26. Christian

After we left Central Park,we took a slow walk toward the Empire State Building. I wasn't a man who was particularly afraid of heights, but the 86th floor was staggering. The wind whipped around the open air balcony with an unmatched force, and I kept myself pressed close to Kale as we made our way toward the grating at the far edge of the balcony. In my ear, he made a low and happy sound.

"Do you like New York?" I asked.

"I love it here."

I loved it back home, but I didn't think there was any sight or place that drew the feelings out of me that I found myself grappling with in New York. That might have been on account of Kale, but I didn't think it was entirely him. America was massive. New York on its own was a huge city with so many people packed into such a small space, they'd been forced to build up into the clouds to make room.

"What about you?" he asked me.

"It's amazing," I said.

The wool of his coat scratched my cheek, but not in a way I wanted to get away from. I rubbed my face over his shoulder, looking out at the sprawling expanse of the city ahead of us. The balcony was packed with people bustling around us, taking selfies and laughing, but Kale and I were in our own, quiet little castle at the top of the world.

"Did you want to go up to the 102nd floor?" he asked. "It's not outside like this, but less people."

"Why not?"

With his arm around my waist, we headed back into the elevator lobby, paid for the extra tickets and rode an express elevator up to the narrower—and much less busy—viewing floor. There was less room, less people, and in lieu of walls, there were floor-to-ceiling plate glass windows to enjoy the view through. We walked around to the far side of the building and pressed our way toward the glass. Kale shifted behind me, wrapping both arms around my waist and resting his chin on my shoulder. When he exhaled, I felt it in my bones, and I leaned back against him with a sad sigh.

"Are we boyfriends?" I blurted out, embarrassment immediately burning my cheeks.

"Did you want to be?"

"That's not what I asked."

He tilted his head to the side, resting his temple against mine. "I love you," he said. "Boyfriends feels…"

I swallowed. "Trivial."

"Trivial," he agreed, a soft rasp.

"But I'm not trying to get engaged or anything," I said quickly, turning in his arms so we were more face to face, my back to the city. "That feels rushed."

"Does it?"

"Doesn't it?" I countered.

My heart slammed against my ribs, beating harder than it ever had. There was no adrenaline rush I'd ever felt that topped the feelings churning in my gut as we stood tangled together above the clouds. I cursed the fall weather and the layers of clothes that kept Kale's skin from being within easy reach of my fingers.

"I don't think the title means anything," he said after some thought. "It's what you do with it. What it means."

"Elaborate on that one, Mr. Sheffield."

His exhale sounded like a growl, a heady reminder that for as in charge as Kale was about everything in his life, me included, I still held a very powerful sense of control over him.

"You're a prince," he explained, "that doesn't count for much, does it?"

I smacked his chest, rolling my eyes and trying to pull away from him. He tightened his hold and hauled our chests back together, turning us sideways so I could see him and the city at the same time.

"That's rude," I grumbled.

"You know how I meant it."

I did know exactly what he'd meant. I was a prince in title only, none of the benefits afforded my brother or even his children. Though, that felt unfair to say. I'd lived a life of unmitigated privilege, but after meeting Kale, I wondered if it was worth the cost. Parrish would have been free to fly around the world every week if that was what he wanted to do. No one would have protested on account of any social standing back home. He was free to live his life as he pleased, even though we'd practically grown up neck and neck with each other.

"The point is," he went on, giving my hips a wiggle. "I will treat you the same whether you're my boyfriend, my husband, or the man I bury my cock in every night. I'll think of you the same. I'll love you the same."

I inhaled a sharp breath, pressing my forehead against his chest and closing my eyes. "I don't want to leave."

"I know." His arms came tighter around me, stroking strong and assuring lines up and down the breadth of my back. "But it's not forever. Just…time to decide what's next."

"What's next is I want to be here with you," I said.

Kale pressed his cheek against the top of my head, his breath puffing out over my hair. "I want you here with me, too," he said…carefully.

"But?"

"There's no but. I want you here with me, and I want you to be sure you're comfortable with all the things that means."

He swallowed and I dug my fingers into the thick wool of his pea coat. I knew exactly what he meant. I wasn't in a situation where I could just decide I wanted to move to America to be with a man who hadn't been vetted and approved by my father. I didn't have the luxuries of a commoner, and when I decided I wanted to be with Kale for real and forever, there were other parts of my life that were going to fall away.

"You're here another day," he said. "Two more nights with me and then you can regroup and we can go from there. But I promise that you leaving isn't going to change the way I feel about you."

"Are you sure?" I asked. "Not just hormones?"

He snorted, knocking his shoulder into mine. "I have plenty of those, but no."

I turned my attention to the skyline and the view on the other side of the glass. There was a whole city here, a whole world to explore. I had no interest in being chained by my title any longer; I only wanted to be bound by Kale and his whims. That life was what I wanted to explore. More than the sightseeing and the adventures, I wanted to learn myself by giving control over to him.

"Can we go back to your club tonight after dinner?"

"What are you after?"

"I just want to watch," I admitted, another rush of heat burning my cheeks and my throat.

He ghosted his lips across my ear, dropping his voice to a low whisper. "I didn't know I had a little voyeur on my hands?"

The promise of his tone sent blood rushing south and the altitude already had me dizzy. Or maybe that was just Kale and proximity of his skin and his smell that was doing me in. I swayed, leaning into him.

"What do you want, princess? Tell me what you need tonight."

"I want to go back," I murmured. "I liked the last time we were there. I…I like all the things we do. I want to see what other people do, though."

Kale chuckled, mouth shaping up into a knowing grin. "You want to see if there's anything else that's going to get you off."

I managed a nod, closing my eyes.

"Sometimes I wonder how you're real." He took my face into his hand, stroking his thumb across my cheek. His palm was cool against my burning hot skin. "Always pliant and ready, and fucking perfect. My perfect little princess."

"Not here," I whimpered, pushing my hips toward him.

"Not here and not yet." Kale took my hand and led me back toward the elevators in the center of the floor. "Is there anything else you wanted to do today?"

I barked out a laugh. "You."

"That's a given, I think. But I meant before then."

I shook my head.

The elevator arrived and we rode back down to the 86th floor, and then down to the ground. On the sidewalk, I stepped back from the building and looked up. The height of the tower made me dizzy, all the blood in my body confused as to whether it should be between my legs or in my head. There was a low layer of clouds that obscured the upper floors of the building, and I wasn't sure the entire trip up to the top hadn't been a dream.

"Dinner at some point," I suggested, which earned me a pleased-looking nod of approval. "What do you want to do?"

Kale squinted, scrunching up his nose and answering with a shrug that made him look half his age. "You."

"You said not here and not yet," I reminded him.

"That was five minutes ago." He laughed. "Maybe I've changed my mind."

I slid my arms around his waist and looked up at him, the lights of the skyscrapers glowing from behind him like a halo. My dick ached, pushing against his hip, but I closed my eyes and inhaled a shaking breath before pressing myself against his front. Kale wrapped his arms around my shoulders and held us together, nose buried in my hair.

The moment felt fragile and forever at the same time, like if I breathed the wrong way the puzzle would crumble, but also somehow not…

My relationship with Kale was a series of unknowns, one after another after another, and me going back home in less than forth-eight hours wasn't making that any easier. But in his arms with my eyes closed, the sounds of the city around us, and the smell of him fresh in my nose, I could see the future play out before me in near-perfect time.

I would go home. My father and Phillip would be beyond angry. They'd yell and we'd argue, and I'd concede. I'd scale the wall or take the tunnels, sneak out and go stay with Parrish for a day or so to get my head on straight. Only enough time to build up the courage to do what needed to be done so I could come back to New York.

Come back to Kale.

"Take me to dinner," I whispered. "Order my wine. Order my food."

Kale's pupils dilated, his nostrils flaring.

"Tell me what to eat. Tell me when to stop," I said.

"Never stop." He gave a small shake of his head, and I knew he wasn't talking about food.

"Take me to your club and make me watch everyone get each other off," I went on. Kale's cock was hard too, thumping against my leg in time with his heartbeat. "Ask me what I like the most."

He arched a brow. "And then what?"

"I don't know." I huffed a quiet laugh. "I thought you were the one in charge."

He pinched my ribs, and instead of squirming away, pressed into him. The pain flickered up my side like a caress. Nostrils flaring, I tilted my head back to look up at him. I was so gone for this man, desperate and mindless for him in all of the best—and worst—ways.

"I'll take you to dinner, princess" he said, kissing the tip of my nose. "How do you feel about a little role play?"

"How so?"

My dick jerked against my leg, liking the idea of it very much even though it had no idea what it was getting us into.

"We talked earlier about submission, how it's different for everyone. Different places, different times." He didn't need to finish the thought for me to know where he was going. I licked my lips, grinning at him like he'd just offered me the answer to every prayer I'd ever whispered in the dark. But I realized I wanted him to say it, just the same. I wanted, no…I needed Kale to give voice to it. For both of us.

"Yes."

"I want you to submit outside of the sex," he said, angling his head to the side. "I think you already do, if I'm being honest. But I really want you to think on it tonight. I want you in it."

With every word that left his lips, my head grew fuzzy and light. He was asking me to pretend I was well and truly his, which…felt more like a dream than a demand.

"If you argue or pout, you get punished," he said, carefully tracing my hairline over my ear with the tip of his finger. The gentle touch sent a shiver all the way down to my toes. "You listen and you do as you're told."

"Yes, Mr. Sheffield," I rasped, mind replaying some of the things he said to me the night I met him on the street outside the ballet, the things he made me feel for the very first time.

"If you hate it, tell me to stop and we stop."

"I never want to stop," I said.

"I know." He swallowed, corner of his mouth twitching. Clearing his throat, Kale straightened his shoulders and took my hand into his, setting off down the street, away from the Empire State Building and back toward where we'd started off. "Christian, there's only two rules for tonight."

"Listen and do what I'm told," I repeated.

He shook his head, squeezing my hand, the smile on his face twisting into something that dripped with pain and promise all at the same time. "Do what you're told, yes. And under no circumstances, princess, are you allowed to come without permission. Do we understand each other?"

My cock leaked, ready as ever to rebel.

"Yes," I managed the confirmation, even though my body was not on board with the plan. "Yes, Mr. Sheffield."