Page 74 of The Prince and the Ice King

The king could wait.

Jack

Jack wasnotwaiting for Reardon.

But it had been hours since the sun set, and where in the heavens was he?

Jack had planned to lock his door, deny any future knocks, and once again threaten Reardon bodily harm if he didn’t stay away. None of those things could be accomplished without the prince’s presence! It was infuriating to be left sitting at his desk—where his crumpled bit of parchment was indeed missing—and tap his fingers without so much as a shuffle of approaching feet on the stones outside his door.

If it had been any other night, Jack would be in his bath, enjoying a glass of wine and perhaps some bread and cheese. He didn’t require food any more than he required sleep, but he could still enjoy the taste after dark. Now he wasn’t doing any of those things, too busy wondering when the prince might slip into his room again.

Two hundred years Jack had gone without touching someone or being touched. Now, after only one night of rekindling those forgotten fires, he yearned to feel it all again.

He pounded a fist on his desk in frustration.

A thud, like an echo, snapped Jack’s attention back to the door. Not footsteps or a knock—a thud.

“Mmmajesty?” a voice slurred.

The knob turned—

Fuck!Jack leapt from his desk to intercept, realizing he hadn’t locked the door after all, but it was too late, the door was swinging open with Reardon standing right there to see—

Nothing. He had a scarf that Jack recognized as Josie’s wrapped around his eyes.

Reardon stumbled across the stones, nearly face-planting, and Jack reached him just in time to catch him. At the same moment, Jack swung his door shut again, in case any foolish others were daring to wait on the other side to steal a peek.

It didn’t seem as though anyone had been there, but they had to have gotten Reardon close to the door before setting him loose, because he was in no state to walk, even if he hadn’t been blindfolded. At least they’d removed his weapons, but he smelled like he’d taken a midnight swim in a vat of ale, and then rinsed his mouth with wine.

“Bran was tryin’ to teach me to drink!” Reardon raised a hand as if to emphasize his point as a sweeping declaration, only to nearly swing himself right over, forcing Jack to lift one of the price’s arms over his shoulders to steady him. “But I’m… I-I’m… I’m not very good at it,” he finished with a giggle.

“Pitiless vultures,” Jack growled. “They told you to come here like this?”

“Nnno,” Reardon said innocently, cheeks flushed from drink and lips rosy and sweetly smiling, as he turned to Jack. “Bran and, um… Josie! And the others… tried to stop me, but I… I said I gotta! Ipromised. Did you miss me?” His prettily parted lips puckered, and he launched forward with impressive accuracy.

“No.” Jack only just managed to heave him backward before they connected.

“You didn’t?” Reardon asked miserably.

“You’re not putting your mouth on me,” Jack explained.

“But I haven’t kissed you yet! I-I… I bedded you before I kissed you. My first kiss….” He giggled again, and the truth of that sank Jack’s stomach.

He’d deflowered a man who’d never even kissed someone. He was definitely not going to kiss him now. “There will be none of that while you’d taste more like a barrel than a man. Now, come here.”

Jack hefted Reardon forward, dragging him across the antechamber. The prince was still light, but his near-dead weight did not help. Once Jack had gone a few steps and had a better handle on Reardon’s limp limbs, he lifted him into his arms to carry him like last night.

Reardon rested his head on Jack’s shoulder and hummed happily, too much like a rag doll to coil his arms around Jack’s neck this time. His smile remained intoxicated and dreamy when Jack laid him out on the bed, a catlike stretch erupting as he settled in and clung to Jack’s arms when they started to leave him.

“Will you have your way with me again?” Reardon murmured, shirt untucked and riding up his lean stomach.

“Not tonight.” Jack pried the prince’s fingers from his forearms.

“Tomorrow night?” Reardon reached after him.

“We’ll see,” Jack said. He had planned to reprimand Reardon for stealing his verses, but now was not the time. “Now, I need you to stay awake until I’ve gotten some water and food in you.”

“Are you certain you can’t getotherthings—”

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