess on his stomach and chest finally drove him into the shower. He enjoyed taking his time and letting the warm water soothe his jangled nerves. How they’d gone from ‘I love you’ to ‘I’ve got to go’ in the course of five minutes, he wasn’t sure. Oh well, that’s castle life.

Max stripped the bed and put clean sheets on it before going out to the kitchen to make himself something to eat. He felt a momentary twinge of guilt when he realized Christian hadn’t had anything to eat before he’d left. Max shrugged. He could always feed him after the meeting. He continued to putter around the apartment, cleaning and paying bills—anything to keep his mind occupied. Something had Christian spooked about this meeting. Hopefully, it would turn out to be nothing.

At noon, Max heated up some leftovers and went over his notes for the dinner, so they were fresh in his mind. At a quarter to one, he made his way to the king’s office, surprised to see how many people were milling around the doorway.

“Who are all these people, Your Highness?” he asked Prince Sebastian, as he was the first person he saw that he knew.

“No idea. They all came with my sister and Stefan. They said they were necessary for the process.”

“Does that seem weird to you?”

“Oh yeah. Castle Commander Diaz is not happy, especially since Zia went around security to get all of these people in.”

“Did she now?”

“Yep.”

“Do you know what’s in the cases?” Max waved a hand at the plastic cases lined along the hallway by the office.

“Zia said it was samples for table settings. Not sure why they had to be brought.”

Prince Sebastian and Max shared a look. Turning at movement to his right, Max was glad to see Christian making his way down the hallway toward them. “Hey, babe, we have a bit of chaos going on right now.”

“I see.” Christian glanced around at the mess.

“Babe?” Max turned to find the prince looking at Christian. He waved a finger between the two of them. “Are you two finally together?”

Christian smirked at Sebastian. “Yep. My mission has been a success. How’s yours going?”

Sebastian looked sad for a moment before he brightened. “Ryan had to fly to Boston to finish packing up his apartment. He has one more meeting with his supervisor then he’ll return. I plan to woo him then.”

Christian clapped the prince on the back. “Good for you for realizing what a good catch Ryan is.”

“Yeah. We talked a lot for the few days he was here. He’s a great person.”

Christian waved at the mess in the hall. “Let me check this out. We can talk about it later.”

“Sounds good.”

Christian’s way was blocked by one of the people Zia had brought with her. “I need to check the cases.”

“Not without Princess Zia or Mr. Guttschein’s permission, you can’t.”

Max watched as Christian straightened to his full height and squared his shoulders. “That’s not how it works in the castle. Now step aside.” Suddenly, the guy had three friends standing next to him, blocking Christian’s way.

Stefan came to the doorway and clapped his hands. “Let’s get this meeting started, everyone. Christian, it is so nice to see you, my darling. I think you’re really all going to love what we’ve come up with for this event.”

“I need to check the cases first.” Christian relaxed his hands next to his sides and spread his legs shoulder width apart.

“Well, if you insist. Boys…”

Before anyone could react, handguns were drawn by two of the men in front of Christian while the other two opened the cases, moved aside a couple of tablecloths and pulled out automatic weapons.

“Hands up, everyone. We’ve prepared this meeting just for you. Please tell me, love. Do you have any weapons on your person?”

Christian’s jaw was clenched and he was absolutely furious as he bit out a no.

“Don’t be offended if I don’t believe you now.” Stefan strode over to Christian and ran his hands up his chest. “You are even more gorgeous than the video showed.”

“What video?” Christian barked out.

“I have some lovely cameras set up all throughout your house. I needed to keep an eye on what belongs to me, you see.” Stefan ran his hands back down Christian’s chest and cupped his cock through his fatigue pants. “Are you sure you don’t have a weapon stashed in here? Maybe I should check closer.”

Max went to take a step forward but was stopped by Sebastian grabbing his arm and giving him a head shake. Max gritted his teeth so hard that his jaw hurt.

“Sir, we should get them in with the others.”

“Oh, very well. We’ll talk again in a few minutes.” Stefan rose on tiptoes and placed a kiss on Christian’s unyielding mouth. “Don’t be that way, darling. You had to know I was going to have you one way or another.”

Christian’s expression morphed to one of understanding and horror. “You were the one who tried to rape me at the party.”

“Now. Now. Rape is such an ugly word. I’m sure you would have enjoyed it as much as me. I mean, you wouldn’t talk to me, so how was I supposed to convince you of how right our being together would be?”

“You were four years younger than me and still in high school. Why would I even look at you?” Christian asked with honesty but knowing it would taunt Stefan.

A look of anger crossed Stefan’s face. He was beautiful. Max had to give him that. He was all long lines and grace and built like a ballerina, with white-blond hair and brilliant blue eyes. The madness in their depths twisted his looks to something ugly, though. The man wasn’t even close to sane.

Max made eye contact with Christian, who was staring at him.

“Enough! Stop looking at him. He’s mine,” Stefan raged.

They were all herded into the conference room, where the rest of the royal family, Christian’s father and Doctor Guttschein were already waiting. Two more armed guards stood on either side of the doorway.

“What’s the meaning of this, Stefan?” The king stood in front of Katarina, while Queen Tania stood in front of Zia. Zia pushed her way to the front, went over to stand by Stefan and sneered at her parents.

“It’s time for a change in leadership.”

The Queen stared at her daughter with growing horror. “What? You’re involved in all this?”

“Yep. The bomb was my idea, actually. Too bad it was found before it came in. It wouldn’t have been if Katarina”—Zia almost spat the name—“hadn’t changed the cake design to her immature, stupid one.”

“It was supposed to be my way to speak to Christian,” Stefan interjected. “I was going to notice something not right and bring it to his attention. Instead, Max saw something and he got to spend all that time with my man.”

Max could only stare at Stefan. Is he for real?

“But why are you involved?” Queen Tania addressed her daughter.

“Why? Because I need money. How do you expect me to be fabulous on the pittance you let me have each month? If I ask for more, you just tell me I need to learn to budget better. Well, now it will be all mine to do with as I wish.”

“What could you possibly need that much money for?”

Stefan snorted from beside her. “Your little angel has a small opioid addiction. She owes some scary people big bucks.” Stefan waved his hand around, indicating all the men with guns. “That’s where all our help came from. Mr. Cervantes would really like to be paid.”

“Oh, Zia.” The queen’s expression turned to one of pity. “Do you really think these people will let you be queen and keep the money? It’s an ‘eliminate the monarchy’ movement.”

“They need me to make the transition smoother.” Zia flipped her hair behind her shoulder. “I will be queen.”

“A drug addict under Cervantes’ thumb, you mean,” her father barked at her.

“As long as I get what I need, I don’t care.”

“What’s in it for you?” Doctor Guttschein asked his son.

“I was promised Christian.”

The princess snorted derisively. “Thank goodness his plans to get Christian back here worked out. He has been whining ever since he was interrupted from having sex with him at the party.”

“You were the one who slipped the GHB in Christian’s drink?” Doctor Guttschein was obviously horrified by the possibility, as his voice was a screech by the end of the question.

“Yep. Snagged a couple of pills from the bag brought in by the police for the case you were working on with them at the time. It was so lucky I showed up when I did. It would have been harder for me to get some otherwise. I also was the one who took the ipecac from the cabinet and put it in the brandy. It was really helpful of you to leave your badge behind when you went on vacation.”

“You tried to kill the king?” Doctor Guttschein looked like he was going to pass out for a moment at the revelation before he visibly pulled himself together, took a deep breath and leveled a glare at his son.

“Oh no. I made it really obvious, so it would get checked out and Christian would be assigned to the castle. I figured the timing was perfect. I was so sad to see he’d been injured, and I knew I had to get him into a safer occupation.”

Max studied everyone in the room and saw the same horror he was feeling on all their faces. The parents of the two crazy people appeared absolutely gutted, to boot.

“You do know that I’ll never be yours, right?” Christian taunted Stefan.

“Oh, but you will. See, I have an ace in the hole. You and Max have made me sick, carrying on as you have been. It wasn’t nice of you to cheat on me so publicly.”

“We’re not together, so I couldn’t have cheated on you,” Christian barked out.

“Ah, but you will.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Well, Max is my insurance. He gets locked in the dungeon instead of killed, in exchange for your cooperation. It won’t take long before I’m sure I can convince you to be on my side.”

Christian raised an eyebrow at Stefan, and Max just knew whatever was coming next was going to be sarcastic as hell. “What do you have? A magic dick?”

“Oh, darling, you know I do. Now, if you’ll excuse us. The princess and I have a little press conference to set up. Ta, darlings. Don’t try to escape now. The lovely guards are going to stay here and make sure you don’t make an appearance before we need you. Zia, darling, you need to call down to the front gate and have them let the rest of the men in.”

Their voices faded as the two gunmen pulled the doors closed behind Stefan and Zia, leaving silence in their wake.

“Now what are we going to do?” Max asked. “Our phones won’t work in here with the doors closed.”