Chapter 8: Morning After
A hard, stinging ache in his lower abdomen and a swell of nausea, brought Byakuya awake suddenly. He groaned into his pillow, opening his eyes and noting by the darkness in the room that it must be just before dawn. He felt an unsettling twinge at finding that he no longer laid in the consummation chamber, but had been moved as he slept to a larger and luxuriously appointed suite. He peered into the distance, spotting the entrance to his private bathroom and stumbled out of the bed, staggering and holding his belly as he made his way to the bathroom. Once inside, he dropped onto his knees in front of the toilet, surrendering the contents of his stomach and seeing spots as his ears rang. He started in surprise as a hand touched his shoulder, then was forced to delay his sharp reaction as another bout of sickness overtook him.
I suppose I needn't wonder if we were successful. It's probably no surprise the symptoms are fast paced and brutal, considering this is a royal bloodline.
He sat back on his knees, shivering and panting uncomfortably, but shoved the feeling off in favor of addressing the man who was unexpectedly in the bathroom with him.
"Torio! How did you get here?" he managed before turning back to be sick a third time.
He was immediately comforted by the warm, familiar feel of his own attendant's hand rubbing his back and Torio's voice cajoling him.
"Sorry to have startled you, Byakuya-sama. Try to breathe slowly. I will help you back to bed whenever you are ready."
"Were you a-abducted?" he asked unsteadily.
"No Byakuya-sama," Torio assured him, "A quincy appeared to me at Kuchiki Manor, assuring me that you were all right and telling me that you might need me. I willingly decided to come with him."
"Who came to you?" asked Byakuya, settling slightly as Torio washed his sweating face with a cool, wet cloth, then removed the yukata he was wearing and replaced it with a clean, dry one.
"It was your husband, sir."
"Haschwald?" Byakuya mused, "He endangered himself...to...?"
"I was never in any danger," Haschwald said from the bathroom doorway, "I used the sun gate, and with your cousin and his horse not patrolling Kuchiki Manor, it was shockingly easy to enter the grounds. I remembered you asking for Torio when you were talking in your sleep and I had seen his face while under the influence of the blindfold. I asked him to come, hoping that his presence here would make you more comfortable while you are required to stay."
Byakuya looked back at Haschwald silently for a moment, then turned and threw up again.
"Ah," his husband sighed, "I am sorry about that. I had suspected that the powerful Bach reiatsu might bring a faster and more intense onset of symptoms."
"It's fine," Byakuya said, holding his stomach and wincing, "It's to be expected that anything related to that tyrant would make me feel ill."
Haschwald paused, gazing silently at the pale, graceful hand that Byakuya held over his stomach and feeling a twinge of unexplained sadness.
"Are you only evincing a dislike for our former king, or do you hate our developing child too?" he asked quietly.
Byakuya blinked in surprise at the question and answered reflexively.
"I don't hate our child. A child doesn't have any control over the blood in his veins. That is true of all of us, would you not agree?"
"Of course I agree," Haschwald answered, frowning and studying him more closely.
I feel something very different when I look at him knowing our child is inside him. And it's not that the child is Ywach's successor. This is...something else. I wonder if it is because I am connected to the child through blood too. I feel protective of them.
"It's just that it I could understand if your anger over this situation might seep into other areas."
Byakuya's dark eyes met Haschwald's sternly.
"I would think a person as well acquainted with my inner workings would know that I wouldn't blame a child for the sins of his father or forefathers. Children are innocent, until something steals that innocence away."
Byakuya felt a soft twinge of surprise at how the image that flashed in his mind at the words was one of Haschwald as a little boy, backing slowly into the corner of a small, ramshackle cabin in the woods and his wicked uncle slowly advancing on him.
"Are you all right?" Haschwald asked, "You should rest a bit longer before trying to be up and around."
He glanced at Torio.
"Will you bring him some soothing tea? I believe we have some ginger tea where cook showed you before."
"Yes, Haschwald-sama," Torio said, bowing and exiting the room.
Haschwald slipped an arm around Byakuya and helped him to his feet, then gently supported some of his weight as Byakuya staggered back to the bed. He felt a powerful quickening of his heart as his hand touched his husband's lower abdomen, and he felt the little presence that was just a tiny cluster of mated reiatsu, but brought a little, heedless smile onto his lips. He quelled the reaction, but continued to feel a deep warmth inside as he helped Byakuya slide in under the covers and adjusted the pillows more comfortably behind him.
"You are more quiet even than usual," Byakuya noticed, "Is something troubling you?"
"Always," Haschwald sighed, "It's always something."
"Hmm, but the way you were looking at me suggested something else," Byakuya suggested, "I wouldn't worry that you were gaining a conscience about trampling all over my choices. No, this is a natural thing you are feeling...perhaps paternal connection?"
"Why would you be concerned about what I feel?" Haschwald asked curiously, "It's clear enough you are still angry about being forced to bear our next leader. I am a natural target for that anger."
"I would direct more of my anger at you if, first, I thought it would have some kind of positive effect and secondly, if you were the actual source of the requirement made of me. You were really only the messenger, Jugram."
Haschwald felt another deep throb in his insides at hearing Byakuya's voice say his name.
What is this?
That time it wasn't about the baby.
I felt something for him.
"We should see to the first bonding," Haschwald said, carefully controlling his tone.
He climbed onto the bed, positioning himself behind Byakuya and wrapping his arms around his husband's slender waist, sliding his hands beneath Byakuya's yukata and resting them on his warm, soft belly. Byakuya accepted the action quietly, holding still and breathing slowly as reiatsu flowed from Haschwald's hands and into his body. The gentleness and warmth of the other man's touch and the feel of his reiatsu made Byakuya's slightly tensed body relax almost instantly.
"It looks like this is helping," Haschwald commented.
"It is," Byakuya acknowledged, "Thank you."
Several minutes passed with neither man speaking as Haschwald continued the gentle infusion. Torio entered the room and set the tea service at their bedside, then bowed briefly and exited the room. As their quiet exchange continued, both men felt a slow, oncoming reaction in their loins. A flush rose on Byakuya's face and throat and he shifted slightly to hide the evidence of his arousal. Haschwald's hands shook very slightly where they touched him and Byakuya could see the blush on his pale features out of the corner of an averted eye. He waited for the quincy to speak, to do something to acknowledge and dismiss the connection, but Haschwald remained oddly silent and focused on his hands. He slowly let the reiatsu around his hands fade and took a breath, starting to pull away from Byakuya. He made a sound of surprise as Byakuya moved with him, turning and straddling his body so that neither could deny what was happening.
"Where are you going?" Byakuya asked, looking into his startled eyes, "Don't you think that if you awaken my sexual urges, as my husband, you should feed them?"
He felt a little shiver go through the quincy's body and watched him curiously as Haschwald paused, recovering himself.
"If you want to be with me sexually, you only need to ask, your highness," he answered finally, the weary look returning to his comely face.
"And what is your inclination?" Byakuya asked, "Are you interested in me at all, or are you only interested in what is inside me right now?"
"You know I am attracted to you," Haschwald answered, "Were you wanting a personal confession in addition to what you learned from using the blindfold?"
"I don't know," Byakuya said, tracing the blonde man's lips with a warm fingertip, "But it does seem that I feel it more when you say the words, yourself."
"That makes sense," Haschwald agreed, shifting slightly underneath Byakuya, then flinching as a sharp twinge assaulted his hungry loins.
Byakuya gave him a little nod.
"So, do you wish to be with me sexually, Jugram?" Byakuya asked, "Or would you like me to allow you to leave?"
I'm not used to being asked what I want, Haschwald mused, The only ones who have ever touched me sexually never asked for permission...or if I wanted them to touch me. Sex was just for their pleasure.
Suddenly, a feeling like fear passed through him and his heart began to pound in his chest.
"I think I should go," he said quickly, starting to crawl out from underneath his husband.
To his surprise, Byakuya moved as well, and held him down, then took his lips in a long, warm kiss. A quiver went through Haschwald and heat flashed on his skin as their kissing deepened and Byakuya's hands opened his yukata. His body relaxed and went still, reflexively. Byakuya's next words stole his breath away.
"Jugram, did your abusers ever feed your sexual desires? Has anyone ever asked you what you wanted?"
Haschwald couldn't seem to make his lips move to answer.
No.
No one ever asked me what I wanted, and if I was pleasured, it was because they chose to pleasure me.
"Do you want me to make love to you?" Byakuya asked, stealing his breath all over again.
"Why would you want to do that?" Haschwald mused, "Don't you hate me for keeping you here? For...?"
"Were these your personal decisions?" Byakuya asked pointedly, "Or is it that you were only adhering to the laws that require me to stay and bear the Bach heirs?"
Haschwald's jaw dropped, and he reeled under the influence of another long, heated kiss.
"You and I understand, don't we? We know that we often have to overlook our own feelings and obey laws we have no control over. And we are judged because we act in that way, sometimes against our own wishes. But...this is not a place where we have to do that. Whatever my feelings about being forced to marry you and have the Bach heirs, I have a choice now about what to do."
"And...you want to make love to me?" Haschwald asked, looking stymied, "Why? I could understand if you wanted to hurt me sexually, after..."
"I don't want to hurt you," Byakuya interjected, "but perhaps my actions will explain it better."
Haschwald sucked in a surprised breath as Byakuya's mouth teased his blushing earlobe, then trailed soft kisses along the side of his throat, exciting more color on his pale, lovely flesh. His head tilted back to grant access and his eyes closed. A soft moan escaped him as Byakuya's teeth scraped lightly along his flushed neck and he kissed his way along a fine collarbone, then descended slowly, touching also with his hands and making little sounds of contentment.
"You don't have to do this," Haschwald whispered, his eyes burning beneath the closed lids.
"I know," Byakuya answered, capturing an erect, pink nipple gently in his teeth and teasing it mercilessly with brushes of his soft tongue.
Haschwald sucked in a deeper breath and his hips rose, seeking friction against his husband's body. He groaned and panted in reaction as he experienced a moment of grinding bliss, then felt Byakuya break away from him to kiss his way down over Haschwald's slim, soft belly, following the trail of darker blonde hairs down to the part of him that most desired the intimate contact. He wondered if he should pull away as a sliver of guilt touched his insides, then Byakuya's mouth sent that thought spinning away as he began a closer exploration of his husband's flushed nether region.
"Byakuya!" he gasped, blushing fiercely at the desperation in his own voice.
Byakuya answered with long strokes of his tongue and gentle caresses with his fingertips, making Haschwald moan and pant furiously, shifting his hips as pleasure threatened to overcome him. He felt a light pressure that seemed to ward off complete surrender, but gasped and panted harder as he was held firmly and invading, wetted fingers began to prepare him.
"Byakuya..."
The name escaped his lips more softly, far more wantonly and with a longing he'd never felt with another living soul. He moaned and thrashed more wildly as Byakuya's fingers teased the sensitive nerves inside him, bringing him swiftly to the brink of madness and leaving him struggling just to breathe properly.
Is this what it feels like then?
Is this what it feels like when you begin to fall in love with someone?
But...
Before he could finish the thought, Byakuya's mouth returned to his, and his husband's warm tongue curled around his, as Byakuya began a slow, unhurried entry.
I thought I should just go along because I felt guilty for taking Byakuya away from his home and forcing myself on him. But this tells me that he accepts that I had no choice, given that my duties required me to take that action. But who would understand that better than someone like him, who has also lived under the weight of responsibility and noble servitude?
"Are you all right?" Byakuya asked, startling him.
"I'm fine," Haschwald assured him, "I am just not used to sex being enjoyable."
Byakuya's lips curved upward as Haschwald realized what he had just said and blushed more brightly.
"I am enjoying this as well," Byakuya answered, sending a deep flicker of intense warmth through Haschwald's surrendered body as his husband's hips began to move.
Haschwald couldn't remember a more enchanting moment in all his life than the one that found him lying beneath Kuchiki Byakuya, a man who had more reason to hate him and treat him cruelly than either of the others who had been with him, and receiving the man's honest affections. And he didn't need to be wearing the connective blindfold to know that Byakuya was likewise enthralled. He could feel the warm sweat that coated his pale skin, the tight clench of his fingers and the hard, fast thrust of his hips as he sought their mutual completion.
This came about for the wrong reasons, but I don't want it to end!
He turned suddenly and stole the upper position, attacking Byakuya's mouth with voracious kisses, then straightening atop him and grinding hard against him. He felt Byakuya tense and dropped onto his chest, fastening his mouth on his husband's and devouring the deep, passionate sounds he made as his glistening form began to shudder. An explosion of intense heat erupted inside Haschwald, and with a howl, he surrendered to a delight of warm shivers, loosing his seed onto their bare flesh as he collapsed entirely.
For several minutes, neither man could move, other than to pant heavily and lace their shaking fingers together.
"You didn't have to do that," Haschwald said, when he could speak again, "It isn't fair what is being required of you. You could have taken that out on me."
"I was taking it out on you...before," Byakuya acknowledged, "I just realized that doing so was pointless, as was trying to escape. And even though I could have hated you reflexively, I had to admit that you weren't the one making those decisions. You were executing them, even against your own desires."
"This makes me redeemable?" Haschwald asked, smirking.
Byakuya threaded his fingers into the tumbled lengths of blonde hair, pulling his head gently down to a warm shoulder.
"It gives us something profound in common," he corrected his husband.
Haschwald loosed a long, relieved sigh.
"Are you comfortable now?" he asked in a more relaxed tone.
"Mhmm," Byakuya mumbled sleepily, "I am sure when I wake later, I will be out of sorts again."
Haschwald took a steadying breath and started to sit up, only to be brought down again and confined on the bed by Byakuya's outstretched body. His husband's feather-soft lips touched his earlobe, bringing an instant blush to the pale skin.
"I prefer waking up with you next to me," Byakuya breathed into his flushed ear, making it burn almost painfully.
"Ah," he managed softly, "Of course...your highness."
Byakuya nipped at his earlobe and made a sound of disapproval.
"Hmm, of course, Byakuya," Haschwald corrected himself.