Chapter Seven:
Seto stiffened as Atemu grabbed his head and kissed him, as if nothing at all had happened that day. His tongue caressed Seto's bottom lip intimately and his body pressed against Seto's hard. And despite his anger with him, Seto couldn't deny the buzz of pleasure that raced up his spine at the sudden contact. Nevertheless, he reached up and grabbed Atemu's shoulders, pushing him forcibly back at arm's length.
"You must be joking," he said coldly. "Do you think knowing you're the prince changes nothing?"
Atemu scowled. "This is why I didn't want you to know." He sighed heavily and looked disappointed. "Very well. I bid you good night."
He turned away and headed across the room to the door. Without looking back, he opened it.
Seto crossed the room and grabbed his arm. Atemu stopped, turning around as Seto pulled on his arm. The smile on his face was infuriating and Seto pushed him back against the door, shutting it at the same time. He stood over him, hand still gripping his arm, the other hand resting on the door he'd shut. Atemu looked up at him expectantly.
Seto bent his head down and Atemu pulled his arm from his grip, wrapping both around his neck. Their mouths met and Seto closed his eyes, winding his arms around Atemu's waist, pulling him up against him. Atemu moaned, then lightly pushed against him. Seto allowed him to walk him backwards, sitting down slowly on the edge. Atemu climbed into his lap without hesitation, his legs wrapped around Seto's hips, heels against the bed. They had not even broken the kiss, which was becoming rapidly more heated. Atemu parted his lips and Seto took the opportunity to push his tongue inside. He moved his hands around to Atemu's front, then pushed them in under the dressing gown, then under his nightshirt. His skin was so warm, so smooth.
Seto broke the kiss to breathe. Atemu looked down at him, his eyes heavy-lidded, cheeks beginning to turn pink. Seto reached up, sliding one hand gently into his hair, pulling him in for another kiss. Atemu moaned again, his hands coming up to push Seto's dressing gown off his shoulders. Seto lowered his arms so that Atemu could finish pushing it down, taking it off his wrists and leaving it on the bed.
He reached up to do the same to Atemu, sliding his hands down his arms, leaning in to kiss the juncture of neck and shoulder, visible beneath the loose collar of his nightshirt. Seto bit lightly at his shoulder, his hands down around Atemu's wrists, lightly imprisoning them behind his back. Atemu arched closer to him, head turned to the side, a soft sound leaving his throat. Seto slid his mouth up his neck, nipped at the edge of his jaw, then slid his mouth back down his neck as Atemu tilted his head back, face to the ceiling. Seto kissed his collarbone, then reluctantly released his wrists to push his hands under his shirt and lift it up. Atemu raised his arms and allowed Seto to take it off. He dropped his arms and watched Seto as he looked him over.
The prince was pale and slender and leanly muscled. Seto raised his eyes to his, then leaned up for another kiss. He gently pulled Atemu off him, rolling him onto the bed, leaning over him to continue the kiss. He started down his chest, experimentally licking a nipple. Atemu arched and shivered, head turned to the side, eyes closed. The front of his night pants were tenting and Seto was no better off.
He sat up to look down at Atemu, who turned his head and opened his eyes to look back up at him. He reached out and cupped Seto's cheek, pushing himself up to kiss him. Seto opened his mouth and kissed him back, reaching out to run his hand down his side to his hip, to the waistband of his sleep pants. Atemu's hand fisted in the front of his night shirt, his tongue curling around Seto's. He slowly lay back down, drawing Seto down with him.
A knock at the door made them both jump. Seto pulled away from Atemu, sitting up, looking towards the door. Atemu sat up as well, reaching for his night shirt and robe.
"Who is that?" Seto hissed under his breath.
"How should I know?" Atemu retorted. For the first time, he looked worried.
Another knock came to the door, slightly louder than the previous one. Seto stood and grabbed his own robe, pulling it on over his clothes. Atemu hurried over to the closet, sliding into it without a word. After checking to make sure that he was out of sight, Seto cinched his dressing gown shut and headed towards the door.
"I'm coming," he snapped as another knock sounded. Brushing his hand through his hair so that it would look even more sleep-tousled, well aware of his condition and hoping the robe hid enough, he reached out and yanked the door open. "This had better be—"
Yuugi lowered the hand that was raised for another knock. "Hello, Kaiba," he said. "I came to apologize, but now it seems I must apologize for two things instead of just one. I didn't mean to wake you."
At a loss at this sudden appearance, well aware that Yuugi's royal cousin was shut inside his closet, Seth frowned down at the smaller man. "Apologize for what?"
"Why, how Katsuya and I acted towards you the other day," Yuugi said. "It was rude of us. I would have apologized earlier, but I didn't have a chance to talk to you. I took supper in my quarters and didn't realize that you were here until a servant told me."
It was true that he hadn't been at the table with them. Seto nodded, hoping that Yuugi had satisfied himself in apologizing and would soon go.
"There's nothing to apologize for," he said. "I shouldn't have been wandering around on my own. Please accept *my* apology."
"Done." Yuugi smiled. As before, Seto didn't like his smile and he didn't know why. It looked pleasant enough. His violet eyes fairly sparkled with good humor. "Well, I shouldn't be even ruder and keep you from sleep. I hope the room is to your liking?"
His eyes flickered past Seto briefly at the room as if searching for something Seto didn't like about it.
Seto nodded quickly, resisting the guilty urge to block his view. "It's fine, thank you."
"Good." Yuugi's eyes returned to his and he smiled again. "Well, good night, then, Kaiba."
"Good night."
Yuugi turned and headed down the hallway. Seto wanted to watch him out of sight, but he instead shut the door, so Yuugi wouldn't catch him watching. Looking the door, he turned to the closet. Atemu was peering out, once again wearing his shirt and robe. He slipped out, frowning.
"Why was my cousin here?" he asked. He must have heard Yuugi's voice.
"Apologizing to me."
"For what?"
"For Katsuya threatening to arrest me on All Hallows' Eve."
Atemu's frown deepened. "But that was so long ago. Why is he apologizing now?"
"I don't know. Maybe it was a ruse. Maybe he saw you sneak out and followed you."
If that was the case, then they could be in deep trouble.
However, Atemu shook his head. "Impossible. Our quarters are in different wings and I was very careful. More likely he was checking up on you. He saw you walking around unescorted in the palace on All Hallows' and now you are here again. Perhaps he suspects you."
Seto hoped so. It would be much better for Yuugi to think he might be a thief than to think he had an untoward contact with the prince. They were pushing their luck as it was.
"You'd better go."
Atemu looked surprised. "What? But I just told you, he can't suspect anything."
"You don't know that for sure. And even if he didn't, think rationally for once."
Atemu's red eyes narrowed. Seto was aware that he was insulting the crown prince. Nevertheless, he stared back at him steadily. Finally Atemu sniffed.
"Very well."
He turned and stalked across the room. Seto watched him open the door and he wanted to stop him like he had before, to press him against the mattress and explore this thing between them fully. Instead, he watched Atemu leave the room and shut the door. The sound seemed ominously final.
...
The next morning, Seto and Mokuba breakfasted in the great dining hall. The only person to dine with them was Lady Helen, who definitely seemed taken with Mokuba, like an older woman wishing she had a son. None of the royal family showed up. The king would be too busy and Atemu was likely unwilling to see Seto. But where was Yuugi?
After breakfast, Seto and Mokuba climbed into their carriage to head home. Bundled against the cold, Seto peered out the window, watching the palace disappear into the distance. Framed against the iron-grey sky, snow drifting down, lights gleaming in the many windows, the palace was a Christmas card photo in real life.
Seto wondered what the prince was doing at the moment.
He leaned back against his seat and sighed.
"What's wrong, Seto?" Mokuba asked.
"Just looking forward to the long, cold ride home," Seto grumbled.
Mokuba smiled. "Well, don't be too down, Seto. It's nearly Christmas!"
Seto frowned. That was true, it was. And this time of year saw everyone in the higher social circles trying to outdo everyone else in their grand Christmas parties. Everything else was merely practice up until this point. And the social bickering was worse than ever. Those who had parties took great offense at declined invitations. No other time in the whole year saw more changes in alliances than the time of good will toward men.
"In fact," Mokuba continued shyly, "Rose already invited me to her party."
Seto turned his attention to his brother, who blushed and pulled something out of his coat pocket. It was a small rectangular card, embossed with a mother-of-pearl letters spelling out Rose Kensington, and an embossed namesake blossom that was a delicate pink. The card looked a lot like the cards grown ladies gave to gentlemen suitors they were interested in.
"She asked me the last time I saw her," Mokuba said. "Her mother is already planning."
Seto rolled his eyes. Mokuba gave him a few seconds, then prodded. "So, can I go?"
"Sure. You're pretty serious with this girl." The constant parties, the locket, and now the card.
Mokuba flushed again and nodded. "Yeah. We like each other. If you like each other, well, you should be together, right?"
Seto looked out the window again and frowned. "Yeah. I guess."
And of course he was thinking of Atemu.
...
A few days later, Seto glanced up from his reading at the polite address from his head maid. It was barely two o'clock in the afternoon; Mokuba was away at boarding school, his last week before the Christmas holidays, and the evening staff had not yet arrived for preparing dinner and turning down the bedrooms.
"You have a visitor, sir, "Mrs. Galley said, bowing respectfully. "I've shown him to the parlor."
Seto closed his book and got to his feet. Mrs. Galley bustled off to the kitchen while Seto headed to the front parlor. His guest was standing near and armoire, quite rudely holding a photograph and studying it.
Even from the back Seto recognized the small form of Prince Atemu. He stopped in the doorway in shock and Atemu didn't seem to notice his presence. He was holding the picture of the Kaiba family the summer after Mokuba was born. Their mother had been seated with their father standing behind her chair and she had been holding Mokuba in her arms. Seto had been standing on her other side.
For some reason, seeing Atemu holding the picture of his family made him angry. That was private and no one, not even the prince, had the right to mess with it. But just as he was opening his mouth to say something, Atemu turned slightly. In profile, Atemu was still looking at the picture and his face was contemplative, even sad. As Seto watched, Atemu set the picture down carefully, then seemed to realize he was there. He turned to face him, speaking as if he were expected. And he didn't act the least bit abashed having been caught being nosy.
"Ah, there you are."
"What are you doing here?"
Atemu walked over. His expression was now closed. "I came to finally get my hat."
Seto blinked and Atemu just stared at him for a long time. His expression didn't change. Seto finally jerked his head.
"Come on. I'll get it."
Seto turned and headed down the hall to the back stairs. The prince followed after him and Seto knew he was looking around as they went. He wondered how his family's manor compared in the prince's eyes to the castle he was used to, though he didn't know why he cared.
Seto led Atemu to his room, walking across to the closet. He threw open the doors and there was the hat, sitting on the shelf, rather dusty. Seto didn't bother to attempt cleaning off the dust; he just shoved it at Atemu. "There."
Atemu took the hat, but didn't so much as look at it. Instead, he was staring at Seto, his expression still guarded, but eyes fiery. Seto frowned, gesturing.
"You got the hat you wanted so bad."
"Yes."
Seto grunted and looked away. He couldn't take the intense stare of those red eyes. He couldn't deny the heat in them, and he knew that Atemu was still furious with Seto for turning him down, for not having courage to play his game. But Seto had other things to think about than what the prince wanted. Mokuba, his liberty, his property, his family's legacy.
Although it wasn't only the prince who wanted it.
"You got the hat," he repeated finally.
Atemu sighed heavily. He sounded like he was disappointed in Seto. "Mind showing me to the door?"
Seto gestured towards the door for Atemu to precede him. Atemu turned and headed from the room, Seto following after him. He walked with him through the halls down to the front door. Parked just outside of the gates was the familiar black carriage with the four bay horses. Atemu turned on the stoop, looking up at him. His eyes were still cold, but then he smiled.
"Thanks for keeping it safe for me."
Seto watched as he turned and headed down the walk. No more snow had fallen since the groundskeepers had shoveled the long walk to the front gates, though a few fat flakes fell now. Atemu's black-clad form stood out starkly against the white, clearly visible all the way to the gates. Atemu climbed up into the carriage as the attendant held the door open; Seto noticed that neither the attendant nor the driver holding the horses' reins were James or the nervous man. Smart, to keep those who had seen Atemu with Seto at the pub from seeing him visiting Seto at home, even if he'd only been there long enough to collect his hat.
The carriage door was closed and the attendant pulled himself up to sit next to the driver, who flicked the reins. The four horses started walking, turning around to head back to the lane. Seto stood and watched the black carriage grow smaller and smaller until it disappeared into the thick trees of the forest.
tbc…