The bite was sharp, and the sting sent a bolt of white-hot pleasure through Liam’s gut. His back arched, a sharp cry tearing from his throat as his body clenched around nothing.

Arik’s tongue immediately soothed the mark, a warm, wet caress that made Liam’s toes curl. The alpha lifted his head, his lips wet, the look on his face pure feral satisfaction. He watched Liam shiver through the aftershocks, his gold eyes following every twitch, every gasp.

Liam’s mind, already a chaotic mess of sensation and emotion, fractured completely. The engineering genius, the Canmore family survivor with a rational mind, all crumbled under the weight of pure instinct.

’I want.’

’I want to mark this man.’

He wanted to sink his teeth into Arik’s skin and leave a scar that would never fade, a permanent sign that said this one is taken. That said, he is mine.

Arik rose slowly, with elegant movements, and took off his uniform in seconds. The jacket, shirt, and trousers were all removed and discarded until he stood before Liam naked and hard.

His body was lean, his frame being obvious even under clothes, but Liam didn’t expect to see hard muscle. His cock was heavy and erect, flushed with arousal.

He moved over Liam, hands braced on either side of his head, caging him in again. Arik lowered his weight on his arms, not touching, but close enough for Liam to feel every solid inch of him.

"Arik," Liam breathed, his voice hoarse. It was a plea and a demand.

Arik’s response was to kiss him.

It was the first real kiss of the night, and it was devastating.

His mouth claimed Liam’s with the same focused intensity he had used to unravel him moments before. He tasted of Liam, of caramel, and of something uniquely, powerfully Arik. He swallowed Liam’s gasps as he positioned himself, the thick head of his cock nudging against Liam’s slick entrance.

He pushed in slowly, looking for any signs of discomfort from the omega.

Liam’s breath hitched, his body stretching to accommodate the thick, overwhelming intrusion. There was a brief, sharp sting, but it was immediately swallowed by a wave of pleasure.

This was it.

This was what his body had been craving, what his soul had been reaching for.

Arik paused once he was fully seated, his forehead resting against Liam’s, his breathing ragged. "Liam," he groaned, the sound raw and broken. "You feel... perfect."

Liam couldn’t answer. He could only wrap his legs around Arik’s waist, pulling him deeper, a silent command to move. And Arik did.

He began to move, a slow, deep rhythm that stole the air from Liam’s lungs. The room filled with the sounds of their bodies moving together, of gasps and moans and the wet, slick sounds of their joining.

Liam’s mind was gone.

There was only sensation.

The feel of Arik inside him, the weight of his body, the heat of his skin, the scent of his arousal.

His gaze fell upon Arik’s right forearm, resting on the bed beside his head, the muscles flexing with every powerful thrust. The skin there was white and smooth, a faint, soft scar crossing the forearm horizontally.

’Perfect.’

The instinct was a biological demand stronger than any political calculation or any logical argument.

As Arik drove into him, hitting that spot deep inside that made stars explode behind his eyes, Liam moved. He pushed himself up on one elbow and leaned in, his crimson eyes locking with Arik’s wide, surprised gold ones.

And he bit.

He sank his teeth into the firm muscle of Arik’s right forearm, just above the wrist. The taste of copper filled his mouth, the scent of Arik’s blood mingling with their arousal.

For a split second, Arik froze, his body going rigid above him. A sharp, shocked gasp escaped his lips.

A dominant alpha could be marked by his omega if he wanted it. The place of the mark didn’t matter like in the omega’s case, only the full acceptance that this was their bond.

Arik’s head fell back, a guttural moan tearing from his throat as he pushed his arm deeper into Liam’s bite. A wave of pure, raw pleasure, so intense it was painful, crashed through Liam’s body.

A bond snapped into place between them, a shimmering, golden thread of gold ether connecting their souls. A current of warmth and possessiveness and rightness settled in Liam’s bones.

"You are something else," Arik said, his words barely above a whisper, a raw, reverent confession against Liam’s temple.

Liam released his hold on Arik’s forearm, his tongue gently soothing the deep mark his teeth had left.

The mark was a perfect, angry red, a promise written on Arik’s skin. Through the new, humming bond between them, Liam could feel Arik’s delight at being claimed, which mirrored his own.

"Of course I am," Liam said, his voice shaky and arrogant, belied by the tremors in his limbs. "Did you expect anything less from the man who just claimed a Crown Prince?"

Arik’s response was a low, breathless chuckle that vibrated through Liam’s entire being. "No," he murmured, his lips tracing the shell of Liam’s ear. "I suppose I didn’t."

He started to move again, his thrusts slow and deep, a deliberate rhythm meant to unravel Liam piece by piece. Each time his cock thrust against Liam’s over-sensitive walls, it sent jolts of pleasure through him, the pleasure magnified tenfold by the growing bond. He could feel Arik’s building climax as if it were his own, a coiling tension in his own gut, and he knew Arik could feel his own orgasm rising.

Then Arik pulled away with a groan of what sounded like deep regret.

The sudden emptiness was a physical ache, a cold void that made Liam whimper. His crimson eyes, hazy with pleasure, flew open to meet Arik’s.

"Turn over," Arik commanded, his voice a low whisper that Liam grew to love. "Let me have all of you."

Liam’s body moved before his brain could process the command. He moved instinctively, rising onto his hands and knees.

Arik’s hands were on him instantly, gripping his hips and pulling him back. He sank down behind him, the large head of his cock nudging at Liam’s entrance again. But this time, he didn’t push in. He paused, and Liam felt the warm puff of his breath against the nape of his neck.

He knew what was coming.

Arik’s lips brushed the sensitive skin of his nape, right over the scent gland that pulsed.

"Mine," Arik murmured, kissing it softly, and then he drove into him, hard and deep, just as his teeth sank into the back of Liam’s neck.

The sharp, claiming bite of a mating mark sent a shockwave through Liam, but it was quickly followed by an answering pulse from the bond on Arik’s arm. The two connections flared to life, ether flowing between them. Liam felt Arik’s feral, triumphant growl not as a sound, but as a soul-deep vibration. He sensed the overwhelming, possessive love that flooded Arik’s heart as his own body convulsed with the force of his orgasm, his vision blurring as he collapsed face-first into the bedding.

Arik didn’t stop.

He thrust into him again, and again, each movement followed by the possessive growl vibrating around the bite mark on Liam’s neck. And then Liam felt it: the base of Arik’s cock swelling.

The pressure was a stretching fullness as Arik’s knot began to form, pressing against his rim, demanding entry. Liam’s body, already pliant and slick from his orgasm, gave in to the intrusion. Arik pushed forward with a final, guttural groan, and the knot popped inside, locking them together.

The sensation of being filled, stretched wide, and completely joined to Arik’s knot sent a second, smaller orgasm crashing through Liam. He sobbed into the duvet, his body trembling uncontrollably as wave after wave of pleasure washed over him.

Liam could feel Arik’s release, a hot, deep pulse inside him, and through their completed bond, he felt the alpha’s overwhelming sense of discovering the other half of his soul.