The Reborn Sovereign of Ruin, Bound by His Star

Chapter 224: Chapter 224: Hurry

That should not have worked.

It absolutely worked.

Liam dragged him down by the open shirt and kissed him hard enough that Arik’s control finally slipped slowly until Arik was pressing him back into the mattress, hips rolling against Liam’s in a rhythm that made Liam’s head fall back against the pillows with a cry he didn’t try to muffle.

The mattress dipped under them. Arik’s weight came over him, warm and heavy, and Liam opened beneath him with a sound he would deny making if questioned by anyone with a survival instinct. But here, in the dark, with privacy wards humming and Arik’s hands mapping his body with devastating care, Liam didn’t want to be careful. Didn’t want careful at all.

Arik’s mouth moved against his ear, his breath hot. "Tell me if I need to stop."

"You need to stop talking," Liam gasped, arching up as Arik’s hand slipped lower, palming him through the fabric of his trousers, the pressure making his vision blur at the edges.

A low laugh, then Arik obeyed.

With hunger, he stripped Liam’s trousers down his legs, following the path with his mouth over Liam’s hip, the sharp bone there, and the inside of his thigh, where the skin was soft and sensitive. Liam’s hands fisted in the sheets, in Arik’s hair, anywhere he could reach, holding on as Arik’s breath ghosted over his arousal, still wrapped in thin fabric.

"Arik..." It was a warning, a plea, a prayer.

Arik looked up at him, eyes dark and endless, and mouthed him through the fabric, the heat and wet pressure making Liam’s hips buck off the bed with a choked cry. The fabric was then stripped away, and Arik took him into his mouth with the same devastating focus he used for everything—politics, war, and the destruction of his enemies—but this time for the task of tearing Liam apart.

Liam’s back arched, a string of curses falling from his lips in multiple languages, some he didn’t remember learning. Arik’s tongue swirled around the head, his hand working the base, and when he swallowed around him, it took him deeper. Liam’s hands flew to Arik’s shoulders, nails digging in hard enough to leave marks.

"Please," Liam heard himself saying, the word broken, desperate. "Arik, please... I need... you inside me, I need..."

Arik pulled off with a wicked, swollen smile, then moved his hand lower, pressing one inside Liam with a slowness that was clearly meant to be careful but felt like torture.

"More," Liam demanded, pushing back against Arik’s hand, feeling the stretch and burn and wanting more of it, all of it. "I’m not made of glass, Arik, I’m..."

Arik added a second finger, curling them to find the spot that made Liam see stars, and Liam’s words dissolved into a moan that was definitely loud enough to carry through the wards, if not the walls. Arik worked him open with devastating patience, watching every reaction, figuring out what made Liam’s breath hitch and his hips stutter, until Liam was trembling beneath him, overwrought, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes from the sheer intensity.

"Look at me," Arik commanded softly, withdrawing his fingers, positioning himself at Liam’s entrance. "Stay with me, Liam."

Liam forced his eyes open, meeting Arik’s gaze and hooked his legs around Arik’s waist, pulling him in. "Always," he whispered. "Now move, Your Highness, or I swear to the gods..."

Arik pushed inside with a long, steady thrust, and Liam’s words were cut short by a sharp cry that was equal parts pain and overwhelming relief. They both stilled, breathing hard, Arik’s forehead dropping to Liam’s shoulder, his whole body trembling with the effort of not moving, of letting Liam adjust.

"Don’t stop," Liam gasped, nails raking down Arik’s back, feeling the muscle jump beneath his touch. "Don’t you dare stop—"

Arik pulled back and thrust in again, harder, and Liam’s head fell back with a sound that was nearly a sob.

They found a rhythm that was neither careful nor gentle, Arik’s hips snapping forward, Liam meeting every thrust, their bodies moving together with the desperation of too much waiting, too much restraint finally broken.

The bed creaked beneath them, the sound of skin on skin and pheromones filling the room, with harsh breaths and broken moans and Liam chanting Arik’s name like a blessing or a curse. Arik’s hand found Liam’s cock between them, stroking in time with his thrusts, and Liam felt the coil tightening, the edge approaching with terrifying speed.

"Come for me," Arik growled against his ear, teeth grazing the lobe, his thrusts losing their rhythm as he chased his own release. "Let me feel you, Liam..."

Liam broke with a cry that was definitely loud enough to wake the dead, or at least the very judgmental household ghosts, his release painting their stomachs as his body tightened around Arik, drawing out Arik’s own climax.

Arik buried himself deep with a final, brutal thrust, groaning Liam’s name against his throat, and Liam felt the pulse of him, the warmth flooding inside, and warm stone pheromones filling his lungs and body.

They collapsed together, tangled in ruined silk and sweat and each other, the privacy wards humming their soft, protective song around them. Arik’s weight was heavy and perfect, and Liam didn’t complain when he didn’t move immediately, only turning his head to press a kiss to whatever skin he could reach, Arik’s shoulder, the line of his jaw.

"I am going to feel that for days," Liam murmured, his voice rough, his body throbbing in places he had forgotten could throb.

"Good," Arik replied, smug and sated, finally shifting to ease his weight off Liam but keeping him close, tangled in limbs and sheets. "Let it remind you whose you are."

Liam should have argued with the possessiveness. Should have made some quip about princely arrogance.

Instead, he pulled Arik closer and whispered, "Yours. Always yours."

Arik hugged him while his ether still muted the ward glowing on Liam’s chest and let the wards sing them into sleep.