Given how pointedly Laurent had been ignoring him, Damen couldn't have been more surprised by the public affectionate greeting than if Laurent had stripped naked for him on the spot. (Given how many eyes were on them, eyes that had recently been in flirtation exchange with the Veretian prince, Damen definitely preferred the more chaste display.)

And now, he was flirting with the man he should have been all along - his husband. The dark-haired King looked at Laurent with confusion across his features, until his wicked consort opened his mouth. Damen's abruptly snapped shut. Whatever he was about to say was swept utterly astray. All he wanted was for the affectionate, trusting man he'd had in his bed so recently to be with him on this journey, instead of this...dangerous stranger.

"It's the face I make when I start to wonder if I've married a whore masquerading as a prince," he grumbled.