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“I never saw much good in putting things off myself,” King Davos offered. “When you see something you want, you need to go after it.”
“The Tygerian guide to love and marriage,” Blake said, angling a look at his husband. “It’s one way to look at things, I suppose. But my grandmother used to say, ‘Marry in haste and repent at leisure.’”
Davos snorted. “Your grandmother said entirely too much, I think.”
Blake laughed. “I always thought so too.”
“Well, I, for one, am very excited about the wedding tomorrow,” Ryan said. “Blake has done a wonderful job of pulling it all together so quickly.”
Blake waved a languid hand in the air. “Thank you, but I did very little, really. Just directed the florists where to put the flowers and chairs. Don’t worry, Mikol, it’s nothing too extravagant. It is a kind of rushed-up affair, after all.” Blake arched a look over at Kalen. “I was wondering, why is that exactly? What’s the rush?”
“It’s not a mystery or a secret,” Mikol said. “Like you said, we’re in a hurry to make it official.”
Blake smiled indulgently, and Davos showed his surprise only by a raised eyebrow. “But you only just met each other a few days ago. Are your really sure? Both of you?”
“I’m sure,” Kalen said, speaking up for the first time. He gave a little shrug as Blake turned his full attention on him. “From the moment I saw him a few days before the betrothal.”
“Oh. I didn’t realize you met before. But that would mean the two of you had to meet…where exactly?”
“On Belline” Mikol replied.
He turned to give Mikol a look. “Really, Mikol? I think I’m beginning to understand. Tell me, did you find a way to be alone with him the first time you saw him?”
Mikol turned to grin at Blake and slung an arm around his shoulders. “Maybe. Look, I know you warned me about all kinds of things, and I listened. No, I did,” he said, laughing as Blake made a scoffing sound and tried to pull away. Kalen noticed he didn’t try very hard. “Mostly I did, anyway.”
“Uh huh.”
“You’re so pretty when you’re mad,” Mikol said, and laughed again, hugging him as Blake managed to free himself from the gentle mauling and punched Mikol’s arm.
“Stop it.” Blake glanced over at Kalen. “You see how he is. Don’t let him start this with you, Kalen, because it never stops.” He managed to get away and straightened his robe. “But I’m actually very happy for you both,” Blake said. “What about you, dear? Did he rush you into things?”
“No. I was probably the one who rushed him.”
Blake eyes glowed with pleasure. He looked well satisfied with Kalen’s answer and leaned back to take a sip of his wine. “Wonderful. And I’m so pleased you wanted me to help with the wedding and the reception later. You know, Kalen, I don’t like to butt in where I’m not wanted.”
Mikos and Davos both choked a little on their wine, and Blake shot them a resentful look. Mikol only grinned. “You could never do that.” He gave Kalen a smile and mouthed,Thank you, to him.
After that, the tension seemed to be broken, and everyone relaxed. It was obvious to Kalen how close they all were, and he was struck again by how much he had missed in his own family life. He’d never known anything different, so he’d never noticed until now. But his parents never touched as much as Mikol’s did, and he loved the way Davos leaned in to listen to whatever Blake had to say like every word was of vital importance. He fed him little bites off his plate too, that he thought Blake would like. It all seemed so natural to them that they barely noticed they were doing it.
Kalen wondered if Mikol would do that for him, and then was horrified at the idea. He was a warrior and had no need of such things.
He looked up once and caught Mikol’s eye on him and he gave him a shy smile. Immediately, Mikol stretched his hand across the table to him and when he took it, he gave it a squeeze. He saw Blake and Ryan smile and glance at each other.
The rest of the evening passed in a daze of laughter and a lot of wine. Kalen was offered a glass of visu punch, but he caught a look from Blake and a subtle shake of the head, so he declined. Ryan leaned over and whispered to him. “That stuff is nasty, but the Tygerians love it, for some reason.”
Later, on the way back to their room, Mikol put his arm around him and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you for letting Blake help with the wedding. He loves doing all that.”
“I’m happy for the help. I really liked all of your family.”
Mikol stopped and pulled him into a heated kiss that probably would have been better in their own room. He must have realized it, because he suddenly swept Kalen off his feet and carried him down the hall to his bedroom.
Once inside, he placed Kalen on the bed and stripped him of his robe, before starting on his own clothing. He lay down beside Kalen and began taking up where they’d left off in the hallway.
Kalen had never had actual sex with anyone before, but he’d heard enough about it to know what was coming, and he had no idea how he felt about it. He knew it might hurt the first time. And once he did this, there was no going back or saying he onlymaybeliked other men.Mikol smiled at him then, and it was so full of heat and need—need that was reflecting right back at him—that Kalen said to himself,maybe I should just relax and enjoy it and stop worrying about everything.His mind made up, he allowed Mikol to reposition him, spreading his legs out farther and pushing them up.
“This is your first time, nobyo, so it’s going to be uncomfortable at first.”
Kalen nodded, not trusting himself to speak.
