Bonus chapter 9:

"You're home just in time," Hannibal said.

"In time for dinner?… Hannibal?" Will asked surprised when he entered the kitchen and dining room. Hannibal must had been cooking for hours. The lovely smell of vanilla streamed into Will's nose before Hannibal put something away into the fridge. Will was fixated on the dining table which not only was decorated with a tablecloth and a burning candle, but also with several rose pedals. He had never thought Hannibal to be such a romantic.

"School has just started so I have nothing to correct nor prepare for now. I thought I might take the time to do something special," Hannibal explained. "Please sit down. I am nearly ready."

Will was too baffled to speak. His heart was pumping fast. Hannibal had expressed romantic tendencies before but only ever in a slight way, not like this.

"What's for dinner?" he asked.

"For starters, we will have roasted butternut squash soup."

"Excuse me?"

Hannibal laughed with his rough voice and turned around with a bowl of a deep orange liquid that was topped with green herbs that Will could not identify.

"What is a butternut?" Will asked.

"It's a type of pumpkin. There is a delicacy shop downtown. I wanted to surprise you with something new." Hannibal also served himself and sat down opposite to Will.

"What's the occasion?"

"Does there have to be an occasion?"

"Hannibal, you know how much of our first three years together I actually remember. I was under shock, in a poor mental condition, and I was regularly abused by your for your stupid game."

"Today nine years ago you were very clear-minded. Perhaps the most clear-minded I have ever seen you."

"Today nine years ago we killed the Red Dragon," Will realized. Their first murder together. It had felt so good, so right. It was when he had decided to either die with Hannibal or live with Hannibal. "The soup is fantastic," Will said after he had tasted it. They had been together for nearly a decade but Hannibal still surprised him with new flavors and new arrangements. And most of the time Will did not even realize what type of meat he was eating – unless he had seen the raw meat before Hannibal had prepared it or he knew what Hannibal had taken from their reserve.

After starters, Hannibal first put a big salad bowl in the middle which contained besides the normal ingredients also croutons, corn, pointed pepper, and some things that Will could not identify. The course itself consisted of a meat that Will also could not name correctly and small potatoes with some sort of special sour cream. Will had given up learning all the names and specialties of the dishes that Hannibal served him.

"What kind of meat is it?" Will asked.

"Taste it," Hannibal encouraged him.

Will was not as much into eating people as Hannibal but years of travelling with a murderous cannibal made you loosen your preoccupations.

"Heart. Definitely heart," Will replied. Their last victim had been a member of a human trafficking ring who had misread Hannibal's signals and had wanted to sell him a Vietnamese wife.

Hannibal smiled; he was proud of his husband being able to distinguish different types of human meat and organs by now.

"Is it symbolic?" Will asked.

"Isn't everything we do?"

Will smiled. He knew where it was going tonight and by the amount of wine that Hannibal gave him, it would be a night of pleasure, not of pain.

For dessert, Hannibal flambéed crème brulé right in front of Will. He did not know whether it was the heat of the flame that he was feeling or Hannibal's attractiveness. In any way, Will loved to taste Hannibal's food and he loved to taste Hannibal himself later.

"Let's clean tomorrow," Hannibal suggested when Will helped him put the dishes into the sink. His hands glided over Will's hand and Will heard him sniff the scent of his aftershave. Hannibal was choosing Will's aftershave by gifting him a different one every Christmas. Will did not want to know how many stores Hannibal searched and how many test samples he smelled until he found something that he would like on him.

Will put his head backwards on Hannibal's shoulder, sliding his beardy cheek on his shaven one. "What do you have in mind instead?"

Hannibal laughed quietly. He turned his head and faced Will. He stared into his eyes for a long time and Will realized that despite all the time, Hannibal freaked him out a bit. This is what he loved about him. He no longer feared him, he was playing with fire and he loved to get burned.

Hannibal eventually tilted his head forwards and started pressing his lips onto Will's. They were so small and so wet. Will felt like getting lost in an ocean every time that Hannibal allowed him the pleasure of long and romantic encounters instead of just a brief kiss to show approval. Hannibal turned his body around and put his hands on Will's but. Gently, not abruptly as usually, he pulled Will towards him until their chests touched. Hannibal was looking down on Will and Will closed his eyes when their lips met again. He enjoyed feeling the breath of Hannibal and standing so close to him. When he opened his eyes again, he looked straight at Hannibal whose eyes were smiling more truthfully than his lips.

Hannibal's hands glided over Will's back. Then they worked their way over the hips and to the front. Slowly, they unbuttoned his shirt until Will's chest lay bare. Hannibal's hand glided over them and Will realized how warm his hands were. He closed his eyes again and enjoyed the touch. His own hands found their way onto Hannibal's waist. They pulled out the shirt from his trousers and he worked the buttons from bottom to the top. When their chests were on display, they stood closer to each other until their skin touch again. Will rested his hand on Hannibal's shoulder and feel the hand of his husband glide into his hair. The head massage alone felt relaxing so that Will wished to fall asleep on the spot. Like in trance he noted how Hannibal worked his way to their upstairs bedroom. Will's feet moved opposite to Hannibal's and were walking backwards. Hannibal watched out for him not to stumble on their stairs until they arrived on the second floor.

Hannibal opened the door behind Will and pushed him further. He then stripped Will's shirt off and then quickly brushed his own off. Will was breathing heavily when they both stood topless in the room whose default lightening was red and yellow and very dim.

Hannibal's hands glided all over his body as if they were one and finally got down to the button and zipper of his jeans. Will felt them fall down half the way and Hannibal did the rest. Will stepped out of them. Why did intimacy with Hannibal feel like a drug? Will stumbled backwards and sat down a bit more rapidly down on the bed than he had intended to.

"Are we feeling a little tipsy?" Hannibal asked.

"I can handle my liquor, don't worry," Will answered and bent forward, longing for Hannibal to come closer to him. Hannibal's hand glid over Will's neck and cupped his chin, raising it so that Will would directly face him. Will wondered whether this would lead to a blowjob when Hannibal removed his trousers and folded them neatly on the nearby chair. But instead of pushing Will's face against the obvious bulge in his white, skintight underpants, Hannibal pushed Will gently down onto the bed and climbed over him. Will worked himself backwards until his head lay between the two pillows on the top end. Hannibal took the pillows and put them under Will's bottom. But instead of starting preparations, he climbed further on top of him and started kissing him romantically, drowning him in an ocean of tenderness.

Will's breath got heavier and when the deformation in his boxershorts met that of Hannibal's underpants, he could not help but moan. Hannibal took that as a sign and kissed Will on his cheek, his neck, his breast, and then he sat up between Will's legs. When he started to pull down his shorts, Will raised his legs into the air and onto one side so that Hannibal could pull the last piece of clothes off him. Hannibal threw them heedlessly onto the floor. Then he quickly stripped himself with the elegant move of a dancer. Will always marveled at his flexibility and elegance.

Soon enough, Hannibal's face was back hovering over his, while his hands were searching for the lube in the nightstand. He then raised his body again and started to apply the gel to his fingers at first.

"Are you ready, Will?"

Will nodded heavily panting. With one hand, Hannibal started to widen Will adding one finger after the other while his other hand was working on Will's erection. Will closed his eyes. He felt so blessed when there was no pain involved. Not that he wouldn't like some BDSM play, especially with Hannibal, but this, here, was something special. That was how Hannibal really was, deep down. He had pulled off all his masks, just for him.

Then, Will finally felt Hannibal inside him. The tip at first, gently in and out, until he worked himself in. Hannibal did it slowly, now his lubed hand was rubbing Will's penis and massaging his balls, while his other hands first glided over his chest again. When Hannibal had entered Will with his entire length, he bent forward and put one hand on the bed for a better grip. He began his work, increasing steadily in speed and matching his movements with his work on Will's penis and his breathing rhythm. His panting grew quicker and his moans louder. The heavy breathing of Hannibal gave him an additional boost, especially when Hannibal bent forwards and moaned into his ear.

Eventually, Will could not hold it anymore and came. The white sticky ejected onto his belly and Hannibal released into Will. Hannibal's movements became slower until they stopped. He lingered for a few moments, kissing Will onto the cheek and on the mouth, before he pulled out. Will grabbed for the paper tissues on the nightstand and handed them Hannibal. Hannibal cleaned his hands and his penis, but before he swiped the liquid off Will's belly, he glid his wet tongue over it and tasted his semen. Then he cleaned the rest and lay down next to Will. Will turned around and cuddled himself into Hannibal's arms which closed around him. For a while, they lay there, Will watching Hannibal's chest heaving and lowering, his mind empty, not a single thought crossing his mind, only emotions. Hannibal had his eyes closed, enjoying the dedication that Will gave to them and the trust with which he bestowed him.