Page 133 of War Queen
Phillip chuckled again.
The hours passed quickly. Soren took him two more times, not able to get enough, not able to pull himself away from Phillip’s body. Then finally, exhausted, they both lay in the quiet of the candlelight, facing each other.
Phillip’s eyes burned blue, blue like the brightest gems. He stretched his hand wide against Soren’s skin, just under his shoulder. Their stares remained locked as he drew his fingers softly down the dell of his chest. Soren’s mind told him to pull back, but he didn’t. He kept his eyes on the Aleon king and let himself stay, let the king touch him. He wanted his touch.
Phillip’s mouth moved to speak, but he hesitated. Soren waited. Almost fearing it. He knew what he’d ask. It was what everyone who he’d ever taken to bed asked—about the future. And his answer would be offensive. It wasn’t meant to be offensive. He wanted this man. But want wasn’t enough. And Phillip wouldn’t understand. No one did.
The Aleon king gave a small smile. He grazed his fingers across Soren’s skin again. “I know you don’t belong to me,” he said softly. “Your loyalty, your devotion to Norah and your king—I would never ask you to betray that. And when you let me touch you, when you let me have you, I see it for exactly what it is. A gift.” He drew Soren’s hand up to his lips and kissed his palm. “Thank you for this gift.”
Soren’s breath shook. This man understood him. He saw him.
And that was a dangerous thing.
Chapter thirty-four
Sorenlayinthequiet of the rising sun. He watched the Aleon king sleep—inhaling deeply and then releasing—the rise of his chest, the glow of his skin under the morning rays.
Phillip was a beautiful man, sculpted of strength and light. His nose sat straight between the thick, dark lashes of his eyelids. The square of his jaw tapered gently to his chin, just underneath the perfection of his lips. Hints of copper in his bronze locks begged the touch of fingers, and Soren couldn’t help himself.
It hurt. Phillip had said he would never pull him from his duty, but any pull at all was a pull away from duty. Soren couldn’t allow it. He clenched his jaw until it ached to match the ache in his chest as he drew his fingers through Phillip’s hair.
The king’s eyes opened slowly, and he smiled. He looked like an Aleon god. Soren loved how he smiled. He hated that he loved it. It made it all the harder. He cursed himself—he shouldn’t have come.
“I have to go,” Soren said.
“Will you come later, then—”
“No. I can’t come back to you.”
Phillip stilled, and his brows drew together. “I don’t understand.”
Soren didn’t expect him to. “This can’t happen again. I shouldn’t have come.”
Phillip pushed himself up and reached for him. “Soren, I—”
He pulled back and moved to stand, but Phillip caught him.
“Soren, wait.”
Soren pulled against his hold, but Phillip tightened his grasp. Soren wanted to wait, wanted to stay, but he couldn’t. “Let me go,” he warned.
“I said wait.”
“Let me go,” he said again.
“No.”
The longer Soren waited, the more he might stay. But he couldn’t stay. So he couldn’t wait. Soren twisted against Phillip’s hold, but Phillip was a powerful man, and fast, and he jerked Soren forward. Soren’s balance gave way, and he fell back onto the bed. Phillip sprung over him, pinning him down.
“Stop!” Phillip demanded. “You’ll stop. And talk to me.”
Soren could have fought back, overpowered him. But there was a heartbroken ferocity in Phillip’s eyes that stole his strength. So he stopped.
Phillip’s voice came softer now. “Why? I told you I would never ask you to betray your duty. Why can’t you return? Can we not simply enjoy each other?”
It was such a simple question, yet such a difficult answer. It was more than simply enjoying each other now, more than just sating the needs of the flesh. “Because you’re a distraction,” Soren said.A dangerous distraction.
“A distraction?” Phillip nodded, but it wasn’t a nod of agreement. “You see me as a weakness?”
