"Er, good morning," Will said awkwardly as he shielded his eyes from the sun with a raised hand. Out in the open air the Alpha's scent sang to him and filled his head with blurry pleasure in reward for opening the door. The churning ball in his stomach tightened, sending a deep pulse of warmth through his groin and down his legs. It almost made him hiss.
Hannibal was just visible, a silhouette with vague human details against the bright sun but he could make out the shapes of Tupperware containers and a thermos he was holding. He could also feel the Alpha's eyes on him as though they were his hands and heard the distinct sound of a quick inhale through the nose.
"Where's Crawford?" he managed.
"Preoccupied with court matters," came the accented reply after a moment, presumably to recover from Will's abruptness. "Today's adventure is yours and mine alone."
Even though he was half-blinded Will had to bite his lip; the man was gorgeous. Dark, burnt golden hair was swept to the side, illuminated from behind and looking heavenly. His proud, refined face was tilted slightly as he appraised the Omega.
There was a playfulness to his words that sent a flutter down Will's spine but he stood resolute in the doorway, plainly aware that he was dressed only in a shirt and boxers and the inside of his room smelled heavily of slick and sweat. Dignity forced him to stand resolute. It would be inappropriate to let the doctor in with his room in this state and he would have to come up with some excuse to get him to leave, even though he probably already knew what was glazed down the insides of his thighs.
"If you give me a few minutes I can meet you - "
"Are you really going to turn away the person who made you breakfast, Will?"
Will caught the gleam in Hannibal's eyes and he clenched his jaw. The Alpha had made food for him?
"Ah, that's very kind of you doctor, but - "
"I really must insist," Hannibal continued mildly, although Will could discern a quiet tone of dominance in the words. "My generosity and patience are not endless and I promise you an untidy hotel room will not faze me…and you wouldn't want the food to get cold."
The change in tone, as minute as it was, was enough to make the Omega want to utter a whine of submission and let the Alpha in immediately but he crossed his arms instead and dropped his gaze to the ground. The morning sun shone eagerly on him as if to illuminate his disobedience. The act of rebellion felt foreign and his body shuddered with the effort of it but he held fast; no way was he going to humiliate himself in front of the refined psychiatrist, even if it meant being a little rude.
He didn't anticipate Hannibal's next move, however.
The Alpha reached out swiftly and with a hand that was surprisingly gentle, pushed the dark mess of curls away from Will's forehead and took his temperature.
The Omega froze in place, his breath tangling somewhere in his ribs. His heart struck up a frenzied rhythm at the contact; no one had touched him that intimately in years. The sensation was both foreign and achingly familiar and a rush of pure pleasure washed over him. Instinctively Will pressed into the Alpha's hand and his eyes slid shut. This was good.
Hannibal's palm was hot against his clammy skin. It brought with it the scent of fire and spiced whiskey mixed with blood, the same scent that had driven him to come merely hours ago. The memory ignited in his lungs and he was unable to stop the shuddering breath from escaping him. This was probably not the best idea.
"You are not well, Will," Hannibal's voice drifted to him. "A certain sweetness about the skin denotes the beginning of a fever. You are very warm."
"I tend to run hot," Will found himself answering, his words slightly slurred. He wasn't going to admit how good it felt to be touched, even as innocently as having his temperature taken, but it felt even better to be cared for and he relished the idea. The Omega inside him was beginning to purr, a withered, emaciated creature that had been denied affection for far too long.
The delicious warmth on his forehead was removed and he almost stumbled at the loss of contact.
"All the same, I'm not leaving until I see you get some food in you," Hannibal said with a small smile, "and I guarantee you will enjoy my cooking."
He watched the wheels turn in Will's head, adorably transparent as to what he was thinking. A strong Alpha was standing outside his door with an offering of breakfast; that was his first issue. To turn down something like that was akin to spitting in Hannibal's face. Secondly, it was obvious that his hotel room wasn't exactly fresh, but it was far from unpleasant and hunger was driving Will to accept. His stomach had been betraying him from the moment he had opened the door and another source of food wasn't readily available. It looked like he was going to have to be sociable.
The Omega bit his lip and flashed his eyes up to Hannibal's. Defeated but still defensive, he nodded shallowly and moved to the side.
Quietly vibrating with triumph, Hannibal stepped into the hotel room with a hidden smirk.
A rush of cool aromatic air met him and he had to grit his teeth to stop from growling in pleasure. The Omega's scent was thick and condensed in the small area, much stronger than when they were back in Jack's office and seemed to cling to the Alpha like cellophane. It was obvious Will was off the suppressants or had forgotten to take them.
The sensation of walking into a forest on the edge of winter was overpowering. Fresh cut pine hung sharp in the air and Hannibal could almost feel the branches brush his face as he stepped further inside. It was refreshing and cooled the insides of his nostrils like mint. A delicate sweetness underlined it like the sticky sap that bleeds down the trunks of maples. Intrigued, he let his breath go and was surprised when he couldn't see it billow out in front of him from the cold. If only his reaction were that mild.
Hannibal could feel his pupils expand until he was sure there was no color left, and his eyes began to burn. Blood was beginning to pulse around the irises, all the better to see where the source of that incredible smell was. He needed more of that scent, needed it smeared on his skin, in his mouth, on his cock, everywhere.
It was the fragrance wafting through the closed bathroom door that made a muscle twitch in his neck, violently yanking his meticulously controlled urges to the surface. He smelled slick, aged several hours but still potently present in the air, and the aftermath of an orgasm. A delicious orgasm. He actually paused for a moment to catch his breath, or rather, stop breathing for a moment to gather his senses together. The Omega had touched himself, here, last night, and the knowledge made him want to bare his teeth possessively and demand that Will start stripping for him, slowly, and make him show the Alpha exactly what he had been doing.
Thin threads of concern were drifting from Will and it took a large amount of restraint to move calmly to the small table by the window and start arranging the breakfast dishes. Making the Omega feel comfortable was paramount; if he felt threatened in any way he was liable to become distrustful and distant. Hannibal needed him pliable, open, willing.
A blur of motion caught his eye. Will, in a quick move of modesty, had donned a sheet from the bed and wrapped it around himself like a security blanket as if sensing Hannibal's thoughts. The deed was done though, and a thin material wrap wasn't going to prevent that scent from getting through. He shuffled to the table and sat down, determined to keep his eyes downcast.
"I'm very careful about what I put into my body," Hannibal stated evenly, appreciating the way the Will's cheeks flushed, "which means I end up preparing almost all meals myself. A protein scramble of eggs and liver, a nice healthy start to the day. I hope it will make you feel better."
He placed the steaming dish before Will and sat down opposite him, preparing to pour coffee.
"This is delicious, thank you," Will mumbled begrudgingly as he forked a thick slice of liver into his mouth. Hannibal's eyes followed the movement from start to finish.
"My pleasure."
Will had fallen to the food eagerly, unable to resist the mouth-watering smell of home cooking. He didn't realize how hungry he was; he couldn't remember the last time he had a properly prepared meal. The vending machines outside his lecture theatre and TV dinners at home had been his staples and he often forgot to eat altogether, especially when assigned to particularly unpleasant cases that required extra work hours. Amid all the skills and intricacies of Will Graham, the art of cooking was not one of them and the complex flavors of the carefully made breakfast made him greatly appreciate the ability. Including the Alpha sitting across from him.
Having someone cook for him was an alien notion but highly appealing as he filled his body with quality nourishment. Feeling thoroughly grateful at the friendly gesture, he let out a tiny pleased groan as he bit into a hot cherry tomato that burst in his mouth.
Across the small table Hannibal poured hot coffee into two mugs, focusing intently on the motions and conscious to keep his own directly underneath his nose. Floral, smooth, light acidity…anything to mask the scent of enticing, tantalizing, Will. It was everywhere, invading like a stubborn virus. Keeping calm was proving difficult, and was taking nearly all his willpower not to sweep the food aside and lunge at the man. The satisfied noise that had just come out of him wasn't helping; it made the Alpha want to preen with pleasure and shrug out of his jacket, all the better to show off his toned arms and shoulders and allow his own scent to disperse more freely. Inwardly shaking his head at his impulses, he sipped his coffee.
I can offer you more than this, Will. So much more. I want to hear the sounds you'll make bathed in blood.
The idea was a quiet birth in the darkness.
Will flicked his eyes up and caught his gaze as if reading his mind. Hannibal looked back unblinkingly over the rim of his mug, offering an unreadable smile.
The Omega flinched and those blue eyes darted away like a pair of spooked jays. It didn't take a doctoral degree to see that this man wasn't used to being alone in the same room with an Alpha, and it made Hannibal wonder if some kind of abuse shadowed his past. He wouldn't be the first to experience violence like that, and the idea of another Alpha touching Will made a possessive growl build in the back of his throat.
"I would apologize for my analytical ambush," he continued, dispelling the urge, "but I'll soon be apologizing again and will need to use them sparingly."
"Just keep it professional."
Will couldn't keep the bitterness out of the quipped retort. If anything the past had taught him to never trust an Alpha, especially a very good smelling, gentlemanly one such as Hannibal Lecter. The nicer they looked on the outside, the darker they seemed to be on the inside and he didn't need another pushy Alpha messing around with his emotions. Even if they smelled like butterscotch whiskey and sex and he had already jerked himself off over a whiff of it.
"Or we could socialize like adults. God forbid we become friendly," Hannibal countered with a sly look.
Will carefully chewed another spear of liver and swallowed, not meeting his eyes.
"I don't find you that interesting."
The Alpha in Hannibal reared and bared its long, sharp teeth.
"You will."
He said it mildly but his stare drilled into the soft skin of Will's eyelids, daring him to look up. This Omega was stubborn and didn't raise his eyes.
A brief moment passed where they ate in silence, a sense of rigidity hanging in the slice of sunlight streaming in through a gap in the curtains.
"Beverly found a small piece of metal in Elise Nichols' clothes. It's from a pipe shredder," Will stated, breaking the quiet like an artist breaks the pure white of his canvas with the stroke of a pencil. He wanted to change the subject; his stomach had tightened. Perhaps letting his temper rule his manners wasn't smart, especially considering the man had made him breakfast. Like, really good breakfast.
"Jack Crawford wants me to ensure you remain sane…searching for pipe-threaders?" Hannibal asked, sensing Will's discomfort and draping an amused tone over his words to calm him. "There must be hundreds of construction sites all over Minnesota."
The Omega visibly relaxed. His swathed shoulders slumped and a relieved smile broke his tight expression. He was glad the conversation had switched to boring bits of metal.
"Yeah," he breathed, "I guess I'm his bloodhound for today. The metal comes from a certain kind of pipe with a distinct coating. So we're searching through sites that use that kind of pipe."
"And what are we looking for?"
"Anything unusual at this point," Will shrugged, taking a long swig of coffee.
Hannibal ate up the contractions of his pale throat as he swallowed. The man was truly beautiful, even under a thin veil of fever. Those big doe eyes framed in long dark lashes and full, pouty lips were a magnet for any Alpha. His lithe but toned body was easily visible beneath the thin sheet and his sweet scent was filling this Alpha's head with delicious images that he would love to bring to fruition.
"I see. You know what, Will?" A thrill of pleasure raced through him as the Omega hesitantly looked up at him. "I think Uncle Jack sees you as a fragile little tea-cup, the finest china only used for special guests."
Will's gaze flickered but didn't falter.
"I trust Jack," he said simply. A moment later, he blurted out, "How do you see me?"
A rare moment of transparency. The man wanted to know what the Alpha thought of him. The idea and sent a shiver down Hannibal's spine. Best not reply too obviously; he didn't want to frighten the Omega away with the pure, unfiltered truth.
"The mongoose I want under the house when the snakes slither by," he replied softly.
Will wasn't sure if the slowly roiling coil in his stomach was because he was sick or because Hannibal's voice was like silken, liquid poetry that ignited his insides like wildfire. It was praise wrapped in a metaphor and he had never heard anyone speak like that before. He was trying to wrap his tongue around an answer when Hannibal spared him the effort.
"Alas, time carries on with or without us. Finish your breakfast, Will," he said politely, and the Omega found himself trying very hard not to attack the rest of his food with renewed vigor.