Vasily wrinkled his nose. “Maybe? Anyway, it turned out that she and Leo planned that whole thing, did you know? Leo suggested the ambassadorship, but she was the one who knew how to make my father agree.”
“Fancy that,” Mother said. He couldn’t stop smiling, and whenever he looked at Vasily, his heart skipped a beat at the knowledge that, when faced with an impossible choice, Vasily had chosenhim.
When they reached the cottage, Mother swung Vasily around and backed him against the door. “Have I told you how fine you look, Ambassador?” He didn’t give Vasily a chance to answer, instead leaning in and claiming his mouth in a kiss like he’d been wanting to do since Vasily had first stated in a shaking voice that he was staying.
Vasily’s lips parted under his, and Mother spent a moment savouring the taste of him, something that he hadn’t been sure he’d get to have again. When he pulled back, Vasily’s lips were red and kiss-plump and his eyes were dark. He was mouth-watering, and Mother wanted him with an intensity that scared him.
Vasily must have felt the same because he fumbled the door open and dragged Mother inside, settling his hands on Mother’s hips and pulling him close before kissing him again, this time with more heat. By the time they parted they were both hard, and desire burned low and hot in Mother’s belly.
Wordlessly they stripped out of their clothing and tumbled onto the bed together, and Mother couldn’t keep the smile off his face as he pushed Vasily onto his back and lay down beside him, taking time to appreciate all the bare skin and muscle on display. While Vasily looked very nice dressed up in his finery, Mother preferred the real man under the trappings and probably always would.
He propped himself up on one elbow, leaned over, and gave Vasily’s braid a gentle tug. “You forgot something.” He undid the tie, running his fingers through the hair and easing it free until Vasily was surrounded by a coronet of gold, his wavy locks spread out over his pillow.
“You prefer me undone,” Vasily said with a smile.
“I prefer you any way I can have you,” Mother corrected.
There didn’t seem to be any need for words after that, so Mother let his feelings be known through soft kisses down Vasily’s throat and gentle touches before his own desire grew too great to ignore. He rolled them so they were pressed together and rutted against Vasily, the push-pull of their cocks soft and slow and perfect, before finally wrapping a hand around both their lengths and stroking them off until they came, gasping, within seconds of each other.
They lay there, both panting, and Mother closed his eyes, savouring the lazy, just-fucked feeling. He kept them closed when he felt the bed dip and move as Vasily got up and came back with a damp cloth, cleaning up the mess on his belly before letting out a soft sigh.
He did open his eyes then, to find Vasily sitting on the side of the bed staring down at him, his mouth curved into a soft smile. “I love you, Bryn,” Vasily said quietly.
Mother’s insides flip-flopped pleasantly, and he wondered if he’d ever tire of hearing that. “And I love you.” Reaching up, he pulled Vasily down onto the bed and arranged them so he was the big spoon, his arms wrapping around Vasily and holding him firmly in place.
“I’m not going anywhere, Bryn,” Vasily said, a hint of laughter in his voice, but he didn’t try and escape Mother’s grip, and before long his breathing was slow and regular, his body relaxed in sleep.
Mother gave a contented sigh and kissed the back of his neck.
No, Vasily wasn’t going anywhere at all.
Epilogue
“Don’t fidget, Flick.”
“Well, don’t make me wear a coronet next time. I swear it’s going to fall off.”
Leo let out a sigh. “It will if you keep prodding it. Just…sit there and smile. We’re almost at the harbour.”
Vasily grinned as he listened to the king and his husband bickering in front of him. Since he was here in his role as ambassador to Koroslova and not as a prince,hedidn’t have to deal with a coronet. He only had to wear his formal attire, ride in the procession down to the harbour for the Blessing of the Fleet, and listen to the bishop’s interminable droning.
Afterwards, he’d meet up with Mother and they’d wander through the stalls and eat fried dough, and then they’d go and have supper with Mother’s parents.
It had taken at least half a dozen visits before Mrs. Jones had stopped curtsying to him, and even then it had only been after that time they’d both gotten tipsy on cheap gin at Rosie’s that she’d seemed to relax around him.
Mother’s father had merely raised an eyebrow the first time Mother had introduced them and said, “You’d be the lad who can’t swim, then?” And then as soon as the weather had warmed up properly, he’d turned up on their doorstep at dawn and proceeded to whisk Vasily down to the beach every single day until he was convinced Vasily wouldn’t drown.
Since there were lots of other things Vasily would much rather have been doing at dawn—namely, Mother—he’d tried his hardest to learn the basics, and it had taken less than ten days before Vasily had managed to swim far enough out and back to earn a nod of approval and a slap on the back.
He took the lessons for what they were—a mark of acceptance, a welcome to the family, and a promise that someone cared. And through the summer, he and Mother had spent many pleasant evenings splashing about as he became more accomplished, until he could now swim confidently.
Although he was technically no longer the royal groom, he still spent most of his time in the stables because that was where Mother was, and Vasily would never tire of spending time with him—and it wasn’t like anyone was checking on his diplomatic duties anyway.
The procession inched forward slowly, his horse moving in a gentle, rolling rhythm. She was a pale grey, one of his favourites from the stables in Koroslova.His father had gifted her to him when he’d visited his family six months ago. Vasily had gone alone, unsure of his reception when he was on home soil, but his mother had been overjoyed to see him, and while his father, as always, had been more reserved, his gift had gone a long way to telling Vasily without words that the king really did just want his son to be happy.
To his left, Janus muttered, “Could they go any slower? I’m just glad I won’t have to sit through another one of these.” It turned out that all his mutterings about being too old to run the guard had been more than empty noise. He was stepping down from the position, and Thomas was taking his place. Vasily had no doubt that Thomas would do well—anyone looking at the giant bear of a man would have second thoughts about tackling him, and he’d certainly have no trouble whipping the new recruits into shape.
Vasily scanned the crowd as the horses came to rest at the harbour, and grinned when he saw Mother, half a head taller than everyone else, waving at him. He waved back and as the bishop started to drone on, he closed his eyes and stifled a yawn. Last night they’d stayed awake far too late, still greedy for each other even after a year. Vasily had teased Mother until he was begging before fucking him long and slow, and they’d been so tired that they’d fallen asleep with his cock still lodged in Mother’s body like they were two halves of the same person.
