Chapter 23

 

 

As a rule, Ksar didn’t sleep with people. He liked sex like any healthy man, but he didn’t share a bed after sex—and he definitely didn’t take anyone to his own bed. He had never even entertained such an idea. Sex was just a base need that had to be satisfied on a regular basis in order not to let sexual frustration affect his judgment. Sex was for discreet off-world brothels where no one knew who he was. Sex had no place in his private rooms, under the roof he shared with the Queen and the King-Consort. 

So it was completely inexplicable that he’d woken up that morning to a warm, naked body curled up next to him and the soft snores of another person.

Ksar eyed Seyn’s sleeping form, trying to summon irritation and displeasure he should have been feeling.

But there was nothing.

Seyn was snoring softly, his cheek pressed against Ksar’s pillow, his long silver hair spread out all over it like a halo. His normally pale pink lips looked red and swollen after the previous night’s activities, ruining the positively angelic impression he gave in his sleep.

He looked good in Ksar’s bed. Like he belonged in it.

Ksar grimaced at the thought, deeply disturbed by how much his judgment was still compromised despite spending most of the night buried to the hilt in Seyn—in more ways than one.

I guess I trust you.

Seyn’s words rang in his ears, still as discomfiting and viciously satisfying as they had been last night.

Ksar generally wasn’t one to lie to himself. He was well aware he wasn’t at his most rational where Seyn was concerned, had never been. He let him get under his skin far too easily—and as a result, had often been unfairly harsh on him.

But it was now obvious that there was another extreme he hadn’t experienced before: Seyn’s pleasure—and his trust—affected him as strongly as Seyn’s hostile, infuriating behavior. He liked it.

He liked it far too much.

As though feeling his gaze on him, Seyn mumbled something sleepily and shifted a little. The dark sheets slipped lower, revealing to Ksar’s eyes the smooth, strong expanse of Seyn’s back and the dimples above his buttocks.

Ksar wet his dry lips. 

This was…perplexing. He’d had four perfectly satisfying orgasms last night. He’d touched and kissed every place on Seyn’s body and had been touched everywhere in return. There was no mystery left. At this point, he knew everything there was to know about Seyn’s body. A man could come only so much in such a short time. He should have been feeling nothing but exhaustion and disinterest. His hands shouldn’t be tingling with the desire to touch and his mouth shouldn’t feel dry. He shouldn’t feel as eager as an adolescent boy, his cock already thickening.

Sighing in exasperation, Ksar gave in. Pushing the silver locks aside, he leaned in and kissed the soft skin at the back of Seyn’s neck. His eyes slipped close as he inhaled deeply.

At least there was no one there to witness his utter lack of self-restraint.

“Ksar,” Seyn muttered.

Ksar went still, his lips still pressed against Seyn’s nape.

He lifted his head. “Yes?”

Seyn didn’t reply, his breathing even once again.

Ksar eyed him. He was still asleep, he realized with a jolt. Seyn was still asleep and he was dreaming of him. Now that he concentrated, he could vaguely feel what Seyn was dreaming about. He was dreaming of having his cock sucked—a perfectly normal, ordinary dream for a healthy young man—except for Seyn the man sucking his cock was none other than Ksar.

Good, something in him said viciously.

Ksar grimaced. These possessive thoughts were getting out of hand. What next? Was he going to piss all over Seyn to make sure the brat smelled of him?

Get a grip, damn you.

“Your Highness?”

Ksar had never heard Borg’gorn sound so awkward.

“Yes?” Ksar said.

“I do not wish to disturb you, but you have a meeting with Councilor Mehur’divani at eight o’clock.”

Frowning, Ksar sat up. “What time is it?”

“Eight-point-thirteen, Your Highness.”

Swearing quietly, Ksar got out of the bed. He’d never been late in his life. It seemed it was a day of firsts.

“What’s happening?” 

Stepping onto the shower pad, Ksar looked back toward the bed. Seyn was sitting up, blinking blearily, his green eyes still unfocused, a fetching flush on his cheeks. He was leaning back on his arms, his toned chest and stomach on display. 

Ksar wrenched his gaze away and activated the shower with a tap of his fingers. The unpleasant sensation of dry shower was almost welcome, but it did nothing to quell the desire to walk back to the young man in his bed and kiss the sleepy pout off his lips.

“I’m late for a meeting,” he said curtly. “You don’t have to get up.” Ksar walked toward his wardrobe and pulled out a fresh change of clothes. 

Behind him, he heard a small laugh. “Okay, this is surreal.”

Zipping up his pants, Ksar looked in the mirror. He found Seyn watching him dress with a vaguely conflicted look on his face. 

“What is surreal?” Ksar said. 

Seyn shrugged with one shoulder, his lips twisting into a crooked smile. “I just… This is so freakishly normal and weird at the same time, you know? Watching you dress for work. I mean, it would have been normal if we…” He trailed off, looking away.

Ksar felt a twinge of…something. He knew what Seyn meant. This felt too normal. Domestic.

“If we didn’t get the bond dissolved and got married as expected, this still wouldn’t have been normal,” Ksar said, slipping into a white shirt and buttoning it up. “For one thing, I wouldn’t have sex with you.”

Seyn’s brows furrowed. “Why not?”

Ksar shot him a sharp, curious look. Did he actually sound offended? “If you didn’t find out about the state of our bond and we got married, that would have meant that I would have had to constantly brainwash you to make you believe that we really had a marriage bond.” He met Seyn’s eyes in the mirror, tying his cravat. “It seems I’m not evil enough to stomach fucking someone who can’t think for himself. A pity.”

Seyn actually laughed. “You have no shame.”

“Why would I be ashamed?” Ksar said, his lips twitching despite his best efforts not to show his amusement. “It’s nothing but the truth. Things would have been so much easier if I didn’t have certain misgivings.”

Seyn shook his head with a grin, his eyes lighting up with mirth. “You’re a terrible person and you don’t even bother hiding it.”

Ksar stared at his smiling face before tearing his eyes away and reaching for his Ministry cloak. “There’s no point in pretending to be something I’m not—not with you. I can hardly be as candid with other people.”

He could feel Seyn’s gaze on him as he slipped into his cloak. 

There was a new tension in the air that didn’t precisely feel awkward, but it frayed Ksar’s nerves all the same.

He was dressed. He was already very late for his meeting. There was no reason to loiter around like a green boy hoping for a goodbye kiss. 

Disgusted with himself and thoroughly sick of his own irrational behavior around Seyn, Ksar headed for the door.

“Ksar.”

He came to a halt, and after a moment, looked back toward the bed. “Yes?”

It seemed Seyn had decided to accept Ksar’s suggestion not to get up yet: he was curled up around Ksar’s pillow, his gaze lazy and a little heavy with sleep. “Will your meeting take long?”

The wave of want that swept through his senses was almost violent in its intensity.

Ksar closed his eyes for a moment, as if that could stop him from saying what he definitely shouldn’t be saying. “It should take an hour at most.”

Licking his lips, Seyn dropped his gaze. “Not that I’ll be waiting for you, but I’m not in a hurry to be anywhere today. That’s all I’m saying.”

Ksar pursed his lips to keep himself from smiling. “If I don’t have any pressing matters that require my attention, I might come back before you leave.” He was well aware how much Seyn hated it when he phrased things like that.

Predictably, Seyn glared at him.

This time Ksar couldn’t suppress his smile.

Seyn’s eyes narrowed before a laugh left his lips. “You’re an asshole.”

“That’s nothing you didn’t know before,” Ksar said.

Seyn gave him a pinched look. “Please stop smiling. It’s freaking me out.”

Ksar laughed. 

Seyn blinked a few times, looking bewildered, which made Ksar laugh again.

“Please go away,” Seyn said, groaning and burying his face in the pillow. “Maybe I woke up in an alternate reality. This isn’t happening.”

“Closing one’s eyes and pretending something isn’t real is very childish of you.”

Seyn lifted his head with an exaggerated look of relief on his face. “Thank Heaven. I was starting to think someone possessed you. It’s good to see you’re still my—” He cut himself off, his expression partly disturbed, partly mortified. 

Ksar walked back to the bed and hauled him up. “Your what?” he said, genuinely curious about the answer. But if he were honest with himself, it was partly just an excuse to touch Seyn again.

Seyn met his eyes, his expression defiant. “So I got used to you being mine, so what? It doesn’t mean I’m in love with you or something.”

Ksar stared at him, a strange feeling spreading through his chest and settling in his gut. “That thought hadn’t even occurred to me,” he said mildly. “Until now.”

The murderous look Seyn gave him was almost comical. 

Ksar laughed, feeling more amused than he’d had in years. He’d always enjoyed getting under Seyn’s skin and making him fume, but this felt different now, somehow. Lighter.

“Fuck, you’re such an ass,” Seyn said before yanking Ksar’s head down and kissing him wetly.

Ksar kissed back without hesitation, his hand burying in Seyn’s hair and holding him still as he devoured his mouth. Fucking hell, he tasted so sweet.

Moaning, Seyn pushed his tongue into Ksar’s mouth and all but climbed him. Ksar’s hands slipped down to grab Seyn’s buttocks, pulling their hips flush—

“Your Highness?” Borg’gorn said.

With a muffled curse, Ksar tore his mouth away and stared at Seyn’s flushed face. “Stay here,” he said tersely, dropping his hands with some difficulty. “Don’t go anywhere.”

Seyn nodded, looking dazed and hungry—for him.

“Your Highness, you’re very late.”

Ksar turned swiftly and strode out of the room. 

If he didn’t leave now, he wouldn’t leave at all.