Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 96695 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96695 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
“No, Your Highness. I couldn’t let you go to such trouble for me,” Hugo argued, but Everand had already turned his attention to the captain.
“Leave a couple of men with me while I take Mr. Baker to the edge of the woods. You continue your patrol. We’ll catch up,” Everand ordered, earning a salute from the captain.
Well, there was no point in arguing now.
With a smile, Everand motioned for Hugo to climb onto the horse first while he held Hugo’s rifle. As soon as he was settled, Everand mounted behind him, a strong arm wrapping across his waist, pulling him back so that he rested against the prince’s wide chest. Hugo’s eyes flashed wide, and he swallowed hard. He was not a small man, but Everand had a way of making him feel engulfed.
“I take it you prefer to be the big spoon in all things,” Hugo muttered under his breath. The words were out of his mouth before he even had time to process the sexual innuendo embedded in them.
What was he thinking?
How could he have uttered something like that within the prince’s earshot? And Hugo was the one who’d complained that the prince was uncouth.
A bark of laughter broke from Everand’s throat, and he gave Hugo’s waist another squeeze as he picked up the reins. “I wouldn’t say in all things. I can occasionally be persuaded to be the little spoon in some endeavors, but only if the companion is charming enough.” Those husky words danced right past Hugo’s ear as the prince’s lips brushed across the shell. Goose bumps flew down his arms, and tingles lit every nerve ending.
The prince turned the horse and tapped its flanks with his heels. His thick thigh muscles bulged and pressed close to Hugo’s legs, and he struggled to ignore the powerful feel of the man seated right behind him. All the blood in his body was rushing south to his cock, making it impossible to think. As a result, his tongue was set free.
“I bet you’ve been flooded with all manner of charming companions,” Hugo murmured. His hands balled into fists and rested on his legs while he and the prince gently rocked with the steady footsteps of the horse. The other two guards had fallen in behind them, giving them room to speak with a bit of privacy so long as they kept their voices low.
“That’s where you’d be wrong.”
“Really?”
The prince hummed. “I have enjoyed more than my fair share of companions, but none have been charming enough to entice me into playing the role of the little spoon. Being a prince and the future king, people have expectations for me. Would they still respect a prince if he was the little spoon?”
Hugo sucked in a sharp breath, and his lips parted to argue that of course they would, but his flash of anger burned away in the face of reality. There were plenty of partners who would look down on a prince who enjoyed being the bottom in a sexual encounter. They would see him as weaker and easily dominated, even if that wasn’t the reality. It was bullshit, but it didn’t change the fact that there were plenty of narrow-minded people in the world with skewed views. As the prince and future king, Everand couldn’t afford a slipup like that.
“Bunch of nonsense,” Hugo grumbled, his fingers shifting to hold the saddle horn.
Everand huffed a laugh, sending a puff of hot air across Hugo’s ear. “True, but I’m content to wait. I’m hoping to find a husband who won’t hold to such silly ideas, and we can have a bit of fun without it impacting his opinion of me.”
“I wish you luck.”
“And what about you?”
“What?” Hugo gasped, though the word came out something like a squawk. Was the prince asking about his preferences in bed? Yes, he preferred to bottom, but now that Everand had planted the seed in his mind, he found he was very curious about what it might be like to be the big spoon to Everand’s little spoon. To push inside all that tight heat—
“You’re still hunting for a husband, correct? How goes the search? Have you kept your mother’s tongue under control?”
Hugo’s face was on fire. He was grateful that he was sitting in front of the prince and the guards so no one could see it. By the gods, he needed to pull his mind from the gutter, but that would not happen so long as he could feel what was likely the hard ridge of the prince’s dick pressing into the crease of his ass.
He cleared his throat and forced his brain to work. “Yes, the hunt. It’s…it’s going slowly. I can’t say that the field of contenders has narrowed. Actually, I don’t think there are any genuine contenders for me. Only polite acquaintances.”