Brett understood, but he hoped they wouldn’t judge him based on who his family was.
“Brett! Lovely to see you again,” Kendal said. “Would you like a drink?” They rose.
Brett waved them off. “No, I’m good, thanks.”
“Take a seat,” Andrew said, seating himself next to Kean with Kendal on Kean’s other side. “What do you need?”
Brett settled into an armchair to the side of them. “My family…”
Andrew nodded. “I saw Lieutenant Colonel Cage. I wondered what had happened.”
Brett caught them up with the goings-on, including Neil’s second-in-command taking it upon himself to bring in the Army. Then he paused and rubbed his forehead. “We have a potential issue, and I’m not sure what to do about it right now.”
Andrew leant forward. “What is it?”
He reiterated his conversation with his sister and her warning about having to pay a price.
“Who?”
“Malcolm’s son is Maddox. The problem I have is that I was planning on firing him after his stunt today.” He enlightened them about him not searching well enough for Matt and Van.
The king rubbed his chin, his eyes on the coffee table. Brett hated waiting, but Andrew was as good—if not better—at figuring people out than he was.
“Malcolm is breaking the rules that were initially created with your father,” Andrew finally said. “It’s understandable given that there has been a change in leadership, but ideally it should’ve been discussed rather than on a whim. But while this is inconvenient to us, keeping an eye on Maddox is something that might be worthwhile. And with him being close to us, it would work in our favour.”
“But how can I trust him to do the work I need him to do when Ican’ttrust him?”
“Give him busywork. Malcolm didn’t state that Maddox had to be guarding someone. He only said he had tobea guard,” Kean said.
Brett stared at Kean as the weight lifted from his shoulders. “Shit, yes.” He blinked. “Sorry, Your Highnesses.”
Andrew chuckled. “It’s nice to see you lose that composure sometimes. Maybe one day you’ll slip up and call me Andrew.” The hope in his tone made Brett smile.
“Maybe.” He stood. “Thank you, Your Majesty. I will keep him busy and keep an eye on him. Now I just have the joy of training some replacement guards from the dismal display I had to choose from.”
Andrew threw his head back, laughter spilling from him. “I don’t envy you that job. Go home and get some rest.”
“Don’t laugh too much, Your Majesty. You get final approval, remember?” With that, Brett left, breathing easier than he had been when he entered the room. “See you later, Colt.”
Colt nodded and returned to his book.
As he sat at his desk once more, it was with a renewed sense that things were going to be fine. Obviously, they had a threat hanging over their heads, but while that was something to worry about, they couldn’t do much about it right then. But he could get these damn plans done.
Four hours later, he had whittled the second list down to three and sent them over to Robyn to add to the four he had already requested. Next week would be hell on earth interviewing seven potential guards, but it had to be done.
Then, he did something he didn’t often do… He went home.
Every time he parked in the driveway and looked at the building that was his house, he felt a constriction around his chest. Anyone else would see a well-kept brick bungalow with a large front garden surrounded by a fence and a garage to the side. Brett saw his mother’s perfect home. This was the home she had always dreamt of living in, as she had told Brett so many times before she died. She’d hated the ten-bedroom mansion his father had chosen for them to live in, but she kept her peace. He had made it his mission to buy the house she wanted, but despite his mother having never stepped inside the place, it echoed withher presence, making Brett feel the loss every time he walked through the door.
He checked the security log as he entered, ensuring there had been no undesirable visitors in his absence. And while Rosie had curled up on his porch earlier that day, nothing else had been there. Rosie was a cat that had deemed Brett’s porch her own territory. She didn’t have a collar or a microchip, so he had no idea if she had an owner, but he had no problems with her seeking refuge on his property.
He reset the alarm to show he was in the building and then trudged up the stairs to have a shower. Dropping his clothes in the hamper outside the door, he strode naked into the wet room. The water immediately started and steam quickly enveloped the room. He closed his eyes as he went under the spray and just stood there, letting the water flow over him, breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth. For the first time in a long time, he let everything go and just concentrated on the sensation of the water sliding over his skin. His mind wandered, recalling the event of earlier. Felix’s body wrapped around his, his tight hole clenching repeatedly around Brett’s cock. He turned his back to the spray and opened his eyes, staring at the one item that remained in the room at all times. A silicone, suction-based shaft resting on a stool. His own dick was already hard and waiting, just the reminder of what he’d experienced with Felix, and he reached for the poor stand-in, needing to get rid of this heat building inside him.
He knew exactly where he needed to stick the toy to get the right height, and once it was in place, he reached for the shower lube and slicked his hole. The intrusion of his finger was welcome, the stretch centring and focusing him on his end goal—an orgasm. Pumping his fingers in and out, he slicked his insides ready for the toy and then turned his back to the spray again. The stool had been adapted to have suction cups at thebottom of each leg, which stopped it from moving in the shower when he leaned on it. It also had two back legs longer than the front, which tilted it and gave him a better grip. After all, it was so much easier to lean over when he was getting reamed—even if it was by a toy.
Leaning his hands on the stool and curving his fingers around the edge, he moved back a little until the head of the toy touched his skin. The intimate feel of something ready to slide inside him sent heat up his spine, tingling his extremities. He closed his eyes and pushed back, the cock breaching his ring. He took it slowly, not because he needed to, but because he wanted to. He loved the feel of a dick sliding into him. That was what sex was, but he liked the feel of a cock not being there and then pushing in. It was why he pulled himself free fully from the toy and then pushed it back in again. He did it a few times, and then he paused and opened his eyes a slit. His eyes, and then his fingers, found the small control pad stuck to the stool.
He turned the toy on and groaned as the toy began sliding into him slowly. Keeping as still as he could, he dropped his head forward and just felt. The slide of the cock, the water beading over his skin, the heat of the water raining down on him, it all made for a combined sensation overload. His dick leaked, the hard, red shaft straining for the ultimate prize, but Brett didn’t want it to end just yet. He increased the speed of the toy and changed his position slightly, ensuring the toy hit him just where he wanted it to. It made it more difficult to put off his orgasm, but with sheer force of will, he panted through the motions, his entire body alight with electricity racing from one side to the other, from head to toe. Goosebumps flowed across his skin, not from the cold, but from the heat.