Finn stilled, waiting.
“I just…I need time,” Cedric whispered. “To think about it.”
Time. Finn could work with that. It wasn’t rejection—it wasn’t another door slammed between them. It wasn’t Cedric disappearing into the dark and pretending none of this had ever happened. Time meant there was still a chance.
“I’ll give you all the time you need,” Finn whispered. “But tonight, just be with me. No secrets, no shadows—just you and me.”
A long pause. Then Cedric sighed, running a hand through his hair, his fingers tangling briefly in the strands. “You make it sound so simple.”
“It is simple.” Finn loosened his grip, giving him the space to leave—but Cedric didn’t pull away.
He waited, heart pounding, watching the war flicker behind Cedric’s eyes. A choice balanced on a knife’s edge.
“Finn.” The name was spoken like a decision. Or maybe a plea.
Finn’s pulse jumped. “Yeah?”
Cedric swallowed, his hand resting against Finn’s chest, thumb grazing his collarbone in a touch so light it sent a shiver through him. “It’s been a while since I’ve been with anyone. Too long.”
Before Finn could respond, Cedric’s shoulders eased, a quiet surrender, like giving up a battle he never wanted to fight. “I want this.” His voice was steadier now, though his fingers still rested where they had landed, as if waiting for permission. “I want you.”
A rush of desire shot through Finn at the words. “Then let’s make up for lost time.”
A tiny voice in the back of Cedric’s head screamed a warning, even as he closed the distance between himself and the knight. This was dangerous. Cedric knew it all the way to his marrows. But it had been so long since someone had looked at him the way Finn did. Since someone wanted him—not the prince he once was, not the monster he sometimes became, but him.
And gods help him, Cedric deserved this, didn’t he? I’ve hidden away in these woods for years with only my sister and goats for company. I shouldn’t feel wrong to want…more.
This time, he didn’t hesitate.
Cedric yanked his tunic over his head. His pulse hammered in his throat as the cool night air kissed his exposed skin. Every nerve ending felt alive, hypersensitive after years of denying himself this kind of vulnerability. The warning voice in his head tried to speak again—what if he sees the golden scales that sometimes shimmer beneath your skin, what if he knows what you are—but Cedric silenced it, drowning it in the heady rush of desire.
His fingers moved to his waistband, pushing down his trousers with none of the careful grace he usually possessed. Tonight, he would not be ruled by fear. Tonight, he would claim what he wanted—what they both wanted.
Finn swallowed as his gaze roamed over him. The knight’s obvious desire fed something primal in Cedric, something that had been starved for far too long.
“Your turn,” he said, his voice barely recognizable, rough with need.
He watched as Finn struggled with his own garments, fingers fumbling with laces. Something tender and possessive surged through Cedric at the sight of the knight’s usually steady hands made clumsy with want. He stepped forward, unable to bear the waiting any longer.
“Let me,” he murmured, reaching for the laces.
His knuckles grazed the warm skin of Finn’s stomach as he worked, and Cedric felt the knight shudder at his touch. The simple reaction sent a bolt of pleasure through him, the knowledge that he could affect Finn so deeply with just the barest contact.
When they finally stood together, nothing between them but moonlight and shadow, Cedric took a half-step back, drinking in the sight of Finn. The battle scars that marked Finn’s body caught the warm lantern light. Finn didn’t shy away from his gaze. Instead, he straightened, a pleased half-smile playing at his lips.
“See something you like, Your Highness?” he teased, his voice husky.
The sound of his old title sent a shiver down Cedric’s spine. No one had called him that in ten years. Yet from Finn’s lips, it wasn’t a burden or a reminder of what he’d lost. It was an endearment, intimate and playful, as if the title belonged to this moment alone, to the two of them in the quiet sanctuary of the stable.
Something fierce and possessive stirred in his blood. Without thinking, Cedric grabbed Finn by the waist, pulling him close with sudden urgency.
“I need you,” he growled against Finn’s ear, his voice raw with desire he no longer had the strength to hide.
Finn’s answering shudder was all the invitation Cedric needed. There was no going back now, no retreating behind walls of propriety or duty. Only this moment, only this man against him, only the desperate, wonderful feeling of finally, finally being wanted.
Cedric heaved a shaky breath, hand trailing up Finn’s back in a slow, lazy drag. An unfamiliar warmth filled him, a contentedness he hadn’t felt in years. Not just from the intimacy, but from the safety of the knight’s arms. The wanting and acceptance. Cedric hadn’t known how much he needed that.
For several minutes, only the soft hitch of them catching their breath broke the quiet. They lay tangled in the afterglow, satisfied.
