Page 32 of The Royal in Room 3

Phoenix had a knowing look as his gaze landed on me. “You two must have had fun since you spent the night.”

Soren gave a shy smile, and I squeezed his hand. “You were right, Phoenix,” he said. “Daddy’s the best.”

“Then I’m happy for both of you. Does this mean you’ll be moving along with a trial weekend period?”

“Actually, we’ve decided to skip the trial,” I replied.

“You have?” A flash of something I couldn’t place raced across Phoenix’s features, and it was gone before I could figure it out. “You must be eager to pack then, Soren.”

“I don’t really have anything to pack,” Soren said quietly, reminding me that I would need to take him shopping.

“Of course you do,” Phoenix said. “Everything you took from the closet space is yours to keep, and you can take anything else that you need.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, hon.”

“But I’ll take you shopping for what you need,” I said quickly. “So you don’t need to take much.”

Soren nodded, and his smile lit up his whole face. His beauty stole my breath, and I only dragged my eyes away when Phoenix nudged me in the side.

“Why don’t you get started packing?” he said to Soren. “I’ll be up to help you in a bit.”

“Okay.” But Soren didn’t move, though he shuffled his feet. He looked at me expectantly, as though waiting for something from me.

“Go ahead, little prince,” I said, and with that he took off for the stairs, his long skirt billowing around his ankles.

“Wow, that’s going faster than I expected,” Phoenix said, grabbing my elbow and marching me into the kitchen.

“He’s taken to the arrangement very well.” I pulled out a stool and sat at the island.

“Well, he’s not new to a Daddy relationship.”

“I guess that helps.” We’d gone through the contract we signed last night fairly quickly. He hadn’t seemed surprised by the terms, and he’d taken to calling me Daddy like he was used to it. I hated the idea of him calling another man that.

“Didn’t I tell you?” He flitted across the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of beer from the pantry. “I could have sworn I did.”

“Yes, you did.”

“You sound disappointed. Does it change anything?”

“No, not really.”

He handed me the bottle of beer and the opener and sat across from me. “Jude, you’ve never moved this fast before. You’re always so cautious in doing trial runs to ensure you and your sub are a good fit.”

“I didn’t need it this time. We spent the night together.”

“You…were intimate with him?”

I took a swig of my beer, uncertain how much information to divulge. Phoenix and I had never had this talk before, given that I didn’t have a sexual relationship with any of the other subs. I’d been careful in getting off with hookups outside Halo House’s program.

“What makes you think that?”

“The way you look at each other.”

I laughed. “You can tell if two people are screwing by a look?”

“That’s the problem, Jude. I’m afraid for the two of you it wouldn’t be screwing, and that’s why I can tell.”