Alex sifted through decades-old registers, parchment with faded ink, and maps of Narea, but found nothing that could even remotely resemble accounting records.
He also found some old love letters between an official and a young maiden. Decidedly explicit.
He suppressed a smirk.
"Well, this is interesting."
William looked up at him. "Did you find them?"
"I found something better. Listen to this. 'When I brush the soft curve of your grapefruits, the shoot between my legs trembles with the desire to bathe in your snowy bud. But since you refuse to grant me your jewel, I am forced to seek solitary pleasure.'"
William's lips curled into a grimace. "Truly in poor taste."
"After that he goes on to give a vivid description of the positions he'd like to put her in."
"Your Highness, you are getting distracted by nonsense."
Alex chuckled and put the letters back where he had found them. "I would be far better—and far less vulgar."
"Really?" William said, arching an eyebrow.
"Yes."
He stepped closer and gently took his hand.
"I brush your delicate, ink-stained fingers, and all I feel is the sweetness of a goblet of wine caressing my throat. And yet your hands grip my heart in a cruel, bitter vice."
He brushed the back of William's hand with his lips.
"However difficult it may be, I cannot help but yearn for the moment when you will let your defenses fall and allow me to kiss your wounds."
William's eyes widened, a faint blush spreading across his cheeks.
"Your Highness…"
His voice came out hoarse, and Alex took pleasure in it. He had caught William off guard; it didn't happen often.
He let go of his hand and smiled crookedly. "Was I good?"
"You're good enough." The mage cleared his throat and tucked a lock of hair behind his ear. "You can use it when you declare your love to your future wife."
"Too bad I have someone else in mind."
William gave him a strange look, then frowned and abruptly turned toward the door.
"Damn it," he muttered.
He grabbed Alex by the wrist and shoved him into the space between the bookcase and the wall they had discovered earlier. Then he pressed himself close, flicked his fingers, and darkness fell over the room.
A moment later, the door creaked on its hinges.
"Let's make this quick," a male voice muttered.
Alex tilted his head and tried to peer through the gaps between the volumes, but he couldn't see anything.
"At least you know why we have to look for this stuff?" asked a second man.
"I don't ask questions. I just do as I'm told."
"I'd be curious."
"Curiosity kills."
Someone moved on the other side of the bookcase, and William pressed against Alex's body. His leg slipped between the prince's, and Alex held his breath.
They were too close; this was dangerous.
"Don't you think it smells like melted wax?"
"A bit. So what? Maybe someone worked overtime."
Alex let out a soft breath and looked around. It was dark enough that they wouldn't be seen, but he didn't want to face attackers in such a cramped space.
William leaned toward his face; his leg pressed against Alex's groin, and a hand slid along the prince's back. Alex bit his lip, his heart leaping into his throat. It was pounding so hard the mage might feel it through the light fabric separating them.
William squeezed one of his buttocks; Alex slid his hands in the hollow of William's lower back and pulled him closer. The mage stiffened in his arms and clutched at the prince's shirt.
On the other side of their hiding place, the two men kept moving books and parchment, opening the desk drawers. Their movements were efficient, but laced with a certain impatience that showed in huffs and curses.
One of the men moved closer to their hiding spot. "Did you check here?"
"I don't think they'd be there."
"Might as well check."
Alex tensed and pulled William tight against him. His heart hammered in his chest as William's warm breath brushed his neck. The mage's hand slid down again over his ass, groping as if searching for something beneath his clothes.
Alex's eyes widened. Of course—he was trying to reach the dagger he wore under his clothes.
He lifted his hips slightly; William stretched against him, tugged his shirt up, and drew the weapon. Then he pressed it into his palm. Alex closed his fingers around the hilt and relaxed just a little.
"Found them! Shitty letters—he'd tucked them into the false bottom."
Alex frowned. Letters? So they weren't there for the records?
The other man slapped his accomplice on the shoulder, then the two of them straightened the room and left the archives.
Darkness enveloped them, along with a tense silence.
Alex and William stayed still for a long time, warm breaths brushing their lips, hearts pounding hard.
"They're gone," the mage murmured.
"That was close."
"It was." William moved his leg against the prince's crotch, and a violent fire ignited in Alex's lower belly. His cock hardened, and a small whimper slipped from his lips.
"Will, you're—"
William grabbed his face and pressed his lips to Alex's.
The prince's eyes widened, then he let the dagger fall to the floor, placed his hands on his ass, and pulled him close. He closed his eyes and surrendered to desire.
It wasn't like the other times. It was a fierce kiss, driven by a dark hunger that pushed them to devour each other.
Alex sank his fingers into William's hair and forced him to part his lips. He stroked his tongue, tasted it, and with every touch a shiver of pleasure ran down his spine.
They broke apart for the space of a breath, then went back to kissing.
William was fierce with his lips and his hands. His fingers caressed the skin of Alex's back and clutched at his clothes; his leg rubbed against the prince's groin.
Alex moaned. It was a dangerous game, and yet he was enjoying it, wanting nothing else.
"William…" He nibbled at his lower lip and traced it with his tongue. "Will…"
The arousal grew until it became unbearable, pulling painfully against the fabric.
William unbuttoned his shirt and bared his collarbone.
"Your Highness…" His breath brushed Alex's neck and earlobe. "Don't touch me."
The prince pulled his hands away from the mage's body and rested the back of his head against the wall. His breathing grew quicker and hotter in his chest.
William slid the shirt off his shoulders. The fabric gathered around Alex's wrists, limiting his movements as if they were bound by ropes.
"Will, I'm aroused."
"I know."
The mage's lips grazed the skin of his neck, along his collarbone, and moved down to his chest—slow, damp, and warm. They circled a nipple and sucked.
Alex moaned again, his throat vibrating with all the pleasure he was holding back.
"I'm… losing my mind…"
"I know. I can feel you."
William pinched his other nipple between his fingers while he went back to sucking the first. His leg rubbed against Alex's growing erection, in an erotic game that was pushing the prince toward the edge.
"Will…"
The mage twisted a nipple, and a shiver of pleasure ran through Alex.
"Do you want me, Your Highness?"
"Yes," Alex murmured, his voice hoarse with arousal.
"How much?"
"I'd do anything for you."
"If you could touch me, what would you do to me?"
"I…" Alex moaned, and a tremor made his muscles clench. "I'd hold you and… push you against the wall."
William's fingers slid slowly along his ribs. "And then?"
"I'd lift you up… kiss you and… make you feel how aroused I am."
"And then?" The mage's lips traced his jaw while his fingertips moved lower along the hollows of his abs. "What else would you do to me?"
"I'd… lay you out on the desk… or against a bookcase." He stiffened when William's fingers stopped at the waistband of his trousers, another moan slipping from his lips. "I'd take you… and drive you to a pleasure so intense that… that you'd forget everything."
"Even though you don't like being the active one?"
"Yes." Alex panted, his face burning with excitement. "When I look at you, I… I want to be inside you, to give you pleasure. I want to be only yours. To fill you and… erase the pain they caused you."
William bit his shoulder. "I like your fantasies, Your Highness."
He slipped a hand into Alex's trousers; his fingers slid over sensitive skin and tore a long growl from him.
"You've earned yourself a reward."
"William…"
"Keep telling me."
"Pull my trousers down. I beg you."
William lowered them over his hips and increased the intensity of the stimulation, twisting a nipple with his other hand. "Go on, Your Highness."
"I…" He moaned, and the fire in his lower belly grew until it was unbearable. "I'd take you gently. I'd cover your neck with kisses and… hold you to my chest. And then… then…"
The mage's fingers pressed on the sensitive tip, and Alex jerked with a small spasm.
"Will, I'm about to come…"
"Do it."
As if his body had decided to obey William's voice, the prince came with a low growl. His breath burned in his chest, hot and rapid, and a trickle of sweat slid between his shoulder blades.
"William…" He shifted his gaze to William's face and his breath hitched. "Will? Are you all right?"
The mage was staring at his hand smeared with semen, eyes wide, chest rising and falling too fast.
"William?"
William parted his lips, but no sound came out. A sob broke his breath; a slight tremor clenched his hands. He dropped to his knees as if his legs had stopped holding him up and rubbed his palms on his clothes—again and again, even though there was nothing left to wipe away.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have. It's my fault. I'm sorry. I'm disgusting, I'm disgusting, I'm disgusting."
"You're not disgusting. There's nothing wrong with you."
But William wasn't listening. He kept rubbing his trembling hands against his clothes, continuing to murmur "I'm disgusting" and "I'm sorry" in a voice so low that Alex wasn't sure that they were meant for him.
"Will, if you fall apart, I… I won't know how to put you back together."
But it was as if William wasn't really in that room. As if those cruel phrases he was using to punish himself were the only thing holding together whatever had shattered inside him.
And Alex felt only a blind rage toward whoever had hurt him, and a sense of helplessness so deep that he wished he had never agreed to that kiss.