All For One But Your Ass Is Mine (Part III)
All For One But Your Ass Is Mine
“So, it’s that easy?” Misha asked as they sat at the Captain’s table by the helm. They’d agreed to spend their free time there in the wheelhouse when possible since one of them had to be there at all times to monitor the situation.
They were in the middle of no where, traveling on unused paths, with the energy banks for the ships lifeboats keyed up for the use of the Guard but not the Princess herself. She was truly stuck on the ship. If she managed to get out of her quarters without them knowing, and even Jared hadn’t been able to find a way for her to get out once they’d sealed it up tight, she would have no where else to turn but them.
“We just took the Princess and we take her to the coronation and all is done?” Misha finished.
Jeff sighed and took a long pull from his bottle. “No. Next we’ve got to get her to talk. She doesn’t want to go back and no matter how hard we press her about the coronation, no one can make her take the oaths of a Queen. Not even the dea’kin can do that.”
Their eyes were on Jared then, on his cheek where the small thin cuts were already healing. “I don’t want to have to, but I can and I will if that’s what it takes.”
“And then you’ll do your duty,” Jensen added, his voice dangerously low. His eyes caught Jared’s and the slow tug that had caught him the night on the passenger cruiser hit strong again. “What exactly is your duty, Jared?”
Jared stood slowly, deliberately, before turning to walk out. The ship was silent around him and he did the only thing he could; he crawled to the highest point, the loneliest, darkest part of the ship, and curled into himself there. He fell back into his mind, where there was no spoiled Princess, no dea’kin, no Guard, and no Jensen pushing at him. It was just Jared, nine years old and happy before the press of the world changed who he was supposed to be forever.
It didn’t take much for Jared to see it. He watched Jeff the first day after he talked to the Princess and he was fairly certain it had already happened. By that evening he was sure of it. The next day he couldn’t ignore it. Neither Jensen nor Misha said anything about the way Jeff kept to the Princess’s side whenever she left her quarters, but Jared saw the way they stared after him. They didn’t know what to think of the change in Jeff, nor did they know what to think of the Princess once she started looking to the older man for safety.
She was back in her quarters, resting she said, but Jared knew better. If it was him he’d be plotting how to escape once they got to port. He was working it out in his head anyway, trying to counter anything she might do. Misha was at the helm at the moment and Jensen and Jeff were sitting at the table behind it.
He wasn’t sure now was the time for it, but he could see the way it was playing out and he needed to be sure Jeff understood. He took a deep breath and leaned back against the wall, hoping to give off a calmer vibe than he was actually feeling.
“You know what she’s doing, don’t you?”
They all looked back at him, but Jared kept his eyes on Jeff. To his credit, Jeff blinked for a moment but kept his face completely neutral. If he hadn’t known Jeff for the past few days he wouldn’t think anything of it, but there was no laughter on his lips, no smile in his eyes. Jeff nodded once.
“She explained it last night. Why me?” He asked softly. “I mean, of all people she could…”
“What are you two talking about?” Jensen demanded.
Jared continued to ignore the others. “We don’t know why. Once the bond gets deep enough though you can’t stop it. The royal family has always chosen its spouses in that manner. The story that’s passed down says that Surgotian Mystics blessed the King and Queen so that their offspring would never have to fear for their heart, that the bond would give them the security of knowing that their beloved was beyond reproach. There’s no proof in the history books, but I don’t doubt the bond.”
“What bond?” Misha asked.
“The royal family has a spousal bond that ties them to their soul mate. It starts slow, like a small tug to make you notice someone. It gets bigger, pulls you towards them, makes you trust them and they you. I’ve heard it can be strong enough that two people can read minds but no one living has witnessed that. The dea’kin believes it though. The bond with the royal family is unbreakable and irrefutable. There are no wedding vows, just the bond,” he said, careful to keep his eyes on Misha’s, careful not to look even in the periphery to see Jensen’s reaction, “a bond that Danneel and Jeff now share.”
Misha’s face was openly surprised but Jared barely had time to register it before Jensen was in front of him, his fist connecting with Jared’s jaw before he could block it. Jeff and Misha had him pushed back before Jared responded, but he wouldn’t have stopped him if he’d taken another swing.
“When were you planning on telling us, huh?” Jensen seethed. He pushed away from Jeff and Misha but took a step back from Jared. “Why the lies, Jared?”
The others looked shocked but the Princess chose that moment to enter the room and they all looked at her instead. “Why did you tell him?” she demanded of Jared, her cool voice full of reprimand. Jared stood taller, ignoring the way Jeff moved to her side, as if to protect her from him.
“I didn’t tell him anything. No more than you would have had to tell Jeff.”
Her eyes widened and her demeanor softened. She watched him for a few minutes and he could see when she understood the full weight of his words. When she stepped closer, her fingers traced the red mark where Jensen’s fist had connected. “Oh, Jared,” she sighed softly. “What are we going to do?”
When she folded up into his chest, he wrapped his arms around her, keeping her close as he buried his nose in her hair, allowing himself the small moment. “I have no idea little sister, but we’ll see it through together. I didn’t train all these years to let you down now.”
“Is that the Queen’s Guard talking?” she asked softly.
He sighed as he looked up at the other men in the room. He wanted to say yes, wanted to be a part of that so much but he knew he had to take his place. They were kindred spirits, Danneel and he, separated at birth and hidden from one another so that no one, not even their father, could ever use Jared to contest the throne, and neither pleased with the forced positions of their lives.
“If this is the Queen asking, then this is the head of your dea’kin talking. When you take the throne it will be with me at your side, as it was always supposed to be.”
“I don’t know if I can,” she paused as she looked up, “I don’t want-“
“But you will. And I will. We are who we are Dani,” he said, brushing the hair off her face, “our duty, our destiny is bound and though we both pretended it could be otherwise, you will take the throne when father’s mourning period is over.”
She pushed away softly then, tear-filled eyes watching him. She nodded though and it warmed him to think he’d managed to get through to her, that with even the small time they’d had together they’d managed to connect with one another. “I need time to think.”
“We have a few more days before we arrive.” She nodded and started to leave but he touched her wrist gently, getting her to stop. “And don’t think I won’t stop you if you try to escape again. I’ve already got your plan worked out in my head.”
She looked surprised for a second, then pulled a fan from her pocket and snapped it over her face, tilting it coyly to smile at him. “We shall see big brother. We shall see.”
He watched her leave then, even trailed behind her to the door to watch the way she moved around the ship.
“Jared, I need to go after her,” he heard Jeff after a few minutes. The man looked ready to bulldoze his way through Jared but he was asking and Jared didn’t know if it was professionalism, friendship, or the realization that he was a Prince that caused it. He hated the doubt and for the first time in his life he knew why the Queen lamented never finding her own bondmate, settling on a marriage of politics instead. He had only been outed as a prince for a few minutes and he already doubted his friend’s motives.
“Of course,” he said, moving back into the room.
Jeff stopped just outside the door though, coming back to look at them. “Jensen, how did you know he was a Prince?”
“The Princess wasn’t the only one that decided to bond themselves a Guardsman this trip.”
He didn’t look at Jared, but walked out the other door as Jeff shook his head and went after the Princess. It left Jared sitting alone at the helm with Misha.
Misha looked him over once and shook his head before smiling. “You really know how to keep a man on his toes, Dea’kin.”
Jared let himself smile just a little. At least Misha wasn’t changed over it.
“If you get him killed, I will end you, but I like you anyway.”
Okay, maybe he could ask for a little change.
Jared didn’t leave the wheelhouse, just sat with Misha as they talked about whatever came to mind. There was a comfortable silence around them most of the night though and Jared could appreciate that. The Ardacians were well known for their meditative forms and Jared had learned them all at a young age. Being able to meditate while focused on something like navigating through clear skies was intermediate though and Jared had long passed on to the master levels.
“You’d do well with the monks,” Misha commented with a small smile.
Jared gave him a warm smile in return. “I should. They taught me. I wasn’t very old when I started training on meditation and observation.”
“It should have tipped you off on how to handle Jensen better.”
Jared sighed. “Yeah well, he makes it hard to concentrate.”
“Really?”
He could see Misha’s genuine curiosity. At Jared’s skill level nothing should have been able to keep him from focusing but the bond wasn’t Ardacian and they had no way of helping him overcome that level of distraction. “Ever get an itch you can’t scratch? It’s like that. Only it’s what it feels like when you notice the itch and you haven’t been able to get to it in days. In the beginning it forces you to focus on that, to submerge yourself into it.”
“Why?”
“To make it deeper. The more time and energy you spend on the bond, the deeper it gets.”
“It only took Jeff and the Princess a night to bond.”
“Less. He was at her side as soon as we had the kidnappers down. It was almost immediate with those two.”
“Then why did it take so long for you and Jensen?”
“Danneel is a romantic. She was probably fed the same things I was as a child, how wonderful the bond is and how powerful it is. I’m not the Queen though, I’m dea’kin. I was raised to know anyone I got close to could be a target used against me. I make an effort to keep a distance between myself and any lover I take, just in case. I actively fight it and when I realized it was happening here, I tried even harder to stop it.”
“Why? Jensen is always going to be a target to anyone who wants to get close the Queen, even more so as the head of the Queen’s Guard than you are. His safety won’t be affected by your bond.”
Jared laughed bitterly. “We’re on a mission to rescue my sister from kidnappers and return her to a coronation for a crown she doesn’t want to accept. If she does, I’m supposed to step up and be the head of her dea’kin when all I’ve ever wanted to be was the Queen’s Guard. And the last thing I want to do is find myself tied to the head of the Queen’s Guard who will probably hate me for what I do, or that I might come to resent for who he is.”
“You think Jensen would hate you?”
“I’m a highly trained spy and assassin. He’s an honorable soldier who will die defending the Queen and her kingdom,” Jared scoffed. “Damn right he’ll grow to hate what I am. And I’ll resent that he’s Queen’s Guard when I never was.”
“I got this one Misha.”
Jared closed his eyes and took a deep breath at the sound of Jensen’s voice. When he looked up Misha gave him a half smile and he knew then Jensen hadn’t just walked up and Jared had no idea how long he’d been there.
Misha walked out and Jared was left watching as Jensen moved to the console and began checking the instruments to make sure they were going where they were supposed to. Jared knew he was at fault for losing track of time with Misha, but he was sure the Ardacian timed his questions so that it would lead up to this just as Jensen was coming up for his shift.
Nothing he said was untrue though. They had too much going on to get caught up in the type of bond that was building between them, even if Jared knew it was already too late to stop it.
Jensen turned away from the sensors then and took a seat across the table from Jared. “How’s your jaw?”
“Why? Wanna hit me again if it doesn’t hurt badly enough?”
“Maybe,” Jensen said with a sly grin. “Maybe I was gonna offer to kiss it better.”
Jared snorted at that. “Yeah I get how that would be high on your priorities right now.”
“So you’re gonna continue to play the martyr. Got it.” Jensen snapped. “Why don’t you go get some sleep before it’s actually your turn up here.”
“I’m not playing anything.”
“Yeah I get it Jared. Woe is you, poor Prince-ling can’t get away from his fate and now he’s being hogtied to a commoner. I get your concern.”
“What?”
“I don’t need the bullshit Jared.” Jensen said as he stood. “I didn’t ask for this bond but I’m stuck with it and I can accept that, but I won’t be stuck with some arrogant ass who thinks he knows who I am but doesn’t have a damned clue.”
Jared took a deep breath to try to steady himself. He knew he couldn’t think clearly with Jensen around, knew that his observational skills were less than they should be. The bond was complicating things, making him too aware of Jensen being near but not aware enough of anything else.
“Then tell me where I was wrong. Are you telling me you don’t hate the dea’kin? That you don’t think I’ll resent this?”
“I don’t know what you’ll resent, Jared. I know that I don’t hate what you are. I’m the head of the Queen’s Guard. I’ve known and worked with the dea’kin for years. If I was going to hate them Queen Sam would never have given me this honor. Misha and Jeff have a harder time dealing with it than I do but they’ve accepted you like you’re one of us.”
“Why? Why do you accept this?” Jared asked as he stood up, facing off with Jensen.
“Because I’m a Queen’s man, and if it means keeping her safe then I don’t care who does it or how they do it.”
“And what about the bond? Why accept that?”
Jensen moved quickly, pressing Jared back into the wall before he realized what he was doing. He acted on instinct though, knowing whatever Jensen was doing wasn’t about hurting him anymore.
“The moment I saw you I knew you were trouble. You turned to look at me, so damn sure of yourself, and I wanted to say fuck it to the whole damn night, just take you away and spread you out underneath me.” He leaned up, his lips brushing over Jared’s cheek. “Every time I look at you I want the same damn thing.”
“Then do it,” Jared demanded. Need burned through him and there was no suppressing the bond with Jensen this close to him. He could feel the way Jensen’s heat pulled at him, drew him closer until it was searing into his bones.
Jensen grabbed the back of his neck, crashing their lips together and it was like plunging into icy cold water. He couldn’t breathe and didn’t care so long as Jensen was touching him. He moaned into the kiss and Jensen’s tongue slid between his lips. Jared tangled it up in his, his hands finding purchase on Jensen’s back as he pressed his hips against his lover’s.
“Fuck,” Jensen moaned into the skin of his neck as he pulled back.
Jared let his head fall back against the wall and the coolness of it brought him back from the precipice that was the bond. He bit his lip to stifle another groan when Jensen stepped away from him.
“They should make a disclaimer for you people,” Jensen’s voice shook with need and it was everything he could do to stay where he was instead of moving to Jensen’s side and giving him everything.
“Not a very good way of keeping it secret.”
Jensen took a deep breath and moved back to the console, keeping his eyes down. “How long will it be like this?”
It took Jared a moment to find his voice. “The bond will be oversensitive for a while, maybe a year, but this? This will pass as soon as the bond is consummated.”
“So once I fuck you I’ll be able to think straight again?”
“Stars, I hope so.”
“Get the hell out of here, Jared,” Jensen said after a few minutes. “I’ll get Misha to take your shift at the helm.”
“I can-“
“No. I’m not going into the coronation when I can barely trust myself to remember why I’m there. We take care of this tonight.”
Jared closed his eyes and sighed. “I tried to fight it, Jensen.”
Jensen nodded as he looked up at Jared. “I know. I think we both did. But it’s done now and what you don’t seem to understand is that I’m not all that upset about the idea of spending years with you. But right now, I need to focus on the ship and I can’t because you’re here. So go to your quarters and I’ll be there as soon as Jeff comes to take the next shift.”
He thought about all the things he could say to that, but there was nothing really. He hadn’t given himself time to think about what bonding really meant to him, about what it would be like to be bonded to Jensen Ackles. The man was beautiful and graceful, honest and loyal to a fault, and he was Jared’s to have, never to doubt or mistrust. He would stand by his side no matter what happened in the world. He had nothing to say to that, nothing that didn’t make the urge to cross the room seem less so he simply walked away, knowing somehow that Jensen understood.
There were a lot of things Jared could do while waiting for Jensen, if only he could think of anything but the bond and the consummation. He didn’t understand how Jensen could accept it so easily, but then again it was just Jared and his sister who seemed to be fighting so hard against their destinies. Maybe Jensen even saw it as a way to do his job better, having an in with the new Queen.
It wasn’t that though and Jared knew it. Jensen was giving into the bond because it was him and stars didn’t that make the whole thing that much harder to resist. He didn’t want to anymore, couldn’t anyway. Jensen was going to walk through the door to his quarters and take him. It didn’t matter if Jared was fighting it or not, he wanted Jensen so much that he wouldn’t be able to stop himself.
He took a deep breath as he made his decision. He meditated for a while, not to get caught up in Danneel and her kingdom or the concerns of the dea’kin, but just to relax himself. When his internal clock told him it was time, he pulled himself out of meditation and got in the shower, letting the warm water work its magic over tired muscles.
When he stepped out of the small bathroom in his quarters the lights had been lowered and he wasn’t alone. “You’re early.”
“I got tired of waiting. Jeff came up early and I abandoned ship,” Jensen said as he stood up and moved closer to Jared. “Say no now Jared, it’s the only chance you get.”
Jared took a deep breath, knowing how hard it was to even think about walking away and he thought even more of Jensen for being able to make that offer. “Yes.”
Jensen was pushing him back into the wall then, his hands pulling Jared’s towel from his waist before his hands came up, pulling him back into a brutal kiss. Jensen moaned into it and Jared slipped his tongue between Jensen’s lips, tasting him. Their tongues tangled and Jared pulled him closer, his arms wrapped tight to keep their bodies together as he moved them over to his bed.
Jared knew how to seduce a man, knew how to feel someone out to see what their buttons were, but there was nothing but desperate need between them so as he stopped at the side of his bed, he dropped his hands to Jensen’s shirt and pulled it over his head.
The way Jensen stood for him, so perfectly still, slowed the desperation in Jared’s movements. He took a deep breath as he dropped to his knees and undid the fastening of Jensen’s pants. He leaned in, pressing his nose to the newly exposed skin just above his hipbone and pressed a kiss there as his hands worked his pants down strong thighs and shapely calves until Jensen stepped gracefully out of them.
When Jared looked up the long expanse of Jensen’s body, Jensen brought one hand up to twine in his hair, something soft and affectionate in his eyes. Jared leaned in closer, nuzzling up against Jensen’s skin for a moment before he needed more. He turned his head slightly, then licked across the head of Jensen’s cock, feeling Jensen’s fingers gripping tighter as if to keep him close. Jared pulled back as he licked his lips then and took Jensen’s length into his mouth.
He’d never been one to abstain from the sensual, but this was nothing like he’d ever experienced. He didn’t know if it was the bond or if Jensen was just so damn amazing, but just the taste of him, the feel of him on his tongue was enough to make him lose control.
He hollowed his cheeks out, taking more of Jensen down, feeling the minute tremors in his lover’s body, hearing the soft noises as he gasped. He was lost in the sensation until Jensen pulled him away, his hands pulling Jared’s face back up to his and they were falling back onto the bed together.
Jensen pushed him onto his back and Jared went willingly. Jensen’s lips pressed to his softly, his tongue teasing across the seam of his lips and Jared leaned up to catch him, but Jensen only pulled back, smiling down at him. He’d seen the showman in Jensen, seen the head of the Queen’s Guard in his element, but he’d only seen a whisper of the playful side that Jensen was showing as a lover. He moaned as Jensen bit at his neck, arching up and turning his head to give Jensen better access.
“Stars, Jared,” Jensen’s voice was like molasses. “Did you really think I could keep myself from you much longer? Think we could have said no to this even if we’d wanted?”
“You talk too much,” Jared laughed out as he tried to pull Jensen down to his lips.
Jensen smirked, allowing himself to be guided down but not all the way. “Think I’m the only one that will be talking tonight?” he asked wickedly. “Think you won’t be begging for me in a few minutes?”
“If I just beg now will you get on with it?”
Jensen threw his head back, laughing before he leaned down, biting at Jared’s neck again, sucking at it until Jared was sure a bruise would appear.
He didn’t stop there but moved lower on Jared’s body. Jensen’s lips skimmed over his skin, but then Jared felt the trail of cold, slick fingers against his thigh. He didn’t know when Jensen had found the lube or how he’d missed that but his fingers were rambling across Jared’s skin and finally ghosted over his hole. He arched back into the touch but Jensen didn't try to breach him. One finger circled him, just playing across the tight muscles, pressing softly against him before pulling back to circle again.
“Jensen,” he gasped.
“Yes?”
“I hate you,” he whispered as Jensen pressed again, his body giving slightly and he felt the soft stretch of Jensen’s fingertip against his opening.
Jensen laughed into his skin and Jared moaned as his finger continued to press into him. “I know you do,” Jensen teased as he moved further down between Jared’s legs, blowing across Jared’s hole. “Hate the way you open for me,” he said softly. “Hate the way you arch up into me.”
He pulled his finger away and before Jared could protest he felt the soft swipe of Jensen’s tongue before it was pressed up into him. It was the same slow torture of his finger, just the slow push of his tongue in and out. His body gave way slowly and Jensen’s tongue slid in deeper, licking him open and Jared didn’t try to keep himself from begging. Damn it, if it made Jensen take him he’d give up the damn throne to the kingdom. When his first finger joined his tongue, Jared screamed, “Fuck, Jensen, please, need you now. Fuck please,” he demanded.
Jensen’s tongue pulled out of his body, swiping across the outer rim one more time before he pressed another finger in. “Told you I’d have you begging for it,” he whispered into Jared’s neck as he added a third finger into his body. “Know how much you hate it now.”
Jared pulled his face back to his, kissing any more words from Jensen’s lips. Jared was thrusting back onto his hand and he could feel Jensen’s hard cock as he leaned in closer. When Jensen’s fingers pulled back, he pressed in and it was the torturous glide he’d used the rest of the night.
“Stars, Jared, so damn good,” he whispered into the skin behind his ear.
Jared just pulled him tight, his body aching for more. Jensen pulled back and thrust into him and they were both moaning then. When Jensen sat up on both arms, he suddenly stopped and Jared was caught in his eyes. The bond rushed between them and he couldn’t breath, couldn’t think of anything but how beautiful his husband was, how perfect and amazing and how he’d do anything to keep him. Jensen’s eyes widened and he leaned closer, his lips soft against Jared’s. “Jared, love,” he whispered.
“Always,” he answered back.
Jensen rested his head against Jared’s forehead for a moment before he started moving again, his cock sliding in and out of Jared, pressing his prostate at every pass. “Gonna hate this forever,” Jensen teased.
Jared let out a bark of laughter and couldn’t help the smile that lit up his face as he looked up at Jensen. “Definitely. Gonna hate this every damn night until forever.”
Jensen kissed him then, bit at his bottom lip, and it all became too much. His orgasm came from nowhere, crashing over him. He spilled between then, his body clenching around Jensen who gripped him tight, his own climax hitting at the same time.
It took a few minutes for them to calm down and then Jensen was pulling away, grabbing a washcloth to clean them up. When he settled back onto the bed he spooned up behind Jared. His lips pressed to the back of Jared’s neck and he sighed into it, the man behind him and into the bond that was irrefutable between them now.
“Hate you,” he teased.
“Hate me all you want, but this ass is mine now.” Jensen smacked his ass lightly as he said it, but he pulled Jared over, into his arms and kissed him gently. It was well into the morning before either of them got any sleep.
“He could be the one behind it all.”
“He could just be an innocent.”
“He could be playing the Vice Minister to get rid of him.”
Jared walked into the wheel room and found his sister and the Guardsmen talking intently. Jensen looked up as he came in, his eyes lighting up even though he kept his face neutral. There was a slight pull at his lips though and Jared knew he was keeping himself from smiling. Jared did the same though he didn’t know why they were bothering. It wasn’t like the others didn’t know about the bond already.
“Jared,” Danneel looked up as he stepped closer and she smiled wide enough for everyone else. She got up and wrapped her arms around his waist and he returned the gesture, pulling her close until he could feel her heart beating against his chest.
“Are you two ever going to stop the love fest?” Misha asked with a grin.
“Never,” Danneel answered quickly.
“Thought the reunion would be over by now,” Jeff added.
Jared looked down at her and shrugged. “We have a lot of years worth of affection to make up for,” he said softly. “We were separated at birth. My mother, or Sharondra dea’kin, told me the truth when I was ten, that I had a sister and that one day I would stand at her side to defend her against all her enemies. But I never got to see her, until now.”
“At least you had the news and the vids. I only knew a name.”
“And what, little sister, were you discussing when I came in?”
She pulled him over to the table and took a seat on his left. Warmth filled him from the right as Jensen pulled his chair closer, draping his arm across the back of it. Danneel’s eyes went wide but no one actually said anything about it.
“Your friends were debating Prince Christian’s involvement with the kidnapping,” Danneel informed him.
Jared shook his head. “He’s not involved.”
“We know what you heard from Hutton but that doesn’t mean-“
“No,” he said, cutting Misha off quickly. “As dea’kin I tell you he isn’t involved. I’ve studied Christian for the past few years and I have someone on his staff. If he was even thinking of trying to take the throne for his own I would have known about it.”
“You foresaw problems that long ago?” Jensen asked.
“No, but as far as everyone knows, Christian is the next in line to the throne. The fact that there are two living royals before him doesn’t matter.”
“Wait, two? You and?” Jeff pressed.
“Sharondra dea’kin. She was the Queen’s sister. It was why she was trusted with my upbringing and training. The Queen knew that her sister would raise me well and that she would train me for the same duties that she herself had once performed.” Jared smiled at Jeff. “You said I looked like my mother and you’re right. I looked more like the Queen’s sister than the Queen and it served us well as a cover. Just as my sister looking like the Queen has served her well.”
Danneel nodded. “So Christian isn’t involved in this. I didn’t want to think he was. As political as he is, he’s kind and far too gentle to be a King.”
“Far too gentle to kidnap his closest cousin. Hutton was right that Christian’s grief over Danneel’s disappearance would make the people love him. He’s probably very upset right now, wondering what happened to her.”
She sighed, looking down at the table and he took her hand. “We just won’t tell him the part where you wanted to run away. We’ll highlight the dangerous kidnapping parts.”
She smiled then, and it was like the sun breaking through stormy clouds. He didn’t know how he’d lived his life without his sister’s smile, but he had it now and he was never going to let anything dim it. When he looked over at Jeff sitting on her other side, he knew the other Guard was thinking the same way.
“Oh hell,” he said suddenly as he flicked his eyes back and forth between Danneel and Jeff.
“What?”
“It’s just gonna take a while to get used to,” Jared said.
“What?”
“Well, once Danneel takes the crown, it’ll be hard to think of you as the King.”
Jeff’s face blanched and Danneel let out a delighted laugh. “Don’t worry Jeff,” she teased, “I promise not to make you wear the crown to bed.”
The others laughed and Jeff continued to sputter; he obviously hadn’t thought the implications of his bond all the way through. He finally managed to glare at Jensen. “What are you laughing at? That makes you a prince too, doesn’t it? Bonded to a prince?”
“Married.”
“What?”
“As soon as the bond settled,” Danneel finished for Jared, “the marriage was completed.”
“So,” Jared said, looking at Jeff and then Jensen, “married. Welcome to the royal family.”
Jared had to bite his bottom lip to keep from laughing at Jensen’s wide eyes. Jeff and Jensen were both a little white under the collar. Danneel was patting Jeff’s hand to try to comfort the man who would be her King and Jared was trying hard not to lean over and kiss the astonishment from Jensen’s face.
Misha, on the other hand, laughed so hard he fell out of his chair.
On to Part IV