“You're tight,” he countered, his voice sounding almost strangled. “Fuck, I don't want to move.”
“You won't hurt me.”
“No, it's that…” he started, then trailed off with a nervous laugh. “I don't want to come right away.”
Florian grinned wickedly, something like pride bubbling in his chest at the admission. “I don't mind. It's okay.” Again Kade shook his head.
“I want to feel you come on me first,” he said, and the words made Florian's groin flood with heat.
“Yeah?” he panted, and moved one of his hands to stroke lightly where their bodies met. “I can do that. Stay still.”
Kade nodded eagerly, though he pulled back a bit to watch as Florian touched himself, stroking his swollen cock between his thumb and forefinger. He was already more sensitive now that he'd come once, and his cunt was full of Kade's cock. The bigger man was making the most vulnerable little whimpering sounds as his inner walls pulsed and tightened around him. Kade moved one of his hands to rub his little cock, mirroring his own movements, and that was more than enough to make him come again, gasping and shuddering around him.
Kade leaned down and kissed him hard as he came. Florian moaned against his lips, only to yelp as Kade started to fuck him. He was quiet at first, but a soft gasp escaped from the back of his throat as Florian wrapped his legs around Kade's waist, more out of instinct than any conscious intention. But hearing the noise it elicited from Kade, he hooked his ankles around each other and used his legs to press Kade's body closer to his own. Kade's movements were unsure at first, almost clumsy, but he soon found a rhythm that had them both moaning.
“Come on,” Florian begged, the hand he had kept on Kade's back trailing up to stroke his hair. “I wanna feel you come, too.”
His words seemed to be just enough to push Kade to the edge. His hips stuttered and slowed, a strained groan rumbling from deep in his chest. Florian's insides filled with wet heat and Kade stilled against him, gasping for breath.
They laid motionless for a moment, only the sound of their heavy breathing breaking through the quiet stillness. A soft, gentle pleasure still radiated from Florian's swollen cock, a warm afterglow only made stronger by Kade’s cock still filling his insides. He was warm and safe, and he closed his eyes to revel in it, to focus on the physical sensation of Kade inside of him.
“Fuck,” Kade finally groaned, pressing his face against Florian's neck. “I get it. I get it now.”
“Get what?” Florian asked, opening his eyes, still running his fingers through the short wiry hair near the base of his skull.
“Why people are so obsessed with this. I already want to fuck you again,” Kade replied. Florian could feel him smiling against his skin, and a breathless laugh escaped him. As their breathing slowed, Kade cautiously pulled away, looking down at him with half-lidded eyes. “Is this okay?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean... You're the king now. I don't know if this is... if we're…” Kade said, clearly struggling to get the words out. Despite how much he hated thinking of being a king, Florian couldn't help but grin at Kade's nervousness.
“Well,” he said slowly. “If I'm the king now, then I can kind of do whatever I want, don't you think?”
“Mm,” Kade answered, a noncommittal grunt of a response. The words did seem to assuage him, though, as the anxious look left his face. Carefully he propped himself up into a kneeling position and looked down to where their bodies were still joined, though already Florian could feel him softening. “This is going to make a mess.”
Florian wrinkled his nose. “Yeah.”
When they had carefully extricated themselves and cleaned up, they settled back in bed, Kade still curled around Florian with one arm wrapped around him.
“Try and sleep now,” Kade murmured in his ear. Florian nodded. He closed his eyes and tried to hold on to the warmth and peace that he had felt when they were together, until finally his consciousness faded away.
The funeral seemed like a surprisingly small affair for a king. Apparently there were no chapels or churches in the castle, so instead the ceremony took place in a large open building that would typically be used for indoor celebrations, like balls and dances and feasts when the weather was poor. And probably other funerals, though somehow Florian doubted most funerals in the Winter Court were so crowded. As small as the population was, the big open room still felt cramped with what must have been just about every citizen sitting in narrow rows pressed tightly together. Distantly, Florian wondered if any members of the other clans had even been invited—if they even knew what had happened.
The close quarters left little room for decoration, though what had been set up was appropriately austere. The flowers that Florian had picked out were arranged at the end of every row of chairs and hung along the walls. There had been a few midnight princesses in bloom—the rare flower Kade had given him what felt like a lifetime ago—and the few precious stalks they had harvested were placed delicately beside Jerah's casket.
Florian shuddered if he thought too hard about it. The ceremony had just barely begun, and already he decided that he hated funerals. It made his skin crawl to think of his father's body just out of sight, but here in the room with them: the townspeople pressed into many rows of chairs all dressed in black, and people Florian didn't know coming up to speak about Jerah, as if they had been bosom friends... Maybe they had been. He wouldn't have known.
He knew he would have to speak, too, though he had no idea what he wanted to say. But Jerah was his father, and Florian was the king now, so it would be expected of him. One last obligation to him, a duty he had never asked for. He had never asked for any of this.
Kade stood up next to him, rattling him from his bitter thoughts, and he realized that it was Kade's turn to speak, as the last person was stepping away from the front of the large room with tears in their eyes. Kade would speak, then Florian, then finally Tatiana—and then Jerah would truly be put to rest.
Stern, quiet Kade walked slowly to the front of the room, a tiny furrow between his brows the only sign of tension on his face. He stood silently for a moment, the air thick with anticipation, then he took in a heavy breath and spoke.
“King Jerah was a good man,” he said. Though he spoke softly, the silence in the rest of the building let his voice carry. “When I first came here, it was just out of a sense of duty. To uphold something my father thought was important. But Jerah was…”
He trailed off and managed a slight grin. “Jerah was very different from what I expected. He was fun. He liked my company. He treated me like his own family, which I never expected. But most of all he dreamed of a better future for everyone, and he did everything within his power to make that future happen.”
Florian squeezed his eyes shut.
