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West looked as if he were going to have a stroke from fighting his laughter so hard. Yes, Jin found it all very amusing now, but as a young teenager, the entire encounter had been traumatic.
After clearing his throat, West said in a voice that still sounded strangled, “At least your father has always been accepting.”
“You mean scheming,” Jin corrected. “When I turned twenty-one, he broached the topic of marriage for the first time and started talking about surrogacy in the very same breath. He’s had grandchildren on his brain from the moment Ming Tao became a teenager.”
West brushed a light kiss across his cheek. “I’m sorry that you have another painful conversation ahead of you with your father, but you need to remember that his words come from a place of deep love for you. It also means that I have someone else helping to keep you from doing things that would endanger your life!”
Jin glared at his lover and protector for a couple of seconds, but he couldn’t hold on to his feelings of anger and indignation. He was very lucky that people who cared about him filled his life, people who wanted him happy.
“Father didn’t kick you out of the kingdom,” Jin whispered, excitement threading its way through his voice.
West’s perfect lips quirked into a mocking half smile. “And he didn’t order me to be beheaded or tossed in front of his firing squad.”
“Not only that, but you bargained for the hand of the crown prince of Gaoxing and his children. I had no idea you were so sneaky.”
A cough escaped West, and he released Jin’s hand to rub his nose, looking very uncomfortable. “I…yeah…that was not my plan when I walked into that hospital room. I only hoped to make sure that I wasn’t kicked out of the kingdom. If I could stay, I could keep you safe. Even if I couldn’t remain at your side any longer, I’d find a way to protect you.”
“So, you’re saying that you don’t want to marry me and have three children—two of which apparently need to be girls?”
Oh God, it was becoming so difficult to keep a straight face.
Red was creeping into West’s ears, and he couldn’t meet Jin’s gaze any longer.
“I—” West stopped, his mouth still hanging open, his eyes darting from Jin and then to his hands again. “I don’t want you to feel pressured into anything. We’re still getting to know each other. The emperor and I didn’t agree to anything binding. You don’t have to feel like you’re stuck with me or anything.”
Jin couldn’t hold it in any longer. He lunged at West, tackling him onto the sofa so that he was pinned into the corner as they shoved pillows to the floor. Jin crawled on top of him, the tips of their noses touching.
“Oh baobei,” Jin purred, sliding one of his hands up West’s chest to rest over his racing heart. “I don’t know how to break this to you, but you’re the one who’s been conned. My father—whom I love greatly—is an evil, manipulative man when he wants to be. I bet he made you feel like you were doing something horrible behind my back when he was locking down the greatest gift he could ever give me. Stuck? I’m not stuck. I thought I told you that I meant to keep you forever. Now my father has given me just that.”
“So, we’re just throwing that whole ‘let’s go slow’ idea out the window?” West drawled.
Jin nodded. “Completely. I never approved of that silliness. My heart has wanted you from the first moment I saw you. I only needed to wait for your heart to figure out the same. Length of time doesn’t matter. Two friends can know each other for a lifetime and never connect. Soul mates can share a glance and know they are destined to be together forever.”
He was so close to West that he was blurry, but he could feel the man smiling at him. A large hand cupped Jin’s cheek, fingers rubbing the strands of his hair as if drawn to the silky texture. “How is it you’re so sweet and adorable, and yet so spoiled at the same time? The crown prince of Gaoxing is accustomed to getting his way.”
Jin jerked away enough so he could clearly see West’s expression. Had he read the man wrong? Did his feelings not run as deep as Jin’s? Maybe he was the one who felt stuck, and they were all making assumptions that West would be content in a sedentary life in the palace as the prince’s consort.
There was no denying he was spoiled. His parents had tried to keep him grounded, but all the comforts and luxuries he could want had filled his life since birth. Was he forcing his will on West and not taking into consideration what he wanted? Just blindly expecting him to follow along because it was what the spoiled prince wanted?
