Xion was stirred from slumber by a trail of soft kisses. Featherlight touches scattered across his cheek, his jaw, and finally the vulnerable nape of his neck.
Raven-black lashes fluttered open like a butterfly shaking off dew in the early morning.
Once, twice, and finally the blurriness of the sleep that clung to his vision evaporated. He subconsciously moved his body only to hiss a sharp ache pulsing up his spine.
With his delicate brows furrowed, he groggily stared around. The blue curtains were still draped over the windows, allowing the room to remain shrouded in darkness.
Only the orange light that flickered in the crystal lamp allowed Xion the privilege to see.
"Awake, sweetheart?"
A low whisper stroked against his ear, startling poor Xion so much that he jolted up. Just one attempt to raise his leg in defense rewarded him with a stinging ache thrumming between his legs.
He could feel the warm breath fanning the back of his neck.
The Archduke didn’t turn him around. Rather Darius climbed over Xion to lie on his side, finally meeting his baby’s sleepy, scrunched-up expression.
Without asking, he reached out and cupped Xion’s cheek. Mana pulsed beneath his fingertips as it seeped into the sore healer.
Feeling a wave of warmth spreading in his limbs, a sigh escaped Xion’s bitten lips.
"I didn’t want to disturb your rest," Darius murmured softly, "but you’ve slept through the entire morning."
Xion scoffed through his nose. His blue eyes glared at the demon in human’s clothing. "Oh, I wonder why?" His voice was dry and raspy, like sand rubbing on a sheet.
The sarcasm in his hoarse words was as naked as his body hidden under the duvet.
He expected Darius to give some sort of reaction to his words, and indeed he got one. However, it wasn’t the guilt or regret, or even the slightest hint of shame that shone in those green gems.
With his lips curved into that infuriatingly sexy smirk, Darius looked utterly proud.
"Yes, it was me." The Archduke grinned so wide his mouth nearly split in two.
Xion, "..." Shameless!
He simply shut his eyes back. With the way he was, he didn’t have an ounce of energy to beat someone up.
Gathering all his energy, he curled his fingers over the duvet and pulled it over his head as if he could hide from the world, or from the vivid memories of the morning.
Those obscene memories of how Darius had swallowed him like some starved beast. And worse yet, he had begged for it.
"Xion?" came the amused call.
There was no response from the kitten hiding under the cover of sheets.
Darius couldn’t stop the chuckle that spilled from his lips. He was both amused and riled up.
His baby is so, so cute.
"Is this how you plan to scold me? By becoming a lump?"
But he couldn’t resist. Of course, he couldn’t.
He sneakily pushed his hand under the duvet and let his fingers trail along Xion’s bare skin.
His lips tugged in a smirk when he heard Xion sucking in a breath as his cold fingertips met the flushed heat of his thigh before the touch went up to the dip of his waist.
Darius didn’t expose Xion to the light, rather he himself wiggled inside.
"You’re still naked?" Darius mused with fake innocence as if he wasn’t the one who had let Xion sleep without clothes.
His green eyes were dark, heat swelling within them as he peered under the blanket at the mess he had made.
Xion’s body was littered with red marks, both from kissing and biting, and all were unmistakably his doing.
"I did all that, Xion. All of this," he said with pride as his fingers brushed over the finger marks on the thin waist.
His words were enough to make Xion’s milky face turn pink. He peered at his lover who seemed satisfied with his ragdoll-like situation.
Sure enough, the look in those green eyes as they swept over his marked body had changed.
It made the poor baby press his legs together only to wince. A big palm fell on his waist, pressing with a slight force that was perfect for his numb body to feel alive and not like a broken puppet.
"Sore?"
Xion stared at him through half-lidded eyes, staring at the handsome face so close to him. He was trying to understand why fate had cursed him with a lover this attractive.
No one needed to be this handsome and have a voice like that.
One of those was enough to seduce him. But both?
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