Part Two
Hannibal had quickly but thoroughly secured the house and doused the lights before moving upstairs. Although he had a comprehensive alarm system, it was only ever activated in his absence – he hadn't been exaggerating when he'd told Will that he was a light sleeper. He slept well and on the whole extremely peacefully, but the slightest out of place noise woke him with little trouble and to a state of alertness that would see any unwelcome visitor easily subdued. Or killed and eaten, depending on the circumstances.
He had paused outside the door to the guest suite but heard nothing from within, briefly tempted to enter the room and check on Will only to stiffly turn and prowl towards his own bedroom. He could acknowledge, even accept, that he had developed somewhat unconventional - for him - feelings for the man, but that didn't mean he had to act on the out of character thoughts that crossed his mind. It would set a potentially dangerous precedent and he was already aware of how close to the precipice he actually was. Hannibal never did anything on a whim, anything without thought to the consequences and what the outcome of any given course of action could be, and he'd already established that the outcome to acting on his desires for Will would most likely be severe burns. He would have been remiss not to take his own sound advice, but that didn't change the fact that all he had really wanted to do was enter Will's room and crawl up the length of his body, the other man's hands in his hair as Hannibal possessed him completely. The thought had almost made him shiver as he had carefully stripped off his clothes and prepared for bed.
Settling on his side under silken covers, unsurprisingly Hannibal had found it hard to think of little other than Will and the turn his relationship with the younger man was taking. Or perhaps had already taken. Generally speaking he was a man of destinations not journeys; as long as he got from A to B, it didn't matter to him if he took a detour to Z along the way. His destination when it came to Will had become clear as he'd observed and analysed him, firstly to satisfy the FBI and then to amuse himself. He'd ascertained rapidly though that Will was more than a simple amusement in so far as that once he'd seen the extent of his empathic abilities he also became a thing of interest. The few people that had interested him in the past had held a particularly celebrated place at his feasts once his curiosity had waned, so the fact that even early on his plans for Will most definitely did not involve him being carefully sautéed or flambéed, should have been an indicator that he was developing an affection for the profiler. Once Hannibal had caught the first faint trace of the virus now devouring his brain, the choice instead to frame him for The Ripper's crimes had seemed like too good an opportunity to pass up; it would satisfy his desire to be entertained whilst simultaneously allowing him to continue to stock his freezer, and although it would be a far more time-consuming process, it had been an endeavour that he had looked forward to as much as any hunt if not more so.
To have a plan, a destination, change so dramatically was something Hannibal had never experienced, but it appeared as though that's what was happening. There was no denying that his feelings where Will was concerned were more than a detour, and he found himself struggling to work out where he might end up - for a man who kept control over himself and his life as tightly as Lecter did it was more than a little unnerving. The wheels had already been put in motion with Cassie Boyle's and Marissa Schur's deaths and the circumstances surrounding Nicholas Boyle's demise, but events had not progressed to a point whereby they could not be stopped…what Hannibal needed to do was establish what the new destination was to be, both for himself but also for Will, and that was proving to be a hard task.
He wasn't sure what had woken him at first but he knew he hadn't been asleep long, rousing from something more than a doze but less than a deep slumber. Hannibal lay deathly still and listened, his keen senses on high alert and actively seeking stimuli as he waited. He didn't have to wait long.
There was a low cry, a haunted, near pained sound carrying through the wall that separated the master bedroom from the adjacent guest suite. Throwing back the covers, he slipped from his bed and crossed the room in five strides before stepping out into the dark hallway, another cry and then another and another resonating through the air as he traversed silent floorboards, each one louder, more pained and more desperate than the last. Hannibal didn't stop to even think as he turned the door knob and stepped into Will's room, the sounds of terror intensifying as he did so to find him greeted by the panicked rustling of limbs tangled in sheets and breath coming in short, harsh pants. The smell of fear that blanketed the room made his own pulse quicken just slightly as he quickly moved towards the bed, thin shafts of moonlight highlighting Will's twisting, moaning form.
"Will," Hannibal called to the other man softly as he approached, pausing only to flick on a bedside lamp and bathe the room in a subtle yellow glow.
Before him Will was drowning, hands fisted into the sodden, dark blue cotton bedclothes twisted around his legs and torso. His dark hair was matted to his head and sweat glistened on every inch of visible skin, his t-shirt having already been dispensed with at some point and now lying limp and heavy on the wooden floor. It appeared that this wasn't his first nightmare of the night, simply the first one Hannibal had been made aware of, and he called his name with more insistence as Will's cries continued.
In his dream, the stag advanced on him again, head lowered to bring its antlers down to the best angle to run him through for a third time. To its right a bullet ridden Hobbs grinned, all teeth and unseeing eyes, the ground littered with macabre broken bodies that Will knew he would recognise if he looked properly and certain that Abigail was amongst them. He couldn't look, the black stag holding his attention, pinning him with its gaze and licking its maw at the blood coating Will's pierced chest as if it was not only going to gore him again but devour him afterwards for good measure. Still advancing it picked up speed, hooves thundering through the forest of his own making in time with the pounding in his head.
Sat on the edge of the bed, Hannibal pulled back quickly enough to receive only a glancing blow to the shoulder as Will lashed out at his touch, fists flailing wildly but with more than enough power to wound. It was a reaction he hadn't anticipated, the two previous occasions he had woken Will from his dark dreams requiring little more than a shake of his shoulder and calling his name. Wherever he was, as he dodged another punch it was immediately apparent that light measures were not going to be enough.
"Will!"
Another cry torn from his throat in response, Will flailed again and Hannibal quickly grabbed a wrist in each hand, fighting him to forcibly pull both arms in towards the centre of his chest and at the same time using his considerable strength to haul the other man into a sitting position. Once he had him upright, Hannibal moved with all the speed and skill that made him such a spectacular predator, straddling his thighs and wrapping his arms around the younger man in such a way that Will's arms were pinned tightly between their chests. The younger man struggled against him and under different circumstances it would have been exhilarating. On some level it still was, Hannibal mused absently, balling his hands into fists to better tense his arms as he stared at the tableau of fear etched onto the profiler's face, the other man's sweat seeping through the silken fabric of his pyjama shirt.
"Will, it's 1:30am," he hazarded a guess, "You are in my home in Baltimore, Maryland,"
His voice was steady, calm, belying the fact that Will was still fighting against him like a man possessed, although the strength of his movements was lessening. Hannibal scrutinised his face, looking for the first signs of a return to awareness and it finally came with a choked exhale and fingers scrabbling for purchase where they were trapped over his heart, fisting tightly in the silk. His eyes shot open a second later, wide but unfocused, staring straight through the older man as he gasped for breath and Hannibal flattened one warm palm against his rapidly cooling bare back, his thumb lightly stroking back and forth as a gesture of reassurance and comfort.
"See me, Will," the older man urged, voice soft and accent thick. He wasn't sure quite why it mattered so much, but it did.
Will had seen him, clutched at him as if he was the only thing keeping him afloat whilst adrift in stormy seas, his forehead falling to Hannibal's shoulder as he had begun to shake out of fear and cold and sheer relief.
"Will?"
Hannibal had frozen when he felt dry lips insistently press against his neck, Will's hands never relinquishing their tight hold on his shirt, but he had made no move to stop the younger man. With hindsight he would come to realise that he had fallen over the precipice long before Will's mouth had blazed an urgent, needy trail up his neck to his own lips and demanded entrance. A demand he had acquiesced to with very little hesitation in all honesty.
The kiss had left them both breathless as tongues duelled for dominance, Hannibal's hands ghosting over Will's back before finally threading one into his damp hair and the other resting at the juncture of neck and shoulder, thumb caressing his throat. It was only when air became a priority that he had withdrawn from the kiss, pulling at Will's bottom lip with his teeth before soothing the nip with his tongue as he withdrew.
Hannibal licked his lips as he pulled back, the taste of Will a powerful aphrodisiac and something to be savoured as much as any vintage red in his wine cellar. As was the sight of Will looking somewhat debauched with his slightly flushed cheeks and kiss-swollen lips, hair mussed and breathing heavily. Hannibal imagined that he looked much the same if the heavy-lidded stare Will was giving him was anything to go by, heat surging through his veins at the naked desire burning in his gaze but tempered by the realisation that Will was unflinchingly maintaining eye contact with him. Will seemed to sense where his thoughts were headed before Hannibal had the chance to give voice to them.
"I know where I am, I know who I am," Will told him, hands finally letting go of Hannibal's shirt only to gravitate upwards to cup his face. Brushing his thumb across the fullness of Hannibal's bottom lip, Will's gaze darkened when he felt the other man's tongue swipe at the digit. "I know who I'm with,"
"Good," Hannibal murmured, licking his lips again. "Because I don't want to be doing this with anyone else,"
Will nodded, gaze flicking to the other man's mouth before leaning in to kiss him again, surrendering to Hannibal's will when his tongue probed between his lips and passionately began to map the contours of his mouth. Strong, sure hands caressed the lean planes of his back and shoulders before wrapping around his biceps mid kiss and Will found himself propelled sideways and backwards until they were mostly out of the damp sheets he'd been sleeping on, Hannibal now straddling his crotch.
Leaning up on an elbow, Will reached for the buttons of the other man's pyjama top, making quick but careful work of the small fastenings despite the hands now exploring his chest and the light covering of hair there. Deft fingers skimmed over his nipples, sending a surge to his already half hard cock, before Hannibal effortlessly shrugged out of the silken material with his usual lithe grace. Will bit his lip as he realised just what was hidden beneath all the layers of carefully tailored fabric the other man usually wore, appreciating the toned muscles of Hannibal's chest and arms and contemplating what the rest of him might look like. Hannibal smiled, teeth showing, as he watched his reaction before doing some appreciating of his own, leaning down to press his lips to the smooth skin of Will's throat and enabling the younger man to touch him.
Before long all Hannibal could smell was Will and the scent of their combined arousal, the fear of minutes earlier banished from his nose by heat and spice and deep, earthy notes. Will had only had to rake his nails down Hannibal's back before he was achingly hard, thinking about what it was going to be like to be buried inside him and fucking him into the mattress.
No, this had not been his design. His fantasy, maybe…
Hannibal bit down gently where neck joined shoulder, hands drifting to the waistband of Will's shorts and easing them down, a move that was met with gratitude as he freed the other man from the ever tightening constraints of his underwear. Watching Will from under his fringe, the older man moved backwards, leaving a trail of light nips and licks down the centre of his chest and over his stomach as he went, Will's hands tangling in his hair. There was something satisfying in the way that Will breathed his name and the hands in his hair tightened when he finally wrapped his hand around his cock and stroked him from base to tip. Something even more satisfying when after a few strokes Hannibal engulfed him in the wet warmth of his mouth and the younger man was reduced to a groan.
Hollowing out his cheeks, Hannibal gave a low hum of pleasure as he tasted Will for the first time, a bead of bitter saltiness allowing him to sample his essence and match scent to taste. Given the way that Will's stomach muscles were tensing against the urge to thrust up, he was almost, almost tempted to make him come using just his mouth but the urge to be inside Will, to own him before granting him release, was too great.
There will be plenty of time for that.
Hannibal wasn't sure where the thought had come from and didn't care in the slightest as need thrummed through his body. Pushing it to one side, he concentrated on taking Will as deep as he could; there would be plenty of opportunity to dissect the situation to death afterwards. He had never been one to deny himself pleasure in any facet of his life and the particular pleasure he was deriving from having Will writhing beneath him made him very vaguely wonder if he was exaggerating the risk having feelings for the younger man posed. The still rational part of his brain told him it was no exaggeration, but Hannibal consciously chose to ignore it.
It had been years since Hannibal had engaged in sex. Not because he didn't have urges and not for lack of people showing an interest, purely and simply because it was invariably an emotionally messy affair unless of the paid for variety, and that had never held any appeal. Anonymous one night stands had played a part but they were usually hugely dissatisfying, had an attached risk of people desiring more from him than just one night and in reality offered him little more than what he could provide with his own right hand. Also going in self-gratification's favour was that his right hand had no expectation of niceties or cuddling afterwards.
Hannibal squeezed the muscled thigh beneath his free hand, using the other in tandem with his mouth on Will's cock, laving and sucking and stroking and thoroughly enjoying himself whilst doing it. He stared up at Will as he did, occasionally rewarded by a dark gaze meeting his own, and listened intently to the erotic sounds his actions were eliciting, both driving his own arousal higher until he simply had to do something about it. With one last thorough swipe of his tongue, Hannibal released the other man and crawled back up the length of his body only to have Will tug his face to his own and kiss him hard, not stopping until Hannibal was the one to groan.
Eventually pulling back slightly, the older man brushed his nose against Will's, breath falling heavily against the younger man's lips as Will once more met and held his gaze.
"Are you a virgin?" Hannibal asked quietly, voice a rich rumble. He was fairly certain that he wasn't, but given their conversations hadn't covered this particular subject it seemed wise to ask. Will huffed out a breath that could have been a laugh, lips turned up but gaze averted momentarily as he shook his head; there was obviously a story there and he filed his response away for further investigation before kissing him lightly, then climbing off of him and starting across the room. Will's protest at the loss of contact died on his lips as the older man disappeared into the en-suite and re-emerged scant seconds later with a small tube.
Swinging his legs off the bed, Will sat up and reached for him as he returned, hooking his fingers into the red silk at his waist and slowly tugging it down. Hannibal closed his eyes and exhaled as warm fingers curled around his erection, a thumb brushing precum over the sensitive head causing his hips to cant forward into the touch as Will set a steady rhythm, the room silent apart from their breathing.
"How do you want me?"
Hannibal forced his eyes open at the other man's soft words, looking down to find Will staring up at him, need plain on his face.
"On your back," he answered after a brief moment's thought. Relinquishing his hold on him, Will scooted back on the bed and lay down, Hannibal quickly squeezing a generous amount of lube onto the index and middle fingers of one hand before moving to lie down on his side beside him.
Hannibal took his time with the preparations, more time than he had ever bothered with previously and more than was strictly necessary, oddly struck by the vulnerable position Will had placed himself in. He knew Will trusted him, had counted on it, even played on it before, but this was…different. With Will's hand on his cock and three of his own fingers buried inside the other man, his usual standard of coherent thought was somewhat lacking in substance making the exact difference hard to analyse, but it prompted a strange fluttering sensation in his chest that he couldn't quite identify. Will had shifted slightly in discomfort when Hannibal had slipped the first finger into his tight channel and it had bothered him, enough for him to offer a murmured apology and a deep kiss. Eventually he followed with a second, pressing them up until he'd nudged the other man's prostate to compensate for the burn, Will's hips arching off the bed and a quiet curse rolling off his tongue. The third had seen the younger man actively trying to force his fingers deeper but that also bothered Hannibal because it wasn't like him to be so cautious and concerned. Outwardly he might seem it, but the vast majority of the time it was because it was the response expected of him, not because he genuinely felt it. Will was different, he had already established that, but that difference was also a worrying prospect even as the other man lost patience and tugged Hannibal between his open legs.
The thought that perhaps this hadn't been such a good idea crossed his mind even as he lined himself up. Any further thought was taken out of his hands when Will shifted and the head of his cock slid inside the younger man.