Page 110 of Shâhzâdeh

“In a way. We, the collective, understand zhat sometimes when you feed the starving you feed zhe glutinous as well. We wouldn’t be able to help zhe citizens if we didn’t have zhe favor of zhe monarchy. Zhat favor is zhrough financing. And we aren’t giving people food and having zhem dependent on our family. No, we are supplying business loans, funding aid and scholarships for education for boys and girls. Which was another hurdle we had to cross. We are bringing back zhe apprenticeships of zhe old ways of textiles so zhe art and zhe history aren’t lost. So much has been damaged wiz war, why not allow somezing beautiful to take its place?”

“That is some of Babette coming out.”

His grin displayed how much he genuinely liked and loved his parents. A feeling that was foreign to me, but I could relate to just being around them.

“It is. I understand my mother’s desire for tings; to be beautiful. When you grew up zhe way she did you can’t help but want zhat. She was tough, she had to be. But zhere is also softness in strength. Zhat is what I want you to take away from the conversations you have with her. There is no one way to be strong. Just like our skin and our Blackness, zhere is no one right way. You find what feels true to you and feels like it honors those who came before you.”

“I don’t know who they are.” I looked away, my eyes falling on the pool that we had lit up to provide ambiance for our time together. His fingers brushed my chin so that I would look back at him.

“Zhey can’t be any worse zhan who raised you.”

“Now that is morbidly true.” He chuckled and I could only do the same because it hurt less to think of the bad when he was around. He had a way of making me feel the darkness, the unknown was nothing to fear. And I knew it was because no matter of what was in front of me, I was confident in who was behind me. And he wouldn’t let any harm come to me.

“Thank you, Xerxes.”

“For rambling about my family history?”

“Ourfamily history.”

His smile could’ve lit New York in a power outage. “I like when you do zhat.”

“Do what?” I stroked the shorter pieces of hair off his forehead enjoying being able to touch him like this. The intimacy that could exist between two people without fear was a feeling I was grateful to explore.

“Claim me. It sends my heart fluttering.” He put my hand on his heart so that I could feel the way it was racing.

“Well, that’s terrible.” I wasn’t going to miss the chance to caress his chest even if it was through a t-shirt.

His brows dipped but the smile stayed on his face. The lights from the pool were casting shadows over his features. “Why?”

“A fluttering heart for the next few decades doesn’t sound at all healthy.”

“If it stops because it beat in zhis cadence for you, zhen it is all worz it.”

“Xerxes—”

He sat up and I could see the shift in his eyes as he moved. His face was close to mine, and I could feel how his abs were flexed when I tried to brace him. “Zhis is one of zhose moments vhere I want to kiss you. Is it possible for me to do zhat?”

“Always.”

He moved in slowly the anticipation making my heart mirror his fluttering. I licked my lips, drawing his attention before he moved in closer and did the same. His tongue skirted around each before delving into my mouth as his body twisted to pull me onto his lap. The amount of strength he displayed had me in awe but the kiss soon stole all my reasoning. This kiss was far slower than the previous. His tongue caressing mine as he pressed me closer to him. His hand threaded through my hair the way it previously had and I was lost. Fire raged through my body like his kiss was imparting some type of magic over me. I willingly fell under the spell of this dark-eyed jinn and would happily follow wherever he led.

My nipples were pressing against the t-shirt I wore and I was unashamed at the lust I was feeling. We kissed for what felt like seconds but had to have been minutes based on the arousal I felt soaking through my panties. Xerxes pulled back and I tried not to sigh in frustration at his loss.

“I forget myself. I will need to practice more restraint in zhe future.”

“I feel like a horny teenager and I never knew what that felt like before now.”

“You didn’t have urges?” He looked thoroughly confused at my lack of desire and I let him in to my world. I refused to move away any further than him and wanted to kiss him again.

“Not really. I wanted freedom and breaking away filled my head, not desire.”

He looked as though he wanted to ask more questions but I didn’t want to bring them into our home so I changed the subject. “How long did it take you to develop the comfort you have with your friends?”

“What do you mean?”

I toyed with my fingers wondering how to word what I wanted to say. “I… I don’t know. I’m afraid of saying or doing the wrong thing with your friends and their wives.”

“Because you do not know zhem?”

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