Arik finished the meeting in twenty-three minutes.
He remained perfectly coherent while Cassir concluded the preliminary framework for diplomatic contact with Agaron, Seredin confirmed the temporary border-security measures, and the foreign office received instructions to update its assessments of Wrohan, Pais, Donin, and the smaller states beyond them.
Arik listened.
He answered.
He signed two authorizations.
All while an entirely separate part of his mind remained several floors above, imagining white fabric and gold chains against their bed.
When Cassir finally closed the last projection, Arik stood.
"Move everything remaining today."
Cassian looked up from his tablet. "To this evening?"
"Tomorrow."
Cassian’s brows drew together.
Arik added, "Move tomorrow as well."
That earned silence.
Three ministers began gathering their documents with the careful efficiency of people who had immediately recognized that this was no longer their concern.
Cassian did not.
"Your Highness, tomorrow includes the Core physicians, the western delegation, and—"
"Reschedule them."
Cassian stared at him.
Arik fastened the front of his coat, though the action did little to restore the restraint Liam had already destroyed.
"May I ask why?"
Arik met his eyes.
"Rut."
Cassian stopped.
Arik left before the man could formulate another question.
The private corridors were nearly empty at that hour. Golden light from Deira spilled through the tall windows, throwing long reflections across the polished stone while security personnel withdrew from his path as soon as they saw him coming.
Arik barely noticed them.
His suppressants had not failed.
That would have been easier.
They were still working, dulling the worst physiological effects and preventing his ether from flooding half the palace with dominant pheromones.
What they could not do was erase Liam from his mind.
Not after that picture.
Not after a month of deliberately keeping his hands to himself because exhaustion made restraint seem responsible.
Not after Liam had decided to challenge that restraint personally.
Arik opened the private doors without announcing himself.
The suite was quiet.
His coat came off first.
He dropped it across the nearest chair and loosened the fastening at his throat as he crossed the sitting room.
No Liam.
The bedroom door stood partially open.
Arik pushed it wider.
Then stopped.
The guts on that man.
Liam was exactly where the photograph had promised.
On the bed.
On his stomach.
Reading.
He had arranged himself across the pale sheets as though nothing remotely unusual was happening, one ankle bent lazily behind him while a tablet rested against the pillows.
The white robe spread over his body in translucent folds.
It concealed almost nothing.
His long brown hair had been left loose, spilling over his shoulders and down his back in a dark wave. Fine gold circled both wrists, with delicate chains following the narrow shape of his waist and catching against the movement of his breathing.
One thin line disappeared beneath the robe.
Arik already knew where it ended.
Liam turned a page. He had heard him enter. The bond made that obvious.
Yet he continued reading.
Arik closed the bedroom door.
The click of the lock finally made Liam look over his shoulder.
Crimson eyes met gold.
Arik walked toward the bed.
Liam lowered his gaze back to the tablet.
That nearly ended what remained of Arik’s restraint by itself.
"You cleared your meetings."
Arik stopped beside the mattress.
"Yes."
Liam turned another page.
"What happened to waiting several weeks?"
Arik looked down at him.
The robe had slipped farther along one shoulder since the photograph. The gold chain around Liam’s waist rose and fell subtly with every breath.
"You happened."
Liam’s mouth curved.
Arik reached down and took the tablet from his hands.
Liam finally rolled onto his side, propping himself on one elbow.
"I was reading."
"I noticed."
The tablet landed safely on the bedside table.
Arik’s gaze moved over him again, slower this time.
"You planned this while I was in a border-security meeting."
"You told me to wait."
"And your response was to raid the imperial mate catalog?"
"Yes," Liam said smiling brightly.
Arik bent, planting one hand beside Liam’s shoulder.
The bond flared between them.
Liam’s scent had already thickened the room, the saint’s breath warm beneath the softer fragrance of the bath oils Rubis had apparently supplied. Underneath it remained the faint trace of lily, contained and distant.
Arik registered it and ignored it, as all of this was Liam.
The defiant lift of his chin was Liam. The deliberate jewelry was Liam.
The man who had spent an afternoon planning how to destroy his alpha’s self-control because being told to wait offended him was entirely Liam.
Arik reached for the narrow gold chain at Liam’s waist, letting it slide between two fingers.
"Did Rubis help you choose these?"
"Some."
Arik’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Liam looked entirely unrepentant.
"He was very informative."
"I am sure he was."
Arik’s hand settled against Liam’s waist.
The reaction was immediate.
Liam’s breath caught.
The satisfaction in his expression changed into something softer, warmer, but he did not move away.
Arik leaned closer.
"You wanted my attention."
"Yes."
"You have it."
Liam looked up at him.
"Good."
Arik kissed him.
There was nothing restrained about it. His mouth came down hard over Liam’s before his tongue pushed past parted lips, catching the lingering taste of tea from earlier. Liam opened for him without hesitation and returned the kiss with equal intensity, one hand sliding into the dark hair at the back of Arik’s head and gripping firmly to keep him exactly where he was.
Arik’s hands slid to Liam’s waist, fingers digging into the narrow curve as he pulled him flush against his body. The sheer robe offered almost no barrier between them; Arik could feel the heat of Liam’s skin beneath it and the rigid line of his cock confined by the gold cage. His thumb pressed deliberately against the metal through the thin fabric.
Liam gasped into the kiss. His hips jerked forward on instinct, seeking pressure even as the cage denied him, and his grip tightened sharply in Arik’s hair.
Arik broke the kiss only long enough to brace one knee on the mattress and move over him, forcing Liam back against the sheets beneath his weight.
He looked down.
Liam’s lips were already swollen from kissing, damp and parted as he caught his breath. His crimson eyes had darkened, fixed on Arik with a satisfaction that did absolutely nothing for the restraint he had left.
"You have no idea what you’ve done," Arik said, his voice roughened by the rut he was no longer bothering to hide.
Liam’s mouth curved.
"I think I do."
He arched deliberately, pressing the gold cage against Arik’s thigh and drawing a sharp breath at the contact.
"I have your attention now."