“How do you feel?” Kel asked.
“Used.”
“So,” he grinned, “good then.”
“Don’t sound so smug. As soon as I have autonomy I’ll retaliate for sure.”
“Then I’ll just pin you down and fuck you all over again,” Kelevra promised.
Rin winced and then closed his eyes.
Sighing, he walked over and took him by the arms, easing him back onto his feet. “Can you walk?”
“To there?” Rin motioned the ten or so steps it would take to reach the sauna door. “Of course—” he went to move his foot forward and stumbled, clinging to Kelevra when he held him upright, “—not.”
Kel chuckled and tossed his arm over his shoulders, hoisting him up so they could slowly make their way there together. Then he helped him across the small distance within the sauna itself and lowered Rin down onto one of the wooden benches. As soon as he had the door shut, sealing them both inside, he returned, settling down next to him.
Rin shifted down the bench, and Kelevra narrowed his eyes, about to scold him for putting distance between them.
He was shocked into silence instead when Rin ended up lying down, resting his head comfortably in Kel’s lap.
His flower gave a contented sigh, his eyes closed, and he noticeably relaxed against him.
Testing, Kelevra brought his hand up, slipping the tips of his fingers through the damp sandy-gold strands of Rin’s hair. When he got no reaction, he grew bolder, brushing them off Rin’s forehead, then twirled them between his forefinger and thumb.
All the while, Rin simply lay there and let him do as he pleased.
Something inside of Kelevra’s chest cracked. He’d thought forcing his control over Rin in the bedroom had been the peak of pleasure, but he’d been wrong.
It was this.
It was being allowed to play with Rin’s hair and have him willingly lay in his lap. It was listening to his even breathing, and watching his full mouth curve upward at the ends ever so slightly, as though even Rin didn’t realize he was smiling.
It was being let in on something Kelevra was fairly certain no one else had ever been let in on—not even his brother, considering he doubted Sila had ever seen Rin’s post-coital glow this soon after he had done the deed.
He wanted to ask Rin if he felt it too, this amazing thing taking place between them, but fear of ruining the moment kept him silent.
Instead, he continued to run his fingers through Rin’s hair and fed the newly awakened devil within himself.
The one who seemed to be purring in contentment.
Chapter 25:
He carried Rin up to their room and almost laughed. If anyone had told him even a month ago that this would one day be something he’d do willingly, he wouldn’t have believed them. Kelevra didn’t do things out of the goodness of his heart, but where his flower was concerned it actually wasn’t…entirely unpleasant.
He liked the way the other man tucked into him, his warm breath tickling against the side of Kel’s neck. And he liked feeling him, all that power and muscle, and yet here he was, being lugged around by Kelevra with ease. It was a turn-on, but more than that, it made him feel special in a way he’d never experienced in the past. He’d been brought up to take care of his things, sure, but this was different.
Kelevra didn’t just want to be gifted Rin. He wanted Rin to choose him. This past week’s minor manipulation had been a step in the right direction, but it wasn’t enough. He’d seen the way Rabbit Trace looked at Baikal Void and he wanted that for himself. He wanted that with his Consort.
As far as he understood it, there was only one major obstacle between them, and that was Rin’s father. But Crate Varun held no power here on Vitality, and with Kelevra having already bankrolled the twins, he could no longer threaten financial control over them either.
“Tell me something,” Rin’s voice, soft and quiet cut through the comfortable silence as Kel made it to the top landing.
“Such as?”
“Something personal.”
Kel considered as he brought them down the hall toward the bedroom. He wasn’t the type to withhold anything, always speaking his mind the second a thought popped into it. Because of that, there’d never really been an instance where someone had asked an open-ended question like that.
