[BL]Hunted by the God of Destruction-Chapter 182: - : Giving in.
Two nights passed in a blur of heat and blankets. The suite stayed dim and warm, curtains drawn against the cold, and trays of simple food appeared and disappeared as if by magic. Elias drifted in and out of shallow sleep, his body adjusting, the ache in his belly softening from a fever to a low, insistent hum. Whenever he surfaced enough to notice, Victor was there, reading, working, or simply sitting at the edge of the bed with a hand at the back of his neck, the slow circle of his thumb anchoring him without a word.
On the second night, he woke fully.
The room was dark except for a slice of silver light sneaking past the heavy drapes. The air smelled of tea gone cold, damp winter stone beyond the windows, and Victor’s darker spice threaded through everything. His heat had settled into a heavy warmth under his skin; the sheets clung to his hips, damp from sleep.
Victor lay beside him, one arm bent under his head, hair fallen across his forehead. In the dimness his features looked carved, still, and pale. His chest rose and fell in slow, measured breaths, the scent of him curling steadily in the room.
Elias lay there for a moment, cheek pressed to the pillow, watching him. He’d never actually seen Victor sleep. Gods weren’t supposed to. Even now there was something too deliberate in the angle of his hand, too even in the rhythm of his breathing. ’Are you really sleeping?’ Elias wondered, the thought drifting across his mind like a ripple. ’Or just... waiting?’
The tightness in his belly drew him out of the thought, a slow coil that wasn’t fever anymore. His skin felt too warm, his lips dry. He swallowed and looked at Victor again. In the low light his profile was softer than the public mask, with no glinting crimson eyes, no teeth bared in a smile, just a mouth curved faintly at the corners, lashes casting shadows on his cheekbones.
Desire slid through the heat in his belly before he could talk himself out of it.
Elias shifted closer, breath catching at the movement. For a moment he hesitated, studying Victor’s face, the faint scent of him like smoke and winter spice.
Then, before he could overthink it, he leaned in and pressed his mouth to Victor’s.
The kiss was soft, more a test, warm lips against cool, still ones. The smallest brush of skin and scent in the dark.
Victor’s lips moved under his before Elias had time to pull back. One heartbeat they were cool and still, the next they were warm and alive, catching his lower lip with a slow pressure that stole the breath from his chest. A low sound rolled out of Victor’s throat, not quite a growl, not quite a sigh, more the sound of a man who had been holding something back for nights and had just been given permission to stop.
He shifted, rolling onto his side until his palm had cupped the back of Elias’s neck, thumb brushing once over the mark there. His crimson eyes were open now, glinting in the sliver of moonlight. "Caught you," he murmured against Elias’s mouth, his breath already rougher than before.
Elias tried to say something, but Victor’s mouth caught his again, deeper this time. The kiss had weight behind it, a slow slide of lips and teeth that made the low ache in Elias’s belly bloom into heat. Victor’s scent swelled with it, dark smoke thickening the air until it curled in Elias’s throat like wine.
For three nights Victor had lain beside him, feeling that sweet iris scent grow heavier, resisting the pull of it out of respect and restraint. Now, with the omega’s body warm and pliant under his hands, the change in his scent unmistakable, he felt the coil of his own control slip.
He broke the kiss just enough to speak, his forehead resting against Elias’s. "Your heat’s ready," he said quietly, voice rough, thumb still circling at the back of his neck. "Your body’s telling me yes now. If you’re sure..."
Elias’s fingers were already fisted lightly in his shirt, his breath coming quicker. "Then stop talking," he whispered.
Victor’s mouth claimed his again, slower now but deep enough to drag a sound out of Elias’s throat. His palm stayed at the back of Elias’s neck, thumb drawing that same grounding circle even as the rest of him shifted, bracing his weight above the smaller body without pressing down.
For a long moment he simply kissed him, tasting the softened sweetness of the omega’s heat, the faint salt of his skin, and the iris scent gone molten. The low vibration in his chest wasn’t a growl so much as a purr, the sound of a predator holding itself in check.
"Easy," he murmured against Elias’s mouth, lips brushing as he spoke. "Stay with me."
"I am," Elias whispered back, eyes half-lidded. His hands had found Victor’s shoulders, fingers curling into the fabric as though to anchor himself. His body still trembled, anticipation and warmth rolling under his skin until it felt like he was being filled with light.
Victor’s nose slid along his jaw, breath warm at his ear. "Tell me no and I’ll stop," he said, still low, velvet edged with steel. "Tell me yes, and I’ll give you what you’re asking for."
Elias’s answer came out on an exhale, soft but clear. "Yes."
Victor closed his eyes for a heartbeat, his self-control flickering like a candle’s edge, then shifted, one large hand sliding down Elias’s side to the curve of his hip. He rolled his own body just enough to fit them together without weight, letting the heat of skin meet skin, scent meet scent. The world narrowed to the press of his palm, the steady rhythm of his thumb, and the wet warmth of their mouths as he kissed him again, deeper.
When he moved again, it was still measured, every inch of contact a question before it became an answer. His scent thickened and wrapped around Elias, coaxing his mate into submission. The ache that had sat low in Elias’s belly for days eased open under it, his body answering before his mind could catch up.
