Page 99 of Trained Royal

“Glad to hear it. And just in time, too.”

“Kieren, are you ready?” Zane asked.

“As I’ll ever be.” Kieren stood. “You coming?”

“I’ll wait here with Jade.”

Kieren leaned down and pecked his lips, then followed Zane with Nina on his tail. Jade took Kieren’s seat and crossed her legs.

“Does he not like talking to crowds?”

Patrick chuckled. “I don’t think it’s his favourite activity.”

A tap on a microphone made everyone quieten. “Hello and good afternoon to you all. My name is Kieren, and I hold the badge for the most crap I put up with from this guy.” He thumbed over his shoulder to laughter. He held up Patrick’s phone. “My speech is on here because I had less than an hour’s notice that I had to have a speech ready, so…” He turned the screen to face him again. “Zane, you are my one true… Oh, hold on a minute, wrong section. Ah, here we go.” Laughter sounded again.

“He’s good, even if he doesn’t like it,” Jade murmured.

Patrick hummed.

“Zane, you are my best friend, and as such, you should be ashamed of yourself. Leaving me in dreary England while you went on holiday to somewhere I’d hate, and then getting married without me being there. What kind of friend are you?”

“One of a kind!” Zane shouted.

Kieren chuckled. “Truly. I have plenty I could say about Zane, but most of you would know it all, anyway. He’s a good person. That’s all there is to it. No sugar-coating it. He just is. There’s nothing about him I could ever imagine being able to put up with longer than a night. Good luck, Viv.” He winked. “Although, if you’ve managed with him this long, maybe I should say, good luck, Zane.” He scratched his head.

The guests were howling with laughter, and Patrick was proud of him. He continued in the same vein until he came to the end, highlighting again just how perfect they were for each other. He left the stage to a round of applause and took the seat Jade had vacated. His face was coated with sweat, but Patrick pulled him in close and fitted his head into his neck, anyway.

“Well done, sweetheart. You were perfect.”

“God, I hate that,” he murmured. “I hate it more that they will plaster it over the newspapers by morning.”

“Hopefully, it won’t because Zane had everyone put their phones away, saying they weren’t allowed to take photos or videos of the speeches. It’s not impossible that someone didn’t, but hopefully, they’ll accept it.”

Kieren inhaled and breathed hot air against Patrick’s neck. “Thanks.” He sat upright, wiping his face. “I need a drink.” He put his mouth against Patrick’s ear and whispered, “For everything you’ve done for me, I have something for you when we get back to the room tonight.”

Patrick smiled. “Oh, yeah? What’s that?”

“Complete restraint,” he whispered.

Patrick’s eyes widened as understanding settled inside him. Kieren was giving him complete control over his body. He stared at his boyfriend, checking his expression, noting his lack of tension, and smiled. “You’re sure?”

Kieren nodded. “Completely.”

“When can we leave?” Patrick croaked.

“Not for a few hours yet,” Kieren said with a laugh.

“That’s mean.”

“You had to learn patience for your work. You’ll have plenty of strength to draw on.”

Kieren stood and left him clenching his jaw. Not in anger, but to stop him from grabbing Kieren and running to the nearest bedroom.

When he came back, he had a smirk on his face. “Everything okay?”

Patrick smiled, intending to pay him back later. “Fine.”

“Would you like to dance?” Kieren asked, holding out his hand.