Page 66 of Trained Royal

He hadn’t realised how true all that was until he’d spoken the words. He’d obviously got over the hurdle of being cursed. If he was, it was too late to turn back because he couldn’t live without Patrick now.

Andrew smiled and stood. Kieren copied, and the king embraced him carefully. “Thank you for saving his life.”

“I couldn’t do anything else,” he murmured.

“Please remember what I said, but don’t use it as an excuse.”

Kieren tilted his head. “What do you mean?”

“The weight the royals have on their shoulders is as heavy as the weight on our tethers’ shoulders. It’s not easy, but it’s worth every pound—or so I was told.” Kieren nodded. “Go on. Find your man. I’m sure he’s worried about what’s taking you this long.”

Kieren headed for the door, then turned back, seeing the king staring out of the window. “Your Majesty?” Andrew peered over his shoulder at him. “I know you have plenty of people around you, but if you need to talk…I know what you’ve been through. My family…” He swallowed.

“Thank you, Kieren. I appreciate it more than you know.”

Kieren smiled and exited, closing the door and leaning back against it, breathing deeply for several breaths before aiming for Patrick’s location. Nina fell into step beside him. She didn’t ask what the king wanted, and Kieren was glad because it wasn’t something he was willing to talk about. King Andrew’s pain would stay between them.

He knocked on Prince Frederick’s door and waited for the call to enter. When he saw Patrick, he couldn’t help but smile. The man stood and raced toward him, slowing before sliding his arms carefully around his waist and resting his head on Kieren’s good shoulder.

“I missed you,” Patrick said.

Kieren pressed a kiss to his head. “Missed you, too.”

“You’re just in time to settle a debate,” Douglas called, and Kieren glanced over at them when Patrick groaned.

“A debate about what?” he said and wandered towards them, his arm around Patrick’s shoulder.

“Bondage,” Douglas announced.

“Douglas!” Patrick said, dropping onto the sofa opposite Douglas, Freddie and Damon.

“What? I want his opinion. We’re tied because there are four of us. We need a deciding vote.”

Kieren didn’t know if he could help with that because he had limited—for now—but he was willing to try. “What’s the question?”

“Is sex better when you’re tied up?” Douglas said with a grin.

Kieren pursed his lips and thought about his answer. Patrick hadn’t tied him up yet, but he’d not allowed him to move the previous day, which was similar. The sex itself was just as good as it had been when they had been together the previous time.

“That’s an impossible question to answer,” he replied. “It’s like asking a parent who their favourite child is. There’s no true winner because each one has different good and bad things about it. In this case, being tied up would be a different experience to not being tied up, but when you’re with someone who means something to you, it is amazing no matter what.”

“See!” Damon waved his hand. “That’s what I said!”

“That’s such a cop-out!” Douglas said.

Kieren raised his eyebrows. “Are you telling me you would say your experiences with Mav are better or worse, depending on something you’re doing?” Douglas snapped his mouth shut, eyes widening. “That’s what I thought.”

Patrick laughed, kissing Kieren’s jaw. “Well played. What took you, anyway?”

“I was speaking with a couple of people.” He focused on Freddie. “Have you heard what Gia’s possibly found?”

Freddie nodded. “We haven’t really much to go on until she looks into it more, but it sounds promising.”

“Is the plan still that there are no more large events until Christmas?” he asked.

“That’s the plan. Naturally, we have smaller events, but those should be easier to guard. At least, I hope they are.” Freddie sighed.

“Usually, yes.”