The room remained warm long after they stopped.
Liam lay half-curled beneath Arik, breath uneven, his face pressed into dark sheets that still smelled faintly of ether-clean linen, cocoa, and the overwhelming presence of the alpha wrapped around him. The diplomatic suite had gone quiet sometime during the night.
No one dared to enter the suite, not even sending urgent notifications to Arik's comm like it happened the other nights.
Just warmth.
Just the slow pulse of the completed bond humming between them like living gold beneath skin.
"You know… you could have stopped after the marking." Liam said, the words muffled as his face was buried in the soft pillow. He was trying to ignore the fact that they didn't sleep the night and now the sun rays were already creeping into the room.
Arik's arm tightened around him.
"I could have," Arik agreed.
Liam waited.
The alpha did not elaborate.
