Epithymia – Chapter 9

Drake knocked on the door to Liam’s office tentatively, unsure why the King had called him. It was the middle of the day and, generally, Liam could be found wrapped up in meetings or attending various events. Leo remained in Cordonia; perhaps Liam was just asking him to make sure he stayed, for the most part, in line, Drake reasoned. Olivia should be doing a good enough job of that for all of us, he smirked to himself while waiting for admittance.

“Come in,” he heard Liam call from the other side of the door.

“Hey,” Drake called as he entered the room. The wood-paneled walls suffused the room with an air of importance, the heavy, dark green drapes closed against the burning summer sun. Liam stood before the bar cart, pouring himself a glass of scotch. “Would you like a glass?” he called to Drake, keeping his back to the room. Drake voiced his assent, taking a seat in one of the uncomfortable leather chairs near the fireplace.  Normally, Liam would meet with his friends in one of the rooms in his private wing. Everything about this particular meeting was odd, making Drake anxious.

Liam joined Drake, handing him his glass before taking a seat in the matching chair across from Drake. A serious expression darkened the King’s features as he gazed at his best friend.

“We need to discuss what happened the other night.”

Drake’s stomach plummeted. Three nights ago he’d had the most satisfying sexual experience of his life at the hands of Charlotte and Liam. He and Liam had been intimate before, nights of passion usually fueled by alcohol and Olivia’s urging. Yet the night Drake had spent with the King and Queen far exceeded anything he could have imagined. He loved Liam. In fact, at one time in his life he wondered if he would ever care about someone, man or woman, as much as he did for Liam. But everything changed the night he walked into that dingy bar in New York City and first laid eyes on Charlotte Fletcher.

“I trust you know what I’m referring to,” Liam continued, startling Drake from his musings. Blinking, Drake stared at his best friend, who sat stone-faced across from him. The expression Liam wore was not that of a friend or lover; Drake sat in the presence of his King. From the mind-blowing sex to the whispered confession of love to Charlotte, Drake could find nothing wrong with the night they shared.

“I’m sorry, Liam, I don’t,” he admitted. “Is something wrong? Is Charlie upset about us?”

The King scoffed and shook his head, impatience marring his usually-gentle features. “Drake, you knew the rules. You broke them.”

Liam took a long drink of his scotch, willing the liquor to calm him, to help quell the unease he felt after he realized how badly they’d fucked up. Glass after glass of whiskey, combined with Drake’s dark eyes and Charlotte’s beautiful body, made Liam forget who he was, what he was. The feeling of Drake’s mouth on his, their tongues battling for dominance, took him back to a time in his life when he could love freely, could give himself over to nights of passion without feelings of regret hanging over him in the morning. Liam steeled himself and looked Drake in the eyes, the fear and sadness in them twisting his heart.

“Liam, I stayed because I thought you wanted me to, she was there with you, with us, I”–Drake stopped mid-sentence, realizing exactly where he’d erred. “Oh my god,” he whispered, his throat tightening, his gut clenching.

“Charlotte wants this, but I have to set some ground rules before I’ll allow you to play with her,” Liam explained to Maxwell and Drake, whose heart was thudding in his chest. All these years of wanting Charlotte, needing to feel her smooth, tan legs wrapped around his waist, her mouth on his, her pussy clenched around his cock–he was finally going to get his wish. He listened intently to Liam as his best friend explained the conditions for their new arrangement.

“Charlotte must not stay the night with anyone but me,” Liam stated. “We can’t afford the servants or staff seeing her in your room, Drake, or yours when you are here, Maxwell,” he explained. “It is essential that you both understand the need for privacy if we explore this relationship together.”

Maxwell nodded excitedly. “No sleeping, got it. Next?”

Liam continued, ticking off the points on his fingers. “Number two, you must not leave any visible marks on her body. No sucking or biting her hard enough to mark her on any place visible to the public eye. And last, but perhaps the most important rule I have for you …”

Drake held his breath, waiting.

“You are never allowed to come inside Charlotte. The need for an heir is great. We have been trying, but”–Liam’s voice shook slightly–“she is not yet pregnant. When she is, there can be no questions regarding paternity.” He met his friends’ gazes. “Do we have an understanding?”

Maxwell responded enthusiastically in the afirmative. Liam trained his eyes on Drake, a moment of tension passing between the men. Drake had waited so long for Charlotte, first losing his heart to her, then losing her to Liam. He couldn’t possibly deny himself this opportunity to finally have her, at least in the physical sense, yet the thought if having to hold himself back from the one act that would make her his, at least for a moment, shattered him. Swallowing hard, he nodded at Liam.

“We do.”

Drake stared at Liam, realizing the ramifications of what he’d done. “I’m so sorry, I forgot, the feeling of you, and Charlie,” he babbled, trying to make things right, to assuage the guilt that crept into his stomach.

Liam sat quietly, his eyes averted. He knew what he must do, and it crushed him. He loved Drake, but he loved Charlotte more, and wouldn’t be able to forgive himself if another scandal erupted, one that would destroy her, one that he could avoid. Clearing his throat, he raised his eyes to his best friend, seeing the devastation written across his face. Liam knew his next words would destroy Drake and it broke his heart.

“Drake. It’s over.”

He watched as Drake blinked, not understanding Liam’s meaning. “It’s over? I know, I won’t ever do that again, I swear, I’m sor–”

“No. I can’t allow you to be with Charlotte again. It’s too great a risk.”

Liam clasped his hands together to keep them from shaking. He knew that what he was doing would change his own relationship with Drake. They’d grown up together, had been best friends for decades, had been more than that, off and on, for years. Yet none of that mattered when you were King. Who you loved, where you loved, how you loved, everything had to be carefully considered, all possible outcomes reviewed. Liam hated it, sometimes. Hated himself.

“Liam, don’t be ridiculous, it was a mistake, one that I’ll never make again,” Drake stood and crossed the room, running his hands through his hair in agitation. He spun around to face Liam. “Besides, what are the odds–”

“The fact that there are odds makes it unforgivable!” Liam shouted. “Drake, I told you at the beginning what was at stake. You didn’t follow the rules I set–”

“FUCK YOUR RULES!” Drake thundered.

They stared at each other from across the room, fists clenched, their friendship on the verge of destruction.

“You’ve always been in charge, Liam,” Drake continued, rage distorting his handsome face. “Everything I’ve ever done has been with your permission, like you’re some kind of goddamn parent and I’m just the unruly kid who has to be told what to do.

“You’ve controlled every single thing in my life, you either said I could do something or I did it because I knew it was what you needed me to do.  The one time I did something for myself, moved away, because I couldn’t stand this fucking country and its fucking nobility and how they constantly looked at me as if I were less than them, Leo ordered me back, for you, because you needed me and I had never once been able to put myself first.

“Now, the one time I’ve been able to find some kind of happiness, you want to take that away from me, tell me I can’t have that. You want to control my dick, too? After controlling every other part of my life?” Drake bellowed, not caring who could hear him baring his soul.

Liam felt the fury bubble up, no longer able to contain himself.

“Happiness, Drake?” he shouted, stepping toward Drake. “I haven’t made you happy all these years? My friendship hasn’t been enough? I’ve treated you so poorly that you felt like a prisoner here? And now you’ve finally found happiness, now that I’ve let you fuck Charlotte?

“You think I don’t know what this is about, Drake? I’ve known you too long for you to hide anything from me. I knew the minute you saw her that you wanted her for yourself, and it killed you that she wanted me first. She wanted me, she chose me, she married me. And now she’s your goddamn Queen, and I’m your King, and you need to fucking respect when I order you to do something.”

A deafening silence filled the room, both men standing feet apart, chests heaving with emotion. They stared at each other, everything out in the open between them, everything forever altered. Drake began to laugh, a hollow, bitter sound that twisted Liam’s heart.

“Respect you? You want me to respect you, Liam, when you offer your wife, the woman you supposedly love, up to your friends? When you tell us to go fuck her, just so you can run off and do whatever you want? Respect you for the times you tell Charlotte you’re working for ‘the crown,’ or whatever bullshit line you feed her, when really, you’re off to wherever, fucking every noble woman you can find?”

Drake stopped, shaking his head, unable to believe that the man he’d known all these years, had loved all these years, was the same man standing before him.

“I love Charlotte,” Liam replied, his voice shaking with barely-controlled rage. “The agreement we have with one another is none of your goddamn business.”

“Yeah, sure, I bet she’s totally fine with you banging the woman who tried to ruin her life,” Drake seethed. “You know what? I don’t know care what the hell you do, but I refuse to let you hurt Charlotte. See you around, Your Majesty.”

Drake spun around and stormed out of the office, slamming the door behind him, intent on finding Charlotte. He had a feeling she had no idea Liam was sleeping with anyone other than Olivia or Hana, women she trusted completely, and he desperately wanted to take her away from all this, from them, before Liam’s actions destroyed her.

The King stood alone, in his office, shocked by what had transpired. How did Drake know? Who else knew? He lunged for his phone sitting on the desk, furiously pressing the screen to unlock it. He knew Drake was headed straight to Charlotte, and he had to circumvent his friend. Former friend, he thought bitterly, bringing the phone to his ear. One ring, two rings … Liam held his breath, praying that his wife would answer her phone. Three rings …

“Hello?”