Chapter 1: The Wedding Night Unveiled
The royal bedchamber swallowed him whole.
Ender stood in the threshold, his fingers gripping the doorframe like a man about to be pushed from a cliff. The room was a cavern of gilded opulence, all velvet drapes the color of crushed berries and towering mirrors that caught the flickering candlelight like shattered stars scattered across the walls. The mattress before him was a fortress of silk and down, pillows piled high, smelling faintly of jasmine and something older—old money, old power, old expectations.
His wedding dress weighed a thousand pounds.
The corset had been laced too tight by hands that didn't care about his comfort, only his silhouette. The skirts rustled with every breath, a constant reminder of the lie stitched into every seam. He'd spent the entire ceremony staring at the marble floor, counting the cracks, pretending he wasn't drowning in fabric and fraud.
And now here he was. Alone with his new husband.
Prince Josh closed the door behind them with a soft click that sounded like a gunshot in the silence.
"Finally," Josh breathed, and the word carried something dark and hungry that made Ender's stomach flip.
He backed up instinctively, his heel catching on the hem of his skirts. "Look, we need to talk—"
"We've had enough talking." Josh moved with the easy confidence of someone who had never once questioned his place in the world. His jacket came off first, discarded on a nearby chair like an afterthought. "The vows are said. The rings are exchanged. The marriage is legal."
"Legal doesn't mean—"
"It means everything." Josh's voice dropped, low and rough, as he closed the distance between them in three purposeful strides.
Ender's back hit the bedpost. The carved wood dug into his spine through layers of silk as Josh's hands found his waist. The grip was firm, possessive, sending a jolt of pure alarm through him.
"Wait." Ender's voice cracked. "Please, you need to understand something—"
But Josh wasn't listening. With a sudden, fluid motion, he hooked his leg behind Ender's and pushed.
Ender fell backward onto the mattress with a startled gasp, the impact knocking the air from his lungs. The silk pillows swallowed him, enveloping him in that cloying jasmine scent. Before he could scramble up, Josh was on top of him, a warm, solid weight that pinned him to the bed.
"Josh—"
"Hush." The word was a command, soft and deadly.
Josh's fingers found the laces of the gown, working them loose with practiced efficiency. The bodice loosened, and Ender felt the cool night air against his overheated skin. His heart hammered so hard he was certain Josh could feel it through his chest.
"Stop," Ender begged, pushing against Josh's shoulders. "Please, I need to tell you something. I can't—I'm not—"
Josh paused. His dark eyes met Ender's, and there was something in them that made Ender's breath catch—not anger, not confusion, but something knowing.
"You're not what?" Josh asked, his voice dangerously soft.
Ender swallowed. The words lodged in his throat like stones. His hands trembled against Josh's chest, and he hated himself for it. He'd rehearsed this moment a hundred times, imagined a hundred different ways to say it. Now that the moment was here, all his carefully crafted speeches evaporated.
"I'm not who you think I am," he whispered.
Josh's lips curled. It wasn't quite a smile. "Oh?"
"I'm not—" Ender's voice broke. "I'm not a princess. I was never a princess. I'm a man, Josh. I'm a man, and I'm sorry—"
The words died in his throat as Josh's mouth descended on his neck.
The bite was sharp, possessive, a claim staked in teeth and tongue. Ender gasped, his hips bucking involuntarily as pleasure spiked through him like lightning. His hands flew up to grip Josh's shoulders, nails digging into the fabric of his shirt, caught between pushing and pulling.
When Josh finally pulled back, his lips were slick, his eyes dark with want. His voice came out rough, barely more than a whisper against Ender's ear.
"I know exactly who you are."
Ender's brain short-circuited.
"You—what?"
"I knew the moment I saw you at the treaty signing." Josh's thumb traced the line of Ender's jaw, featherlight, almost reverent. "The way you walked. The way you talked. The way you looked at my sister's ladies-in-waiting with entirely too much appreciation."
Ender's mouth opened and closed. No words came out.
"You think I didn't notice?" Josh laughed, and it was a dark, beautiful sound. "You think I didn't see the way you flinched when they called you 'her'? The way you tensed every time someone mentioned your 'delicate feminine constitution'?"
"I—" Ender's face burned. "But the treaty—"
"The treaty required a marriage between our kingdoms. It said nothing about what kind of marriage." Josh's fingers found the loosened laces of the gown and tugged. The bodice slipped, exposing Ender's bare shoulder, his collarbone, the flat plane of his chest wrapped in binding cloth.
Josh's eyes traced over the bindings with an expression that was almost tender. "I've been dreaming about these," he murmured, his thumb brushing the edge of the cloth. "Wondering what it would take to get you out of them."
Ender's breath came in short, sharp gasps. His mind raced, trying to catch up with what was happening. "You knew. You knew this whole time, and you still—"
"I still married you." Josh's voice softened. "I still chose you."
"Why?"
The question hung in the air between them, fragile and raw. Ender felt exposed in a way that had nothing to do with the loosened gown or the bindings visible at his chest. All his defenses, all his carefully constructed walls, lay crumbling around him.
Josh's hand came up to cup his face, thumb brushing across Ender's cheekbone. "Because I saw you. The real you. The one hiding behind all those layers of silk and expectation." His voice dropped to a whisper. "And I fell in love with him."
Ender's eyes burned. He blinked rapidly, refusing to let the tears fall. "That's insane."
"Probably." Josh grinned. "But then again, I did just marry a man in a wedding dress to satisfy an ancient treaty. I think we're both a little insane."
Despite everything, Ender felt a laugh bubble up in his chest—broken, surprised, disbelieving.
Josh's grin widened. He leaned down, his lips brushing against Ender's ear. "Now," he breathed, his voice sending shivers down Ender's spine. "I've waited a very long time for this. I want to hear you say my name, and then I'm going to make you scream it until dawn."
Ender's response died on his lips as Josh's mouth captured his, searing and demanding, tasting of spiced wine and promises.
And for the first time all night, Ender stopped fighting.
He kissed back.