"Touch the earth with your palms," Flower stood up from his knees, circled around the prince, and awkwardly wrapped his thin arms around Lorenzo's waist. "Touch it," he nibbled his lower lip.

Lorenzo closed his eyes. He felt the heartbeat of the earth. The pulse beneath the soil was so palpable, as if it had always been there. Energy flowed directly into the prince's chest, subduing foreign desires and making him believe. These feelings bypassed the brain and rationalized steps. The earth asked him to move without hesitation. The voice inside the prince no longer belonged to him. He heard the whispers of the elderly so distinctly and unobtrusively.

Next to his back, Flower's heart beat alive and warm. He simply enjoyed the process of absorbing warmth and love. His eyes closed, and his breath stopped.

When Lorenzo opened his eyes, he saw Flower's frightened pink eyes in the shadow of his palace chambers.

"Lorenzo, you scared me!" Flower whimpered, touching the stranger's forehead with his hands.

"It's okay, Flower. I just clearly heard the energy."

"You didn't need to overdo it..."

Lorenzo raised his right hand and took Flower's wrist. He brought Flower's hand to his lips and left a soft kiss.

"Thank you."

Flower blushed.

"Lorenzo... You didn't have to... I just taught you to draw energy from something greater than human food."

"Do you know what the earth told me?"

Flower just raised his eyebrows.

"Gratitude is love. Just be grateful, and I will be thankful to you. Now," the prince looked at Flower, "will you accept my gratitude?"

Flower bit his lip. Lorenzo's voice became even deeper and sexier, and now he could discuss important matters less superficially, driving Flower crazy. His attraction intensified.

"I accept your gratitude," he whispered, releasing his wrist from the grip of the stranger's hand.

Flower stood up and moved to the window.

"May I ask you to allocate a place for me to stay here?"

The prince sat up on his elbows.

"They didn't provide you with accommodations all this time?" he asked in surprise.

"It just so happened that everyone assumed I would live with you, so..."

"And where have you been living all this time?" Lorenzo stood up and approached Flower, who was hiding his red face by the window.

"There," Flower simply nodded his head.

The prince looked outside.

"The castle garden?" He wrapped his arms around Flower's waist.

"Yes, Your Highness."

"Why didn't anyone bother to take care of my lover?" After all the events, the prince had become better at deciphering hidden meanings. "And yet, isn't Flower mine?"

Flower tried to break free from the embrace.

"Please, don't refer to me as your possession. I may not be human, but I would like at least the person who is my lover to show me some respect."

"But why didn't anyone bother to take care of you, Flower?" After all, Flower wasn't my decision to begin with. Whether to inhabit a human body or not wasn't my choice; it was a consequence of the magic you acquired after saving some light during the trials. But to stay or leave – I can choose that myself."

"Then can you choose me?" The prince's lips touched Flower's delicate neck, a sensitive spot where a strong vein pulsed.

This unobtrusive touch sent a million shivers through Flower's body, quickly spreading across his skin and descending down to his stomach, where they transformed into magical butterflies, beginning their dance.

"Choose you?" Flower sighed. "Or trust you? What do you mean?"

"Can you trust without choosing?"

"I can trust the processes of the cosmos that brought you to me. And I can stay with you because you attract me."

Flower turned around, his brown and pink eyes looking straight into each other.

"Do you know what else the earth told me?"

"It talked so much with you, Prince," Flower chuckled.

"Yes... It said that attraction won't fade if true love blossoms. And I'm definitely going to nurture this delicate sprout."

Flower smiled and pressed his lips to Lorenzo's sensuous ones.

The prince's lustful tongue couldn't resist and slipped into another's mouth.

After all, some things, despite evolution, cannot change fundamentally.

THE END

This has been your beloved author Olha Alder ♡