She stared at him for a second, then leaned forward and kissed him again.
He laughed softly against her mouth before pulling her closer, and he felt her relax into it, the earlier tension from theparty finally melting away. Her fingers traced along the back of his neck, and he let out a quiet breath against her lips.
For a little while, they simply stayed there, wrapped up in each other. His hands were about to drift lower…Then?—
Knock. Knock. Knock.
The sound echoed loudly through the quiet suite.
They both froze.
A second later, the knocking came again, this time louder.
“Maldenis!” a voice called from the other side of the door. “Open up!”
Maldenis groaned softly. “Makron,” he muttered.
Liora pulled back just enough to look at him, her hair slightly tousled now, her lips curved in reluctant amusement. “He sounds persistent,” she said.
Another knock rattled the door. “Maldenis, you can’t hide from us!”
“And Charlie,” he sighed. He knew he would have to open the door for his cousins. There was no way they were going to go away.
“You should probably get that,” she said.
“Yeah.”
Neither of them moved. Instead, he leaned in again and kissed her, and she kissed him back immediately.
Outside, the knocking became louder.
“Maldenis!”
“I guess we should find out what they want,” he grumbled.
“Mmhmm,” she replied right before kissing him again.
He laughed softly against her lips before finally pulling back.
“Stop kissing me,” he said, though there was no real conviction in it.
She laughed, the sound warm and genuine in the quiet room.
For a moment, they just looked at each other, the interruption hanging between them but not quite ruining the mood.
“It’s for the best, I guess,” then she stepped back and straightened her dress, smoothing the fabric and fixing her hair as best she could. “We really shouldn’t be doing this.”
Maldenis adjusted his jacket as he went to open the door. Makron stood there with his arms crossed, Charlie leaning casually against the wall beside him.
“Finally.” Makron rolled his eyes.
Maldenis raised a brow. “You could try knocking less like you’re breaking the door down.”
Charlie smirked.
“The other families want to talk,” Makron said.
“Oh, good,” Liora said behind him. “We need to know.”
