Chapter 146: Pheromones and overspending

Chapter 146: Chapter 146: Pheromones and overspending

Nero recovered quickly.

Far too quickly, in Sebastian’s opinion, because one moment he was standing behind him in stunned silence, and the next his hands had settled carefully against Sebastian’s shoulders, sweeping his hair aside with a reverence that would have been touching if Sebastian did not know exactly how obsessed the man was with putting things around his throat.

Sebastian gathered his black hair over one shoulder and watched them through the tall mirror opposite the sofa.

Nero looked almost absurdly pleased.

"Control yourself."

"I am."

"You look like Amaru just gave you a second tiger."

"That would be excessive."

Sebastian met his eyes in the mirror.

Nero’s mouth twitched.

"Do not encourage him."

"I said nothing."

The collar settled against Sebastian’s throat, softer than he expected despite the platinum structure surrounding it. Nero adjusted the fit with two fingers, making certain there was enough room beneath the edge before drawing the two ends together behind his neck.

Sebastian waited for the clasp.

Nothing clicked.

He frowned.

"Nero."

"Give me a second."

Warm smoke curled faintly through the air behind him.

Sebastian immediately understood.

The tiny fastening at the back of the collar illuminated with a muted violet shimmer as Nero concentrated a thread of pheromones against it, so controlled that Sebastian felt only the familiar warmth brushing his skin before the mechanism closed without a sound.

His gaze sharpened.

"That is Sahan."

Nero smiled at their reflection.

"Very."

Sebastian touched the front of the collar.

He should have realized sooner.

Sahan omega collars were never merely jewelry, particularly among the royal houses. The tradition predated most modern bonding laws and had survived because the meaning had changed with the culture around it: chosen rather than claimed, worn by agreement rather than obligation, a declaration that one mate had been entrusted with access to something vulnerable.

Among royal couples, the symbolism ran deeper.

A collar protected the scent gland before a permanent mark existed and remained significant even afterward, a visible reminder that the bond beneath it had been chosen by both people.

Chris had worn one for as long as Sebastian could remember.

Dax had given him the first technologically secured royal collar decades ago, and Chris had continued wearing variations of it even after their bond mark made the practical protection unnecessary.

Sebastian looked at Nero through the mirror.

"You conveniently forgot to mention this wasn’t an ordinary collar."

"I was going to tell you."

"After it was attached."

"While it was attached."

"That distinction is doing a lot of work."

Nero lowered his head and kissed the exposed skin just beneath Sebastian’s ear.

"The technology is much finer now than what Father commissioned for Chris."

Sebastian reached behind his neck and felt for the clasp.

There was almost nothing to find.

The locking system had disappeared into the platinum framework so completely that he could not distinguish it from the engraved pattern.

"How does it open?"

"With me."

Sebastian’s hand stopped.

Nero met his gaze in the mirror before Sebastian could turn around.

"My pheromones. The lock recognizes my output and no one else’s."

"Nero."

"You can still remove it."

"How?"

"I open it."

"That is not the same sentence."

Nero’s hands settled on Sebastian’s waist, keeping him close without tightening.

"No, it isn’t."

At least he had the sense not to pretend otherwise.

Sebastian turned within his arms.

Nero let him, although his fingers remained resting lightly at Sebastian’s sides.

"You said this respected my rules."

"It does."

"Only you can open it."

"You agreed that a Sahan ceremonial collar was acceptable."

Sebastian stared.

That irritating bastard had apparently read every word of their agreement with the dedication of a constitutional lawyer preparing for war.

Nero’s expression softened before Sebastian could decide how offended to become.

"There is another reason."

That changed his tone enough for Sebastian to listen.

Nero touched two fingers to the collar near Sebastian’s pulse.

"It responds to you too."

Sebastian glanced down.

"My pheromones?"

"Changes in them. Sudden output, distress spikes, instability, anything strong enough to register as abnormal."

Sebastian looked back at him.

"And what happens?"

"I feel it."

Nero’s thumb brushed once along the platinum edge.

"If your pheromones spike because you’re frightened, injured, losing control, or something happens badly enough that your body reacts before you can call anyone, the collar sends that change back through the bond signature I placed into the lock."

"We aren’t bonded."

"We don’t need to be for this."

Sebastian studied his face.

"How far?"

Nero hesitated.

That immediately made Sebastian suspicious.

"Nero."

"The entire palace, certainly."

Sebastian’s eyebrows rose.

"The entire palace of Draxil."

"Theoretically."

"Have you tested that?"

"Not properly."

Sebastian closed his eyes.

Nero continued before he could comment.

"The technology has a considerably larger operational range than the early versions, but your pheromonal system is still developing, so I don’t know how clearly I’ll feel smaller changes from you yet. A severe spike should carry. Subtle changes might not."

Sebastian opened his eyes again.

"You bought me experimental royal surveillance jewelry."

"That is an unnecessarily ugly description."

"It is an accurate one."

"It is a safety system."

"For you."

Nero’s expression changed slightly.

"For both of us."

The answer quieted Sebastian more effectively than the explanation had.

Nero looked down at the collar, fingers tracing the lower edge with unusual care.

"I know you have Duncan. I know you have guards, medical staff, tracking systems, and every other security measure Saha can put around you, but I cannot risk something happening to you while I am somewhere else and finding out afterward."

There was no humor in him now.

Sebastian understood where that came from.

Nero had spent too long watching him move toward berserk, too long knowing Sebastian could disappear behind military operations or political obligations or one terrible decision made alone.

Sebastian rested one hand against Nero’s chest.

"So this is for your sanity."

"Partly."

"And because you wanted to put an obscenely expensive Sahan collar on me."

Nero’s mouth curved.

"Mostly."

Sebastian laughed.

The tension dissolved.

He looked toward the mirror again.

Deep purple, platinum, tiny stones catching the fading Draxilian light, and Sahan work unmistakable once he knew what he was seeing.

It was definitely too expensive.

Definitely more possessive than the collars they had chosen together.

And painfully, unmistakably Nero.

Sebastian touched it once more.

"Can you feel anything now?"

Nero went still, concentrating.

Then his violet eyes lifted.

"Barely."

Sebastian smiled.

"Good. My biology is refusing to cooperate with your dramatic gift."

"For now."

The confidence in that answer made Sebastian sigh.

Nero leaned down and kissed him.

The collar stayed.