8
I managed, somehow, to remain patient through the banquet.
I wanted to sneak out early and take Jon with me, but he was making so many connections I didn’t dare.
Many officials came by to introduce themselves, some to ask for a favor, and he needed those connections to form a life here with. So, we stayed.
You can bet I got him back to my rooms as soon as it finished. I still had his words ringing in my head. That’s entirely up to your son, he’d said, as if obviously it was solely my decision whether we’d bond or not.
How did I get it through his head that this wasn’t at all my decision, but his? I’d be honored and relieved if he wanted me, and of course I’d say yes—I was not an idiot. Why didn’t this man see he was the one with all the power here? Even as a Prince of Tennoa, he was more valuable than me.
I had a feeling it would take a while to get it through his head.
Jon entered the room, then spun about so he could look at me, eyes dancing with mirth. “You’re about to burst. Go on, say it.”
Of course he could read that too. “It is absolutely not my decision whether we bond. You’re the one with the power to make that decision.”
“Agree to disagree,” he retorted, still smiling.
“Jon.”
“Prince Donovan.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
Why was he so needlessly stubborn? “All right, fine, you’ll realize I’m right later after you’ve lived here for a while. Leaving that aside, I want to be your anchor.”
His teasing subsided and his expression softened.
“Are you truly sure? You’ll never be able to keep a secret from me.
I’ll have moments where I lose focus on someone and cause trouble by tripping over the wrong thing.
Sometimes I spend too long on a reading, or go too deep, and I become this shell racked with pain.
You’ll have to guide and nurse me back to health in those moments. Knowing I’ll burden you, are you sure?”
What was he even saying? “That’s standard for an anchor. You’re not saying anything that’s a deal breaker.”
He blinked up at me, head canted. “Wait, really? That’s typical?”
“Of course. I know you don’t have anchors in your country, but surely someone helps you in such moments?”
“No one’s willing to do that for us. We tend to support and help each other, but no one’s really been able to help me if I go too deep in a reading. I normally burrow into my room for a few days and hide under the covers until I can reorient myself.”
I had this sudden urge to go to his homeland and scoop up every psychic I could find. We’d take much better care of them all here and they’d be far happier. I’d float the idea past my king. Maybe we could arrange for that, somehow.
A thought for a different day. Right now, Jon was my sole focus. “Is that why you think I will regret bonding? Because you have no experience having a man at your side who will safeguard you without making you pay some price for it?”
He opened his mouth on a response and then closed it slowly, eyes on the floor.
The silence was definitely a yes.
“Jon, you are the greatest gift and highest honor I could ever achieve in my life. Given the choice, I’d choose you. But this is very much your choice.”
His eyes met mine for a long moment and I had no doubt he was reading my sincerity. Then he smiled. The warmth and affection in his expression, the way he lifted both hands, bringing me closer to him, told me he’d made his decision.
“Then come to me,” he murmured, eyes intent on my mouth as he lifted up on his toes for a kiss. “I want you.”
He truly was choosing me? I got to keep him?
Delight filled me right down to my toes, fizzing like champagne bubbles.
I cradled his face as I leaned in and kissed him slowly, softly, pressing reassurance and love against his lips.
Then Jon swiped his tongue against my mouth and I opened for him, letting our tongues tangle, and the kiss became almost unbearably sensual.
I felt him hum with approval, which made me smug in return. He liked kissing me? I loved kissing him. I could do this all night, in fact, but there was a hunger inside of me for more. More skin, for one. I wanted to know this man thoroughly.
I shifted my hands, trailing them down his back until I found his perfect ass. I couldn’t help but give it a squeeze, and the moan that tore from his throat was telling indeed. He liked ass play, and that knowledge was dangerous. For him.
My hands skimmed down a little farther to his thighs, and I gripped there, lifting him up.
Jon broke the kiss, floundering a little for balance and purchase, laughing softly even as I hefted him up. “Patience broke, eh?”
“I must have you,” I growled at him, not remotely joking.
“By all means.”
Excellent, we were on the same page. Made seduction more fun.
He kept kissing me even as I walked us to the bed, his hunger evident, and I thrilled at how much this man wanted me. I couldn’t feel anything on an energetic level, but I hoped he’d initiated the bonding process. With the intent way he devoured me, surely that was not too much to hope for.
I didn’t stop until I had us both on the bed, him sitting there, me with a knee placed for balance as I sat him down.
I pulled the shawl that had been so stunning on him off, tossing it casually aside as I had no patience to properly put it away.
Jon tugged at my clothing, both of us undressing each other even though we couldn’t stop kissing.
His mouth was just too delightful, his kissing like a drug I couldn’t stop partaking in.
It was a relief when the final piece of clothing hit the floor and I could finally have all of that glorious, fair skin to myself without a barrier thwarting me. I immediately lifted him again, shifting him more towards the middle of the bed. I wanted space for us to maneuver in.
I trailed my mouth over his cheek, his jaw, caught his earlobe and worried it gently between my lips.
I kept all my senses trained on him, as I wanted to know where he liked to be touched best. I wanted to please this man until I ruined him for other men, so that he’d only have eyes for me.
Selfish? Perhaps, but it was what I honestly wished for.
He liked it when I sucked on the column of his neck, but he liked it even better when I rested my full weight on him.
The sigh that slipped from his mouth was like a prayer answered, his arms immediately coming up to hold me tighter to him.
I lifted my head enough to blow against the wet spot I’d created, and if not for my weight holding him down, he might have come right off the mattress.
Oh, so he was sensitive there? Lovely. I swallowed an evil chuckle as I shifted to another spot, just a touch lower, to suck there and do it again.
Jon swung a leg up around my hip, pressing his hard cock against my stomach in a blatant hint, but I had no intention of letting this man come quickly.
I wanted to know him properly first. With hands and lips, I trailed slowly down, pausing at a nipple, working it with lips and teeth, and Jon twisted, almost sobbing under me.
He was wonderfully sensitive, which made him all the more fun to pleasure.
I was hard myself, but I ignored my own body, wanting this man to be at the pinnacle of desire before I took him.
I eventually shifted farther down. His cock was rigid, as if every drop of blood he had resided there.
I kissed the tip, only to tease, and he swore at me even as his hands knotted the sheets.
I had no intention of deepthroating him yet—in a while I would—as I had something else in mind here.
I kept my ears trained on him as I lowered my head even more, using my hands to lift his hips up a little, finding an angle that didn’t crane my neck.
He cooperated fully, letting me do as I wished, and I had to admit that was insanely pleasing to me, that he trusted me so much.
It went directly to my head and fed my ego.
Using my tongue, I drew one of his balls into my mouth and lightly sucked on it.
Jon damn near came off the bed, sobbing with pleasure, his cry nearly deafening me.
I repeated the caress with the other ball, and Jon twisted in my hands, his harsh breaths and panting telling me he loved what I was doing even while I sent him dangerously near the edge.
A bit of evil snuck into my good intentions, and when I let his ball pull free, I deliberately licked my way to his taint, then blew air against it.
Jon’s legs clamped around my ears, his back arching off the bed entirely, then he flopped, his eyes wild with pleasure and fixed on me.
He seemed lost for words, and I kept my eyes on his for as long as I could before lifting his hips even more and matter-of-factly sliding my tongue straight into his hole.
Jon panted as if he’d just run a marathon. I felt one hand grasp my head, keeping me there, and I was happy to stay for a while and fuck him with my tongue. He opened beautifully, even as his breaths became more like sobs of pleasure.
“Don-Donovan. Mercy” he managed, the words garbled to the point of incomprehensibility. “Mercy!”
I’d probably teased him enough. Maybe? I was enjoying myself so I tongue-fucked him twice more before finally pulling back.
I abruptly realized I’d forgotten to grab the oil from the bedside table.
Swearing mentally, I let Jon down easy and then knee shuffled twice before leaning over and snagging it.
Phew, all right, crisis averted. I knee shuffled back and found Jon hadn’t even twitched, although he’d put a hand to his own cock, stroking it for some kind of relief.
“Naughty,” I chastised him, seizing his hand and putting it farther up on the bed, caging it there with one of mine.
Jon grinned at me, cheeks flushed, hair a wild tangle around his head already. “You left me.”