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“That completes things, Your Highnesses. Everything is in order. Your signatures are recorded and my felicitations to you both. You’re now officially betrothed.”
“Come,nobyo,” Mikol said, taking Kalen by the arm, and they headed back toward the lifts. Once inside and on the way up, he spoke over his shoulder to Florin. “I’d like to be on the way within the hour, Florin,” he said as they stood waiting.
Florin had Dartan backed against the wall of the lift, not speaking to him, but looming over him. Dartan was red faced and looked a little stunned. “Of course,” Florin called back.
They rode up to Mikol’s floor silently, each lost in their own thoughts, perhaps. When they all went down to Mikol’s suite, he was finally able to release Kalen’s arm. Mikol had kept Kalen close to his side, not because Kalen necessarily wanted or needed it, but because of the feelings of possessiveness inside him that were increasingly becoming problematic. The talk of other men had filled him with fury.
Florin, who had Dartan’s arm in the same grip, allowed him to go with Kalen so they could prepare their belongings. Once they’d disappeared inside the bedroom, he turned toward Florin.
“Can you find the prince a royal robe to wear, do you think? They’ll be in short supply in his size. And the color is problematic, as it’s only for royals. Any color will do until we arrive on Tygeria, I suppose. I’d like the men onboard to realize he’s my nobyo.”
“I’ll do my best. Let me make a few calls,” he said and pulled out his communicator. “It might be a good idea to find one for his captain too.”
Mikol laughed. “In dark green, perhaps?” he asked, glancing at the same color on Florin’s robe. On Tygeria, only noblemen and their families wore that color. “Does he know you’re thinking of claiming him?”
“I haven’t decided anything yet,” Florin said with a shrug. “By the time we reach Tygeria, I should have a better handle on the situation.”
“I thought you liked being unattached.”
“I thought so. But I’m not as convinced as I was before.”
“You tried to choke him when you first met.”
He shrugged. “Not really.”
“What would you call it then?”
“Foreplay,” he said solemnly and left to go find the robes.
While he was gone, Mikol sat by the porthole, still concentrating on quieting his mind, a technique his father taught him long ago, and one that still came in handy occasionally, though he hadn’t had occasion to use it in a long time. He had described it to his omak once a while ago, saying he needed it for his battle rages, and Ryan had nodded and said that the principles were similar to an ancient religious philosophy on Earth that he’d heard about. He’d called it achieving a zen state, and he said it focused on meditation.
Whatever—Mikol supposed the meditation part was right, and the part that his omak could remember about its principles, especially the ones about believing attachment was the source of suffering. He hadn’t exactly been “suffering” since Kalen came into his life, but he did already feel a strong attachment. Odd since it was usually sexual penetration that caused the bond to form.
The man tried his patience, which admittedly, had never been great to begin with. He needed to find a way to calm his passions about him and not let them take over—he despised a bully and refused to be one, though every part of his nature seemed to be intent on pushing him in that direction. Like Florin, he needed to curb his passions or risk scaring the pretty Lorian away.
Chapter Eleven
Kalen stood in front of a long mirror on the wall of his cabin on Mikol’s ship. They had left for Tygeria the day before, and were in deep space, headed toward the western part of the galaxy. He sighed and shook his head at the sight of himself in the sapphire-colored silk robe. The material felt luxurious against his skin. It was lined with the softest fur he’d ever felt, so it was warm too, which was helpful since the Tygerian ship was as cold as a dwarf star.
But it was still something he’d never imagined himself wearing.
“Are you sure I don’t look stupid?” he asked, pulling it up so he could walk back to flop down beside Dartan.
“You look good. But does it matter? Your betrothed has asked you to wear it on the ship and in the palace in Tygeria. He said it was traditional and the Tygerian way. You’re marrying into their culture too.”
“Why did Florin offer you one then? You’re not getting married into their culture.”
“He said it would stop the men on the ship from bothering me. He said I’d be ‘safer.’” Dartan gave an inelegant snort. “I told him I wasn’t afraid of the stupid Tygerians on the ship, and I could take care of myself.”
Kalen smiled. “What did he say to that?”
“He saidIwas stupid, and that all I ever do is argue and get on his nerves. I said, fuck off and then he said…” Dartan’s face grew bright red and Kalen sat down on the lounge beside him
“He said what?”
“I don’t know exactly. Something in Tygerian that sounded sarcastic and had the word ‘fuck’ in it. I recognized that much. He’s an ass.”
“Hmm. Does he know you like women?”
