Page 41 of The Christmas Mittens
“Okay, so you’re hooking up.” She’d stared at me with her brows raised, waiting for a reply that never came. That had made her smile. “Yeah, I knew it. So why drive all the way to the campgrounds when Anders can just crash here? Save gas. Save the planet for us kids.” With that, she kissed us both on the cheek. “Thank you both for the most amazing birthday party ever.”
She had then gone to bed, Della trotting along after her. I’d looked at Anders, and he at me.
“Guess we have permission from the housemother to sleep in the same bed,” I’d said, and he’d merely nodded and followed me to bed. I’d paused at the doorway to face him. “If you want to go home, I’ll gladly—”
He kissed me to quiet me. “It would be a planetary crime against the next generation to waste gas for such a superfluous trip. Besides, I would love to cuddle close to you all night.”
And that was how I came awake at my usual six a.m. workday internal alarm to find him splayed out under my covers, his dark brown curls resting on a guest pillow. I’d gotten rid of Katie’s pillow a year or so after her passing, once the material had ceased smelling of Elizabeth Arden’s White Tea. Now that pillowcase would hold his sexy, musky aroma until I washed it. As I lay next to him, watching his bare shoulders rise and fall with the deep breaths of rest, I pondered if I could omit washing it, much like Gilda had stated she would never wash her right hand again.
The sun was still sleeping, not due to even blink awake here for another hour or so. The room was dark, the heater was blowing warm air around, and the house was silent. No sounds of a girl or a dog or even a mouse were stirring. And yes, there were stockings hung by a fake chimney, but still with great care. Igently placed my hand on his back, allowing my fingers to slide into the valley between his shoulder blades. He sighed in his sleep. I drank up the warmth of his skin through my finger pads, letting the heat of that touch flow to my rapidly swelling dick.
I was touching a prince. A real prince. Gilda had googled the man next to me when we’d gotten home last night, much to his chagrin. There were several dozen images of him at various functions, dressed in casual clothes to dress finery to standing in line with his family wearing honest to goodness crowns. Prince Anders Erik Gustaf Valdemar. Lying in my bed. It was still a lot to align. My fingers moved up his spine as I mulled over how beautiful he was. The fine hairs on the back of his neck rose when my touch skimmed the nape of his neck. He grunted thickly, and I slipped my fingers deep into his curls to massage his scalp.
“That is a nice way to come awake,” he groggily mumbled.
“I couldn’t help myself. You’re so handsome. I’ve not had a partner in my bed in the wee hours for years. If you’d like me to stop, I—”
He moved to his side, sleepy brown eyes finding mine. “I would like you to continue.”
So I did. He wiggled closer and pressed a kiss to my chin and nose before capturing my mouth with his. His hand snaked down between us, a pause in the kissing taking place as he searched my eyes. “I want to take you in my mouth. Are you okay with that even though Gilda is just across the hall?”
My cock kicked. “I’ll be quiet.”
That was all I said before his mouth sealed over mine again as his hand dove into my loose pajama bottoms to find my prick. I gasped at the contact of chilly fingers around my hot shaft. He swallowed the gasp then moved down with a purpose to shove down my PJs and do the same with my dick. He took me to the root in a slow, sensual slide of tongue and throat that ripped ayelp out of me before I could stop it. I grabbed his pillow and buried my face in it as he began to suck like a demon. Hard and fast, he bobbed up and down, lips stretched wide around my cock, hands on my thighs. I couldn’t breathe well in the pillow but didn’t care if I asphyxiated or not. What a way to go.
When he cupped my balls, I sucked in enough air to keep myself conscious, and what a good thing that was because he rolled my nuts then squeezed them just hard enough to bring me to the edge before pushing me over. I blew a load down his throat, bucking like a wild bronc, as he drained me dry with soft, low moans of pleasure. My hands fell from the pillow as I floated back to earth. After Anders kissed and licked my dick clean, he wiggled up over me to claim my mouth in a sloppy battle of the tongues.
“Your mouth is amazing,” I purred when the kiss ended. He chuckled into my shoulder while I dug his cock out of his briefs to free it. The head was slick, his foreskin fully retracted now. I pushed on the glans with my thumb, something I’d learned that he liked, and was rewarded with a droplet of precum as well as a moan. “I love being with you like this.”
“Mm, same, so much the same.” He burrowed into my throat with his nose, sucking and licking as I began to jerk him off. His hips picked up the rhythm, overtaking it quickly. I let him set the tempo while fisting him tightly. My other hand carded through his curls as he fucked my hand. He leaked pearly drops steadily, easing the friction. “Love your touch so much. Shit, yes, that is…squeeze harder. Ugh, yes, harder.”
I fisted him tighter. His hips stuttered as his cock swelled and pulsed. Thick ropes of cum coated my hand which made his wild thrusts that much slicker and faster. Arms now locked around me, he came with a low growl absorbed by my shoulder. I milked him thoroughly, stopping only when his cock began to grow limp.
“If only every morning began like this,” he whispered, kissing a tender spot that he’d suckled on my neck. I’d have to hide that. Later. Right now, I was too lax and far too spent to worry over a hickey. I kissed his scruffy chin while wiping my hand on the coverlet. I’d change the bedding later as well. He eased out of my hand and fell to his back. The covers knotted around his legs. “I would never leave the bed if you were in it.”
“Same. I’d have to work on lawnmowers and ice augers from bed.” That made him snicker. I shifted to my side so I could admire the man beside me. “You know, Franny once said you were a prince of a man.” He made a funny noise. “Seriously, she did, and that was before we knew you really had royal blood. I agree with her. You’re a good man, Anders, blue or red or green blood aside.”
“Green blood would make me a Vulcan,” he replied as his chest rose and fell languidly. “Sometimes I wish I were more logical. Father would certainly wish me to be so.” I didn’t know how to respond so I dropped a kiss on his shoulder instead of speaking. “Last night I fell asleep much after you did, and I had time to think.”
Oh shit. That was always a precursor to being dumped. The stab of pain was deep as I contemplated him moving on though I always knew he would. It had been foolish of me to allow myself to fall in—
“I’m expected home within a week to meet my new nephew, who is happy and healthy according to the late-night text from Frode, and attend his baptism. I’d like it very much if you and Gilda came with me.”
He rolled his head to look at me. I stared at him in the dim light of the coming dawn with an expression like a man who had just been clobbered over the head with a lake trout. Ugh, that was a terrible description, but man, did it fit.
“Uhm…” I brilliantly opened with. “Come with you?”
“Yes, to Östermon.” He watched me closely. I flopped onto my back to stare at the ceiling as I tried to get my sleepy and now sexed-out brain to work properly. “Does that not interest you?”
“I…” I placed my hands on my belly to try to calm it as it flipped over like a gymnast. “I’d never thought about it, to be frank. Gilda and I rarely travel. We went to Canada once for a fifth-grade field trip to see Niagara Falls but that was it. Flying and hotels and all that are not within our budget, so…” I rubbed my stomach gently.
“I understand. This trip would cost you nothing. The jet is a private one.” I massaged my tummy harder. “We’d stay at the castle in the capital, so there would be no hotel fees. All food would be provided. Shopping and other trips, I will cover from my own accounts. You’d not need to spend a dime. Ah, I see from your face that is not pleasing you. You may certainly pay for shopping if you wish but the rest is my treat as I invited you. Please consider it.” He went to his side to stare at my profile now. “I would like my family to meet you.”
“That’s a big step for a man you’ve known for maybe three weeks,” I squeaked out as my gut did a series of cartwheels.
“It is, yes, but what I am feeling I cannot and will not hide.” My goodness, he did sound quite royal at times. I liked his tone, the firmness and resolution in taking a stand for who he was and who he cared for. “They can accept me and the man that I am involved with or they can continue to be ignorant and behind the times.”
“Oh my gosh,” I groaned, wishing I’d not eaten those meatballs with a side of mac and cheese for a midnight snack. “Are you sure you want me to be the man who crashes a monarchy that has stood for ten thousand years?”
