Liam tugged at the front of Arik’s coat, and the man bent immediately to meet his kiss.
Arik’s hand slid from Liam’s waist to the back of his neck, fingers spreading beneath his hair as he deepened the kiss. For several seconds, the exhaustion Liam had felt through their bond disappeared beneath familiar heat. Arik tasted faintly of the bitter tea served during council sessions, his mouth warm against Liam’s, his body solid beneath layers of dark formal clothing.
Then his grip loosened.
Not because he wanted to stop.
Liam felt the difference.
Arik rested his forehead against his, breathing slowly, golden eyes half-lidded. Up close, the evidence was impossible to ignore. Fine tension remained around his eyes, his skin was paler than usual, and the sovereign mark beneath his cuff pulsed with the same slow rhythm Liam had begun noticing whenever the Core drew particularly strongly on him.
Liam smoothed the front of Arik’s coat where he had wrinkled it.
"You’re taking a break."
"I have a meeting in twelve minutes."
"Cassian and his men can wait."
Arik’s gaze sharpened slightly.
Liam did not move.
The imperial library around them remained almost silent, its upper galleries disappearing into shadow above rows of dark shelves. Late-afternoon sunlight filtered through narrow windows and caught against the projections hovering over Liam’s abandoned table. Beyond the closed doors, guards waited in the corridor, and somewhere farther through the palace an entire government apparently expected Arik to continue functioning indefinitely because he had become too stubborn to object.
Liam had no such difficulty.
"You are still integrating with the Core," he said. "You’re working from morning until night, attending meals that are actually meetings, studying afterward, and sleeping badly. Now you are standing here pretending this is normal because you can still think clearly."
"I am functioning."
"That is a remarkably low standard."
Arik’s expression remained serious. "There are matters that cannot simply stop because I am tired."
"I didn’t say stop."
Liam reached for Arik’s wrist and pushed back the cuff.
The sovereign mark circled his skin in a narrow band of gold around Liam’s bite mark, brighter than it had been after the oath. Liam did not touch the mark itself. He traced the skin beside it with one finger, watching the light pulse beneath Arik’s veins.
"I said take a break."
Arik glanced toward the library doors.
Liam recognized the calculation in his face and tightened his hold on his wrist.
"One hour."
"Liam."
"Please?" Liam asked, crimson eyes bright and pleading.
For a moment, Arik looked tempted.
His thumb brushed over Liam’s knuckles before he carefully freed his wrist and lowered the cuff again.
"A few more weeks."
Liam’s expression changed.
Arik cupped his cheek. "The Core is settling. Cassian expects the worst of the strain to pass once the first stage stabilizes."
"That is not an answer to what I asked."
"I know."
Arik bent and kissed him, slow enough that Liam initially thought he had won. His hand settled warmly at Liam’s waist, drawing him closer for several seconds before he pulled away.
"Wait for me."
Liam stared at him.
Arik seemed to recognize the danger in that silence, but the meeting waiting beyond the doors apparently outweighed his survival instincts.
"I will come back as soon as I can."
Then he left.
Liam remained where he was.
The library door closed behind Arik with a soft click.
He looked at it.
Once.
Twice.
Then his eyes narrowed.
Absolutely not.
A month.
Arik had apparently decided that Liam was supposed to accept an entire month without being properly touched, followed by several more weeks because the imperial government had discovered it possessed a future emperor and intended to consume every available minute of his life.
Liam closed the medical article on his tablet.
He had tried concern.
He had tried being reasonable.
He had even said please.
That exhausted the civilized options.
Rubis was in the adjoining archive room reviewing a stack of household records when Liam found him. He wore a fitted dark-blue coat with silver fastenings, his dark hair pulled neatly away from his face, and looked up immediately when Liam entered.
"My lord?"
"Does the imperial household have a catalogue?"
Rubis’s hand paused over the tablet.
"What kind of catalogue?"
Liam pulled out the chair opposite him and sat.
"For newly bonded imperial couples."
Rubis regarded him carefully.
Liam continued before he could misunderstand.
"Private things."
The silence lasted several seconds.
Rubis set the tablet down.
"Define private."
Liam lowered his voice despite the room being empty.
"Adult private."
Rubis’s expression did not change.
That was somehow worse.
"Furniture?"
"Possibly."
"Clothing?"
"Yes."
"Devices?"
Liam considered that.
"Yes."
"Bond accessories?"
"Definitely."
Rubis leaned back slightly.
"There are several."
Liam blinked as he never expected to be more than one.
Nuria had an imperial household old enough to possess regulations concerning which sleeve should be embroidered for a provincial harvest ceremony. Naturally, someone had also cataloged the private requirements of newly bonded sovereigns and their mates.
"I want them."
"All of them?"
"Yes. Also open a private channel with Arik." Liam rose from his chair and flattened his already perfect coat. "Let’s see what would wake your sovereign’s alpha."
Rubis looked at him for a long moment, then activated the requested channel without comment.
Liam left the archive before Arik could answer.
By the time he reached their private wing, irritation had hardened into purpose.
He discarded his coat over the back of a chair and walked directly into the dressing room, where the wardrobes installed by Kamal’s staff occupied an entire wall. Warm evening light entered through the tall windows, catching against polished dark wood and the faint gold lines running through the stone floor.
Liam opened the restricted catalog on his tablet.
Most of it was excessive.
Ceremonial robes designed specifically for bonded couples. Ether-reactive fabrics. Traditional jewelry indicating private stages of courtship and mating. Chains thin enough to be decorative and gemstones selected according to the sovereign’s affinity.
Liam stopped scrolling.
Jewelry.
That could work.
Arik’s problem was not lack of interest. Liam had already proven that.
The man simply possessed an unreasonable amount of self-control and had decided duty came first.
So Liam needed to attack self-control.
He opened another section.
A model appeared wearing little more than a loose arrangement of dark silk and several pieces of old imperial bond jewelry.
Liam stared at it.
Then slowly smiled.
Not that exact outfit. Too theatrical.
But the principle was excellent.
Bare skin. Something soft enough to remove easily. Gold against his throat and wrists. Perhaps one of the old mate chains resting low across his waist.
Arik had spent the last month surrounded by ministers, reports, ceremonial coats, and people calling him Your Highness.
Liam intended to remind him that he was also an alpha with a mate waiting in their bedroom.
He sent several selections to Rubis.
The response came almost immediately.
These can be prepared tonight.
Liam looked toward the bedroom.
"Good."
His tablet chimed.
Arik. What are you planning?
Liam considered the question, then locked the screen without answering.
If Arik wanted to know, he could come home and find out.