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“Something like that. I’m sure you’ve heard of the Black Night Festival.”
“The final party of the Ardoran summer? Everyone dressing up as therians? Getting up to all sorts of naughty mischief?”
The prince grunted. “Some men don’t need a change of clothes to become animals, Your Excellency. Some always carry that instinct with them.”
“And many men are not afraid of that beast, Your Highness. Did the great philosopher Sofos not say that there is a time for both the lion and the lamb?”
They were silent for a while.
Without warning, the prince’s fingertips pressed against his own—little glides of warmth against the chill of the mist. “But some men need to hold back on those instincts, Aurelius. For some animals are far wilder than others.”
Aurelius...
It’s the first time he’s said my name.
Calix looked up, his golden eyes glinting with a sudden hunger—the same hunger as at the bathhouse, albeit a paler shade of it. But unlike there, the feeling inside Aurelius was not some primal lack of control, but the usual anticipation of where that warm touch might wander next.
“And some prey,” said Aurelius, “does not fear being bitten.”
After a moment’s hesitation, the prince leaned in, so close that Aurelius could smell the wine on his breath: sweet and dark.
Just like him. Underneath all that power. Underneath all that restraint.
Sweet and dark.
“Are you afraid of me, Aurelius Savair?”
“No, Calix Viralis,” he said, softly, pressing his fingertips back against the prince’s.
Calix paused just a few inches away. His eyes clenched shut. His fingertips shook. The prince’s pulse thumped through his skin.
Then the big man opened his eyes—two beacons of amber in the night.
“You should be,” he whispered.
Calix leaned in for the kiss.
Just as their lips were about to touch, a shriek came from the trees. A crow swooped down, cawing off into the night.
When Aurelius turned back, the moment was gone.
The prince’s jaw stiffened. His brow furrowed. “I have to go.”
“What? But we were just about to...”
“I know exactly what we were about to do. It’s what you’ve been trying to trick me into doing since you first arrived, isn’t it?”
Trick you ...
Fury rose inside Aurelius. He was used to this sort of bastardry. Of being blamed by all the “straight” men who sought him out for dark dalliances under the influence of drink, then cried deception when the daylight washed the wine away. It was nothing but cowardice from those who didn’t have the balls to live their truth.
“Me?” he said. “You were the one who came to this park! Halfway between the pub and the embassy? Sitting in the moonlight, right in line with the entrance? Somewhere you knew I would pass?”
“So what. Maybe I did want to see you. Because maybe I wanted to tell you to leave me the fuck alone!”
“Bullshit!” he said, pointing hard at the still-visible bruise around his eye. “Your sister and her cronies have sent that message loud and clear already. You just wanted to see me again.”
“Maybe,” he growled. “And maybe after tonight I never want to see you again!”
