Nico

My heart started pounding hard in my chest, and my whole body began shaking uncontrollably. I hated the darkness more than the turbulence because, at least in the air, you could feel the machine fighting back against the forces trying to tear it apart.

But in the dark, there is just... nothing. There are no edges, there is no floor, there is no sense of up or down. There is only the crushing weight of what you cannot see, pressing down on your chest until you think you might disappear completely into it.

I stumbled forward, my wet foot slipping dangerously on the cold tile as I desperately tried to find the wall with my outstretched hands. A choked gasp escaped me that I was too terrified to swallow back down.

I felt like a child again. It felt exactly like I was ten years old once more, trapped in that endless void with no way out, with no light anywhere, and with no one coming to save me. The fear wrapped around me like icy fingers, squeezing tighter and tighter around my entire body.

Then the door burst open with a loud bang.

I smelled his sandalwood scent instantly. The moment it filled my nostrils—rich, warm, and familiar—I suddenly figured out how to breathe again. My lungs unlocked themselves.

I grabbed him like my life depended on it, latching on desperately. I hugged him tightly, even while I was still trembling violently from head to toe. I did not let go. Instead, I hugged him even tighter, burying my face deep in his shoulder and letting out a broken, terrified sound that I could not hold back anymore.

"I’ve got you. I’ve got you," Alaric assured me, his voice low and steady in the darkness. Hearing those words made me hug him even tighter. The impact nearly sent us both crashing to the floor, but we did not fall. Instead, I heard something—probably a lamp or a side table—crash loudly to the floor beside us.

Alaric groaned from the force of it, but he did not pull away. Then he started touching me, his hands moving over my body. Every single touch sent fresh shivers racing down my spine, and it made my body tremble even more under his solid frame. His hands kept exploring, steadying me, until he finally grabbed my cock in a firm, unmistakable grip.

My eyes widened in the pitch-black darkness, and I froze instantly, every muscle locking up in shock.

Then the light suddenly flicked back to life, flooding the room with a harsh glow.

I slowly raised my head from his shoulder, my wet hair sticking to my skin, until my eyes met his. Our gazes locked.

In that instant, he should have let go of me immediately. But he did not. He was still holding me, his hand wrapped firmly around my cock, and that realization made my body react on its own. My cock started going hard in his hand, swelling and thickening against his warm palm with every heartbeat. Heat flooded through me, embarrassment mixing with something far more dangerous.

Yet Alaric would not let go.

For a moment, neither of us moved at all. We just stared at each other in complete silence, as if one of us would lean forward and close the remaining distance between our bodies. I knew deep down that the one who would want to do something like that was me, so I immediately turned the entire situation into a joke to break the unbearable tension building between us.

"Do you find my cock interesting, that you would not stop touching me, Alaric de Villier?" I asked, my voice loud and teasing in the now brightly lit bathroom.

At the sound of my voice, his eyes widened dramatically, and he let go of me instantly as if my body had suddenly turned into fire. He took two full steps backward and almost tripped over the wet floor, but I was already by his side in an instant. I wrapped my hand firmly around his waist to hold him steady, while his own hand instinctively gripped my biceps for support. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"Careful. The floor is wet," I muttered softly to him, and then I winked, a playful grin spreading across my face.

His face turned red immediately—or maybe I had only imagined the deep flush that appeared on his cheeks in that moment.

Alaric tried to free himself from my grip, but in the process, he ended up squeezing my biceps even harder, and I could not help but tease him again with another playful remark.

"You love my biceps? Or you just love my tattoos?" I asked, my tone light and full of mischief.

"You fool," he replied, and then added in French, "Espèce d’idiot (you idiot)," as he pushed me off firmly. He picked up his phone from the ground where it had fallen and then limped toward the door. "I only came to warn you about the darkness. I did not know the light would come back so soon..." He sighed heavily. "Forget it," he cursed in French under his breath, muttering something low and frustrated that I could not quite catch.

I barked out a loud laugh and then whispered in French, "Tu es timide, Alaric ? (Are you shy, Alaric?)" before switching back as he returned to speaking English. "It is just my cock. I am sure you have seen plenty of cocks before!"

Alaric let out a deep groan, but he still would not turn around to face me directly. "Your words are so vulgar. I did not mean to touch you... and yes, I have seen cocks before, but yours is the last one I want to see. I have to say, it is not very impressive at all."

I smirked at him with full confidence. "Really, Alaric? Tell me then, what cock is impressive? Yours?" I scoffed loudly and rolled my eyes at his words.

"I only came here because I was worried..." he paused for a moment and tried to push the door open. "Forget it," he scoffed again, clearly annoyed.

He was worried about me? The realization hit me fully. Why else would he have limped all the way to the bathroom in the middle of the power outage? Knowing that he actually cared about what would happen to me in the dark sent a warm rush of affection and gratitude spreading through my entire chest. It felt just like it had on the plane earlier when he had let me hold onto him for comfort during the turbulence.

"Thank—" I tried to say the full word, but he shut the door right in my face before I could finish expressing my gratitude.

I heaved a deep sigh and looked down at the wet floor beneath my feet. I had messed up yet again with my stupid jokes and teasing.

"Oh, Nicholas," I murmured quietly to myself as I turned toward the shower. I stepped under the warm spray and stood there as the water began to cascade down my body, washing away some of the lingering tension.

The darkness.

If Alaric had not come rushing in when he did, I would have had a full panic attack. Yet again, he had helped me without even meaning to.

I pressed my back against the cool wall tiles and heaved another deep sigh as I remembered the feeling of his hand around me—until he had touched my cock directly. Those touches had not only sent shivers racing down my spine but had also awakened every single sexual part of me, stirring a deep, throbbing desire that refused to settle.

With the clear image of his hand still wrapped firmly around my cock fresh in my mind, I slowly grabbed my own cock and began to stroke it gently at first. The strokes gradually became firmer as pleasure built inside me, and soon a loud moan escaped from my mouth, echoing off the bathroom walls.

I had cum hard while thinking of him.