Closing the buckle locks the enchantment in place. Kazia is at Lucien’s mercy.
Broad hands squeeze Kazia’s shoulders, then let go. Lucien steps away. Kazia braces himself for the first order.
But silence stretches, broken only by the crackling fire, the soft noises of the rat colony. Kazia turns around. His hand lifts to his throat, then falls. “Well? What’s your first order, Commander?”
Reaching out slowly enough that Kazia could pull away, Lucien touches Kazia’s face. His fingertips kiss like sweet, tiny flames against Kazia’s cheek. Then he shakes his head without a word.
The silence continues, and Kazia’s lip trembles.
There won’t be an order.
Lucien asked for complete control over Kazia, and like a fucking idiot, Kazia surrendered it. He put his leash in Lucien’s hand, and Lucien holds it without pulling.
Lucien nods at the clock. Then he heads for Kazia’s liquor cabinet.
Kazia fingers the warm metal as Lucien pours two small glasses of zalvin. His skin feels hot beneath the collar. Lucien wasn’t able to do this at first. Kazia forbade him from even touching his bindings. But the only thing keeping Kazia bound is his own willing compliance.
He could take the collar off now, except it hasn’t been five minutes yet.
“Pour me one too,” Kazia says quietly.
Lucien does so. He leaves one glass on the table and takes his to the couch.
The moment feels dreamlike. Kazia retrieves his glass and downs it like a shot, imagining he tastes Lucien’s fingerprints on the rim. The liquor barely burns when Kazia is already on fire.
He sets the glass down and stands over Lucien, who watches him with fearless calm.
“I have one order for you,” Kazia says softly. “Stop me if you don’t want this.”
Then he slides into Lucien’s lap. Touches Lucien’s cheek, exactly where Lucien touched him. Freckles seem to dance beneath his fingertips. Then Kazia leans in and kisses him.
Kazia’s heart quiets, waiting.
Lucien’s breath hitches, and he kisses Kazia back.
Kazia is probably doing this wrong, but he doesn’t fucking care. Opening his mouth for Lucien, Kazia finds the mechanics bizarre. Lips move so strangely together, wet softness, the taste of zalvin, an awkward fear that something is caught in his teeth.
Lucien’s hands fall to Kazia’s thighs. Not holding him down, just making Kazia aware of where they are. What they’re doing. He can’t believe Lucien is allowing this.
When he pulls away, Lucien’s eyes are gleaming.
“I have a confession,” Lucien says, before a soft kiss to Kazia’s lower lip.
Kazia struggles to think. “If it’s terrible, save it for tomorrow.”
Lucien runs a hand up Kazia’s back, burning behind Kazia’s waist. Touching Kazia’s throat, he traces the sensitive skin beneath the metal. “The collar doesn’t work anymore. Someone from Silaise tried to rescue me, and they deactivated it at the same time as the earring.”
Jaw dropping, Kazia sits back in Lucien’s lap. A Silaisan was here? How long has Lucien been secretly free? But more importantly…
“You fucking bastard,” Kazia hisses.
Lucien grins sheepishly. “Sorry for the secrecy. I didn’t want to put them in danger.”
Maybe Kazia should care more about the apparent Silaisan infiltration, but he’s too preoccupied with the metal around his throat. He touches the collar, brushing against Lucien’s fingers. “No—I mean—you couldn’t really make me do anything.”
“But you thought I could, because I’m a fucking bastard.” Lucien winds his hand in Kazia’s hair. His touch is almost as tender as his gaze, which threatens to strip away every piece of Kazia’s armor. “You were so fucking brave for me.”
Kazia squirms with the praise, the feel of Lucien’s hand in his hair. It’s nothing like Aliza petting his hair—none of the entitlement and disregard. Lucien touches him with reverence. As if awed that Kazia permits this.
