Chapter 20

EYES FLUTTERING OPENto the pale sunlight streaming in from the balcony off his room, March wasn't surprised to find he still felt dreamy and rosy. He'd spent most of the night in Neroki's arms, being kissed and stroked and held like he was a fragile treasure. As a result, his eyes were gritty from lack of sleep, but he didn't feel the exhaustion at all.

Sitting up, he hugged a pillow to his chest, resting his chin on it as his mind replayed scenes from only hours earlier. There had been points, more than once, where he'd been sure he would die from the sheer wealth of feelings and yearning welled up in him. And again more than once, when their mouths and hands had become too frenzied, March had wondered if Neroki would break his promise to wait, both terrified and terribly excited by the idea.

Despite being alone, March had to press his heated face to the cool cloth of the pillow as he remembered the prince's hot, ragged breaths against his ear as he'd ground their hips together, desire to desire. Swallowing, he pressed the tips of his fingers to his lips, still a bit sensitive from the hours of attention they'd received.

The heady mixture of relief and disappointment that had coursed through him at Neroki's resigned groan was beyond description.

"I could die from needing you, March."

He'd left soon after, saying that if he stayed for even another minute, he doubted he could hold back any longer. He hadn't needed to delve any deeper or clarify the meaning of the words.

March had lain awake for awhile after that, buzzing with excitement, nearly swooning from it. The ache in his groin was harsh, and all too familiar now, but even the itchy frustration couldn't put a damper on his fanciful mood.

Throwing back his blankets, he prepared to dress for the day.

EXERCISE HAD ALWAYSbeen a productive and appropriate use of his energy, particularly the pent-up type of energy that swirled like a monsoon deep in his core. Notching another arrow to his bowstring, March visualized his aura, snow white and shimmering, surrounding the bow, releasing from him as it flew to the target.

"You really are the most predictable human being ever to walk the earth, aren't you?"

March jumped a little, but composed himself quickly. Notching another arrow, he kept his eyes straight ahead. "I'm sorry you find me to be so dull."

"I can't complain about a trait that makes it so easy to find you when I need you," Nero said.

"I'm surprised you're up so early," March noted.

He hadn't slept a wink, but only gave a shrug, leaning his side onto a marble pillar. "I'm not surprised that you are."

"Well, I have things to do. Can't laze around all day like some people."

"You know, there might be something to this whole getting up with sun deal after all, if it means I get to watch you doing this."

"Oh, right. I forgot about your bizarre fetish."

Nero laughed. "Wouldn't exactly call it a fetish, but… I've had some interesting fantasies about it. Like when you were practicing with your family."

"Was that before or after my motra accused you of wanting to devour me like a starving wildcat?"

His cheeks dimpled. "Before."

Unable to fully conceal his own smile, March gave a nod. "I suppose you're going to tell me now, what you were thinking about."

"Curious, are we?"

"Maybe."

"You sure have come a long way with me, March."

"If you're too shy to say, then forget it."

Nero barked out a laugh. "Reverse psychology isn't going to work on me. If you want to know that badly, I'll tell you tonight. On our date."

"Date?"

Making a noise of confirmation, Nero nodded. "I thought we'd have a little picnic of sorts."

"In the forest?"

"Maybe next time. I was thinking of something more private, where we wouldn't be interrupted, like my bedroom."

"Oh."

Though he found March's immediate blush incredibly endearing, Nero didn't comment on it. "Does that idea suit you?"

"My evening's free," March said, barely able to run through his schedule in his head for the swirling lightness in it. "The duke should be arriving from Galasite, but the council meeting your father wants me to sit in on isn't for a few days."

"Then I'll take that as a yes."

FRESH FROM THEshower, March tapped the end of his quill on the desk, resting his chin in his hand. He'd sufficiently primped, making sure he didn't skip a single step in his routine. His skin was moisturized, his hair had been meticulously dried and artfully coaxed into his preferred style, and his lips had been dabbed with balm. He especially didn't want them feeling dry now, as he had a sneaking suspicion that Neroki would soon be making fairly solid contact with them.

Slightly shamed that he could hardly focus on the letter to home he'd been writing, he put forth his best effort to push any indecent thoughts from his mind. He'd written a letter per week, usually a fairly edited version of how his time in the castle was going, particularly now that he and Neroki were becoming closer. Hoping to portray him in a softer light to Roman, March wrote that he was preparing to go on a picnic with him. He didn't need to mention that the picnic would be taking place in the prince's bedroom, of all places.

Frowning, he contemplated on whether to mention the visiting duke, and his unhappiness with Neroki's refusal to cooperate with his offer. He supposed it would be good for them to know that the prince had steadfastly refused to participate in even the slightest disloyalty to him. Still unsure, he set the quill down when he heard the prince's staccato raps on his door, followed by the sound of his lock disengaging.

"Ready to go?"

"Where's my picnic?" March wondered, glancing at Nero's empty hands.

"I have someone setting it up for us as we speak."

Groaning a little, March pressed his fingers to his eyes. "That's embarrassing."

"Why?"

"Because… They're going to know."

"That we eat?"

"You know what I mean."

Smirking, as always amused by the stuffy noble's easily offended sensibilities, Nero strolled in to peek at the letter on the desk. "Better get used to that," he suggested. "They're always going to be around."

"I know," March said quickly, afraid of seeming ungrateful. "It is convenient, but… I suppose I still have to get used to having less privacy."

"Everyone who works in the castle knows they have to be discreet," Nero promised. March remembered very distinctly the way the women in the laundry room had gossiped about the two of them, but knew there was no point in bringing it up. "Are you hungry?"

"A little," March said, though he felt more nervous than hungry. He leaned back to let the nosy prince skim the paper. He hadn't written anything embarrassing, anyway.

"Cute," he decided, once he'd finished reading the letter.

"You say that about everything I do."

"I haven't lied yet."

APPROACHING THE GUARDEDentrance to Neroki's chambers, March found it difficult to meet the eyes of the guard that waited there.

"Tanjer's finishing up, Your Highness," she informed them as she pushed open the door to let them through. Though March knew she must have thought him to be a complete moron, based on how he'd demanded to come into Neroki's room that long-ago seeming afternoon, her eyes didn't register judgment as he passed by. In the tiny hall, Neroki reached past him to open the large, gilded doors.

"Your Highness, Master Cesari." A sturdily built male in his mid-twenties that March vaguely recognized greeted them as they entered. Blowing out the match he'd used to light a row of candles, he gave a small bow. "Is there anything else you need from me?"

Unsure which was heavier, the awkwardness from having a romantic date setting arranged for him or the urge to sigh over how the room had been set up, March bit down on his tongue to keep from making a sound as Nero sent the employee off, thanking him for the good work.

Though it was much too warm for the fireplace to be lit, the lovely little corner it was in had a thick, plush rug in front of it that looked perfect for lounging on. A basket and a pair of slim glasses sat on it, next to a bucket where a bottle of pale wine sat in ice. The curtains were all parted open, showcasing how the sun was just beginning to sink into the horizon, a picturesque setting to frame them. Candles, of varying heights and shades were topped with flickering flames to send shadows dancing on the walls.

"Here," Nero pushed him gently to the area, gesturing for him to sit.

"Neroki, this is really lovely," the noble sighed, a little wistfully, watching with interest as Nero unpacked the basket. Once he'd set out light food like fruit, cheese, and round circles of crispy bread, he popped the cork on the bottle and poured the frosty liquid into the glasses.

"I'll watch you a little closer this time," Nero promised, smirking at March's expression.

"Hardly necessary. I probably drank more than a bottle on my own that night, anyway."

"Probably," Nero agreed, selecting a grape, popping it into his mouth. They snacked a bit, silently. After awhile, he exhaled. "This is awkward, but I'm not sure why."

Relieved he hadn't been the one to say it, March smiled a little. "It's not really awkward. It's just… I don't know how to say it."

"Try."

From the windows, the sunset cast a warm glow over them, highlighting the raven-haired male's cheekbones, cascading down his lips, and fanning over his neck. "This feels kind of important. It's making me a little nervous."

"Ah," Nero acknowledged, handing one of the glasses to him. "It doesn't have to be important, you know. You're just building it up in your mind." When March only frowned, looking unconvinced, Nero patted the spot in front of him. "Come sit with me."

Wriggling over, March settled between the prince's legs, leaning into him so his back was pressed to Nero's chest. Wrapping an arm around the pretty male's torso, Nero rested his chin on his shoulder.

"Drink some wine," he suggested, grinning when March complied, taking a small sip. He pressed a very light kiss to the noble's clothed shoulder. "Tell me a secret."

"A secret?" Taking a deep breath, March tried to remember if he had any, but found himself distracted with Neroki's fingers stroking small, light circles on his stomach. "I can't think of anything interesting."

"A dream of yours, then."

"Like an aspiration, you mean?" When Nero gave a hum of confirmation, he frowned again. "I… I don't know if I have any."

"Be serious, March. You're an overachiever if I've ever known one."

"It seems that way, I know. But I always just thought… Never mind. It's too pathetic to say out loud."

"Hey," Nero chided him a little, squeezing him. "Lay back on me. Relax."

"Sorry. I don't know why I'm feeling like this."

"I do," Nero murmured, pressing his lips to the spot behind March's ear. "But just forget about it, and talk to me."

"Okay," he agreed meekly, gripping Neroki's arm to his chest. The prince's light kisses were already making his skin tingle, shooting need down his body. "I'm trying."

"Tell me why you think you don't have any aspirations."

"I never thought I'd be anything but married." Sighing, he let the words hang in the air before speaking again. "I wanted to marry someone important. So that I would be important. For once."

"You don't have to feel ashamed of that."

March let out a shaky breath. "Thank you."

"I hope you know now that you can be anything. You could work with plants or flowers. You could be a conservationist, or even just make pretty little floral arrangements. You could teach archery here at the castle. Or anything you want."

"Maybe." His voice was soft, grateful for the prince's confidence in him.

"And not to brag, but I'm kind of important. In case you didn't realize yet."

Laughing, March felt the knots in his muscles unravel a bit. "I might have noticed."

"Just in case, you know, you were still trying to end up with somebody influential and powerful. I'd be willing to throw my hat in the ring."

"I'll consider it," March said thoughtfully. "It's just that I have so many offers waiting for me at home. It wouldn't be fair to-" He broke off, gasping when Nero's fingers slipped under his shirt, moving up his ribs with brutal precision. "Stop that!"

"I knew you'd be ticklish," Nero said, hopelessly charmed by the way March's helpless laughter bubbled out even as he attempted to squirm free.

"Neroki!" Wine sloshed over the rim of his glass as he slapped at the prince's hands on him.

"Tell me more about your important suitors, and their offers," Nero demanded, grinning when March finally broke free of the grip on his torso. He collapsed on his side, panting a bit, even as he continued to giggle.

"You're an idiot," the noble declared, propping himself up on his elbow to drain the rest of the wine from his glass. Before he could object, Nero filled it again. "You know there's only you."

"And for me, there's only you."

Delight, of the purest kind, speared through March's chest, spreading to his limbs like spilled honey. "You mean that?"

"Of course," Nero promised. Setting his glass aside, he stretched out on the blanket beside the pretty noble, propping himself on an elbow as well, so their eyes were aligned. Reaching out with his other hand, he stroked gentle fingers over March's dark locks of hair. "Nothing, and no one, has ever meant so much to me."

When March pressed his face down into the silky cushioned rug, letting out a small, elated noise from his throat, Nero cast his eyes up, wondering how one person could pull so many emotions from him. With gentle pressure, he gave March's body a light push, so that he was lying on his back.

The sun had disappeared, turning the bit of sky they could see to a dark blanket with diamonds tossed across it. Nero could see the stars shining brightly in the reflection of March's opal eyes. More in love than he'd ever thought could be possible, he rose over the raven-haired male, covering the pretty mouth with his own.

With the unceasing patience he'd only recently come to discover that he harbored inside him, Nero drew on March's lips sweetly, softly, as if they held the world's most exquisite nectar within them. Growing restless, March's arms came around Nero's body as he let out a murmur of longing.

"N-Neroki," Hands clasped to the prince's hips, March's fingers clutched helplessly, tugging at him. Understanding, Nero shifted to settle on top of him, shuddering a little at the discovery that March was already achingly hard. With one hand at March's face, fingers tracing sweet strokes on his cheeks and hair, the prince slipped his other hand under the slim body, teasing the noble's trembling hip and thigh.

Though he'd intended to be gentle, March's lips burned like a flame against his. When he felt slender thighs raise on either side of him, trapping him in a velvet vise, he let out a husky growl, moving his mouth to the sensitive flesh of March's neck.

Feeling as though the need inside him was a living, thrashing thing, March moaned, muscles bunched with clawing tension. It was as if every cell in his body was alive and sentient, yearning for Neroki's touch. Panting, he struggled to voice it, knowing that he would be burned alive from the inside if something didn't happen to relieve the overwhelming pressure. He'd been aroused before, but never so desperately.

"Neroki," he started, gasping out another moan as the prince's hand slipped under his shirt, dragging heat over his skin, until a rough thumb stroked over his taut nipple. Shocked by the sensation that crashed through him at the touch, he could only stare, mouth trembling open.

Though the reaction threatened to overwhelm him, a smug grin curved Nero's lips as he stared down at his sweetly innocent prize. "You really are unfairly perfect, March."

The words burst like light in the noble's brain, traveling through him, until they pounded in his center. Arching helplessly, needing more contact, so much more, March could only moan as he dragged Nero's face back to his, fusing their mouths together. "I-I need-"

"I know." Nero's voice was low and husky as the movement of March's hips under his slammed shock waves of pleasure through his body.

"But I'm… I'm not ready for-"

"It's okay," Nero assured him. "I'll take care of you. Roll over, like this." Both on their sides, he settled down into a position behind the raven-haired male. Wishing he could give himself more stimulation than digging his cock into the noble's backside, Nero pressed an open-mouthed kiss to the nape of his pale neck, grinning at the soft moan he received in response. Sliding his hand over the indent of the slim waist, Nero trailed his fingers down March's hip, then over the stiff bulge straining against the fabric of his pants.

"Is this okay?" He whispered, stroking a light but deliberate touch over the button there.

Though his heart had leapt into his throat at the words, March nodded, sucking his plush bottom lip between his teeth. "Yes."

Dipping his fingers under the loosened waistband, Nero curled his fingers around March's cock, marveling at how the flesh burned so hotly, the head already slick with pearly fluid.

Unable to stop it, March moaned, hips jerking at the contact. "Neroki."

"This isn't too much for you, is it, sweetheart?" He asked, stroking slowly at first, spreading slippery pre-cum from base to tip.

"No." Panting lightly, March's fingers flexed helplessly, digging into the soft rug.

"Does it feel good?"

The combination of Neroki's lips brushing against the sensitive shell of his ear as he murmured the question, and the intimacy of the question itself had March shivering. "I…"

"You don't have to be embarrassed." Pressing another kiss to the back of the noble's neck, Nero suckled the skin there, teasing it with his tongue as he stroked him with cleverly merciless fingers. "It's just you and me, sweetheart. No one else gets to see you like this. You're all mine, aren't you?"

"Yes."

Relentlessly slowly, Nero rubbed up and down the hot length, teasing the slit with the pad of his thumb. "Tell me. I want to hear you say it."

Letting out a small groan, March's tongue flitted out to wet his lips. "I'm yours."

"Always so well-behaved," Nero mused, nipping lightly. "And such a quick learner. You're just good at everything, aren't you?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"I'm barely moving my hand now," the prince pointed out, smirking against his neck. The noble was rolling his hips, pleading for more friction as he pushed his cock up through Nero's fingers. "And you're grinding your ass back onto me. Is that your way of telling me what you really want?"

March moaned, heat balling up in his abdomen until he couldn't think of anything but how good it felt.

"Tell me what you want, and I'll let you have it."

Huffing out a breath, knowing he was red all over, March let out a whine. "I want to come. I need to." Hearing the lewd words in his own voice shocked him somewhat, washing a heady mix of daze and excitement over him.

"Good boy." Rising up from his position behind the noble, Nero pushed him down onto his back. As he tugged his own pants down over his hips, he couldn't help but smirk at the way March's wide eyes locked onto his thick arousal. "You don't mind if I get myself off too, do you?"

Shaking his head, March forced his gaze up from the sight of the prince's erection, so stiff it seemed to strain against his firm abdomen, to meet his honey eyes. For a moment, he could imagine it filling him up and marking his body in a way it could never be unmarked from. The thought had his pulse exploding, and he was suddenly even more desperate to finish.

Nero let out a low hiss, nearly worried he would burst from the feeling of his own fingers as he gripped his throbbing cock, lining it up with March's, closing a hand around both of them.

Throwing his head back, March cried out, jerking involuntarily as his sensitive flesh was engulfed in heat. Nero groaned, lowering his head to press his face into March's throat, his hand moving in a perfect rhythm between them as he flexed his hips to slide their dicks together.

"Kiss me," March begged, moaning again when his lips were taken roughly, Neroki's tongue plunging into his mouth to tangle with his. Senses thrown into overload, the noble dug his fingers into the prince's shoulders as the muscles in his core tightened into one raw nerve. Startled by the intensity of his release, March cried out, eyes flying open. "Neroki!"

Groaning from deep within, Nero stroked him through his orgasm, pushed over the edge by the sound of sweet moans and the feeling of March's warm, wet cum in his fingers. Jerking his hips a few times, he shot his load out onto the pretty male's flat stomach, shuddering.

March's hands slid limply from the prince's shoulders, landing to rest on the soft rug. Panting, they waited for their heartbeats to slow to a normal pace. When Nero shifted, intending to roll off, March threw his arms back around him, shaking his head.

"Not yet," he pleaded softly. "Please just lay with me for a bit."

"Of course I will," Nero murmured, pressing a tender kiss to the noble's sweet, pink lips. "I'm crushing you, though." Pulling back to his knees, he zipped himself back into his pants before grabbing up one of the fancy cloth napkins that had been packed into the picnic basket from the kitchen, dabbing at the noble's sticky torso. The lovely expanse of creamy, flawless skin let him know he'd be borderline hypnotized when he managed to actually get the pretty male completely out of his clothing.

Beet red, March stared up at the ceiling, barely resisting the urge to cover himself. "Stop staring," he whined.

"Sorry." Barely able to turn his laugh into a cough, he helped maneuver March's pants back up to cover his hips and reattached the button, stroking his thumb lightly over the skin there before plopping down onto his back.

Settling into his preferred position on Neroki's side, March snuggled into the firm chest. Satisfaction pooling all through him, he felt so relaxed he thought he might fall asleep there in the square patch of moonlight.

Should he feel ashamed that he'd allowed such a thing to happen between them? The logical part of March's brain said yes, but he didn't feel anything but satisfaction. It was different than he'd always imagined. There was no sensation of dread or awkwardness, and he didn't regret anything.

Very nearly slipping into a sweet dream, March twitched a bit as a harsh crunch sounded in his ear, then another. Brow furrowed, he lifted his head in confusion to see Nero's arm, the one not wrapped around him, bringing rounds of crispy bread to his mouth to be devoured.

Nero's cheeks dimpled as his mouth spread into a grin. "I'm starving. I didn't really get a chance to eat before."

Heaving a sigh that ended on a laugh, March shook his head in exasperation as he reached over the prince's body for food of his own.