Chapter 366: Chapter 366: The snap [Win-Win]

Ethan stared. “Are you mentally challenged?”

The words landed hard in the small kitchen and somehow still less insulting than the situation deserved.

Sirius watched Ethan the way he watched everything: calm, assessing, like he was measuring what was under the anger.

Ethan threw his hands up. “No, seriously. You’re the Crown Prince. You have guards. You have power. You have a whole palace that exists to keep you alive. And you’re telling me you kept a spy who tried to drug you into pregnancy because… optics.”

Sirius’s voice stayed mild. “Because stability.”

Ethan’s laugh was sharp and humorless. “Stability is not letting people tamper with your body.”

He paced two steps, because that was all the space the kitchen allowed, then turned back like he couldn’t physically leave this unfinished.

“This is the part where you tell me you have safeguards,” Ethan snapped. “And then I tell you that safeguards are not the same as removing the hazard.”

Sirius’s gaze didn’t move. “I have safeguards.”

Ethan pointed at him like he was about to write him a fine. “Remove. The hazard.”

Sirius exhaled once, slow. “If I remove her tonight, they flood me with replacements tomorrow.”

Ethan leaned forward over the counter, eyes bright with real anger now. “Then let them flood you. You know what’s easier than dodging an entire parade? Not getting drugged by someone near you.”

Sirius’s jaw tightened a fraction, the first visible sign that the conversation had teeth for him too.

Ethan saw it and didn’t back off. He didn’t know how to back off when someone was doing something self-destructive with a straight face.

“You don’t get to be calm about this,” Ethan said, voice lower now, more dangerous in its sincerity. “You don’t get to normalize it because you grew up around knives. You’re allowed to be angry. You’re allowed to be disgusted. You’re allowed to not accept it.”

Sirius’s eyes stayed on him, unreadable.

Ethan swallowed, then forced the next words out anyway. “And if you can’t afford to be angry… fine. I’ll be angry for you.”

Sirius went very still, like something in him had shifted position.

Ethan didn’t notice fast enough. He was still riding the anger, still building the argument in his head, still trying to solve a problem like it was concrete and load-bearing and not a person.

Sirius crossed the space in two steps and caught Ethan by the front of his shirt pulling him in.

Ethan’s brain stalled. “Sirius…”

Sirius kissed him.

Sirius’s mouth was firm against Ethan’s, a sudden, deliberate press that stole the air from Ethan’s lungs. It was a kiss that said ’shut up, listen, feel this,’ and Ethan’s body responded before his brain caught up.

His hands, which had been gesturing wildly a second ago, now fisted in the fabric of Sirius’s shirt, pulling him closer like he couldn’t decide whether to shove him away or hold on tight.

Sirius tilted his head, deepening the kiss, and Ethan gasped into it as Sirius’s tongue swept against his. The taste of expensive wine mingled with something uniquely Sirius, something dark and intoxicating. Ethan’s anger melted, searing hot, into something else. Something that wanted more. His fingers tightened, knuckles brushing against the hard line of alpha’s collarbones, and he felt Sirius’s hand slide from his shirt to his jaw, thumb stroking the skin just below his ear.

The kitchen was too small, the air too thick with the scent of seared steak and the weight of unspoken things. Ethan’s back hit the edge of the counter, and Sirius followed, crowding him, his body a solid line of heat against Ethan’s.

The kiss broke for a second, just enough for Ethan to drag in a ragged breath, but Sirius didn’t give him time to think. He kissed him again, harder this time, like he was trying to erase every argument, every rational thought, and replace it with pure sensation.

Ethan’s head fell back, exposing his throat, and Sirius took the invitation, his mouth trailing down Ethan’s jaw, his teeth scraping lightly over the sensitive skin just above his collar. Ethan shuddered, his hips jerking forward instinctively, and he felt Sirius’s low chuckle against his neck.

“You’re still angry,” Sirius murmured, his voice rough, and Ethan wanted to deny it, but the words wouldn’t come. Instead, he dragged Sirius back up for another kiss, this one messier, more desperate.

Sirius’s hands slid down Ethan’s sides, gripping his hips, pulling him flush against him, and Ethan could feel the hard ridge of Sirius’s arousal through the layers of their clothes. It sent a jolt straight through his body and his faint pheromones filled the air.

“Shut up,” Ethan muttered against Sirius’s mouth, and Sirius laughed, soft and breathless, before kissing him again. This time, there was no holding back. Sirius’s fingers dug into Ethan’s hips, his mouth claiming Ethan’s with an intensity that left no room for doubt. Ethan’s hands roamed, tracing the lines of Sirius’s shoulders, his back, the dip of his spine, like he was trying to memorize the shape of him through the fabric.

The counter bit into Ethan’s lower back, but he didn’t care. All that mattered was the heat, the friction, the way Sirius’s body moved against his, slow and deliberate, like he had all the time in the world. Ethan’s breath hitched as Sirius’s hand slid lower, palming him through his jeans, and he rocked into the touch, his head falling back against the cabinet with a dull thud.

“Sirius…” Ethan’s voice was wrecked, barely recognizable. Sirius hummed in response, his mouth finding Ethan’s again, the kiss was slower, deeper, like he was savoring it. Ethan’s fingers tangled in Sirius’s hair, holding him close, and for a moment, the world narrowed to them, the heat between them, the unspoken things finally being said without words.

When they broke apart, gasping, Ethan’s forehead rested against Sirius’s, his eyes closed. The anger was gone, replaced by something heavier, something that settled in his chest like a stone. Sirius’s thumb stroked his cheek, and Ethan leaned into the touch, his body still humming with pheromones.

“Better?” Sirius asked, his voice quiet.

Ethan opened his eyes, and the raw honesty in Sirius’s gaze made his chest ache. He didn’t answer with words. Instead, he kissed him again, soft and lingering, like a promise.

“I will take this as an invitation.” The alpha said, his voice low, and the scent of cedar mingling in the air.

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