Chapter 379: Suite Surrender

Chapter 379: Chapter 379: Suite Surrender

The door to their suite clicked shut behind them, and the quiet felt immediate after the long palace corridors.

The pastry box survived approximately three seconds.

Arik placed it on the narrow table beside the entrance without looking at it again, although Liam had spent the entire walk back insisting that reaching the bakery had been essential. Apparently, sweet cream and delicate pastry had ceased to matter the moment they were alone.

Liam noticed.

He leaned against the closed door while removing his coat, deliberately taking his time as dark wool slipped from his shoulders and landed over the nearby chair rather than the floor.

Arik watched every movement.

His own coat remained open, black fabric framing the shirt beneath while several strands of hair had fallen loose across his forehead during their evening wandering. The warmth of smoky caramel had followed them from the hidden stairwell, but now there was no need for Arik to keep his pheromones restrained for passing attendants or distant Shadows.

They spread slowly through the suite.

Liam’s saint’s breath answered.

Arik inhaled.

"You are doing that deliberately."

Liam raised an eyebrow.

"Doing what?"

"Pretending you have no idea what you smell like."

"I smell like myself."

"You smell like yourself when you want something."

Liam smiled.

"That sounds like your problem."

Arik crossed the room.

Three steps were enough.

Liam’s back met the door again, although this time there was no cold palace marble behind him, only dark polished wood and Arik’s body occupying almost all the space in front of him.

Arik did not kiss him immediately.

He lowered his head and buried his face against the side of Liam’s throat instead, breathing him in slowly.

Liam’s hands came up to his shoulders.

"You spent the entire walk doing that."

"Not enough."

"You are impossible tonight."

Arik’s mouth brushed the sensitive skin beneath his ear.

"You told me you liked possessive."

"I may have created a problem."

"You created several."

Liam laughed, but the sound caught when Arik’s teeth grazed lightly over his throat.

"No marks," he reminded him.

Arik sighed against his skin.

"You continue to ruin perfectly good ideas."

"Gabriel does not need evidence of what we do after returning to our room."

Arik finally lifted his head.

His gold eyes were bright, edged faintly with the red ether that had settled permanently into him after reclaiming Goliath’s original power.

Liam touched his face.

The gesture changed something.

Arik’s expression softened enough that the hunger beneath it became something warmer.

"You wanted to show me your home tonight," Liam murmured.

"I did."

"And instead you spent part of it pressing me against walls."

"I can multitask."

Liam laughed.

Arik kissed him.

There was no urgency at first.

His hand settled against Liam’s waist beneath the open edge of his shirt while the other cupped the back of his neck, holding him gently rather than pinning him there. Liam leaned into the kiss, fingers sliding into Arik’s hair and loosening what remained of the tie at his nape.

Black strands fell freely around Arik’s face.

Liam smiled against his mouth.

"What?"

"You look better like this."

"Disheveled?"

"Mine."

Arik went still.

Liam immediately realized what he had done.

The smoky caramel around them deepened.

"Oh."

Arik’s eyebrows rose.

"You said it."

"I noticed."

"Again."

"No."

"Liam."

Liam tried to slip sideways.

Arik caught him around the waist.

"That was your mistake."

"I am beginning to understand."

Arik lifted him with insulting ease.

Liam’s arms went around his shoulders automatically as Arik carried him farther into the suite, although instead of taking him directly toward the bedroom, he dropped into the wide armchair near the windows with Liam settled across his lap.

Outside, the palace grounds were nearly dark.

Garden lights traced the pathways beneath their windows, while distant portions of the capital glittered beyond the walls.

Inside, Arik seemed interested in none of it.

His hands rested securely around Liam’s hips.

"Again."

Liam narrowed his eyes.

"You are extremely demanding for someone who spent breakfast claiming he wanted to be useless today."

"I have recovered."

"Tragic."

Arik kissed the corner of his mouth.

Liam resisted approximately two seconds.

"Mine," he whispered.

Arik smiled.

The expression was devastatingly pleased.

Liam immediately regretted feeding it.

Arik drew him closer until their foreheads touched.

"And you?"

"What about me?"

Arik’s thumb moved slowly along Liam’s side.

"Mine forever?"

Liam’s teasing disappeared.

Their bond warmed beneath the stone at his chest, subtle but unmistakable.

The words did not frighten him anymore.

Once, forever would have sounded like another cage. Felix had spent Liam’s childhood turning affection into possession, protection into control, and blood into obligation.

Arik had taught him the difference.

Forever could also be chosen.

Liam touched the back of his neck.

"Forever."

Arik kissed him again.

This time there was no teasing left in it.

Liam shifted closer, and Arik’s arms tightened instinctively, keeping him balanced as the kiss deepened. The heat that had followed them through the palace returned quickly, but beneath it was something Liam valued more—the certainty that Arik would stop the instant he asked, that possessiveness never erased choice between them.

Liam pulled back just enough to breathe.

"Bedroom."

Arik looked almost offended.

"You objected to the stairwell."

"We were in a public passage."

"This is private."

"The armchair is beside a window."

"The curtains close."

Liam stared at him.

Arik’s mouth twitched.

"You are arguing because you enjoy arguing."

"Yes."

"Good."

Arik stood with him still in his arms.

Liam laughed and tightened his grip around his shoulders.

"You know I can walk."

"I know."

"That answer is becoming predictable."

"I like carrying you."

"And I like being carried."

Arik stopped.

Liam immediately covered his eyes with one hand.

"I should stop telling you things."

"Absolutely not."

Arik carried him into the bedroom.

The lights had already been lowered by the household system, leaving the enormous bed beneath a wash of warm amber from the lamps beside it. Crimson curtains covered most of the windows, and the bedding still carried traces of their mingled scents from that morning.

Arik set Liam down near the edge of the mattress.

For a moment, neither moved.

Then Liam reached up and unfastened the remaining clasp at Arik’s throat.

One.

Then another.

His fingertips brushed warm skin beneath.

Arik watched him quietly.

"What?" Liam asked.

"I love you."

The simplicity of it caught him more effectively than anything else Arik had done that evening.

Liam’s hands stilled.

Then he smiled.

"I love you too."

Arik leaned down.

Liam caught him by the collar before the kiss landed.

"And still no marks where Gabriel can see."

Arik closed his eyes.

Liam laughed.

"You survived ancient wars. You can survive this."

"You are cruel."