The call ended nicely.
Liam had gone into the conversation expecting an imperial inspection; instead, he had spoken with people he liked.
Worse, people he suspected he would continue liking.
Gabriel was still a public safety hazard with a smile. Damian was still the type of man who could make silence seem like a law. But they were also Arik's parents in a way Liam could not dismiss. They teased him. Watched him. Understood him. Worried about him without turning that worry into a cage, which Liam found deeply suspicious and unfortunately effective.
After the call, he had planned to sleep.
Arik had looked at him with that warm, devastating satisfaction of a man whose mate had survived his parents and accidentally charmed them, and Liam had made the mistake of saying something mildly insulting about imperial bloodlines being too attractive for public safety.
Things had gotten heated.
Sex happened.
Liam accepted no responsibility.
