Chapter 10 #2
“—and then he had to service me because I couldn’t stop sneaking around the house and peeking at him every chance I could get like some awful voyeuristic little…mouse, or…rodent—”
“A voyeuristic rodent?”
“—yes, a mouse, and now—”
“Yes?” Jack prompted when Arden ran out of self-loathing puff. “And now?”
“And now I don’t know,” Arden said glumly.
“I have wedged myself into the life of a happy couple and there’s no getting me out.
You could always send me to one of your other properties, of course?
” He brightened for as long as it took for Jack to shake his head.
Then his little face turned determined. “Yes, Jack. That’s the answer.
I…I knew it all along and I should have insisted that you sent me somewhere else to start with rather than asking to come here.
I suppose that silly romantic part of me wanted to pretend… for a short time anyway.”
Jack let him ramble on. There was no point in trying to talk over him when he clearly had things he needed to get out into the open.
“Well?” he prompted Jack when Jack didn’t say anything.
“Well what?” Jack asked. He was gazing at Arden’s legs. He couldn’t help it.
Beckett’s legs were long, thanks to his towering alpha height, and thick with muscle, thanks to his energetic nature. Arden’s muscles were lean and graceful, but while his legs were average in proportion to his body, they were still endearingly short.
Jack wanted, with a sudden fierce pang that the suppressants translated into a roiling nausea and a few unsteady, rapid pumps of his heart, to feel those legs wrapped around his waist. Slung over his shoulders. See them bent to Arden’s ears.
He wanted to feel that body beneath his, yielding.
He wanted to find out exactly how silky that skin felt, sliding against his.
“Jack?”
“Yes?”
“What do you think?”
“I have no idea,” he said. “I stopped listening five minutes ago.”
There was a brief, outraged silence before Arden said, “I have not been talking for five minutes straight.”
“Have you not?” Jack had been drifting a hand lazily through the water. Now, he decided to let it drift lazily along Arden’s leg, curious as to how he would react.
Arden gave a tiny gasp and shifted, but didn’t draw his knees back to his chest, or even move away. When Jack looked up, it was to find him watching Jack warily.
“What I think,” Jack said, “is that I would very much like to kiss my husband.”
Arden’s eyes widened and his cheeks, flushed with warmth from the bath, flushed a deeper rose. “Oh. You’ve kissed me already, though. You want to do it again?”
“Yes.” Jack wrapped his fingers around a narrow, bony ankle, and held it. “Properly. What do you think about that?”
Arden swallowed loudly. “You f-first,” he said.
Jack lifted his brows.
“Tell me what you think about what I said first, and then you may kiss me.”
“Oh, may I?” Jack said.
Arden shuffled back a couple of inches and, after a couple of tugs and a little grunt, pointedly withdrew his ankle from Jack’s light grip. “Yes.”
“Very well. You’ll have to remind me what you said. I apologise, but I really wasn’t listening.”
Arden scowled at him, filling Jack with delight. A show of temper, however minor, was a good thing. “I said that it was probably best if I were to set up a household elsewhere, and you and Beckett can—”
“No,” Jack said mildly.
“You didn’t let me finish. If I am out of the way, then you and Beckett can—”
“I don’t want you out of the way. No.”
“Maybe it isn’t just about what you want. I’m sure Beckett would prefer not having to serve me any more than he’s had to, and if I bow out, then you and he can—”
“No, Arden. You will not bow out. I will not send you away. No.”
Arden slid to the edge of the tub and looked beseechingly up into Jack’s face. “You don’t want to hurt him, do you?”
Jack lifted his hands and cupped Arden’s cheeks. “I really don’t,” he murmured.
Arden clung to his wrists. “I don’t either. You two can be happy if you let me go away.”
Jack rubbed his thumbs softly under Arden’s eyes. Unlike Beckett, who was as yet unmarked by age, he had faint lines there.
Gods, they’d known each other for so long, hadn’t they?
“I don’t want to hurt you, either, sweetheart,” Jack said.
Arden’s fingers tightened briefly. “Then it’s decided. I shall leave Avendene.” He gave a decisive little nod. “And if I may be so bold…?”
He wasn’t going anywhere. “By all means. Be bold.”
“I’ve always thought that it would be nice to see the sea. I’d like that very much. If I may have a say in where I go, then I’d like to go to whichever of your estates is closest to the coast. I promise that I’ll take very good care of it.”
“I have no doubt,” Jack said.
Arden looked lost for a moment before he very visibly drew himself together. “I’m glad we have decided, then.”
“Arden,” Jack said in a whisper. “We haven’t decided anything.”
Arden stiffened.
“You’ve laid out what seems like a very lonely future for yourself, which I have no intention of allowing.
You will live here, by my side where you belong.
When I am in Sevennis on wretched, unavoidable Council business, you will either accompany me there if you’d like, or else remain here with Beckett. ”
“No, but—”
“Indeed. No buts. The only thing we decided was that I would tell you what I think—which I have done—and then I will kiss you. Which I am about to do.” He leaned in. “Yes?”
“Oh.” Arden’s wide-eyed gaze dropped to Jack’s sharp smile and back up to his eyes. Jack was aware that he was staring quite intently, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself. “That…was what we agreed, wasn’t it? Um. In that case, y-yes.”
“Would you like me to kiss you, my sweet?” Jack tapped a thumb to Arden’s lips. He’d pressed them together as if he was trying to hide them.
Arden blushed hot, making Jack growl low in his throat. “I don’t know,” he whispered.
“Did you like it when Beckett kissed you?”
Arden was silent for a moment, then he gave a tiny nod. “I did,” he said. “I think? I don’t…it was all happening at once, Jack.”
“This will happen slowly. If you want it. You may tell me no at any time, and I will always—Arden.” He pinched Arden’s chin, making sure he was looking right at him when he said it. “When it comes to your body, I will always, always listen to your no. I will respect it, as I respect you.”
Arden took a deep, shuddering breath.
“So. Will you let me kiss you?”
Arden hesitated.
Jack should have been disappointed. Instead, he was proud.
“I would very much like to wash first,” Arden said shyly. “And gather my composure.”
Jack decided to push, just a little further. “May I watch?”
Arden, to Jack’s delight, pushed back. He smiled and shook his head. “No.”
“Excellent. I have work to attend to—not that I’ll be able to concentrate on it until I get my kiss. However, I shall apply myself and do my best. Have a lovely bathe, and when you’re ready, please come down to my study.”