Bloodsworn (MxM)

Chapter 6

A/N: hope you enjoy <3 

The door hadn't shut in place before Julien threw a wad of clothes at Rowan. "Get out."

Rowan didn't oblige, instead reaching for the discarded projectile on the floor. Julien threw a pillow this time, missing Rowan by a couple of feet.

"I said get out," his words had no real bite to them. "Lest you bleed all over the floor."

When his guard didn't reply and just continued to pick up discarded clothing and the pillow off the floor, Julien groaned. Both knew the wound had likely stopped bleeding, but it was the only reason Julien had to get Rowan to leave him alone.

The prince was aware that he was acting like a rebellious teen, but he really did want his privacy. Rowan was always around him, never away for more than the few hours he did sleep in the guard's quarters, and while Julien didn't mind the company, it was just another reminder of his dependency on other people.

It wasn't something he could just tell Rowan, he'd just tell Julien that he was a Rosenthal and that that's how it was for a person of his status. Like everyone else told him.

But it wasn't like Julien was a true Rosenthal, now was he? Why couldn't his guard see that?

While living his lavish and privileged life as a prince was enjoyable, Julien almost envied the human servants who could freely walk the streets and live without expectations. Even vampires and dhampirs without a clan had more independence than him.

This wasn't the first time Julien's anger and jealousy over the freedoms of other beings made him lash out. Since Ivan had insisted the two youngest princes received guards till their maturity age, Julien had been nothing but hostile and impossible with his guards. Every year it seemed the Rosenthal's would have to find a replacement, and at the height of his vampiric puberty and a newfound sense of powers, guards were replaced weekly. Julien's record was annoying one of his guards to quit in just two hours.

And yet, Rowan had been the guard to last the longest. After twenty-five years of trying to break his resolve, Rowan refused to budge. It had annoyed Julien that his usual tactics and hungry appetite hadn't been enough to push him away; even his more devious and often cruel methods weren't enough to sway him.

As much as he hated to admit it, he was growing way too attached to the idea of having Rowan as a guard. Now that he knew Rowan was willing to stay at his side, Julien was finding it harder to detach his personal feelings. Despite all of Rowan's mysterious peculiarities, Julien enjoyed his presence far more than he probably should've, which only added to his current frustrations.

Rowan finished folding the clothes Julien had thrown at him and set them on the foot of the bed.

"Get out," Julien said in a bitter tone, pushing them to the floor as a cat would. "I don't want to see your face."

Rowan froze, and for a moment, Julien wondered if he had finally struck a nerve with his guard. Instead, Rowan blinked unamused and quipped, "if that was your attempt at coercion, you've definitely regressed since our run-in with the Coalition."

"You're so annoying," Julien groaned. "I wouldn't coerce you—probably wouldn't even work on your stubborn ass. But I might have to try if you don't get out of my sight and at least wrap it correctly. You know, with an actual bandage. Suck the poison out of it or whatever."

Rowan narrowed his eyes at that. "If it's the skimpy clothing you're concerned about, I said I'd buy you another."

Julien scoffed. "Skimpy, he says. That's not why I'm mad."

Mad being an exaggeration, Rowan assumed. He had seen Julien mad a handful of times, and this was nothing more than a moody hot and cold that Julien was having more frequently as of late. "What is your concern?"