Page 46 of Pining for the Prince
“You started it. I came to you in good faith, told you of my intention and how I had made a love match and you have continued to insist on this farce. I will fight you at every step but for now I will return to my guest. ”
He was too angry to remain and thought he did well to act as reasonably as he had done. Gwil would understand the need to keep up their pretext, perhaps in time he might be able to persuade him it was not such a ludicrous idea for them to be together. He strode out of the reception room, no one stupid or brave enough to try to stop him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Gwil started awake as the door slammed. Hyax stood in the middle of the room, hands on his hips, the anger rolling off him in waves. He looked fucking beautiful.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, levering himself up. He’d dozed off at some point, and he had no idea of the time.
“My parents had more guests than I was expecting. They fucking set me up for receiving several candidates from their approved courtship list.”
By Hyax’s reaction, it was worse than a bit of meet and greet. “Not fun I take it.”
“No, not in the slightest. It’s the start of the traditional path to marry me off, even though they know we’re together and that should be enough for them to back off. Not to mention, there were people there I’d have rather not have dealt with.”
He could see why Hyax was so upset. Arranged marriages were pretty common but Hyax’s parents seemed to have kicked things up a gear. “Anyone in particular?”
“Three of my ex-partners. One of them Metra, who no one was aware of our previous relationship.”
Gwil had trouble being rational over Metra, but now wasn’t the time to add oil to the fire and instead he wondered if that listincluded Lia, although he wasn’t convinced of her status as a real ex. “I might have met one of them earlier. Lia was kind enough to drop in a tray for me. She told me she was the one who made you realise girls didn’t do it for you.”
“Lia? She was never my girlfriend. I’ve never had a girlfriend. I’ve never needed to have sex with a woman—of any species—to know I’m not attracted to them.”
“I figured as much. But you know her though? She said she was a friend.”
His wings fluttered erratically. “Of course I fucking know her, she’s the daughter of the chief councillor, but she is not someone I would describe as a friend. Not in the real sense.”
Gwil thought he understood. “But a political one?”
“Yes, and if I have been swayed by breasts and pussy then she’d have been high on the courtship list—her father has failed on several occasions to gain ties through marriage to the royal family.”
“Has she a brother?”
Hyax began to remove his jewellery, throwing it onto the dresser. “Yes, and before you ask, he is on the list and was there this evening, but he’s not my type. Spineless, straight mummy’s boys don’t do it for me.”
He was having trouble removing his cape and Gwil got off the bed to help. “I get that they might have sprung a few extra guests on you, but I’m surprised you’re so angry over this.”
“It’s a respect thing. As far as they know you are my chosen partner. The one I intend to make a future with, and instead of accepting that—as I thought they had done—they spent the evening parading eligible bachelors in front of me as if I was suddenly going to accept one.”
He could see why that would rile. “This sort of thing can often bring out the worst in family members.”
“If my mother had her way she’d make me pick one and score the rest out of ten and have me commit to considering a harem.”
Hyax sounded angrier than Gwil had ever heard him, his wings vibrating so much he had trouble helping him remove the cape. “I thought those were common for royal fae.”
“Do you find it so hard to believe I could commit to one individual instead of needing a collection of lovers?”
His anger was spilling over at Gwil, and he would need to contain this. “Of course not, and if I was your real boyfriend I’d hate the idea of having to share you. But you’re asking them to put aside customs that have been in place for generations. Can you honestly say they wouldn’t have done something similar if you hadn’t brought home a vampire? It’s not like you’d given them any indication that you’d be happy to be monogamous.”
If looks could kill Gwil would be a pile of ash.
“What do you mean by that?” Did Hyax not realise that his dating habits were on the freer side of most, even for the fae?
“Well, you do go out a lot? Before you announced our involvement you were seeing a different bloke several times a week.”
Hyax crowded up to him. “What are you implying? That I was fucking them?”
“It wasn’t any of my business, but yes, you were always making comments about their appearance or stamina—what else was I supposed to have thought?”
