AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Charlie and I used to play explorers out here,” he said at one point, Chestnut coming back to him. He threw the ball again, and the pair of us took a seat on a concrete bench. A large koi pond surrounded it, and I watched the fish weave about it with their long tails. Dorian put his hands together. “Seems like so long ago.”
It seemed easier for him to talk about his uncle here, but only in the natural sense. He tossed the ball to Chestnut between sentences as if to distract himself.
“We all played, the guys, Charlie, and me.” He drew the ball back, following through with a long toss. “Had a blast back then.”
“Sounds like it.” I didn’t know what to really say.
And he was doing it again.
He was letting me in, and when Chestnut came back this time, he didn’t toss the ball.
“I’m really trying, Noa.” His fingers ghosted along my leg, his smile slow. “I don’t know how to do this, and I don’t want to fuck it up.”
He didn’t elaborate, but I wasn’t sure he needed to, and he was wrong. He was good at this, trying.
At least way better than me.
“I want to talk to you. I want to…” He touched my fingers. “It’s just hard, you know? I wish I was better at this.”
Seeing him struggle tightened something in my chest. “We don’t have to talk about anything you don’t want to talk about.”
“But I do want to.” His lips pulled tight. “It’s important, and Wolf’s right. I…”
“Master Prinze, I took the liberty of making you and your guest buffalo wings. Yours are vegan, of course. I made two options.”
Dorian angled around, his butler Ronald standing at the hedges leading into the garden. I hadn’t met him yet, but I assumed this was him. Dude wore a suit, white gloves, and everything.
The man put his hands together. “Would you like me to lay them out anywhere specific for you? If not, I can leave them in the kitchen.”
Dorian smiled. “I’ll take care of it, Ronald. Thank you.”
This world he lived in was so different from mine. This was old hat for him.
We were so different.
He said we were right, but how could we be? I mean, he was privilege and butlers, and though my brother and I had Callum, we really didn’t. Callum was temporary, and I could never be privileged.
Did I ever want to be?
Dorian faced me in that moment, taking my hand, and things felt really crowded despite us being outside.
“Actually, could we get the wings?” I shrugged. “I think I’m hungry now.”
This would take some of the pressure off him too.
Dorian didn’t get up right away, but eventually, he waved Chestnut in. She trotted on after us, and Dorian and I ended up taking the food to his room.
He had his own wing.
Apparently, he lived in the west, a real honest-to-goodness prince. He left Chestnut out to play in the house and started a movie on a flat-screen above the fireplace.
Once he got that going, the pair of us lay on a bed made fit for a king. He had draping around it, the bedding silk, and he even had his own mini library. The walls surrounding the fireplace were lined with books, and when I asked him about them, he said he’d read them all. Before this moment, I figured he might just be a dumb jock, but I didn’t know why I continued to assume things about him.
We lounged on his bed for nearly half the movie before he touched me, and like all those other times, I felt no pressure for sex. He merely took my hand, and it was me to initiate the kissing. His hand moved to my hip then, but even with it, he didn’t take things too far. Could I tell he wanted to? Sure. His kisses grew hot, hungry. His tongue delved into my mouth with delicious intent, but eventually, he growled and pulled back. He was physically restraining himself and so obviously for my benefit.
Reason #16: I have issues with anger and control.
He seemed to have corrected them both. I felt no danger with this boy. At least, not physical danger. I felt like the dangerous one at this point. I wanted to lose control, his chest hard, his body heated and solid above me.
