"That's because your reactions are so delicious."
Liam turned his head just enough to look at him, and the expression he gave him should have burned through silk, marble, and princely arrogance alike.
"That," he said, voice low and beautifully offended, "is a deeply incriminating thing to say inside a palace."
Arik's mouth curved.
"Yes."
Liam should have been used to it already, to the maddening way Arik took a sentence that ought to have been humiliating, reckless, or socially fatal and wore it as if it were merely another layer of expensive tailoring. Liam could feel the prince's warmth even after the hand on his back moved lower and then finally pulled away. The loss of it should have been a relief. It was not. It was only noticeable, which was worse for his thoughts.
Liam hated noticing.
He hated even more that Arik seemed built to make things noticeable.
