Chapter Twenty-Two

By the next day, I was fully recovered, and I got back to the more strenuous work. The supplies and plants I ordered arrived that afternoon, but I didn”t switch to planting. They would be fine as they were, their roots in dirt balls bundled in burlap. I just watered them to keep them healthy.

Two days later, when I finally had the garden clear of invasive plants, I began the process of replanting the beds, adding new plants where needed. I spent a lot of time on my knees—digging holes, planting, watering, and fertilizing. But I didn”t think anything of it. This was my job. I had to get down and dirty, and I loved it. I even wore knee pads so I”d be comfortable.

It never occurred to me that someone was watching and they might find my actions alluring.

I was half under a tropical plant, inspecting its roots, with its waxy, sword-shaped leaves draped over me, when there was a thud nearby and the ground vibrated.

“What the fuck?” I started to get up.

Someone pushed me back down.

“Did you think you could taunt me constantly and not pay the price?”

“Pay the . . . Your Majesty, is that you?” I tried again to crawl out from beneath the plant, but Shale held me firm.

Then he yanked my pants and undershorts down with one pull.

I froze in shock, cool air hitting my ass. Then I felt his hand between my cheeks, rubbing something slick over my entrance. My throat closed around a gasp.

Holy fuck! What the fuck is happening?

“Tell me this isn”t what you want,” the King demanded and shoved a finger into my ass.

I groaned in response.

“You know I watch you, and you”ve taken advantage of that. Teased me. Seduced me. Admit it, Sebastian. Down here on your hands and knees.” He pumped his finger into me, loosening my ring of muscles. “Your ass in the air. Daring me to take it. Taunting me with its plumpness,” his voice dropped into an aroused tone, but then he yanked his finger out. “Tell me to stop. Go on. Say no, and I”ll leave.”

“Don”t stop,” I begged from beneath my cover of leaves.

His tone went smug, “As I thought.”

And then Shale was inside me, that perfect piece of flesh pumping deeper and deeper while the sun warmed my ass in flashes. The King”s hands gripped my hips, then pulled my cheeks apart. He groaned. I shuddered. Thrills shot up from my perfectly filled channel—little zings of pleasure that tickled their way up to my nipples. The Dragon King had been prepared. He had oiled himself and his fingers before leaping four stories into the garden.

To. Fuck. Me.

“Oh, great Gods.” I dug my fingers into the soil and pushed back on him, taking all of him, every delicious inch.

“You”re a wicked thing,” Shale hissed.

“Oh, yeah. I”m naughty.” I grinned to myself. “So bad.”

“Shut up!” He slammed into me. “I knew what you were up to this whole time, but I couldn”t stop looking. I”ve decided—” He paused to groan. “I”ve decided that if you”re so intent on being had, I will take you. And this is all there will be between us, Sebastian.”

Hope spread through me at his words. Because if he had to say that, it meant he was considering more. Yeah, maybe that was a stupid conclusion, but it”s what I believed. After all, I had told him that I expected nothing more than sex from him. That had already been established. So the only reason for him to say it now would be because he”d started to want more from me. That was the reason he ended things. It had to be.

And even if I had believed Shale was beyond caring about another person, I still would have taken all he was willing to give. It wasn”t about healing a broken man or sympathy or anything noble like that. It was simply because I wanted him.

“Agreed,” I said breathlessly.

“Very well.”

The King stopped talking then and focused on fucking me. On fucking me like a rutting beast. Which was exactly how I needed to be fucked right then. We were out in the open. Anyone who strode down that colonnade would see us. But I didn”t care. I rejoiced in having him. In the pleasure that ran up my spine with every slam of his hips. With the way my pants pooled around my knees, and my cock flopped against my belly. It was glorious. Ecstasy soon combined with triumph to send me over.

I cried out, spurting onto the soil, and locked up, becoming an immovable wall against his rapid thrusts.

The King grunted but kept going, kept fucking me for long after I came. As if he were controlling his orgasm. Milking it for every drop of pleasure. At last, when he couldn”t wring any more out of himself, and I was trembling in the aftermath of an epic release, he lifted his head and roared. The sound echoed off the stone walls and vibrated through my entire being.

Several seconds later, as he pulled his flesh free of mine, the Dragon King said, “And I shall come inside you whenever I wish.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” I said breathlessly and fell onto my side.

Through the leaves, I saw the King”s face. It was striking, as usual, with the sun backing him to create a halo out of his hair. I could hardly believe that he had jumped for me. Shale had literally taken a leap of faith. Had he been on his terrace or further up? It didn”t matter. The true jump had been in his mind. And it was far higher than four stories.

“You will attend me at dinner tonight. No more denying me your presence,” he said as he stuffed his limp, wet cock back in his pants.

“I wasn”t—” I started to protest.

Shale slashed his hand through the air. “You will attend me, Sebastian. And then you will retire to my bedroom with me.”

“Yes, Sire.” I didn”t dare grin, though I wanted to.

He nodded crisply, then strode away.

It took me much longer to get moving. I just lay there, under that low canopy of leaves, smiling through them at the sky. Every time I thought it was over between us, a miracle happened, and we were drawn back together. And by drawn, I mean the King decided that we weren”t over. But I”d take it. I”d take him any way I could get him.

“Maybe we”re meant to be,” I whispered.