However, the last of Felix’s seed was drying on the skin of his thighs, itchy and unpleasant, and he didn’t imagine it was any better for Felix, who was far messier than he was. He sat up with reluctance and swung his legs over the side of the bed, then walked to the washbasin in the corner of the room to fetch a cloth to clean them up.
When he turned around, Felix was propped up on his elbows staring at Leo’s bare backside. “What’s that?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Leo lied, even though he knewexactlywhat had caught Felix’s eye.
Felix patted the bed. “Yes, you do. Come here and lie down so I can have a proper look.”
“Bossy,” Leo grumbled under his breath, but he lay down on his stomach anyway. Felix ran a hand over the dip of his lower back and down his left arse cheek, coming to rest just above the crease of his thigh and smoothing his thumb over the spot that held his interest. “It’s the royal birthmark,” Leo said before Felix could ask. “All my family have it.”
Felix leaned in closer. “It looks like…a pair of lips.”
He pressed a soft kiss of his own to the spot, and Leo shivered. “I’ve heard that birthmarks are the mark of an angel’s kiss.”
Felix barked out a laugh at that. “Ofcourseyou’d think the angels kiss your arse.”
“Hush, you. It’s deeply significant and proof of my royal lineage. And technically, it’s on my upper thigh.”
“If you say so,” Felix said, “but it looks like your arse to me.”
Leo didn’t bother to reply, instead rolling over and manoeuvring Felix onto his back, pressing his knees open so he was splayed wide, and running the damp cloth over his skin. Felix let out a soft gasp at the chill of the water, but other than that he didn’t protest as Leo cleaned him up. Leo made quick work of it and wiped himself down as well before dropping the cloth to the floor.
Felix yawned and blinked, sleepy-slow, and he looked so tempting that Leo wasted no time in arranging them so that he was curled along the length of Felix’s spine. He wrapped an arm around his waist, keeping him close, and whispered, “I think we both need a nap to recover from that, don’t you?”
Felix tensed when his probably still-tender arse made contact with Leo’s front, but it was a momentary thing before he relaxed in Leo’s hold and hummed in agreement, pressing back against him. It didn’t take long for his breathing to turn deep and even, and with his body a solid wall of warmth and comfort, Leo was quick to follow him down into sleep.
When he woke it took Leo a moment to become aware of the presence of another body in his bed, but once he remembered, he couldn’t help but smile to himself. His delightful groom had agreed to be his bedmate. He took a moment to appreciate the elegant curve of Felix’s neck and placed a barely there kiss on the nape. He was just contemplating whether Felix might enjoy getting sucked off in his sleep when there was a tap on the door, followed by another two rapid-fire, and a familiar voice called, “Are you decent, or am I leaving the trays?”
Leo sighed and sat up, running his fingertips down the nape of Felix’s neck to rouse him. Felix rolled over and squinted up at him, one eye open. “Whu?”
“Mattias is here with our supper, sweetheart.”
Felix sat bolt upright.“Mattias?”
“Well, who else was going to bring our trays?” He called out, “We’re decent.”
Felix went wide-eyed and looked around as if seeking somewhere to hide, so Leo pulled him close and kissed him to distract him from his panic. It seemed to work, but what was shaping up to be a very pleasant kiss was interrupted by Mattias calling out again. “The door’s locked.”
Leo rolled his eyes. “Iknowit’s locked,” he called back as he rolled out of bed and pulled his shirt over his head and stepped into his trousers, barely lacing them before opening the door. “Youtoldme to keep it locked after that time with the—”
“Don’t remind me,” Mattias said, walking in with a large tray. He stopped short when he saw who was in the bed.“Felix?”
Felix, who had pulled the quilt up to his chin, gave a tiny, embarrassed shrug. “So, um, you don’t have to schedule that meeting with the king?”
Mattias looked from one to the other, then back at Leo, who gave a shrug of his own. “I asked, and he agreed.”
Mattias set the tray down on the table and sent Felix a look that held a wordless query, and Felix nodded from his nest in the quilts. Mattias folded his arms over his chest, turning a sharp gaze on Leo. “I’m curious as to how, despite assuring me you were staying in your office and dealing with your correspondence this afternoon, you somehow managed to find time to seduce your new groom?”
“Ah. Yes, that. Um, he started it?”
“He…started it,”Mattias repeated slowly.
Felix blushed, but then, in a show of courage that only increased Leo’s admiration for him, straightened his spine, looked Mattias in the eye, and said, “Actually, I did. And, um”—he took a deep breath—“I—we’d—like to do it again?”
“Oh?”
“If…Leo says you don’t interfere with his, um, private affairs, but is it really all right? If this is a regular thing?” Felix ducked his head, all his courage apparently departing, and swallowed loudly.
Mattias shook his head in what Leo recognised as fond resignation. “Of course it’s fine. All I ask is that you be discreet and try not to neglect your normal duties in the pursuit of, well, this.” He pointed between the two of them, and suddenly Leo was a teen all over again and being led out of the forest while listening to Mattias grumble about his impulsive behavior.
