Chapter 25 #2
For a long, agonizing moment, Theo said nothing.
Then, to my surprise, his face broke into a smile, not the practiced, seductive smile of a companion, but something genuine and bright that transformed his entire face.
He leaned in and kissed me, a soft, sweet pressure against my lips that sent warmth spreading through my entire body.
When he pulled back, he was still smiling.
He lifted his wrist, where the sleek black wristlet that marked him as a companion gleamed in the low light of the villa.
With deliberate movements, he unfastened it and set it on the coffee table beside us.
“I already gave my notice to The Master,” he said, his eyes never leaving mine.
Relief and joy surged through me, so powerful I felt dizzy with it. I pulled him close, burying my face in his hair, breathing in the scent of him. “You were leaving The Ranch?”
He nodded against my shoulder. “I realized I couldn't do this anymore. Not after...” He pulled back, looking up at me with eyes that had haunted my dreams. “Not after you. Nothing else felt real.”
The simplicity of his admission touched something profound within me.
“You know this won't be easy,” I said softly, needing him to understand the complexity of what lay ahead.
“My life in Avaline is... complicated. There will be scrutiny, expectations, protocol. The press can be merciless, particularly when they sense scandal.”
“And your family?” Theo asked, his gaze steady. “How will they react to you bringing home—” He pointed at himself.
“There will be resistance,” I acknowledged, refusing to sugarcoat the challenges.
“My parents...” I shrugged. There were those who would disapprove on principle.
“But Avaline is more progressive than many realize, and public opinion has shifted considerably in recent years.” I touched his face.
“More importantly, my position grants me certain privileges. I have the financial independence to live as I choose, regardless of their approval, should it come to that.”
“What about Casey?” he asked, concern clouding his expression. “My brother needs me. His care, his therapy—I can't just abandon him.”
“Of course not,” I replied immediately. “Your dedication to him is one of the many things I admire about you. There are excellent rehabilitation facilities in Europe, including several in Switzerland near our border. We could arrange for him to receive the best care available.”
Theo's eyes widened. “You'd do that? Help with Casey?”
“He's your family,” I said simply. “That makes him important to me as well. Besides,” I added with a small smile, “I believe I'd like to meet the man who raised such an extraordinary brother.”
I kissed him again, this time not fueled by lust, but by a deeper connection. We lingered, basking in the warmth of our bodies, until I murmured, “I haven’t stopped thinking about you. Not for a moment.”
His hands framed my face, thumbs brushing my cheekbones with a tenderness that contrasted with the heat in his eyes.
“Me neither. It was like you took something essential with you when you left. Like all the colors just drained from everything.” Theo's eyes searched mine. “Where do we go from here?”
“Forward,” I said. “Together. One step at a time.” I traced the curve of his jaw with my fingertip. “I've spent my life with every moment planned and scheduled. For once, I'd like to discover what happens without that.”
His smile broadened at that, and with a sudden boldness, he began to work at my tie with deliberate care.
I reached for his hands, holding them in place. “Theo, I didn't come here expecting—”
He silenced me with another kiss, this one more insistent, his body pressing against mine in a way that left no doubt about his intentions.
When he pulled back, his eyes were dark with desire.
“I know you didn't.” His hands moved to my tie, deftly loosening the knot.
“But I want to. Not because it's my job, but because it's you.
Because I've been dreaming about touching you again since the moment you left me.
Because this time, it's just us. Ricard and Theo.” He smiled as he tugged the knot open.
“Just two people who choose each other.”
My restraint, already tenuous, snapped at his words. I pulled him closer, claiming his mouth in a kiss that held none of the gentleness of our previous ones. This was hunger, raw and unfiltered, and he responded in kind, his fingers working at the buttons of my shirt as our tongues tangled.
He pushed the shirt from my shoulders, his hands immediately exploring the newly exposed skin, tracing patterns that left fire in their wake.
I wasn't idle either, tugging his gauzy robe and briefs, nuzzling the lean, muscled torso that had featured in so many of my recent dreams. I pressed my lips to his collarbone, then lower, savoring the way his breath hitched as I explored the contours of his chest, his abdomen, the sensitive spot just above his hipbone that made him shiver when kissed.
We stumbled backward, toward the bedroom, shedding remaining clothes as we went, unwilling to break contact even to navigate the short distance.
By the time we reached the bed, we were both naked, breathless with need.
I fell back onto the mattress, pulling Theo down on top of me, reveling in the feel of his skin against mine.
The full-body contact sent electricity racing through my veins—the weight of him, the warmth of him, the reality of him after days of dreams and memories, overwhelming my senses.
His mouth moved down my body, leaving a trail of kisses and soft bites that had me arching off the bed.
When he reached my cock, already hard and aching for his touch, he looked up at me with a wicked smile that sent a fresh wave of heat through me.
“I've been thinking about this,” he murmured, his breath hot against my sensitive skin. “About tasting you again.”
Before I could respond, he took me into his mouth, the wet heat of it nearly undoing me on the spot. I groaned, my hands finding their way into his hair, not guiding but simply needing to touch him, to anchor myself as pleasure surged through me.
He worked me with a skill that bordered on artistry, his tongue and lips finding all the places that made me gasp and moan.
But this wasn't the practiced technique of a companion.
There was an enthusiasm, a genuine enjoyment in his movements that made it infinitely more arousing.
The knowledge that his desire was real, his pleasure authentic, heightened every sensation.
Just when I thought I might lose myself completely, he pulled back, crawling up my body to claim my mouth again.
I could taste myself on his tongue, an intimacy that sent another spike of arousal through me.
He straddled my hips, his own erection pressing against mine in a way that made us both gasp.
“Tie me up,” Theo gasped against my lips, his hips arching up to grind against mine. “Like before. With your tie.”
My fingers froze where they'd been tracing the curve of his spine. I pulled back just enough to see his face, his pupils wide and blown. “Are you certain?” My voice came out graveled, rough and hungry. “This isn't part of our arrangement now.”
He ran his hands through my hair, tugging the strands. “It wasn't about the arrangement last time either.” His teeth scraped my jaw. “Tie me because you want to. Because I'm yours.”
The admission punched through me like a blade.
With one hand I reached for the discarded silk tie tangled in the sheets as Theo rolled onto his back, his wrists colliding over his head before I could ask, pale veins tracing roads across his inner arms. I wrapped the silk snug above his pulse points, heat pooling in my belly as I secured the knot.
His chest heaved beneath me, rising and falling as I pressed his knees toward his shoulders, spreading him wide.
Reaching blindly for the lube, I slicked myself quickly, thrusting slowly as his body yielded to mine.
Theo's choked moan filled the space between our mouths, cheekbones flushed under scattered freckles.
“Look at me,” I growled, catching his chin as his eyes threatened to flutter shut. “This is real. You feel that?”
He nodded, sweat-slicked hair clinging to his forehead. “Yours.” The word came out mangled, half-moan. “All yours.”
Each snap of hips built momentum, the rhythm turning desperate and sharp.
My knuckles whitened on the carved bedpost as he clenched around me, every gasping breath from his lips stoking the fire in my veins.
His legs locked around my waist, heels digging into the small of my back as I drove deeper, claiming, worshipping, unraveling.
My hand slid between our sweat-slicked bodies, fingers wrapping around Theo's leaking cock.
He arched into my touch with broken whimpers, his hips stuttering as I stroked him in time with my thrusts.
“Ricard—” His throat clicked when he swallowed, wrists straining against the silk bonds. “I can't... I'm going to—”
I watched his face fracture, eyelids fluttering, mouth slackening, entire body tensing like a drawn bowstring.
Hot stripes painted my stomach as he came, his choked cry reverberating in my bones.
The clench of him around my cock shattered my control.
I buried myself deep, grinding out my release through the aftershocks rocking our bodies.
For a moment we stayed fused, breath ragged between us. My trembling fingers fumbled with the knotted silk at his wrists. The moment his hands came free, they framed my face, cool palms pressed to my burning cheeks.
We lay intertwined, breath mingling, and I pressed a soft kiss to his forehead. “Stay with me,” I whispered, my voice hoarse. “Always.”
“I'm here,” he murmured, pulling me closer as if I might vanish if he loosened his grip.
“No, I mean... after this. Don't leave.” I pulled back just enough to search his gaze, my heart hammering against my ribs. “I've never been in love before, but this...” My thumb traced the line of his jaw. “This is it. This is what love feels like.”
The charged admission hung in the air. Theo went still, his breath catching as tears sparkled in his eyes. With a voice barely above a whisper, he said, “Every rule I had, every boundary I tried to keep—”
“—you broke,” I finished, heart thundering.
“Because you're worth more than I ever dreamed.” My lips found the frantic pulse at his throat.
“That you're worth a thousand thrones.” Another kiss along his collarbone.
“That I'd let the whole damn monarchy collapse if it meant keeping you next to me.” I cupped his face, my voice a fervent promise.
“Whatever dreams you've harbored, whatever future you've imagined—I'll move heaven and earth to make them reality. For you.”
His lips trembled as he pressed closer, his hands cradling my face between them. “What if my dream is you? What if it's been you all along?”
The question struck me, raw and disarming. “Then I’m already yours.”
Theo pressed his forehead to mine, his eyes closing briefly before meeting my gaze with newfound resolve.
“I'm all in, Ricard. But we need to be realistic about what we're facing.” His fingers traced the line of my jaw with tender determination.
“The tabloids, your family, the scrutiny… it will be brutal. And Casey...” His voice softened at his brother's name.
“I need to make sure he understands, that he knows I'm not abandoning him.”
I caught his hand and pressed a kiss to his palm. “We'll face it together. Whatever challenges come, whatever storms we weather, we do it side by side.”
“What if they make you choose?” Theo asked, the question barely above a whisper. “Between me and your title, your position, everything you've known your whole life?”
I took a deep breath, the gravity of that possibility settling between us.
“My title has been both armor and prison for as long as I can remember. The thought of losing it...” I paused, searching for words that could convey the complexity of what I felt.
“It terrifies me. That identity is woven through every memory, every lesson, every expectation I've ever known.”
Theo's eyes clouded with concern, but I continued before he could speak.
“But what terrifies me more is returning to that gilded cage without you, resuming a life half-lived.” My voice strengthened with certainty. “With you beside me, I'm not as afraid. For the first time, I can imagine a life defined by what I choose rather than what was chosen for me.”
“It won't be easy,” Theo said, his voice gaining strength even as vulnerability flashed in his eyes. “But nothing that matters ever is, right?” A small smile curved his lips. “And you, Ricard d’Moncloud... you matter to me more than I thought anyone ever could.”
I pulled him closer, breathing in the scent that had haunted my dreams. “Then we'll build something real together, something that withstands whatever the world throws at us. With or without titles.”
Theo's smile widened into something genuine and bright. “That sounds like the greatest adventure of my life.”