Jainan took another step and closed the distance, his hand coming up to rest on Kiem’s chest. Desire sparked across Kiem’s skin like a current. His breath stopped under the touch, and before he could think about it, his hands came up to clasp Jainan’s waist—but no, what was he doing? Jainan was in mourning. Kiem managed to stop himself from instinctively pulling their bodies in closer. Jainan froze in response, staring at him from a couple of inches away as if wondering what had gone wrong. Jainan clearly decided after a moment that Kiem wasn’t going to take the initiative; he tilted his head and leaned in dutifully. Kiem gave the whole thing up as a bad deal, leaned forward, and had the most excruciatingly awkward kiss he’d ever had with a person he was extremely attracted to. They both tried to draw back at the first contact then realized their mistake, and Jainan’s nose bumped against Kiem’s clumsily, and they both drew back again. And despite all that, even the light pressure of Jainan’s lips had Kiem’s heart beating off-rhythm in his chest.

Jainan stepped back. Kiem dropped his hands back down as if he’d been burned. He managed to catch Jainan’s eye with a grimace of apology. Jainan only looked blank.

“Gentlemen! To the front, please,” the steward said. Belatedly, Kiem held out his hand, and they both turned toward the reporters. Hren flashed him a hand signal that meant Kiem was booked for interviews afterward.

“Your Highness? Count Jainan?” a reporter called out. “What does it feel like to be married?”

“Wonderful,” Jainan said. Kiem felt a tremor go through Jainan’s hand.

That question had been directed at Kiem. He pulled up a smile from somewhere. He didn’t want to know what it looked like. “Great!” he said. “It’s great.”

CHAPTER 4

The empty hoverchest bobbed in the middle of Taam’s rooms, but Jainan didn’t start packing straightaway when he returned. Instead he sank into a chair and held his head tightly, tightly, as if he could squeeze his skull into a better shape and relieve the pressure.

In the few words he and Prince Kiem had exchanged after the ruined ceremony—the ceremony Jainan had ruined—Jainan had tried to find an opportunity to apologize but hadn’t been able to get the words out. Stupid.

Useless. All he’d managed to do was turn down Prince Kiem’s offer to help with the packing and retreat, like a coward, to Taam’s rooms. Leaving Prince Kiem to think him ungrateful as well as unfit. He had turned down the post-ceremony interview requests, as well, and hadn’t realized until it was too late that Prince Kiem seemed to have accepted them and had gone off to give the interviews on his own.