A Prince's Pride

*Milo*

When I’m walking to Aaron’s room the next morning, I’m surprised to see his bedroom door is still shut, a guard standing outside it.

“He isn’t awake yet?” I ask the guard. I’ve seen him a thousand times, but I don’t know his name. I’ve thought about asking, but since he knows mine, I’m too embarrassed to admit I don’t remember.

“Nope,” says the guard. “You got him, right, Milo? I have to piss something fierce.” And without further ado, he marches away. 

I guess I should technically knock on the door before entering, but the corridor is empty, so I stroll right in, shutting the door behind me. Aaron’s bed sits in a recess with windows on one side and the glass door to his balcony on the other. 

The heavy, black curtains are drawn tight, blocking out most of the light, but enough gets through to let me see, so I know he’s facing away from his balcony. I cross to the windows he’s facing and throw the curtains open, bathing him in light. I could have turned on the lights, but this is much brighter.

Aaron groans in discomfort and turns over, facing the balcony.

“You have to get up,” I tell him. He groans frustratedly again. I walk over to the balcony and throw the drapes there open too, assaulting him with light once more.

“Milo,” he groans. “Close the curtains.”

“I can’t do that,” I tell him. “You have to get up.” 

He opens one eye and glares at me with it. 

“Suck my dick,” he says, a small smile on his face.

“We don’t have time for that, Your Highness,” I say. He rolls his eyes and I shout a small victory in my mind for having annoyed him first thing in the morning. With quick reflexes, he takes a fistful of my shirt in his hand and pulls me down onto the bed, kissing me deeply.

“It’ll be quick,” he promises, then kisses my neck. He grabs my hand and moves it to his morning wood. Gods, it feels good in my hand. I swallow hard and pull myself away from him. His face falls in disappointment.

“As tempting as it is, His Majesty, the King, requests an audience of you.”

Aaron flops back down against his pillows and looks at me. 

“What?” I ask.

“I wish I could wake up next to you, instead of…” he motions at me, “...this.”

I know what he means. We can’t sleep in the same bed. We have to be careful and sneaky when we spend time together. We have to be so hidden.

“It’s time to get up,” I remind him when we’ve sat in silence for several more moments. He nods and stands.

Aaron is perfectly capable of dressing himself, but I like doing it. 

“Why are you grabbing that?” asks Aaron when I start to pull out his court clothes. They’re soft, impressive, and expensive as hell. They cost about a year’s worth of rent for my apartment in the Upper Ring of Crown City.

“The King’s orders,” I say with a shrug.

In less than fifteen minutes, Aaron is dressed, his hair is styled, and his teeth are brushed. I place the crown on his head,  give his butt a slap, and we leave his room and make our way to the throne room. 

“Announcing His Royal Highness, Aaron Heris, Crown Prince of Midoor,” says a guard next to the door. My jaw drops when we enter the throne room, but I’m quick to pull it back up. 

The King sits on his throne, his crown on his head too. Inside the throne room are no less than two dozen women, all of them clearly dressed to impress. I recognize some of them as ladies of the court. It doesn’t take me long to realize that they’re all nobles.

I know what this is and, judging by the rigid way Aaron is now standing, he does to.

“Ah, my son,” says the King, standing from his throne. All of the women in the room bat their eyes at him and bow, some giggle, and some wave at him. “So glad you could join us.” He moves to hug his son and, in a quieter voice only Aaron and I can hear, he adds, “It’s about time.” He’s giving me a look like he knows it’s not my fault. He knows how hard Aaron is to get out of bed.

“Father,” says Aaron. “This isn’t–”

“Your Highness,” says Lady Tara Annashan, a beautiful, dark-skinned woman with black hair so long, it almost sweeps the floor, “I am delighted to be in your presence today.” She wraps an arm around his and whisks him away into the sea of women, who part ways to pull him into their depths, then close around him like the jaws of some great beast. 

This would make some people jealous, but as Aaron is definitely gay, so I’m not worried. Plus, I can see how annoyed he is with his father and I do so love seeing him annoyed.

“Was it difficult to get him up?” asks the King.

“A bit,” I say with a shrug.

The King rolls his eyes, the first time I’ve seen him do so in the two years I’ve served the Royal Family. His eyes and Aarons are exactly the same.

“Typical,” says the King. “He knew how important today was. You did tell him about today, didn’t you?”

“Uhh…” I say. Truth be told, I didn’t know about today either. “I wasn’t informed of this, Your Majesty.”

The King levels a glare at me, but I know it isn’t for me. He recently had to name a new Hand of the King as his old one had died when he’d drank too much and fallen off a tower. His new Hand is an idiot, but he’s the son of the old Hand and tradition, blah blah blah. He can’t get rid of his new Hand for at least ten days.

I hate tradition. It’s the reason Aaron and I can’t be together. Being gay isn’t even illegal in Midoor. In fact, gay rights are protected here more than in any other kingdom I know of, thanks to our king. But as the Crown Prince, Aaron is expected to marry a noble girl, father a bunch of heirs, and keep the Heris line going for generations. 

I truly don’t know what Aaron is going to do. His father is getting annoyed at him for not finding a wife. But even if Aaron does find a wife, I can’t imagine him sleeping with her. The thought gives me an unpleasant shiver. And, what would that mean for us? If Aaron marries a woman and she becomes queen, he would either need to leave me or sleep with me behind her back.

I don’t like either of those prospects.

“Milo, kindly go down to the kitchens and bring us some snacks for these ladies,” the King says to me. I bow to him, shoot a look at Aaron, who looks miserable, and leave the throne room.

*Aaron*

I am miserable. This would have been bad enough even before I see Milo leave the throne room. I don’t know what my father has asked him to do, but I wish he could’ve stayed. 

Lady Tara talks to me about her family’s work rebuilding a storeroom that was destroyed by the Red Hand before I’m passed off to Lady Cora, who talks about her family’s work of trade, before I’m passed off to Lady Evangeline, who’s brother is a member of the Royal Guard. Although they’re all trying to hard to impress me, I’m thoroughly unimpressed. 

“Your Highness, are you alright?” says a woman I don’t know. She’s very pretty with flaming red hair tied in a tight bun and eyes as blue as the clear sky.

“What?” I ask, not having paid attention to anything anyone around me has been saying for a solid ten minutes. 

Where’s Milo? 

“You’re not enjoying this, are you?” she asks. 

“What gave me away?” I ask, giving her the first true smile I’ve had since entering the throne room. I glance around and notice that several of the girls have gone, unable to get my attention when I was passed around by girls of a higher station.

“The look on your face like you just found a spider in your bed.”

“I actually like spiders,” I say and smile again at the look of horror on her face. “Mi–” I cut myself off. I was about to say that Milo hates spiders, but decide not to use his name. I change direction at top speed. “My servant hates them. I have to kill them for him.” 

She giggles as she looks around, having just noticed that the servant in question had returned with a cart containing finger sandwiches and wine. I roll my eyes when I realize that my father did this because I told him I didn’t like women who are afraid to eat, which I do. Many noble women and women of the court practically starve themselves to fit into their tiny dresses. It’s saddening. Even still, that had only been a ploy to get my father off my back.

“Oh, good, food,” says the red-haired woman and heads straight for the cart. She’s the only woman who does. 

An older woman with raven black hair steps in where the red-haired woman had been and starts to talk, but I leave her and join the other woman at the cart. She has a sandwich in her hand and one she shoved into her mouth.

“What’s your name?” I ask as she washes the sandwich down with a sip of wine.

“I am Lady Corriane Devante,” she says, then burps. I’m taken aback for a moment, having never had a lady burp in my face and I think of a way to annoy my father.

“Would you care to accompany me on a walk through the gardens?” I ask, bowing to her and holding out my hand.

She looks blown away.

“Me? You’re choosing me?” she asks, astonished.

“You’re choosing her?” one of the other girls asks. They all look surprised. 

“I like how you’re not acting super proper and dainty,” I tell her. “Come, my servant will accompany us,” I add, nodding to Milo, who gives me a small bow.

Corriane takes my hand and, together with Milo, we make our way out into the gardens.

Truth be told, the walk with Corriane is fairly pleasant. She’s very kind and doesn’t talk about her family, or compliment me or the palace. She even talks to Milo like he’s a person and not just a servant. Honestly, I have no intention of marrying her, but if I had to choose a woman…

The rest of the day goes on without much fuss. My father invites me into his Small Council meeting, ever training me to become king one day. I don’t see Milo for several hours, as he isn’t allowed in the meeting. Once the meeting is adjourned, my father holds me back as the lords and ladies of the Council leave.

“You chose Corriane, then?” he asks. He doesn’t sound pleased, but I didn’t expect him to. She didn’t exactly act the part of a lady or of a woman who would compose herself with the dignity of a queen.

“Not necessarily. I just liked her the best out of the women today.” 

My father shakes his head.

“You must choose a woman who will make a good queen.”

“You had Milo bring out that cart as a test. Admit it.”

“Fine, so what? But you would choose a woman who burped in your face?”

“And what if I do? You said it was my decision who I marry.”

“It is. But you should decide to marry a woman whose family will make a strong alliance. And you should do it well before you’re king. At the rate you’re going, I’m going to be dead and gone before your wedding day. What does Corriane’s family do?”

I shrug and my father rolls his eyes.

“Honestly, I don’t know what to do with you sometimes,” my father says disappointedly, then sweeps from the room.

Ten minutes later, I’m wandering around the castle, hoping to run into Milo. 

“Have you seen Milo around?” I ask Sir Oswald when I find my room empty.

“No, Your Highness,” he says, then glances around. “He didn’t seem too happy about your walk with Lady Corriane.” 

“Well, I have to play the part. At least this will throw my father off the scent for a while, if he thinks I’m interested in Corriane.”

“My heart goes out to you two,” Sir Oswald says. “I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes. In love with someone you’ll never get to…” his voice trails off at the look on my face. “Sorry, Prince Aaron.”

“Just come with me,” I say. “He probably went home.”

He had. Fifteen minutes later, Sir Oswald and I stand outside Milo’s door. It opens when I knock on it and Milo’s jaw drops when he sees me.

“What are you doing here?” he asks, but steps aside to let me in. Sir Oswald stands guard outside.

“What are you doing here?” I ask. “Why aren’t you up at the castle?”

“The King sent me home for the day. He said you were busy with duties all day. Also, I didn’t want to see you with Corianne.” I don’t know what to say to this, so I say nothing at all. Milo adds, “She seems really nice. She’ll make a great wife.” I roll my eyes and a small smile plays across Milo’s lips. I get this sense that he takes great pleasure in annoying me.

“I’m not going to marry her,” I say, stepping up to him and wrapping my arms around him. "I'm not going to marry anyone unless it's you." I kiss him and he kisses me back, his arms wrapping around me like he's worried I'll vanish from his grasp. 

"I love you," he says. 

"I love you, too."

"What if you stayed here tonight, instead of going up to the castle?"

Oh, what an intriguing idea. I could lounge here, no servants bustling around me. Perhaps I could cook dinner for us and take care of Milo for a change. But I know it can’t happen. I know Milo knows so too.

"Not sure that's a possibility,” I say, drawing the words out and looking him up and down. “But there is something we can do before I leave."

He smiles mischievously as he kisses me again, hard and desperate. I return the kiss in equal measure and he pulls us backwards, navigating his apartment blindly. We pass through the doorway into his bedroom and he falls backwards into his bed, pulling me on top of him. 

I break our kiss off and my lips find his jaw. I kiss along it, feeling the slight stubble that's grown there. 

"Mmmm," he groans. My tongue replaces my lips, sliding along his jaw and down his neck. I pull my knees up so I'm straddling him and he sits up, allowing me to pull his shirt up over his head. 

I kiss his collarbone hungrily. My lips dance along his skin, making their way downward until I stop at his nipple. I flick my tongue against the rigid skin. He lets out a gasp that turns into a hiss as my teeth clamp onto it. I pull back slightly, his nipple still in my teeth, and he grunts, his hands on my head. 

I let go and he pushes the top of my head lightly, directing me down, but I'm not going to give in that easily. I take my time, kissing down his stomach. I get to the waist of his pants and grip it, kissing his stomach. 

"Stop teasing me, Your—" I sit up put a finger to his mouth to stop him. 

"None of that tonight. I'm not the prince right now. I'm just your boyfriend."

He smiles around my finger and gives me a nod. I return to his waist and pull his pants off, freeing his cock. I love Milo's dick. Seven and a half inches, thick, with brown curly hair that matches the hair on his head. I look into his green eyes as my tongue runs along the underside of his cock. A shiver wracks his body as my tongue finds the head of his dick poking out of the foreskin. 

I pull his skin the rest of the way back and swirl my tongue over the tip. He gasps as I taste his precum on my tongue. His eyes are still on mine as I bend down and suck one of his balls into my mouth. 

"Suck me off already," he groans. I pull back and smile at him deviously. 

"Someone's impatient," I tease, gripping the base of his cock and running my tongue up it again. I don't want to wait any longer either, so I swallow him down and nestle my nose in his pubic hair. He lets out a satisfied gasp, then moans as I pull back, swirl my tongue over the head, then swallow him down again as if I'll die without him. I probably would. 

“Fuck yeah,” he moans, suck that cock.” I swallow him down again and again as he grips the sides of my head.

I pull him out of my mouth and look up to see him staring at me, lust in his eyes, his mouth slack. I crawl back up to him and kiss him. He's panting when we break apart. 

"Take off your clothes," says Milo. 

I stand and take a couple steps away from the bed. I didn't notice when he let his pants drop to the floor but, as he sits up, I see them laying in a heap on the ground. 

I wink at him as my fingers play around the hem of my shirt. Slowly, very slowly, I raise it up, flexing my stomach so my muscles are prominent because I know how it turns Milo on. When my shirt is thrown to the side, he's checking out my body. I like that he's not overly muscled; I've never found it attractive. I wouldn't even work out so hard if Milo wasn't fond of my body. 

I turn around so my back is facing him and look over my shoulder at him. He's watching my ass and I give it a smack. He bites his lip. I hook my fingers through the waistband of my pants and pull them down slowly, bending all the way over. I hear him get up from the bed and suddenly, he's at my back, his hands on either side of my waist, when I stand back up.

He kisses my neck and I lean into him, feeling his dick pressing into my ass. He runs his tongue along the side of my neck, up toward my ear. When he reaches it, he bites the lobe and his tongue runs over it, sending a shudder through me. He grabs me and spins us around, then pushes me forward onto the bed. I bend over for him, my head on the bed, my ass in the air. 

He wastes no time. He buries his face in my ass and an involuntary moan escapes me as his tongue finds home in my hole. He grips either side of my waist and pulls me into his face, fucking my hole with his tongue. 

"I need to be in you so bad," he groans when he pulls away. 

“Well what are you waiting for?” I ask playfully, looking over my shoulder at him. Milo’s smile drips with lust as he moves to his bedside table and takes out a bottle of lube, which he slathers generously on his cock. When he walks back behind me, he pushes my back, forcing my face into the bed. He enters me in one push, and my ass takes all of him into me. 

He starts off fast and hard, slamming his body into mine. I’m biting on a mouthful of his cover, groaning. Not in pain. This is utter ecstasy. His cock hits my prostate like a master archer at target practice, hitting the bullseye each time. I groan into his bed as he lays into my hole, slamming in and out of me over and over and over again.

The next time he fully enters me, he wraps an arm around my stomach and pulls me up so my back lays flat against his chest. He’s still fucking me, but slower this time. I turn my head to look at him. We breathe each other in as he slides in and out of me. His lubed hand wraps around my cock and he starts to work it as our lips meet. His other hand caresses my abs.

“I love you,” he breathes when we’ve been locked in this position for a few minutes. 

“I love you, too,” I breathe back. 

Passion, love, and lust rocket through us as he makes love to me. I clench my ass to make it even more pleasurable for him, and know he feels it when he lets out a gasp.

“I want to cum inside you,” he tells me.

“Then what are you waiting for?” I ask.

He smiles mischievously and shoves me forward again before laying into my hole with renewed vigor. My hand is flying over my own cock, the lube from Milo’s hand assisting me. I’m panting into his sheets. 

When I cum, I barely have enough time to snatch Milo’s shirt from beside us and get it under me before I’m able to shoot my load all over his bed. My orgasm makes my ass clench in uneven rhythms, and know by his groan that it sends Milo over the edge. I feel him explode inside of me, sending his hot seed deep into my ass. I don’t want him to stop fucking me, and he doesn’t until his cock is too soft.

When he finally exits my hole, we collapse beside each other, smiling.

“I’m going to change things,” I say suddenly, surprising even myself. Milo gives me a questioning look, so I continue, “When I’m king, I’ll change things so we can be together.” I scoop one arm under him and pull him close so our faces are only inches apart.

“I don’t think the people of Midoor would want a peasant as king consort,” he says to me.

“You’ll see. I promise to you,” I say, looking into his eyes, trying to convey my sincerity. “When I’m the king, we’ll be together. We’ll have a royal wedding and live happily ever after.”

Milo smiles at the thought, but I can still see the doubt in his eyes. 

I want to stay the night with Milo. To wake up with him next to me, but I can’t. Not tonight.

When I step out into the hallway of Milo’s apartment building, I find Sir Oswald standing dutifully beside it.

“Are you ready to return home, my prince?” I nod at him and he follows behind me as I make my way back up to the palace. 

I’ll never forget my promise to Milo, and I will do everything in my power to make it happen. When I’m the king, everything will change.

Author’s Note: Thank you to everyone who’s enjoying this story so far! I just wanted to give everyone a heads up that I’m going on vacation tomorrow and won’t be back until next week. I’ll have the next chapter up as soon as possible!

-Ottie