Ciaran's POV:

As horrible as it sounds, I almost hope that Rowan's pathetic extension of his family tries to insult him and myself, because then I will have the honor of defending him. Not only that, but I still have a lot of pent up anger for my old Master, Daliah, and Vladimir, so it would be nice to take that out on Rowan's family because in my eyes as of now, they are not good people.

I should not judge people before I meet them, but Rowan's words struck a cord with me; Master always poked fun at me and expressed his amusement over my parents' death, and knowing that others have done that to Rowan over the death of his dad makes me so angry.

No one should ever make this beautiful man cry; he deserves so much better. He deserves to spend all of his days in happiness, to be able to see both of his fathers at dinner, to be fulfilled and not have to worry about a war that came at the expense of my weakness and inability to defend my own home.

We are laying in his bed; Rowan with a towel wrapped around his waist, while I lay in his robe with the front open, and I wear undergarments so my privates are not out in the open for everyone to see, though I doubt Rowan would mind.

"This is one of the reasons I adore you," Rowan says, and I am confused, because we are not doing anything. He must understand this, because he speaks before I have a chance. "By this, I mean we do not have to be doing anything in order for the two of us to be enjoying ourselves. We can merely be lying here, enjoying our time together and that is enough."

His words always have a way of making my insides warm, and every part of me want to lay with him and hold him until the day I die.

"We are an exquisite pair," I say, smiling as I reach across the extra sheets that Ivan laid on the bed, to grab Rowan's hand in my own, rubbing the back of his hand with my thumb. "Every day I am more thankful that you took me with you."

Rowan turns his head, looking over at me, his dark eyes staring through me. "I cannot thank you enough for disobeying your fears and that pathetic excuse of a Master and saving me. Even though I could have left you behind and you would have been hurt for what you did, you still helped me, and I am forever in your debt."

"You took me away from there. We owe each other," I argue, scooting closer to Rowan and wrapping my arm around his shoulder and putting my other hand on his heart.

I try to keep myself from blushing because his chest is extremely broad and I would very much appreciate if he laid on me and pressed our chests together. Maybe we'd even kiss, but I need to keep those thoughts from my mind at the moment.

"I cannot believe the gods have blessed me with the chance to be near you, to have a chance to be with you, if you'll still have me."

My heart speeds up and I watch as Rowan pushes himself up on his side, cupping my cheek with one of his hands. Oh gods, he's leaning in! Do I lean in, too?!

Agh, I suppose I'll figure it out as I go!

I lean in toward Rowan's lips, my eyes closing and hoping he will guide me through my first real, meaningful kiss. However, as soon I feel his breath on my lips, there is a loud knock at the door, making my start and pull away from him.

Rowan looks a little hurt, but it is overshadowed by annoyance. He glares at the door and wraps his arms around me, dragging my body into his chest.

"Gods, I despise these people who keep interrupting us!" he whispers in my ear, rubbing my back and glaring past me at the door.

A shrill voice calls through the door. "Rowaaaan! I know you're in there!" a girl shrieks, and I know it is probably the horrible cousin that Rowan spoke of.

I can tell from her voice that I will not like her.

"Gods, just let me die," Rowan groans, burying his face in my neck. "Foolish bitch actually thinks that I will entertain the thought of being with her. That is disgusting!"

The annoyance in his tone makes me chuckle a bit, and I reach up to pet his soft hair. My short spur of amusement is taken from me when the annoying brat at the door pounds on it again, whining for Rowan to let her in.

"I'll get the hammer and hide behind it if you open the door," I murmur, and I am honestly not joking, but both Rowan and I know it would not be appreciated if I murdered his cousin.

"I wish you could," Rowan mumbles, getting up and putting on his clothes. "I better dress or she might leap on me."

Jealous, that's how I feel when he says that. However, I know he does not feel anything for anyone except me, which makes me feel so much better.

I wrap his robe tighter around me, listening as he opens the door, but I really do not want to see the bitch at the door.

"Who is on our bed, Rowan?" I hear her ask.

Oh, she did not just say that!

"My bed," Rowan grumbles, and I glance over to see him not allowing the rat in his room, which is closer to being mine and Rowan's room to hers and Rowan's room.

"Ah, give it time," she says, and I bite my tongue to keep from snapping at her. "Now, who is the bed?!"

Rowan must be glaring at her, because I know that he does not enjoy when people ask questions that he does not want to answer.

"My lover. Go away, Emily," he scolds, trying to close the door, but she gasps and I hear her pushing the door open.

"You are sleeping with someone else?!"

Rowan doesn't miss a beat. "Yes."

"That is cheating!"

"No it is not, because I am not committed to anyone except the one in my bed right now."

Emily lets out an angry cross between a guttural growl and a shriek. "Well, at least make the bitch in your bed face me!"

Rowan turns and smirks at me, and I know he is very much looking forward to his cousin seeing who I am, and that I am very much not a female.

I get up and tie the robe, strutting over to meet Emily face to face, making sure to show off the fact that, yes, I own this room and as for the prince, he likes me.

"Is this a joke?" Emily asks, and oh gods, I am not confident in my appearance, but she looks horrendous.

Not her face, because she actually is fair skinned with beautiful hazel eyes, but she has a pound of not well done makeup on her face and here hair looks like a gross, greasy tower. It is probably enforced by a gallon of hair gels and oils. She is wearing a puffy dress with ties that make her breasts appear larger than they really are.

She should have stuffed them if she wanted her boobs to look bigger.

"No, this is not a joke," Rowan says, confidently taking my waist in his hand and tugging my body to his. "Emily, this is Ciaran. He is my partner."

Emily looks at me like I am dirt at the bottom of her shoe. "Do not be an idiot, Rowan. You cannot be with him."

"Last I checked, I'm the prince and future king of this kingdom, and I can do as I please," Rowan says, and I feel him squeeze my side in a reassuring fashion. "So leave Ciaran and myself be, as we have better things to do than listen to you whine."

"My parents will not allow this."

Rowan laughs, making her back up at the harsh sound. "Your parents have no influence here. Get out of my face," he says, closing the door and taking me toward the window. "Once she gets over being stunned, she will barge in here or whine until our ears bleed, so we will go hide in the kitchen."

I go along with it, getting dressed in my winter clothes as Rowan opens the window. It isn't very high from the ground, only about eight or nine feet, so I know we can drop down painlessly.

Rowan goes first, hopping down and skillfully rolling on his shoulder. "Come on, Ciaran! I will help you land."

Taking a deep breath, I follow his lead and laugh as I land and he helps me to stay standing.

"That was fun," I say as Rowan takes my hand and we run toward the back entrance to the kitchen and follow the path, which has already been covered in snow again.

Rowan pushes the door open and we both stop in our tracks, since Tyla and Uriel are both only partially dressed and definitely have moved a bit faster in their relationship that Rowan and I.

"You could have knocked," Tyla says in a bitter tone, glaring at us. "Why are you here?"

"My cousin, aunt, and uncle are here," Rowan says, and that is enough to get Tyla to show pity rather than resentment.

They walk over to us, pushing their way out the door and open a box. Tyla brings a silver container out and opens it, making Rowan's eyes light up.

"It is a frozen treat that I make, Ciaran," Tyla explains, handing us both flatware. "To cure your depression over that brat not being five days away from us."

I walk over to Uriel and grin. "So, it looks like your day has been fun..."

He blushes. "Yes, very fun," he mumbles, and I can tell he is embarrassed, but he is also proud to be with Tyla, if they are in a committed relationship, that is.

"Here, try," Rowan says, holding his spoon with a scoop of white... something in it.

I take the bite and it is cold, but it is delicious. The substance is frozen but soft and melts in my mouth... now I can see why Rowan loves it!

The kitchen door from the palace opens and Soto walks in, and I can tell he is annoyed.

"Figured I'd find you here," he says to Rowan, taking the bucket of the treat and scooping a bite out of it. "Gods, I never invite them, but they love to show up!"

Rowan nods. "You're telling me. Ciaran and I jumped out a window to escape Emily."

Soto laughs and we all sit down on the ground, myself in Rowan's lap. "I have been trying to figure out the nicest way to ask them when they plan on leaving."

"I'll do it for you, your majesty," Tyla says, smirking. "I've been known to be blunt."

Uriel nearly chokes on his drink, earning strange looks from all of us. "Sorry. I must have swallowed the water in a strange way."

"Tyla, I would appreciate that," Soto says, leaning against the wall. "If not, we can always invite all of our same-gendered couples to the palace and let them scare those fools away."

Rowan grins, his hands still on my waist as I sit in his lap. "I think that would be a great way to chase them off."

Soto seems to soak in his son's happiness. "Your father would have come up with that kind of plan. He always did hate my sister, but I could not blame him."