Chapter 24 #3
“I agree with you wholeheartedly.”
“So is Lassit.”
“I continue to agree.”
“Good.”
“You are very compatible with me,” Jack said.
Arden beamed.
“Which means you’ll likely go into heat for me, as you did for Beckett, once we spend enough time together. Arden. Arden,” he said laughingly as Arden scrambled off his lap and darted across the room. He held out a hand. “Come back to me, sweetheart. It won’t happen today.”
“Are you sure?” Arden said suspiciously.
“Yes. It takes time.”
Arden stayed put.
“Was it so bad, then?” Jack said. “I thought that you liked it.”
“I…I don’t…”
“You cried out so sweetly for Beckett. You took him in so well, brought him so much pleasure. Took it for yourself.”
He had his hands over his hot cheeks now, and when Jack said that last bit, took it for yourself, he remembered the way he’d clutched Beckett in his arms and held him as tightly as he could.
Their height difference had meant that he’d mashed his face against Beckett’s broad chest, nuzzled his strong throat when what he’d really wanted was to be kissed, but it had been awful.
He’d loved it so much. He curled miserably in on himself.
“If it happens, don’t worry. You can have Beckett again. It should be only ever Beckett, if that’s what you want.”
That brought Arden rushing back to soothe and reassure him. “Jack, you wouldn’t hurt me. I want you, too.”
Jack tugged him closer, closer, until Arden tutted and set a knee on the chair seat beside Jack’s thick thigh, catching his balance with an arm over Jack’s shoulder to brace against the back of the chair. “Will you agree to have Beckett there with us? I’ll need him to watch me. To watch over you.”
“I’d like that,” Arden said, congratulating himself on how steady his voice was. “Very much. Um. When will it happen?” His voice wasn’t quite as steady now. “When will we be together, you and me? Do we have to wait for a heat?”
“It can be whenever you choose. Only then. Don’t be afraid.”
“I’m not afraid of you, Jack.” He’d said something similar to Arden before. “I’m afraid of myself. Of the way it all makes me feel.” Arden shot him a wry smile. “The only one who doesn’t seem to be afraid about any of this business is Beckett.”
“I know.”
“It makes him rather perfect, doesn’t it?”
“Don’t ever say that to his face. There’ll be no living with him.”
“I wouldn’t dare! I don’t think he even likes me. He was…oh, he was very angry. And rightly so! I’d be angry with anyone who made you that ill, too.”
“Beckett is very much looking forward to seeing you again. If he’d had his way, he’d have come after you the day you left us.”
“Really?” The thought was both thrilling and terrifying.
“Yes. Arden, I need you to understand this, as Beckett does. You didn’t make me ill, I did.
My actions did. I didn’t have to take the suppressants.
I could have stayed away and waited until your heat had passed to come and see you.
I was hasty. I wanted to be there to reassure you.
I wanted to be there for me, too. To share in it. The fault is mine, not yours.”
“I probably shouldn’t have run away, should I?”
“I can’t deny that it would have made life easier if you’d stayed at Avendene.
We could have had this conversation earlier, and you and Beckett could have grown to know each other better.
But this was what you wanted, Arden, and I swore to give you whatever you ask of me.
You get to live how you want. Beckett and I will place many demands on you, but you get to decide. ”
Arden said shyly, “Is it all right if I decide to come home, then? Soon?”
Jack’s chest swelled with a deep breath beneath him. “I would love that. As will Beckett.”
“I am nervous about seeing him again.”
“I won’t tell you not to be. I will, however, tell you that you don’t need to be. He is sorry. You must know that.”
Arden sighed.
“All right. We won’t talk about it any more today.”
“Thank you.”
Jack laughed at his heartfelt reply. “We’ll talk about it tomorrow.”
Arden pulled a face and snuggled closer. Jack didn’t seem to mind, and Arden couldn’t get enough of it.
The last time he’d been this close to Jack, he’d been ten or eleven years old, which meant Jack would have been about fifteen. It was summer, and Jack had found Arden sketching in the meadow. He lay down in the grass with Arden, put his head in Arden’s lap, and let Arden play with his hair.
It was Arden’s very best memory.
This was another excellent one.
“How long can you stay at Greylag?” Arden asked idly.
Jack made a disgruntled sound that had Arden smiling into his shirt. “One night.”
That wiped his smile away. “One night?” he said indignantly.
“I wish I could stay longer but I have business to attend to in town. Forgive me?”
“Yes, of course. I’m not annoyed that you can’t dance attendance on me, I’m annoyed that you don’t get to take more than a day and a night away from the wretched Council.”
“It’s the price I pay for my rank. I pay it willingly. I will not be one of those layabout lords who are happy to suck their lands dry while refusing to stand for their people and their dependents. It is unfortunate,” he added in a teasing tone, “since I want to dance attendance on you.”
Arden had pushed away from Jack’s chest and somehow climbed further onto his lap. He must have shoved Jack lower in the chair as he scaled his husband, because Jack was definitely looking up into his face now, not down. Arden blinked. Whatever he was going to say evaporated at the gorgeous view.
“What are you thinking?” Jack asked, amused.
“I know that you want me beneath you, and I want to be there, but…would you ever let me lie on top of you?” he asked daringly. “Sometime, perhaps? I find that I rather like the view from here.”
Jack wound an arm around Arden’s waist and stood in one easy movement. He took a step onto the hearthrug and lay down, dragging Arden with him.
Arden screeched then burst into laughter. “I didn’t mean now!” he protested as he propped himself up over his prone husband. He shuffled about, getting his knees either side of Jack’s hips.
“No?” Jack said, pretending to be surprised.
“No.” Arden ducked down to kiss him.
“How very awkward.”
Jack didn’t grab at him or hold him down, although Arden knew he wanted to.
Instead, he’d flung his arms out dramatically wide as he’d taken them playfully to the floor.
He left his arms where they were, but couldn’t hide the flex of his fingers.
He didn’t even lift his head for Arden’s kiss.
He simply lay there and let Arden have his way.
“So,” Arden said, when he was breathless from kissing. “If you are only here for the rest of today and one night, and tomorrow, what shall we do to pass the time?”
“Whatever you please. I am, as you can see, entirely at your disposal.”