Your lips were tingling at the sudden loss of his kiss, leaving the shower and claiming three fresh towels from the heating rack for you both; wrapping one tightly around his waist he began patting you dry, reaching between your fingers and toes and in the dips and curves of your body before setting it in place under your arms, taking a much smaller one and removing as much excess water from your hair as he could by fluffing the towel through it and suddenly stopping, lingering at his fine handiwork at the light dusting of vanilla essence through your strands. Nero chuckled at your ear, kissing its shell as meekly as his body would allow. "God, you smell amazing."

His breath was boiling on your ear, snaking through every nerve of your spine as you turned your head to whisper into his jaw. "Sex does that to you sometimes."

Your fingers hooked on the material of his towel, dipping into its tightness in the hope of getting a good feel before he left you alone; at too inquisitive a grasp, the whole thing unravelled and fell to the shower floor, leaving him open for a full scrutiny of his naked body. You took a step back to take it all in, seeing as some parts of him needed a wider range of vision than others, biting deep into your knuckles to either wake you up from the cruellest dream or have part of your bloodstream flow from the wound. You were hoping for the latter; he purposely turned and bent to rescue his one way ticket to decency and giving you an impressive front row seat to the finest ass you would ever see. "No love, it's just with me." He threw it across his shoulders this time. "I'm gonna grab my clothes from downstairs-"

"You didn't bring clothes." And as much as you knew your plan would backfire, you still wanted to keep him naked and in view for as long as you could.

He scratched the back of his head, showing off those sculpted arms and chest. "You didn't look inside the sleeping bag, did you? Then again, you also didn't know I had no intention of sleeping on the couch either, so we can both get a point."

Nero bent forward and pursed his lips for a congratulatory kiss. "You're sneaky."

"I'm prepared," he says, a smirk in place so toxic it could surely disintegrate the towel wrapped around your damp everything. "I'll see you in a bit then?" He lifted your gaze to meet his for his answer; you nodded in his hand, smiling as he chose to rather walk away than to rile you up straight after that cleansing shower. He turned the knob as you trod to your vanity, plugging in the small hairdryer you kept under the basin. "Oh, and ummm… Don't make me wait – you know what happens when you make me wait." His hands were on his hips at the open door, practically daring you to avert your eyes to anything but his impressive package hanging low down his leg; Nero scratched the light dusting of hair under his belly button, keeping your eyes glued to him as opposed to obeying his verbal decree. He looked up you innocently, agitated that the apparatus in your shaky hands wasn't doing what it was supposed to. "What's wrong?"

At long last he dragged your attention away from his dick. "Oh I'm sorry – little Nero and I was having a telepathic chat. Did you say something?"

He looked down at his waist, shifting his body weight onto one of his three legs. "Little?"

You managed to divert your attention to the mirror, turning on the wavering hum of the equipment in your hands. "I'M SORRY, WHAT? DID YOU SAY SOMETHING?" His tongue was in his cheek as he left you to do your thing, the whizz of the hairdryer drowning out the sound of his deflating ego.

The fact that no force on earth could make your hair dry faster made you furious. You tried to imagine Nero biding his time, wandering around your room looking for something to do or find and inadvertently crossing your legs it wasn't one of the toys you had to lie about. You paid more caution to your surroundings, looking beyond your reflection in the mirror to the door in case Nero tried to corner you again, the hairdryer making much more noise than the soothing water from before.

You stepped out of the bathroom after a few deep, girly, giggly, ecstatic, almost teary breaths and saw him stretched on the bed looking mouth-wateringly irresistible: a figure-hugging pair of black skinny jeans sat snug in all the right places, tucked neatly into a pair of military-style calf-high combat boots; a plain white vest adorned his muscular build, covered by a checked navy blue and black shirt that was probably rolled up to his elbows, paired with a dark, thick, warm coat which he popped at the collar; a sterling-silver chain hung loosely under his shirt while his family rings graced his index and ring finger on his left hand; a wide, dark blue double-strapped leather wrist guard and folded bandana around his right thigh finished off his regal look, and you could only stare in admiration at how good he made everything look. Nero loved that he managed to colour-code his wardrobe to his glowing limb, making it seem more part of him than as an attachment owing to successful experimentation.

His eyes never left your body as you sauntered to your closet in nothing but a towel, holding it together under your arms while figuring out how to coordinate your clothes to his. You turned to check the colours again, his pale skin mixing with the dark hues nicely. "You can drop the towel, if it'll make things easier."

He had control over it twice now, yet you were still embarrassed because of the unavailability of moonlight and dampened sight to conceal your insecurities. "Why would I do that?"

Nero stood and straightened his outfit, reaching his full height and making him look more ethereal than before; why he'd decided to move to the small, sinkable couch in the corner of the room made sense by his logic alone. He sat comfortably and spread his legs, the jeans tightening around his waist and the bandanna pulling taut on the strong muscle, leaning forward onto his knees with his elbows like a king on his throne. "My tongue has been on everything you're trying to hide. I don't see the use for it, that's all."

Why did he have to mention his tongue of all things? "Fine," was all you said, unhooking the material at the corner of your chest and letting it fall to the floor, the front of your frame in his deadly sights as he sat up straighter to take it all in. "But you're not allowed to judge anything I put on."

He chuckled deeply, scratching his lip with his claw. "Why put on anything anyway? I'm gonna rip it off at some point." He rubbed his hands from the cold and gazed outside your balcony door as you searched for suitable attire, fully ready to be upstaged by the specimen in the corner of your room. "But now that you've mentioned it, there's a really nice cake shop I wanted to visit; good coffee too, and I know that's your favourite. Only if you want to, I mean, we could stay here, and-"

"You don't have to take me out to tell me that I shouldn't tell anyone about this. My lips are sealed for as long as you need them to be."

Nero gawked unbelievingly, befuddled by the words that came out of your mouth. "Love, what are you talking about?"

You had seen it countless times; a night between the sheets with the ultimate protagonist of your own story, having him stay the night only to have him sweep you off your feet once more, taking you to some fancy restaurant or café as bribe money to keep your mouth shut. You failed to see how different your reality was from the movies, that Nero was actual flesh and blood who made you pine and whimper at how good he'd made you feel, taking pride in his endeavour to call you his through every manner possible – all you saw were the negatives, the outlandish conclusions constructed by farfetched love stories acutely etched in your brain for all the wrong reasons. He was unlike all of them; why couldn't you see that? "You don't have to try and make me feel good if you're just going to tell me-"

"That I want to take my girlfriend out for lunch at breakfast time?"

Your jaw dropped at the title; it had a stunning ring to it, so you spun on your heel to seek a hint of a joke on his gorgeous face. "Your girlfriend?" His face only screamed 'no duuuuuh!' "Since when?"

"I asked you last night… for four hours…" Thankfully he didn't see you blush as you retracted and replaced hanger after hanger of clothing items not fit for his level of perfection. "And then you said yes in the shower." You had to stop there and then, reaching for a stable surface as the morning's events replayed in your head; you didn't object to it, but the warm feeling in your chest felt… new? Refreshing? Like a weight had been lifted from your shoulders with one word? Was it knowing you no longer had to fight for his affection, that it was in the palm of your hands this entire time? "Do you really think we can go back to being friends after what I did to you? Sweety, you're mine. All mine. A little unconventional, but that's the way I do things. It's the first time I've ever done it like that, but there was no other way."

You were facing in the opposite direction, smiling and giggling into your hands and faking a stern voice to pick on the subject matter some more. "What do you mean?"

"What do you mean 'what do I mean'?" As if repeating the question would make his answer reveal itself as clear as day. "We were made for each other, baby girl; I saw this happening the day we met. I teased you a lot, sure, but you never gave an outright answer or even vaguely hinted towards feeling anything for me-"

"I have loved you for the longest time, Nero." You were talking to yourself, albeit just loud enough for him to hear you.

He tried keeping the glint out of his voice and failed miserably, his eyes rivalling the saucers in your kitchen. "You… you what? Did you just say what I thought you said?"

You shook your head. "I said nothing. Now can I please get dressed now? Your icy stare doesn't help when it's freezing already."

You weren't half as cold as you claimed, a heat trapped inside your bloodstream boiling across the veins in your form scorching you all over, like the tiny strike of a match to a pool of gasoline bursting into flame under his words. Your underwear compartment was strategically placed, right at the bottom for easy location and making you feel sexy while you retrieved the sinful pieces from Temptations or Victoria Secret; you held two options in your hands, weighing the pros and cons on purpose for Nero to chime in but no comment came. You opted for the traditional black lace, similar to the one Nero ripped off you the night before: half cup with extra hidden surprises the more you searched, veiling part of your stomach in intricate patterns only lace could conquer; the two clips behind the contraption should have been a piece of pie for you to tie, but it kept falling out of place the second you moved to claim the other half of the set.

The accidental cold brush of a finger gave him away after your third try. "Could you not? You're making this harder."

His head was lazy on his other fist, his bringer singing next to him and waiting for your next try at uselessly putting on your clothes. "Tell me what you said."

"I didn't say anything-"

"You're lying." He flexed his glowing, gigantic claws. "I'll get more annoying."

Your eyes rolled in their sockets as you bent to pull your panties on: matching boy shorts hugging your ass tightly, barely covering your bits in bows of ribbon and wound fabric – you wished you could see his face as you slipped them on, mentally adding cartoon steam to his ears as he gave you the once over. Sadly, being the playful menace he was, your dream was short-lived as the ribbon around your left hip came undone. Fine. As you tied it back up again, the other mysteriously came loose. You relished in a battle won, surviving ten seconds of being fully clothed until the whole thing was wrenched to the floor, nearly tripping you into your cupboard. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Tell me what you said." He was in the same position as before, looking nonchalantly at you like your slipping panties were your fault. "Say you love me to my face and I'll stop."

Again, you let your guard down, huffing at picking your underwear off the floor and not hearing him march to you. "I didn't say that-"

"Don't make me do this." Nero was at your ear, his breath hot at the back of your neck and triggering the prickling skin down your spine. "You just got out of a shower; the last thing you need is to get dirty again."

His hands found your hips in tender strokes up the sides of your body, his mouth at your ear roughly tugging your head to the side to dip his head into the crook of your neck as the pads of his fingers sneaking under the expensive material and dragging it just enough for it to fall on its own. Your arms raised themselves by sheer will, digging at the strands of his soft hair; giving in looked like the only solution, with Nero's fingers so close to your folds he was a second away from dipping into you. "I said I've loved you for the longest time."

He stopped to your utter relief. "Again."

And you saw fit to outdo your last revelation; you pulled his head to face yours, kissing him over your shoulder. "I love you, Nero." The second one was weightier, making it more real to both of you in finally admitting it out loud for him to hear and savour, bouncing around his thick skull until it seeped into his brain; you could stand and bask in the foreign concept he was for days on end, looking at him through new eyes and an even bigger heart in taking pleasure at the guilt-free thoughts of him that plagued your mind for as long as you could remember.

He pulled you backward and set you between his legs as he sat on the bed, holding you firmly to him across your tummy; light kisses prickled the skin on your back, his teeth biting the expanse of your shoulders like a crazed man set off by four impossibly simple words. Nero held you closer and you returned the favour, leaning into his frame and looking up at him with every ounce of your love for him. You could feel the lump in your throat at this small token of his appreciation made all the more intense when he stared back at you with a refreshing, sober undertone to his smile. "I love you too, I hope you know that."

You did, but it didn't take away from hearing it fall from his lips. "Now can I please get dressed?"

You knew it was futile, but try you would. "No." He unclipped the clasps on your bra and fell back onto the bed, knowing you would turn at the immediate loss of his body heat. "I need to taste you one more time before my mouth is ruined by sponge and frosting." Nero guided you to a straddling position, pulling your frame by your thighs until your sex lined up with his mouth, grappling your legs in his tightest vice and set to work at making you crumble under that beautiful, wet, swollen tongue of his as his iced orbs burned your naked body to ash.

You did make him wait after all…