Spurred by the silence, Knox reached for Anthony's hand and, as Knox sat against his desk, he pulled Anthony up to his feet. Anthony landed right against Knox's chest with Knox's arm securely behind his waist, putting Anthony right where Knox wanted him, encompassed in his strong arms. Everything outside of this office disappeared.
Knox's beautiful face made Anthony forget all about titles and pomp and circumstance. Right here as Anthony clung to Knox, they were just two men in the world who shared a similar idea.
With a whisper, Knox brought his lips close to Anthony's ears, awakening thousands of goosebumps across Anthony's body. "Or... are you not thinking about the blood? Are you thinking about something else?" He had that pretentious look in his eyes, like he knew absolutely everything, like he could predict Anthony's next move. "Sounds like you're looking forward to more than just blood."
Flushed to his toes, Anthony lifted his chin, challenging the future king back. Lazily, Anthony rested his hand against Knox's neck as he played with the ends of his hair. "I don't know what you mean, your highness. What? Are you too shy to say we got each other off? Don't pretend you've never gotten a hand job before."
Knox shrugged a little with that smile again. "Not while getting bitten," he said and undid the top of his shirt buttons. "I have to admit, and not by you."
Anthony licked his lips, grabbing at the ends of Knox's hair. Something monstrous took Anthony over in that moment. Their silly littles jokes, and flirting could wait. Anthony's dry throat demanded action. Practically drooling, Anthony's fangs extended as his stomach growled in anticipation. Anthony had a whiff of Knox and that sweet, cookies right out of the oven kind of aroma. As he sunk into Knox's neck, Anthony was rewarded with something that tasted even better. Anthony trembled from the sweetness that was turning his brain into mush.
Knox's blood spilled down Anthony's throat and its power worked fast, like a champagne bottle cut from the neck and the bubbles covered Anthony in this tickling, fizzing feeling. He jumped headfirst into a full bottle, drowning in Knox. Knox's hands gripped Anthony's waist, a small moan on his lips. Anthony lapped up Knox's wound, dragging his tongue up Knox's neck, and the future king shivered. A thrill tickled Anthony's senses, and he did it again, with Knox digging his fingers into Anthony's hips. This neediness went straight to Anthony's crotch, and he fidgeted against the growing tightness, the wetness forming there.
This only made Anthony's stomach grow. Anthony's teeth grazed higher up Knox's neck, teasing the skin there as his hand fanned over Knox's chest. His fingertips brushed over his shirt, teasing the nipple just on the other side of that thin fabric. Anthony's hand explored further down into more dangerous regions, grabbing the growing bulge inside Knox's pants.
Anthony smiled. "I think you're the one who was anticipating more."
"You asked for it," Knox grunted and popped off the desk, back on his feet as he grabbed the back of Anthony's legs and hiked him up. Instinctively, Anthony wrapped his legs around Knox's waist. A hitch breath jumped off his lips as his crotch pressed into Knox's body. He unconsciously leaned into it. The shock didn't wear off until Anthony's back hit Knox's couch. Knox knocked over the stack of books at the end, giving Anthony's head room to lie down.
Anthony laughed. "But what happened to we don't have time—"
Before he could finish, Knox's hand slid past Anthony's jaw, cradling his face as Knox swooped down and kissed Anthony. Anthony's eyes widened. Knox just kissed him. Knox was using his other hand to run through Anthony's hair. Knox just kissed him. There was still blood on Anthony's lips, but still... Knox kissed him.
Using his thumb, Knox pushed Anthony's chin down and widened Anthony's mouth enough for Knox to kiss him again, deeper and sweeter. He stole Anthony's breath away, choosing to completely destroy him instead of giving the usual kiss of life. A surprised noise hummed in Anthony's throat as Knox's head tilted, sucking in Anthony's bottom lip. A thrill whirled its way through Anthony's body, making his toes curl.
Knox was working his magic again. Anthony suddenly didn't know what to do with his hands. Every moment with Knox felt like Anthony's first time, everything carried this incredible weight that made Anthony freeze up. He just followed Knox's lead, letting the man kiss him like he had something to be grateful about. Knox kissed like he was the best at giving birthday presents, like he knew exactly what Anthony wanted as if he could read Anthony's mind and just knew that was where he liked to be touched, that was the right way to scrape his teeth down Anthony lips as if he knew being held like this would make him cry in delight.
Knox Lavigne kissed him the way only lovers do.
Knox shot up at the knock on the door, while Anthony gasped for air. Fear constricted Anthony's chest as he reverted back to the time Dante caught him kissing Frances Petrovic in a car parked just outside the property. That lecture from Dante was less aggressive than the time Anthony got caught sneaking out, but longer than the lecture about leaving Bianca at a boring party. The only thing these lectures had in common was Dante claiming Anthony was never thinking about the family.
Anthony touched his lips, still in the moment, the pressure of Knox's body and lips still there like sheets fresh out of the dryer.
"I'm sorry to disturb you," Milan said on the other side of the door. "But her royal highness is ready to serve dinner."
Knox stood up, fixing his buttons and grumbling, "We're vampires. Why do we even need to have a proper dinner?"
"Because I told my new attendant that we had a date tonight," Anthony said, wiping his mouth with his shirt he already planned on trashing.
Knox's brow furrowed. "What does that...."
Anthony stood up, taking a deep centering breath, and fixed Knox's hair because it was Anthony's fault it was so messy. Anthony explained, "Your mother hired him without me asking for an attendant. It struck me as odd. I had a feeling they hired him to spy on me. This proves it. Bertie is a double agent."
After a beat, Anthony looked up, realizing Knox was just staring at him. "What?" Anthony took a step back. He didn't have a place to hide. Not that there was a point to hiding. He just revealed something dirty about himself, something Knox would never be able to unsee. He should've waited at least a decade before showing Knox this much crazy.
Leaning a little close, Knox fixed Anthony's clothes, too. He half smiled and spoke so softly, Anthony found himself leaning into him. "You're a little scary, you know that?"
"Is that a good thing?" Anthony hoped it was.
"It's also kind of funny."
Knox smiled wider, until dimples showed and patted Anthony on the chest before taking his exit. Anthony touched his chest and curled his lips. He needed to calm down. Closing his eyes, Anthony tried to remember why he was here. This was all business. He shouldn't muddy the waters over a tiny crush. Anthony huffed.
Anyone would develop a crush. Knox was weirdly funny, gentle, and so beautiful it made Anthony's chest ache. He'd like anyone to try to survive a conversation with Knox for five minutes and walk away without a little bite from the love bug.
"Are you broken?"
Anthony jumped, opening his eyes to find Milan still standing by the doorway. Anthony let out a tired breath. Milan's annoying levels were unstable and on the verge of reaching their peak. Anthony put on a smile. "I'm so glad we're bonding enough that you can make jokes now."
Milan's stone-cold expression didn't warm up. "Honestly, your majesty, I'm impressed by how quickly you figured Bernard out." Milan squinted, sickened by his admission. "Not that he's a master spy or anything—"
"I'm going to ignore the last comment and take the compliment."
With a small bow, Milan stepped out of Anthony's way. Anthony walked into the hallway, greeted by the open windows overlooking the night sky. With the town so far away, it all just looked like an empty abyss as if this castle didn't even exist and neither did anything outside of it.
"By the way," Milan spoke up, appearing by Anthony's side again. "Bernard also mentioned your run in with Flynn to her majesty, but I wouldn't worry about her bringing him up during dinner."
Anthony didn't look at Milan.
He just wanted the facts.
Not Milan's reaction. Anthony hoped there wasn't even an inflection to his words.
Afraid of the answer, Anthony asked, "Why did Knox break off his engagement to Flynn?"
After a pause, Milan admitted, "Queen Johanna demanded it."
"Because of the... situation in the coven?" Anthony asked carefully just in case someone was listening.
"No, this would be just before."
"Then..." Anthony's brows pinched together. "Then, why?"
"Because she disliked him. She never approved of Flynn. He was harmless as a boyfriend, but a problem as a fiancé."
Anthony snapped a fierce look at the butler. "You're telling me Knox broke off an engagement with someone I'm guessing he loved because his mother said so?"
"Please understand," Milan begged. "I've already said too much. The Queen is the only family Knox has and she..." Milan dipped his head, biting his tongue. "Pardon my impertinence, sir."
"Tell me anyways."
"She saved Knox as a boy at the expense of her husband. She had to choose, and she chose his majesty, Knox."
"So, now he chooses her."
"She comes first."
No statement hits harder than that one. All the warm gooey sweet feelings left behind on Anthony's mind turned sour. He thanked Milan and used the walk to the dining room to put himself back together, including a wall to put safely between him and Knox. Nothing was a better crush repellant than finding out a man was a horrendous mama's boy.