Whatever the case, Felix was grateful if it meant he got to keep his job.
Leopold eased his borrowed shirt off over his head and Felix couldn’t help the sound of admiration that escaped him. He’d known the king was in good shape, but he hadn’t expected so much muscle, or for the smooth planes of Leo’s back to ripplequiteso enticingly.
Leopold turned and raised one eyebrow at him, and Felix half expected to be chastised for gazing upon the royal person, but instead a slow smile crept across the king’s features. Leo straightened his spine and placed his hands on his hips, pulling his shoulders back to emphasise the breadth of his chest in what had to be a deliberate show.
Felix licked his lips, unable to look away from the broad expanse of muscle and the lightly tanned skin complete with tight brown nipples and a light smattering of dark chest hair that became a tempting trail that disappeared into the king’s trousers.
“See something you like, lovely?” Leo asked.
Felix felt his face heat.
Leo smirked. “Don’t tell me you’re suddenly shy? You were going to fuck me in your cottage not ten minutes ago. I was quite looking forward to it.”
Oh?
A part of Felix—his dick, probably—was thrilled to note that fuckingwasn’toff the table after all. But the rest of him possessed at least a modicum of self-preservation. “That was before I knew you were the king!” he protested. He paused as his brain caught up. “Wait, weren’t you going to fuck me?”
“Details,” Leo said, his smile widening. He retrieved a fine linen shirt from another hook and slipped it over his head. Even untucked, the cut and quality of the garment bestowed an air of authority, and Felix wondered how he could ever have mistaken Leo for a common thief.
In fact, now that he was looking for it, Felix could see traces of the young prince he’d insulted when he was just a boy. Leo still had the same dark hair, high cheekbones, sculpted jawline, and aquiline nose, but now those features were imbued with the traces of character that had been gained with time, and rather than detracting from his looks, they elevated Leo into true handsomeness.
The king’s blue eyes seemed to pierce Felix’s very soul as he stalked over to where he was still lingering near the door. He placed one hand on Felix’s hip and the other under his chin, tilting it up so Felix couldn’t have looked away even if he’d wanted to.
Not that hedidwant to.
The king leaned in close and murmured against the shell of Felix’s ear. “We can discuss the finer points of the arrangement later, but I would still very much like to take you to bed, Felix.”
He pressed a delicate kiss to Felix’s mouth, a tiny little thing that was the barest brush of lips against his. It was hardly anything, but it was enough to have Felix melting into the king’s touch. He didn’t resist when Leo leaned forward and kissed him again, instead closing his eyes and letting himself get lost in the plushness of Leo’s mouth and the heat of his body, and resting his hands on Leo’s shoulders. Leo moved closer, bracketing him against the wall and placing both hands on Felix’s hips as if he were afraid Felix might try and run.
Not likely.
Felix could have stayed here all day just kissing, running his hands down Leo’s broad back and feeling the play of muscle under the linen shirt. He was very much aware, though, that this was thekinghe was kissing and that the laundry room was possibly the worst place in the castle to conduct anything that required an ounce of privacy, on account of almost every servant who worked in the kitchen or the yards passing through at some stage of the day.
His instincts were proven correct when, just as he ended the kiss and slipped his hands from around the king, he heard Mother calling out, “Flick? Are you in—”
Leo took a step back and dropped his hands to his sides right before Mother Jones appeared in the doorway.
He stopped short, glancing between them, and cleared his throat. “Oh. Apologies, Your Majesty. I was just looking for Felix but I see he’s, ah, busy.”
Felix ducked his head, feigning interest in the dust patterns on the stone floor.
“Mr. Jones,” Leo said pleasantly, like he hadn’t just had his tongue inside Felix’s mouth. “I was just introducing myself to my new groom.”
“Right.” Mother nodded, not quite managing to hide his smile before turning on his heel and departing. He was gone before the flush of heat at almost being caught had left Felix’s cheeks.
When he lifted his head, Leo was looking at him with open curiosity. “He called you Flick,” he said. “Why do I know that name?” Leo’s brow furrowed in concentration in a way that reminded Felix of a small child first learning to trace their letters.
Felix bit his lip. “We’ve met before. When I was younger.”
It took a moment, but then Leo’s eyes widened. “You’re the brat who insulted me!”
Felix nodded, his heart sinking, and waited for the inevitable outrage followed by his dismissal. So much for his new position.
But Leo didn’t seem upset by his revelation. In fact, his face broke into a wide smile, and he threw his head back andlaughed.“What was it you called me? A self-important twat?”
“Actually, I called you a stuck-up little tit. But in my defence, I didn’t know you were the prince.”
Leo snorted in a manner most unbecoming to a monarch. “So, you were just rude to everybody as a child, I take it.”
