AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Who’s to say that Hayk has to stay in Good Port?” Peter asked.
“He has two years left on the contract his father arranged for him and Billie,” I said.
“So? I bet you could come up with a way to buy out his contract, and Billie’s, because even though I’ve just met the two of them, I have a feeling one won’t go anywhere without the other.”
I hadn’t thought of that. Peter’s suggestion gave me hope.
That hope flattened a moment later.
“I don’t have any money,” I said. “I literally have nothing. I parted ways with Ludvig in the forest, and we still haven’t gotten home yet. I don’t know whether I should return to Meadowbrook or go to one of the other settlements, and I don’t know what I’d do once I get there. I’m not like you, Peter. I wasn’t trained to be a Justice or anything else.”
“If you ask me, that puts you in a perfect position,” Peter said. “You can do whatever you want, wherever you want. You don’t have to worry about following your husband home because he has a kingdom to rule when you would rather go to the first faire in over a year, see what people have to sell, eat some honey-cakes, and maybe fuck around a little at revels.”
He grinned, and I smiled back at him. Of course Peter would want to go to the faire, and of course Magnus wouldn’t be able to. He’d been away from his kingdom for long enough already. It was sweet that Peter would follow his husbands wherever they went, just as I was sure they would do the same for him.
My smile fell a moment later. “So does that mean I should follow Hayk wherever he goes?” I asked. “And how could I do that anyhow? He’s not going anywhere, which is my whole problem. I don’t have the money to buy him out of his contract with Master Daron.”
Peter laughed. “You might not, but Lefric just paid that man what I understand to be a month’s wages for your average dockworker so that Hayk and Billie could spend the day with us. Do you really think Lefric would say no if you asked him to buy out Hayk’s contract for you?”
I sucked in a breath of hope, then immediately tightened all over.
“I couldn’t ask Lefric to do that. It’s far too much money,” I said. “And it wouldn’t just be Hayk, it would be Billie too. That must be a small fortune.”
“Have you looked around?” Peter asked with a wry grin. “Lefric has more money than all of the rest of us put together now. And he loves you, he loves all of us. He would give you half the kingdom of Good Port if you needed it.”
“But I can’t ask him for that,” I said.
“Then you’ll just have to wait two years until your sweetheart finishes sucking off sailors and giving his ass to the highest bidder.”
I knew Peter was trying to tease me, but I scowled at him all the same. “It’s not funny,” I growled. “I don’t like the idea of him fucking around like that.”
I felt stupid as soon as the words were out of my mouth.
Peter turned serious on me in a moment. “Well, if you have a problem with that, then you shouldn’t start anything with Hayk at all. He’s a whore. That’s what he does. If you have a problem with that, you have a problem with him.”
“But I want—” I stopped myself this time, before I made a complete ass of myself. It was selfish of me to want someone I’d just met to love me and only me, instantly and forever.
I felt as though another moment of truth had come. I forced myself to look Peter in the eyes and say, “I want what you and Neil and Magnus have,” I said, feeling as though I were asking for something impossible. “I want what Jace and Gennadi have, what Lefric and Olympus or Sebald and Avenel seem to have found. It’s what I’ve always wanted, even before I could put my finger on it or name it. I want that kind of love.”
I thought my statement was extraordinarily vulnerable and serious.
Peter’s expression slowly spread into a smile.
“How many times have you and I fucked since we met?” he asked. “Because you realize we metafterI was already together with Magnus and Neil. How many times have you seen me fuck one of the other Sons? Or that time Magnus threw me into Tobin’s bed as a joke? And you know Jace and I fuck sometimes whenever we feel like playing. Magnus and Neil and Gennadi all know about that. They like to watch us these days too. Hell, Neil as a thing on the side with Jakob and Mikal sometimes, and Magnus and I encourage it. And we think it’s a little bit funny, actually.”
He shifted on the stair to face me more fully. “Being a whore is different from liking and being interested in someone. Fucking isn’t the same thing as loving, or even liking someone. Magnus and Neil taught me that. You taught me that in a way too.”
“Me?” I balked, but already the point Peter was making was sinking in.
“We’ve fucked, but I hate to tell you this, Anton, I’m not in love with you.” Peter grinned at me. “And speaking completely hypothetically, because I pray to God it never happens, but if, for some reason, I couldn’t fuck with Magnus and Neil anymore, I would still love them with all my heart, and I would still want to be married to them.”
“But I’ve only just met Hayk,” I argued, without as much vehemence as I’d been arguing with myself since morning. “I don’t know what I can and can’t ask from him. I don’t know what will or won’t upset him.”
“Then find out, whore,” Peter said, nudging me hard with his elbow. “We’re going to be in Good Port for a few more days at least. And even though Magnus and Lord Vikhrov think they’ve closed in on the answer to who killed Eneko and Gregorius, the estate will remain locked down tonight. Take this time and spend it with Hayk. You might be working yourself up over nothing, you know.”
“Me? Working myself up over nothing?” At least I was able to joke about it.
Peter laughed. “If you ask me, Hayk is perfect for you.”
