Page 44 of If the Shoe Fits (Rainbow Tales #2)

Xander dined with his family that night, at a table reserved for them on a short dais at one end of the dining room.

Sheer curtains hung from the ceiling to follow the dais' edge, giving them the illusion of privacy.

But Xander could see Zane at a table on the other side of the curtains, smiling and talking with his dinner companions.

Xander pushed his food around while he watched Zane push playfully on another man's shoulder.

“Does he flirt with everyone?” Xander muttered.

“What did you say, my son?” Princess Levania asked.

Xander cleared his throat. “Nothing, Mother. I was just wondering how relationships work here.”

“How they work?” his grandfather asked and chuckled. “That depends on what you want from them. And what the other person wants. I imagine it's the same in the human realm.”

“Indeed.” Levania followed her son's gaze to Zane. “Ah, I see. I believe that man is playing the game of love with you.”

“The game of love?”

“He's flirting with others to get a response from you. He wants to know that you want him.” She lifted a brow as Xander turned his gaze to her. “Do you want him?”

Xander made a soft sound, realizing that Zane was trying to get the same response from him that Xander had been looking for from Zane. How silly. Jealousy wasn't a sign of affection. But it was a clear indicator of what you wanted. He looked at his mother and said, “I think I do.”

Her smile froze. “That's not as enthusiastic as I expected.”

“It's only been a week, Mother. I don't understand why everyone expects me to move past my feelings for Leovar so quickly. Are shining ones so fickle that they move from one love to the next in a day?”

“No, Son. We are not fickle. We are . . .” She looked at her father.

“We are pragmatic,” the King said.

“I'm not familiar with that word.” Xander glanced at Zane and found him staring back. But he didn't linger, even when he noted Zane's interest. He kept it a glance and refocused on his grandfather instead.

“It means that we are practical. If we can't have something—which happens mostly in love here as most everything else is available to us—we accept it and move on.

We live so long, you see? Those of us who are several centuries old have learned that it's best not to dwell on things. We teach this to the younger ones.” He patted his daughter's shoulder.

Xander narrowed his gaze at his mother's face. It twitched. “He told you to forget my father, didn't he?”

Princess Levania's stare shot to her son. “He didn't have to tell me, Xander. I knew it was for the best.”

“And was it for the best that you left me behind and forgot about me as well?”

She blanched .

“Now, that is enough!” King Garis growled, sounding like his namesake, the bear.

The dining room went silent.

“Why is it enough?” Xander shot to his feet. “Because it's the truth? I'm her son. I was a child when you sent for her. And she left me. She abandoned me for you.”

“She was needed here.”

“For what?!” Xander roared even louder than his grandfather, and the thunder of his voice shook the room.

“What was so fucking important that you—an immortal—couldn't wait ten years for it?

Ten years would have seen me through my childhood.

I would have been equipped to handle my father's death and deal with his new wife. I would have known better than to succumb to her abuse. But no, you needed her here. So what was it that was more important than me? What was more important than your daughter raising your grandson?”

The King lifted a shaking hand to his face and rubbed his forehead. “This is not the place for this conversation.”

“Not the place? Why? Because your court is listening? Well, if you're not going to talk, there's no reason for me to stay.” Xander stormed off the dais and out of the dining hall to utter silence.

Xander's hands shook as he took a corner.

He paused to collect himself. His breathing was harsh, as harsh as his emotions.

The scene replayed in his head, and he couldn't believe what he'd said to his family.

His only family. But that's why he said it.

He was their only family too, but they had abandoned him to be abused in another realm.

At least his mother had left him a ring and had sent him help when he needed it, but she never checked on Xander.

And after Nevan had shown him that trick with the water bowl, he knew she could have.

Maybe his mother had checked on him, but she hadn't cared enough to summon a door and step through the damn thing. As he'd done for Alma—a woman who had been more of a mother to him than this fairy princess had.

“Xander!”

Xander jumped at the sound of Zane's voice.

“I'm so sorry.” Zane held up his hands. “I didn't mean to startle you. I just wanted to see if you were all right.”

“I'm fine.” Xander leaned against the wall. “I may have overreacted.”

“To what?”

“I'm not sure what started it, but we got on the subject of shining ones and how they are with personal relationships. My grandfather said that they're practical when it comes to love. If they discover that they can't be with someone, they move on and accept it.”

“And that upset you?”

“I asked if that's what he told my mother to do when she left my father behind.”

“Oh, sweet magic,” Zane whispered. “What did he say?”

“My mother said he didn't have to tell her. She already knew that forgetting my father was for the best.”

“What?”

“I asked if it was the same for me. If I were best forgotten.”

“Oh, fuck me. What did she say to that?”

“Nothing. That's when my grandfather shouted. ”

“Unbelievable,” Zane muttered.

“You don't approve?”

“No, of course I don't approve! A lover isn't the same as a son. You can walk away from a lover and get over them. You don't get over your child. I don't care how practical you are.”

A tear slipped down Xander's cheek. “Thank you.”

“Don't thank me. Fuck.” Zane shook his head and rubbed a hand over his mouth. “I can't believe our princess said that to you. I thought she was kind.”

“She is kind. I . . . I don't know. They're all the family I have left. But I'm their family too. I'm hurt that they left me with the humans and never checked on me. She says she didn't know I was being abused until I summoned her with the ring she left me.”

“Oh, for fuck's sake!” Zane pulled Xander into a hug.

“I'm so sorry, Xander. I don't know why the Princess didn't look after you better.

But I assure you, that's not the way all shining ones are.” He eased back and pressed their foreheads together.

“I, for example, already care deeply for you. I would never abandon you.”

It was just a matter of altering the angle of his head for Xander to kiss Zane.

So easy. As was the way their bodies fit together.

Zane took control, making it even easier for Xander to accept what he offered.

So Xander just closed his eyes and let the feelings—those new feelings—take control and banish the old.

Groaning, Zane pulled back. “I don't want to take advantage of your sadness.”

In answer, Xander took Zane's hand and led him through the corridors to his suite. He let go when they were past the first door, but only to lock them in. Xander didn't want anything to disturb them.

“Xander, wait.” Zane let go of him. “You are not thinking; you're only feeling, and you want to get past those bad feelings. I understand that, but I don't want to be the tool you use to get through sorrow.”

“You are not a tool. I thought at first you would be a path through my heartbreak, but you've changed that.

I've gotten to know you. I want this. I want you, Zane, and it has nothing to do with what happened tonight on that dais or in the human realm. This is about you and me.” Xander reclaimed Zane's hand and took him into the bedroom.

Staring at the bed, he thought of his first time.

Couldn't be helped. Back then, he hadn't expected anything from it, was simply happy to have the experience.

And that was how it was for Leo too. Just another conquest for the Prince of Trellone.

Now, Xander was the Prince, and he had nearly followed in Leo's footsteps.

If Zane hadn't been so kind, so patient and wise, Xander would have taken him in the garden that first night.

And then they might not have made it here.

Instead, Zane waited. He gave a little, just enough to satisfy Xander, and teased him into learning more about him.

Zane had never rejected Xander, but he'd refused to be a stepping stone to happiness.

He valued himself, and that made Xander value him too.

It made Xander look past Zane's beauty and see the man he truly was.

And that man deserved more than a tumble on the grass for their first time together.

No, this would be perfect for them—both of them.

It would be something they would remember forever.

As Xander turned toward Zane, Zane slid his hands up Xander's chest. They moved together so perfectly already.

What would they be like when they merged?

Xander was eager to find out. He stood there passively, watching Zane unclasp his cloak, those graceful hands making quick work of the buttons of Xander's shirt next.

When the air hit his skin, Xander finally stilled Zane's hands.

Zane looked up at him. “You're having second thoughts.”

“No.” Xander brushed his lips over Zane's. “I'm having you. That's why I brought you here.” He undid the ties on Zane's shirt and lifted it over Zane's head. Tossing it aside, he said, “I'm going to have you in every way a man can take another man. If you want that.”

Zane inhaled brokenly. “Yes. Yes, I want that.”

“Good.” Now that Xander had decided to lie with Zane, he was intent on his course. Unwavering. “Take off your pants.”