Were the tears in my eyes ones of relief or unmanageable jealous rage? Hard to tell.
I’d been the one to encourage Lio to put off his difficult discussion with Sabine until after the coronation. There was no sense in dashing her hopes before giving her the night of her dreams. But now I was having a hard time with seeing her on his arm.
When the song ended, I practically chucked the poor woman back at her table before striding as quickly as possible for the door. I needed to go home. Now.
As soon as I exited the ballroom into the vast corridor, I spotted a door to the wide balcony and knew that’s what I wanted. Fresh air and solitude.
I crashed through the double doors, and by the time I hit the balcony railing with my palms out, I was heaving in breaths, trying not to freak out.
“Come with me,” a steady voice said from behind me. Arthur grabbed my elbow and steered me through a side door, down what looked to be a service corridor, and into a small sitting room.
Where sat the king of Liorland.
My panic disappeared at the sight of him in the stately chair with ornate carved wooden handles and gold and burgundy upholstery. Suddenly, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I crossed the room and knelt at his feet.
His eyes widened as he looked down at me.
“Felix, baby, did something happen?”
I stared up at him in all of his royal regalia. Finally, I managed to suck in enough breath to answer him.
“Yes, dammit. You became a king! I… I… I mean, Your Majesty…”
My words echoed in the small room as his eyes widened. But when he spoke, his voice was eerily calm.
“Yes, Felix. I did become a king. And I’m not going to apologize for it. But if you ever call me ‘Your Majesty’ again we will have to explore a spanking kink. Your pale ass might look nice with a bit of pink on it in the shape of my hand.”
His eyes were intense as he leaned back in the chair. The power emanated from him in heady waves, making my cock hard and hidden confidence simmer under my skin.
I wanted to show him how strong I was so when I was no longer here tomorrow, he’d know I would be okay.
Without moving my eyes from his, I reached out and unfastened the lower buttons of his coat before opening his belt and pants. I heard the sharp intake of his breath and saw his eyes dilate.
Lio’s fingers came up to slide my glasses off before placing them on a side table. As soon as my mouth dropped into his lap, his fingers returned to fist in my hair. It was quick and dirty. Part of me wanted him to go back into his formal coronation ball with my spit dripping along his skin like a brand. So he would know that beneath the clinking medals and the royal sash, he was still mine.
And when we couldn’t dance together in front of a thousand witnesses, I’d still have the taste of his climax on my tongue.
There was no sound other than the muffled moans and gasps coming from both of us. His were noises of pleasure while mine were sounds of goodbye. If I was going to leave him, I wanted one last taste of him. One last moment of being completely his. A final acknowledgement that the man in front of me was the king I wanted to serve for the rest of my life.
When it was done, and I’d returned his clothing to its proper readiness, I stood up and walked over to a corner of the room, stupidly wedging myself face-first into the silky wallpaper there as if the silly gesture would hide me from his intense gaze and my own sadness.
He came up behind me then and pressed his warm, strong frame against my back. His arms slid around my front, and he tucked his nose into the side of my neck. “I’m still your Lio,” he whispered in a strained voice.
I turned in his arms and buried my face in his chest, trying very hard not to interfere with the hardware there. “I’m so sorry, Lio,” I breathed. “I didn’t mean to pull you out of the dance. I just needed some fresh air.”
“You must be joking. First of all, that was amazing. Second, I’ve been counting down the moments since I saw you in the ballroom, desperate for an excuse to touch you. And when I danced the first dance with Sabine earlier, all I could think was that I wished it was you instead. It should have been you, Felix.”
We looked at each other then, so many words unspoken.
Lio reached out his hand to me, white gloved and steady.