Chapter 101: The Last Piece

Chapter 101: Chapter 101: The Last Piece

By the time they returned to Nero’s private wing, the palace had finally begun to settle.

The music from the ballroom had stopped, most of the guests had departed, and the remaining noise came faintly through several floors of stone and glass as staff cleared the reception rooms below. Inside the bedroom, the lighting had already been lowered for the night, leaving the city beyond the windows brighter than the room itself.

Sebastian showered first.

When he came back, he wore loose black trousers and a thin shirt left open at the throat, his damp hair pushed carelessly away from his face as he crossed toward the bed Nero had effectively claimed as his own months ago.

Technically, it had been Sebastian’s bed at Villa Petrana when Nero moved into it after the berserk episode.

Then Nero had simply continued.

Different palace. Different mattress.

Same enormous man attaching himself to Sebastian every night as though the arrangement had been settled by international treaty.

The bathroom door opened several minutes later.

Nero emerged in a dark robe, his white-blond hair wet down his back until a controlled wave of pheromonal heat moved through it, drying the strands almost instantly and leaving them straight and glossy beneath the low amber light.

His attention found Sebastian at once.

"My present."

Sebastian laughed.

Not even subtle.

"You received enough gifts tonight to fill several storage rooms."

"I have very little interest in them."

"You received another yacht."

"I already have boats."

"And apparently humility remains unavailable for purchase."

Nero smiled and crossed the room.

He sat beside him, immediately hooked one hand around Sebastian’s waist, and drew him close enough that their thighs pressed together.

Then he kissed the side of Sebastian’s head.

"Now," Nero murmured against his hair, "my gift."

Sebastian smiled.

Nero might have no practical experience, but innocence had absolutely nothing to do with it. He understood sex, desire, bodies, pheromones, and the complicated biology surrounding dominant cycles perfectly well. He flirted without embarrassment because embarrassment rarely survived contact with Nero’s personality.

What had blinded him was Sebastian.

Seven years of Sebastian keeping him at a deliberate distance had built something remarkably durable inside Nero’s expectations.

Sebastian had barely spoken to him unless circumstances required it. He had declined invitations, avoided being alone with him, and attended events as Nero’s guest only when refusing would have created a larger spectacle than going.

Then, months ago, Sebastian had casually declared that sex would happen after marriage.

Apparently Nero had filed the statement somewhere permanent.

Sebastian turned slightly in his arms.

"You really haven’t guessed?"

Nero’s eyes narrowed with interest.

"I have considered possibilities."

"How optimistic?"

"Very."

Sebastian laughed.

Nero’s hand slipped beneath the open edge of his shirt and settled warm against his waist.

"However," Nero continued, "you told me sex was after marriage."

Sebastian watched him, green eyes glinting with amusement.

"So?"

"So we are not married."

"You sound disappointed."

"I intend to correct it as soon as possible."

Nero leaned down and kissed Sebastian’s neck, slow and familiar, his mouth lingering beneath his ear before moving lower.

Sebastian tilted his head for him.

That was another reason the situation amused him.

Nero already touched him constantly.

Kissed him whenever he pleased.

Slept wrapped around him.

Nuzzled his throat, stole his space, pulled him into his lap, and behaved with enough possessive familiarity that anyone watching would assume the physical part of their relationship had progressed much farther than it had.

Nero simply had one line he would not cross because Sebastian had placed it there.

Sebastian slid his fingers into the long hair at Nero’s nape.

"I changed my mind."

Nero stopped kissing him.

For perhaps two seconds.

Then he lifted his head.

Sebastian enjoyed the expression of calculation interrupted by disbelief that appeared.

"You changed your mind?"

"Yes."

"About sex?"

"Yes, Nero."

"Before marriage."

Sebastian’s mouth curved.

"You are remarkably good at summarizing."

Something brilliant entered Nero’s eyes.

The surprise remained, but it was already being consumed by delight, hunger, and the unmistakable satisfaction of a man who had just discovered that reality had become considerably more generous than expected.

Nero’s arm tightened around Sebastian’s waist.

"Is this my present?"

"Part of it."

The smile that appeared was devastating.

Sebastian had seen Nero pleased before.

Triumphant after negotiations.

Smug after getting his way.

Satisfied whenever Sebastian admitted some new affection he had previously refused to acknowledge.

This was different.

The pleasure reached all the way through him.

"You are serious."

Sebastian touched his face.

"I wouldn’t joke about this."

That sobered something in Nero immediately, though it did not make him passive.

His hand moved slowly along Sebastian’s back before settling at the base of his neck, thumb brushing over the skin there.

"You don’t owe me anything because I waited."

"I know."

"Or because I’m marrying you."

"I know that too."

"And definitely not because it’s my birthday."

Sebastian smiled.

"The birthday was the perfect excuse."

Nero laughed quietly.

Then Sebastian leaned closer.

"I want to."

Nero’s eyes held his.

Sebastian had spent years refusing to give him anything that might be misunderstood as encouragement, then months giving him piece after piece once he finally chose him.

There were very few pieces left that Nero had never had.

Sebastian wanted this one to be his choice too.

He kissed Nero first.

Nero responded instantly.

His hand tightened at Sebastian’s nape while the other slid farther around his waist, drawing him close until Sebastian was nearly in his lap, and his pheromones began warming the air around them with smoke and burning wood.

There was nothing timid in the kiss.

Nero had never needed experience to know what he wanted.

What he lacked was familiarity, and Sebastian suspected that would disappear very quickly once Nero had something to learn from.

When they separated, Nero rested his forehead against Sebastian’s.

"You realize," he murmured, voice noticeably rougher now, "that I had accepted waiting. And now you have personally ruined that arrangement?"

"Yes."

Nero kissed him again, shorter this time, almost celebratory.

"My moon."

Sebastian smiled against his mouth.

"You look very pleased with yourself for someone who did absolutely nothing to earn this."

"I waited seven years."

"You manipulated seven years."

"Patiently."

Sebastian laughed.

Nero’s grin widened, and the last trace of disbelief finally vanished beneath the personality Sebastian knew far too well.

Shameless.

Possessive.

Already delighted with the new information and undoubtedly beginning to reorganize every plan he had ever made around it.

Sebastian could practically see the mental shift happening.

He caught Nero’s jaw.

"Do not start planning."

"I am always planning."

"This is exactly why I warned you."

Nero kissed the inside of Sebastian’s wrist, his mouth lingering against the pulse there.

"You gave me one of the best surprises of my life and expected moderation afterward."

Sebastian had to admit the argument was difficult to challenge.

So instead, he shifted closer, swung one leg over Nero’s thighs, and settled into his lap with deliberate ease, watching the pleased expression on Nero’s face sharpen into something considerably more intense.

"There," Sebastian murmured. "I’ve adjusted my expectations."