And now, he’d succeeded, surpassing even his own expectations.
Still, over a month had passed already. Closer to two, even. Noah had spent every second he could spare working towards today, creating this opportunity, and while hisred-haired demon had kept him company almost every night, spoken to him occasionally in Reign’s voice, Reign didn’t have an imaginary Noah to remind him of their time together. For all Noah knew, Reign had long forgotten about him, moved on. Left him behind as the only one still clinging to what they’d shared during those two days back in July.
Yet, Noah still had to try. He needed closure, even if it meant he’d have to move on. All that Noah had done since Reign’s return to the Federation, it hadn’t just been for the chance of meeting again, but also for his own sake. Itwasa step forward—a gigantic leap with the salary increase he would be getting—which put him that much closer to escaping this life he barely tolerated even if, ultimately, it didn’t lead him back to the flirtatious, captivating man he was still obsessed with.
Noah’s finger flicked past Reign’s number five times before he finally dialed it, his entire body growing tense as he rested his back against the stack of pillows he’d made. Holding his breath, he counted the chiming beeps, one first, then a second.
A third.
A fourth.
And then Reign picked up, his tantalizing tenor reverberating through Noah’s whole being.
“Hello, Noah.”
10
This early in the morning, the outskirts of Seoul were still asleep. Here, where the hills overlooked the grand city, houses were scarce and pines were abundant, their evergreen crowns looming like shadowy sentinels above the orange beams of evenly spaced street lamps. Still, even though the light chased away the thick darkness, few people dared to venture out before dawn, some asleep still, others preferring the warmth of their homes to the chilly autumn temperatures.
As for Reign Lennox, solitude and the whispers of nature carried by the wind up here were the reason he chose this particular time for his daily walks.
Reign turned onto the driveway marked with a No. 4 sign. He dragged his fingers along the side of the coarse stone wall, passed by the parked motorcycle that didn’t belong to him, and entered his three-story modern house. Motion lights flickered on as he climbed the heated staircase to the second floor, warm hues that were too dim to give the space more than a golden ambience.
“Barbatos, why are you here?” Reign addressed his intruder who was currently occupying his leather couch. A grunt made Reign reconsider that—perhaps occupyingwasn’t accurate; a blindfolded young man was riding Barbatos and moaning like a filthy whore.
Not surprising, that last part, what with Barbatos’ particular taste in pretty twinks with delicate features who loved dominant tops as much as they loved cock.
“Ah, Trevor… why is he cal—” the gray-haired college student, as evident by his discarded uniform, cut himself off and dug his nails into Barbatos’ back. “Yessss. There, oh, yesss,fuuck.”
“I told you to call me Trevor when we are in the human realm,” Barbatos chided Reign, his tail slipping inside the man’s mouth to muffle his cries of pleasure. “You walking around outside not only naked but looking like that… someone is bound to start asking questions.”
Reign glanced at the floor-to-ceiling windows beyond the sofa and the dining area, studying his faint reflection. Even in the dark and even with limited light, he could still make out the red skin and the black markings, so Barbatos’ concerns were not entirely unfounded.
“There is no one out at this hour,” he defended, plopping onto the sofa across from the two. Watching them fuck made his own cock harden and his tail wasted no time coiling around it as soon as he spread his legs to accommodate for such attentions.
“You are not payinghima visit today?” Barbatos teased, his blueish-gray lips curving up in a mocking manner. They were slightly darker than the slate of his skin, though they matched the spikes pushing out of his spine.
“No.”
“Hmm…” Barbatos quickened his pace, pounding into the willing man with abandon. “It still baffles me greatly how he’s lasted that long and not yet succumbed to you.”
Indeed. It was rather unusual for a human to resist, yes, but not entirely unheard of. If a human wasn’t aware they’d summoned him, for example; however, it was concerning that Reign had been thwarted for ten whole years. Exhilarating too, tantalizing to where it almost felt overwhelming.
In one smooth motion, Barbatos repositioned the man on all fours and a new round of obscene grunts rang through the lounge. “Why not just drop him already, like I keep saying? It’s not even worth the effort, in my opinion.”
Reign focused on the two scars on the demon’s back where his wings had once been. Barbatos wasn’t wrong; ten years was a long time to be stuck on a single soul and not reap any others, but Reign had his own reasons for it. They had emerged from the need to know why he had been summoned at first, but they had long ago stopped being something as simple as mere curiosity.
“Lend me that,” Reign requested, pointing his chin at the whimpering mess Barbatos’ human had become, “when you are done with him.”
“Not today,” Barbatos purred, his eyes flashing their intense red at Reign. “I’m still working on him. You can enjoy the show, though.”
Perhaps Reign should visit Noah after all. Watching the man that he wanted to devour while he masturbated was better than this, even if it was excruciatingly frustrating that Reign couldn’t touch or taste until Noah himself chose to approach him. To let him in, to invite him, to accept him. Unless Noah initiated an exchange between them—a start to their contract—Reign was stuck being a mere observer, a fantasy whose only tangible quality was a voice.
Ah, but until recently, he hadn’t even had that, so at least he was making progress, albeit slowly.
Reign’s tail started moving with more vigor, gliding up and down his shaft and teasing the leaking slit.No, today he wouldn’t appear in front of Noah. Maybe not tomorrow, either. He’d been mostly ignored since his return to Seoul, Noah’s attention focused on that side project of his so single-mindedly, he didn’t indulge in sufficient sleep, let alone pleasure.
Decision made, Reign settled more comfortably on the sofa, but didn’t even get to do two full passes from base to tip before his cellphone rang with an unknown foreign number. Or, well, not so unknown as there was only one person who’d call from abroadandso late.
