They didn’t linger long in the dining room. Victor finished his coffee with natural grace, as though the cascade of calls and ssages hadn’t been vibrating through his silenced phone. Elias, anwhile, polished off the last of his bread and muttered sothing about tyrants eating better than half the country.
When Victor stood, Elias expected him to vanish into his schedule, but instead the alpha’s hand brushed the small of his back, steady and guiding, turning his steps not toward the marble hall but toward the grand staircase.
"Where are we going?" Elias asked, suspicion edging his voice.
"To get dressed." Victor’s tone was simple, matter-of-fact, as if it were obvious Elias would be included in this ritual.
They entered the suite a few minutes later, and Elias had to bite back a comnt. He’d seen closets, he’d seen wardrobes, but this was a cathedral to fabric. Floor-to-ceiling glass cases lined the walls, each displaying rows of immaculate suits in shades of shadow and smoke, silk ties folded with military precision, and shoes polished to a mirror’s edge. Even the lighting seed engineered to make the threads gleam like weaponry.
Victor moved into the space, his fingers brushing over a line of jackets before stopping at the lacquered case of ties. "Since you’ve already survived my parade of socks and rubies," he said, crimson eyes flicking toward Elias, "you’ll choose my tie for the day."
Elias leaned against the doorfra, arms folded, expression unimpressed. "You have a staff. Surely one of them knows how to match silk with smugness."
Victor’s mouth curved faintly. "But none of them know like you do." He opened the case, revealing a neat spectrum: black as midnight, grey as a storm, burgundy, deep green, and a faint silver threaded like starlight. He plucked one up at random, letting it hang loose between his fingers. "Which one?"
Elias groaned under his breath, but the bond pulsed anyway, traitorous, urging him closer. He crossed the room, eyes sweeping the row like a man picking the least ridiculous hill to die on. His finger landed decisively on the black silk, sharp and simple. "That one. At least it won’t ’scream god-complex’ across a boardroom."
Victor set the burgundy back without protest and lifted the black silk, offering it across the small space like a blade. "Then tie it for ."
Elias froze, his glare sharp behind the glint of his glasses. "You have two functioning hands."
"True," Victor murmured, stepping close enough that Elias had to tip his chin up to et his gaze. "But it will an more if it’s your hands at my throat."
The bond pulsed, sharper this ti, and Elias cursed himself for the heat rising under his collar. Still, he took the tie, muttering, "You’re impossible," as he looped it around Victor’s neck.
Victor bent slightly, indulgent, letting Elias work the fabric into a knot with clipped movents. When Elias pulled it snug, deliberately a shade too tight, Victor’s mouth curved.
"Perfect," he said softly. "Almost like you enjoy having under your hands."
Elias let go of the tie and smoothed the lapels with a sharp tug, more force than necessary. "Don’t flatter yourself. I just didn’t want you leaving the house looking like a walking flag again."
Victor laughed, low and velvet-dark, and leaned down just enough that Elias could feel the warmth of his breath against his temple. "I’m tempted to take you with for the day."
Elias huffed, adjusting his glasses with a single finger as though that might shield him from the weight of Victor’s proximity. "Tempted? You make it sound like dragging into board etings is so kind of date."
Victor’s crimson eyes glead, the black silk now neatly knotted at his throat. "I’d be far less bored."
Elias arched a brow, unimpressed. "And I’d be asleep halfway through your empire’s corporate theatrics. Hardly flattering company."
Victor’s mouth curved in a smile that was equal parts indulgent and dangerous. "You underestimate the distraction you provide. The room wouldn’t hear a word I said if you were sitting beside ."
"Then leave here and you will have a productive day." Elias reached for Victor’s neck, making him bend a little more and kissed him softly. "There, you can co back for more after you finish your work."
Victor stilled under the kiss, crimson eyes half-lidded, the knot of his tie still caught under Elias’s hands. It was brief, intentionally so, and Elias pulled back before Victor could turn it into sothing heavier.
"You’re cruel," Victor murmured, voice low, dangerous in its restraint. His hand slid once along Elias’s jaw, thumb brushing the corner of his mouth like he ant to claim the softness lingering there.
Elias smirked faintly, adjusting the tie one last ti as though it were armor he’d just fastened onto him. "Efficient. You said it yourself yesterday, you like efficiency."
Victor’s laugh was quiet, velvet-dark, a sound that made the bond hum at Elias’s throat. "Efficient would be taking you with . Keeping you in sight, reminding the world you’re mine with every breath you take in my presence."
"Obsessive," Elias corrected dryly, though his pulse betrayed him. He pushed at Victor’s chest, not hard enough to move him, just enough to make the point. "Go to your eting, tyrant. Co back when you can actually give your full attention."
Victor caught his wrist before it fell away, pressing a kiss into the inside of it, teeth grazing faintly against his pulse. His gaze lifted, molten and unblinking. "You’ll regret tempting like that."
Elias swallowed once, sharp behind his glasses, but didn’t retreat. "I already do, but maybe you’ll work faster."
Victor finally released him, though his expression carried the kind of promise that made Elias’s skin prickle. He adjusted his cufflinks with smooth elegance, the black ring glinting with each movent, and turned toward the door.
"Be ready when I co back," he said softly, a command dressed as indulgence.
Elias rolled his eyes, but the bond thrumd in his chest as he muttered, "Impossible," under his breath.
And yet when the door shut behind Victor, he stood there a mont longer, fingers brushing his lips, before reaching for his phone.
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