letjungk09k

[letjungk09k]

── INCOMING

here's a small teaser for my Fang and Flame sequel! No promises as to when it will be released, but I promise I'll make it worth the wait :)

If you don't want any spoilers to the sequel then don't read this! and minors do not interact.

Thank you for the support on the story and all my other fics! It means a lot and I love reading your comments :3 see u guys (hopefully) soon with the update.

That cut on his bottom lip that he had been scolded for just hours ago was now split open again, fresh blood poking through and this time you knew it wasn't just Rafayel who was testing you but the world itself. There were scratches across his knuckles, a small purple bruise rising beneath the hollow of his throat and you truly wondered how hard he had sparred. 

He didn’t look ashamed, not even close.

"You’re bleeding" you told him flatly, because you needed to say something before you forgot yourself.

You needed to say something before you acted on the impulse to drag him somewhere dark and private and tear him apart with your hands and your mouth and everything you’d been holding back since that night.

You kept your gaze locked on the damaged skin, eyes filled with something that wasn't concern, not entirely anyway but it was more from anger, from want, from everything else you had tried to choke down tonight.

Rafayel’s eyes didn’t leave yours.

He swiped his thumb slowly across his bottom lip, catching the streak of blood with a casualness that would have made your pulse spike. He glanced down at it, at the smear of red against his skin and then, still smiling, lifted his gaze to yours again.

"Well... I suppose that means that I’m having too much fun" he said. Shameless.

And gods, he knew. He knew exactly what that would do to you.

How the sight of his blood, the taste of it still burned into your memory, would pull at something inside you. He knew how your body would react to that line, to the sight of him bruised, bleeding and reckless all because he wanted your attention.

And now he had it.

Your eyes dropped to the blood on his thumb, bright and wet in the low light and for a moment you swore the world stopped moving. The pull was so sudden it nearly startled you. You knew exactly how he tasted. You remembered the way his blood had spilled warm against your tongue, remembered how he had moaned into your mouth like the feeling of being drained by you was more pleasure than pain. 

The memory hit you as you watched the motion of his hand. His thumb hovered near his mouth, lips parting just slightly as if he might drag that blood across his tongue and you hated how badly you wanted him to.

You hated how badly you wanted to lean in, close the space between you and take his hand in yours and bring it to your mouth instead like you had done once before. To taste him again. To remind you both of the night where everything was only him and only you, when the world outside these palace walls hadn’t mattered and he hadn’t been a king and you hadn’t cared that you were a monster.

He tilted his head just a little and then, eyes still locked on yours, he slipped his thumb into his mouth.

Fucking asshole.

You watched as his lips closed around his thumb and he drew the blood from his skin like it meant nothing, like he didn’t know exactly what that would do to you. But he did, of course he did. Your jaw tightened and you swore the rest of the room faded into a dull hum.

After what felt like minutes but was really seconds he pulled his thumb from his mouth and the corner of his lip quirked upward. Smug.

"Still hungry?" he murmured, and you clenched your jaw in response.

"You think this is funny?" you asked.

"What I think is funny.. is how you look at me when you're tempted," he responded, voice pitched low enough to curl beneath your skin "Like you don’t know whether to kiss me, or kill me"

You didn’t answer. You couldn’t. Your throat felt too tight and your fists were clenched at your sides, as if that could keep you from grabbing him by the neck and shoving him into the nearest wall.

He took a step closer to you, not enough to cause suspicion or enough for anyone to notice but just enough for you to feel the heat coming off him. Just enough to remind you that there had once been no space between your bodies at all.

"I don’t mind you know," he said, softer now "Either one is fine"

Your eyes snapped up to meet his and the look he gave you was all hunger, all heat, it was him daring you.

"Don’t.." you breathed, and it was all that you could manage to say.

"Don’t what?" he asked, eyes dancing with that maddening, deliberate cruelty only he could make feel like foreplay.

"I said don’t" you snapped, a little louder now and someone a few feet away glanced toward you before politely looking back down into their wine.

But Rafayel didn’t flinch, he never did. He had told you that the only thing he was afraid of when it came to you was that you'll deny him.

His gaze stayed fixed on you, unreadable to anyone else but not to you. You knew exactly what he was thinking because you were thinking it too.. what it would feel like to give in right here, in front of all these people, to throw decorum to the wind and let your hunger speak louder than your duty.

"You shouldn't say things like that," you said at last, voice surprisingly steady "Not when you know what I am"

He only snorted in response, eyes fleeting over your figure and your clenched fists before meeting your eyes again.

"You’re shaking," he said under his breath and his tone was so maddeningly gentle you almost lost it right then and there "Is it anger, or is it want?"

"I—"

He leaned in, not quite close enough to touch but close enough that the scent of him began to blind all of your senses.

"I could kiss you right now," he murmured once again "and not a single person here would be able to stop me"

You stared at him, frozen. Every part of you screaming not to take the bait but fuck, he made it so hard.

"You wouldn’t..." you managed. He tilted his head, and his smile twisted.

"You want to know what I think?" he whispered, his voice so low you felt it more than heard it.

"No" you said, even though you did, you both knew it.

"I think you want me to do it," he began, and you hated how much hold he had over you in this moment "You want me to forget the room... forget the crown, forget that anyone is watching. Just take you in my hands and—"

"Stop"

He did. Caught mid sentence, gaze drifting from your lips to your eyes as if he couldn't decide where he wanted to look the most. He waited for you to say something else, to tell him he was overstepping and that you wanted nothing to do with him but you didn't.

You didn’t.

Rafayel’s eyes narrowed slightly not in suspicion but something crueller. Like he could smell the want on you, like he knew you were biting down on it so hard it hurt. Your mouth parted, but nothing came out. You hated him. You hated how calm he was, how deadly he could be with nothing but a mouth and a heartbeat.

Your gaze snapped back to his, a feeling of your breath catching in your throat, the fire in your belly starting to rise and you were just about to say something, do something, when—

"Rafayel"

[letjungk09k]

saw this post: “vampire saliva as an anesthetic and/or aphrodisiac” and immediately thought of your rafayelxvamp!bodyguard fiction AHEMMMMMMMMMMM

making a hc of rafayel purposely getting hurt and running to his vamp gf to kiss/lick it better then he ends up getting too excited and putty and begs for more GODDD you’ve inspired me✨✨✨

[letjungk09k]

i have 3 fics in my drafts rn. i have no motivation to complete them. i need strength.

[letjungk09k]

[letjungk09k]

Forgive me, kitten?

Main Masterlist

.ᐟ pairing. ⤑ Sylus x Reader (no use of y/n).

.ᐟ synopsis. ⤑ After a loss in Kitty Cards, Sylus is determined to make it up to you in the most unforgettable way.

.ᐟ word count. ⤑ 6k posted on my ao3

.ᐟ WARNINGS, mdni!!. ⤑ explicit sexual content, porn with plot, soft sylus mixed with dom sylus, light dom/sub play, sylus is WHIPPED for you, fwb kinda situation but unestablished relationship, seduction, clit rubbing, p in v sex, clothed sex, rough sex, unprotected sex, praise kink, dirty talk, size difference, size kink, belly bulge!!, sylus being soft as fuck at the end, use of "kitten" (sorry but i love it).

You were sulking.

You couldn't help it and you knew it was definitely childish of you to do so, but fuck you hated losing. You swore it was rigged, it had to be right? Every time you drew a card you felt like the world was against you. A bad streak, that’s all it was. There was no way you were this unlucky... not that many times in a row.

You had told yourself it was just a fun and light hearted way to pass the time but now? you wish you never agreed to it. You’d tried to keep it cool, tried to brush it off as nothing but the moment the Kitty Card's game had ended you had just snapped. Well, not snapped exactly but you had definitely mentally checked out. Arms crossed tightly over your chest, your lips forming a pout so exaggerated it almost hurt and you had been silent ever since.

You were silent all night, silent up until the moment you made it to your bedroom and angrily changed into your pyjamas. Your home was big enough to walk out your anger but you somehow still felt relentless.

Home.. it wasn't your home, more like a temporary home? Hell, you didn't know. You had regretted agreeing to stay with Sylus in the N109 zone already, despite only being here a month. A month too long...

Speaking of Sylus.

You didn't even want to look in his direction never mind speak to him. The silence in the living room was suffocating before you left and it seemed to drag on longer than it should’ve before the night started. It wasn’t like you hated being with him, that would’ve been easier. No, it was the complexity of your situation that left you conflicted. You didn’t even know what was happening anymore.

One moment, everything had been so simple - you had agreed to stay with him temporarily, just while he tried to convince you to join Onychinus and the next... well. You hadn't planned it, definitely not and you didn't even know how it had happened. 

You'd grown obsessed with him.

He’d made it clear that he wanted you to join Onychinus, but also understood it was a big commitment and he knew that you weren't ready to make that leap, not yet at least. So instead he offered you a place to stay, to show you what your life could be. He never pushed, for that you were grateful and you had to admit life wasn't too bad here in the N109 zone. You felt more at ease that was for sure.

You made a deal with him that first night he offered, that you would stay with him as long as he never let you go bored. As long as he kept you occupied and kept your mind busy. You were used to that, being a deepspace hunter meant you were busy constantly and your mind was never at rest. It was nice to be relaxed, nice not to do so much as you did back in Linkon but sometimes you found yourself too relaxed. Especially as of late.

For the most part Sylus kept his word of never letting you grow bored. He'd spent some days riding his bike around the city with you behind him, giving you a tour almost. Sometimes he'd take you into meetings, there you'd see his real leader side come out, and it was thanks to him that you grew fond of Kitty Cards. Until you weren't, until today.

He also kept you occupied in.. other ways.

One night two weeks ago you were both half a wine glass into your conversation, it had been a long day and you were tired but relaxed and content on the couch... until you grew restless and his lips looked too inviting. 

It was your fault, you knew that. You could blame it on his kindness while you stayed with him, or how gentle he was despite looking the opposite. You could blame it on his smooth voice, the way he was patient with you but you had no one to blame but yourself. You had stared at him for a second too long, a second too long to not even think about what you were doing.

One second you were next to him listening to him talk away about his plans for the week regarding business and the next thing you knew was that your hand was on his unfairly perfect jaw before bringing his lips to yours. It had happened so quickly, and you hadn't meant to kiss him but he had a certain pull to him that you couldn't resist so you acted in the moment.

You didn't imagine that it would go from a simple kiss to something that made you feel so alive. He had questioned you, asked your permission a few times before he was sliding into you and telling you how good you felt. He was determined even in bed, and you swear you've never had sex so good in your life it was addicting. He was addicting.

Everything about him was. His touch, his presence, the way he made you feel alive in ways you had long forgotten and you didn’t regret it, not really.. but you couldn’t help the way your thoughts had gotten tangled up since that night because recently you found yourself in his bed, pinned underneath him while his cock drove in and out of you.

But tonight, he'd pushed you too far.

He knew you hated losing, but even if he didn't he definitely knew now. That stupid smug look that looked really good on his face pissed you off to no end. This was a whole new level of frustration, and it only made you think about how childish you were being but you didn't care. It was embarrassing! How could he be so good, so lucky and you the opposite?

You’d never been great at hiding your emotions and right now, you felt like a sulking child. You could almost hear his voice in your head, the teasing and his stupid victorious tone when he told you I told you I was better as he packed away the cards. You thought you had moved past the competitive part of yourself, that part of you that always needed to win but apparently that was a lie.

You threw your pyjamas on with more force than necessary, the soft fabric feeling too suffocating against your skin before you threw yourself into bed, pulling the cover over your body. Stupid man.

You hadn’t heard him approach your room at first but you sensed him before the door was knocked and creaked open. You had heard a soft sigh, or maybe it was a playful scoff, you couldn't be sure but you were aware of the footsteps moving towards your bed. You tensed slightly, not willing to admit to him how childish you were being.

You were overreacting for sure, but maybe a small part of you wanted his attention.

For a moment, neither of you spoke and you couldn't see him, couldn't see the way he was studying you from behind but you could feel his eyes burning into your back.

Finally his voice broke the silence and his tone had a hint of amusement that you weren't sure you could stomach right now.

"Still sulking, hm?" You rolled your eyes at his tone "You know, I didn’t think that you were the type to hold a grudge, kitten"

Asshole.

You felt the muscles in your back tighten at his words but you kept your eyes fixed firmly ahead, unwilling to give him the satisfaction.

"Shut up.." you muttered and he would have just missed it if he wasn't paying so much attention to you. 

He let out a small laugh, shaking his head before staring at the ground, making his way toward your bed. You heard him move closer, the bed shifting beneath his weight as he settled down behind you and you clenched your jaw, feeling his warmth on your back.

His presence was suffocating but it was also frustratingly intoxicating. Sylus wasn’t the type to back off and he for sure wasn’t the type to leave you in peace either if he knew something was bothering you. 

His hand grazed the edge of the blanket, then it slowly crept toward your side, the lightest touch skimming near your arm. You sucked in a breath at the contact, instantly regretting it. He didn’t need any more encouragement.

"You're cute when you're upset," he murmured, his voice was low as he spoke "But I can’t let you stew in here all alone, kitten"

His fingers brushed the side of your arm, fiddling with the sleeve of your pyjama and you resisted the urge to shudder. 

"You don’t need to be here.."  you replied but even to your own ears it was weak, no fight at all. Your body betrayed you, inching slightly closer to him as if seeking the heat of his presence, even though your mind was still fighting to stay distant.

But Sylus was patient, always patient with you and he had an uncanny way of sensing when you were close to breaking. He didn’t push but he didn’t retreat from you either. His fingers slid just a fraction higher, brushing along your arm in a way that made you feel it everywhere.. beneath your skin, in the pit of your stomach.

He let the silence linger for a moment, savouring the way your breath hitched before his voice was back.

"Tell me kitten, what’s really bothering you?" His breath was hot against your ear, his lips brushing just close enough to your skin "Is it the game, or is it me?"

"It’s nothing.." you said. Liar. You didn’t need him to touch you like this, didn’t need the dangerous heat in his voice but every cell in your body was screaming for him to keep going.

His hand shifted again, moving with deliberate slowness as his fingers slid across your collarbone. He was so so gentle with you.. this big scary Onychinus leader here in your bed and skimming his hands over your skin like you were a delicate piece of art.

"You’re lying," he said softly and his usual smirk was unmistakable in his voice "But you don't have to tell me... I can figure it out on my own"

He moved slightly behind you, close enough that you could feel the warmth of his body pressed to your back, just inches from your skin. The temptation to lean into him, to let him pull you into him was overwhelming but you stayed still, fighting against it even though every part of you screamed to give in.

His hand slowly slipped over your shoulder, his fingers skating across the edge of your skin just grazing the side of your neck. 

"I think you’re just angry that you lost," he said, his words were teasing you as much as his hands were "But maybe.. maybe I can make it up to you"

You didn’t respond, you couldn’t. Your heart was racing and your body was betraying every instinct to stay in control. He knew exactly what he was doing, how to play with you, how to make you feel both frustrated and desperate for him at the same time. His lips hovered just above the soft curve of your neck and you felt the warmth of his breath.

"Let me make you forget," he whispered "Forget the game. Forget everything except... this. Us"

Your pulse quickened, your body trembling ever so slightly but you couldn’t help it. His presence, his touch, the heat radiating off of him it was too much. You were fighting against it but with every subtle movement, with every teasing caress, Sylus was making it harder and harder to resist.

His lips left a small kiss on your neck before his chest was fully against your back. His hand had reached your waist and you were aware of every second passing as it slipped lower and lower, beneath the blanket before his middle finger grazed the top of your shorts. Fuck him and his smooth talking.

You couldn’t help it. Your breath caught in your throat, a soft gasp slipping out before you could stop it. It was the slightest of sounds but it was enough, enough to make him pause, to make him smile against your skin knowing that you were crumbling.

"You’re not as good at pretending as you think kitten," he murmured, his lips brushing over your ear once more as his breath made your skin tingle "You want this. Don’t you?"

Yes. You did, so deliciously so.

"Sylus.."

His hand was between your legs before you knew it and he smiled against you as you gasped. His middle finger instantly on your clit and your own hand found its way to his wrist holding him there and you couldn’t stop the shiver that wracked your body.

He moved slowly at first, like he was mindlessly drawing circles on your skin but nothing about this was mindless. No, he knew what he was doing, he knew how to touch you right and he knew how to get under your skin. If he really wanted to you'd let him peel you apart just so he could crawl inside you.

You whimpered as he sped up, hips bucking involuntarily against his hand despite your best efforts to stay composed. You heard a hum of approval next to your ear before his teeth were attacking your lobe, your neck, your shoulder just anything he could reach and the feeling was overwhelming.

You gasped again when his fingers pressed just a little harder against you, more slick escaping you and no doubt ruining your shorts and thank god you had decided not to wear panties tonight.

"That’s it sweetheart," he whispered, his voice almost too soft to handle "Just let me take care of you"

You tried to shift your hips, seeking more from him but he tutted against your ear as if warning you not to do anything and now you were completely at his mercy. You whimpered in frustration and the low, wicked chuckle he gave in response made your stomach twist.

"Sylus, please.."

His fingers sped up at your plea and your mouth dropped open, your walls tightening around nothing as your clit gained all his attention. He pressed a firmer circle against you and your hands fisted the blankets desperately as your body bowed back into him, helpless against the way he was pulling you apart with such devastating ease.

His fingers moved in relentless circles now, keeping you teetering right at the edge of your orgasm and it was shameless how quickly you were almost there, how much power he had over your body in this moment. His other hand shifted underneath you, pushing in between the bed and your body before it slithered up and gripped your chin.

He twisted your head towards him, eyes meeting your own and he smiled at the dazed look on your face knowing it was him doing this to you.

"You don't even know how beautiful you are like this," he murmured, ruby eyes glancing down to your parted lips "So responsive... so perfect"

He pressed harder, quickened his pace and you were twitching now. The way he was holding you against him, your smaller frame at his mercy and the way his eyes were watching you like he was in a trance combined with how his hand was relentless against your clit.. it was too much for you to bear, too much for you to even function a thought never mind words.

You arched into him, seeking him out and needing more and the sight made him groan. You could do nothing but take it, grip his wrist tighter as his fingers burned against you. More Sylus, give me more...

You squeezed your eyes shut, fighting the burning in your throat and the overwhelming need curling tight in your chest. 

He was rubbing you with two fingers now and hissed at the feeling of you digging your nails into his wrist. He could tell you were close, from the way you twitching against him, the wetter his fingers got fuck you were a dream and he was utterly obsessed with you.

"I-Fuck I'm.." you couldn't even muster a sentence and you shifted your hips slightly.

His fingers were relentless now. Rubbing tight, merciless circles over your clit until your thighs were shaking, until you were clawing at the sheets before your whole body went tense as you finally met your end and thank god he decided not to edge you.

He held you tightly as you came, his fingers speeding up and helping you ride out a mind shattering orgasm, an orgasm that your own fingers could never bring. He pushed his head against yours, forehead meeting your cheek and he was panting against your skin, his wrist beginning to burn from his pace but there would be nothing that could stop him.

No matter how many times you shared moments like this, you'd never grow tired of the feeling of his fingers on you. Even now when your thighs were closed tightly against him, even as they slowed down their pace as you grew overstimulated.

You shivered against him, your body easing into his warmth and you opened your eyes to look at him. 

Sylus shifted behind you, his chest still pressed against your back, the rise and fall of his breathing slowly syncing with yours. You could feel his fingertips as they brushed down from your chin and over your neck, the gentle touch a contrast to the intensity of moments before. His movements were lazy now but they were deliberate in being tender with you.

"Hey," he whispered softly, your thighs still holding one of his hands hostage "You okay?"

You couldn't help but laugh slightly.

"Yeah.. Yeah I'm fine," you told him, grinning tiredly "I might have to let you beat me in Kitty Cards more often if this is my consolation.."

Sylus huffed a laugh, forehead pressing against yours.

"Yeah?" he replied, kissing your jaw, your cheek and finally your shoulder "If this is my reward kitten, you can lose every damn time"

"Although, I think.." you shifted again, feeling the hardness of his cock against your back. Your nose brushed against his, lips dangerously close to his own "I think you still have some making up to do"

"Is that so?" His gaze flickered down to your lips before meeting your eyes again.

"Mmhm," you murmured, his cock twitched at the softness in your voice but your eyes.. the way they were pleading at him had his heart beating out his chest "You're not off the hook just yet"

"Fuck, kitten.." his fingers rubbed against your clit lazily and you whimpered at the feeling, still too sensitive but you had no thoughts of stopping him "You don’t even realize what you do to me"

He was moving before you knew it, hand shifting from between the warmth of your thighs and he lay you down on your back, hovering over you with that familiar hunger in his eyes.

His hands were rough now, tearing the blanket away from your body and gripping your thighs to yank them apart like he couldn’t get enough of you and you let him, no resistance left, nothing but surrender and you couldn't help but smile up at him.

His lips met yours, gently at first as he savoured the taste of you and you let out a soft sigh, body responding to the warmth of his touch and annoyingly how perfect his lips fitted against your own. It didn't stay gentle for long, and the slow movements of his lips against yours turned rough, they turned desperate.

He moved over you further, body pressing down into you and rolling his hips over yours. He ensured that there was no space left between you and you were grateful for that, not wanting to be a centimetre away from him. The heat between you escalated and your breath caught, heart racing as his kiss grew more urgent, his tongue teasing at the seam of your lips demanding entry.

You couldn’t help but give in, opening your mouth and welcoming him in and of course his taste was intoxicating, it always was. You couldn't get enough of him, he could tell from how you eagerly responded to him, hands finding his shoulders, nails scratching his neck and any bit of skin you could get your hands on.

His lips left yours, trailing down your jaw, over your neck, his teeth grazing your skin in a way that made your breath catch. Every touch felt like fire and you wanted more, you needed more. 

Your head fell back against the pillow, exposing more of your skin to him. His hands slid to your waist, pulling you closer and your bodies were glued together, feeling everything. You could feel the hard press of his cock against your pussy, you felt his muscles against yours and it made you ache inside.

Your fingers threaded through his hair, tugging him up to meet your lips again. This kiss was desperate, it was as though you were both trying to consume each other whole and you wanted nothing more than that. He smiled against your lips, fingers skimming over the curve of your waist and up to your chest, pinching your nipples through your shirt and you whined against him. 

"Can't.. hm-can't wait anymore," your words were muffled and drowned out by his lips, he seemed to refuse to move them away from yours and as much as you weren't going to complain you needed him to do something "Need you, Sylus.. please"

A rough growl tore from his chest and his hands were off you in a second, rushing down to his waist before fiddling with his belt. You peppered his neck with kisses as he fought against his clothes, the leather around his waist proving to be a challenge and it was annoying him how much his hands were shaking from being here, from being here with you.

He cursed under his breath, still struggling and his cock twitched again when he heard you giggle against his neck.

"Sweetheart-"

"You strugglin, baby?"

He swore he could have came just from that, the weight of your words.. teasing him, calling him baby as your lips that he loved so much painted his neck in bruises but you made no move to help him.

He was beginning to ache and he had no idea why his belt was fighting so much against him when all he wanted was to be inside you, to please you like he always tried to do even out of the bedroom. He wanted to make you the happiest you had ever been, not just so you'd join Onychinus but so you'd stay here, with him.

Your hands distracted him as they pushed against his chest, making him lean back until he was kneeling on the bed and you were now sat up in front of him. His face was flushed, cheeks red with his hands falling away from his belt as he stared at you, the gentle smile you sent his way warmed his heart.

His face flushed deeper as he watched you, heart pounding in his chest. There was something about your smile, that warmth in your eyes that made him feel both exposed and wanted. He wasn't used to being this vulnerable, especially not with someone he cared about so much.

"You're beautiful, you know that?" he murmured, his voice rougher than he meant.

The rawness of it caught him (and you) off guard but it was the truth. Every inch of you, every little detail that made you who you were and he hadn’t realized just how much he needed to say it until now, until this moment when his heart was so loud in his chest that he thought it might burst.

His eyes drifted down to your lips, your skin, the soft curve of your neck where he had left marks only moments before.

"Is that part of you making it up to me?" you whispered and he chuckled, shaking his head.

His hands reached out, holding your face gently before he leant in, kissing your lips  with a tender care that took your breath away.

"No just.. needed you to know sweetheart," he smiled then, pecking your lips once more before sighing against you "I am going to need your help with my belt though"

You couldn’t help but smile brightly at his words, leaning in to kiss him again. Your hands moved to his belt as you kissed him, unbuckling it slowly and moaning lightly against his lips. Sylus let out a soft groan as he felt the leather loosen, your small fingers moving the buttons of his trousers and he didn't give you a second to think before he was pushing you back down on the bed.

His hips rolled into yours and you both sighed at the feeling. His trousers were pushed down, resting in the middle of his thighs before you made quick work of pushing his boxers down to free his cock. It slapped his stomach after being released and he bit your bottom lip gently at the feeling, the head was pumping with adrenaline and desperate need to be inside you.

It seemed like you wanted the same thing, and you didn't let him or you get undressed. Your hand was wrapped around his cock before he knew it, giving him a few pumps before moving your shorts to the side and exposing your slick pussy to him.

It was a sight to see.. you in your pyjamas still, shorts pushed to the side while Sylus was also still dressed above you. Trousers and boxers resting on his thighs just enough to free his cock, hands all over you as you lined him up to your entrance.

He was pushing into you bit by bit, the stretch of him inside you felt amazing and it always did. You remember it was a struggle the first time he fucked you, but now your body was growing used to him. It still felt good though, the way he stretched you out the further he sank inside you and when he was fully inside you you had never felt so full.

He rested inside you for a moment, feeling the way he fit perfectly inside you, like you were made for him.

"Sy-"

Your words were cut off with a gasp as he thrusted hard, the wind being knocked from you as he snapped his hips forward. He pulled out once more before burying himself back inside you and you cried out from the feeling, nails digging into his skin and he groaned from the feeling of it.

You tried, you really tried to hold yourself together but it was useless.

Sylus was thrusting into you like his life depended on it, like the speed and roughness of his thrusts were crucial for him to breathe. There were no complaints from you...

Your breasts shifted under your shirt each time he thrusted and he watched carefully, one hand coming up to grip one of your nipples and you whimpered against him.

"C-Can't... fuck-you feel so good" his other hand was fisted in the sheets beside your head as he continued his thrusts and your ears perked up at the way he was whining against you "So good to me.. s'good sweetheart"

His voice broke into a groan when you clenched around him, his hips stuttering before he drove himself even deeper, grinding against you so hard you could feel the tremble in his thighs.

You could feel him in your stomach, the tip of him pushing against your insides and you knew if you looked down you'd see him there. Your stomach bulged out from the sheer size of him and you moaned when he rocked into you faster, forehead pressing against yours.

Sylus’ pace stuttered slightly, his breath coming in broken pants as he tried to slow down but your body squeezed him tighter, encouraging him to keep going. You felt the weight of his hips pressing down on yours, sending shocks of pleasure through your every nerve.

You arched up into him breathless, eyes half lidded as you moaned his name like a prayer.

"Sylus... please... harder"

His entire body tensed above you and without warning, his thrusts became erratic and frantic. He wasn't even sure if he could go harder but when you pulled his hair from a series of thrusts he did he knew he was doing what was asked. He'd do anything you asked.

His thrusts were fast and brutal and you could hear the wet, filthy sounds of him moving inside you, the bed creaking under the desperation of his pace. He was trembling, full body shaking above you and still, still he couldn't stop.. like the idea of pulling away from you would kill him on the spot.

He kissed you then, desperate and sloppy with teeth clashing against each other as you were both breathing so hard it felt like he was going to break apart and when you moaned into his mouth, he groaned so loud it vibrated against your ribs.

"I need-" he rasped, lips ghosting over your jaw "need to give you everything, baby.. need you to take it, need you to let me.. give it please"

The way he begged against your skin, the pure desperation in his voice made your entire body tighten around him and he felt it, he cried out against your throat as he drove into you harder, like he was pouring every piece of himself into you.

You moved against him instinctively, your body searching for that sweet friction that would finally bring relief. Sylus’ eyes locked with yours and in that moment, you saw the raw intensity reflected back at you.

"Can feel you, Sylus.." you held the top of his hand that was on your breast, moving it down your body and to your stomach and he felt the way that he was pushing your stomach up with each thrust.

Fuck.

"You’re-" a harsh grunt tore from him when your nails raked down his back "fuck, you're perfect... so perfect, made for me, made just for me"

His hand found your face, thumb stroking your cheek in a shaky motion while the other hand stayed on your stomach, pushing against his cock inside you and the whine that poured from your lips had him second guessing the thought of kissing you. He wanted to hear you, needed to hear you, needed to hear the sweet sounds fall from your mouth as he fucked you.

Your legs wrapped around his waist, urging him deeper and his groan echoed through the room.

"Sylus," Your voice broke as the tension inside you coiled tighter, your chest heaving with each breath "I’m... I’m so close..."

He was moving like a man starved at this point, like the rough speed of his thrusts was the only thing keeping him alive. Your walls clenched around him even tighter and he almost sobbed against your skin, burying his head into your neck and his thrusts grew messier, less coordinated. He was falling apart inside you and it only made you cling to him harder.

"Yeah, that's it," he rasped against your ear, his thrusts growing just the tiniest bit deeper and dragging through your soaked cunt like he was savouring it. He felt you grow tighter and tighter around him "That's it.. just like that. My sweet sweet girl..."

The words spilled from him like a confession and you couldn’t stop the whimper that escaped your throat as his rhythm grew wild, more desperate. 

You were gone. You could barely breathe, barely think, reduced to soft whines and gasps as he fucked you fast and deep, like he was determined to melt you down until there was nothing left but the feeling of him inside you.

The way his body moved against yours, the rhythmic grind of his hips, the feel of his hands on you, pushing against the bulge in your stomach it all blurred together into one single, intoxicating movement. He was pulling more from you than you knew you could give but you couldn’t stop, couldn’t hold back. You wanted him, needed him to fill you completely.

"Don't stop-god please don't stop.."

"Cum for me, sweetheart"

And you did, you shattered around him with a broken cry, clinging to him like you were drowning and he was the only thing keeping you afloat. Your body convulsed around him, squeezing him so tight that he swore viciously against your neck. You were completely lost to him, your mind clouded by the overwhelming pleasure.

Your whole body was twitching underneath him and when your nails raked down his back under his shirt he found himself spilling inside you with a low groan, face pushing against your throat like he needed to hide his vulnerability away from you in that moment but he knew he shouldn't, he knew he should never hide from you.

For a moment neither of you moved, the two of you pressed together, breathing heavy and laboured. Sylus was still nested deep inside you, his body weight settling gently against yours as if unwilling to pull away and it felt as though the world outside no longer existed.

Sylus kissed your neck, then moved up to your cheek and finally met your lips, each kiss gentle compared to the rough thrusts he just delivered and you had to pull away to catch your breath.

"Wow.." you found yourself saying, earning a quiet chuckle from the man above you.

"Wow," he repeated, smiling down at you and brushing his thumb against your cheek "Am I forgiven now, kitten?"

You couldn't help but laugh, truly laugh at his response and the movement made his cock shift inside you, softening now. You looked like a dream beneath him, hair spread out on the pillow, cheeks flushed and lips red from where he had kissed you. If he could frame this moment, he would.

"I'm considering it.." your tone was softer now, hand coming up and brushing away the hair that stuck to his forehead as you stared at him "You're beautiful, Sylus"

His breath caught in his chest. Beautiful? The word felt foreign when attached to him but hearing it from you, with that softness in your voice, made his chest tighten. He swallowed hard, unsure of what to say.

His gaze dropped for a brief moment, his eyes flicking over the way your body was still pressed under his, the way you had opened up to him, both physically and emotionally. There was no pretending, no facades between the two of you right now and it felt real. The fact that you found him beautiful.. well, it made something inside him soften in a way he hadn’t expected. 

Sylus finally let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding and he lowered his head, resting it lightly against your shoulder, he couldn’t help but let his guard down a little more.

"You're..." He paused, gathering his thoughts and then he chuckled softly "You're something else, kitten"

His hand came up, blindly brushing your hair back from your face, his thumb tracing the line of your jaw and you let him. If this moment right here was a special perk of staying in the N109 zone, then you'd take up his offer of joining Onychinus any day. 

And maybe, just maybe.. you should let him beat you in Kitty Cards more often.

[letjungk09k]

oh my god your knight!sylus fic is literally a masterpiece!!! the ending broke me i wasnt expecting that at all🥹 please let us know if you’ll ever continue it and tysm for the fic it was amazing <3

i am looking at continuing it yes! no promises yet as to when i’ll get it finished, i know i posted my fics quite quickly but i’ve been working on all of them for a while now so when i round to a part 2 of “my knight”, i’ll make sure to make it worth the wait!

thank you for reading it & supporting the story and me <3

[letjungk09k]

That sylus fic at the end FUCKED ME UP BESTIE BSDHHWHABAAB 🤕🤕🤕🤕🤕 and I literally just finished it and saw you posted a Caleb one so I shall go seek comfort in Caleb now 😭 in all seriousness I was craving a knight x princess LADS fanfic and that one just HIT THE SPOT 😌✋🏼

THANKYOU!! the caleb one to seek comfort in… from how i was writing that i can only hope you’re okay after reading it😭

thank you so much for reading & loving it <3

[letjungk09k]

may i ask why you don’t add periods or commas at the end of speech or dialogue? is it a writing style or

yes i think it definitely is a writing style of mine! i think from years of me writing fics i’ve never done it so have gotten into the habit of doing so, maybe i do need to improve on that, sorry if it bothers you!

i’ll work on it :)

[letjungk09k]

Once in a Lifetime

Main Masterlist

.ᐟ pairing. ⤑ Caleb x Reader (no use of y/n).

.ᐟ synopsis. ⤑ Both you and Caleb were vivid dreamers. You dreamt of death, and Caleb dreamt of you. One night it was too much, one night you chose to seek him out only for him to save you one last time.

Your Caleb would never leave you, right?

.ᐟ word count. ⤑ 13k posted on my ao3

.ᐟ WARNINGS, mdni!!. ⤑ explicit sexual content, spoilers to chapter 4 of LADS, descriptions of ptsd/trauma, mentions of childhood experiments, mentions of death, heavy angst, hurt with comfort, p in v sex, a lotttt of yearning, pipsqueak mention but you're referred to as "pip", soft sex, oral sex (fem receiving), dirty talk, praise kink, mentions of sexual dreams. this is just very angsty i'm sorry...

.ᐟ A/N. You might wanna strap in for this one because I was sad writing it. This is just sad, sad again, sex, sad again. Maybe one day I'll write a fic where there is happiness but until then... enjoy :)

Both you and Caleb were vivid dreamers.

It had always been that way, ever since the day you’d been brought into Gran's home. The day she had "saved" you or so you were told but the truth was you hadn’t slept peacefully a single night since then.

You’d drifted in and out of restless nights and the nightmares never left. It wasn't that you hadn't wanted to sleep, you'd give anything to have one night where you dreamt of bliss, just something to keep you unconscious for a few hours. 

They had haunted you. The experiments, the people.. it was always there, flickering at the edges of your consciousness and it always felt so real even when you were awake. It wasn’t just the memories of being held in those dark places, being tested like an object rather than a person but it was the constant fear that those days weren’t as far behind you as you hoped.

They said you’d been rescued but sometimes, you still felt like the experiments were happening to you, like they were never going to end.

They told you it was for progress, that you were special but the truth was that you were a test subject and nothing more. They didn’t care if you lived or died, if you were broken or whole. You were a means to an end, an object to dissect and experiment with until you weren’t useful anymore.

You would try to push the images away, the ones that came in flashes of pain. The scream of the metal doors as they opened, the sting of an unknown substance injected into your veins, the endless whispering and the promises they made... their voices always telling you you weren’t enough, you weren’t good enough. That you’d never be enough.

Then, there was Caleb. Sweet Caleb.

Caleb was always there. He was the one you clung to, always there in the quiet spaces between your screams, always a shoulder to lean on. In the worst moments of your life you were given something, someone to focus on. If anyone meant anything to you, it would be him. It would always be him.

Gran would never understand, not when she'd catch you flinching at certain sounds. Not when you'd refuse to leave the house sometimes and definitely not when you'd be begging her to stop pestering you when Caleb wasn't around. That you were fine, you didn't need anything and that you didn't need her.

No, you needed Caleb. He was all you needed, all you wanted. He was the only reason you hadn’t fallen apart completely. He was your tether, the one thing that kept you grounded and it seemed to be only him that could sooth you when you found yourself falling to your knees, breathless as the memories crept up on you.

Your childhood was painful, it was torturous and filled with misery but you were grateful for the fact that it gave you Caleb. He was the one person who truly understood, after all he’d been there too. Both of you torn apart and rebuilt but Caleb... he never seemed to carry the weight of those memories the way you did. He had his dreams sure, but they were different.

Caleb dreamed of you.

Caleb’s dreams were full of things that scared him. His were vivid and intense.. hot, charged, filled with longing and need, desire. He dreamed of you over and over again, in ways that made him burn with a hunger he couldn’t deny. He dreamt of holding you, of kissing you with a fierce need, as though you were the only thing that mattered in that moment. You always did matter to him, you were the only thing that mattered.

He dreamt of pressing you up against walls, hovering over you on his bed, of running his hands down your back and feeling the warmth of your skin and the way your body trembled under his touch. He dreamt of calling you his, proving to everyone that he'd only ever have eyes for you because he would.

His hands would wander, touching you, feeling the curve of your body beneath his fingers and pressing you into him, as if to prove that you were real, that this wasn’t some fleeting fantasy. He’d wake up breathless, heart racing with the taste of your skin still lingering on his lips. 

It felt wrong every time. You were so deeply traumatised with what had happened and here he was, longing for you, yearning for you, wishing he could kiss any bit of pain away from you. He'd never tell you of his dreams, he'd never tell anyone of them. He couldn’t risk scaring you off, not when you were all he had and he was all you had.

So Caleb kept those dreams to himself. Locked them away deep in his heart, where they wouldn’t scare you. He buried them beneath layers of silence and restraint but every time he looked at you, every time your eyes met, that desire stirred deep inside him.

He needed to be there for you, that's all you ever wanted from him. To have him as your protector, to turn to him when you found yourself not being able to smile, to turn to him when you didn't have a reason to be okay. He'd do it without question, because you were his life as much as he was yours.

He'd do anything for you. He'd kill for you if you asked, although you never would.

If you knew of what Caleb dreamt of, you would plead for him to swap with you. Every night you were forced to relive the worst moments of your life, dragged back into that cold, sterile hell. 

The needles, the sharp pain that never seemed to end, the torment of being treated like an object and the whispers of the scientists, cruel words and empty promises you wanted it all to stop.

You didn't even feel human anymore.

Somehow, they weren't the worst parts. No the worst part was how it always ended, how it always shifted. Some nights you'd dream of the experimentation but then some nights.. it would be of a dream that left you could never escape no matter what.

You could see Caleb briefly, see his smile and maybe you'd smile back. You'd hear his voice calling to you, telling you he won't cover for you this time and it left you wondering why. What had you done? Or maybe he was teasing you, maybe it was meant to be a moment of comfort to help ease your trauma.

But then it stopped. There'd be a bright light, an explosion that blinded you even with your eyes closed and Caleb would be gone. You never knew what happened next, never saw the aftermath. The explosion always came just before you could understand the damage, just before your mind could make sense of the destruction.

You’d wake up  your body drenched in sweat as though the blast had already happened. It felt real, you felt it deep in your bones. The heat, the ringing in your ears, the panic. Every time you woke up with a gasp, your hands clawing at your sheets, fighting to push away the crushing fear

You couldn’t shake it. You'd be left with questions after it happened, the dream occurred too often for it to not mean anything. But you never told Caleb. It was the only secret you kept away from him.

Tonight, you'd had the dream again.

You woke with a gasp like you always did, your body wrenching upward so violently it almost knocked the air out of your lungs. Your chest heaved, sweat soaking through your shirt, sticking the fabric to your back. The remnants of fire and chaos clung to your skin and your ears still rang like the explosion had gone off inside your head.

 It took a second, maybe even longer to remember where you were. To realize that the walls around you weren’t cold and sterile. That no one was coming through the door with needles and lies. That this wasn’t the lab and that you weren’t ten years old anymore.

But none of it mattered because the heat still lingered, the sound of his voice still echoed in your skull.

I won’t cover for you this time.

Caleb.

You had seen his face clear as day in the seconds before the blast. You’d seen the way his eyes softened, almost like he didn’t want to say it but he said it anyway then the light followed, then nothing.

Your heart pounded like it was trying to escape your chest and your throat grew tight, eyes burning. The dream hadn’t faded like the others. No this one felt like it had latched onto you. Like it had followed you out of sleep, like it began curling around your lungs making it impossible to breathe without the image of him flickering behind your eyes.

You rubbed at your face with shaking hands, trying to scrub it all away. The heat, the words, the sound of him being ripped away from you.

He was okay, he had to be okay. Your Caleb would never leave you.

You threw off your sheets and stumbled out of bed, not even caring how unsteady your legs were or how cold the air felt against your damp skin. Your body moved on instinct, bare feet silent against the floor as you crossed the hall, not bothering to think. You just needed to see him. You needed to know. The dream had never felt this real before, it had never left this kind of ache in your chest, it had never made your hands tremble like this.

His door creaked slightly when you pushed it open and for a second, you just stood there frozen in the doorway. Letting the fear curl up your throat, letting your eyes adjust to the low blue wash of moonlight spilling in through his window.

He was there, just as you'd hoped. Asleep with his face turned slightly toward you and one arm tucked beneath his pillow, the other resting loosely across the bed like he’d fallen asleep mid thought. His brow was relaxed, his lips parted just slightly. His chest rose and fell in a rhythm that was too peaceful, unaware of the hell you'd just pulled yourself out of.

You felt envious, seeing him sleeping so peacefully. You only wished that there was a day you could experience the same blissfulness. 

That's when it hit you, that's when the relief hit you. So sudden and sharp it knocked the breath from your lungs all over again. Your fingers curled into fists as the tears returned, hotter now. You clutched at the edge of his doorframe like it could hold you up, like your knees weren’t about to give out just from the sight of him alive. The sight of him breathing. He was okay.

He was okay.

A broken little sound slipped from your throat before you could stop it and you bit it back, pressing your hand to your mouth as if that could keep the rest inside. You didn’t want to wake him and you didn’t want him to see you like this but fuck, you couldn’t be alone right now. You couldn’t go back to that room with the thoughts still chasing you, you couldn’t pretend it was fine and that you were fine because you weren't.

Quietly you stepped into his room, shutting the door behind you. You didn’t even think about it, you just crossed the floor and climbed onto the bed like it was second nature because it was at this point. Caleb had always been your safe place, the one constant in a world that never stopped spinning.

You moved slow as you slid under the covers, turning onto your side to face him but leaving space between you. You didn’t want to startle him you just needed to be near him, that was all. Just feel the warmth coming off his body, just make sure your world hadn’t cracked in two.

Your breath hitched again and this time you couldn’t hold it back. Your hand covered your mouth once more as your shoulders shook, the sound quiet but impossible to hide. You curled into yourself, eyes squeezed shut and tears sliding down your cheeks and onto the pillow before you could stop them.

Why couldn't you just.. be fine? Why couldn’t you be stronger like him?

You hated how often you ended up here, you started to feel like a burden now more than ever. Always turning to him for reassurance, it wasn't fair. Not to him, not when he had suffered too. He had been there to experience the same thing as you and he was never this afraid. Despite that fact, he had never made you feel like your feelings were nothing.

Caleb had never made you feel like you were too much. He never sighed or looked away or made you feel like your pain was a problem to be solved. He never treated your fear like it was weakness he just... stayed. Somehow that only made the guilt worse.

You pressed your face deeper into the pillow, trying to stifle the sound of your tears but it didn't work because before you knew it he was stirring beside you.

A soft groan left his throat as he shifted, waking up from his sleep sensing the dip in the mattress and the muffled sounds beside him. He turned slightly, brow furrowing as he blinked the sleep away and even in the dim light, you could see the second he realized something was wrong.

His eyes sharpened, the sleep clearing from them in an instant as he pushed up on one elbow and reached for you.

"Hey.. hey, what's wrong?" His voice dropped, full of concern "Hey, look at me. Are you hurt?"

You shook your head quickly, unable to find the words. You didn’t want to talk, you didn’t want to explain but that was enough for him, he'd never push you. If anything you'd take just listening to him talk. His voice was groggy, filled with sleep but it was oh so comforting. This was your Caleb, the same boy from your painful childhood who knew you better than anyone else.

He sat up further and his hand hovered for a moment like he was waiting for permission but one look at your tear stained face told him that you needed him now. So he pulled you toward him, wrapping an arm around your back and his hand pressing flat and warm between your shoulder blades. You collapsed into his chest like you’d been waiting for permission and he held you tighter.

"You’re okay" he murmured into your hair "You’re okay. I’ve got you, I’m right here pip"

"Caleb.."

Your fingers curled into his shirt and you let the tears come without fighting them anymore.

You didn’t have to explain. He never needed the why, Caleb had always been the only person in the world who understood your silence better than your words. Who knew that sometimes, just being held was the only way for you to feel human again.

He didn’t let go. Not when your breathing stuttered in your chest, not when your fingers clung to him like he was the only thing keeping you from drowning. He just kept holding you, arms wrapped tight around your shaking frame, grounding you in a world that so often felt like it was slipping through your hands.

You felt small like this, buried in the warmth of him the steady beat of his heart beneath your ear giving you something real to hold on to, something that was alive. You didn’t even realize how cold you’d felt until you were pressed against him and now you couldn’t stop trembling. 

He shifted just slightly pressing his cheek against the top of your head, his hand now resting flat against your back, fingers splayed like he could somehow anchor all your broken pieces back into place. His thumb traced slow soothing circles. 

"I hate when you cry" he whispered after a while, his voice barely more than a breath "Not because it bothers me. I just.. I wish I could make it stop hurting"

Your throat tightened, eyes burning with fresh tears. You didn’t mean to make him feel like that, you never wanted to be something heavy to him but you couldn’t stop it. You were tired of pretending you were fine, tired of surviving.

Your grip tightened slightly, your fingers curling tighter into the fabric of his shirt.

"I’m sorry" you whispered, voice cracking.

"No" he said instantly, gently but firm "Don’t... don’t ever be sorry for this"

A sharp breath hitched in your chest, the kind that burned on the way in. You didn’t know what to say to that, how to let him know how much those words mattered. You weren’t used to being seen, not like this. Not without judgment, or pity just understood.

He shifted again just enough so he could pull you closer, so he could tuck you fully beneath his chin. Caleb’s hand moved again, fingers curling gently into your hair and cradling the back of your head like you were something precious. He exhaled slowly, like maybe he was holding back tears now too.

"I used to dream about saving you" he spoke again, quietly this time "Back then... when we were stuck in that place. I used to tell myself if I could just.. just hold on long enough, if I could just keep breathing I’d find a way to make it better for you. I wanted to give you a world where you didn’t have to cry like this"

You froze slightly, the weight of those words hitting somewhere deep in your ribcage. You’d never known that, you never realized that even back then when everything was cold and sterile and terrifying, he had been trying to protect you.

It made sense. It clicked in your brain and you could imagine it all now. His small frame, he was skinny when he was younger, not packed with muscle like he was now. His face was similar, just more young. You remembered him still having his baby fat on his cheeks despite how little they fed you and even now if you took his face into your hands you could squeeze it tightly.

You'd imagine that face, fuelled with anger and baby cheeks burning red as he fought away every doctor and scientist that came close to you. No consideration of his own health, just you and your wellbeing.. that was Caleb through and through.

He would’ve fought everyone, he would’ve fought for you with everything he had.

"You're saving me now, Caleb" you told him, and his bottom lip trembled at your words "You're saving me now..."

He held you tighter, breathing in your scent and shielding you away from the world. 

You don’t know how long you laid there like that, wrapped up in his arms listening to his breathing and the steady rhythm of his heart. Your breathing had slowed but neither of you moved. The world outside didn’t feel real anymore, not when all you could feel was the warmth of him around you and the gentle way his thumb kept brushing against your spine like he didn’t even realize he was doing it.

Your tears had stopped rolling now but he didn't move you and you were more than happy to stay in his arms. Despite the fear of your dreams and the small fear of sleep you found yourself closing your eyes, breathing steadily against him and you felt... peace.

Like he was drowning out every bad thought in your mind. 

"You still have the dreams, don’t you?"

You tensed slightly at the question. You hadn't told him what the dreams were, hadn't shared the terror that gripped you every time you woke up with your heart pounding in your throat but Caleb knew. He knew you dreamt of things that haunted you but never of the one where you lose him.

"Yeah.." you murmured, voice almost lost in the dark "Still"

Caleb let out a slow breath, his hand still cradling your head gently.

"I know it’s not the same but.. I dream too" His voice faltered for a second "About us, you and me together trying to survive. I know it's not enough to make it go away but I just wanted you to know"

It was the only way he could tell you that you filled his dreams without telling you the full truth. He did dream about you together, trying to survive. In his dreams he was kissing your fear away, in his dreams he held you like this while you slept just so you could feel safe for once. In his dreams he slid inside you, connecting you both and making you forget for just a little while.

He would move against you like it was the only way to bring you back to yourself, his lips on your neck and your breath in his ear, the two of you chasing peace in the heat of each others skin. He dreamt of you like the act of loving you could somehow stitch your broken pieces back together.

"Please don't leave me" you told him, and his eyebrows furrowed at your words "Please don't leave me in this world alone, Caleb.. if anything.. let me go first so I don't have to live without you"

"Hey.. hey don't say that" he was sitting up now, pulling you along with him but he still kept you close. You stared at him "Don't say that, okay? I'm not going anywhere... I promised you that a long time ago"

"I know" you whispered but your voice shook like you weren’t sure if it was true. You stared at the concern on his face and it made you smile sadly "I just.. I just don't want you to go because I'm too much"

"You silly silly girl.." he smiled back gently, pushing the hair that your tears had glued to your cheek behind your ear "You can wake me up at three in the morning, crawl into my bed and cry into my chest and I’ll never tell you to stop. You’re not a burden pip, and you’re certainly not broken. You’re just... you, and that’s enough. You’ve always been enough"

Something inside your chest gave, not collapsed and it didn't shatter it just surrendered. Softened beneath the weight of him and this moment, of everything he was offering you in silence.

Because no one had ever said that to you before. Not like this, not in that low hushed voice that held no pity, only truth. Not with his hand still resting on your cheek like he meant it because he did mean it. Caleb was the only person who could utter those words to you and he'd be the only one to make you believe it.

Your lashes fluttered closed as you leaned into his touch, cheek pressing into his palm. He was warm, always so warm and you let yourself absorb it. Let yourself imagine just for a moment that warmth was yours, that you could stay here tucked into his chest, your sadness safe in his hands.

"I miss you" you whispered, your hand resting on top of his and holding his palm against your cheek.

"I'm right here.." he replied and you scoffed painfully, opening your eyes.

"That’s not what I mean" you said, a tear slipping down your cheek again "I mean I miss us. How we used to be before.. before everything got so heavy"

Caleb swallowed hard, his thumb catching your tear before it could fall any further.

"We’re still us, pip" he told you "Even when it’s heavy, especially when it’s heavy"

You nodded but your lip began to tremble anyway. You couldn’t help it because you weren’t just mourning what had happened, you were mourning the innocence. The version of the two of you that existed before the fear crept in, before you had to learn how to carry grief like it was second nature.

You often wondered where you'd be if you had had a normal childhood.

"I feel like I’m losing parts of myself" you confessed, your voice raw now and you looked down at the small space between you "like there’s pieces of me slipping away and I can’t.. I can’t stop it"

You paused, your voice barely holding itself together before the next words slipped out in a whisper like something breaking open.

"What they did to us, Caleb... they don’t even realize they’re still taking from me"

The room felt colder after that, because no matter how far you'd come and no matter how many nights passed between now and then the scars never really healed. They just faded enough to be mistaken for something survivable.

Now they haunted you and the sight of losing Caleb in your dreams haunted you further. They had done this to you.. all those years that you were put through torment and pain they had ruined everything. You started to think they had planted those dreams in your head so you'd know that one day they'd come back for you.

The thought terrified you.

Caleb's jaw tightened, his own breathing shallow like he was trying to keep himself calm for you. 

"We're not theirs anymore" he said every word slow and it was deliberate, his thumb brushed your hairline "They don’t get to keep you or me. Not now and never again, I won't let them"

"But what if they already did?" you whispered, looking back at him and he saw the fear in your eyes as he often did "What if the best parts of me never made it out of there?"

He shook his head, something desperate flickering in his expression like the thought physically hurt him.

"No. No I know you, pip. I know every part of you.. every good, soft and stubborn part of you and you didn’t leave anything behind. You’re right here" he brought your hand up between you, pressing it to his chest and right over his heart "You’re right here"

Your lips parted but nothing came out. It felt surreal and you could feel it... his heartbeat thudding beneath your fingertips, solid and steady like it was beating just for you. It was the most grounding thing you'd ever felt.

For a moment you just stayed like that, fingertips pressed to his chest feeling the rhythm of him. Like if you stayed there long enough your own heartbeat would sync to his. His hand was still cradling your cheek, the pad of his thumb brushing faint distracted strokes beneath your eye like he couldn’t help but touch you.

"Can I ask you something?" you whispered.

"Anything" his reply was instant, and you almost smiled at the speed of which he answered. You blinked up at him.

"If things had been different, if we weren’t carrying all this weight" he watched you carefully as you spoke "Do you think.. do you think maybe we could’ve.. could've had something more?"

You felt his heart change pace, beating a second too fast and your own thudded in your chest.

"Yeah.." he whispered in return "I think about that a lot"

Maybe you had always known.

Maybe it was something buried deep within you, it was almost like it had never existed at all.. but it always had. It had always been there, in the deep dark corners of your mind just waiting for the right moment to rise.

The truth wasn't sudden, it didn't crash into you and knock your breath away but it settled gently on your chest. You hadn't known anyone else this way other than Caleb and you knew that you didn't want anyone else, you never had. 

Not just because of what you’d survived together,not just because he understood the broken pieces of you but because even when everything else in your life had fallen apart he hadn't. You didn’t crave softness from just anyone. You didn’t want comfort, safety and intimacy from strangers, not from people who hadn’t seen the worst of you but with Caleb... you wanted all of it.

"Caleb..." you whispered his name as a breathless request, or maybe a plea.

"You scare the hell out of me" he murmured and you blinked, surprised at his words.

"Wh.. Why?"

"Because you look at me like I matter" he said so quietly you almost missed it "like.. like I’m not just the person who helps you survive but someone you actually care about"

His words made your heart ache in a way you couldn’t explain. He was scared, yuou could see it now and in how he pulled back just enough to protect himself, like he was waiting for you to reject him. You wanted to show him everything you couldn’t put into words but there was something in the air between you two that made it harder to breathe.

"Now who is being silly?" his heart fluttered at the sight of your smile and your words and his cheeks dusted a light pink, you could make out the blush on his skin even in his dark gloomy room "You matter to me, Caleb. You matter more than anyone else ever could"

You took a shaky breath, your hands sliding up to hold those cheeks you love so dearly, your fingertips grazing over the roughness of his skin and his under eyes. You could feel the heat of him, the tension in his body that was mirroring your own.

"I don’t want to just be the guy who keeps you from falling apart" His breath was warm between you and his eyes were fixed so heavily onto you that you couldn't look away "I want to be everything to you, I always have"

"You are everything to me" you whispered and every word you spoke rattled against his chest, sending his heart thumping even quicker "You’re not just the one who keeps me from falling apart, Caleb... you’re the one who makes me want to put myself back together"

Fuck, he was truly in love with you.

He swallowed and you saw the tension in his jaw, in his shoulders, like he was fighting with himself. His hands came up and rested gently on your wrists as you held his face.

He was so close to you that you could feel the warmth of his breath mixing with yours. So close his eyelashes looked unfairly long and the soft curve of his bottom lip looked impossibly kissable in the faint moonlight. You could count the freckles dotting the bridge of his nose.

The space between you was barely anything. Your chest rose and fell and his eyes flicked down to your mouth like he didn’t mean to, like he hated himself for it but couldn’t look away.

"God... I want to kiss you" Caleb murmured, his voice barely audible but the need in it was unmistakable.

Your heart quickened. You had heard the words but they were far more than just a simple confession. There was something deeper behind them, something that burned your insides and it filled everything that had been left unsaid between the two of you. It was a truth neither of you had dared to voice before.

You leaned in, your breath mingling with his, lips barely brushing as you spoke.

"Then kiss me, Caleb" 

In that moment you understood. Caleb wasn’t just someone you survived with, he was the one you were meant to survive for. 

His gaze flickered to your lips again and for a second, everything else seemed to disappear. His hands slid from your wrists and up to your face, hold your head in both of his hands now and his thumb began tracing the marks that were left behind from the tears.

Caleb’s lips brushed against yours, lightly at first as if he was testing the water. As if you were about to break into a million pieces but even if you did, he'd get onto his knees and pick every shard up and put you back together. He took a deep breath in before pressing tightly against you and there was a mutual sigh of content.

It was like in his dreams, you were soft and everything he had ever wanted. Being here, having you in his arms and trusting yourself with him.. you were his anchor as much as he was yours.

You let yourself go in that kiss, giving him everything. The need, the longing and the ache that had grown too heavy to carry alone. His lips were tender and his movements were slow, as if savouring the moment, as if he was afraid that it would disappear if he rushed. Maybe that was exactly what you both needed. No rush, no pushing, just this moment of here and now.

Your hands found his chest, fingers tracing the creases of his shirt and pressing against the warmth of his body. You could feel the steady thud of his heart, matching the rhythm of your own and he shifted closer, closing the distance between you and the sensation of his body against yours made your breath catch slightly.

His tongue flicked against your lips. It was hesitant at first, like a question, like he was asking if you truly wanted to give yourself to him like this and you responded by parting your lips slightly to meet him. It was a soft touch at first but the intensity grew with each passing second. The hunger that had been hidden between you was slowly rising, each kiss pulling you deeper and he was drawing you closer, until there was no space left between you.

His hands slid lower, tracing the curve of your back and pulling you in tighter against him. The warmth of his touch sent a thrill through your body and your senses heightened as you felt the heat of him seeping into every part of you. His mouth moved against yours slowly but he was kissing you like he needed this as much as you did.

You couldn’t get close enough, couldn’t feel enough. Your hands roamed to his neck, threading through the hair at the nape of his neck and pulling him closer, feeling the muscles in his shoulders tense under your fingertips.

"Caleb.." you whispered between kisses, your voice trembling with the weight of everything. 

He moved forwards as he kissed you, lowering you down and down until your back was pressed against the comfort of his bed. he hovered over you now, in between your legs and lips still attached as he grew more hungry for you. You responded of course, because you were loving this as much as he was.

You wanted him. You wanted to feel all of him, to finally give in to what had been bubbling between you for so long.

His lips found the curve of your jaw, the soft skin just below your ear and he kissed you there, each press of his mouth sending shivers down your spine. His breath was hot against your skin, his lips trailing lower and your body arched toward him, instinctively drawing him in and needing more of him.

"Caleb" you whispered again but this time a plea, a soft begging for him to take this further, to not hold back.

He groaned softly, his grip tightening on you as his lips met yours once more, this time more urgently and more desperately. You could feel him, the want in his every movement and you knew that right now, nothing else mattered. All the pain, all the trauma, everything that had weighed you both down it didn’t matter anymore. Not in this moment.

Caleb’s body pressed into yours, the heat between you two growing as your hands slipped to his back, fingers tracing the lines of his muscles beneath his shirt. You pulled him closer, feeling the hard edge of him and the undeniable truth that he was just as desperate for you as you were for him. 

"I need to know" he pulled away, grinding against where you needed him most and he watched your eyes close in bliss "I need to know you want this. I need you to be sure"

"I'm sure.. I'm so sure" you breathed, your lips crashing back into his, tasting the need on his tongue and feeling him shudder beneath your touch "I've never been so sure of anything in my life"

That was all he needed.

Caleb’s hands moved with purpose now, urgent but careful as always, as though he wanted to take his time but couldn’t hold back any longer. His lips found the sensitive skin at your neck and you moaned softly, the sound vibrating between you as he kissed you there with more intensity.

He was learning your body, he wanted to know it as well as he knew your mind. Every gasp, every touch, every shiver you gave him. His hands slid down, tracing the lines of your hips and pulling you closer until there was no space left between you. The world outside didn’t exist anymore. The weight of the past, the shadows of your shared trauma, everything faded away. It was just him and you.

Caleb’s hands moved to the waistband of your shorts, pulling at them slowly like he was giving you a chance to stop him but you didn’t, you wouldn’t. You were beyond hesitation now, beyond doubt. 

His breath was warm against your skin as he continued to kiss you, moving lower and lower and his lips trailed down your throat, the curve of your chest and over your covered breasts, leaving a trail of fire. He stopped just above the waistband of your shorts, his lips ghosting over your skin, asking silently for permission.

You bucked beneath him, your hands pulling at his shirt urging him closer.

"So perfect.." he whispered "So perfect, every part of you"

With one swift motion his hands tugged your bottoms off, casting them aside. He gently kissed the waistline of your panties before they too were tugged off and your lower half was exposed for him to see. He blew gently, the warmth of his breath hitting your core made your legs twitch but you kept them open.

He leant in, kissing your folds gently where slick had begun to slip through and the gasp you let out shocked you slightly. He smiled, leaning in and kissing you once more before his tongue flattened against you and he dragged it from the bottom all the way to the top, the tip of the muscle flicking your clit.

"Fuck.." your hand fisted in his hair while your free hand scrunched into the bedsheets below you. 

You gasped when his tongue dipped further inside your folds, flicking the bottom of your clit again causing you to push into him more. A few more gentle licks before he was fully making out with your cunt and it was the best feeling you had ever had.

It quieted your mind, and you weren't sure if you had ever felt a feeling like before. A feeling of pure pleasure, pure bliss and you never wanted it to stop. The thought made you grip his hair tighter and push him further into you and he groaned at the feeling, groaned at the fact that he was making you feel good.

His lips wrapped around the small bud in front of him and he sucked. You let a small moan tumble from your lips before covering your mouth, realising that you couldn't be too loud and wake Gran up. God knows what she would do or say if she saw the two of you like this..

It was an overwhelming feeling, but you didn't dare close your legs as you gave yourself to him. You'd always give yourself to him, he had earned it and there was no one else you'd want to share this moment with other than him. He was being everything you needed, just as you were being everything he craved.

The lewd sounds of him eating away filled your ears but you couldn't find it in yourself to feel ashamed, or care. HAving him here like this was enough and you didn't stop him. You couldn't stop him, not even when your stomach began to swirl and your breath began to quicken, signalling your incoming orgasm.

He moaned against you, a plea from him asking you to let go because he didn't  want to move his mouth a centimetre away from you. You tasted like heaven, even better than his dreams and it was driving him insane. His sweatpants were growing tighter as the seconds passed and he almost almost blew his load right there and then when your back arched off the bed as you came into his mouth.

Your whole body was covered in goosebumps as he licked away, helping you ride out the pleasure and you couldn't help but let out a small laugh at the feeling. He sucked on your clit a little harder once you were done and he stayed there until your legs twitched before closing against your head, signalling that you were done.

He pulled away and kissed his way back up your body, your shirt rising as he did and exposing your breasts but he played no mind to them. Instead he found your lips again, sighing against you once he felt your tongue dip into his mouth, tasting yourself but also him. You really couldn't get enough of him right now...

"You’re so fucking beautiful" he murmured against your lips, voice husky with admiration. His eyes searched yours for a moment, his gaze intense and full of something that felt almost worshipful "You’re mine, aren’t you? I'm not dreaming right now.."

"Not.. Not a dream, Caleb" you whispered, practically breathless under him as he held you down with his gaze "I'm here. I'm here and I'm all yours"

He found himself leaning down to kiss you again before beginning to pull down his sweatpants, needing to be with you fully. You had wasted enough time, now he had you here he had to make sure that this was real. Is this real?

You were here. In his arms and for a fleeting second he almost convinced himself it’s all some dream. He’s had them so many times, dreamt of you, dreamed of this,  you in his arms kissing him like you needed him, just like he needs you.

The thought fades as quickly as it came.

You slid your hands to the waistband of his pants and helped him remove that barrier, trembling in a way that made his chest tighten. He kicked the material off, reaching his arm behind and pulling off his shirt in one swift motion which led him to be fully bare above you. You gasped against him when he urgently kissed you, gripping your thighs like a starved man and practically molding his body to yours.

You felt like you couldn't wait any longer and neither could he, because before you knew it he was pushing forwards and into you. The tip of his cock breaching your entrance he pushed and pushed and groaned against your lips the further he pushed in and the further he stretched you. The slick from your previous orgasm aided him and he sunk inside you fully with a moan.

His thoughts were clouded with you, you and only you. The feeling of having him inside you made you pull away from his lips, the need to breathe suddenly hitting you and you met his eyes.

"Fuck, pip" He whispered, one hand moving to your waist while his other placed itself by your head so he could gaze down at where you were connected "You feel so fucking good, baby.."

He attacked your lips again, feeling you clench around his cock causing him to twitch. You sighed blissfully as he sat inside you for a moment, bodies glued together as he kissed you gently. It was like a relief to have him inside you, like everything wrong about you was clicking into place.

"Caleb" you muttered against his lips, earning a simple hm in return "You.." kiss "You feel how much I need you?" kiss "How much.." kiss "How much you matter to me?"

The words you spoke had him leaning further down, body resting on top of you now as he gave a lazy thrust but you felt it deep inside you. The way he was resting so perfectly inside you, like he belonged there, like this was where he was meant to be every single day.

"I feel it, baby" he told you, smiling against you and watching you when he pulled all the way out "'m gonna look after you.. gonna take such good care of you"

He took your breath away when he slid back until he was inside of you again. The thrust was gentle but held a firm edge to it, like he was losing all composure and you wanted him to.. you wanted him to give you everything he had.

When he finally set a pace he was happy with, your breath was being taken away from you with every thrust he did. It didn't feel like he was rushing this, it felt like he was taking his time with you, like every thrust aided in him breathing. He kissed you, his lips glued to yours and he muffled your sounds.

"Feels good.." you whispered, pulling away from his lips and staring up at him.

He gave you a gentle smile, kissing the tip of your nose as he rolled his hips a little harder, watching the way your breasts bounced at the movement. The sight had him thrusting harder, groaning into you and his eyes dilated on the way your nipples hardened despite being neglected.

"Yeah? Feels good?" he bit your bottom lip causing you to shudder. His voice was so seductive and you never thought you'd hear Caleb talk this way, never thought you'd have him this way "You want more? Gonna be good and take more?"

"Fuck-Yes, yes please.." it seemed like every thrust he delivered was his lifeline, as if the harder he went the more he could breathe and god it felt incredible.

"So so good for me, pip.." your legs wrapped around his waist, holding him down and further into you and he couldn't escape from you now not ever and fuck, he wanted that so much.

He was losing himself in you, completely.

"Caleb-"

"So fucking in love with you.." he breathed out, the words tumbling past his lips before he could stop them "You have no idea"

The words landed on your chest and you weren't sure if it was them or the harsh thrust he delivered that knocked the wind out of you. Your body stilled for half a second, your heart slamming against your ribcage like it was trying to claw its way to him. Heat bloomed across your chest, spreading all the way down to where he was still deep inside you and it made everything tighter.

He loves me. Caleb loves me. He loves me.

Your throat tightened around a gasp and you found yourself smiling, but you couldn’t stop the familiar burn in your eyes. Too much, too full too fucking good. The part of you that had spent years thinking you were unlovable and too broken, too complicated none of it stood a chance against this.

You clung to him like the words had cracked something wide open in your chest, and all that spilled out was need.

I love you, I’ve always loved you. No one’s ever made me feel like this.

You didn’t say it back, not yet but it was there. In your fingertips digging into his back, in the way your hips lifted to meet his. In the way you looked at him like he’d just saved your life because he had. 

You didn’t even realize you were crying until he slowed, until his lips brushed the corner of your eye, catching the tear with a kiss so gentle it made your chest ache. He stayed deep inside you still moving, slower now like he wanted to feel every inch of you, like he didn’t want to rush a single second.

"Hey" he murmured nose brushing yours "you okay? I'm not hurting you, am I?"

Always so tentative. Always so careful with you, the thought made you curl into him more. Your hands moved up, framing his face like you were trying to memorize him, burn every detail into your palms.

"No, no you could never" your voice cracked and you laughed, breathless under him "I just-I don't know what to do with it. That.. that you love me"

He pressed his forehead to yours, breath shaking. He wanted you to know that you deserved to be loved. He had told you, but he needed to show you that you weren't broken, that you didn't need to be fixed. You were perfect and beautiful the way that you were, every single part of you and he'd love everything about you.

"Then don’t do anything, pip. Just let me show you"

You held his face in your hands, admiring him for a little while longer and your thumbs brushed along the high curve of his cheekbones. You moved to wrap your arms around his shoulders, pulling him in tighter so that there was no space left between your bodies.

You tried to say it, the words right there on your tongue. I love you... but all you could manage was a soft, broken gasp as he thrusted into you again.

You kissed him again, desperate this time and he kissed you back like he could taste the love in your mouth. Your bodies moved in sync, like you’d been made for each other and maybe you had. 

"Just like that" he murmured against your lips. His thrusts deepened "God, you take me so well.. always so good for me"

He thrusted deeper, the kind of deep that made your toes curl and the kind that knocked your next breath out of you. His hand slid between your bodies, fingers brushing where you were joined and over the bulge in your stomach. You tightened around him each time he spoke and it was getting harder for him to contain himself.

Your moan cracked in your throat as you whispered his name, the only name you wanted to say from now on.

"Fuck, Caleb.."

"You feel how tight you get every time I tell you how fucking perfect you are?"

You nodded, tears still clinging to your lashes, lips parted like you were stuck between crying and begging for more.

His hand didn’t stop moving between you, your clit rubbed by his large hand and every brush of his fingers sent sparks up your spine. You were trembling beneath him. Hips stuttering, mouth parted in a soft breathless cry as he buried himself deep and stayed there.

"Fuck, pip.." His voice was wrecked now, barely hanging on "You feel that.. the way you're squeezing me? You're close, aren’t you?"

You nodded up at him, eyes glassy and lips trembling.

"Ca..Caleb please"

He growled low in his throat, hips rolling harder and deeper, each thrust hitting just right... just perfect. Your breath hitched, eyes fluttering and he watched you like he could see it. See the way your body was right on the edge, your heart right in his hands.

Three thrusts later and your whole body seized, pleasure crashing over you like a tidal wave. You cried out, legs locking tight around his waist as you came undone beneath him. He didn’t stop. Just held you, forehead against yours, lips rutting against you and he moved inside you as you creamed over him and the feeling sent him into a frenzy.

"That’s it... that’s my girl. So fucking beautiful when you fall apart for me" 

It didn't take long until he was there too, his rhythm stuttering as much as his hips and he buried himself deep inside you with a groan, your name falling from his lips as he gave you everything. Your walls painted white with his cum and his arms trembled at the feeling of you sucking him in so tightly.

For a few long seconds, neither of you moved. Just tangled limbs, your chests rising and falling in sync, his forehead still pressed to yours.

Your body was still trembling when his hand slid up your side, fingers ghosting along the swell of your ribs like he was afraid to stop touching you. Caleb didn’t move much. Just rested inside you, still thick and warm and softening now but every now and then, he’d give you the gentlest little roll of his hips. Barely anything but it was enough to stay in you. It was enough to remind you he was still there.

Your fingers toyed lazily with the hair at the nape of his neck as your breathing started to even out. His nose nudged along your cheek, breath mixing with yours, eyes barely open as he looked at you like you were some kind of dream.

"Still here.." he whispered "Still inside you"

You let out a breathy little laugh, lips brushing against his jaw.

"I noticed"

"Don’t wanna leave" he mumbled, eyes fluttering shut as he pressed a kiss to your temple. 

His hips gave another lazy push, more like a soft rock than a thrust and it pulled a gentle, tired sound from your throat. You were sore, and you were so full but you didn’t want him to stop either.

"Don’t" you whispered in return "Please don't leave.. stay"

His hand drifted down to your thigh, rubbing slow circles into your skin and you smiled into his neck, pressing your lips there before breathing him in. His scent, his skin, the faint salt of sweat and the softness of his hair brushing your cheek.

"So beautiful.. you're so.. beautiful"

Your chest ached, full in the best way and you ran your hands over his back like you could keep him together just by touching him. He sighed into you, kissed your shoulder then your collarbone, lips moving in a soft trail. Another slow, lazy thrust and he was barely hard anymore but it didn’t matter to either of you.

"Can we fall asleep like this?" you asked quietly, afraid the moment might break if you said it too loud. Afraid that the dreams you often had would hear your bliss, hear your peace and ruin it before you could appreciate it in full.

Caleb didn't need to be asked twice and he collapsed fully onto you, letting out a long tired sigh and it made your heart swell. 

At some point, you must’ve dozed off.

The room had gone still and Caleb was still draped on top of you, his head tucked against your neck, breath warm against your throat and you didn't mind the heavy weight of it. One of his arms was under your back, curled around you and the other rested low on your waist, hand spread across your stomach like he was trying to cover as much of you as he could.

He was still inside you, soft now but you could feel him twitch every so often, little unconscious reminders that his body knew yours even in sleep.

You blinked slowly, hazy and overwhelmed with everything that had just happened. Your legs were still around him, barely hanging on and your muscles ached in the best way. The moonlight caught the slope of his shoulder and his lips were parted against your collarbone.

He was asleep, curled in your arms and still buried inside you and you didn't feel afraid anymore. You didn't hear or feel anything other than him and you found yourself trusting your dreams now. 

Because even if you did wake in a panic, even if you did dream of the hell you had been through, he would be here. A reminder that he was yours and that he wouldn't be going anywhere. Your throat tightened, tears pricking again but this time it wasn’t sadness, it was relief.

Yu shifted just a little, brushing his damp hair back from his forehead. He stirred slightly but didn’t wake, only burrowed further into you with a soft sigh. 

"I love you.." you whispered, voice in the dark "I think I always have"

He didn’t answer, not really but his arm pulled you tighter, his hips rolled just the smallest bit and his breath stuttered like somewhere deep in his sleep, he’d heard you. You smiled, heart hammering before your eyes closed again.

 ────────

You woke first.

The morning light poured through the curtains and for a moment you just laid there. Caleb’s breath was slow and steady behind you, chest rising and falling against your back and there was the soft weight of his arm across your waist. His nose was tucked just beneath your ear, his thigh slotted tightly between yours.

At some point in the night he'd slipped out of you but you couldn't complain, not when he was holding you so close and not when you had managed to sleep without being taunted by your dreams.

Your eyes fluttered shut again for a moment, holding onto it. This quiet, impossible peace and you’d never felt so warm.

"Morin' pretty" 

You smiled, lips twitching as you looked over your shoulder. Caleb blinked at you half awake but his voice still made your stomach flip. His eyes were soft, a little dazed but they raked over you like they had all night.

"Mornin.." you whispered back "Didn't wanna wake you"

He leaned forward, pressing a slow lazy kiss to your shoulder.

"You can wake me up whenever you want" he mumbled.

You sighed as he kissed your shoulder again, then behind your ear and you melted into him. His chest was hard against your back but you bathed in the feeling, of the feeling of him holding you and kissing you.

"I could stay like this forever.." you said quietly.

Caleb hummed like he believed you, then let his hand trail lazily down to your hip, the pad of his thumb brushing where you were still sore. You gasped softly at the contact, more surprised than anything and he smiled against your skin.

"Hmm.. you sensitive, baby?" he asked, voice dipped low. You shoved his chest gently, laughing breathlessly.

But god it made your stomach flutter. Made you ache a little because he was starting to harden against you, slow and inevitable as your bodies remembered what they did together.

You shifted against him slightly, breath catching at the way his body responded, at the low groan he let out against your neck like the feeling of you stirred something deep in him even in the quiet of morning, in the quiet of this moment. 

You turned to face him, his thigh sliding between yours again as you curled into him. His eyes were clearer now, wide open and locked on yours. Caleb exhaled a shaky breath as he met your eyes, brushing your hair back and tucking it behind your ear with a tenderness that nearly undid you.

His thigh flexed in between your legs you and you bit your lip at the feeling, the hard muscle doing wonders on your swollen clit.

He dipped down and kissed you making you sigh against his lips, fingers sliding into his hair as he kissed you again and again and again. His hips rocked forward once, too lazy but he just needed to feel you again and fuck you felt him alright.. your body warm against his own and your lips parted with a quiet gasp.

He gave you a sleepy grin and it was the most attractive thing you had ever seen in your life. He kissed your jaw, then your throat, the flat of his palm splayed wide over your back like he was memorizing the shape of you but then he stilled, forehead resting against your collarbone.

"If I keep going, I'm not stopping" he whispered against you. You didn't move, just stayed still and enjoyed the feeling of him against you. He laughed softly when you said nothing "Shit.. alright I'm getting up before I break my damn promise"

Reluctantly he peeled himself away from you, sitting on the edge of the bed and dragging on a pair of sweatpants. His back muscles shifted as he moved and you couldn't stop watching him.

This was your Caleb. The same boy who had gone through hell with you, the same boy who knew what it felt like to wake up screaming in a room that wasn’t yours, to be torn apart and put back together by people who never cared if you survived it.

The same boy who learnt how to breathe again just so he could teach you how. He was the only place your mind went when it all got too loud, the only pair of hands that made you feel whole instead of broken. 

You reached out and traced your fingers along the scratch marks you'd left on his back, wondering if his back used to harbour any other scars before they healed. Yours had, they scattered your body before they healed but even then they sank into you and made themselves at home on your bones and in your mind.

Watching the soft light catch the fresh lines you'd left across his back you began to feel something ancient that curled low in your stomach. For once it wasn't guilt, nor was it sadness but it was a sense of ownership. You felt proud. A deep thought that no matter what had been done to you and what had been done to him you were both here, alive. No matter how many times they had tried to erase you, you were here.

This moment was yours, and so was he.

You sat up, this time leaning against his back as you kissed his shoulder and all the way to the back of his neck. He sighed at the feeling of your smaller lips against his skin, begging his mind to rid the thoughts of pinning you down on the bed and taking you again.

You felt the shiver that ran through him and he tilted his head slightly, giving you access to more skin. It was yours as much as his, and the small movement made your heart squeeze.

"Careful" he warned, voice warm too warm to be a serious threat "You keep doing that and I won’t be responsible for what happens next"

You smiled against the nape of his neck, your lips lingering there tasting the salt of his skin and the sleep still clinging to him. He let out a sharp exhale through his nose as your arms wrapped around his middle from behind, palms pressed flat against the hardness of his stomach.

"Thank you, Caleb.."

The words carried so much weight behind them. He stilled beneath your touch slightly, like the sound of his name paired with gratitude had cracked something open inside him. His fingers wrapped gently around your wrists, not to stop you but to feel you. To ground himself in the weight of your words and in you.

The silence that followed wasn’t empty and he turned his head slightly, just enough to meet your eyes over his shoulder. You couldn’t read everything in his expression, there was too much there. But instead, he brought one of your hands up from his stomach and placed a lingering kiss to your knuckles.

"I’m gonna make breakfast before I forget how to function.." you laughed gently at this, leaning back into his bed as he stood up. Your eyes never left him as he pulled on his shirt before turning back to face you and with a successful grin he leant down, a hand braced by your head.

"And don't.." he warned, brushing his lips against yours "tell Gran what we did"

You laughed, pulling the blanket up to your chin.

"I don't think she'd be surprised.."

"Yeah well, she'd say I corrupted you"

He kissed you again before you could reply. A messy, lingering thing that promised you more even in its softness and then he was pulling away before he was gone, trailing towards the kitchen.

When you eventually decided to move you found yourself in the kitchen, stood by the counter and holding a mug between your hands. Caleb was at the stove in front of you, his back to you as he pretended to focus on the scrambled eggs but he could feel your eyes burning in the back of his skull.

Now that you had him you didn't want to be away from him.

Your Gran of course, didn't question it. She was used to you always clinging to Caleb, she knew he was the one who kept you calm despite everything you had both been through. When she adopted the both of you it was evident to her that neither of you should be split up.

She sat at the kitchen table, frail as ever as the sound of the news on the television filled the silence in the room. 

You shifted on your feet, mug warming your hands but not your chest. Caleb hadn’t said a word since you walked in, hadn’t even looked back at you but you could see the way his shoulders tensed, how his knuckles whitened briefly around the spatula every time you shifted.

You wondered if he could feel it too. That low, humming ache of being apart when all you wanted was to crawl back inside him and stay there. Where you were safe and untouched by the world that had done so much damage.

The eggs sizzled quietly in the pan and you watched the steam curl up around his forearms. Your eyes dragged lower, over the curve of his spine knowing that there were marks there left behind by you, the familiar slope of his neck and you bit your lip at the sight. You knew that body like your own now, every part of him felt claimed. Yours.

You were still staring when Gran’s voice pulled you back.

"You’re quiet this morning, sweetie" she said gently "Bad dreams?"

You blinked and looked at her. She always spoke to you like she was afraid and the truth is that she was. She was always scared to say the wrong thing in fear that you'd crack, fall to the ground as you often did before clawing at your chest and head to rid the memories and the feeling of what they had done to you.

But today, today felt different.

You shook your head gently in response, eyes flicking back to Caleb’s form. 

"No dreams.."

A lie, you had dreamt. The same haunting one of you losing Caleb which resulted in you crawling into his bed but after that.. it was silent. Sleep hadn't felt like a battle for once and it was a strange feeling, you had to admit. It almost didn't feel real.

Last night had been slightly different. Caleb had been there, holding you, grounding you, keeping you safe in a way that no one else ever could like he always did. Your Gran accepted that answer, her eyes softened slightly but she didn't press you further. 

A few minutes passed and the news droned on, a low hum in the background as you poured a second mug of coffee, placing it down silently for Caleb. Your Gran cleared her throat lightly and pushed herself up from the table, wobbling just slightly.

"Could you two run to the store for me?" she asked, hand pressed to her chest "I’m feeling a little off, my head hurts a little.. Might be coming down with something"

"Sure, Gran" Caleb replied before you could and both of you watched her carefully "You alright?"

"I’ll be fine, just need to rest a bit" she told you both, making her way towards the stairs.

Caleb’s gaze lingered on her for a moment before he nodded slowly, telling her to take it easy before assuring her that you'd both head to the store and grab what she needed. As she moved slowly from the room, her footsteps retreating upstairs the silence settled

Once she was gone, the kitchen was suddenly too small and the space between you was unbearable. It was like he had a constant pull to him, and now that he had gotten a taste of you he never wanted to stop.

You pushed yourself off the counter, coffee mug placed safely on the marble as your eyes locked onto Caleb's and you moved toward him. It only took two steps before you stepped into him, body pressed against his, your lips slamming into his with a force that shocked even yourself.  His hands shot to your waist as your gripped his neck, the eggs behind him forgotten.

He pulled you against him and you could feel every inch of him like you had last night. His lips moved in a rhythm and you thankfully kept up with him, his tongue sliding against yours and deep inside your mouth as if he was trying to swallow you whole.

You felt like a hormonal teenager the way you were gripping him and the way the heat between your legs grew more and more. Caleb pulled away slightly, his breath ragged, lips still inches from yours. The silence between you was heavy and your chest heaved as you tried to catch your breath, eyes meeting his

"Jesus, pip.." His lips were swollen as he spoke and clearly you had shocked him as much as you shocked yourself. You smiled shyly at him.

"Sorry, I just-I don't even know" You couldn't justify it, you couldn't justify the way you had practically leaped onto him. Caleb swore under his breath, his hand cupping your face.

"I really think I'm dreaming right now.."

His reply made you smile even further, leaning up to press a small peck on his lips before you let a small amount of space shuffle between the two of you. If these were his dreams you were envious..

"We should go" You told him and he sighed against you.

"Yeah.. yeah, we definitely should"

Hours had passed and you were walking back from the store when the sky started to turn gold. Gran had asked for just a few things but somehow Caleb managed to turn it into a whole grocery mission. He said something about her not trusting your diet, muttering about sugar and salt and you'd just laughed, letting him talk while you dragged your feet behind him, the weight of last night still settled between your thighs as much as it did in your heart.

You walked in step, your pinky brushing his every now and then. He didn't hold your hand, not in public and not where people could see but he always made sure to stay close enough that it didn’t matter. You wondered how long it would take for you both to get to that step.

The bag rustled in your hands, you holding one while Caleb held the other. Gran’s favourite tea, a new loaf of bread, some apples, those stupid tomatoes he claimed didn't suit well with his cooking but he bought anyway because you liked them, vinegar, some milk and eggs. Oh, and-

"Don’t think I didn’t see you sneak that second pack of biscuits" He told you as you both reached the porch.

"I-how did you know?" You were in disbelief that he had caught you and he glanced back at you with a lazy smile. His hair was a mess from the wind and he had that boyish charm you adored.

He paused at the door, adjusting the bag in his hand with a soft grunt while he began to fumble for the keys in his pocket.

"And you always go for the chocolate ones" he muttered, turning the key in the lock "You’re so predictable, pip"

"You like them too, don’t act brand new.." you almost, almost pouted at him but when his mouth curved up into an amused smirk you suddenly forgot how to act.

"Yeah, but I’ve got self control.." You rolled your eyes, shifting the bags in your hand as he pushed the door open.

"You planning to tell on me?" You questioned, and he smiled at you once more.

"Oh, absolutely. Gran’s gonna lecture you about cavities and sugar rot again" He said, his tone was teasing and it was refreshing how light you both felt in this moment "And somehow she still thinks you're the angel between us"

You were, at least in Caleb's eyes. You always would be.

"I am.." You raise a brow, feigning innocence. He gave you a look like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing, cocking a brow as he stepped halfway through the door and tilted his head at you.

"Yeah, okay pip" He grinned at that and you found your own lips twitching. He looked at you in that moment like you were his world and you were, you always would be. He lingered at the doorframe then, one foot inside the house, the other still with you on the porch and maybe it was the way the sun hit him just right or the way your heart knocked a little too loud in your chest but everything in you screamed to memorise this "Well.. since you're grown up now, I won't cover for you this time"

What?

That smile on his lips just before the door opened. It was like deja vu cracked wide open across your chest and your fingers went numb around the bag. Your pulse pounded in your ears but it was drowned out by a sound that felt impossibly far away. Your breath hitched, shallow and panicked, as the world around you blurred. That horrible feeling.. the same one you’d felt in every dream, every nightmare when you had no power, when the worst was about to happen and there was nothing you could do.

Those words.. they weren’t just words. No, you had heard them before.

Your dream.

Caleb, he-

You hit the ground hard. The breath left your lungs in a broken exhale as your body folded into itself, scraped and bent from the force of it all. The shockwave had sent you flying backwards, your feet gone from beneath you and your head smacked against the ground, the impact sharp and dizzying.

Everything was muffled. The world had gone quiet in the loudest possible way, like your ears had filled with static and your heart was beating underwater. You blinked against the blur, blinking again and again, until the world began to take shape but it didn’t make sense.

Pain shattered through your skull but it barely registered. All you could feel was the aftershock, your body shaking uncontrollably and your heart slamming against your ribs like it wanted to escape. Your skin burned, your muscles screamed at you. Your vision was blurred by dust, smoke and heat as you fought to breathe every inhale burnt as your lungs desperately clawed for anything to fill them.

The house was on fire.

Not just burning, it was consumed. Flames curled out from the windows and smoke blew black into the sky swallowing the sun, swallowing everything around you. It was hot, too hot and the air burned when you tried to breathe it. You could feel it in your chest, the way it clawed at your ribs, searing the inside of your lungs but you couldn’t stop breathing, you had to breathe... you had to get up, you had to..

Your arms shook beneath you, every nerve in your body screaming. You were scraped open, bruised and bleeding somewhere. Something warm was trickling down the side of your face and your lips parted but no sound came. Just a choked rasp and a harsh cough that shook your whole body.

Your palms scraped against the gravel, split open and bleeding, littered with tiny shards of glass. You wanted to scream, to beg your body to just work but when you reached to push yourself up you fell back down with a cry. It knocked the energy you had left out of you and you could only stay still in defeat.

You collapsed onto your side, your hand reaching helplessly toward the flames, the tears streaming down your face burning as they mixed with the smoke. 

Caleb.

Your dream had been a warning. It hadn't been just a nightmare or a trauma response. A sob tore from your throat, the kind that didn't sound human and you tried to drag yourself forward towards the house, towards him but you couldn't move. You wanted to scream, to curse, to turn back time and rip him away from that doorway. Why hadn't you.. why hadn't fucking done something?

He had been right there. Just right there... now he was gone. You couldn’t see him, you couldn’t hear him and all you could do was stare as the fire devoured everything in front of you. The worst part was it felt too familiar, because it was. This was your dream but this time it was real, this time you were awake.

You choked on another sob as the flames danced brighter, as if mocking you and your hand pressed to your ribs, the skin there was tender and screaming beneath your fingers but you couldn’t feel anything anything other than the pain of losing him. You wanted to scream out, to crawl into the fire if it meant finding him.

But all you could do was lie there, the smoke curling into your mouth and nose, the fire eating away at everything and hope that when you woke up, it would be one of your dreams. That this was because you had let yourself slip and find bliss, find peace even if it was just for one night.

If this was real, if this wasn't a nightmare then Caleb was gone.. and if Caleb was gone, then so were you.

Losing Caleb wasn’t just losing a person, it was losing the only quiet you’d ever known. The only voice that made the noise in your head stop, the only warmth that ever felt like home. He had been your safe place and now the world felt tilted. There was no gravity here anymore, just a gaping emptiness where he used to be and the terrifying part was that it felt permanent.

Like no matter how hard you cried or how loud you begged.. he wasn’t coming back. You’d be carrying this aching thing inside your chest alone for the rest of your life and now, life had suddenly become something that you weren’t sure you wanted anymore.

[letjungk09k]

The best lads fics everrr ! I cant imagine the amount of work and time put into these. I'll definitely cheer for you from now on !

Can you please tell us a bit about you ? Would love to know more :)

thank you so much!! this means a lot<3 working on something right now, hopefully i can get that finished!!

little bit about me - i’m 22, pronouns are she/her!

i recently downloaded LADS and i’m obsessed already :3 my mains are raf/sylus (i can’t choose) but lowkey a sprinkle of caleb… i’m resisiting thou :D

[letjungk09k]

My knight

Main Masterlist

.ᐟ pairing. ⤑ Knight!Sylus x Princess!Reader (no use of y/n).

.ᐟ synopsis. ⤑ He was always composed, always unreadable behind that stoic expression. But when the castle lights dimmed he found himself alone in his chambers, his cock in his hand and thoughts of you curling through his mind. That was when the composure crumbled.

You’d always been dangerous to him but tonight… tonight you pushed him too far. You didn’t even know it or maybe you did. Maybe that was what made it worse.

.ᐟ word count. ⤑ 16k posted on my ao3.

.ᐟ WARNINGS, mdni!!. ⤑ explicit sexual content, royalty au, very much shameless smut, reader is a brat, sylus is a brat tamer, loss of virginity, strip tease, female masturbation, forced orgasm, cock warming, knight x princess relationship, dirty talk/thoughts, finger sucking, hand kink if u look closely... praise kink, size kink, size difference, sylus is a bit of a tease, p in v sex, MESSYYYY (i mean messy) kissing, tongue sucking, bit of an open ending! (but i may revisit this.......)

.ᐟ A/N. this IS an open ending but if you keep sylus' personality in mind, you'll come up w a conclusion fitting to him :3 (i also might revisit this, no promises)

enjoy!

The perfect fucking princess.

Always so pristine, so untouchably elegant. Even in the quiet hours, when the castle fell into sleep and night draped itself over the stone walls you were never anything less than stunning. Soft skin that glowed in the candlelight, lips faintly tinted, hair braided like something out of a story. It was long, glossy and neat. Even the way you dressed, delicate silks covered in fine embroidery, each gown carefully chosen not just for its beauty, but for the way it curved around your body, the way it clung and fell.

You were meant to be looked at, admired. It was the duty of every person with royal blood.

And they did. Princes, dukes, noble sons from faraway kingdoms, they paraded into court with promises and jewelled offerings, all of them tripping over their own tongues just for a chance to impress you, to win you. The perfect prize, as if you were something to be won.

But they were never good enough, they never even came close.

Because what they wanted was the fantasy. What they saw was the surface, and none of them could handle what lived underneath it all. The sharp tongue, the clever wit, the way your eyes narrowed in defiance when something didn’t go your way. None of them could tame you.

Sylus knew that, he knew you.

Knew that behind your perfect smile was a mind that never yielded. That behind the firm posture you held and the poise way you spoke was a streak of bratty defiance you wielded constantly. You were stubborn, mouthy and impossible and you were never worse than you were with him.

You said things you had no right to say and things he had no right to hear. Your voice soft and curious, laced with amusement, your gaze lingering just a second too long. You let your fingers linger when you ghost touched his arm, leaned in when you spoke like you were telling him a secret, like the two of you shared something sacred. You smiled like you knew what you were doing to him. Like you could feel the way his jaw tensed, the way his hands twitched at his sides when you got too close.

And maybe you could, maybe you knew exactly what you were doing when you let your laughter spill over him, when you tilted your head and looked up at him through your lashes, when you ran your fingers slowly, so slowly along the edge of your wine glass and asked if your dress looked appropriate.

You were relentless, and he was only a man.

A man sworn to protect you. To guard you with his life, to keep his distance and uphold his title, his duty, his control. But you made it impossible. Every word out of your mouth made him ache, every passing glance, every accidental brush of your body against his in a corridor it all stirred something dangerous in him.

There were fleeting moments where he let his mind slip. Let it imagine your lips parted beneath his, your breath catching as he pressed you into your silk sheets, his name falling from your tongue. Moments where he let the idea of it sink its claws into him. Taking you slowly, ruining your innocence and leaving you ruined for anyone else.

Because he would ruin you.

He’d leave his mark on your skin, in your thoughts, deep in the part of you no one else would ever touch. He’d remind you with every kiss, every thrust, every whispered command that no one especially not one of those pretty little suitors could ever satisfy you the way he would. Because he knew you, all of you. The sweetness and the sharp edges, the princess and the brat and he wanted every goddamn inch of you.

You were his perfect fucking princess and he was going to break himself trying to stay away.

Every time you whined, every time you pouted, it was like a knife straight through his restraint. You knew what you were doing to him, you always knew and it was even worse when he knew you did it on purpose.

His thoughts spiralled back to that night just a week ago, when you'd stood in the centre of your room, arms folded across your chest like you were the queen of the world. Your night gown had shimmered in the moonlight but it wasn’t the silk he noticed, no it was the fire in your eyes. And your hardened nipples poking through the fabric. He saw the defiance, the way you would throw your chin up as if daring him to challenge.

"I’m not wearing this" you had said, practically sneering at the dress laid out for you to wear to some royal event.

And of course, Sylus had been the one tasked with convincing you, not that you made it easy. You had stood there, giving him that pout. The one that drove him to the edge every damn time, the same pout you used to coax everyone into bending to your will.

But not him. No, never him. He had tried to reason with you, his tone firm as always.

"Princess, the attire is fitting for the occasion. You have to—"

"I don’t care" you had interrupted, rolling your eyes and your voice dripping with that bratty edge he’d learned to loathe and love in equal measure "I’m not wearing it"

He remembered the sharp tug in his chest when you moved your fingers up to your neckline, imaging what the dress would look like on you. The softness, it put him in a trance and it made him realise how badly he wanted you. Every inch of him screamed to pull you into him, to kiss that defiance out of you. But he didn't, he definitely couldn’t.

Instead he’d stood there, rigid as stone with his jaw clenched so hard it hurt.

"Princess, I can't have this discussion again" He’d said it with as much control as he could muster. But in his head... his thoughts were anything but controlled.

He wanted to see you in that dress, wanted to see you squirm in it as he took his time pushing you to the edge of your composure like you did to him. He wanted to pull you close, to rip that dress off your body and to feel your soft skin under his hands and taste the sharpness of your stubbornness.

You had known, of course. You always knew. The way you'd smile, that damn smirk that said you were testing him again, pushing and waiting for him to snap.

"You’re no fun, Sylus" you’d say, voice so sweet but with a wicked edge "If you’re so good at keeping me in line, why don’t you show me how well you can do it?"

And it had been almost too much.

It wasn’t the first time. There had been countless moments like that, where you had acted like the perfect little princess, then flipped the switch and become the spoiled, bratty girl he knew you could be. But gods, he loved it.

Another time before that you were slouched in your seat at the royal dining hall, your arms crossed tightly over your chest as you glared down at your plate. The meal in front of you, a spread of meats and cheeses and pastries was untouched. It was all for you and yet you were sat there with narrowed eyes and lips pressed together in a perfect pout.

Sylus, who was stood beside you as he always was, didn't miss a single detail. He knew very well the look you had when things didn't go your way, although he wasn't sure what it was now. It was infuriating and yet somehow, it was something that always twisted inside him. He hated that you did this but he couldn’t deny how much it got under his skin.

"Princess" he had said, his voice low and measured, betraying none of the emotions boiling beneath the surface "You’re not eating"

His gaze was cool, but you could feel the weight of his words in the way his eyes locked on you. His voice was firm, an order, like the way he spoke to the soldiers. 

You only sighed, letting the air rush from your chest as if the whole situation was beneath you. You raised your eyes slowly to meet his, barely glancing up before turning your gaze away again.

"I’m not hungry" you muttered, voice laced with that familiar bratty edge "The food’s not even good"

"You’ve eaten less than a bite"

You didn’t respond, merely pushing your plate further away from you. Your lip jutted out slightly as you resisted the urge to say anything else. So fucking cute.

Sylus didn't look away, his hands clasped behind his back in a firm stance. His silence was deliberate, not giving you the satisfaction of seeing him react to your childishness despite how much he wanted to.

"You can’t just decide not to eat because you don’t like something" he said, each word was deliberate "If you’re hungry, you’ll eat"

His words though stern, held a subtle weight and something in the pit of your stomach clenched. You knew he was right, but you hated that he was. You just liked the way he was firm with you.. you liked the way he commanded you.

You wanted to argue, to say that you didn’t care and that you would do whatever you wanted but you knew better than to take that route with him. There was a brief pause before you spoke again, your voice dripping with challenge.

"I don’t care" you said, and there was a slight whine creeping into your tone "It doesn’t matter to me. I don’t want to eat it"

"You’re being stubborn" he said, his words blunt and final "And you’re acting like a child"

Your head snapped up, eyes meeting his, that defiant spark flaring in your eyes

"I’m not a child" you shot back. I'm 23, you wanted to scream in his face, I'm a grown fucking woman.

"No, you’re not" Sylus agreed, his voice colder than ice "But you're acting like one"

For a moment, you looked like you were going to argue again but the coldness in his voice made you pause. You knew that look... the one where he wouldn’t bend. The one where he wouldn’t indulge you, no matter how hard you tried.

"You will eat" Sylus continued, not raising his voice but carrying an unspoken weight of authority "and you will stop this childish behaviour, princess"

Finally you slumped in your seat, rolling your eyes as you grabbed your fork and stabbed a piece of meat. You watched him the whole time you did, as if to say fine, happy now? The act was an exaggerated display of defiance and it made Sylus' mouth twitch upward despite himself.

"Next time, princess" Sylus said, his voice was softer now as you ate with a roll of your eyes "don’t waste both of our time. You know I don’t tolerate disobedience"

He loved how you challenged him. Loved how you tested him in every way, always acting like you didn’t need anyone but knowing deep down that you wanted him and needed him to keep you in check.

You had no idea how much it tore him apart to watch you pretend like you didn’t care. To stand there so close and smile at him like you knew exactly what effect you were having. The way your lips curled with mischief, the way you knew the exact right words to say to push him to the brink. He knew it was wrong.

Knew it, he had sworn an oath to protect you, to be your knight not your lover. His duty was clear and no matter how hard he fought it he couldn’t let go of the responsibilities that came with his position. He couldn’t let himself be distracted.. but he already was.

The real danger lay in how you knew it. You knew how you made him feel. How you got under his skin, how just a single moment with you could unravel him completely. You were becoming more aware and that realisation made him feel like he was standing on the edge of a cliff, one wrong move and he’d fall.

He hated how you made him feel. He hated how your bratty attitude and sweet smiles made his resistant crack every time, but more than that…

He loved it.

Loved that you didn’t care, loved that you pushed. Loved how every word you whispered made his blood burn hotter and worse, he loved how despite everything, despite all the reasons he shouldn’t, he was constantly drawn to you.

It wasn’t just about the physical attraction. It wasn’t just about the way your body seemed to beg for his touch, or the way your voice could go from sweet to sharp in an instant no, it was more than that. It was about how you made him feel alive. Made him feel like something was at stake, like there was something real between you, even if it was never spoke it aloud.

You weren't the princess who expected him to be just a knight. No, you were different. You wanted him to be something more. To fight with you, to break the rules with you and fuck it drove him fucking insane.

He was always composed, always unreadable behind that stoic expression. But when the castle lights dimmed he found himself alone in his chambers, his cock in his hand and thoughts of you curling through his mind. That was when the composure crumbled.

You’d always been dangerous to him but tonight… tonight you pushed him too far. You didn’t even know it or maybe you did. Maybe that was what made it worse.

It was the night of your suitor ball.

It had been excruciating to watch. Watch you smile and twirl and entertain a line of unworthy men with soft words and sweet laughs, letting them touch your hands, your waist, pretend they had a chance at owning something they could never deserve or control. Your dress had clung to your figure like sin and every time one of them leaned in to whisper something meant to charm you, Sylus had to remind himself he couldn’t step forward and put an end to it, not without reason. Not without revealing what you did to him.

But your smiles had never reached your eyes. Not the way they did when you looked at him after you’d pushed all the right buttons. Not like the grin you gave when you knew you’d gotten under his skin. That was the worst part, knowing you were doing it on purpose.

After the ball, you dismissed your handmaidens with a single flick of your wrist, claiming you were too tired, too overstimulated and that their voices would only add to the ache in your head. You shut your door with an echoing thud and Sylus took his place outside like he always did. But underneath that armour his muscles were tense, jaw locked, fists tight at his sides. The image of your body in that dress haunted every blink.

Minutes passed, then an hour, maybe more.

He had started to think you’d fallen asleep until your door creaked open again. Candlelight spilled across the hall and there you stood, silhouetted by a golden glow, barefoot but still in your gown. You eyes were sleepy but sharp, lips pursed into a pout that had driven him to madness more times than he could count.

"Sylus.." you breathed, voice quiet "Can you help me untie my dress? The maids laced it too tightly and I’m straining my muscles trying to reach"

He should have said no. Should have turned, fetched a handmaiden, reminded you of boundaries neither of you were supposed to cross. But he didn’t, because when it came to you he never did.

His perfect fucking princess.

So he stepped inside without a word, closing the door behind him like it was second nature, like he’d done it a hundred times before. The air shifted the moment he entered and you moved ahead of him without hesitation, walking toward the centre of the room and turning your back to him with quiet confidence, your hair swept aside exposing the soft nape of your neck. The ties of your gown snaked down your spine begging to be undone.

He swallowed hard, eyes locked on your back and for a moment he didn’t move, he just looked. Looked at you standing there, bare feet on cold stone, breathing soft and trusting him in a way that made his chest ache and his cock twitch with heat he could no longer deny.

His hands lifted slowly, calloused and rough fingers brushing the fine fabric of your gown and the first tie slipped loose between his fingers. You didn’t flinch, nor did you speak. You just stood there, letting him undress you like it meant nothing at all but to him it meant everything.

The silence wrapped around you both, the only sounds the faint drag of fabric and the soft rush of your breathing and the thud of his heartbeat in his ears. His fingers moved with practiced care, undoing each ribbon like it might burn him, but he couldn’t stop. The moment he touched you, the thoughts he’d been holding back all night flooded forward, images of you beneath him, moaning his name, that mouth of yours parting in pleasure instead of sass.

The gown loosened with each tie undone, slowly peeling away from your body, revealing slivers of bare skin that made his self control stretch to its limit. The smooth line of your spine, the curve of your waist. He could see the goosebumps rise along your skin beneath his touch, feel the quiet shiver that ran through you.

You were warm, soft and so incredibly close.

His fingertips lingered just a second longer than they should have at the base of your back before he caught himself, withdrawing his hand with a sharp inhale through his nose. He should’ve stepped away, should’ve walked back to the door and pretended none of this ever happened.

But of course, your mouth had to open.

Words no princess should ever whisper to a knight. Words that should’ve sent him running from your chambers, begging for the gods to strike him down before he did something unforgivable. But this was you and Sylus should know better by now, of course you'd have to push him one last time.

"You can touch, you know.." you murmured, voice acting innocent.  Your head remained facing forward, posture perfect like you weren’t doing anything at all. But he didn’t need to see your face to know you were smirking. That bratty little smirk that meant you knew exactly what kind of chaos you’d just stirred in his chest "It’s right there in front of you... waiting"

And oh, how dangerous you were.

You knew what those words would do to him. You knew what kind of control he fought to keep in your presence, how tightly he held onto his honour, his duty, his fucking sanity. You knew your back was bare, your dress barely clinging to your hips and shoulders, your body glowing in the candlelight, tempting..

He didn’t speak, he couldn’t.

Your words hung between you, tugging at every thread of restraint he had left. He watched the soft line of your shoulders rise and fall with your breathing, watched the gentle sway of your hips as you shifted just a little backwards, it was barely a step but it was deliberate. An invitation he should never accept.

His hand lifted slowly, fingers hovering just above your skin, trembling with hesitation. He shouldn’t. He knew he shouldn’t and yet.. he let his index finger fall. The contact was featherlight, just a single touch running down the nape of your neck, gliding along the dip of your spine. It was soft, too intimate and barely there. You shivered.

He felt it, the subtle twitch in your body, the way your skin pebbled beneath his touch, how your shoulders tensed just slightly before melting again under the weight of his hand. You hadn’t expected it to be so gentle and that made something ache in his chest.

He dragged his fingertip lower, tracing the curve of your back, his gaze drinking in every exposed inch of you, then he saw it. A tiny mole, no bigger than a freckle that rested in the centre of your spine, like a mark the gods had placed there just for him to find. His touch slowed, circling the spot with quiet curiosity. It was small, unimportant to anyone else but now that he’d seen it he knew he’d never forget it. It was yours, it was you and somehow it felt like his.

He pressed his palm more fully against your back, warm and steady, dragging it downward with purpose. His hand was large, nearly spanning your entire waist and as it moved he traced slow, deliberate paths across your skin. He didn’t rush, every motion was practiced  and controlled, each line drawn like he was trying to remember you with his hands.

You didn’t speak and you didn’t move.

He could hear the shift of your breath, see the slight rise in your shoulders when his thumb grazed the edge of your spine again following the delicate line of your body. You leaned into it, not much.. just a subtle arch of your back, barely noticeable but enough to make him dizzy. Enough to make his cock throb, strained and aching beneath the weight of his armour.

His jaw clenched, his throat was dry.

He moved slower still, drawing shapes into your skin. Circles, lines and swirls he didn’t even realize he was making. It was like a ritual, quiet and sacred, a worship he wasn’t meant to offer but he couldn’t stop. The candlelight danced across your skin, casting gold along your shoulders, the curve of your waist.

You were stunning.

And you were letting him touch you like this. Trusting him, letting him see you in a way no one else ever had. His hand stilled, resting low on your back and you still said nothing. You didn’t need to.

Your back remained to him, enjoyin his light touch despite how rough his skin was. The skin of a knight... how he could be so gentle with you? make goosebumps rise on your skin from how delicate he treated you. This was completely different to how rough he was when he spared with the other knights in front of you. It made you so fucking horny.

The silence was unbearable now. It was charged and it felt alive while his palm still rested on your spine not moving, like if he let go everything would snap, it would fall. Then your voice cut through the air. 

"If you want to see more" you murmured, soft and slow "you don’t have to ask"

There was a smile in your voice, he didn’t need to see your face to know your lips were pulled into that bratty little smirk, the one that drove him mad in the courtyard, at dinners, in passing glances when you leaned just a little too close.

He exhaled, slow and tight while his jaw locked, his hand still splayed against the middle of your back. Your words were taunting but they were an invitation.. he could hear the satisfaction in your tone, knew you wanted to hear how it affected him. You liked knowing he was fighting himself.

He could feel it in the way his hand ached to explore lower. In the twitch of his fingers as he imagined slipping your dress the rest of the way down your hips. In the way his cock throbbed painfully against the inside of his pants, pulsing with thoughts he wasn’t allowed to have. Would you be soaked? Just drenched by him only lightly touching you.. 

He didn’t know what possessed him.

Maybe it was the way you said it, that soft and taunting murmur. Maybe it was the way you didn’t flinch beneath his touch, the way you waited for him and invited him or maybe this was always meant to happen.

His hand lifted from your back and for a moment the air between you felt colder, but then his fingers found the delicate edge of your gown, right at your shoulder where the fabric clung. He slipped two fingers beneath the strap and dragged it down, slowly and carefully and he watched as it gave way. Your skin that was newly exposed glowed for him.

You didn’t stop him.

He repeated the motion on the other side, slipping the fabric from your shoulder with the same tenderness. It slid lower, brushing past the gentle slope of your arms and pooling in the crook of your elbows before the rest of it followed, bunching at your waist.

And fuck...if he turned you around he’d see everything.

His eyes lowered, following the silken fabric clinging to your hips, the way your skin disappeared beneath it and his fingers twitched at his sides. His heart and cock was pounding. You were standing in front of him, naked from the waist up and it was the most beautiful thing he had ever been allowed to witness.

His throat was dry and his restraint was thinner than ever. He knew that if you turned around now, if you looked at him, if you spoke his name in that voice he wouldn’t be able to stop himself.

He told himself he wouldn’t go further. He had already crossed too many lines, already let his self control slip through his fingers but he couldn't stop letting his eyes drink in every soft curve now exposed to him, the way the candlelight kissed the bare skin of your back, the swell of your waist, the delicate slope of your arms.

He let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. His fingertips skimmed along the length of your upper arm, brushing upward until his palm settled on your shoulder and you were oh so warm beneath his touch. You wanted him to touch you.

He dragged his hand down from your shoulder, slipping along your side until his fingers curled lightly at your waist. There was nothing but his restraint stopping him from pushing you down and taking what was his. 

He caressed your waist with one hand, the other gliding back up your arm too slow for your liking. When he reached your shoulder again, he traced along the delicate line of your collarbone that he couldn't see, his touch like a feather. You shivered beneath it and he closed his eyes for a moment, fighting the urge to grip you, to take you.

He shouldn’t be doing this. You were a princess, he was your knight.

This.. whatever this was, whatever you were making it was dangerous. Forbidden and unforgivable and only something he found himself thinking of when he was alone in his chambers... but then you leaned back and your bare skin pressed into his palm. 

That quiet surrender was what undid him most.

His thumb dragged gently along the side of your waist, mapping the curve of you like it was something sacred. His other hand grazed the edge of your back again, not quite yet possessive but claiming in its own quiet way. He wanted to touch every part of you. Wanted to worship the skin he’d only dared imagine late at night, alone and shameful in his chambers.

His hands lingered for one moment too long and then he pulled away.

As if your skin had scalded him, as if touching you was the thing that would finally destroy whatever fragile control he had left. The sudden absence of him made the air feel cold. Your back, once warmed by his palm and his fingertips was now bare to the silence again. You didn’t need to look to know he’d taken a full step back, maybe even two.

Always so restrained. It annoyed you.

You turned around and his breath caught the moment your eyes met his. He looked away instantly, jaw tight, expression unreadable. You had seen the tension though, you had seen the guilt. His gaze had now dropped onto the floor below you, around the room just anywhere but you.

You stood before him now, bare from the waist up, your dress still bunched loosely at your hips. He kept his arms stiff at his sides, fists clenched like it was the only way to keep them from reaching for you again. He wasn’t breathing like he was supposed to anymore, he was breathing like he was on the edge of something.

You tilted your head, your voice soft and sweetly smug as you always were.

"You didn’t even get to the best part"

His head snapped up, eyes wide just to meet that infuriating taunting look on your face that he'd imagine wiping off and changing into one of pleasure. My bratty girl..

You stepped closer and he wanted to step away but there was a slight warning in your eyes. You could see his hesitation but there was no stopping you. That's when you lifted your hands and took his into your own, gentle as you always were with him.

You unfolded his fingers from their rigid state, one by one and feeling the slight tremble in his palms. His breath hitched when your thumbs brushed along his knuckles, guiding them forward and then gods... then you lifted them and placed his hands against your breasts.

The heat in his palms met the warmth of your skin and for a second he was frozen, like his body had short circuited. His fingers twitched instinctively but didn’t squeeze. You could see the way his lips parted, the way his chest rose and fell in tight shallow breaths. He was unravelling and you had him right where you wanted him.

He didn’t move, not at first. His hands were still unsure, like he didn’t know what to do with you but you felt it. The way his fingertips twitched, the way his hands were shaking slightly. Your body leaning into his as you felt him tense beneath your touch and you weren’t waiting for him to make the first move, you were the one moving.

Slowly almost teasingly you began to move. The soft pressure of his hands beneath your fingers felt like heaven and his large hands were big enough to fully cover each breast. It was hard to move him on your own, hard to make it feel good but you managed... massaging your breasts with his rough hands and he felt your nipples harden against his palm. His hands were still frozen, too afraid and too consumed by something he couldn’t understand but you weren’t giving up that easily.

Your head tipped back slightly and you couldn’t help but let out a quiet breathy sigh, fully aware of the way his gaze flickered to your face. Your lips parted as you felt yourself grow warmer, more alive each second drawing you closer to the edge.

His eyes were wide, pupils blown as he stared at your face at the way your lips softened the pleasure running through your body as you used him. The way you looked so lost in the moment, so completely consumed by the pleasure he was providing, even without a word or movement. His hands trembled just slightly, as if he couldn’t help it anymore. His breath quickened too, each exhale heavier than the last.

Finally he moved.

Cautiously, almost like he was afraid that if he moved too fast you’d vanish from him or that the moment would break. But there was no stopping it.  He let his fingers glide more confidently now, along the soft swell of your breasts, rubbing, massaging, testing. The sensation of your skin against his and the weight of you under his hands it made his pulse race, his heart thundering in his chest. Your hands fell to his wrists, holding on. Not to stop him, but to keep him there. 

His mind screamed at him to stop. That this was a line he shouldn’t cross, that once he crossed it, there’d be no going back but every time you moved, every time you breathed, every time your skin met his, the walls he’d built cracked more. When you let out another soft moan, he knew that the moment was slipping through his fingers.

You leaned into him, close enough now that the heat between your bodies was suffocating. Your lips were just inches from his ear and you whispered so quietly, so intimately that it felt like a secret between you two alone.

"If you want more Sylus... take it" The words were a quiet tease and you felt the way he flinched at the sound. You were driving him insane and you were loving every second of it. You always did.

You tilted your head back, letting your hair fall around your shoulders exposing the delicate curve of your neck. You kept your hands steady on his wrists, keeping him in place as your body shifted beneath his touch as he kept massaging, his thumbs ghosting over your nipples knowing exactly how to touch you.

Had he done this with other women? Fuck them all.

The thought made you arch your back, pushing your chest further into his hands making sure he could feel the softness of you, feel the way you reacted to his touch, to his tension. You moaned softly, a teasing sound that you knew would drive him wild. 

His hands twitched against you, his grip tightening involuntarily and for a moment, you almost felt like he was going to lose it right then... but he didn't. His entire body was stiff with restraint and your sexual frustration was only growing. Who else to touch you other than him?

He needed an extra push... and you knew how to push him, how to make him want you with every fibre of his being. Right now, you knew just what to do.

With the lightest touch you guided his hands lower, to the edge of your gown. His fingers brushed against the fabric of your dress, the silk pooling around your waist as you let him feel the coolness of your skin beneath. His fingers faltered for a moment, just barely grazing the edge of the dress but then he stilled.

You pulled his hands down just a little more, making sure he felt the weight of your body against his and with the smallest hint of a smirk on your lips, you moved his hands to the soft delicate fabric of your dress letting your fingers linger on his as he felt the way it clung to your skin. Yur gaze locked, your eyes pleading and your lips parted, breathless. You weren’t begging with words, it was in your eyes just like it always was. The way you tilted your head slightly, to show him the raw need in your expression. It worked every time and it seemed like tonight was no exception.

Who was he to deny his perfect princess?

Slowly, so slowly you felt him move. His hands shifted under your guidance and with a soft, quiet resistance he began to pull the dress down. The fabric of your gown slid over your skin, inch by inch as he helped you free yourself from its tight embrace. Hs fingers trembled as they tugged at the fabric, pulling it down from your hips and over your thighs.

You weren’t wearing anything beneath it. He realised that only when the gown slid down further until it pooled at your feet, leaving you standing before him in nothing but your own skin.

Fuck.

You took a shallow breath feeling the sudden exposure, the vulnerability of being completely naked in front of him but there was no shame in it. Not with Sylus.

For a moment it felt like the world had paused.. like there was nothing else but the two of you standing in this silence, the space between you both aching with what had been building for far too long. His hands didn’t move immediately. his fingers were still pressed against the smooth skin of your back but his eyes were fixed on you now, on every inch of you, the way you stood before him.

You gently laced your fingers through his, intertwining your hands with his and holding him in place. You could feel the heat of his skin beneath your palms, the way his hands were stiff.. even now as you stood naked in front of him, allowing him to know it was okay. That you wanted him, needed him.

Sylus didn’t say a word but you didn’t need him to. You could feel how badly he wanted to touch you, wanted to drag his hands across your body and feel every inch of you. He was fighting it. It was pissing you off.

Then you spoke, your voice low and soft but dripping with every ounce of tease you could muster. It was a challenge, an invitation and not really one that he could refuse.

"Now you have me, Sylus..." You allowed the words to hang in the air, your breath warm on his skin "Bare like a canvas... care to stain me?"

You were a fucking minx.

You could feel his hands tightening around yours, like your words had shocked him to his core, you knew exactly what you were doing. His grip on your hands was firm but the tremble in his fingers betrayed the battle going on inside of him. 

Especially, especially when you pulled your bottom lip between your teeth in a successful smile knowing you had won this time. But the brat tamer he was, the one he learnt to be around you.. he refused your challenge.

"No"

What?

Your breath hitched.

That single word no struck you harder than a shove. It wasn’t just the sound of it, low and restrained, it was the weight behind it. You felt it like a chill across your bare skin, like the ghost of hands that had almost touched, almost dared and then pulled away.  You blinked up at him, lips parting and the smirk you wore slipping just slightly. Not gone, not quite but faltering under the weight of his refusal.

His eyes were dark, not cold and not unfeeling but they were burning and they were burning into you. Burning into your naked body as you stood and stared at him after he denied you, he didn’t move.

Not even when you did your usual whine, the sound  catching in your throat like it always did as you pulled him closer, willing and begging him to touch you. He was still firm though, frustratingly unmoving and you felt a sudden physical wall between your bodies. His jaw was clenched and his eyes dropped to your lips, then lower...but still nothing.

"Sylus.." you whispered, breath shaking. You shifted your weight, letting your chest press up against him and you pouted, lip jutting "You’re being mean...you want to touch me. I know you do"

His gaze flicked down slow and lazily, drinking you in but his mouth curled into an unfamiliar smirk.

"Wanting doesn’t mean I will" he said, his voice maddeningly calm "I think someone's gotten a little too used to getting her way"

Your stomach fluttered. Fucking traitor... because you knew that tone. That patronising, dangerous little tint that meant you weren’t getting what you wanted. Not easily, anyway. You tightened your grip on his hands, trying to press his palms back against your skin but he didn’t budge. Instead he let you try, let you strain until he shook you off completely.

You gasped half scandalised but half turned on, your hand slapping weakly at his chest with your now free hand.

"You’re being unfair!" 

He tilted his head slightly calm as ever, watching your tantrum with amused eyes.

"Brats don’t get rewards" was all he muttered and you narrowed your eyes at him "You think if you pout just right.. I’ll give you everything you ask for?"

"You always do" your pout was getting more prominent with every second passing.

"And that's the problem, princess..." his fingers reached you again, trailing back down over your stomach and stopping just above where you needed him the most "perhaps I've spoilt you too much.. perhaps I need to make you earn it"

A whimper crawled its way out of your throat before you could stop it. It was infuriating. He was infuriating.

There was a moment that passed, both of you staring at each other as his large body loomed over you as he fitted into his usual role of trying to control you, trying to tame you. Just when you thought you had the reigns, he stole them back from you. His finger stayed just below your bellybutton, the tip pressing into you gently as he refused to move it any further. 

So you moved. You stepped back from him slowly, dramatically your hands folding under your breasts to push them up just a little more and your glare could've cut steel but that sweet pout you always held betrayed your look of anger.

"Fine then" you sighed, and he raised an eyebrow at you "If you won't touch me.. I'll do it myself"

"Princess" he warned.

You spun on your heel and walked away.. no, not just walked, you strutted. Your hips swayed with the kind of overplayed effort that dared him to look and of course he looked. You felt his eyes on you. God you were irresistible.

You reached the bed and made a show of climbing onto it, ass full on display for him to see and he found his jaw twitching. You crawled up the centre then turned to face him before throwing yourself down dramatically, back hitting the plush bedding below you. Your thighs spread just enough to draw the eye and he saw it all.

Even from the middle of the room he saw the slick of your folds, the way you were utterly drenched just from him touching your back, your breasts and his words. He hadn't even touched you properly but there was strong evidence of you being so horny for him and he swore he stumbled in his place slightly.

You lay there, knees up and legs slightly open for him to see while your elbows held your upper body up so you could see him, watch him as he watched you. Your head tilted to the side, lips curved in a smirk as you met his gaze again, you were daring him to stop you.

He didn't.

You let your hand trail down your stomach, slow and sensual and it was a perfect performance. Your fingers danced lightly over your navel, down the soft dip of your pelvis.

"Since you’re being such a tease" you murmured, your breath as uneven as his "I guess I’ll just take care of it myself"

His jaw tightened at your words, you saw it. So without further warning you slid your hand lower.U

Your fingers dipped between your thighs and a sharp gasp left your lips, your body twitching slightly at the sudden rush of sensation. You threw your head back with a soft moan, spine arching ever so slightly. You let your fingers dance in the slick of your folds, collecting the essence on your fingertips knowing it was him who caused it.

You started to grow hot, not just under your skin but your whole body felt like it was on fire. You weren't unfamiliar with your own pleasure, you had explored it many time but it was different when the man you wanted the most was stood watching you. Your fingers ghosted your entrance, before they met that sensitive little bud you often rub a little too hard.

But today it felt perfect. Your slick gathered just right and you let out a small moan as you teased your clit gently, rubbing up and down with your fingertip before circling it slowly oh so slowly.

In the heat of your pleasure building up you glanced over to the man who it was all for. You flicked your gaze back toward him, eyes half lidded and breathless, sweat starting to kiss the hollow of your throat and his thoughts were filled of images of his tongue lapping up the sweat you produced before cleaning the slick between your legs.

"Still not gonna help me?" you whimpered, lips trembling "Even when I’m like this? For you?"

He was still rooted to the floor but now his fists were clenched at his sides his breathing ragged. He looked wrecked and you were glowing. So you let your head fall back again, your hips beginning to move in time with your fingers, your free hand gripping the sheets like it was all too much, like you were right on the edge already.

You heard it first, the broken noise that left his lips as you let out another moan, speeding up your fingers on your clit. 

A quiet and breathless "Shit"

You barely had time to catch your breath when you felt the shift in the air. Your fingers stilled between your thighs for a brief moment, chest rising and falling in uneven waves as Sylus finally, finally began to close the distance.

You felt a smirk ghost your lips once more as your eyes closed, continuing to circle that bundle of joy, speeding up and slowing down knowing exactly what would get you to finish. You didn’t dare look at him, not yet. Not with the way your body still trembled from the orgasm he refused to give you himself vut your pulse stuttered when you felt the bed dip.

His hands found you before his voice did. Large, warm palms skimming gently over the curve of your thighs, brushing against your skin like he was mapping it from memory. He dragged his knuckles up the outside of your leg then back down again, too slow. He was touching you, yes but not where you wanted it. Not where you needed it.

"Messy little thing" he murmured, his voice low and just the way you liked it when he let you get your own way "You made such a mess for me.. all by yourself"

You whimpered.. small and pathetic but yet it made him smile.

You opened your eyes and finally looked at him. He was knelt just in between your open legs but still not close enough, his large hands were wrapping around your thighs, rubbing and silently encouraging you to carry on. Still not touching you where you needed but he was here, watching you and talking to you.. that was enough.

"Feels good.." Your voice was barely there but he heard it.

"That what you needed, pretty girl? You needed me to watch you come?" His voice dropped lower, into that gravel soaked whisper that lived in your bones "You just love performing, don't you?"

You gasped as his one of his hand flattened against your belly, fingertips brushing over your twitching skin and he imagined what it would look like to see the outline of his cock buried inside you. 

"Fuck"

"You needed me to see how pretty you are when you fall apart" he continued, fingertips grazing up your sternum "You wanted me to hear those soft little moans, that desperate little cry you make when you’re right there"

You nodded quickly, too breathless to speak and your eyes fluttering closed as his hand ghosted back down to your ribs, over the swell of your breast. You squirmed under him, biting your lip hard enough to sting.

"Show me" he said, thumb brushing beneath your breast now "Touch yourself, sweetheart. Let me see how needy you still are"

"Sylus.." A sharp breath punched out of your lungs.

"Shhh" he crooned, soothing "You’re doing so good for me. So, so good. Don’t stop now, yeah?"

You shuddered at the praise but still he wouldn’t touch where you ached the most. His hands trailed everywhere else,like the gentlest of torments. His fingers explored your stomach, traced the edges of your ribs, brushed the inside of your thighs light a feather ghosting your skin and infuriatingly slow.

"Come on" he whispered, lips brushing against your knee that was still perched up. His voice had darkened now and he was teasing "You want me to help you? Then show me how badly you need it"

You whined, actually whined. Not a whine that he recognised to be your usual one when you wouldn't get your way, no this one sounded different and he couldn't decide which one he preferred. Your back arched against the bed, your fingers circling again and again chasing that edge he’d denied you.

And he watched, he watched with hungry eyes and a half maddened smile. He didn’t stop you, he encouraged you and fuck it was euphoric.

"That’s it" he murmured "Good girl.. keep going"

Your fingers moved faster spurred by his words by the low, primal sound of his voice. He pressed another kiss to your knee then moved along to your other one and repeated the action, still keeping his hands far from where you wanted them most. 

"You gonna cum for me?" he growled, teeth grazing the skin of your inner knee as he refused to move his mouth any closer as he stayed knelt between your legs but with a far distance "You gonna make a mess all over those pretty fingers while I just sit here and watch like a fucking animal?"

"Yes... Yes-fuck yes" 

"You’re so fucking gorgeous like this" he breathed, and he finally allowed you to feel him closer as he moved his body to hover over your own. One of his hands met your breast while his other wandered, rubbing your arm, your waist and his lips ghosted the shell of your ear "So messy, so perfect. All mine"

A strangled moan ripped from your throat. You were shaking, overstimulated and burning up under the weight of his words, his hands, the low heat of his praise. He still hadn’t touched you where it counted and still you were crumbling. Just the sound of his voice, the heat of his breath...

"I..I need—" You tried, voice breaking but he shushed you with a soft hum and a soft kiss to the side of your neck. The first kiss he had ever given you, and you both wished it was placed somewhere else.

"I know, baby. I know you do" His voice was a warm purr, dripping with affection that only made it worse "But you’ve already shown me how good you are at taking care of yourself"

"Sylus.. please.." That earned a soft chuckle, and another kiss on the neck.

"Mhmm not yet. You like being denied, don’t you? Like being told no"

"I don’t!" you whined, brattier now with frustration and how close you were to your release, your hips wriggled under him.

He slid his hand down just barely, fingers brushing the back of your wrist as you kept working yourself, so close to coming undone. So close...

"Go on" he said, low and firm "Show me. You gonna cum just from this? From my voice in your ear and nothing else?"

A soft, broken sob spilled from your lips. Your body jerked.

"Yes" you whimpered for him, one last time "Yes—fuck, I’m...I’m close"

"Good girl" he purred "Let me hear it..."

You shattered underneath him as you finally let go, your body shuddering with pleasure, your fingers working overtime with your release and Sylus’s breath caught in his chest. He couldn’t tear his eyes away, watching you with a mix of admiration and raw hunger, unable to look away as you came undone and your cunt clenched around nothing as if screaming for him to press into you.

He was breathless, his body aching with need but he stayed still, watching the way your body relaxed in the aftermath of your pleasure. He squeezed your breast tenderly and you twitched against him, body slowing down from your orgasm and fuck you felt the fire spread all over your body.

As you finally but shakily recovered from your orgasm beneath him, his breath stuttered. The air between you both was heavy, thick with the weight of his desire for you. His gaze was burning, tracing every delicate movement of your body, your chest heaving as you tried to catch your breath.

His eyes met yours and you smiled, your voice breaking the silence as you brought your slick covered fingers up between your faces.

"Do you want a taste? A taste of what you can have?"

Sylus froze.

His eyes widened for just a moment but the post orgasm look on your face.. soft, knowing and there was that slight smirk playing at the corner of your lips, it sent a rush of heat straight to his core. Every inch of his body screamed to give in.

His gaze was locked on yours, but it wasn’t the words that did it... it was the way you were looking at him, your fingers glistening, soaked from where you had touched yourself. He could hear the whisper of your breath, and the way it had hitched with every word you spoke.

His free hand that wasn't holding onto your breast trembled as he reached out, his fingers brushing against yours. His heart was hammering in his chest as he took your fingers into his mouth. His lips wrapped around them, the taste of you still fresh on your skin. It was a mix of heat and sweetness, a sensation that made his entire body tense. He sucked on your fingers gently at first, tasting every inch of them and every drop of what you had left behind. The way you looked at him, the way your body was still trembling beneath the touch of his mouth it sent a shockwave of pleasure through him.

God, what the hell was he doing?

His own desire was a fire burning within him but he was losing control. Slowly, he pulled his mouth away from your fingers, a string of saliva (or maybe it was your slick) trailed behind and he still held them in his hand as he gazed at you. His voice was hoarse, barely a whisper.

"You’ll be the death of me, princess"

His thumb gently traced over your fingers, the taste of you still lingering on his lips. His eyes flicked up to yours before he pressed your fingers to his lips once again, the heat between you both almost unbearable. Your fingers had barely left his lips when you moved again, closer this time and trapping him with your legs around his waist. He was still fully clothes, and you wanted to change that now before he changed his mind.

"We don't have to go all the way... just let me feel you there. I need to feel you, Sylus" his breath caught at your words.

He was already going too far. Seeing you bare, touching you the way he way he was, the way he watched you come undone on your own fingers, there were several oaths already broken but here you were.. allowing him to keep just a small part of his duty. 

You saw it first, the way his jaw clenched and the muscles in his arms flexing like he was trying to hold himself back from breaking even further. His eyes were darker now, almost pained. His control was slipping through his fingers and you knew it. Knew exactly what you were doing, what you were asking for.

And god, he wanted to give it to you.

"I need you" you whispered again, softer this time, your voice trembling as you guided his hand slowly down the line of your waist "Even if it’s not everything. Just... let me feel what it’s like"

His mind was screaming at him. This wasn’t right, he shouldn’t be doing this. You were royalty, a princess and his charge. But you weren’t looking at him like a princess now. You looked at him like he was the only thing you wanted. Needed, like you’d fall apart if he denied you one more time.

His hand slipped just above the soft heat of you and he swore under his breath, his eyes fluttering shut at the feel of your skin. Your slick danced against his fingertips. He wasn’t even moving, but the intimacy of it.. skin to skin had him trembling. You were soaked, so incredibly soaked and his fingertips twitched at your folds.

Your breath hitched, your back arching ever so slightly as your thighs instinctively pressed together, holding him tightly to you and keeping his hand hostage. You whimpered, forehead pressing into his own and he felt it, he felt how badly your body craved his.

"You feel..." he muttered, the sentence dying on his tongue "You feel like heaven"

Your hips twitched, once then twice, grinding against the solid weight of his hand and Sylus nearly choked on his own breath. Fuck. His whisper ghosted over your skin and you did it again firmer this time, rubbing your soaked folds against the heel of his palm. He hadn’t even moved yet, you were doing all the work. You were using him, shamelessly and he let you.

"Please" you whispered, nuzzling into his neck as if to hide from your own need "Please, Sylus. Let me feel"

How could he say no?

He was quick in moving, stripping himself bare and you watched as the minutes passed. He fought with his clothes, his armour and he groaned in frustration as it fought against him. You helped him, feeling impatient as ever and it all clattered to the floor and then he was naked above you in all his glory and your bottom lip was pulled tightly between your teeth as you gazed down as his cock, red and rock hard.

Sylus.. well he was art. His body sculptured, with scars and small bruises from sparing but they were beautiful. His frame was lean but powerful, every muscle defined with a precision that spoke of control and his skin was painted delicately in the candlelight.

It was unfair how he could be so beautiful, so perfect but not yours.

He leant back down, staring into your eyes before his gaze moved to your perfectly parted lips. His thumb ran over your bottom lip, grazing the teeth marks that you had left and he wondered how so much defiance could spill from these small things. How much they tested his patience, how much they willed and begged him to act, to break. 

Sylus swallowed hard. His cock was throbbing, so hard it hurt and he shook his head, forehead pressing into yours as he cupped your cheek.

"You’re driving me insane" he gritted out and his voice was thick "You don’t even know what you’re doing to me"

You tilted your face up, your lips so close to his that he could taste your breath but neither of you closed that final distance. 

"I know exactly what I’m doing" you told him, and you did.

He gritted his teeth together once more before leaning away from you, but still close enough so you could hold onto him. He reached his hand down, grabbing his angry cock in his hand and he hissed at the contact. He shouldn't ruin you completely, he shouldn't take your innocence, it would only complicate things in the future for you when your future husband finds that you have already given yourself to another man.

The thought of someone else having you made him act quicker and he placed his free hand under your waist before nudging you up slightly and pulling you closer. His cock rubbed through your folds and you both sighed at the feeling, you more than him. To feel him bare, feel the pressure of his girth rub against you in this way, fuck you loved the feeling.

Sylus was losing himself slowly too. Just holding his cock there, resting it on your folds was enough to almost make him cum. Not yet, not before he properly had you.

He leant forwards again and you shut your eyes at the way he moved back and forth, too slow for your liking but it was enough to feel him there. He apparently wasn't going the full way, he would have done so by now, so you  let him continue.

His whole cock was covered in your slick after a few more thrusts and he was slowly losing composure. He ground down harder, the tip of his cock nudging your clit and your arms flew around his neck at the feeling. Fuck this was enough... he didn't need to sink himself inside you, it was enough to rub himself up and down your folds and listen to the sounds you made.

He bit the lobe of your ear and it sent shivers down your spine, he refused to stop moving, refused to pull away as the friction got warmer and warmer and you felt your release building up again with every brush of his tip against your clit. Your hole clenched around nothing, aching to feel him inside but you couldn't tell him to stop.

Sylus felt it, that moment your body gave in again. The tension in your thighs and the way your hips began to shake and rut without rhythm. He was moving faster, his cock practically glued to your folds as he thrusted and thrusted and couldn't bring himself to stop.

Not even when your hands gripped his hair tightly, or when his own gripped your hips and forced you to move up and down the length of his cock. One move differently and he would have sank inside you but this was too good... too good to stop, too good to change. His princess felt so good against him.

"You wanted to feel me?" he growled, breath ragged as he pushed and pushed "Is this good enough for you, princess?"

"Oh gods" you had gasped, head leaning back and further into your royal pillow "Inside.. Sylus please, inside"

He did a particular hard thrust which had you both groaning and you felt it brewing in your stomach, your second orgasm and you looked at him, dazed. Your lips were parted as you chased your breath and his eyes were so intensely set on yours everything stopped for a moment.

You wanted him inside you, you needed him to fill you but he was once again denying you.

"You’re mine to handle, understand? No one else will ever have you like I do" you whimpered at his words, his actions, the way he ignored your pleads and you were oh so close.. so close to that release that he was helping with.

"Y..Yes—yes, fuck, Sylus" 

"That's my girl.. that’s it, rub that sweet little cunt.. on my cock.. let me-let me feel how desperate you are" his breath and his words were hot against your ear and you found yourself burying yourself further into the plush bedding as pleasure filled you once again.

Sylus watched carefully as your stomach fluttered and he felt his cock twitch as you came for the second time that night. You let out a moan that stretched, your whole body twitching with pleasure as he rubbed and thrusted, riding out your high and his still hard cock nudged your clit that began to grow sensitive.

He watched carefully, intensely as your mouth gaped open and your eyes rolled back and it was almost enough to send him over the edge. He collapsed slightly onto you, kissing your collarbone and letting the moment pass. Allowing you both to catch your breath before the realisation of what you had just done sunk in.

Your inner thighs were a mess, covered in your own slick and you felt dirty.. but you loved it. You could barely breathe, feeling his large body covering yours and your sweat sunk into the sheets as you came down from your release, your chest heaving.

"You.." you whispered, eyes closed and he glanced at your face, anticipating your words "I want-I want you to cum"

How, in all of your bliss, you had realised that he hadn't finished was beyond him. He would have fought against your words but his cock was throbbing with need he knew he couldn't ignore it.

He swore under his breath and your eyes opened before locking onto his, wide and begging, your mouth parted in soft, breathy need. You shifted your hips slightly, brushing his length right where you needed him and Sylus growled.

He rutted against you again, harsher this time and he gripped you tightly, forgetting about the delicate way he had held you all night. You felt his desperate thrusts, his desperate groans as he chased his release. You were so fucking sensitive and your body was reeling from the overstimulation but you let him take, take, take...

Until he took too much, and it was with a guttural growl that escaped from deep in his chest that he slid all the way inside you without warning, his length breaching your insides. The stretch was sudden and full, your body gasping around him, clenching tight as you threw your head back with a cry.

Your cry echoed through the room when he filled you completely, raw and thick, deeper than anything you’d ever felt. It was a stretch that bordered on unbearable, your first time making your body fight the burn of him but Sylus... he wasn’t moving, as if he realised what he had done.

Your eyes wide as your body tried to stretch around him, accommodate the sheer size of him. He stilled, every muscle in his body tight with restraint, forehead pressed against yours, both of you frozen in that unbearable moment of joining.

"I’m sorry" he rasped, barely above a whisper "Fuck I’m so sorry, sweetheart.. I... Gods, you’re tight. I shouldn’t-I shouldn’t have.."

His voice cracked, like it hurt to speak, like it hurt more to be inside you and not move. You had begged him to be inside you and he had denied, but now he had given you no warning, no preparation and he was nestled deep inside and despite the pain, you felt so full.

He was deep. Too deep. The kind of stretch that burned and throbbed and made tears well in your lashes from the pressure of it but still you clung to him, because this was what you wanted.

You had no more orgasms to share for the night but it would feel even better to feel him thrust inside you as he chased his own release. The thought made you whimper, tightening around him involuntarily and he cursed again, low and sharp like he’d been burned.

"Mo..Move" you gripped his shoulders, looking for any sort of stability to make the pain flutter away.

"I’ll stop" he breathed, feeling an immense amount of guilt from taking you this way when he had restrained all night "Tell me to stop, and I’ll—"

"No" you whispered, voice breaking and head shaking desperately "Please don’t"

That single plea shattered him.

He groaned, forehead slipping to your shoulder and his fingers moved to dig into your hips like he was anchoring himself there. He moved slowly, so slowly, just a roll of his hips backwards which was barely anything and you cried out, the sound soft and needy, your nails clawing into his shoulders like it was the only way to stay grounded.

"Shit, princess" he choked "You feel... fuck-you feel like everything I’ve ever wanted"

His hands were shaking where they held you. He was trying to be careful despite his release right there.. he was trying not to lose himself to the hunger clawing under his skin but the more you pulsed around him, the more your soft moans pushed past your lips, the more impossible it became.

"Sylus-"

"I’m hurting you, aren’t I?" he whispered, voice hoarse and still filled of guilt "You’re so small...fuck, I shouldn’t have-"

"You’re not" you breathed and reached up to cup his jaw "You’re not hurting me. You feel perfect, Sylus"

And it was the truth. Despite the dull pain that throbbed inside you he still felt perfect inside you and it was everything you dreamt of and more. Him here, above you and inside you, you couldn't wish for anything more. He was about to ruin you for your future husband and you'd deal with the consequences when the time came.

"You are perfect" he said as a strangled groan left his throat "My perfect, bratty princess. This cunt.. this fucking body it was made for me. You were made for me"

He knew if he didn't move now, he'd cum before he could and he knew that this would never happen again. So he moved, slowly and carefully he dragged his cock out to the tip before pushing back inside with a groan. You whimpered beneath him again, his grip on you tightening and his hips rolling into you.

Each thrust was slow, controlled, yet thick with need and the more you moaned and whimpered, the more your legs trembled, the more you whispered his name the more his control frayed. A single stray tear fell from your eye and he wiped it away, whispering that he'd be quick but he didn't know that the tear was from pure pleasure and nothing from pain.

You were so drunk on his cock you couldn't feel anything but him.

"Fuck.."

"You're so spent but still.. giving to me" his mouth was by your ear again, his thrusts picking up pace and the sound of his hips hitting yours echoed through the room "Letting me take you like this.. crying around my cock like it’s the only thing you need. No man could ever deserve you, princess"

You whined at that, tightening around him while your arms clung around his neck, face buried into his shoulder. He held you like he’d never let go, panting hard against your skin, sweat drenched and trembling. He was seconds away, just seconds away from letting go.

You could barely speak, barely breathe, fingers clutching at him like he was the only thing holding you to the world. His pace was relentless now. Needy, hungry, almost furious from how close his release was. Every thrust was a claim, every snap of his hips a promise that no other man would ever get to see you like this. Touch you like this.

Even if it wasn't true, he could still pretend.

He angled his hips and suddenly you were seeing stars.

"Oh—Sylus!"

His rhythm stuttered at your voice and he groaned, like hearing his name fall from your lips was the final nail in the coffin. He cursed violently, lost in the feel of you clenching around him and with a final, brutal thrust he buried himself deep and came. Hot and thick, twitching inside you as he groaned your name.

His body shook as he pressed you hard against the bed, holding you through the aftershocks, breathing ragged and heavy. You had let him use you to find his own pleasure and fuck he was so addicted to you that this moment right here would ruin him forever.

He hadn’t moved, he couldn’t. Not with how perfectly your body still cradled him, wrapped tight and warm around him even after you'd both come undone. His arms trembled where they were now braced beside your head, his chest brushing yours with each uneven breath.

And still, his eyes were locked lower.

Where you were still connected. Where his cock remained buried deep inside you, twitching every now and then from the aftershocks, from the memory of how your walls had squeezed around him, despite not orgasming alongside him. The memory of you milking him like your body knew he was made for you. His seed was already leaking out, slicking your thighs and his own, glistening in the candlelight.

A mess. His mess.

His jaw clenched as something raw and possessive roared tightly in his gut. He slid his hand down your stomach, fingers tracing the swell of your lower belly like he was trying to feel how deeply he’d reached, how much of him he’d given you.

You’re mine now, he wanted to say again but it was already written all over your body.

You stirred beneath him, a small sigh spilling from your lips as your arms slipped down onto the bed from his shoulders. Your thighs shifted, hips twitching at the overstimulation of him still inside but you didn’t ask him to pull away. 

"You’re staring" you murmured, voice laced with sleep and satisfaction.

"Can’t help it" His throat was dry, his voice rough. You gave a quiet hum, your fingers moving to gently brush the nape of his neck.

"Still think I’m too much trouble?"

He let out a low, wrecked laugh at your question. His hand cupped your jaw, thumb brushing your cheek as he leaned in close, his forehead pressing to yours.

"You’ll always be trouble" he said "but I'd never change that"

And he meant it, every word. There was no going back from this.

He shifted slightly and you whimpered at the movement. His cock still nestled deep, still twitching, like he couldn’t bear to leave your warmth just yet. He kissed your temple, then your cheek but still avoided those pretty lips. Each press of his mouth more tender than the last, like he was trying to make up for how hard he'd taken you, for how desperate he'd become.

"Look at what you do to me.." His voice broke on the words, hand sliding down to cradle your hip, fingers splaying wide to hold you in place as he gave the faintest, lazy thrust, just enough to feel you clench again.

You shivered, still sensitive and still twitching and fuck he loved it.

He shouldn’t still be moving. Not when you were both spent, drenched in sweat and breathing like you'd run across the entire kingdom but he couldn’t stop himself. Not with how warm and wet and soft you felt around him.

His cock, soft as ever now, slipped deeper as he rolled his hips once more.. slow and lazy, just enough to make you gasp and cling tighter to his arms.

"Still so perfect" he murmured against your ear, the heat of his breath making you shiver "You’re holding onto me like you don’t want to let go"

Your hands were in his hair, fingertips lazily toying with the strands. Your eyes fluttered closed, lips parted as your thighs tightened slightly around his waist, instinctively pulling him closer, keeping him buried.

"Don’t want to" you whispered in return, voice dazed "Feels too good like this"

He exhaled through his nose, jaw clenched at the way your words crawled down his spine. It was shameless, shameless how much you affected him.

"Still greedy" his voice was low and rough but filled with nothing but affection "Still bratty, even now"

You giggled softly and fuck, he loved that sound. Loved the way you looked beneath him, skin flushed, hair wild, glowing from the inside out. 

"Maybe you should keep ruining me then" you said softly, playfully. Not bratty playfully, it was genuine and he couldn't get enough of it "until I forget anyone else ever existed"

You felt his breath slow and steady, brushing the side of your neck and then his voice once more.

"You can give me one more... can’t you?" Hadn't you given him enough?

You shook your head, closing your eyes and leaning back into the soft pillows beneath you and you let a soft, sleepy whimper leave your lips, tightening your hold on him.

"I'm tired.."

You felt him smirk against your shoulder. His hand slid up your side, large and calloused and slow, grazing your sensitive skin.

"Stubborn as ever" he muttered. His hips shifted, only slightly and the stretch of him inside you was enough to make your toes curl. You whined weakly, breath catching but your hips tilted without you meaning to, like your body wanted to obey him even if your mind was too tired to try "You’ll give it to me.. you always do"

"Sylus.." you breathed, barely a sound. His palm slid down your belly and his lips kissed your neck once more.

"Let me have it" he said "Just one more. You can do that for me, princess"

He began to move, gentle thrusts, more intimate than before. Not about frenzy now but about drawing every last drop of pleasure from you, about owning your body even in the softest moments. His hand dipped lower, brushing where you were joined and onto your clit. You whimpered, your walls fluttering weakly around him and he felt it, knew your body was already giving in even if your words hadn’t.

"That’s it" he breathed against you "Just one more.. one more for me"

His fingers pressed more firmly, circling slow perfect patterns as his thrusts stayed deep and dragging. You arched against him, helpless and sensitive, every inch of your skin buzzing with overstimulation.

"Come on, sweet girl" he had coaxed, voice melting into a quiet groan "Let me feel you finish again. My perfect princess..."

With his voice in your ear and his body moving inside yours, there was no point fighting. Your body locked up again, pleasure crashing through you as you came for the third time, your cry swallowed into the sheets. Sylus held you tighter, hips rocking you through it as you shook in his arms, whining his name like a song.

He didn’t stop until you were trembling and limp, gasping for breath and boneless all over again, only then did he still.

Tears pricked at the corners of your eyes, though you couldn’t explain why.. maybe it was just the sheer overwhelming sensation of everything he’d taken you through, his touch was both a comfort and a reminder that you were completely his. 

He felt the tremor in your body before you could even let it show. His hand slid over your skin like he was memorizing every curve, every inch of you. His thumb brushed under your eye, wiping away the wetness you hadn’t even known had fallen.

Sylus slowly began to pull away from you, his movements careful as he reached to gently pull out but as he shifted to pull away and clean you up, he felt the familiar comforting pressure of your pull. You didn’t want that. You didn’t want him to leave you just yet.

"No..." you whispered, voice shaky from the aftershocks of your pleasure.

His body froze for a moment and he stared down at you, brows furrowed. His chest was still rising and falling rapidly, his pulse hammering in his ears. He knew this was dangerous, knew he should pull away as he had broken enough boundaries already. But there you were, looking up at him with your eyes wide and needy, asking him to stay.

"Princess" he murmured. His hands hovered near your hips, unsure "yOu’ve had enough. I need to clean you up...you don’t want-"

"I want you to stay" You cut him off, your fingers gripping his wrist, pulling his hand back to your body, holding him there like you didn’t want him to leave "I feel good... feel full. Don’t go yet, Sylus. Please"

He cursed softly under his breath. He had really done it now.

"You really want me to stay?"

"Yes... just a little longer"

Who was he to deny your needy whimper, your pleading eyes and your clenching cunt? still wrapped so tightly around him, he also didn't want this moment to end. His eyes were half lidded, his chest rising and falling gently as he watched you, as though taking in every inch of you. He couldn’t find the words to say, so he simply stared at you. You felt his breath warm against your cheek as you held his gaze. 

Your lips parted slightly, a small smile tugging at the corner of your mouth. The exhaustion was heavy on you now but there was still something in you.. a flicker of need, a need for something that hadn't been done. You tilted your head towards him, the tiredness fighting against you.

Slowly, your lips found his. You held them there for a moment, not moving just pressing your lips against his as you took a deep breath in through your nose. He had fucked you into the bed without even touching your lips and the thought of him being the first to be inside you and now to kiss you, there was no denying your body and soul belonged to him.

He pulled away, gazing at how your lips gained their colour again and were free from the pressure of his own before he was kissing you again with a deep breath and you sighed happily underneath him.

He pressed deeper and you had no idea what you were doing. It was clear to him that you had never kissed before, knowing that none of those suitors even came close to having you like this, so he gave you the control, let you experiment and practice. He let you explore his mouth, let you make mistakes, because there was something undeniably intoxicating about how raw and real it felt. As you moved your lips against him, your bodies shifted and you both landed on your sides but this was much easier for you to reach as you wrapped your arms around his neck and held him to your body. 

You mourned the loss of his cock as it slipped out of you but worshipped his lips as a distraction. Sylus groaned into your mouth as your lips worked against his, your hands pulling him closer, feeling him pressed against you with a desperation that matched your own. 

The kiss was messy, slick, with the heat of your mouths colliding, lips moving desperately against each other. Saliva mixed, coating your lips, dripping down your chin but neither of you cared. It was sloppy, too much but just right. He tugged at your hair, pulling you closer, his tongue pushing past your lips, swirling and tasting you. There was nothing graceful about it, just the frantic need for each other.

Sylus’ hands gripped your waist tightly, as though he needed to anchor himself, his fingers digging into your skin as he tried to fight the urge to take over but fuck it was hot how you kissed him so freely .Every time you shifted, he could feel your inexperience but it only fuelled him.

It was when your smaller mouth took his tongue in that you really made him lose his grip on control. Your lips curled around the muscle, sucking it into your mouth and you weren't gentle about it, you were hungry and so demanding. You sucked him into your mouth, pulling on his tongue as if you couldn't get enough, bobbing your head once then twice and savouring the way he groaned at the pressure of your lips around him.

Sylus groaned, the sound vibrating through his chest. His hand slid to the back of your head, holding you in place as he felt your mouth envelop him, your tongue working over his with a kind of neediness that drove him insane. The way you moved, how you sucked on his tongue, it was maddening. It was unpractised and nothing that screamed of experience but he...he lost himself in the feeling of it.

He pulled away for a moment, eyes dark with lust but his voice was shaky.

"Fuck, that’s...god, that’s so fucking hot" His gaze was wild and his chest heaving as he watched you, his perfect fucking princess devour him.

You didn’t let him pull away for long. Not when you felt that hunger in your bones, not when you craved more of him, more of his lips, his touch. You pulled him back, this time with a force that made him groan again and you kissed him harder. He was lost in the feeling of you, the heat of your body against his, the mess of your kiss like you needed him, like you needed this.

And you didn't stop, not until you could hear the ragged way his breath was coming, how he was almost at his breaking point once again. You felt him twitch against your tongue, heard the way he groaned louder when you gently pulled him deeper, taking him in further.

Finally, when he thought he couldn’t take much more, he pulled you away. This time, it was with a tremble that let you know just how deep you had gotten under his skin.

────────

The morning light had slipped past your heavy curtains and you were awake before your handmaidens arrived. Perhaps it was good that you did... you could control whatever situation had happened last night before they arrived and caught you tangled up with a man that was not your future husband. You stirred slowly, the remnants of sleep still clinging to your lashes, your body heavy with the kind of ache that only came from him. 

You reached out lazily, fingers seeking warmth in the dip beside you expecting the brush of his skin, his hand on your waist pulling you back in but there was nothing. Just a cool sheet that was already void of his warmth.

Your brows knit faintly, confusion barely nudging at your mind. You rolled onto your back instead, the light catching the curve of your bare collarbone, your hair spilling across the pillow in a mess he’d made last night.

Clearly he had taken the first initiative, as always keeping you in place and in check.

Knowing you wouldn't have to worry about being caught you let yourself indulge for a moment. Your hand lifted slowly and your soft fingertips ghosted over your inner knee, where his lips had touched. Your fingers trailed further, up your ribs where his hands had held you too tight. Over your breasts, where his fingers had gripped and pulled. Then to your lips, still kiss bitten and swollen. You exhaled a shaky little laugh, one that trembled with sweetness and disbelief.

You had never known you could feel like this, never known someone could make you feel like this.

"Gods, Sylus..." you whispered, voice breathy with adoration, almost like you expected him to answer "What did you do to me?"

You sat up slowly, the sheet slipping down your bare chest but you didn’t reach for a robe just yet. You just sat there for a moment, fingertips still brushing your lips as you replayed the night. His voice, his weight, his breath against your ear. Him.

You dressed slowly, still smiling. The soreness in your legs made you wince, but it only added to the heat blooming in your chest. You bathed in the excitement of seeing him again. Of teasing him like you always did, willing him to put you in your place. Maybe you'd kiss him in secret again, in the gardens as you walked around to "clear your head". You wondered if he'd touch you again the way he did last night...

You were glowing as you made your way through the palace halls, hair still a little messy, steps light. The guards bowed, the servants offered polite nods but you barely noticed. You were looking for him.

You checked the gardens first. The spot beneath the tall oak tree where Sylus often stood guard, posture straight, hands behind his back. He wasn't there, only the breeze. 

You peeked into the sparring courtyard next. The sound of steel was always a constant as trainings never stopped, not even for bad weather or royal dinners. But today, the air was still. Not even the usual grunts and barks of practice.

You slowed your steps when you passed the kitchens, hoping and knowing that Sylus would be in the side corridor that led toward the servant quarters. He was always patrolling the quiet edges, watching without being seen.

But again, there was nothing.

He wasn’t at the stables, and his horse was gone.

Your stomach twisted as you stood in the empty stable, your fingers brushing over the reins he always used. They were slightly worn, frayed at the ends and you held them for a moment, like they might give you an answer. They didn’t.

The palace felt too quiet.

Panic hadn’t quite bloomed yet, but the ache in your chest was growing sharper with every hallway you passed, every turn that didn’t reveal his tall frame leaning against the wall, arms crossed, eyes watching you like he always did.

Eventually, you ended up where you hadn’t wanted to go yet, the throne room.

Your father was seated in quiet conversation with one of his stewards. Calm as always, in the way only rulers were taught to be. You stepped into the room with less grace than usual, panic twisting in your gut as the hem of your robe swishing against your ankles. 

"Father" you said, voice tight but trying to stay steady. He looked up at once, a softness in his expression that only came out when he saw you upset.

"Sweetheart. What troubles you?" His voice was calm and reassuring, everything you needed in this moment but there was a sea of concern. Your hands were trembling, so you clenched them behind your back.

"Where’s Sylus?" The question fell from your lips before you could stop it, an urgency to your tone that you hadn't planned. His brow furrowed slightly in confusion, blinking at you once, then twice before his gaze shifted to the steward beside him and the two exchanged a brief, puzzled glance.

"I thought he’d be with you"

"Well, he’s not, clearly" you said quickly, knowing that your tone of voice would have Sylus' sharp eyes on you as a warning "I’ve checked the grounds, the courtyard, even the stables. He’s not anywhere.. did you send him somewhere?"

Your father hesitated, a long pause stretching between you, his quill hovering in mid air as if it could help him find the right answer. He uttered your name gently and you swallowed nervously.

"Sweetheart.." he began and your heart clenched slightly "No, I didn't. He came to me early this morning... asked to be relieved of his duties. Said he’d fulfilled what was asked of him, I assumed that he would spend the rest of his day with you"

You stared at him, the world suddenly feeling like it was spinning far too fast. Your breath caught in your throat and a strange, dizzying silence filled your ears.

"What?" you asked, your was voice small and uncertain "No, that’s... he didn’t tell me that"

"He said he did. That you spoke last night and that you understood" Your father’s expression shifted, the pity in his eyes crushing you more than you could have anticipated.

You took a step back, stunned.

"He said he told me?" the words felt foreign as they fell from your lips.

"Yes" the king said gently "That you were both in agreement. He assured me it wasn’t a sudden decision, that you knew"

But you didn’t.

You remembered every second of last night.. every sigh, every kiss, the way his hands worshipped you like you were sacred. You remembered the soft way he whispered your name, the tremble in his voice when he said you’re mine. You remembered all of it but he never said goodbye.

He never even hinted. Did he? You shook your head slowly, trying to breathe.

Your hands fell to your sides, the trembling no longer something you could hide. It wasn’t just that you hadn’t been prepared, it was that he hadn't prepared you at all.  There had been no warning, no promise, nothing. Just the feeling of him pressing his lips to yours, of him moving inside you like he belonged there, inside your heart.

"He didn’t tell me.." you said, barely a whisper. Your father stood, concern in his eyes now.

"My darling, are you sure?"  his voice carried the weight of a father’s love, but it wasn’t enough.

"I would've remembered!" you said firmly, suddenly. 

The silence that followed was heavy, you could feel it settle in your lungs. The weight of it pressed on your chest, suffocating you. You couldn’t understand... Sylus had been so tender, so consumed with you but now nothing remained. He had just.. left?

Why would he leave without a word? 

"I need to go" you whispered, the floor suddenly feeling too open.

Without waiting for a reply you turned on your heel, your mind racing faster than your body could keep up. Your feet carried you swiftly as you backed out of the room, unable to face your father’s worried gaze any longer.

This time you didn’t stop when the ache reached your knees. You didn’t stop when the tears welled in your eyes. You only stopped when you reached your chambers and the door closed behind you, muffling the weight of a truth you hadn’t been ready for.

He left, and he had let you believe that he wouldn't.

That night your hand curled into a fist by the window, your nails digging into your skin as if that might ease the tension coiling in your chest. You hated feeling like this. You hated how restless you had become in the silence, how empty the room felt without him. You’d always prided yourself on getting your way, on knowing how to make him cave, how to make him break under your teasing.

But this? This was different. 

Around this time last night he was claiming you as his, smothering you in love and obsession, staining you and ruining you like you had wanted him to.

Sylus hadn’t been here all morning. He hadn’t said goodbye, hadn’t even warned you that he’d be leaving and that ache in your chest... it wasn’t the ache that you usually got from the games you played, from the ways you’d tried to rile him up. No, this was deeper and colder, and it gnawed at you making you feel small and exposed.

You let out a frustrated sigh, pacing to the edge of the bed, your fingers brushing the sheets where you had shared last night. The sheets still held the faintest trace of his scent but he was gone. You could almost feel him there, the warmth of his body, the quiet strength of his presence but he wasn’t here. Not anymore.

You should be angry, you should be frustrated but instead, you just felt... lost. You missed the way he’d handled you, the way he could always read you, always keep you in check without a word and now, there was no one to remind you of your place. 

Had you really pushed him too far this time? The thought unsettled you in a way you weren’t used to.

You were the one who usually did the breaking, who teased and challenged him at every turn but now, you were the one left broken, wondering where he had gone, wondering why he hadn’t said goodbye.

[letjungk09k]

Fang and Flame

Main Masterlist

.ᐟ pairing. ⤑ Prince!Rafayel x Vampire/Bodyguard!Reader (no use of y/n).

.ᐟ synopsis. ⤑ Rafayel, a Prince soon to be King, corrupts his perfect bodyguard.

.ᐟ word count. ⤑ 30k (she's a long one) posted on my ao3. READER'S BACKSTORY IS NOT IN THE TUMBLR VERSION.

.ᐟ WARNINGS, mdni!!. ⤑ explicit sexual content, it's a lil filthy, rafayel is in his god of tides outfit!! LOTTT of sexual tension, male masturbation, blood drinking, praise kink (phew), includes a brothel, finger sucking, forced orgasm, p in v sex, vampire biting, possessive rafayel, drug use sorta, neck kissing, human/vampire relationship, semi-public sex, vaginal sex, rough sex, hand kink if you look hard enough, fantasy au, rafayel is a bit of a lil shit... its just filth idk what else to say

.ᐟ A/N. i'm so down bad for god of tides rafayel my GAWDD. this is a lil shot at me tryna make my own universe..it might be a bit confusing but hey. i TRIED. this is also my first LADS fic. so enjoy ^.^

On the ao3 version, there is a backstory to the reader and how she became a vampire!

Timeline aid: AF = Age of Fire

525 AF

   The grand courtyard of the palace was lined with mourners and the air thick with the weight of loss.

The king was dead.

It had been days since the news reached every corner of the Whalefall city but today, the reality of it settled into the palace. The funeral was an event unlike any other, with royal beings from different kingdoms and common folk alike arriving to pay their respects. The sheer size of the gathering was overwhelming, an endless sea of faces each one draped in black, all of them here for a man they either feared or respected.

You stood at the edge of the procession, just a few paces behind the prince. His presence alone demanded attention, even without the crown on his head. His black attire blended seamlessly with the mourners but there was something about him that set him apart. Perhaps it was the way he stood, his back straight and eyes forward yet there was a distance to him. An air of control, of calculation that seemed unnatural for someone attending his father’s funeral.

You had been by his side for nearly three years now, watching him as his bodyguard, his protector, his knight, his shield. But despite all that time you still couldn’t fully decipher him. You had never been able to understand the prince’s true desires. At times he acted carefree, as though the throne meant nothing to him. Yet there were moments when a darker hunger flared in his eyes, moments that made you wonder if he truly desired power, if he thought only of the throne.

You had learned long ago that in the midst of death and mourning, a vampire (let alone one like you) did not belong. Your presence here was more a quiet formality than an act of respect. For five centuries death had been something you lived with, yet never truly embraced. But it wasn't just the death that hung in the air, it was the tension. The kingdom was in transition and Rafayel was at the centre of it all. 

You stood beside him alert, watching the gathered nobles and sensing every shift in the air. But you couldn’t ignore the fact that something was different now. He was different.

The moment his father’s body had been laid to rest, the kingdom’s attention turned to him. You could feel the subtle change in the air, the tightening of the strings around his future. His face was unreadable, his eyes cold. Even his posture betrayed nothing of the grief or anger you might have expected from a son at his father’s funeral.

It was as though he were some distant observer, a prince watching from the outside as the kingdom mourned it's fallen ruler. Every word he spoke to the court was measured, careful. It was as though the weight of his father’s death had forced him to mask everything else beneath a cold exterior. Was he grieving? Did he even care?

You didn’t know. It made you uneasy.

As the ceremony continued you couldn’t help but observe the subtle shifts in the crowd.

Glances, whispers and the occasional noble eyeing you with suspicion. The queen’s gaze never strayed far from you. Her eyes flicked between him and you, sharp and resentful. Even after all these years, even with the kingdom on the brink of trouble she still loathed your very existence.

Her eyes filled with hatred found their mark every time, but there was nothing she could do about it. Soon enough, Rafayel would be crowned king and your position as his bodyguard would be solidified.

You'd no longer be the prince's bodyguard, but the king's.

As the funeral came to a close the crowd began to disperse, many retreating to the warmth of the palace halls. Rafayel did not move. He remained, as still as the stone at his feet. You watched him closely, stepping closer to his side, your presence near him not a protection this time but a force of habit. 

"You look uneasy" he said his voice low, just loud enough for you to hear.

His words weren’t exactly a question but more like an observation. He didn’t turn to face you but the weight of his presence beside you was undeniable. 

"I’m fine, my prince" you replied your voice even, though the words felt like a lie as they left your mouth. 

Rafayel hummed, as if unconvinced.

"You always say that"

His lips curled slightly in what might’ve been a smirk though you couldn’t be sure. He wasn’t often so observant, so quick to speak up about things. But today something about him was different. 

"I’m not as blind as you might think" he said, his voice steady but there was a hint of something sharper in his tone now "You’ve been on edge ever since we arrived. You’re always watching. The funeral’s over but I can feel your attention on me like a hawk circling prey"

"Forgive me" you murmured, your gaze lowering "I’m simply ensuring your safety, as always"

There was a slight pause before Rafayel spoke again, his voice lower now as if drawing you into the space between you.

"As always... You’re always watching, aren’t you?" he echoed, his smirk deepening. Then, in a quieter tone "Do you think this will ever end?"

Your brows furrowed slightly.

"End, my prince?"

His lips tightened.

"The watching, the waiting. The eyes on me. Every time I step outside... the kingdom is watching, waiting for me to become my father. They want another king. Another ruler to kneel before but I am not him. I will never be what they expect"

You hesitated.

Rafayel was more complex than any crown he would wear. Although you had only been under his wing for three years, he had been the only one in that hall to vouch for you that day his guards captured you. Vouch for what you could be. It didn't settle well with you, as he had only saw you as a weapon but he had trained you, given you a bed, given you food (that you never ate) and despite the Queen's coldness towards you, he himself was never cruel. 

"You can’t be your father" you said quietly, watching his profile "But you can be king"

Rafayel glanced at you then, his eyes narrowing slightly. His gaze lingered on you for a fraction too long, his expression unreadable. Then, in typical fashion, he let out a quiet scoff, shaking his head.

"That’s a rather dull answer" he mused, his tone light but there was something underneath it "You sound like one of my advisors. Or worse... my mother"

"If you find my answer dull my prince, you are free to disregard it" You were nothing like his mother. You were not cruel.

Rafayel had always been hard to read. A prince who carried himself with effortless ease but never let anyone see him bleed. He had always spoken of the throne with indifference, as though it were an inconvenience. But now standing at the edge of his father’s grave, something about him was different.

His fingers twitched at his side. 

"You said I can be king" he continued, quieter now "but what if I don’t want to be?"

You blinked. The question shouldn’t have surprised you but it did. He had never voiced such doubts before, not to you.

"You know as well as I do, my prince" you continued, your eyes flicking briefly to him "that whether you want it or not, the throne is your burden now. There’s no walking away from it"

There was a brief silence, the sound of wind brushing past the towering stone walls of the courtyard seeming to grow louder in the quiet space between you two. Rafayel shifted slightly, his fingers idly tracing the edge of his cloak, the fabric rippling beneath his touch. He leaned just a fraction closer, not enough to close the distance but enough for you to feel the change in the air.

"My burden..." His voice was low now, almost too quiet. Had you said the wrong thing? Even if you had, his lips still curled into something that wasn’t quite a smile, more like amusement "I'm glad you see it that way also"

Before you had the chance to ask him if he was ready to head inside, he spoke again.

"And what about you?" he asked, arching a brow "What do you expect of me?"

"I expect you to survive" you said, your tone steady but sharp "The kingdom needs a king, my prince. Whether you want to be one or not it’s your duty"

"You’re as cold as ever" he murmured "You’d think after all these years... I’d have earned something more than the stone wall you put up. Or maybe some sympathy after my fathers death?"

The hint of amusement was there but you weren’t sure whether it was sincere or meant to provoke.

His posture remained deceptively relaxed but there was a tension in his shoulders. He was waiting for your response, his eyes narrowing slightly as he waited for you to reply.

The weight of his words settled into your chest and for the first time in years, you found yourself unsure of how to respond. 

"Forgive me, my prince" you said, your voice steady though your words felt strangely empty. It was the only thing you could think to say, the only apology you could offer.

Rafayel didn’t respond immediately. He let the silence stretch between you, both of you alone in your thoughts surrounded only by the sound of the wind rustling through the trees. It felt like a moment suspended in time.

Finally his lips parted again, his tone lighter this time though there was still an edge to it as if he couldn’t quite let go of the rawness in his voice.

"Stone wall or not" he said softly "you’re the only one I can trust right now"

"I don’t know why you trust me, my prince" you said quietly, your voice steady "I’ve never really given you a reason to"

"Is protecting my life not enough to gain trust?" 

The question was pointed, carrying the same quiet edge as his earlier words. He tilted his head slightly, studying you with a gaze that lingered just a little too long, as if trying to reveal something buried beneath the surface. You didn’t break the stare, your expression unchanged but inside, his question hit a little harder than you expected. 

"Protecting you is my duty" you said, the words coming out like a practiced response as they always did "It’s not about trust. It’s about keeping you alive"

Rafayel didn’t flinch, didn’t even blink. He knew. 

Then like a switch, he changed.

He let out an exaggerated sigh, rolling his shoulders as if the weight of the conversation itself bored him. As if he was bored of the funeral. His posture shifted, the tension melting away as he stretched, a lazy motion that somehow looked effortless. He leaned back slightly, crossing his arms with a casual air that only someone like him could pull off in such a moment.

"Really, is that all you have to say? No words of wisdom? No grave warnings about how I should rule?" He hummed, amused "How tragic. My own bodyguard refuses to entertain me"

You resisted the urge to sigh. He danced around the weight of his father’s death like it was a game.

"You claimed me to be a knight, not a jester" Was all you responded. 

"Well" he said, his voice returning to it's usual playful tone "I’m glad I’m not the only one trapped in duty then"

His words hung heavy in the air and you couldn’t help but feel the weight of them too. The statement hung in the air between you and you couldn’t help but feel a flicker of frustration. He refused to acknowledge what was really at stake. For once, you wished he would take things seriously even if just for a moment.

"We should head inside" you said, finally breaking the silence. It wasn’t a suggestion. The funeral had been long enough, the night growing darker. The air was heavy with more than just the weight of his father’s death now.

"Lead the way miss bodyguard"

────────

The heavy atmosphere of the past few days weighed on the kingdom but the preparations for Rafayel’s coronation continued without pause. 

You stood in your usual position, just a few steps behind Rafayel, watching as the prince surveyed the map of the kingdom’s territories that was spread out before him. Rafayel’s gaze flicked across the map but his attention seemed distant. The coronation was only a few weeks away but the weight of his father’s death still seemed to hang over him. Even now he didn’t look ready to step into the role that was thrust upon him but then again, you doubted he ever would be.

Finally, after a long stretch of silence, Rafayel sighed and the sound made you glance up. His fingers tapped restlessly on the map.

"Do you think they’ll listen to me?"

"They’ll have to" you replied simply, your voice even "Your bloodline demands it"

Rafayel’s eyes flicked to you but he didn’t respond right away. The flicker of doubt that had crossed his features was quickly masked.

"And what of the advisors?" He motioned toward the scrolls and letters on the table before him, all filled with counsel and directions for his reign "Do you think they’ll accept me?"

You stepped closer, positioning yourself in a way that placed you between him and the open window, blocking the breeze from ruffling the papers.

"They will fall in line. They may try to test you at first but your position is strong, my prince"

Rafayel hummed in response, though his face didn’t betray much. He didn’t appear comforted by your words but you knew it was what he needed to hear. There was nothing more to say, his power was already set in motion. The kingdom would follow, whether they liked it or not. Rafayel leaned back slightly, staring at the map again but now with a deeper tension in his posture. 

"I never wanted this..."

There was a long pause, his gaze not leaving the map in front of him. You could almost see the battle within him, the hesitation between embracing his new role or rejecting it entirely. But you weren’t there to play a part in that internal conflict, your job was to ensure that he didn't falter when it mattered most.

Rafayel exhaled as if steering himself before he turned to leave, with you hot on his heels.

The walk to the council chamber felt like it took hours. You’d spent the past few days watching him wrestle with the weight of his father’s death. The funeral was over, the kingdom was still and yet the true battle had only just begun. Rafayel’s first council meeting as the upcoming king was underway and despite his resolve there was an undeniable tension.

Rafayel no longer had his father to hide behind, he was to be the one to lead them now.

The council room was enormous, the marble walls rising high above, decorated with the Lemurian banners. Rafayel stepped in first, his gaze sweeping over the council with a quiet but unmistakable authority. You stayed a few paces behind him, vigilant as always, your eyes scanning the room for potential threats. You were always alert, even when no immediate danger was present.

You noticed the Queen and the way she was sat, poised at the far end of the table, her eyes never leaving her son. She was still dressed in mourning black, a reminder of the King's passing. But there was something colder behind her gaze now... a sharpness that seemed directed at both Rafayel and you.

Whispers rippled through the air, a mix of curiosity and unease. The room was thick with tension and power and it seemed to hold its breath at the sight of you. You were a woman yes but that wasn’t why they stared. It was because you were a mystery, a being who wasn’t quite human, a "monster" in their eyes and yet somehow, Rafayel had chosen you as his shield. 

After three years in the palace, the stares and whispers were a normality to you.

Rafayel sat at the head of the table, looking every bit the king he was meant to be, though there was a flicker of unease in his gaze. 

"Now that we are gathered" Rafayel’s voice broke through the room, clear but with an edge of authority that hadn’t been there before "We’ll begin with the state of the kingdom. First, the reports on the southern border"

The council members shifted in their seats, the sound of parchment shuffling filled the air as one of the advisors rose to speak.

"There has been unrest in the southern territories, my prince. There are rumours of rebellion brewing in some of the smaller cities... we recommend a larger military presence to ensure the peace"

"And what of the rest of the kingdom?" Rafayel asked, his voice colder now "Any threats closer to home?"

The advisor faltered for a moment before responding.

"My-My prince... we’ve received word from the capital city that tensions are rising. The nobles are eager to know your plans regarding your coronation and your intentions for the throne"

At the mention of the coronation, the room fell silent.

All eyes shifted to Rafayel, each pair seemingly waiting for his response, anticipating how the new king would handle his responsibilities. Rafayel didn’t immediately speak, his fingers tapped lightly on the armrest of his chair. The Queen, seated at the far end of the room studied him with an unreadable expression, her gaze flickering toward you before returning to her son.

"The coronation will proceed as planned but we will not let ceremonial titles be our sole focus. The Whalefall city and its wellbeing is far more urgent" Rafayel spoke. You heard his heart jump a beat. 

A murmur rippled through the room, some council members exchanging uneasy glances. It was clear that Rafayel’s priorities were not aligned with their expectations.

"And what of the nobles, my prince?" one advisor interjected, his tone full of concern "They expect more than just... your presence. The throne requires a union. A queen, heirs, surely you’ve considered your options"

"I have no interest in rushing into such decisions" Rafayel’s eyes flickered toward his mother and then back to the council. The Queen cleared her throat, a sharp sound that pierced the tension.

"You must consider this carefully, Rafayel" she said "The kingdom expects stability and that includes your future as king. We must discuss the issue of your marriage"

Rafayel’s jaw tightened slightly. 

"I’ve heard this already, Mother" Rafayel said quietly but firmly "The matter of my marriage is not one I intend to rush into simply because the throne is vacant"

The council members exchanged uneasy glances. Some looked at Rafayel with doubt, clearly uncomfortable with the obvious difference in his approach compared to his father’s. The late king had been decisive, quick in his decisions whereas Rafayel was… different. Though he had the same resolve his solutions were new and unfamiliar to those who had been used to the old ways.

"You may not wish to rush, Rafayel" the Queen pressed, her voice softer but still sharp "You know as well as I do that marriage to the right house will secure the kingdom’s future. A union with the right bloodline could mean the difference between peace and war"

There was a subtle shift in the room, as if the council members were holding their breath waiting for Rafayel to respond. Some of them looked to the Queen for guidance, as if unsure whether to side with the new king or his mother’s expectations.

Rafayel’s eyes flicked to you for a split second, a momentary glance that you knew was more for reassurance than anything else. You had hoped he didn't expect you to speak up. He turned back to the Queen, his voice unwavering. 

"I am aware, but I will not marry for the sake of political strategy alone. I won’t allow this kingdom to be just a chess piece"

The Queen’s lips curled into a thin, almost imperceptible smile.

"You are still a young man, Rafayel" she said, her voice softening in a way that felt almost patronizing "You may think you understand the weight of the throne but it’s not only power that matters. It’s legacy, family. Heirs"

There was a tense silence as everyone around the table waited for Rafayel to respond and for the first time, you saw something in his eyes... a flicker of uncertainty. 

"I’ll marry when I find the right person" Rafayel said, his voice a little colder than before "Not before"

As the room shifted with murmurs of approval and disapproval, your thoughts drifted momentarily.

In a new world like this, where women were expected to marry for the kingdom’s benefit and to secure alliances, to bear heirs... the idea of waiting for the right person was a privilege few women could afford. A woman’s desires would be ignored in favour of duty. She wouldn’t have the luxury of choice and yet, Rafayel could make that decision.

His freedom was palpable. You couldn’t help but feel a pang of envy, even if you knew that his path was hardly an easy one.

You let the thought slip away, focusing instead on duty. After all, your place was behind him. Your duty was to keep him safe and though your thoughts lingered on the differences between the two of you you knew one thing for certain, there was no room for your personal desires here.

Not for you. Not ever.

The room seemed to relax slightly but the Queen’s gaze remained fixed on her son.

"Very well but do not delay too long, Rafayel. You know the pressure the kingdom faces"

The meeting continued with various reports on trade, military and the status of neighboring kingdoms but you could see the weight of it all on Rafayel. He was standing at the edge of something terrifying. As the meeting drew to a close Rafayel stood and turned to the council.

"We’ll continue this tomorrow" he said, his tone firm but you could hear the weariness behind it.

The council members stood and began to leave. When the room finally cleared, Rafayel sighed deeply, rubbing his temples. You stepped forward but before you could speak he cut you off.

"Let’s go for a walk" he said quietly, his voice low but carrying an unspoken weight.

You knew better than to question him.

"Of course, my prince"

The marble floors beneath your boots echoed softly as you walked beside Rafayel. The air in the palace was still heavy, the silence only broken by the faint hum of distant voices and the occasional flicker of torches. The palace felt emptier now, as if the loss of the king had shook through every inch of the walls.

You both walked in silence for a while, the weight of the council meeting still lingering in the air. You didn’t need to speak to know what was on his mind. It was in the subtle way he clenched his jaw, the way his fingers tightened into a sharp grip and in the occasional glance he threw toward the shadows of the hall.

Finally he spoke, his voice low and thoughtful.

"I’m not sure I’m cut out for this"

You raised an eyebrow, matching his pace but not yet responding.

"Not cut out for being king?" you asked, the question harsher than you intended and your voice still as detached as ever "You’ve been training for this your whole life"

Rafayel let out a bitter laugh, the sound dry and devoid of humor.

"Training, yes. But I’m not my father am I? They expect me to step into his shoes, to rule with the same iron fist he did. But I can’t.. I won’t do it the way he did. Not just for the sake of tradition" The frustration in his voice was subtle but you heard it "And the Queen… She only wants me to follow in his footsteps. To marry for power and I just want to fucking live"

"You don’t have to be like your father" you said, your voice steady "You can rule in your own way. You’ll find your own path, you don’t have to follow the footsteps of those who came before you"

Rafayel stopped walking and you did the same, your eyes meeting his. His expression was conflicted, as though he wanted to argue, to protest but instead he just stood there. For a long momentyou both stood in silence, the weight of your words hanging in the air. Then he gave a small nod.

"that’s easy for you to say" he muttered but there was a trace of bitterness in his words "I’m supposed to be the king, aren’t I? The one who makes the decisions but they don’t trust me.."

"They don't have to. It isn't their choice"

"We’ll see" he murmured 

You both resumed walking, the sounds of your footsteps echoing through the long hallway. The further you went the more the palace seemed to fall away into silence and the world outside seemed closer, more alive.

When you reached a large balcony overlooking Whalefall city, Rafayel leaned against the railing, gazing out at the moonlit expanse. His profile was sharp against the pale light of the night and for a brief moment, you saw him as something other than a prince or a leader. Just a man, standing at the edge of everything.

"I used to come out here with my father" Rafayel said quietly, his gaze still distant "Before all of this. He’d always stand there and look out over the kingdom, like he could see everything from here. I used to ask him what he saw... he said he saw strength. He saw a kingdom that would never fall"

You didn’t answer, merely standing by his side watching the city below. Your gaze was fixed on the streets far below, the flickering torches of the night.

"And what do you see?" you asked finally, your voice low and steady. Rafayel was quiet for a moment then he shrugged, the smirk returning to his face.

"I see a kingdom that’s going to change. Starting with me"

────────

The next few days Rafayel changed completely.

A smirk that lingered too long and a laugh that held a sharper edge. The way Rafayel carried himself with an air of carelessness that felt just a little too deliberate. At the council meetings he was still decisive. Still sharp and unwilling to bend but outside of them something shifted. He moved with a careless confidence, his words laced with even more amusement and he toyed with conversation like it was a game and brushed off concerns with a wave of his hand.

If he was tense before, it had unravelled into something looser.

You notic-ed it in the way he moved. Graceful but almost lazy and the tension in his shoulders was gone, replaced by a practiced ease that felt unnatural after weeks of weight pressing down on him. 

At dinners he leaned back in his chair, swirling a goblet of wine between his fingers with idle amusement, letting the nobles talk over one another while he watched them like a bored god.

Even in the training yard where his movements were usually precise and calculated there was a new recklessness to him. A tendency to take unnecessary risks in spars, grinning through every near miss like he was chasing the thrill of being caught off guard.

His eyes glinted with a kind of mischief, a gleam that only deepened as the days went on. At times it almost seemed like he was deliberately trying to annoy you, throwing in sarcastic remarks when you least expected them, teasing you with an ease that didn’t quite belong in a prince.

Then, you heard the whispers.

At first they were just that. A murmur behind closed doors, the half glances exchanged between courtiers when he arrived at council meetings later than usual. You had always heard murmurs in the corridors and hidden corners of the palace but now they seemed to follow Rafayel everywhere he went.

Whispers that he had been slipping out at night, sneaking away from the watchful eyes of the royal guards and disappearing into the darkness.

At first you ignored them but as the rumours began to circulate more frequently your unease grew. His usual routine had shifted and though he remained as charming as ever, there was something unsettling about it all.

And then, it wasn’t just his demeanour that had changed.

You had seen him leave more than once after the usual evening meal, his form slipping through the doors and disappearing into the darkness and ordering you not to follow him. He was always gone by the time the moon rose high and when you saw him again at dawn, there were always subtle signs that he’d returned from somewhere.

His Lemurian clothes were hastily thrown on, wrinkled in all the wrong places as if he hadn’t bothered to care about his appearance in the rush to get back and his hands often grazed the edges of his clothes as though he were still trying to adjust to some part of the night that lingered on him. 

You noticed the faint scratch marks on his neck and forearms, even on his back. At first, they were easy to ignore... small, almost not noticeable. But they began to appear more frequently, scattered across his skin like evidence he didn’t try to hide. Due to the amount of exposed skin his clothes showed, you were surprised that no one else had picked up on them. Or maybe they did and they chose to ignore it, or minimised it down to him sparing too much.

They were not from sparing or training. No, these marks were more intimate.

He’s sneaking out at night. Slipping past the guards. Some say he disappears into the the Silk Streets.

That name carried weight. A place where nobility lost their dignity and gold in equal measure. A labyrinth of brothels, gambling dens and places that existed purely for indulgence. A place that thrived in the shadows, where reputations were ruined and secrets were bought with a handful of coins.

A place not fit for the new Lemurian king.

You didn't know why he was walking straight into it, if the rumours were true. 

Maybe it was grief, maybe it was defiance. Maybe he just wanted to feel something different. Something far from the suffocating expectations of the palace. He was the future king and the moment the wrong people took notice, the moment they realized his recklessness, his carelessness would become a weapon in someone else’s hands.

And then there was you.

People already started to doubt your ability to protect so if he was slipping past you unnoticed, what did that say about you? About your duty? If someone else caught him before you did, if word spread beyond the whispers in the palace, what would that mean for you? You had no doubt that The Queen would have something to say.

You would find out where he was going.

That night, long after the palace had settled into a quiet stillness you stood by the door to Rafayel’s chambers. You were supposed to be on duty, keeping watch but a strange sense of unrest kept you from your usual place. Something drew you to his door, something you couldn’t quite place.

It was then that you saw it.

The faintest movement through the slightly ajar window in his chamber. A flicker of shadow, a small look at his shadow slipping away from the palace walls. He was leaving and without thinking, you followed.

You crept down the hallway, keeping to the shadows as your footsteps were swallowed by the marble floor. There was no turning back now. You had to know, you had to see for yourself where he was going, what he was doing in the dead of night when no one was watching.

The cold night air met you as you stepped outside, if your heart could beat, it would be pounding in your chest. You moved swiftly, staying a few paces behind Rafayel as he walked through the gardens, his figure barely visible in the pale moonlight. He moved like he was used to this, like he had done it a hundred times before. He didn’t turn back, not once and as you followed, you began to wonder if he even knew you were there or if he simply didn’t care.

He passed through the side gates of the palace, his movements fluid and confident. You knew where he was headed before he even reached the main road. The Silk Streets.

The rumours were true.

He was dressed in a dark cloak, the fabric heavy and concealing, draping over him like a shadow. The hood of the cloak was drawn low, covering most of his face and the rest of his features were hidden beneath the folds of the fabric. From a distance, he could have been anyone. His usually regal posture was gone, replaced by the subtle movements of someone trying to go unnoticed.

Now, he was trying to hide. Trying to blend in with the crowds of the Silk Streets, with the people who lived in the shadows.

The moonlight barely touched the narrow alleys of the streets. It thrummed with an energy that felt alive, whispers of soft laughter, muffled music and the clink of coins and goblets.

He moved through the night with an ease that made you feel out of place, his body relaxed, his steps confident as if this dark part of the city were a second home to him. He barely glanced around, unfazed by the lewd whispers that followed him, the women in doorways flashing smiles that spoke of things better left unspoken. You kept your distance, keeping your gaze forward, trying to ignore the way the scent of incense and perfume clung to the air, thick and almost intoxicating.

You, on the other hand, felt the weight of every step. Every brush of a stranger’s arm, every faint whisper that danced through the air like smoke, reminded you that you didn’t belong here.

You wanted to remain unseen, unnoticed but the air here was thick with something else... The smell of the street mixed with the distant scent of sweat and alcohol, weaving into a heavy blanket of scent that nearly overwhelmed your senses. It was intoxicating and the longer you walked the harder it became to ignore the heady warmth that filled the air.

But then the sensation turned into something else entirely. The heat, the press of so many bodies brushing against yours, the constant hum of life in every corner... suddenly it felt too much. Too many people. Too much stimulation. You stumbled slightly, your senses overwhelmed by the presence of so many and for a fleeting moment the hunger crept up on you.

You were surrounded by so much warmth, so many living breathing bodies and the hunger within you was no longer something you could easily control. It was always there, lurking beneath the surface but tonight, it seemed louder. Stronger. You felt the sharp tug of desire and the familiar hunger that always came with being so close to so much life.

You lost sight of Rafayel and for a brief moment, it was almost a relief. He was safer without you. The thought flitted through your mind as you turned your gaze away from the large number of people, focusing instead on keeping your breath steady. It was easier this way, you told yourself. He was safer away from you, far from the monster you carried inside.

You fought the urge. You had to.

The hunger clawed at your insides, sharp and insistent, but you pushed it back, burying the need. The sensation of so much warmth, so many heartbeats pressing against your own cold skin, made the hunger feel alive, tangible. You could almost taste it. Feel it on the tip of your tongue. It was supposed to be manageable.. the witch had promised you that. You hadn't felt this burning need to feed in 500 years, so why now?

You took a step back, your breath shallow as you struggled to regain control. You didn’t belong in this place  and yu couldn’t let yourself lose control. Not here, not now.

But with each passing second the pull grew stronger and the longer you stayed in the middle of the crowd the harder it became to resist. Every brush of skin, every whisper in the night seemed to feed the fire inside you. The streets twisted before you, the scent of perfume and incense growing thicker as you walked deeper into the streets. Rafayel. You had to find him and get out of here. 

You could hear the laughter from behind closed doors, the shuffling of feet, the creaking of wooden steps but the most intoxicating sound of all? Rafayel’s voice. Faint but unmistakable.

The realization hit you like a brick to the chest.

You should leave. You should walk away.

But the hunger gnawed at you and you knew that if you didn’t move now, it would consume you. In a heartbeat your mind made the decision for you. You stormed through the crowded streets, ignoring the lewd stares, pushing past those who walked too slow in front of you. Rafayel’s scent, it was distinct, almost intoxicating but it pulled you further down the winding alleys, toward the brothel.

The building loomed ahead, its doors open wide promising warmth and sin. The voices and sounds grew louder as you approached, a mix of anger and the need to confront him.

As you stepped inside, the dim light was almost suffocating. The air was thick with the musk of bodies, the sweet smell of alcohol mingling with the pungent scent of jasmine and rose that seemed to pour out of every corner. You forced yourself to breathe slowly but each inhale was heavy.

And then you heard it. a moan. Soft, laced with pleasure and the sound cut through the noise of the brothel and you didn’t have to look far to know where it came from.

You found him quickly, in one of the private rooms at the far end of the building. He was sprawled across a small bed, his usual casual grace replaced with an ease that could only come from having done this many times before. His hands were tangled in the sheets, his bare chest rising and falling with each laboured breath. A woman, pale and completely naked straddled his waist, her face flushed with pleasure.

You didn’t flinch at the sight, not even a hint of hesitation. The hunger in your chest was stronger than any sense of discomfort you might have had. It was the hunger that you focused on now.

Without a word you walked deeper into the room, your gaze locked on the woman. The sound of her soft moans stopped when she noticed you standing there, the air suddenly turning thick with tension. Her eyes darted between you and Rafayel uncertain but you didn’t give her a chance to question.

"Leave" you said coldly, your voice cutting through the room like a blade.

The woman didn’t protest, her eyes flicking to Rafayel but he simply gave her a lazy wave of his hand, not at all concerned by your presence. She reluctantly climbed off him and gathered her clothes, throwing one last glance at the two of you before slipping out the door. Rafayel didn’t move, still stretched across the bed, his body still bare not even a hint of shame in his posture. He looked almost amused but there was a glint in his eyes, a spark of mischief that made your jaw tighten.

"Didn't think you’d follow me in here" he said casually, his lips curling into that irritating smirk "But then again, you always have a way of showing up at the wrong time"

He knew you were following him.

"This place isn't fit for a prince" Was all you found yourself replying. The hunger was growing and you needed to feed but getting Rafayel away from here was your main priority.

But of course, he was being difficult. He chuckled, a mocking sound that filled the room.

"Maybe not but it’s comfortable. No one expects anything from me here, you know? No royal duties, no heavy decisions weighing me down. Just... freedom" He stretched lazily, as if the whole scene were nothing more than a casual affair.

"You shouldn’t be here" you said bluntly, your voice still flat "You’re due to be the king and yet you're playing around in filth"

Rafayel rolled his eyes, clearly unbothered.

"Always so serious. Can’t you just relax a little? The world’s not always as black and white as you make it out to be. Here, I’m just Rafayel. No title, no expectations. Just... me"

You ignored the underlying challenge in his tone, your gaze cool and unwavering.

"You’re wasting your time" He raised an eyebrow at your response.

"Am I? Or am I just taking a break from being who everyone else wants me to be? Maybe I like being... something else for a while. Not some puppet prince everyone pulls at" You’d seen him be reckless before but this? This felt like he was trying to prove something. Or maybe it was just his way of avoiding the weight of the crown that loomed over him.

"You’re still a prince" you said, your voice like ice "No matter where you go. No matter who you bed"

Rafayel’s smirk widened, a flicker of something deeper in his eyes as he sat up and exposed more of his naked body, moving with a slow grace that made your stomach twist with frustration.

"You know" he said softly, his voice a little more teasing now "I always thought you'd be more... possessive. Aren’t you the least bit jealous?"

You didn’t flinch.

"Jealousy is a waste of time”

His expression flickered then that mischievous grin returned.

"My miss bodyguard, so cold as always. I wonder what would happen if I pushed you a little harder"

You held his gaze, unwavering, your breath steady despite the tension building between you.

"Leave. Now"

With another sigh he stood from where he was lying to pick up his clothes. He even left the palace and came here in his Lemurian outfit... he was truly being reckless. Did he really not care what others thought? His movements fluid as he slung the silk of his palace outfit over his shoulder with deliberate slowness.

"Alright, alright. No need to get all worked up. But next time, maybe join the fun, hmm?" He said to you as he picked up his cloak that once kept him hidden. You turned and walked toward the door but before you left, you glanced over your shoulder at him, your gaze as cold as the walls around you.

"Next time, I won’t be so forgiving"

Rafayel simply shrugged, as if he wasn’t concerned in the slightest.

"I’ll keep that in mind"

The door clicked shut behind you but the hunger still burned inside, stronger now with the close proximity of Rafayel’s scent lingering in the air. You had more to deal with than just him.

The cool air of the palace felt strangely suffocating as you returned with Rafayel, the hunger clawing at your insides, gnawing at you with each step. Your mind was distant, the pull of your thirst overpowering everything else. You barely noticed as you walked through the halls, your senses heightened, fixating on the sharp scent of blood that lingered in the corridors.

Once you had returned Rafayel safely to his chambers, you focused on your own needs.

It was a feeling you knew too well... but this time, it felt worse. It felt like you were losing control.

As you passed a group of servants your gaze flicked to one of them. No one in the palace cared about them.. She smiled hesitantly at you, completely unaware of the danger she was in. Your body moved of its own accord before you could even think and she never had a chance to react.

You slammed her back against the cold marble of the wall, your hand gripping her wrist tightly, your other hand curling around her chin. The world around you faded into a blur. The sound of your own breath, the pulse beneath her skin and the scent of her blood overwhelming every other sense. The hunger that had been gnawing at you all night surged up.

Your fangs appeared, sharp and deadly and before you could think better of it you sank them into her neck.

The moment your fangs pierced her skin, the taste of blood hit you... rich, warm, intoxicating. It consumed you. You couldn’t stop. It had been so long since you fed like this, without hesitation, without restraint. You drank, hard and fast, the pulsing rhythm of her heart slowing as the minutes passed.

But then something hit you. A sharp wave of panic rose within you, unexpected. This was not like the control you had always maintained, not like the careful, calculated feeds you’d taken before. You hadn’t done this in years.

The memories surged back.

The last time you had lost control, when you had slaughtered the last survivor of your village. You hadn’t cared then but now... 

You broke away, your breath coming in short, harsh gasps. The woman sagged against the wall, her body limp in your grasp. For a moment, you just stood there, staring at her and at what you'd done. She was still alive, barely but her pulse was faint. You could feel it.

And yet, all you wanted was to run, to escape the guilt that rose in your throat like bile. You didn’t want to look at her. You didn’t want to face the reality of what you'd just done.

With shaking hands, you gently laid her down on the floor, as if trying to pretend that this had been nothing, just another fleeting moment. But the guilt gnawed at you, sharp and relentless.

You couldn’t stay there, not with her, not with the memory of the last time you’d lost control. So, you left. 

But still even after feeding and even after wiping away the last bit of evidence away from your face, you still weren't fully satisfied. You needed more.

────────

The days since you’d first caught Rafayel sneaking out had passed in a blur. He still slipped away though not as often, as though his reckless streak had been tempered slightly by something. He came back to the palace each morning with a quiet defiance in his eyes, as if daring the world to ask him about his actions.

But it wasn’t until the council meeting that his habits were mentioned, spoken of in hushed tones by the others, then brought up publicly by the Queen who seemed increasingly angered with her son’s antics.

"You must explain yourself, Rafayel" the Queen had demanded, her voice tight with controlled irritation "Rumors are circulating. They say you’re sneaking off at night. If this continues, I will not tolerate it"

The room had grown silent, save for the soft shuffle of papers as the council members nervously awaited his response. You had kept your head down, knowing better than to intrude on council matters, especially when the Queen was involved.

The door to the council chamber closed softly behind you, the quiet thud of the wood sounding louder than it should in the empty hall. You could feel his frustration, even though he hadn’t said a word yet. His body language was full of tension and the subtle shake of his shoulders betrayed a layer of anger he wasn’t yet ready to show.

As you walked down the hallway the silence stretched between you both. The distant sounds of the palace servants bustling in the background seemed to fade, leaving only the sound of your own footsteps. Finally, Rafayel broke the silence.

"I’m not a child, you know" he muttered, his tone heavy with an edge. His gaze was dark, fixed straight ahead but the tension in his posture was hard to ignore "You don’t have to stand there and let her throw stones at me. You could’ve said something"

What were you to say? The Queen already disliked you, despised your presence, why should you get involved in family matters? You weren't an advisor or part of the council, just a monster there to ensure he is safe at all times. 

"it isn’t my place to speak on matters that don’t concern me"

The words left your mouth and you almost almost regretted them the moment they passed your lips. But it was true. You were the bodyguard, not the family member. 

But then there was a bitter chuckle. 

"Right. As always, the perfect little soldier" He shook his head, his movements sharp and jerky as if he were trying to shake off the frustration that was still gnawing at him. There was a note of sarcasm in his voice but it didn’t feel entirely mocking "I'm not a fucking puppet"

He turned to face you, his eyes searching yours as if trying to gauge your reaction.

It was the way he said it, as if he were daring you to call him out, daring you to challenge him. You didn’t respond right away. You stood there, watching him. His eyes were still locked on you, searching, waiting for something... maybe an answer, maybe just someone to acknowledge what he was going through.

You took a deep breath, steadying yourself before you spoke.

"I never said you were a puppet" you replied quietly, your tone still sharp "I just know my place, my prince"

"And what exactly is your place, then?" His voice was low, almost a whisper but there was a challenge in it "To stand by and watch? Watch me make a fool of myself while everyone around me whispers and judges?"

There was something different in his voice now. It wasn’t just about the council meeting anymore. It wasn’t just about his mother’s words. You didn’t have an answer for him, at least not the kind he wanted.

"My place is where you need me to be, my prince" you replied, keeping your voice steady "That’s the only thing I know for sure"

Rafayel studied you for a moment longer, then finally exhaled a frustrated breath. He ran a hand through his hair, looking away from you for the first time in what felt like an eternity.

"Then I know where I need you to be tonight" He told you, and for once, the shock was evident in your face "I'm sneaking out again. It would be a shame if my sworn protector were to follow me"

For a moment, neither of you spoke. The words hung in the air between you, heavy with meaning. You should have responded, should have put an end to his recklessness but something in his tone, in the sharp glint of his gaze, told you it would be useless.

He had already made his decision. He stood beside you for a moment longer and then without another word he turned on his heel and walked away. His stride was effortless, it was as if he didn't believe that you'd deny his command. You should have ignored it. You should have reported it but you knew that no matter what you did Rafayel would still leave tonight and if he was going to put himself in danger, then you had no choice but to be there when it happened.

By the time the sun had set and the palace corridors had emptied you were already waiting. It wasn’t long before you caught the familiar flicker of movement. Rafayel, slipping past the guards with practiced ease, his cloak draped loosely around him and the hood pulled up just enough to obscure his features.

Reckless, careless, stupid.

You moved before you could think better of it, slipping into the night after him. The city stretched before you, pulsing with life even under the weight of darkness and he didn’t look back, but you knew he could feel you there. You hated this place, the way it pulsed with the things you had long since forgotten. 

But as Rafayel moved deeper into it's embrace you lost sight of him not long after, only this time there was no panic.

You felt the array of bodies surrounding you again, the hunger, the need. Everything was intimate, it was intense and you closed your eyes for a moment. The moment your eyes shut, the world sharpened in a different way. The warmth of bodies brushing past, the pulse of laughter and whispered secrets, the scent of skin heated from too much drink. It was intoxicating in a way that had nothing to do with blood.

It had been centuries since you had been surrounded like this. Engulfed in something so human, so alive. This wasn’t just hunger for blood. 

There was a brush of air and a warm gust of wind on the back of your neck before a small voice appeared at the side of you. 

"Don't get lost" He visibly smirked at the way you flinched, the first physical reaction he had ever gotten of you from the three years you were with him "Stay with me.. and relax"

He was behind you somehow, the front of his body only an inch away from the back of your own. His lips close to your ear as he spoke but he still kept to himself. You shuddered for a moment before nodding, like you didn't have a mind of your own, like the street and he himself had put a spell on you.

A spell to obey, which a monster like you should always do.

You could feel him, every inch of him so close but not touching it made your breath falter. A sharp contrast to the steady control you prided yourself on. His skin wasn't against yours but the warmth of him seeped into your skin, into your bones and into that part of you that had been frozen for centuries. His breath ghosted along your jaw, his voice low, deliberate.

"You’re always so tense"

A quiet chuckle rumbled from him and you felt it against your back more than you heard it. He leaned in closer, his lips barely grazing the shell of your ear, as if testing the waters.

"Is it this place?" he mused, voice silk and sin "Or is it me?"

You swallowed but the street had stolen your words, stolen your thoughts leaving you exposed. A pair of bodies stumbled past, tangled in each other, laughing breathlessly. Another pair further down, pressed against a wall and lost in the heat of their own indulgence. The air was thick with the scent of sweat, wine, desire. The world here moved differently as if the very street was alive and it had chosen you as its prey.

And Rafayel... Rafayel was watching.

"You feel it, don’t you?" he murmured, his voice dipping into something dangerously smooth "The way it pulls at you, the way it calls"

Your fists clenched at your sides, nails digging into your palms. You couldn’t let this place get to you. 

"So miss bodyguard... will you indulge with me?"

You should have said no. You should have turned away, should have pulled back, should have reminded him of the line that stood between you, the one that had kept you at a distance for three years. instead, your body betrayed you. A slow shaky exhale slipped from your lips before you could stop it. It was lost in the midst of the Silk Street but not to him. Never to him. Rafayel smirked, his head tilted slightly, his gaze flickering over your face drinking in every minute shift in your expression.

"Indulge?" Your voice was quieter than you meant it to be, your throat drier than it should have been "And what exactly do you mean by that, my prince?"

"Whatever you want it to mean" he murmured "But first... let me show you around"

Rafayel stepped past you, the faintest brush of his cloak against your arm as he did. His smirk deepened when your eyes never left his figure. And then without looking back, he walked into the depths of the street.

Will you indulge with me?

Your feet moved before you had the chance to think. The further you walked down, the more suffocating the atmosphere grew. The flickering lanterns cast shadows on the cobblestones and as you followed Rafayel, every step felt heavier. He moved through the night with an ease that made you feel out of place, his body relaxed and his steps confident as if this dark part of the city were a second home to him. It was.

He barely glanced around, unfazed by the whispers that followed him. You kept your distance, keeping your gaze forward trying to ignore the way the your senses were filled with different fragrances. But you couldn't ignore him. A part of you wanted to turn away, to remind yourself of your place. Of your duty to him but you couldn’t shake the sense of awe that crept in. These people weren’t bound by titles. They were free, in ways you hadn’t been in over five centuries. It almost felt like a distant memory.

It wasn’t that you were jealous of these people but there was something about their freedom, their ability to live without restraint that made you feel… small. Small and trapped in a way you hadn’t let yourself admit. You didn't know why it bothered you.

As Rafayel slowed, leading you into an alleyway between two crumbling buildings, you caught sight of the brothel ahead. It was the same brothel where you had found him the other night. A place drenched in everything that should have repulsed you.

But it didn’t.

Rafayel pushed open the heavy wooden door without hesitation, stepping inside as though he belonged here and maybe in some way, he did. The moment he crossed the door, he was no longer the prince, no longer the heir to a kingdom burdened by duty and expectations. He was just a man, another figure in the haze of warmth and pleasure.

You hesitated.

Standing there just outside, you felt the weight of the past pressing against you. Five hundred years of restraint, five hundred years of existing but never truly living and yet you followed him inside. The shift in atmosphere was immediate. People leaned into one another, hands lingering, lips brushing, eyes half lidded with the haze of drink and desire. There were no rules here, no boundaries. Rafayel turned his head slightly, just enough to see you lingering at the door, your hesitation laid bare.

"You don’t have to be afraid" he murmured, his voice low enough that only you could hear "No one will look at you as they do in the palace. No one will whisper"

It was a taunt, wrapped in something gentler.

You reached the counter where a number of drinks were laid out, free to take. He reached for a bottle, something dark and rich smelling, the scent of honey and spice clinging to the rim. Without breaking eye contact with you he lifted it to his lips, taking a slow, deliberate sip before extending it toward you.

"Drink"

You stared at him, silent.

"It won't-"

"Affect you I know.." he reminded, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips "Humour me miss bodyguard. Just this once"

His eyes gleamed, watching and waiting. It wasn’t the drink that made your fingers curl around the bottle, it was him. You lifted the bottle to your lips, letting the liquid slide over your tongue. It was warm, rich, deceptively smooth but beneath the honeyed spice, beneath the slow burning heat, there was something else. Something unmistakable and your throat tightened.

Blood.

Not much, not enough for a human to notice but you weren’t human. The taste, the feel of it. It bloomed across your tongue, curling into your senses, awakening something deep inside you. Your grip on the bottle faltered for just a moment, the glass clinking softly as you set it down. A pang of hunger tightened in your chest and your body reacted almost before your mind could catch up.

"You…" The question was barely a breath, barely a whisper but Rafayel heard it.

And he smirked.

"You were about to ask, weren’t you?" His voice was velvet and amusement. He leaned in, elbow propped lazily on the counter, his eyes flickering in the dim light "If it’s blood? Yes"

He finished the thought for you.

Did he... know?

Your body screamed at you to stay still, to keep your expression neutral but the way Rafayel was watching you, studying you made it impossible. He was enjoying this.

"Relax" he mused, his voice almost soothing and mocking "It's not human. If that's what you're worried about"

You felt like breathing a sigh of relief. He didn't know. Your throat constricted, the taste still lingering on your tongue.

"Why?" You asked, though the question didn’t quite escape with the urgency you expected it to. You couldn’t seem to tear your gaze away from the bottle, nor the way his lips curved into a faint smirk.

"Why not?" Rafayel responded, leaning back up "It’s part of the street's… charm. It’s an old indulgence. Mixed with herbs it’s meant to lift you, free you in a way. It stirs something inside, doesn’t it?"

"Does it?" you murmured, your voice lacked it's usual steel and Rafayel knew it.

His smirk deepened like a hunter playing with it's prey. He tilted his head studying you, before his fingers tapped idly against the counter’s surface. He pulled the hood from his cloak down and your gaze flickered over him, taking in the way the dim, flickering light cast shifting shadows over his face.

"It does" His voice was quiet "Even if you won’t admit it"

His gaze flickered downward just for a second, toward the subtle rise and fall of your chest. Rafayel always carried an air of carelessness, of reckless confidence that made it seem as though the world bent to his rules. But here, in the golden glow of the brothel’s lanterns, draped in his regal clothes hidden by a cloak too large for him he was something else entirely. 

The silk of his robes was dark, the colour of deep ocean tides beneath a moonlit sky. The embroidery shimmered as he moved, silver waves curling along the fabric shifting like they were alive, and then there was the jewellery. Silver rings, oceanic stones, the delicate chains that glinted against his wrists. An ornamental ear cuff, shaped like a cresting wave adorned one ear, catching the light whenever he tilted his head.

It was unfair how beautiful he was.

Rafayel was beautiful in a way that demanded attention, in a way that made it impossible to ignore him, no matter how hard you tried and right now, he was watching you. You forced your eyes away from him but not before you caught the slight tilt of his lips, like he knew exactly what you were thinking.

You thought he'd tease you, thought he'd mention how he caught you staring, truly looking at him like you've never done before but it never came and you were thankful. You took a moment to glance around the room and you noticed there were multiple pairs of eyes on you. You swallowed for a moment, you were used to the stares in the palace.. but in this place? It felt like you were a prize that people didn't want to stop admiring.

"Do they always stare?" you muttered, feeling your skin prickle. Rafayel's laugh was soft, a low sound that held a trace of amusement.

"They don't care about you" he said, his voice casual "It's me they want"

You turned sharply, meeting his gaze. His smile had faded into something more... knowing, like he enjoyed watching you squirm.

"You shouldn't come here" you said, the words slipping out before you could stop them.

"Why?" he asked, cocking his head to the side "Are you afraid of what you'll see? Or maybe afraid of the kind of person you might become if you stay?"

Your throat tightened and you could feel the flush creeping up your neck. The idea that you could be like the people in this place, slipping into a world of indulgence and desire... It sickened you. But there was no denying the way you felt slightly attracted to the dangerous allure of it all.

"I’m not like them" you whispered, your own voice betraying you.

"You are not like anyone and that is exactly why I brought you here" He told you and for the briefest second his expression shifted. Your head began to spin "My miss bodyguard is one of a kind"

"I-" 

Rafayel took a slow step toward you, his presence suddenly overwhelming. He tilted his head, studying you with those sharp eyes that seemed to see through everything, through you. His presence surrounded you, a warmth pressing into your skin without even touching you. 

"You're starting to feel it aren't you?" He questioned, his voice quiet. You looked down, eyes settling on the counter, the bottle, the blood.

Yes.

He was right. Whatever herbs were mixed in were beginning to affect you-he was winning. It was affecting you in ways you couldn’t control. Your breath felt heavier in your chest and you subtly gripped the counter again, fingers pressing into the wood as if grounding yourself. You wanted more. More of what, you weren’t sure. It was unlike anything you’d felt in centuries. Not hunger or thirst, it was almost worse. A yearning with no name.

Like you were floating almost and the feeling was exotic. Five centuries you had been nothing but a shell of a monster but now, you felt human. You felt alive, you felt like you could feel the blood that was once drained all those years ago flow into your empty veins.  You forced yourself to stand straighter, to regain some semblance of composure but the heat in your chest remained.

"We should.." Go. You should go. Back to the palace, back to being a monster that people feared. Back to doing your duty because any upstanding bodyguard and knight wouldn't be in a place like this possibly endangering the person they were supposed to protect.

Rafayel inhaled sharply, stumbling back a step, his fingers pressing briefly against his temple before dropping back to his side. He wasn’t entirely unaffected either. His breathing had deepened and his lips parted slightly. Then he tilted his head smirking again, eyes half lidded and unreadable. He beckoned you with just a look.

And you followed.

Further into the brothel, further into pleasure and forbidden whispers. The further you followed him the more you felt it and you wanted to smile. The feeling creeping into your body. The intoxication, the warmth, the dizziness-it was unlike anything you’d felt in centuries. It wasn’t hunger but it was almost worse. It was a kind of desire, a yearning but for what you couldn’t say. You shouldn’t be here. You shouldn’t have followed him.

And yet, you did.

He led you to a cloak covered doorway and you followed him through it like he had you on a leash and was pulling you along. The air changed the moment you stepped through the veil of heavy fabric. The room was dimly lit and you had to really focus on the sight around you, your vision blurring slightly before you saw it.

Bodies moved in slow rhythms, tangled together in ways that left nothing to the imagination. The sounds.. soft gasps, breathless laughter, sinful moans and words whispered that you had never had whispered to you before. It all pressed in from every side, drowning out the world beyond these walls. There was no space untouched, no corner left unclaimed by the weight of indulgence. No one here was alone.

Except for you and him.

Rafayel stood just a step ahead, his cloak falling down his body and exposing bare back where his royal outfit lacked clothing for his top half. You were seeing him now, really seeing him. The details on his body, the faded scratch marks and the tattoos that made your fingers twitch slightly. He turned slightly, gaze flicking back to you. The chaos around him didn’t seem to touch him, like he was used to it.

You wanted to move. You needed to. The walls felt closer now, the press of bodies suffocating, the sheer intimacy of it all almost too much to bear. But your feet wouldn’t move.

You were rooted in place.

There were couples, there were beds filled with three people, there were men and women on their own bringing themselves to a climax... and you stood and watched. Lips parted, almost dried and screaming for something. The drink still burned in your throat, your skin hot, your thoughts slow and unfocused. It was intoxicating the way that the room felt alive, the way every breath you took carried the weight of something. 

Rafayel took a slow step toward you, his expression unreadable beneath the dim lantern light.

"Tell me" he murmured, voice low and teasing but edged with something more "Does it tempt you?"

You couldn’t answer immediately.  It was like the world had narrowed to just him and you.

He didn’t move any closer, he didn’t need to. His gaze held you in place, as if every moment you stood there was a game in itself. Your body felt like it belonged to someone else, your senses sharp and dulled at the same time and you couldn’t help but wonder how much of this was truly you. How much of it was the drink, the atmosphere or the quiet pull of his influence.

Rafayel’s eyes flickered down to your clenched hands then back up to your face. He saw it, the conflict in you.

"I..." The words faltered.

"You don’t have to stay" he said, his voice a low murmur, almost a promise as he reached out with his finger to gently tilt your chin, forcing you to meet his gaze "But do you really want to leave?"

You swallowed, trying to bring some clarity to your muddled thoughts. Your mind was a swirl of thoughts and confusion and though you knew you should distance yourself, you couldn’t seem to pull away from him.

"I should never have come" you murmured, almost to yourself but Rafayel heard. 

Rafayel watched you carefully and for once, the smirk didn’t return. His expression softened, just slightly and you saw it. He took another step toward you, closing the distance, his free hand resting lightly on your arm just enough to feel the weight of it.

"I know you feel it. You're not immune to this" He said it with quiet certainty like he already knew everything you were trying to deny. Your pulse quickened and the rest of the room seemed to blur.

The bodies around you didn’t matter. The sounds faded away and Rafayel was all you could see, all you could feel. Despite everything, despite the rules, despite the duty that tied you to him there was a part of you that didn’t want to leave. Not yet, not now.

"My prince..." The title in this scenario felt wrong, utterly and disgustingly wrong. So wrong it made your stomach twist in unease.

This wasn’t the palace. This wasn’t duty or responsibility. This wasn’t the prince who carried the weight of a kingdom on his shoulders. This wasn’t the future king poised to take his throne. Why were you here, in a brothel surrounded by pleasure with the prince... 

Your words seemed to have affected him slightly as a subtle shift passed through his face. His breath caught, a slight tremor running through him and you saw something deeper in his eyes that never left your own. His cheeks flushed, the red creeping up his neck and warming his skin in a way you hadn’t seen before. A stark contrast to the smooth controlled prince you were used to. The blush spread like fire, burning his skin red where it met the soft pink of his ears.

He was human after all. A man, with desires and fears and weaknesses, just like everyone else.

"I think you need to relax, just once" he said, his voice softer now, almost coaxing "You’re wound too tight. It’s like you’ve forgotten how to breathe... just let go. Let go for me, your prince, your king"

The way he said it so effortlessly made you want to listen, to surrender. And then, before you could think of a way to pull yourself together, he leaned in.

His lips brushed your temple, the gentleness sending a shiver down your spine. Then, they drifted to the edge of your cheek, soft and slow. The warmth of his touch lingered even as he moved, trailing over the curve of your jaw. Each kiss was light, teasing, as if he was savouring the sensation of your skin beneath his lips. He kissed you as though he had all the time in the world but you could feel the deliberate intensity in the way he moved, he was gentle yet demanding. You hadn’t realized how starved you were for touch until this moment.

Rafayel’s lips brushed the soft skin beneath your ear and the sensation sent a jolt of electricity through your veins. He paused there and for a moment you thought he might pull away but instead he pressed his lips ever so gently against the sensitive spot, just long enough to make your chest tighten. His lips moved down toward your throat and you couldn’t stop the involuntary shudder that coursed through you. You were half frozen, half on fire, the intensity of it leaving you breathless. His mouth was everywhere but where you wanted him most.

And then he hovered. His lips a centimetre away from yours, so close you could feel the heat of his breath against your mouth. You had wanted him to kiss you, so badly that the ache inside you had become unbearable. But when he moved closer, you felt a sense of unease you couldn’t explain, as if you were both too close and too far.

He pulled back at the last moment, just as you thought his lips were finally going to meet yours and there it was again... the smug, cocky smile that curled at the corners of his mouth. He looked at you with that knowing gaze, like he had seen right through you. His smile was infuriating but also undeniably captivating. There was something about the way he looked at you, that arrogant confident glint in his eyes as if he had won the battle before it even began. 

"You’re teasing me" you muttered, your voice strained. You hated how it sounded. How weak it made you feel.

Rafayel’s eyes darkened just a shade before his smirk widened. His hand around your arm tightened slightly and his thumb on your chin smoothed your skin. His gaze dropped to your lips for a moment before meeting your eyes again.

"Teasing?" His voice dropped to a low murmur "No, my dear bodyguard. I’m simply letting you see what it feels like to want... and I know you want this"

The air between you thickened, the tension nearly suffocating but still he didn’t touch you in the way you craved. He stood just at that edge, where you couldn’t quite reach him, couldn’t quite escape. Your body was alive, aching for him, but the rational part of you screamed for control, screamed for distance.

You swallowed thickly, fighting the rising panic in your chest. You wanted to push him away, to tell him to stop but the words died on your tongue. Instead you stood there frozen, caught between wanting to run and wanting to give in completely.

"You told me to let go" You found yourself unexpectedly saying, hoping and willing that he would pull you closer and give you what you wanted "How... how can I let go?"

He smiled, truly smiled, like you had said something he had always wanted to hear and he had. Three years you had been under his wing, in his palace and by his side but you were always so cold. So distant and blunt but now, for the first time since he claimed you, he was finally seeing what he needed to see from you.

"Let me show you"

He stepped away and you hadn't realised how his proximity drowned out everything around you. It felt like it was just you and him in this room but it wasn't. The air seemed heavier now, the room felt fuller, like everything around you rushed back into focus. The mass of bodies reminded you of where you were and what was happening around you, and the sensation of the noises that echoed around the room has your knees weak.

Or maybe it was just Rafayel.

You couldn’t tear your gaze away from him as he moved through the haze of bodies, stepping back toward the far corner of the room. You didn’t even know why you moved, but the pull of him was magnetic. Your feet carried you forward, each step slow and heavy as you approached the small and secluded bed in the corner, barely noticeable to the rest of the crowd.

What was he.. doing?

Rafayel sank onto the plush bedding, his form reclining with the ease of someone who had nothing to prove. He glanced over at you, his eyes dark. He leant back, propping himself up on his elbows as his eyes traced over you like he was memorizing every detail, every shiver that ran down your spine, every breath you took.

He moved like he was already in control, like everything was part of his plan.

You moved closer, your knees hitting the bedding. The soft fabric shifted beneath you as you hesitated for just a moment before lying down next to him. The proximity was almost too much to bear, your body feeling the warmth of his, the scent of his skin. He didn’t break his gaze. In fact, he watched you more closely now. He shifted his body as you rested your own on the bed and now you were both lay on your sides, gazing at each other.

His hand shifted just slightly, close enough to you that you could feel his warmth but he didn’t touch you. His fingers brushed the bedding, tracing the fabric lazily as if he had all the time in world. You watched his fingers carefully, the black ink that wrapped itself around his fingers put you in a trance and you watched and watched and watched...

Until his hand drifted lower down the bed and closer to his body, his thumb teasing the waistband of his royal trousers. Your breath hitched, the sight of his abs covered in goosebumps as he teased the skin on his waistband was enough to have your chest rising heavily, as if you still had a heart-as if there was blood pumping through your veins.

His hand slid further down and you met his eyes in a panic. He was watching you carefully, gauging your reaction. He watched you bite your lip, he watched your eyes flicker between his own iris' and his lips as if you didn't know where to look. He watched you shuffle forwards ever so slightly, a movement that he would have missed if he wasn't truly staring at you.

Then his hand disappeared into his trousers and he found himself gasping slightly as he gripped his cock in his hand. Your own hand twitched... were you supposed to touch him? Help him? Touch yourself? You didn't know... you didn't know anything right now, your mind was clouded with nothing but desire.

"I don’t... don't know what you want from me" you managed to say, the vulnerability creeping into your voice. Your voice was breathless and it made his cock twitch to see how affected you were.

"Just keep your eyes on me" He told you, his voice close to a moan as you watched him carefully "Just-fuck just don't stop watching"

And you listened.

You watched his trousers strain against his hand as he moved, his strokes going from fast to slow to fast to slow and you were hypnotised. You were enjoying it. Enjoying it to the point of your own thighs clenching together, a feeling you have ever felt before. You were warm, warm everywhere and your teeth refused to let go of your bottom lip.

His thumb rubbed against the head of his cock and he gave you a blissful smile as his eyes closed. He let out a moan and fuck it might have been the hottest thing you have ever heard. He couldn't control himself now, and he only stroked faster and faster until the front of his trousers lowered far enough for you to see what he was doing.

His stomach tightened as he lost himself in the pleasure and you could do nothing but watch. You might have asked him to try yourself, to use your own hand to bring him pleasure but you wouldn't know how. You had never been in a situation like this before... almost five centuries of living and you had never pleasured anyone or been pleasured before.

Rafayel could barely breathe and he found himself opening his eyes again to look at you. Truly look at you.

He moaned again when he saw the way you were staring at his hand, so tranced and fixed on the way he was stroking himself. Fuck should he ask you to touch him? Ask you... for something? He doesn't know, he didn't care, he was too overcome by pleasure and the way you were watching him with your bottom lip between your teeth and your legs shut tightly together.

"I-" You whispered, a single word but it put Rafayel on the edge as you moved closer. Any second now you'd be pressed up against him, body warm against his own and he swore if you touched him he might burst any second now.

"What is it pretty girl? Hm?" He whimpered. He actually whimpered, and you found yourself letting out a small sigh of your own.

"Don't stop"

Gods there was no way he'd ever deny you of that. He chuckled, low and deep and it faded into the room and blended with the moans from the others that surrounded you in the room. He did as you wished, gripping and tugging at his cock as you moved closer to him, or maybe he moved closer to you, neither of you could tell.

You were closer now to the point where his knuckles were brushing against your clothes. Your forehead touched his own and your fists clenched, twitching with the need to hold something, anything. So you gripped at your chest, palming your breast through your shirt and found yourself letting out a moan.

Rafayel lost it. The sound you made brushed his ruby coloured ears and he listened as you made another sound, a whine this time and he couldn't help but thrust his hips forward and further into his hand.

He watched you palm your chest through your clothes and in his mind he was begging you to rip every piece of fabric off your body so he could see, so he could touch. But the pleasure clouded his mind and he could only only let out his own moans as your eyes met his.

"Can you indulge in this with me, miss bodyguard?" He questioned, his voice breathless and your throat turned dry.

You opened your mouth to agree but the words didn’t come. Instead, you found yourself staring at him, at the way his lips parted slightly, at the soft curve of his jaw, the sweat that started to form on his forehead and the muscles on his bicep contracting as he moved his hand faster and faster...

The silence between you stretched, thick and heavy and for the first time, you realized that you were no longer thinking of the palace, of duty, of the cold distance that had always defined you. You were here. With him. And nothing had ever felt more real.

"Show me..." You whispered, your lips less than a few centimetres from his "Show me what pleasure is, my prince"

And with your words, Rafayel found himself finishing into his palm, a low desperate moan following shortly behind. His body twitched and bumped into your own, hips thrusting as if they were begging you to rub your stomach against his cock to milk him dry. The head of his cock slightly rubbed against the fabric that you were wearing and Rafayel groaned deeply.

Your eyes were glossy and there was a throbbing sensation between your legs but you felt nothing but satisfaction. There was no doubt that the remains of his pleasure covered your own clothes but you couldn't bring yourself to care. The sight of your very own prince whining in overstimulation as he continued to stroke his now softening cock was enough to make you forget about all your worries and about your duty.

Because now, more than ever, you felt human.

────────

It was as if nothing had happened.

No words had been exchanged on the way back to the palace. No stolen glances, no lingering touches. Just silence.

You had ensured Rafayel made it safely to his chamber before slipping away into the shadows, retreating to the quietness of your own space. You had washed the scent of the brothel from your skin, scrubbed away the lingering warmth of his touch and convinced yourself that you could forget. That it hadn’t mattered.

And now, you fell back into routine. You were his bodyguard. His soldier.

But Rafayel wasn’t blind.

You knew he had noticed the shift when you escorted him to breakfast that morning. You stood at attention, back straight and hands tight and still at your sides, eyes fixed ahead in unwavering focus. You didn’t acknowledge him unless necessary. You spoke only when spoken to. You were perfect again.

It was insulting how easily you fell into place.

And Rafayel, who had always been too observant for his own good, did not miss a thing. At first, he said nothing. His gaze was heavier than usual, lingering on you for moments longer than necessary, as if waiting for you to do or say something. He let the silence stretch, testing you, waiting to see if you would shift under his gaze. You didn’t. You remained standing at his side, as you always did. The same as before.

Almost.

His fingers drummed lazily against the wooden table, the rings on his hand catching the morning light. He leaned back in his chair, an elbow propped up as he studied you beneath heavy lashes. Still, you did not look at him and then, after what felt like an eternity, Rafayel spoke.

"You're quiet today" Weren't you always? It was a simple observation, nothing more. But the way he said it, the weight behind it, it was definitely not a compliment.

"My duty does not require me to make conversation, my prince" You replied, the way you addressed him held a heavy difference compared to last night.

"No, I suppose it doesn't" Rafayel let out a low hum, dragging the tip of his finger around the rim of his goblet.

There was something almost amused in his voice, but you didn’t bite. You kept your breathing steady, your face blank, refusing to let him drag you into whatever game he was playing. Because you knew him. You knew Rafayel. He wanted a reaction. He wanted to see if the woman from the night before was still inside you. But you wouldn’t give him that satisfaction. Moments stretched between you and then, just as he lifted his goblet to his lips, he spoke again.

"Shame.." Your fingers twitched.

"Excuse me?"

Rafayel took a slow sip, swallowing the dark liquid before setting the goblet down with an infuriating amount of ease. He turned his head slightly, not quite looking at you but you could feel his gaze, burning at the edges of your composure.

"Nothing" he murmured, tilting his head back as if he had already grown bored of the exchange "Just thinking aloud"

Liar.

You inhaled slowly, silently steadying yourself. He was testing you... pushing, prodding, trying to make you slip. You forced yourself to remain still, to remain calm. Because if you let your mind wander, if you let yourself remember the way his lips had felt against your skin, the way his voice had sounded in the dark, the way his hand had gripped his cock in front of you, then you would lose. And you refused to lose, so you said nothing. 

You remained at his side, cold and unyielding, the way you had always been and the way he always knew you to be. And Rafayel? He only smiled to himself, as if he knew. As if he had already won.

Later that evening, as the sun disappeared below the horizon and bathed the palace in a golden hue, you found yourself trailing behind Rafayel through the winding halls. His council meeting was soon, but he insisted on taking a walk to clear his mind before he was bombarded with the worries and demands of his advisors and the nobles.

You had escorted him through the palace grounds, through the vast corridors lined with tapestries and torches, your footsteps always a steady rhythm behind him. But yet, despite the physical distance you kept, you felt suffocated because you knew Rafayel was enjoying this. Every time your gaze so much as flickered toward him, he was already watching you. Every time you turned away, you could feel the weight of his amusement pressing into your skin.

Finally, he came to a stop near one of the palace balconies, where the air was crisp and cool carrying the scent of the sea. The distant sound of waves crashing against the cliffs filled the silence between you. Rafayel exhaled slowly, bracing his hands against the railing, his fingers curling around the edge. 

"Are you going to keep pretending forever?" he asked, his voice was quiet.

"I don't know what you mean, my prince" 

"You know exactly what I mean" he murmured, finally turning his head to look at you fully. The last streaks of sunlight painted his features, defining the sharp line of his jaw and the fullness of his lips.

The lips he denied you of kissing.

"Your safety is my only concern" He let out a quiet chuckle, shaking his head.

"And yet, last night safety was the last thing on your mind"

Your throat tightened but you didn’t react. Rafayel shifted, stepping closer.

"Tell me, soldier" he murmured, his voice almost teasing "How long do you think you can keep up this charade?"

Your fingers curled into fists at your sides, nails digging into your palms.

"As long as I have to, my prince" Silence.

And then, he smiled. Did his perfect little bodyguard just... tease him?

And you did, because two could play that game. But Rafayel... Rafayel never played fair. He took a step forward, his sandals barely making a sound against the marble floor. 

"You must be exhausted" he mused "Keeping up the performance. Playing the role of my loyal bodyguard, my watchful shadow. Does it ever get tiring?"

You didn’t react, didn’t move but you knew he could feel it. The subtle shift in the air, the way your body tensed for just a fraction of a second too long.

"I wouldn’t know" you said flatly. He hummed, the sound low and amused.

"No, I suppose you wouldn’t" Another step closer. You could feel the warmth of him now "You don’t sleep, do you?"

A pause.

"You don’t eat"

Another step.

"And yet, you don’t wither. You don’t break. You don’t bleed the way you should"

His voice was velvet and steel, wrapping around you, tightening with every word. He was circling you now, slow and deliberate, like a predator toying with it's prey. The teasing tone in his voice had faded into something else. 

"You know that they call you a monster in the palace halls" he continued, his voice dipping lower "A ghost. Some say you're a failed experiment, a creature torn from a nightmare"

The words should have stung. They didn’t, yu had heard them all before. But then...

"But I" he exhaled a soft laugh "I think the truth is far simpler than that"

Your throat tightened. You willed yourself to stay still, to not let him see the way your shoulders locked, the way the cold settled deep into your stomach like a stone.

"And what truth is that?" you asked, your voice steady. Challenging. His smirk deepened. 

"I think you were about to ask, weren’t you?" he murmured, echoing your own words from that night at the brothel "If it was blood in the bottle?"

Your stomach twisted. The realization hit you all at once, but Rafayel was still watching, drinking in every flicker of emotion you failed to smother, the way your breathing had slowed.

"You already knew the answer before I said it" he continued, his voice deceptively soft. His gaze flickered down just briefly to your lips. Like he was remembering the way the bottle had lingered there, the way you had tasted before you knew "And that was all I needed"

"So say it..." You told him, your voice barely a whisper. Another smirk, the world seemed to still.

He knew.

"You're a vampire"

The words were simple, yet they hit you like a train, your breath catching in your throat.

You opened your mouth but no words came. Your thoughts scattered, trying to grasp at the edges of something you had always hidden so carefully. The cold dread in your chest made it hard to breathe but Rafayel didn’t move. He stood there, watching you with... curiosity? For a moment, you just stared at him, then instinct took over.

"Do you want me to be afraid?" you asked voice low, but somehow still steady.

Should you be afraid? Would he tell them, tell the Queen? That his bodyguard is a vampire, one of the last to ever exist, and she's here she is real, hiding in plain sight for three years.

"You don't deny it" he murmured, tilting his head. His hair, caught in the melting sunlight, making him look ethereal and yet here he was, staring at you like he had just unravelled a mystery that had haunted him for far too long.

"I don't owe you confirmation" you said voice almost fearful "It changes nothing"

He laughed. Soft, delighted.

"Oh, but I think it changes everything" Another step. You should have backed away again, should have put distance between you but you refused "You’re a creature of the night. Vampires, witches... They always intrigued me. The power, the mystery. Those monsters that existed centuries ago, and one of them is my very own bodyguard”

"How long have you known?"

"Too long" he admitted, his eyes darkening "But I wanted to be sure. You think I didn’t see it? The way you watched me, studied me the same way I studied you? You act like you don’t care but I know better"

"And yet you kept me by your side... why?"

"Because you intrigued me" he murmured, his gaze never leaving yours as he spoke. 

And then before you could react, he reached up. Swift and deliberate, and brushed his fingers against the side of your throat. Right over where a human pulse should have been. Nothing. Excluding last night this was the first time he was touching you since he claimed you three years ago. His eyes flickered, unreadable, unreadable, unreadable...

For a moment, you thought he might say something else. That he might press further, push you and push you. But he didn’t. He simply let his fingers rest there, against the hollow of your throat where there was no reassuring thump of life beneath his touch. His fingers didn’t tremble. There was no hesitation, no fear.

"How long have you been hungry?" his words settled between you and your breath faltered, caught between a scoff and panic.

"You think I’m starving?" you asked, forcing a sharpness into your voice "You think I’m going to sink my teeth into your throat?"

His smirk returned, slow and knowing.

"Would you? I imagine it would be intoxicating"

"You’re playing a dangerous game, my prince"

"You’d never hurt me" The certainty in his voice sent a jolt through your chest and you hated how easily he used it.

"And how are you so sure?" you whispered.

"Because if you wanted to" he murmured leaning in just slightly, the warmth of his breath brushing your jaw "you already would have"

Your stomach twisted. He was right. You had stood guard outside his chamber for three years, had been close enough to touch him, to kill him, to take from him every single day. You had never once indulged. And yet, his pulse was so close now, beneath golden skin steady and warm. His scent was clean, the heat of him was something you tried not to focus on.

"You’re not afraid of me.." you said, because you needed to hear it. His expression softened, just slightly.

"No" he said, like it was the easiest thing in the world "I never was"

The realization unsettled you more than it should have. You swallowed, shifting your weight ever so slightly but it didn’t help. His presence was everywhere. His scent, his warmth, the undeniable way he was looking at you. And then, before you could stop yourself, the words slipped past your lips, quieter than you intended.

"That makes one of us"

A breath of silence.

Rafayel didn’t move. He didn’t flinch. But his smirk faded, replaced by something softer and unreadable. His lashes lowered just slightly, his fingers on your throat twitching. You hated how exposed you felt. For three years you had perfected the art of silence. The art of indifference and yet here you stood, confessing more in five words than you had in centuries of your existence.

"I'm not going to tell anyone" His voice when it came was low and steady, before he shifted slightly "And in exchange, you can help me satisfy my curiosity"

"Curiosity?"

"I want to see them" was he asking what you think he was? "I'd be a fool not to take the opportunity would I not? Last of your kind and you're here in front of me. I've heard myths and legends about the sharpness but I can imagine it's different to see in person"

He wanted to see your fangs.

You wanted to push him away, to tell him to stop, to retreat into the silence you had so carefully constructed but something inside you trembled, something you hadn’t felt in years. Fear. You swallowed hard, your throat dry.

"It’s not a show, my prince" you said barely above a whisper, the words tasting foreign on your tongue "I don't... I don't trust you and I don’t know if I can trust you not to use it against me"

His lips twitched and for a moment there was something like sadness in his eyes but it was gone as quickly as it came, replaced once more by that steady gaze. For a while, there was silence. Every part of you screamed to keep the secret, to hide, to escape the moment. But the strange pull of him, of the trust you didn’t want to give was overwhelming.

You parted your lips, hesitating only for a heartbeat, before allowing him to see the fangs you’d hidden for so long. You could feel the sharpness of them as your canines lengthened. Dangerous, lethal, but in that moment they were exposed. There was no turning back.

Rafayel didn’t immediately speak. His gaze traced the sharp lines of your teeth, lingering as though admiring something rare, something exquisite. His eyes darkened and before you could even think to pull away, his fingers reached out, brushing against the sharp point of one of your fangs. 

His thumb then trailed lower, brushing across your lips with a teasing, deliberate motion. The sensation was too intimate, too personal and yet you found yourself frozen and unable to move. You stiffened, but his touch didn’t waver. It was soft yet it carried an intensity, a command that made your pulse quicken. The faintest flicker of heat spread through you but you couldn’t let him see it.

"You're beautiful" he murmured, his voice like a soft siren song, as if he were in awe of what he saw. His finger traced the sharpness of your fang "So much more than I imagined"

His gaze locked with yours and in that moment, everything seemed to slow. His presence was suffocating, consuming. His fingers didn’t pull away. They remained, pressing just a little harder against your fang... a possessive teasing pressure. You flinched at the added pressure, a shiver running down your spine. The touch was sharp now intentional. You didn’t know whether to step back or lean closer, your body betraying you in the face of such intimacy.

And then a sharp sting. 

His thumb pressed into your fang with just enough force to break the delicate skin at the tip. You didn’t have to look to know what had happened. The copper scent filled the air before you could fully process it, the bead of blood forming slowly on his skin.

The temptation was overwhelming. You felt it... a primal hunger rising in your chest, the need to sink your teeth into his flesh, to taste him, to take. Your eyes flickered downward to the drop of blood and the crimson bead that now stained his skin. The hunger surged. His voice, now soft and almost hypnotic broke through your haze.

"Open your mouth" he commanded, the order simple.

Your body obeyed before your mind could process it and without thought, your lips parted further. His thumb dipped lower, pressing against your bottom lip. A drop of his blood fell, warm and rich, onto your tongue. You tasted it before you could stop yourself. Just a brush of it and your senses exploded.

His blood was intoxicating. It slid down your throat like liquid fire, lighting every nerve in your body. It was like nothing you had ever tasted before, sweet and powerful and yet... you wanted more. Much more.

And he gave you exactly that. Before you knew it, he was placing his thumb in your mouth and on top of your tongue before pressing down, holding you there. His breath was on your face, uneven and heavy.

Without thinking, you sucked on his thumb, closing your mouth around it and pulling him closer, your body responding to the need gnawing at your insides. His blood was all you could focus on, it's heat mingling with the hunger that surged through your veins. You pulled him in, your hands gripping his wrist with a desperation you didn’t even recognize.

Rafayel didn’t pull away. Instead, his free hand cupped your cheek with a possessiveness you didn’t expect. His thumb remained in your mouth, guiding you, pulling you closer as the sensation of him, of his touch spiralled through you.

"Fuck.." he mumbled to himself.

His eyes darkened with something you couldn’t quite place, watching you with an intensity that set your skin on fire. You didn’t want to stop. You couldn’t stop. Every fibre of your being screamed for more as your lips bobbed around his thumb.

A singular moan, whether it was from him or you, you didn't know.

But it was enough to make you realise what was happening. 

You jerked back, panic flooding your senses. You hadn’t meant to go this far. You let go of his wrist and his thumb slipped from your mouth with a soft, almost regretful sound. You gasped for air, your lips still tingling with the taste of him, your body aching with something you couldn't quite name. Rafayel didn’t retreat though. His hand slid down to your waist, pulling you back toward him with a steady, unyielding grip. His touch was firm, possessive but gentle as if he were holding you together when you were falling apart. His eyes didn’t leave yours and in them, you saw something darker now.

"That..." Rafayel said softly, his voice almost too casual "is why I can never have a wife... that alone brought me more pleasure than any other woman could" 

His words hit you harder than you expected. You stiffened, shocked by the bluntness, by the rawness of what he’d just said. The casualness with which he spoke of such an intimate moment made you flustered, your cheeks warming. How could he say something like that so easily, so carelessly?

His hand tightened at your waist, fingers curling against the fabric of your clothes. A silent stay. His body loomed over yours, close enough that you could feel the rise and fall of his breath, the steady thrum of his heart. So human. You wanted to pull away, to regain control but your own body was betraying you, pulling you into the moment instead. His proximity felt suffocating. You should have pushed him away, you should have said something.

Instead, your silence gave him permission. His fingers slid up, tracing the line of your jaw before threading into your hair, pulling.

You gasped, the sharp tug sending a thrill down your spine and just like that, your neck was bared to him, your throat exposed in a way that made your instincts scream danger.. and yet, your body refused to move. His lips ghosted over your skin, a slow, deliberate tease. Not a kiss not yet, just a whisper of warmth.

Then, pressure.

His mouth brushed against your pulse point, lips parting just slightly. The warmth of his breath sent a shudder through you. Then, a graze of teeth. Blunt. Human. 

He was toying with you.

His mouth pressed deeper, lingering in a way that would have made your heart quicken. Then a bite. Not enough to break skin, not enough to hurt or leave a mark but enough. Enough to make your breath stutter. There was a dangerous draw to him, a magnetic pull that threatened to drown you in it. His lips moved against your skin again slower this time, deliberate and hungry. Not just kissing but nibbling. Small sharp bites, the kind only a vampire would know how to deliver. The kind meant to unravel, to seduce. His breathing was heavier now, his restraint slipping, his hunger mingling with yours in a way that made your stomach twist.

The second time he deprived you.

The first being in the brothel just 24 hours ago. He had kissed every inch of your face and jaw but avoided your lips at all cost and you wondered why, why? Was that too intimate for him? Did he consider that too vulnerable?

But you.. you had shown him your fangs. The way you kill. That was vulnerability for you but he couldn't share his own? Selfish. Too selfish, depriving you of what you wanted and needed. You shuddered as his eyes lifted to meet yours, dark and intense. The air between you was thick with tension, with need and then, as if some invisible line had been crossed, Rafayel's lips parted just enough to whisper.

"Show me more"

You found yourself leaning in. Unconsciously, desperately, your body reacting to the rush of emotions coursing through you, your mind clouded with desire and the taste of his blood. You were intoxicated by him, by what had just happened between you two. You moved closer hesitantly but you didn’t stop. You wanted to kiss him, needed to kiss him. Your lips hovered near his, breath mingling between you and for the first time, you were the one making the move.

But before you could close the gap, Rafayel pulled back slightly, just enough to deny you, just enough to taunt. His regular smirk curling at the corners of his mouth and his eyes gleamed with amusement. You studied him for a moment before you reached for him again, this time with more urgency. But once again, Rafayel evaded you. What the fuck.

He was enjoying this. You wanted to slap him, you wanted to ruin him... you wanted to taste him. You held his wrist again, your nails pressed into his skin but just as quickly as the moment had escalated, you heard the sound of footsteps approaching. The rhythm of boots against marble echoed through the hallway.

You jerked back, the speed with which you moved nothing short of lightning. The blur of motion left Rafayel blinking, slightly stunned before his gaze followed you, taking in the unnatural speed at which you’d retreated

Before he could speak, a palace guard rounded the corner and his gaze shifted between you both before focusing on Rafayel, eyes respectful but sharp.

"My prince" the guard said with a slight bow "The Queen sent me to find you. You’re late for the council meeting"

Rafayel, still too composed, didn’t spare a glance at you. Instead he straightened, regaining his regal posture in an instant.

"Thank you" he said, his voice calm and composed, betraying none of the intensity from just moments ago "I’ll be there shortly"

The guard nodded and quickly retreated, disappearing down the hallway. You stood still for a moment, the heat of the moment hadn’t disappeared and you could still feel the lingering burn of Rafayel’s touch on your skin. Rafayel however didn’t turn back to look at you as he began walking toward the council chamber. His back was to you now but you could feel the weight of his presence in the air.

The council chamber was far too cold for your liking, the air thick with formality and politics. The long table gleamed under the flickering torchlight, the creak of chairs and the soft rustle of papers filling the room as the advisors spoke in low, business like tones. Rafayel sat at the head of the table, his posture relaxed, almost as if he had not a care in the world. His voice cut through the air, smooth and confident, effortlessly commanding the attention of every person in the room.

But it wasn’t his words that held your focus. It was the memory of his touch, his blood still fresh on your tongue, the heat of the moment still searing beneath your skin. You could feel his presence, even though he was across the room. The way he moved, the subtle glint of amusement in his eyes whenever they flicked toward you, it was all too much.

Your mind kept replaying the way he’d smiled at you, the way his thumb had pressed against your lips, his breath just inches from yours. And now here he was, speaking with his advisors as though nothing had happened between you two. He was calm collected and in control. He looked every bit the prince, the future king and yet somehow the casual way he dismissed their concerns made your stomach twist. He had walked away from you without a second thought, without acknowledging the charge between you two.

But you couldn’t forget it. You couldn’t shake it.

"Rafayel" the Queen’s voice sliced through the silence, drawing your attention back to the matter at hand "Have you given any thought to finding a suitable wife? The kingdom will need a queen soon, especially with all that’s going on"

At the mention of a wife, something inside you clenched. A primal, unexpected feeling burned deep in your chest. Anger, frustration, possessiveness? something you had no name for but it was there, an edge twisting in your gut. The thought of another woman standing at his side, of him having someone else... it made your blood run cold. You didn’t want to think about it. 

But the thought of him with someone else stung in a way you hadn’t anticipated and you didn’t know how to deal with it. Why did it matter? Why did his future wife matter to you?

Rafayel didn’t seem to notice your internal struggle, his gaze never shifted toward you. He kept his eyes trained on the documents in front of him, his hand lazily drawing patterns on the edge of the table as he listened to his advisors. When he finally spoke, it was with the same casual ease as before as though he had no care in the world.

"I’ve thought about it, Mother" he replied smoothly "But a wife is the least of my concerns at the moment"

"Rafayel" the Queen warned, her voice rising just enough to command his full attention "You’re not a child anymore. The people need stability and you’ll need a queen to secure that. You cannot keep putting this off"

Rafayel didn’t flinch. His gaze flicked toward his advisors, then lazily scanned the room. As his voice rang out again, there was the famous subtle smirk on his lips that never quite reached his eyes.

"Perhaps Princess Tara of Linkon might be a good match" he said casually, mentioning the name of a royal from a neighbouring kingdom "But I’m not sure yet. It’s too soon to decide"

The moment he said her name, a violent knot of possessiveness twisted in your stomach, tightening with each word. Princess Tara. Her name alone made something claw at your chest and the rage you didn’t know you had bubbled up, raw and uncontrollable. She was everything you were not, everything you could never be and the idea of her by his side, holding his hand, being crowned as his queen... it shattered something inside you.

You tried to stay calm, tried to steady your breathing but the anger was there, simmering just beneath the surface and it was only getting harder to contain.

"You must take this seriously, son. The kingdom needs a queen and you need a wife" the Queen pressed, her voice cutting through the tension.

He merely nodded, his posture still relaxed, unaffected by his mother’s words. His gaze flicked briefly to you but it was fleeting, just a casual glance before he returned his attention to the documents before him, unaware of the turmoil churning inside you.

"I’ll make my decision when the time comes"

And with that, the conversation moved on, the Queen’s inquiries dismissed with a flick of his hand.

But as the meeting continued, you couldn’t shake the feeling of being consumed by the anger that was burning inside of you. 

You thought of the Silk Street. The brothels. Rafayel had moved through the alleyways with ease, as though he belonged there... because of course, he did. You had come to realise that he loved the danger, the chase. It's why he was there so often, it's why he pleaded to see your fangs and why he had not told everyone of your true nature. Why he had fed you his blood not knowing if you would stop or not. Why he toyed with you.

He liked the thrill of it all.

You couldn't deny that he was a regular in the brothels, that he had spent time in those places more than once. The women there, their laughter, their soft touches, their body language so familiar with him. He had kissed them, touched them, shared intimate moments with them, moments that he hadn't shared with you apart from the one time where he brought himself pleasure right in front of your very own eyes.

You couldn’t escape the image of him in their arms, their voices calling his name, claiming him in ways you hadn’t been able to and somewhere deep within, a dangerous, forbidden thought flickered to life. The sharp instinct of a predator.

What if I could kill them all?

The thought was foreign, unsettling. You immediately tried to push it down but it lingered. What if you wiped away every woman who had ever touched him?

It was an irrational thought, an outburst of jealousy you couldn’t control. But it was there and it burned through you with a fierce intensity. The jealousy clawed at your insides, wrapped around your non-existent heart and it tightened in a way that felt too consuming. 

A sickening knot twisted in your stomach. Those women. They had had him. He had kissed them, touched them, taken them in ways you hadn’t been. You could still hear the sounds of the brothels, the murmurs of voices calling his name. You hated them. You hated the way they had claimed him. You hadn’t even realized how far your thoughts had taken you until your fingers curled into fists by your side. Why did it matter so much?

Rafayel's voice pulled you back from your thoughts, but his words were like a needle to your wound. He was speaking again, just as casually as before mentioning Princess Tara. The jealousy returned and you clenched your jaw so tightly it almost hurt. Another woman. Another fucking woman.

He was due to be king, a man of power and it only made sense that he would have his share of women. But somehow, you couldn’t bear the thought of him with anyone else. 

You tried to focus on the Queen’s words, on the conversation, but it was impossible to ignore the storm building inside of you. You were angry. Angry at Rafayel for being so casual about something that meant so much to you, angry at the world for making him someone who belonged to others. But most of all, you were angry at yourself for caring so much.

But that was the problem, wasn’t it? You did care. You didn’t know when it had happened, when the wall you had built had started to crack, but now there was no turning back. The more you thought about it the more you realised you didn't want to share him. You didn't want him to belong to anyone but you.

As the meeting dragged on so did your thoughts. You tried to convince yourself that it was because you had tasted his blood before the meeting, the heat still lingered in your mouth and the taste of him on your tongue. It was too much. Now you knew, you wanted him. Not just for fleeting moments, you wanted him for yourself. Every piece of him, every inch of his attention you wanted to be the one to stand by his side, to be the one who he chose, the one who could claim him.

You would never be the one he chose. You weren’t fit for that not in his eyes, you had always known that. You had been with him in his life but you were never his and now you were mad with it. Mad with wanting him, mad with the knowledge that no matter how much you longed for him, no matter how deeply you desired him to be yours, it would never happen.

────────

After the council meeting, the air between you and Rafayel had changed, at least from your side.

You tried to convince yourself that it was nothing. Just the aftereffects of tasting his blood, of feeling the heat of the moment lingering but no matter how hard you tried to convince yourself, the pull between you and him had shifted. The possessiveness had taken root and with it, something you couldn’t control.

You became distant and cold. The walls you had built once again crept back into place just like they did after the night you shared in the brothel. You stopped seeking him out. You no longer waited for him in the hallways after meetings or followed him when he sneaked out at night. Your eyes barely met his anymore.

You convinced yourself it was for the best. This was how it should be. After all, he would never see you the way you wanted him to. Plus, he would soon be king and with it he would need a wife. 

He could never be yours. 

Not when his future was filled with other women, with the politics of the kingdom. You would always be nothing more than his bodyguard, a shadow in the background and that was fine you could live with that. But it was getting harder. Every day the ache grew and Rafayel, perceptive as always began to notice.

It was a slight thing at first, his gaze lingering just a fraction longer than usual whenever your eyes met, his voice just a little softer but he said nothing. He just watched and waited but as the days passed, it became too much. It built up like a storm, the tension between you two thick and suffocating and then it exploded. The silence in the chambers was suffocating, broken only by the soft rustle of fabric as you moved. You checked every corner, every shadow, your senses heightened. Alert and vigilant as you always were. It was your duty to protect him after all and yet tonight, your mind refused to focus.

His coronation was tomorrow so his safety was at higher risk now more than ever.

As you moved across the room, you could feel his presence like a shadow, the weight of his gaze on you even though you refused to meet it. He was sitting on his bed, his posture relaxed but his expression unreadable. You had barely spoken to him since that night.

You tried to ignore him. You had to focus. He was a prince and you were his bodyguard, nothing more. But even the thought of it, nothing more, sickened you.

You had no right to feel this way. He had no reason to notice you. The other women, the brothels they were his to claim not you. You were just a monster, just a tool for his protection. You couldn't give him what those other women could, you couldn't give him what any other woman could. You hated yourself for feeling this way.

Your thoughts were impossible  to ignore.

But when Rafayel’s voice cut through the room, pulling you from your thoughts, you nearly jumped. His tone was sharp, frustrated. 

"You’re not saying anything" he said, his voice laced with irritation "You’re too quiet. Why are you so... distant? You've been acting like this for days now what is it?"

You swallowed hard, trying to maintain your composure. You couldn't look at him, couldn't bear to see the questioning look in his eyes. Your pulse quickened with each step he took toward you. He was just a few feet away now. 

"I’m doing my job" you said curtly, your voice cold. Perhaps colder than you intended.

"Your job?" He scoffed, clearly not buying it "You’ve been avoiding me. Avoiding me like I'm some stranger and not your prince. Not your fucking king"

You could hear the hunger in his voice now, the desperation. He was starving for something... answers, maybe? Or just you.

But you couldn't give him the answer he was looking for. You didn’t even know what it was, the words caught in your throat as you turned around to face him.

"I don’t know what you want from me" you whispered, your voice trembling "I’m just your bodyguard. I’m just here to protect you" 

At those words, Rafayel’s expression shifted, his face hardening with a mix of anger and disbelief. He took a step forward, his movements slow. His hand shot out, grabbing your waist in a grip that was almost painfully tight, pulling you flush against him. You gasped, your breath caught in your throat as his presence overwhelmed you.

"This act is pathetic" he told you, gripping you just a little tighter.

"You don’t get to act like this, my prince" you whispered, though your voice quivered under the weight of the emotion you were trying to hide "You don’t get to expect this from me. I’m not some... I’m not your lover. I’m just a tool. A thing. You don’t need to care about how I feel, how I-"

"Stop" he growled, his voice low and dangerous. His free hand gripped your cheeks, squishing your flesh and making your lips pucker "Stop pretending you don’t feel this. Stop pretending you don’t want me, you’ve been lying to yourself for far too long"

You shivered, trembling beneath the weight of his words. Your chest tightened with the realization that you couldn’t keep lying to yourself anymore. You did want him.

"I told you" you said weakly, but even to your own ears, it didn’t sound convincing "I’m just your bodyguard"

"You think I haven’t been thinking about it?"  he asked, his voice dripping with cocky amusement now "That night. You think I haven’t been thinking about the way you tried to kiss me? Twice? You think I didn’t notice? now you act like you’ve never thought about it, like it was nothing"

The words hit you like a physical blow. 

"Because it is nothing" you whispered, but the words felt empty.

"Stop lying to me" he snapped, his voice now filled with authority. The voice of a prince, of a king "It meant something to you. I can see it in your eyes"

"My prince-"

"I haven’t stopped thinking about it. I can’t stop thinking about it. And now, you’re acting like it never happened" He leaned in closer, his fingers unclenching slightly but still holding you close "It matters to me. And it matters to you... I can feel it. I can feel the way you want me. I can feel the way you’ve been pulling away, terrified of what you really feel"

"I... I can’t..." You trembled under his touch, but you still tried to pull away.

"You don’t get to walk away from this, from me" His voice was ragged now, thick with need. He was almost pleading, and it broke something inside you "Say it"

His words were a command and you hated how you felt it in your body, your core. You were hot with need, with desire and you wanted nothing else but the man in front of you. You needed him more than you needed blood to survive.  Your could feel the words stuck in your throat, the truth you were too scared to admit, to confront but he wasn’t letting you hide anymore.

"Say it, tell me" Rafayel commanded once again and you swear your knees buckled slightly under his gaze, his words, his touch "Tell your king how much you need him, how much you desire him..."

You froze, your breath hitching in your throat as a mixture of fear, desire and guilt churned inside you. Fuck you were so turned on you could barely function a thought never mind a sentence.

A man should never have this much power over you.

You could feel it now, the deep, uncontrollable need burning inside of you. You did want him, you had wanted him for so long, but you couldn’t admit it. Not like this.

He pulled you closer, his lips grazing against your ear.

"Say it, and I will make you forget every damn thought you ever had about being nothing but mine"

It broke. It broke inside you like a balloon being popped or a fire being ignited. Everything you denied yourself of melted away and all that mattered was the way he held you, body against his own, arm around your waist keeping you in place while his other hand held your face a centimetre away from his.

"I... I hate it" you whispered, barely audible "I hate it. I hate the thought of any other woman touching you. I hate it. I can’t... I can’t stand it. I want it to be me, it should be me. But I... I'm a monster not a lover. You deserve a heart, you deserve love, you deserve better than this"

He cupped your face in both hands then, gentle and his gaze was nothing you've ever seen before. It was genuine, it was hopeful and it was something you needed to see in this moment. It made you yearn for him more.

No one, in five centuries, had been gentle with you the way Rafayel was.

He had never cuffed you. Never mistreated you or struck you. Never spoke ill about you or laughed at you like the others. Never feared you and never doubted you. He had held you like you were piece of glass, gentle and kind, like you mattered. Like you weren't some blood sucking demon who would rip him apart the second she was given a chance.

He made you human. 

You didn't deserve him.

"Say it" He pleaded, and your lips quivered slightly "Give me permission. I need your permission to act. I need your permission to show you how good I want and can make you feel"

"I... I shouldn’t" The words were weak, empty. You knew it, so did he.

His hands slid lower, trailing down the column of your throat, over your shoulders, down your arms until his fingers ghosted over your waist once more.

"Then tell me to stop" His voice was barely above a whisper, his lips so close, they almost brushed against yours "Tell me to stop and I swear, I will never touch you again"

You squeezed your eyes shut, your entire body trembling beneath his touch. But you didn't tell him to stop, because you didn't want him to.

"Rafayel" you breathed, barely a whisper.

You had never whispered his name before. Never spoke it out loud, always referring to him as my prince. But in this moment, it felt right. It felt like he was just Rafayel, and you weren't a bodyguard nor a vampire, but you.

No rules, no titles. Just two lovers.

"That’s not what I asked for" his lips moving to your jaw, kissing a path down to your neck. His teeth scraped against your skin with pressure, not enough to hurt but enough to ache. 

Your hands tangled in his hair, gripping desperately, trying to ground yourself.

"I need you" you finally whispered, the words tumbling from your lips before you could stop them "I need you, I hate how much I fucking need you"

He lifted his head up, exhaling softly, his breath warm against your lips and it was maddening. But then his lips brushed yours, just the faintest touch, light as air and testing the waters. Your breath hitched, your hands fisting tighter into his hair.

And that was all it took.

Everything around you seemed to vanish. The room, the distant sound of the night outside, even the air itself  it all ceased to exist and there was only him.

His lips slammed into yours before you could even process the shift, the urgency in his kiss pulling you closer as though he wanted to drown in you. It was nothing like the soft, hesitant touches from before. No, this was desperate and hungry, as if he couldn’t wait any longer couldn’t hold back another second.

You gasped into the kiss but it only fuelled him more. His demanding tongue slipped past your lips forcing its way deeper into your mouth with an animalistic rhythm. His hands were everywhere gripping your waist so tightly it was almost painful, pulling you against him until there wasn’t a single inch of space left between you.

Your fingers clawed at his bare chest struggling to find something to hold onto as your world spun out of control. His kiss was messy as if he was trying to consume you, take you in all at once. His lips were bruising, hot and demanding against yours and the way his teeth grazed your lower lip made your heart race faster.

He growled, the sound vibrating through your body. His hands slid up to your neck, his fingers tightening around the delicate skin there as he tilted your head back, forcing your mouth open wider for him. There was no gentleness now. Only a raw and desperate need, hunger that clawed at both of you.

"You’re mine" he muttered between kisses, his voice thick with desire "Say it again. Say you want me"

You couldn’t think, couldn’t process his words through the haze of pleasure and frustration swirling in your mind. You could only feel. Feel the hot press of his chest against yours, feel the way his body moulded against yours, each movement pushing you closer to the edge. It felt like the human part of you had been awakened.

His hand slid down to your hips, gripping the curve of your waist as he pulled you even closer, if that was even possible. His erection pressed against your stomach, hot and demanding, and the sensation sent a bolt of heat straight to your core. You moaned against his mouth, a sound of frustration and want that you couldn’t stop.

He pulled away again, just enough to look into your eyes, his breath ragged and uneven.

His lips were swollen, slick with your kiss and the last thing that held you together in that moment was the string of saliva that was evidence of your greed.

You felt dizzy, drunk on the sensation of him, but the more he kissed you, the more you wanted it. Wanted him.

"You feel that?" His voice was a low rasp, a whispered command "That’s me, doing this to you. You feel your pulse, don’t you? That thumping in your chest. You feel it in your veins... your blood rushing, just like you’re human again"

You wanted to deny it. You wanted to tell him that you didn’t feel any of it, that you were a vampire, untouchable, above all these emotions. But the truth was, you couldn’t. You were trembling in his arms, your body betraying you with every second he touched you. You could feel your heart beating hard in your chest, could feel the heat surging through you like it was alive and yet, you were the monster, weren’t you?

"I'm-" You tried to pull back, to speak, but your words were swallowed by his lips. His kiss deepened once more, almost like he couldn’t get enough of you, couldn’t satisfy this hunger inside him that seemed to grow with every second.

The force of it made you stumble back, hitting the wall of his chambers but Rafayel didn't stop. No, he took it as a sign to push further, his hands grabbing you tighter, holding you so you were pressed against him fully.

"You’re mine" he repeated, voice thick with possession, as if this kiss, this moment, was the only thing that mattered in the world. His hands roamed again, sliding beneath your clothes, the roughness of his touch touching the bare skin of your back, your sides, as if he needed to feel every inch of you "You’ve been mine from the moment I laid eyes on you you just didn’t realize it"

"I want you" you managed to get out, your voice breaking with raw emotion, with a desperation you couldn’t hide anymore "I want you, my prince"

A low growl rumbled from deep in his chest and before you could even brace yourself his lips were back on yours for a fleeting moment, more desperate than ever.

His hands gripped your own hair, tugging your head back as his mouth trailed down the column of your neck, leaving bruises in it's wake. His teeth scraped over your skin, marking you, claiming you and you couldn’t stop the gasps that left your mouth, couldn’t stop the way your body arched into his touch, begging for more.

Your gasp filled the room as Rafayel’s lips trailed lower, leaving a burning path of possession in their wake. His mouth was hot against your skin, the scrape of his teeth against your throat sending another violent tremor down your spine. The wall was cold against your back, a sharp contrast to the heat of his body pressed against yours.

Your hands were desperate. Clawing at his back, his shoulders and gripping the fabric that rested on his waist, you thanked the gods for his regal robes only covering half of his body. You wanted it gone, you wanted nothing between you but before you could move, his hands were already on you, yanking at your clothes with a ferocity that sent heat flooding through your veins.

His fingers trailed down your spine slow and deliberate, igniting every nerve in your body. His touch was fire, and he cursed under his breath as he uncovered more and more of your flesh, the clothes you were once wearing finding themselves on the floor of his chambers. Your top half matched his own, bare and exposed for his eyes to see while your bottom half, the part of you that demanded more attention remained covered.

You shuddered beneath his touch, your hands tangled in his hair and your lips aching from his kisses.

"You have no idea how many nights I’ve thought about this" Rafayel whispered "How many nights I’ve dreamed about you, how many times I’ve woken up cursing myself for wanting something I shouldn’t have"

"You shouldn’t want me" you breathed, but the words were a lie even as they left your lips. You knew it, he knew it and yet the way his hands slid down your sides, the way he pressed his body flush against yours, made it clear that he didn’t care.

"But I do" he growled, his lips were continuous on your neck and you gasped at the sensation, at the way your body betrayed every ounce of logic you had left "And I’m done pretending otherwise"

He kissed you again, slow this time and more deliberate. He wanted you to feel him, to understand just how deep this went. His tongue traced the seam of your lips, coaxing them open and you let him in without hesitation. The taste of him was intoxicating. 

He made a low sound in the back of his throat before his hands slid lower, gripping the back of your thighs. In one swift movement he lifted you, pressing you harder against the wall, caging you in completely.

You gasped, your arms wrapping around his neck as your legs instinctively locked around his waist. You could feel everything now, every inch of him pressed against you, every sharp inhale, every tremor that ran through his muscles as he held you like you weighed nothing at all.

His breath was still ragged, his forehead resting against yours as he held you there.

"I want..." he began, and you watched him carefully "Drink from me"

Your fingers twitched, grip tightening around him as a wave of hunger clawed at your insides and the taste of him lingered in your memory. You had tasted him once before, just a drop, just enough to know that nothing compared to him and gods, you wanted it again.

But you shook your head, unwrapping your arms and pressing your hands flat against his chest.

"No" you said, even though your body screamed at you to say something else entirely "I don't want to"

His hands slid to your waist once again, fingers pressing into your skin, firm but not demanding. He could feel your hesitation, could see it in the way your lips parted slightly and in the way your breath came faster, in the way your pupils dilated as your instincts fought against your will.

"Liar..." he murmured. A small, knowing smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.

You clenched your jaw as he pecked your lips with his own, the smirk not leaving his face. Your nipples grew hard from the cold air and he could feel it against his chest as he held you tighter. You needed to get out of this room, away from the scent of him and away from the temptation burning it's way through your veins.

But then he tilted his head, exposing the side of his throat to you. Inviting you.

Your fangs ached.

"My prince..."

"I remember" Rafayel interrupted, his voice low and teasing "I remember how you looked when you tasted me"

Your breath caught in your throat.

"You looked drunk on it" His hands slid up your arms "Like it was the best thing you’d ever had. Like you wanted more"

You did. You did want more. But you couldn’t.

"You don’t understand" you whispered trying to ignore how close he was, how warm his skin felt beneath your touch "It’s not just... it’s not just feeding, Rafayel. It’s—"

"I do understand" he cut you off, his voice dark and hypnotic "And I don’t care"

Before you could even catch your breath he was walking, his body pressing you tight against his chest, each step slow and purposeful. You knew where he was taking you and you didn’t stop him. Your arms wrapped around his neck when he moved you from the wall, fingers curling into his hair your lips so close to his, his breath hot against your mouth.

"Stop..." you whispered, but it sounded weak even to your own ears.

"You need me" he whispered in return, voice like velvet as he lowered you onto the bed, your back sinking into the softness beneath you. Your breath shuddered out of you as his fingers tipped your chin up, forcing you to meet his gaze "Are you afraid?"

"I’m afraid of hurting you" you admitted. A low chuckle rumbled in his throat, his breath warm against your skin.

"But you still want it, don’t you?" His scent wrapped around you and you were now hyperaware of everything. How you could practically hear the way his blood was pumping through his veins.

You shouldn't.

You shouldn’t.

Your fingers curled against his shoulders, your breath shaking as you hovered over his throat, every inch of your body pulled taut with the ache of resisting him. Your fangs throbbed with need, your mouth parted, hovering just close enough for him to feel it.

And still, Rafayel didn’t move away.

You swallowed hard, your lips brushing the column of his throat as you forced yourself to stay still.

"I…"

"I remember how you looked that night" he whispered, kissing you gently on your neck while he bared his for you "You were starving for it..."

"Rafayel-"

"You moaned for me" He interrupted, his voice was seduction and you couldn't help but pull him further down with your legs "If only you knew how good it felt, to watch you take from me..."

You trembled and his grip tightened.

"You don’t understand" you rasped, your voice trembling "If I do this, I might not be able to stop"

You were surprised to feel the way he shuddered against you from your words. 

"Then don’t" he told you, chuckling against your neck before giving a small bite of his own "I want this, and I want you. All of you. Every dark and twisted monstrous part of you I want to feel what it’s like when you stop holding back"

No one had ever spoken those words to you before and for the first time in your whole monstrous life you felt seen. You felt like you mattered, like you being a vampire, a monster didn't matter at all and that this was the only place where you wouldn't be judged or feared.

Before you could deny him again he lifted his head up, staring into your eyes before giving you a kiss on the tip of your nose. Too endearing, too intimate..

Somehow the soft way that he was looking at you felt more intimate than the way your top half was completely bare underneath him.

"I meant it when I said I hadn't stopped thinking about it.. about you" he told you, eyes not leaving yours and deep down you so desperately wanted him to just shut up and kiss you until the night ended "You think I wasn’t dying to feel it again? That I haven’t imagined what you’d look like on top of me, taking what you need—"

His sentence trailed off as you flipped your body around, causing his back to hit the bed where you once lay. You were growing frustrated now, you needed him everywhere and he wasn't giving it to you. His words were affecting you too much and all this talk about feeding from him made your fangs ache.

He was beneath you now and he could see the way you hid the sharp canines away from him, desperate to hide your need so he wouldn't continue to offer himself to you this way. It's not that you didn't want it, because gods you most definitely did, but from the small taste of him you remember having he was exquisite... you've never tasted anything so rich before.

Your thighs clenched around him involuntarily, your hands pressing against his chest as you hovered over him. His heart was pounding in his chest for you. There wasn't any fear, it was just want and devotion.

He tilted his head just enough to bare his throat to you once more and his pulse jumped, you grew more tempted as the seconds flew past... his skin looked so inviting.

"You should be afraid" you whispered, almost desperate to hear the tremor of fear in his voice and to find a reason to stop.

But he just smiled.

"Afraid?" His voice was teasing as he traced his hands up your sides in a slow and worshipful pace "Of you?"

He shifted just right beneath you, pressing himself against your core which was enough to pull a strangled moan from your lips. You could feel him, he was rock hard against you but he wasn’t demanding. Instead he was giving, practically offering himself up like he was made for you to take.

Your breath hitched.

"If I’m afraid of anything…" he continued, his fingers trailing up your spine "It’s that you’ll deny me"

A growl ripped from your throat that was low and dangerous and Rafayel actually moaned... like he had been waiting for that exact sound. You grabbed his hands from your body before pinning them above his head, denying him of touching your bare skin. Your breasts grazed his chest and he bit his lip at the feeling, enjoying the way he was slowly pushing your limits. His fingers flexed in your hold, testing you almost but he thankfully wasn't fighting you.

"Stop talking" you warned, because if he kept speaking like that you wouldn’t be able to stop yourself.

But Rafayel only exhaled a breathy, shuddering laugh.

"Then give me what I want" he replied, eyes glancing from yours to your lips, your fangs now fully on display the more frustrated you got. Gods you were beautiful.

He shifted beneath you again, grinding his hips up into yours and your eyes closed for a moment as he rubbed you in the right place. Your grip had loosened thanks to his movements and he made the most of it, trailing his fingers softly up your arm before reaching your jaw and grazing his thumb against your bottom lip like he had done a few nights ago when you first tasted his blood.

When he spoke again, you felt whatever control you had left slip from your fingers, announcing him as the winner.

"Obey your King.."

The words were sharp and possessive, more possessive than he had been all night and it was truly the last string that snapped inside you. His tone wasn't an invitation, it was a command and you had no choice but to surrender. Your body was already his, you just needed to let the final part of yourself go.

The hunger inside you flared like a fire, and you didn't fight it. You released his hands and shifted your mouth above his throat again, feeling the heat of his body and the inviting sound of his pulse screaming at you and that was all it took before you finally sank your fangs into him.

You felt the familiar rush at first, the thick blood latching onto your canines before spreading in your mouth and you groaned at the taste. It was everything you remembered but better, sweeter than anything you have ever tasted and more intoxicating that ever. It was rich, definitely the blood of a prince and you felt utterly euphoric.

Rafayel tensed beneath you and it was the first time that he was quiet since this whole ordeal. His body however fought against his silence, hands flying to your waist and gripping the skin there as you drank. He let out a shuddering breath, his chest rising and falling faster with every pull of your mouth.

He was still, not moving an inch or making a sound and you were worried that maybe you had scared him, maybe that he finally realised what he was getting himself into as you lay on top of him tasting him.

But you couldn't stop.

Your grip tightened on his arms, pushing your face deeper into his neck and your fangs further into his skin. The blood on your tongue was consuming every part of your mind and you never wanted to stop, you wanted to suck him dry.

As quick as the thought entered your mind you pulled away with a gasp, meeting his gaze and he watched as a drop of his blood fell from your lip and onto his chest. You swallowed, wondering if you had took it a step too far when he didn't move but his eyes burned into yours, an animalistic look as his chest continued to heave.

He was enjoying it.

"Such a good girl..." he whispered and fuck you felt the praise run through your body "Take what you need.. I'm yours as much as you're mine"

Before you could pull away he shifted again, his hips pressing up into you firmly and his clothed cock rubbed perfectly against your clit and gripped him even tighter. 

"Fuck-"

"Mm you feel so fucking good" he groaned. His whole body was screaming at him to flip you back over, take control and take what was his but fuck he wanted to feel you this way for a little while.

He pulled his knees up and trapped your body in place, making sure you stayed just above where he was throbbing with need.

He didn't need to say much more. With the way he was looking at you combined with how his body was responding on top of the taste of his blood you couldn't form any thoughts that weren't filled with him. 

And with that, you sank your fangs back into his skin.

His back arched beneath you and when he grounded into you this time, it was reckless. The feeling of it was something you've never experience before and feeling his body tremble below you as he gave into his own pleasure drove you insane. 

A minute passed before you were pulling away from him again, mouth still tingling from the blood and his neck was stained red. The pleasure was too much, too overwhelming but you couldn't find it in you to stop. You felt alive and everything felt just right...

Your fingers curled into the sheets beside his head as your chest rose and fell quickly while he groaned and moaned beneath you. Every little movement you made was intense and you felt like someone was in control of your hips from the way they moved.

But just as the haze began you were suddenly shifted. Rafayel moving quickly before you found yourself below him again and you didn't have time to adjust before his lips were diving onto yours again, tongue swirling in your mouth mixing blood and saliva together.

You felt the weight of him on top of you, his body warm and the heat between your legs only rose and ached with pure need. With his chest pressed tightly against yours and his covered cock rubbing against your clit you realised just how much of him you craved. 

The kiss deepened, each press of his lips against yours sending a shockwave of heat through your body. His hands moved all over you as if he was memorizing and admiring everything about you, like you were painting and he was the artist.

His eyes found yours and for a brief second you could feel nothing but the weight of his gaze. He didn't move for a moment, just hovered over you while his lips parted with a quiet needy sound.

"You're perfect.." he murmured and you felt embarrassed under his eyes "Every part of you. Gods I want to feel you like this forever"

His hands slid down your sides and you could have sworn he did it in a way that was worshipping. His fingertips traced every curve of you, over the goosebumps on your breasts before pinching your nipples gently. You could feel him losing control second by second as he grinded his hips down into yours, his arousal pressing into you.

"How good does it feel, hm?" his voice dropped to a commanding whisper, his lips trailing along your neck and brushing over where your pulse once was "Tell me you feel it too"

His hips shifted again pressing against you just right. It sent a wave through your body and you couldn't help but whimper at the feeling before pulling him closer, needing more.

"Yes.." you gasped, surprised at yourself for answering. Your hips lifted, seeking more friction and more of him "I feel it.. so much.."

Rafayel groaned as he buried his face in your neck, his teeth grazing your skin as yours once did his. His hands had moved further down your body to grip your thighs tightly, pulling your legs further around his waist which only forced you deeper into his warmth.

"You're so fucking beautiful like this... so perfect for me" he whispered, his praise sounding more like a prayer "I want to ruin you"

The small and possessive growl that escaped him made you shiver. You couldn't help yourself anymore, you couldn't deal with the teasing and as much as you wanted to savour this moment you wanted him more. The need to have him inside you was too powerful and your body cried out.

"I want this" you sighed, looking up at him "I want you, I need you-Fuck 'm so empty"

Your body was on fire now. Every inch of you ached to be touched, to feel him pressed against you, to finally give in completely.

His mouth found yours again with a hungry kiss before he began peeling the reminder of your clothes off. It was his turn to feel impatient now, hearing you so desperate for his touch for him, complaining that you felt empty fuck he'd make sure you never felt like that again. He'd make sure to stuff you so full..

It was his turn and before you knew it he was bare above you and the feeling of his bare erection against your thigh had you gasping out loud. You remembered the way he had pleasured himself in front of you in that brothel, the way he moved and pleaded for his release you couldn't help but reach forward and grab the throbbing length.

He whimpered at the feeling of your hand gripping him, his own hand guiding your wrist up and down in a steady pace before his tip was rubbing between your folds as your breaths mixed together.

"You feel so good" He groaned, his voice was a strained whisper against your ear when his head dropped to your neck. He pressed against your skin as if he couldn't get enough of you "So soft.. I could drown in you"

"I've never.. Rafayel I don't-"

"It's okay.. just trust me" He knew what you were trying to say, and your lips parted when you felt him push inside where you needed him most "Just the-fuck just the tip baby"

He was trembling above you and you weren't acting much better. The tip of him rested inside you, your hand still gripping his cock tightly while your other arm snaked around his neck, holding him closer to you. He moved his hips gently, the tip of his length sliding in and out as you adjusted to him.

You could only close your eyes in bliss and tilt your head back into the pillow as the tip of his cock felt so delicious inside you. He stretched you out so perfectly and you could feel your canines growing once more due to the pleasure.

Every so often he'd pull out, rub his cock up and down your folds spreading your arousal and focussing extra on your clit and you've never felt a more euphoric feeling. Even blood couldn't bring you this much pleasure.

For a while he pushed in and out of you, just his tip only while telling you how good you were for him. There were a few extra claims in there, him reminding you that you belonged to him and you wanted nothing more than to tell him that he was yours too.

But then you were startled slightly when he slid further in you without warning.

"Ah-" both your arms were now wrapped around his neck and he groaned as he slid all the way inside you, the feeling of your walls clenching around him caused him to twitch and you whined in pain. 

"Fuck-Fuck I'm sorry you just feel so good... I can't help myself" his words were rushed as he rested his forehead against yours, staying still inside you for a moment "Fuck, you’re so tight"

The pain of him suddenly sliding in was very much there but his words soothed you and you knew you would have had to face it inevitably so you kissed him again with urgency, as if he'd float away from you if you let him go.

But he wasn't going anywhere, not with how snug he fit inside you and how well your walls accommodated him. He swore he had never fit so perfectly in anyone before, any woman and not even his palm felt this perfect. 

You were his, and there was no way he'd be letting you go after this.

When he finally moved you found yourself biting his lip at the stretch, resulting in a growl from him. He couldn't do anything other than pull out before pushing himself back inside you, slow and steady but you felt every pull and push shatter your body. 

He moved quicker as the seconds passed by, his hips surging against your own and you began to lose your breath. Every thrust was possessive, every time his hips met yours again it was a claim, it was a warning that you belonged to him and him only. Your lips broke apart and his eyes never left yours, watching carefully at how you responded to the way his thrusts gained speed and how you arched into him.

"No one else will ever hear the sounds you make... no one else will ever see you like this" he told you, and he felt his heart skip when he saw the brief smile on your face at his words "You’re mine. You hear me? Mine"

You could only kiss him again, your lips melding together as his hips were practically pushing you further and further up the bed. The pain had long melted away and all you could focus on was the way he was so perfectly sliding in and out of you, the lewd sounds filling his chambers and blending with his groans and your whimpers.

If anyone was to walk past his door, they'd know what was happening.

Your legs were around his waist, arms wrapped around his neck as he kissed you more eagerly. Your chests were together and it felt so intimate, your breasts squished against his firm chest and your stomachs grazing every now and then as his thrusts continued. You had a fleeting thought of pressing your hand to your stomach to see if you could feel him there..

He was yours. In this moment, in these chambers he was all yours for the taking and the thought made you claw at his skin.

There was an unfamiliar feeling setting in your stomach and you pulled away from his lips with a concerned face, his eyes watching you carefully as his thrusts slowed.

He figured it out immediately, and with a smile he picked up his pace again, his hips truly slamming into you and you could do nothing but take it. Take it, take it, take it...

"You feel it don't you? You're going cum.." clearly all his restraint was gone by now, because he was moving so quickly in and out of you it was difficult to understand how he kept up the pace when you were losing all control over your body "I feel you trembling. Don't-hm don't fight it"

"Oh..Rafayel-"

"So fucking perfect" he told you and you gripped the sheets tightly "I can feel you, squeezing me so tight like you don’t wanna let me go. You don’t, do you? You wanna keep me buried inside this perfect, greedy little cunt forever"

His voice broke into a whimper as he ground against you, forcing himself even deeper. He needed to be deeper, he needed to be so far inside you that not even the gods could pull him away.

His rhythm was ruined now, his thrusts were desperate and erratic and his hands were gripping you so tightly you wished you didn't heal quickly so everyone outside these walls could see the bruises he made... see the way he claimed you, you wished that you could wear proof of this moment and of him.

His fingers found your clit, rubbing it quickly and franticly as his cock twitched inside you.

"Cum for me" his voice was desperate now, he was practically whining "Please, baby-fuck look at me"

The moment your eyes fluttered open and locked onto his you felt your whole body shatter under his gaze and his words. The feeling of him inside you, the way he was looking at you and calling you his and his relentless finger on your clit you swore you felt like you were starting to float.

The pleasure was too overwhelming for you that when you came you made no sound, your last moan stretching out into silence as your mouth fell open, feeling your walls tighten around his cock as he pushed in you and pulled out at a speed that had your breasts bouncing but you kept your eyes on him.

He was like a siren, calling you to him and putting you under a spell that you could never escape.

"Fuck" his grip on you tightened as he felt you cum, your body flush against him and his hips stuttered for a moment as he gazed down at you "That's it.. that's it baby just like that"

He rode out your high, finishing you with the same pace but it was only when he felt his own release he did as he pleased. His hands gripped your thighs and pinned them to the bed, your legs spread wide as you whined at the overstimulation but it only fuelled him more. Your legs pinned on the bed gave him the perfect angle and you could feel every inch of him.

He leant back and stared down at where you were connected and only bit his lip at the sight of you pushing on his stomach, pleading that you were overstimulated but he needed this... he needed this release.

"Rafayel.." you whimpered and he looked at your face, slowing down his pace and panting thinking he hurt you. But he watched as you bit your lip, lazily looking down at his cock inside you before your own fingers circled your clit "Will.. will you fill me up, my prince?"

Rafayel broke. The second the words left your lips, the last of his resolve shattered.

His entire body jerked and a strangled wrecked moan tearing from his throat as his hands tightened around your thighs, keeping them pinned wide open beneath him. He needed to see you like this, needed to see how you stretched around him, how you took him and how you begged for him like he was the only thing you could think about.

"Oh, fuck—" His head tipped back for a moment, eyes squeezed shut as if the very thought of filling you was too much for him to handle. But then he looked down at you again and fuck he was gone "Say it again"

His voice was nothing but a wrecked whisper, his rhythm turning deep and deliberate. His cock dragged against your walls perfectly, making sure you felt every last inch of him. Your back arched.

"Rafayel—"

His hand shot out, gripping your jaw, forcing your gaze back on him. 

"No. Say it. Say exactly what you just said to me, or I swear I won’t let you cum again" His words were a threat but his body betrayed him. He was trembling, holding on by a thread.

You felt powerful.

A lazy, teasing smile spread across your lips as you let your fingers circle your clit again, the sensation making you whimper softly sweetly just to watch the way his jaw clenched, the way his hips jerked against yours. You dragged your eyes slowly down his heaving chest, his toned stomach, the muscles flexing with every desperate thrust he gave you.

And then you locked eyes with him again, completely wrecked and ruined beneath him.

"Fill me up, my king"

Rafayel let out a choked, broken groan, his hips snapping forward hard enough to make you jolt up the bed.

"Fuck...fuck, I’m going to—"

He folded over you, his arms caging you in as he buried himself to the hilt, grinding in deep, deeper, deeper as if he could spill every last drop of himself inside you and still, it wouldn’t be enough. His release tore through him and he let out another ruined moan, his forehead falling to yours. 

"That’s it.. that’s my good fucking girl fuck, take all of it" his voice broke as he ground himself deeper, spilling inside you. His hands fisted the sheets as he collapsed onto you, still shaking, still gasping and caging you in like he was terrified you'd slip away.

He hated how he was too caught up in his own pleasure to see you finishing again but at least you were still here. His cum stained your insides, your walls were so tight around him there was no way he'd be pulling out of you anytime soon. His cock was softening now but he stayed still inside you, twitching against your body as his sweat dripped down onto you.

It was then when you smelt the blood again, and once again your eyes opened lazily to see that his neck was still dripping from where your fangs had been and you only started to notice how pale he was.

He was more tired than you, given that he was human, so you rolled him over with a gasp as his softened cock rested inside you. You didn't think twice, gently running your tongue over his wound, cleaning him and ridding the evidence of what you had done.

You had taken so much from him.

He could do nothing but enjoy the feeling of your tongue against him. His breath caught and there was a low, almost inaudible sound of pleasure as you tended to him and you could feel the way his hands weakly gripped your thighs, his touch still desperate in the aftermath of everything. He didn't question what you were doing, in fact he didn't even care if you were draining what remained of him. He really didn't, not when your naked body rested so comfortably on top of his while your cunt warmed his cock. So he laid there, eyes closed and enjoying the feeling.

After a few moments you were done, pulling your mouth away from his skin to see the now closed holes. There was a mark that would clear up in a few days, but for now the bleeding had stopped, and he needed rest.

You sighed after admiring your work, the tension in your chest slowly melting away as you lifted your gaze to his face, only to find him already watching you. 

He spoke about you being beautiful, but gods had he seen himself?

His lids were heavy and his eyes soft, so tender that your breath hitched in your throat. You had never seen him so.. relaxed. Then, he smiled and you couldn't understand how he could look at you like that. How was it possible for someone to look at you like that?

To admire you so openly, to touch you so gently even after seeing the parts of yourself that made you a monster?

With a sigh you shifted, laying your head on his chest, the rise and fall of his breathing rocking you into a gentle comfort. His hands found your back, gently running up and down your spine as though he were offering comfort in his own way.

You weren't sure how long passed, but you stayed where you were and his cock had already slipped out from you and you once again felt empty. The feeling of his seed spilling out of you was uncomfortable and you wanted to clean yourself up but you were terrified that if you moved he'd realised what happened and kick you out.

As if he hadn't been the one to seduce you. 

"You're still here..." Rafayel’s voice broke the silence, low and raspy as if he had just woken up from a deep sleep. You tilted your head up to look at him, your face close enough to feel the warmth radiating from his skin. 

"I am" was all that you could mumble.

His fingers slid through your hair, gathering a few strands between his fingertips and he leaned forward just enough to kiss the top of your head, as if to reassure you that you were still wanted, still needed here.

"Don’t go anywhere" he whispered, his voice rough but filled with quiet intent.

His words lingered and you could do nothing but nod your head, admiring him. He kissed you on your lips again, gently and not desperate, as if he knew now that you weren't going anywhere.

His coronation was tomorrow, he would be king, you had no idea what would change between you but for now you enjoyed being held. For now, you enjoyed not feeling like a monster.

It wasn't until hours later in the crack of dawn when the first light of morning began to creep in through the windows that you were ripped from his arms.

[letjungk09k]

MAIN MASTERLIST! ⟡˙⋆.

✧.* 23; she/her. i main rafayel and sylus (with a caleb sneaky link..) i mainly write love and deepspace. not taking commissions/rec's currently but might do in the future.

✧.* all my works can be found here on Tumblr, or on my Ao3. minors please do not interact with my posts! they are all nsfw. hope you enjoy reading <3

↳ ao3! ˗ˏˋ letjungk09k ˎˊ˗

↳ twitter! ˗ˏˋ letjungk09k ˎˊ˗

↳ credit for all dividers used in my fics goes to @cafekitsune! <3

✧.*

── Rafayel

✧.* .ᐟ Fang and Flame ⤑ Prince!Rafayel x Vampire/Bodyguard!Reader ⤑ wc. 30k ⤑ explicit sexual content, mdni. fantasy au, rafayel is in his god of tides outfit!! sexual tension, male masturbation, blood drinking, praise kink, includes a brothel, forced orgasm, p in v sex, vampire biting, possessive rafayel, drug use, human/vampire relationship, semi-public sex, rough sex.

✧.*

── Sylus

✧.* .ᐟ My Knight ⤑ Knight!Sylus x Princess!Reader ⤑ wc. 16k ⤑ explicit sexual content, mdni. royalty au, brat!reader x brat tamer!sylus, loss of virginity, strip tease, female masturbation, forced orgasm, cock warming, knight x princess relationship, dirty talk/thoughts, praise kink, size kink, size difference, p in v sex, tongue sucking, bit of an open ending!

✧.*

✧.* .ᐟ Forgive me, kitten? ⤑ Sylus x Reader ⤑ wc. 6k ⤑ explicit sexual content, mdni. pwp, fwb situation, light dom/sub, p in v sex, seduction, clothed sex, praise kink, dirty talk, rough sex, size difference/kink, belly bulge, unspoken feelings.

✧.*

── Caleb

✧.* .ᐟ Once in a Lifetime ⤑ Caleb x Reader ⤑ wc. 13k ⤑ explicit sexual content, mdni. spoilers to chapter 4 of LADS, descriptions of ptsd/trauma, mentions of childhood experiments, mentions of death, heavy angst, hurt with comfort, p in v sex, soft sex, oral sex (fem receiving), praise kink, dirty talk

[letjungk09k]

WIND BREAKER | suou h.

──────── ⵌ PATTERNS ...

──────── ⵌ EARRING STYLE ...

──────── ⵌ HEART STYLE ...

( requested by → @suosteacup )

ahhhhhh, my first time making a character-inspired set ! thank you, Kisa for dropping the request. :’)))

I have a few more Wind Breaker sets that I wanna share with you all in the next little bit ( I’m behind on the manga, no one spoil me 🙇‍♀️ ! ), but for now, please have a lil Suou 🤍🥀

please like, reblog, and credit if you use :)

support me through ko-fi | more dividers →

[letjungk09k]

fanfiction isn’t enough, I need to chew on him

[letjungk09k]

Who would’ve guessed our colonel is a memelord

[letjungk09k]

literally fighting for my life rn