Togami had regretted the death threat as soon as he'd spoken it. What purpose could a threat like that even serve? If he'd meant it, he should have done it without warning the other boy. If he hadn't, he should have stayed quiet and let events take their course. He'd had Naegi naked beneath him, there should have been hundreds of other ways he could have made his point.

But there had been something wrong in the way they moved against one another. They argued so easily, it should have made sense for the angry words to turn into violent passion. He recognized the pattern, felt how it attracted the darker parts of his soul. It had driven him to kiss Naegi again, harsh and fierce – but while Naegi had kissed back, it hadn't matched his vicious intent.

It had been impossible, intolerable that Naegi wouldn't share his focus at a moment like that. He'd needed Naegi's attention on him, matching the feelings simmering just below his skin, and he'd said the first thing he could think of to try to make it occur.

And now Naegi was – what, annoyed about it? Did he intend to take some kind of petty revenge? Togami didn't see what Naegi thought he'd accomplish by binding his wrists. All Naegi was doing was limiting Togami's ability to respond to him – that couldn't be very interesting.

He flexed his wrists, and felt the bindings press against him in response. The fabric wrapped securely around his wrists where Naegi had tied it in place, but the clips attaching the straps to the bed would come off with only a moment's pressure from him. That seemed like the opposite of what Naegi would need, if he intended to try and exact some kind of revenge.

Togami didn't understand what Naegi was trying to do, and the uncertainty of it twisted in the pit of his stomach. That was all he felt – confused. There was no other reason for his stomach to flip and curl with nerves, not when he could stop this whenever he liked.

He looked up at Naegi, settled on top of him. Trust me – that was what the boy had whispered in his ear, but the words didn't make sense. This had to be some kind of power game, one he shouldn't be allowing. He should snap the clips off and –

Naegi leaned down and pressed his mouth to the hollow of Togami's throat, and Togami forgot what the rest of his thought would have been. Whatever else Naegi was trying to accomplish, he still knew exactly the pressure of lips, the slide of tongue to make Togami shudder from it.

Heat pooled along his body everywhere Naegi lay against him, and under that warmth, some of the angry tension began to melt away. Naegi's mouth wandered lower, tracing a line of kisses along Togami's bare chest, until he found the nipple and closed his mouth over it.

Togami couldn't stop his gasp as Naegi's tongue swirled over the stiff peak. It felt amazing, too good to be allowed, not when Naegi hardly looked bothered at all. Togami's hands twitched for freedom, aching to feel Naegi's skin in turn, to make him equally vulnerable with pleasure.

But if he tried, Naegi would stop.

Or would he? Maybe he'd just wanted to see if Togami would let him fasten the straps in place. He wouldn't really stop if Togami tried to touch him in return, would he? No, of course not. There wasn't a teenage boy in existence who would really object to being touched. He started to tug at the restraints.

A hand settled on his elbow, and Togami realized Naegi was looking at him again. The other boy didn't say anything, just stared at Togami with an intensity he could feel on his skin. His nerve endings all seemed to sit up and quiver under the scrutiny, entirely attuned to the fact that for once, he had all of Naegi's undivided attention.

And that attention said that breaking the restraints would lead to the exact consequences Naegi had promised.

Togami stilled, and let his wrists relax against the bed. His hands had clenched into fists without his realizing it, and he slowly forced his fingers to uncurl.

Naegi smiled, like he'd been given a gift. "Thank you," he murmured, pressing a kiss to Togami's chest just above his heart.

Something bloomed in his chest below Naegi's lips, soft and warm like the first rays of sunrise. Desire was part of it, tangled up with other things he couldn't name – a rich, heady desire that thrummed through his blood like alcohol. He could feel it intoxicating him, and the need for more was a physical ache.

And even as the desire made itself known, he couldn't escape the awareness of the restraints on his wrists, his own unspoken promise not to take what he wanted. His hands shook, but he left them in place. What other choice did he have? He could only hope that Naegi wouldn't torment him long.

But Naegi, to his surprise, didn't choose to torture him at all. He began kissing Togami's chest again, his lips both slaking the desire and intensifying it. His hands traced wild dances along Togami's sides, wandering up to his shoulders and down to his thighs. It was everything Togami wanted, and Naegi gave it to him freely.

It was too much to be possible. Togami craned his neck to look at Naegi, searching desperately for some hint of malice, but the boy seemed perfectly content to continue kissing his way along Togami's ribs. He showed no sign of the plans Togami had half-expected when he'd realized Naegi meant to tie him up. He'd thought this would be a power game, where Naegi would use his inflamed need as a hostage to extract some measure of humiliation from him.

But instead, Naegi offered him pleasure, as open and honest as everything he did. He had every opportunity to be cruel, even the knowledge that Togami wouldn't actually leave if he chose to tease and torment – but instead, Naegi had chosen to be kind.

He could have handled the cruelty. He would have understood the thoughts behind it and been able to push them aside. But the kindness….

The kindness left him undone.

Every touch Naegi gave him, every brush of lips or stroke of skin, all of it spiraled through him, washing away his conscious thoughts in the rising tide of need. He could hardly name all the things he needed, but it didn't matter, Naegi seemed to know them all before he could try to ask. It sent his world spinning off its axis, gravity thrown out of balance and all rules gone askew, and the only things left to anchor him to reality were the straps tied around his wrists.

Gentle hands slid up his quivering shoulders, one curling flush against his neck and the other threading into his sweaty hair. He looked up into Naegi's eyes, the boy's thumb tracing the line of his jaw, and his lips parted almost of their own accord.

Naegi leaned down and kissed him, slow and deliberate and maddening. He didn't think he could take it any longer –

And then he didn't have to. Naegi shifted against him, and the motion aligned their hips and brought their cocks together. His whole body shuddered at the contact, and he couldn't help but arch up against Naegi in a blind search for more.

Naegi didn't deny him, moving again and again to keep the friction going. Their bodies rocked against one another, rising and falling like the flow of tides, moving in a harmony that went beyond the need for speech. Togami would have gasped, would have moaned, would have said things that would make him blush to recall later – but Naegi's kiss muffled it, protecting him even from his own embarrassment. He'd let Naegi shape this moment, and Naegi had chosen to form a space free of any possible hurt. The only thing between them was pleasure, willingly given and freely shared, multiplying every time they moved against each other.

Togami remembered what Naegi had said, after fastening the straps in place – the words that had started all of it. They echoed in his head again, promise and plea rolled up into one phrase.

Trust me.

That was all he could hear as the motion of their bodies finally took him too far – or maybe it was the words themselves that brought him to a climax, shattering through him in a burst of brilliant light.

Trust me.

Naegi rocked against him a moment longer before he lost control as well, collapsing against Togami's chest as he came. It left them tangled together, boneless and breathless and shaken with what they'd shared. Togami found himself gazing into Naegi's eyes as his mind returned from the white haze of sensation, and he realized they were both smiling.

Trust me.

He was in so much trouble. And the worst part was that he no longer wanted to set himself free.