Chapter 53
Chapter Fifty-Three
An eternity or two later, as the sun has lowered ever so slightly in the afternoon, there’s the sound of footsteps behind me. I sit up on my lounger and take off my sunglasses, rising. I tuck them into my chest pocket.
“Your Majesty.” Mads’ voice. He catches my gaze before I focus on Stef beside him. “Your guest has arrived, Prince Stefanos.”
Mads disappears back into the villa.
Stef approaches, pausing at the end of the infinity pool, casting a lingering glance at the view before he at last focuses on me. Like he’s taking the time to assesses everything—to truly assess me. He’s got to be doing this on purpose to make me feral.
I make myself breathe, body taut, and walk towards him.
He walks closer too.
Yet we stop with a generous distance between us. Well out of touching range. Definitely within thirst trap range.
His hair has a wave to it, with the humidity, and his admirable golden tan. He’s in a black shirt and white shorts, and black leather sandals. It’s hard to say if he’s breathing too.
“Your Majesty,” Stef echoes, a smile playing on the corners of his lips. “Great villa, by the way.”
“Stop it,” I whisper. “I get that from everyone. Please—not you too.”
“Theo.”
My shoulders ease ever so slightly, but I’m still far too wound up and fit to burst.
He takes off his sunglasses, his blue eyes dancing. “You Danes. You’re already turning pink from the sun. Hasn’t anyone told you about sunscreen?”
I ignore the comment, my voice low and thick. It could be the sun or the full-body reaction I seem to be having at the sight of Stef. Then, I realize I’m trembling. Before they can give me away, I stuff my hands in my pocket. “Where’s Francois?”
“Not here.” Stef’s smile falters.
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
We stare at each other in a stalemate. I step ever so much closer. An arm’s length away now.
“Don’t make me toss you into the pool,” I whisper. “Because I will. I’m not that well-behaved, remember.”
He laughs, and it’s a delicious sound. Then his expression softens, seeing how out of sorts I am, wrecked at the sight of him. London and the club is a lifetime ago, Kerkyra in the winter an eternity ago, and Edinburgh happened to someone else.
“Listen.” I hold up a hand. “Before you say anything else, I’ve got something to say to you.”
Stef mirrors my pose, slipping his hands into his pockets. He gives me the smallest of nods, his gaze unwavering. He doesn’t say anything and waits for me to speak. Meanwhile, my heart beats so loudly I’m sure he can hear it, here beside the infinity pool, so still like glass.
“Stef.” It’s like I’m testing my voice, not trusting it.
Like it might give out, or my knees might cave first. “I… I’m so happy to see you.
You have no idea.” I falter. Which is the honest truth plain on my face and in my body.
“I know we’ve been over this. That our lives are too different.
That you’re not out. That you’re finding your way.
And that you have another lover. And… yes, I’m the Danish King now.
Nothing is the same for me. Well, nearly nothing. ”
Troubled, Stef gives the smallest of nods in acknowledgment.
“Except for how I feel about you.”
His gaze doesn’t leave mine.
“Which is—” I gulp down some air, trying to seem a little more suave than I actually am, my heart exposed.
And it’s got to be for nothing, but I have to say it anyway.
“Which is to say, I’m in love with you, Stef.
I know it’s impossible. But I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t tell you that, okay?
” I murmur, my face burning and body pulled tight.
“And I wish things were different. So different. That I was still in my London life, for starters. Because this new one is a shock, let me tell you. Yet I’m lucky.
I know that. It’s a real privilege. But…
all I can think of is you. How much I miss you. And how alone I am. And… how lost.”
Stef’s expression eases. He comes close.
“Theo, I love you too. So much. You’re amazing,” he murmurs. “You must believe me.”
I shudder, a full-body reaction. Right now, I couldn’t look away from him even if I wanted to. Did Stef just tell me he loves me too?
Stef reaches out to stroke my cheek with the lightest touch, wiping away damp tears. “And you’re right. Our lives are so different, even if we’re both royals.” He clears his throat, his voice quiet. “And… and you have Eddie, remember? You’re not alone.”
I blink, staring at him. Everything has an unreal quality. All I’m aware of right now is how close he is. How warm his fingertips are.
“Stef… things ended with Eddie a while back. Our relationship wasn’t real anyway. I was never in love with Eddie. You know that…” I’m light-headed now, blood rushing in my ears.
“It’s really over with Eddie?” He peers at me, looking stunned.
How could he think that things were real with Eddie? Yet, obviously, from the outside, it must have seemed real enough.
“Yes, of course.” I swallow hard.
Stef nods slowly. He presses his lips together into a line.
“Plus, there are still the other issues,” I whisper. “Right? You’re not out. I’m very out.”
He hesitates. “I came out to my family. To my father too.”
My eyebrows climb. “And?”
“Everyone was shocked. My father’s still trying to get used to the idea, trying to accept it. Everyone else has come around.” He gives a wry smile. “They love me, regardless.”
“As they should.” I frown, protective of him. “Fuck, Stef.”
Stef reaches out to smooth my collar, where the top two buttons of my shirt are unfastened, the hint of skin exposed. “I’m not publicly out. But they know, at least.”
I shiver under his touch, riveted, frozen in place. “Please… I can’t handle…”
He stops, moving his hand away. And suddenly, it feels cold despite the blaze of the Mediterranean summer sun. Like he’s far away, through glass, and I can’t touch him.
“And…” I say thickly, looking away because it hurts too much to look at him right now. The world blurs. “…there’s the problem I’m now King. The official celebration’s in September. I don’t have the same life anymore.”
“Theo…” He clears his throat.
“Plus, there’s Francois too. You have him.”
Stef catches my jaw, holding my gaze. “Francois is a friend from the dig. We only shared a room,” he confesses, looking sheepish. A beautiful pink spreads across his cheekbones. “We’re not dating. Believe me, no sex. Or anything else.”
“But he’s not a king, now is he?” My voice is raw. “Less baggage.”
“Listen to me, Theo. I know it’s complicated. Our situation. And like I said, Francois is a friend and nothing more.” He draws a deep breath. And I’m holding my own in response when he speaks again. “I love you too? So much.”
“Stop, I can’t handle it—”
Then, Stef brushes his mouth against mine. I gasp, my body so ready for him I could fracture into a million pieces.
“But we’re here, and it’s private, and we can be together right now,” Stef whispers. “That matters, doesn’t it? I want you so much it hurts.”
“Stay the night. Please.”
“I can stay for a few hours—”
In response, I grab his hips and pull him tight against me so he can feel how hard I am. How much I want him. My mouth crushes against his, the warmth of his lips, his tongue.
Stef gasps with the ferocity of my kiss. We reel in the sun. Then, I’m clumsily guiding him inside, to the bedroom off the patio with the same stunning view. And I push him onto the bed and its white duvet to match the white everything else in this minimalist room of plaster and glass and marble.
He gazes up at me, and then he unfastens my shorts, freeing my cock. I gasp with the sensation, the tightness in my balls.
Then, in the next moment, he’s licking my erection, and my fingers are buried in his hair, and every nerve in my body is alight for him. His mouth is fire, and I groan, like something’s broken inside of me, something lost and found once more.
“God, don’t stop—” I sob out, clutching at Stef, his head, his shoulders, his face. My body is on fire for him, my heart beating so loudly everyone on this island must hear it. “Stef—”
Stef glances up at me, pausing only long enough to grin at me before he continues without mercy. I grip his shoulders as he sucks me off with intensity.
I’m moaning, fractured. “Please—I want to fuck you—”
I strip off my shirt and throw it down, left fully exposed in front of him.
“You’re wearing far too many clothes,” I gasp. “Not fair.”
And I fumble for the buttons of his shirt. I want him so much it scares me. Like I’ve never wanted anyone or anything before.
Stef pauses to pull his shirt off over his head. His golden tan covers his body, and he lifts his hips to slide off his shorts and boxers in a swift move, kicking them away. His erection is glorious.
“Fuck, Stef…” I say in awe.
Then we’re all mouths and fingers and hot bodies pushed tight against each other as we tumble onto the bed. I stroke his cock. We’re both breathing hard, like we’ve used up all the oxygen in here, inhaling the scent of each other’s skin. I rake my teeth on his shoulder. We roll together.
I pin him beneath me, our mouths meeting in kisses that leave me reeling. His fingers claw my back, pulling me close.
“Please, Theo,” Stef begs.
“I don’t have any condoms with me…” I confess belatedly, between urgent kisses. I should have thought about this.
“I’m tested,” Stef assures me. “It’s okay.”
“I haven’t been with anyone else,” I admit, to Stef’s surprise, nibbling his fingers. There’s not a chance. Because all I want is him.
I press my cock against his thigh, sucking my fingers and moving my hand between his legs to tease his opening till he shudders.
Stef moans, a ripple through his body, as if it’s my own. “Yeah—”
The way he reacts is everything. More than. I want Stef to know how special he is. How much he means to me. If I have to let him go—he has to know he’s everything.
“Like that, gorgeous…” I encourage, taking my time. Till he’s muttering nonsense, writhing beneath me with a couple of my fingers inside him. Eventually, I move to straddle him so he can suck me off some more. His mouth’s incredible, each flick of his tongue making me increasingly feral.
When I’m unable to take any more teasing, using spit as lube, I shift to start to press inside Stef as he clutches my hair, sobbing out, which thrills me.
“Okay?” I ask, pausing. The sensation of him floods my senses. I shiver hard. Fuck.
“More than… God…” Stef manages. “Don’t stop.”
I slowly push inside, hitting him just right till he’s crying out with the rhythm of our bodies on the soft duvet. Here, it’s just him and me, and our urgency together.
There’re no kingdoms. No reality. Just Stef in my arms. Mine.
And I’m all his.
Stef feels incredible against me, my face buried against his skin. His fingers dig roughly into my back. And I don’t want this moment to end. Not ever.
I tease him relentlessly, till he can’t take it anymore, erupting with a full-body spasm as I pin him down, spilling his cum hot and fast.
“Fuck,” I whisper in awe, and then I follow, coming hard too as Stef writhes, collapsing into his arms, against his chest. I press my face against his collarbone. He’s muttering nonsense, his breath against my ear.
Till we both stop in the quiet, lost in each other’s arms. Everything’s entirely still. The sun shines. The cicada sing.
We kiss lingeringly in our private world.
“Love you, Stef,” I whisper at last.
“Love you too.”
And eventually, we drowse. Till we start all over again, greedy for the hours we have together before Stef leaves again.