CHAPTER 91: CHAPTER 91: THE MARK

"I’m already under you, you asshole." Elias said, more amused than annoyed.

Victor’s mouth curved against his skin, the sound of his low chuckle curling warm over Elias’s throat. "Not the way I mean."

Elias arched a brow, deliberately ignoring the way his pulse kicked. "Let me guess, you’re about to give me the full, dramatic definition?"

"I was thinking more of a demonstration," Victor said, the words so smooth they almost didn’t sound like a threat until his hand tightened on Elias’s hip, holding him in place. "But I can talk you through it if you’d rather pretend you’re not already thinking about it."

Elias’s smirk was pure provocation. "You really can’t stand not having the last word, can you?"

"Not when the last word is yes."

Elias huffed a short laugh, the kind that was all teeth and no real softness. "Then congratulations," he said, tone almost lazy, though the sharpness underneath was impossible to miss. "You already got it. I said yes. So what exactly are you waiting for?"

Victor’s gaze sharpened, the faintest shift in his expression betraying the jolt of satisfaction that ran through him at the words. "Maybe," he said slowly, "I wanted to hear it when you weren’t trying to make me lose my composure."

"That sounds like a you problem," Elias murmured, tilting his head in an unspoken invitation that was just as much a dare. "Unless you’re going to tell me the great Victor Numen needs... mood lighting first."

Victor’s laugh was low and dangerous, the kind that thrummed through Elias’s bones. "Careful," he said again, though this time the warning came with the weight of his body pressing just a fraction closer. "You might find out exactly how little patience I have left."

Elias let the corner of his mouth tip up, like he was testing just how far he could stretch Victor’s restraint before it snapped. "Hmm," he said, voice pitched low, almost conversational. "How noble of you." He shifted his knee to press Victor’s crotch, gaining a low growl from the alpha.

Victor’s eyes darkened instantly, the crimson sharpening to something almost feral as his fingers tightened on Elias’s hip, their pressure saying he was one second away from discarding the pretense of patience entirely.

"Keep that up," he said, his voice low enough to vibrate against Elias’s skin, "and you’ll find out how noble I’m not."

Elias only arched a brow, deliberately holding his ground, or rather, holding his press, just a fraction longer than necessary. "You make it sound like a threat," he murmured, his tone dripping with the kind of mock innocence that wasn’t fooling anyone.

Victor leaned in, his nose brushing the line of Elias’s jaw before his mouth hovered over the spot just beneath his ear. "It’s not a threat," he said softly, his breath hot against Elias’s skin. "It’s a promise."

And then, without breaking eye contact, his hips pressed forward in a slow, controlled grind that made it clear exactly how little patience he truly had left.

The grind became the last inch of space between them, his scent bleeding into the air like a slow, heavy tide. It was rich, intoxicating, and sharp at the edges, yet so maddeningly warm that every breath Elias took seemed to coil lower in his chest, settling where resistance went to die.

The walls might as well have closed in, the air thick with Victor’s pheromones until Elias could taste them on his tongue and could feel them humming in his blood with each inhale. His body registered the shift before his mind caught up, his pulse quickening, the faint, involuntary hitch in his breathing betraying just how deep Victor had pulled him under.

Victor’s gaze never wavered, crimson and molten, as if he was cataloguing each reaction. "There," he murmured, voice low enough to brush softly against Elias’s ear. "Now you can’t take it back."

Victor didn’t give Elias the chance to answer, instead, his hand came up to catch Elias’s jaw, tilting his face just enough before closing the last inch between them. The kiss was warm at first, steady, the kind of kiss that made the rest of the room drop away. Then it shifted, deepening until Elias could taste the faint trace of coffee with milk he’d had earlier mixing with something darker, something that was all Victor. Rich and grounding, with a bitter edge that somehow made the sweetness linger longer.

Victor’s thumb skimmed over Elias’s cheek in an almost absent motion, holding him there to make sure he didn’t pull away. Not that he had any intention of moving.

Victor’s hand slid from Elias’s jaw, trailing down the line of his throat with deliberate slowness, fingertips brushing the steady beat of his pulse before spreading over his chest. He moved like a man mapping territory, each touch measured, claiming in its own right.

Elias’s breath caught despite himself, his body arching minutely into the warmth. Victor’s lips never fully left his, brushing in brief, grounding passes between deeper pulls, until Elias could no longer tell where his own inhale ended and Victor’s began.

"Easy," Victor murmured against his mouth, his tone low, coaxing. His hands swept lower, thumbs tracing the subtle ridges of Elias’s ribs, palms flattening in a way that made Elias’s muscles tense for a heartbeat, only for Victor to stroke them slow, coaxing the tightness away. He knew the difference between resistance and nerves, and he wasn’t here to break through it with force. Not yet.

Elias let out a small, unguarded sound when Victor’s scent deepened again, warm and molten, spilling through the air in a tide that curled through his mind and down his spine. Every breath filled him with it until thought itself seemed to slip loose, leaving only sensation, heat under Victor’s palms, the press of his body, the slow, steady rhythm of his touch.

"That’s it," Victor whispered, catching the faint shiver in Elias’s exhale. "Let me in."

Fingers tightened at his hips, the pressure firm but steady, anchoring him there. Victor’s mouth left his only long enough to press along his jaw, down to the spot where skin was thinnest over bone, where his own pulse beat steady and exposed.

Elias’s body had gone pliant under him, tension melting into something looser, heavier, as if every ounce of weight in the room was now Victor’s alone to bear.

"Good," Victor said, his voice threaded with satisfaction. His scent swelled one last time, heavy and warm, wrapping around Elias’s senses until the rest of the world blurred at the edges.

And then the sharp sting hit, hot, deep enough to make his breath catch. The bite burned with a pulse of heat that went bone-deep, a flash of pain swallowed instantly by the flood of pheromones and the low, primal satisfaction rolling off Victor in waves.