He inhaled.
Kelevra chuckled against his skin. “All that griping about being treated like a toy, yet here you are getting hard over the word use?”
“I’m not.” He was. Fucking damn it.
“If you’d stop being so obstinate you’d realize you can only benefit from being mine. I can touch you how you like, take you how you like. Fuck you hard and dirty and make you forget all about trying to maintain control. Aren’t you stressed? Don’t you want a break from that mask you’re always hiding behind?”
“Not really the right person to be talking to me about control,” Rin stated.
“I’m an Imperial Prince. Your Imperial Prince. I’m the only one in this entire universe who gets to control you, Flower. Tame you and bend you to my will. Bathe you, clothe you, and treat you right. Or bad. Think. Rin Varun has no power, and therefore, for whatever reason, he has to hide. But Royal Consort Rin? He can shed the mask completely. I’m the only one who can make you an offer like that.”
And there in lay the crux of the matter.
“I can’t be what I need to be and be yours,” he said. “I won’t survive it.”
Kelevra took him by the chin and tipped his head back so their eyes could meet. “You believe that to be true. Why?”
“My mask means survival,” he answered, “and you want to take that away.”
“I want you to be yourself,” Kel corrected. “I don’t want you locking up that fire inside of you when you have the potential to set this whole planet ablaze. I’ll confiscate everything from you, Flower, your control, your future, your body, and your mind. But I won’t strip you of that. I won’t take your sense of self.”
“What do you think you’ve been doing this entire time?”
“Oh, sweetheart,” he smiled viciously, “we both know whether I meant to or not, I’ve been doing the exact opposite.” He licked at the seam of Rin’s lips. “Even your brother noticed. You’re more yourself with me than you’ve possibly ever been. I might be uprooting you, but it’s only because you’ve outgrown your pot. It’s time to stop clinging to whatever old fears have been holding you back.” Kel kissed him, soft and sweet. “It’s time to flourish and be what you were meant to be all along. Unequivocally you.”
Chapter 17:
“Tell me about your home world.”
They’d moved into the bedroom, where Rin had demanded he be given some sort of clothing before he’d stay put in the massive bed. Kelevra eventually relented and given him a pair of boxer briefs. And nothing else, not even the t-shirt he’d carried before.
The prick.
He was curled around Rin’s back now, one arm wrapped around his middle, a leg thrown over Rin’s thighs to keep him in place. He’d argued and complained about the heat, but Kel had merely grunted and turned on the air conditioning. Just when Rin had begun to think at least he’d be able to escape by falling asleep, the Imperial had buried his face in his hair and started making demands.
“I’m tired,” Rin said.
“It isn’t my fault you didn’t think to take care of your basic needs properly,” Kelevra told him, holding him tighter when Rin tried to jostle himself free.
It’d mostly been for show, so he settled back down a second later with a huff. “It is actually your fault. First, you dropped this bomb on me and then you—”
“Fucked you into oblivion?”
“I didn’t have time to eat anything after breakfast,” he finished.
“You have to keep yourself in shape,” Kel stated. “I don’t want a weak consort, and I don’t want to worry about you potentially passing out on me again.”
Rin snorted. “As if you’d worry about something like that. You’d probably just keep fucking me through it. Unconscious? Like that would stop you.”
Kelevra went quiet and he realized his mistake.
“That wasn’t a suggestion,” Rin quickly affirmed.
“For the record,” Kelevra said, “I did stop earlier. Then I cleaned you up, got you dressed, and carried you to my hovercar.”
“Sorry for the inconvenience, Imperial,” Rin drawled sarcastically. “My bad for not having realized you were planning on using me so thoroughly.”
“You should always be prepared to take my cock,” he replied, and it was hard to tell if the sarcasm had gone over his head or if he was simply ignoring it. “And don’t call me that. You’ll give me my name or—”
