CHAPTER 32: LOVE & QUITE [R18]

"No! I–I’m not! It’s your cock, damn it!"

Lucien hissed as Edmund’s hand closed around his shaft, stroking it slowly until the soft flesh stiffened under his touch.

Edmund leaned close, his voice a low whisper against Lucien’s ear. "See? You’re hard again. Just accept it, accept who you are."

He bit gently on the flushed ear, earning a broken groan as Lucien’s walls tightened around him, trembling from pleasure he refused to name.

"You’re an omega, made for your alpha’s pleasure. You’re mine."

"F–fuck, no! Ahhhh~"

Edmund moved inside him with slow, deep thrusts, each one hitting that tender place that sent Lucien’s body shuddering and his breath catching between gasps.

He could deny it all he wanted, but his body wouldn’t lie, it welcomed the alpha even as his voice resisted.

Edmund lowered his mouth, tracing the serpent tattoo on Lucien’s back with his tongue, from the base of his spine to the nape of his neck.

His Jewel trembled beneath him, groaning in helpless frustration.

"You... just be done with it already!"

Lucien bit his lip until blood bloomed. The sight made Edmund’s chest ache.

Why did his Jewel always reject the softness he tried to give? Why did love look like pain between them?

Even when Lucien cursed him, when he lashed out, when his words cut deeper than knives, Edmund couldn’t hate him.

No matter how much he hurt, that feeling stayed, raw and unwavering.

He grabbed a fistful of golden hair, forcing their eyes to meet. Those amethyst eyes were hazy, intoxicating, but beneath that glassy sheen flickered something else, resentment. And that hurt more than any blow.

He leaned in for a kiss, but Lucien covered his mouth, breath shaking. "No kissing... I don’t want you to be gentle."

A flicker of pain crossed Edmund’s face, quickly masked by a crooked smile.

"Gentle? Not every kiss is about love. You’re my sex toy, I’ll treat you like one."

Their mouths crashed together. His teeth tore at the already wounded lip, and the taste of blood seeped between them, sharp and metallic.

Their tongues tangled, messy and hungry, as crimson drops fell into the bathwater below until it clouded, tainted by lust and loathing alike.

"Hng! Huftt!"

Lucien struggled for air as Edmund refused to let go, his tongue forcing its way in, licking his sharp canines, sucking the breath from his lungs.

The alpha’s pace grew rougher, his rhythm deep and relentless. He hooked one of Lucien’s legs over his shoulder, pushing in even further.

"Ahhhnnn! Hahhh!!!"

The kiss finally broke with a gasp. Lucien gripped the edge of the tub, water splashing as his body trembled under the weight of every thrust.

The slick porcelain gave no hold when Edmund lifted both legs and buried himself even deeper, reaching a place that burned and thrilled all at once.

"Ed–Edmund! I–I ngghh! Can’t!"

Lucien’s mind blurred, drowning in sensation. Every thought, every protest, dissolved into the fever curling in his stomach.

He felt Edmund’s cock twitch inside him, growing thicker, close to release.

"You feel incredible, Lucien... you keep pulling me in... hahh!" Edmund groaned, teeth gritted as he finally let go, spilling deep inside him.

Lucien’s body arched as his own climax tore through him, his voice breaking as he came again, their release tangling, spilling into the water around them.

For a long moment, there was only sound, their heavy breathing, the rippling water, and the quiet ache of two people caught between wanting and hating.

***

"Let go of me. You can’t touch me if we’re not having sex," Lucien muttered, still struggling weakly as he sat sideways on top of Edmund.

Their bodies were pressed together, his skin brushing against the alpha’s.

Edmund’s chest felt both soft and unyielding, a warmth that comforted and infuriated him at once.

Edmund understood that irritation all too well. He knew how much his omega hated being touched outside those moments.

But he also couldn’t just leave him sitting there in the bathtub, trembling and half-conscious. What if he slipped under and drowned?

"We’re still having sex," Edmund replied quietly. "I’m still inside you."

He was still hard—still wanting to give in to the same reckless drive Lucien had provoked—but that impulse faded the moment he saw how dazed his omega was.

When no insult or protest came, Edmund glanced down. Lucien’s breathing had evened out, his face flushed from the heat and exhaustion.

His lashes were long and damp, brushing against flushed cheeks, and his half-open amethyst eyes were heavy with fatigue.

His golden hair clung wetly to his skin, falling in messy strands down his neck, so soft it reminded Edmund of a stray puppy.

’Right. I should buy him a choker,’ Edmund thought absently. ’In case that Twinster loses control.’

’And also that damned Devil. He might start to make a move now.’

He leaned down to press a kiss to Lucien’s temple, but the omega pushed his face away with a grunt.

"I told you, no lovey-dovey stuff! It’s disgusting."

The Leopard exhaled sharply, his jaw tightening. It hurt to hear those words, especially after all the effort he’d poured into making this place theirs: a sanctuary free from the suffocating world of mafia politics, cruelty, and endless responsibilities.

Lucien also agreed to being captured, he didn’t relent which was weird. He thought he did that because he finally wanted to be loved, but the Leopard was wrong.

"Why do you reject me, Lucien?" he whispered. "Do you really hate me that much?"

For a moment, only the sound of dripping water filled the room. Lucien’s eyes closed completely, his body going limp in Edmund’s arms.

"You abandoned me... you threw away my love..." he murmured faintly, words slicing through Edmund like glass.

The alpha’s chest tightened, confusion blooming into bitterness.

"What do you mean?" he breathed. "You’re the one who left me. You’re the one who chose this filthy world."

But Lucien was already unconscious again, leaving the question hanging in the air, unanswered and cruel.