#090

“……What?”

For a moment, his words didn’t register, and he asked again, but Cullen quickly shut his mouth. Despite his expressionless face, his nape slowly began to blush faintly. He wondered if what he heard was a hallucination.

Kiyen stared intently at his reddening nape. With his gaze fixed, he firmly supported Cullen and headed towards the bathroom. It felt like he was preventing him from escaping. Only after entering the bathroom did Cullen regain his senses.

“You don’t have to… do this.”

It was an unexpected action. Kiyen had never personally done something for him without any particular reason. He had washed him before, but that was when he was lost in Rodiak.

Combined with Kiyen’s words earlier, Cullen stammered uncharacteristically. His insides felt hot. Making eye contact was unbearably embarrassing.

“Aren’t you acting as you please?”

He hadn’t really done so, but Kiyen’s tone was softer than in the past few days, so Cullen didn’t deny it. However, he couldn’t possibly let Kiyen wash him like this.

“The water will be dirty. I’ll request fresh water myself……”

Before he could finish speaking, Kiyen lowered him into the bathtub. He was carefully placed in the warm water, and Kiyen sat beside him. The crooked smile was still on his face.

“You tend to sleep a lot after crying. I changed the water while you were asleep.”

The word “crying” made his skin burn. He hadn’t cried while sane, but it was irresistible to cry when receiving Kiyen’s.

Feeling more embarrassed than ever in his life, Cullen lowered his gaze. Then, his body, covered in bite marks, came into view. Is this what it felt like to have nowhere to look?

“Then, I… will wash you, Kiyen, sir.”

Cullen managed to protest. However, Kiyen didn’t budge.

“I already washed you.”

His hands approached Cullen, who had his last words snatched away. White, long fingers lightly moistened Cullen’s lips with hot water.

Kiyen barely touched the injured areas. Because of that, he couldn’t even kiss him as he always did when they mixed bodies, so Cullen unconsciously raised his eyes. His golden gaze was fixed on him.

There was silence between them. His body trembled slightly from the tension of his fingers touching him. Kiyen caressed his lips for a long time, then slowly moved his hand downwards.

Warm water began to be gently poured. Over his nape, where his fangs had sharply dug in, leaving bite marks, over his bruised collarbone, over his chest that had been bitten and licked all night…

“Hng, ugh.”

The moment his fingers touched his red, plump, swollen nipple, a tingling sensation rose, and a small moan escaped. The low, broken moan echoed particularly loudly in the bathroom. He quickly shut his mouth tightly. Kiyen, who had been silently pouring water, paused at the sound of the moan.

His descending hand stopped at his chest. His large hand gently yet firmly gripped his chest, which was scarred white in places.

Cullen held his breath. He found it unbearable to have his chest held so bare. Even after leaking so much, arousal began to build again, so Cullen quickly said.

“I, haa, will wash. It’s enough, stop……”

As before, Kiyen paid no attention. Sitting elegantly in the bathtub, he merely moved his hands, as if persistently observing Cullen’s reaction.

His nipples protruded between the fingers gripping his chest tightly. He felt Kiyen’s gaze fixed upon them. The moment he felt something was about to happen, his lower abdomen hardened.

And his premonition was not wrong.

Kiyen leaned his upper body forward. His long golden hair, which never got dirty, slid into the water. Through the hot air rising like a haze, a clear floral scent spread. Even though it was a scent far from arousal, Cullen inhaled and froze.

Kiyen, who had moved closer, parted his pink lips and took his nipple, which was redder than the color of his own lips.

“Ah……!”

Even though he was just bitten on the nipple, a shiver ran through him. He became instantly aroused, not knowing what to do. He even had the shameful thought that his other, unstimulated nipple felt empty. As if noticing this, Kiyen’s other hand reached for his chest. The soft fingertips began to gently rub and twist his nipple.

“Ah, ugh, Kiyen…… hng, sir, now, don’t, do…… Ah, ah!”

Through the area he thought he couldn’t feel anymore because it was so sore, Cullen became indescribably aroused. The power of Rodiak had clearly faded, but his insides churned as if embers had reignited. The water in the bathtub sloshed and overflowed.

This is strange. Had he ever done something like this while sane?

Since his encounters with Kiyen were his first for everything, this was naturally his first time too. That fact made Cullen doubly aroused. Kiyen had never desired him when he was sane. That began to bring back the illusions he had put aside.

“Ugh, nng, ah, ah!”

Isn’t it that Kiyen… doesn’t hate me?

“Stop, st, stop, going, going to, kk, hng, ugh, stooooop……!”

As that thought crossed his mind, white fire erupted before his eyes. The tongue that had been gently licking his nipples withdrew, and the moment sharp teeth bit down on the small, plump flesh, Cullen reacted.

The mental stimulation was stronger. It was because he had liked the sweetness of the delusion that Kiyen might perhaps cherish him.

His erection throbbed intensely. Though it trembled without anything coming out, having expelled fluid all night, it was clearly the climax. Panting, he held tightly onto the firm arm as Kiyen slowly parted his lips. The eyes looking up from below were different from usual. Blue simmered gently.

As Kiyen looked down at his disheveled face, he spoke.

“You’re sensitive.”

The tone of his voice was so low that Cullen, after panting for a while, could barely reply.

“……It’s not……like that.”

To be precise, he didn’t know himself. No one other than Kiyen had ever touched him, so he had no way of knowing.

Cullen lowered his gaze and noticed that Kiyen’s had grown in size. This was also a first. In his sensory haze, he had inserted it as if it were prepared just for him, but on the day after their intimacy, Kiyen had never shown such a reaction.

His chest tingled. Overwhelmed by uncontrollable excitement, Cullen pondered. Since Kiyen had always served him as if devoted, perhaps he… could help him? It was certainly unlike himself, but his insides felt inexplicably restless.

“……May I…… touch you……?”

At Cullen’s words, Kiyen squinted one eye, then looked down as if he had realized something. His delicate brow furrowed in confusion.

“Hmm.”

He raised his head again. Kiyen examined Cullen with curious eyes.

“Is it because of you?”

“……What?”

“It’s never been like this.”

Kiyen muttered, almost to himself, and shook his head.

“It’s fine. It will subside soon. I don’t know how you intend to help, but if you start, it will only prolong things.”

Though Kiyen and he were clearly different, Cullen could roughly guess what an aroused male body was like. Looking at Kiyen with a sense of apology, Kiyen tilted his head.

“Still…… wouldn’t it be better to relieve it?”

“I am different from humans, so you don’t need to worry about that.”

Saying so, Kiyen resumed his washing. Trembling slightly, Cullen cautiously continued his question.

“How are you different?”

“It means my body doesn’t react first like a human male. My body only follows when I wish it to. My human form does not precede my will. I will not go mad from failing to release my lust.”

Cullen mulled over his words blankly. As he replayed Kiyen’s words, his heart began to beat faster. This had never happened before, meaning, had he been aroused by Kiyen’s desire… was he the first?

The tips of his ears turned red. It was now easier to find parts of him that weren’t red than those that were, as shame and excitement surged. It was difficult to control.

“……Do you…… dislike me now? I mean, are you a little… less displeased with me…?”

Despite having been disappointed by those words in the past, Cullen foolishly repeated the question. He couldn’t stop himself. He wanted confirmation. Perhaps it was because Kiyen had shown him an opening.

Kiyen observed Cullen for a moment, then silently continued to pour water. A rather long silence ensued, and just as Cullen was beginning to regret his question. Kiyen’s hand delved between his thighs, and he spoke.

“You……”

His palm pressed and rubbed his thigh.

“You unnecessarily stepped forward to protect me. And you said the reason was because you loved me.”

“……That is correct.”

This was an unexpected turn.

“If your feelings were the cause of unnecessary recklessness, I thought it would be useful to trample on them. I reasoned that if you didn’t love me, you wouldn’t deliberately put yourself in danger.”

His flat voice was cruel. Cullen closed his mouth. He had asked the wrong question. It seemed his learning ability vanished when it came to Kiyen, as he repeated the same mistake.

“I didn’t know what action of mine evoked such feelings in you, so I tried not to touch you. You seemed to like it……”

Kiyen’s hand slowly gripped his knee.

“That was the reason I avoided you at first.”

Disappointment pierced his heart, making it difficult to breathe. He wished he had just ignored it.

“But it was ineffective.”

His grip on Cullen’s knee tightened. Cullen blinked.

“You ran away, and in the end, you came back injured like this.”

Kiyen released his knee and pulled Cullen’s hand. He tightly grasped the palm, which was a mess of embedded fingernail marks, and scowled. His palm gradually moved closer to Kiyen’s lips.

“I have no idea what you’re thinking in that little head of yours.”

Saying so, Kiyen gently touched his lips to Cullen’s palm. The pain pricked him, then melted away. He felt Kiyen’s slightly parted lips move. Kiyen lifted his lips, which had been caressing the wound, and met Cullen’s eyes.

“So tell me.”

Their fingers intertwined. Just like when he used to hold his hand whenever Cullen felt anxious.

“How can I make you stop running away and obediently listen to me?”

His heart, which had plummeted with disappointment, now pounded with excitement. The beautiful eyes looking at him were earnest, as if pleading.

Pulling their joined hands, Kiyen drew closer.

“Will it be enough if I do what you like?”

He whispered from a distance where their eyelashes could almost touch. Listening to his sweet, solicitous voice, Cullen tightened his grip on their clasped hands.

Even if it was a delusion, it was fine. Even if it was a delusion, it was fine, so…

“……Yes.”

Cullen willingly decided to accept this opportunity.

“Is that so?”

Kiyen’s low whisper echoed. His soft breath tickled Cullen’s skin, and soon their noses touched. As if he knew what Cullen liked without him saying it, his lips slowly met his.

It was soft and sweet, just as Cullen remembered.

No, perhaps it had become even sweeter than before.