Page 33 of The Royal in Room 3

I shook my head. “You’re confusing me, Phoenix. When I had Kim as a sub, you practically encouraged me to acknowledge her crush and explore a sexual relationship with her. Now you’re saying the opposite about Soren. Is there something about him that you don’t want me to know?”

“No. You’re right, and I do want you to be happy.” He heaved a sigh. “I guess I’m just a bit worried about you, is all, but you’re a grown man, and you’ve been doing this for a while. I should trust your judgment.”

“To be fair, Phoenix, I don’t have the slightest clue what I’m doing here. I just know that things feel different with him. I’ve been attracted to subs before, but this is the first time I’ve wanted to acknowledge that attraction rather than sweep it under the rug. He’s sweet and needy and extremely affectionate.” I gave a sharp laugh. “And he is completely inept at the simplest of things. He couldn’t light the stove this morning. You should have seen my kitchen. It was like a war zone, except eggs were the weapon of choice and sausages were being used to fight a duel.”

“That bad, huh?”

“Yeah. He needs me, Phoenix, and I think I might need him too.”

“And what happens when you’ve taught him all you can and he no longer does? What then, Jude?”

It was too early to tell. Maybe we would go our separate ways or maybe… Maybe he would stay.

“No one knows what the future holds, right? I’ll take it day by day.”

Phoenix frowned. “Maybe I should have Aaron look more into his background. He didn’t give us much information about his family life or where he’s from.”

“Belvaria,” I said.

“What?”

“He’s from a country called Belvaria. Ever heard of it?”

He started to shake his head but then reversed the move and nodded. “Actually, I think I saw a while back where the king lost his two oldest sons. I remember because at the time it was the first I’d ever heard of the country, much less that they had royalty.”

“Well, based on the way he talks about it, it sounds like a lovely country.”

“Any idea how he ended up here?”

“Not yet, but I’ll be patient until he’s comfortable enough to open up to me.”

“Good luck. You’ve already gotten more out of him than I could, so I have no doubt you’ll succeed.” He smiled softly. “I do hope it works out for you, Jude.”

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” I asked.

“Whatever are you talking about?”

I narrowed my eyes. “We had a deal. Didn’t you say the day I start dating is the day you do the same?”

“I don’t recall.”

“You’d better make that call to Officer Vale, Phoenix. It’s been a hot minute.”

“Maybe we went out already.”

“Did you?”

He rolled his eyes. “He came by again last night after dropping Soren off at your place. There were leftovers, so we shared them and talked a little, but it wasn’t personal. The police station’s toy drive is happening next weekend, and we were making plans for the angels to help out.”

“Sounds fun.”

“Soren’s supposed to start working at the club on Monday, too. You see to it that he’s prepared. Okay?”

“I’ll try my best.”

“I know you will.” He took my empty beer bottle and rinsed it out. “I know Dean will miss him. They were getting along so well.”

“Don’t worry. I have no desire to isolate Soren. He can come by anytime, and Dean can visit him as often as he wishes.”