Page 53 of The Prince and His Stolen Groom
“Yes, I understood you the first time,” Brendon snapped. He simply couldn’t believe that Rick was in a steady, committed relationship. After all, one of the first things he’d asked Brendon was about any sisters or cousins, so Rick could go forward with the wedding in Franny’s stead.
They finally reached the room and Brendon spotted the trunk of magical toys. Most of those required a partner …
Kit saw the box and went over to investigate. Brendon pushed past her and closed the lid firmly, sitting on it so she couldn’t snoop. She held up her hands in surrender and poked around the rest of the room instead. “Bet that’s a nice view in the daylight,” she said, nodding to the window.
Though she seemed willing to drop the conversation, the possibilities lingered with Brendon like a nasty itch he couldn’t scratch. “What’d the man look like? From the marketplace.”
“Blond, blue-eyed, yea high,” she said, holding her hand up to the middle of her chest. “Cute but in a somewhat disturbing way. He called Frederick ‘Ricky.’”
“Ricky?” Brendon exclaimed in disgust. Then had to repeat it because it was just that ridiculous. “Ricky?”
“I know, right? Sounds like a toothless milksop or a boy still inshort pants—not what I would choose to call a lover, but they had thatfamiliarityto them, you know? The ‘I’ve seen you naked’ kind.”
Brendon slumped against the wall and gazed up at the ceiling. “So, Rick might have a lover …” He trailed off because he didn’t know where the sentence was going.
“They may be exes,” Kit said.
Brendon pictured all of the times he’d teased Rick, touching him, pinning him against the bookcase … He thought everything would be so much better if he and Rick could find some way to connect. With Rick’s inclinations, sex seemed like a great place to start. Unless he was already in love with someone else …
“This whole thing is a fucking mess,” Brendon groaned, leaning forward and putting his head in his hands.
Kit nudged him to scoot over and sat down next to him on the sex toy trunk, wrapping her arm around him in quiet companionship. “Were you starting to like him?” she asked quietly. “Not the horny kind of like, the romantic kind.”
“Thank you so much for the clarification,” he muttered.
“I thought it might be needed.”
After a quiet moment he said, “Yeah, I think so.” For years, he’d resigned himself to a loveless marriage, possibly even devoid of friendship since Franny had repeatedly ignored him. Then Rick had come along, passionate and impulsive, inadvertently rescuing Brendon from that sorry fate. Except now he found himself back in the same position again. No matter which sibling he married, it would be a formality only, and he’d be the one left alone on the sidelines.
“Your Highness? Good knight?” called the Good Wizard from the bottom of the stairs. “Are we spending the night in this tower or shall we depart for the castle?”
The castle that Brendon hadn’t even seen yet. The middle of the night was honestly the best time to return so he and Kit could switch places without anyone noticing. Tomorrow would be a day of preparations and rehearsals, something Brendon should participate in no matter who he married. Leaving the tower also meant a return to all the formality and responsibilities of royalty. Though he’d been irritated with Kit earlier, he had to admit that this week had been refreshing. A little boring, but it’d been nice to have time to himself, to be just ‘Brendon’—or whatever stupid variation Rick accidentally called him.
When Brendon didn’t answer, Kit asked, “Did you fix the door?”
“Yes.”
“Then we’ll stay here tonight. Probably safer than traveling through the forest at this hour, even if it’s a quick trip.”
“A wise decision.”
Kit stood up and began removing her armor, silently declaring her intent to take the bedroom. “Are we sharing?” she asked, nodding to the comfy bed she’d been daydreaming about earlier.
“No, I’ll go sleep in a chair.” Before he left, he tapped on the hidden panel, and shoved the trunk back into its secret place. Looking sternly at Kit he said, “Don’t pry.” Conveniently forgetting that the trunk had only been out in the open because he’d been searching through Rick’s toys.
Kit pretended not to hear him. Or maybe she really didn’t over the clank of armor as she stripped.
Downstairs, Brendon found Rick already asleep on the couch. The Good Wizard busied himself in the kitchen, overflowing with energy despite the late hour. Maybe wizards didn’t need to sleep.
Brendon chose a chair near the couch and tried to make himself comfortable, putting his feet up on the coffee table to give himself more room. He turned his head so he could see Rick’s face, slack with sleep, his dark hair mussed and tangled. Brendon brushed a few strands out of Rick’s eyes.
As he pulled his hand away, one of Rick’s reached out and grabbed his, pulling it back and snuggling into it like a child would a stuffed toy. Brendon let him keep it.
Interruption Six
“You mean to tell me,” Cyril began, pinching the bridge of his nose, “that a knight stormed the forest and defeated you in your dragon form, all to rescue the groom’s lover who I wasspecificallytrying to keep occupied during the wedding? All in a matter of hours?”
He’d left his wife sleeping peacefully in bed when the shadow-walker had summoned him. Since they couldn’t talk in the bedroom without waking her, they’d snuck down to the inn’s dining room to converse in hissed whispers. The lights remained off to not alert the owners, so Cyril could only see a hint of the shadow-walker’s silhouette. It made him feel like he was talking to himself.
