Forcing his claws back was a feat of immense self-control while his lover downright sang T'senri's name in his near-musical voice. Holding to his leash with effort, he thoughtfully prepared his prince's beautiful body to take him, barely twice having to pacify Raha's relentless squirming with a bite or light, warning pull on his tail.
And, gods… but a few things made his mate sing for him more beautifully than that!
By the time he decided his delectable behind was ready for his claim, Raha had started to mewl incoherently, stretching his back in the maddening display of submission to lure his lover into taking him. Still, T'senri resisted that with the last shreds of willpower, instead wrapping his freed hand around the redhead's neck and forcing him even lower – to press his cheek against the surface of the blanket splayed under them.
"So prrretty, Rrraha," he hissed through his fangs, busy admiring his mate's beautiful body, as he carefully positioned his cock against his behind, nearly shaking with the mad need to slam into him and fuck him senseless.
"G-Gods, Snark… please… this is torture," his lover moaned, helplessly trying to push back on his flesh. T'senri chuckled breathlessly, then made it worse by letting his dick slide over his mate's opening without pushing into him. Raha's infuriated snarl rewarded him, but that swiftly trailed off to a whimper when he used it as an excuse to press tight against his back and bite him again at the junction of his neck and shoulder.
He purred his approval near-deafeningly into his tanned skin when Raha mewled and fell utterly plaint under him in instinctive submission. Then he pulled back just a breath to nuzzle against his lover's neck with a quiet laugh.
"Patience, my hearrrt," he reprimanded, trailing a line of small, sharp bites over his skin while tightening his grip on him to mark his dominance. He growled praise when his mate nearly mewled his apologies at that. "We arrre just getting starrrted, Rrraha. Play nice, my love," he cooed shamelessly, again nuzzling into his heated skin.
Then – only when his lover behaved, purring his need for him loudly – T'senri complied with a raspy groan, sinking into him up to the hilt in one powerful stroke. Raha arched under him with a delightful gasp, and his deep purrs grew louder when the Warrior stilled, letting his body adjust to the rough intrusion.
"Such a beautifully obedient mate I have," he purred back, freeing his lover's neck and wrists to brace one arm next to Raha's shoulder while the other rubbed his buttock fondly.
"Snark, p-please…" Raha moaned, tightening his tail around him almost painfully. T'senri growled softly and punished him with a sting of a slap of carefully measured strength, electing an intoxicating string of lovely whimpers from his male. His tail loosened swiftly, flicking over his skin and leaving behind the impression of the tongues of fire in its wake.
"You know the rrrules, my prrrince," he whispered against his neck, then lifted off his back and curled his free hand around his lover's hip, pulling him along and holding him completely still around his cock. The whole time fighting his body's furious need to fuck him furiously as he was dying to.
But this time, it was all for his mate's pleasure – an offering of sorts, proving only he could give his beautiful prince what he enjoyed the most in their mating. The true reason behind all of their games: the complete and uninhibited bliss of letting the other control their pleasure. The trust and confidence that with him, Raha was safe, adored, and wanted – in his utter devotion to fulfilling his needs finding his freedom from any doubts or insecurities.
He watched from under his lashes as his lover desperately fisted his hands in the soft material of the blanket and let his lips tilt into a downright evil grin, letting his mate feel the tips of his claws on his skin as he pulled out of his heat until only the tip of his dick breached him. Raha trembled, whimpering his name but kept utterly still, and for such beauty in his submission, T'senri gave him exactly what his body demanded. With pure effort biting back a relied whimper, he slammed into him again to the hilt with barely contained violence, sparing him none of his inhumane strength. His lover arched with the movement, almost howling his pleasure and holding onto the blanket for dear life as his whole body bounced with the brutal thrust.
"…more…" he mewled, and T'senri complied with a near-giddy grin, soon fucking him in a powerful, merciless rhythm and growling on each stroke. Angling them just the perfect way to have his mate soon lose it, chanting his name in the keening notes as he came for him, the black-haired Seeker didn't relent any – bracing his arms around his mate's shuddering body and rutting into him harshly, until he whined in overstimulation but started to once more rock back and forth against his mad thrusts.
By the time he came for the third time, T'senri had to bite him again, whimpering involuntarily as not coming as well was painful. Digging his claws into the material and fighting for restraint, he slowed down but rolled his hips on every push into his mate's body, dying with the pure pleasure of Raha's hoarse now mewls and whimpers. Shifting to take him deeper, his lover clawed at the blanket, in tiny gasps between his maddening sounds only spurring him on.
"You arrre mine, Rrraha," he snarled, pulling back from his bite and from his mate's back to wrap his hands around his hips and pulling and pushing his body to meet his flesh, set to fuck him even harder, satisfied only when his prince wailed his name as he peaked again, and that was too much… too good.. and T'senri snapped with a roar, as his whole body nearly spasmed with the strength of his orgasm. Panting harshly and whimpering, he, with almost numb fascination, watched his seed spill over from his mate's body, pumping his dick into him until he had no more to give. Then he sagged against his back with near-deafening purrs of bliss, drowning in his high as he nuzzled against his lover's shoulder with boundless affection.
"H-Holy… fuck…" Raha gasped, then chuckled in a raspy voice, pushing his arm around his head to scratch at the back of his ear shakily.
"Enjoyed…?" he purred teasingly, shifting to lay on his side and pulling his lover along to wrap his arms and tail around him securely.
"You have to a-ask?" he replied with a quiet, breathless laugh, wrapping his hands around his forearm. "You have no equal in making me come undone, my beast," he whispered, smoothing his hands over his arm before he cleared his throat and tapped against his skin meaningfully. T'senri complied, relaxing his grip enough to let his mate turn around in his arms. He grinned with purely male satisfaction at his beautiful blush, freeing one hand to brush back the red strands that, at some point, slipped his customary now hairpins. And his heart melted when Raha caught his hand and nuzzled into his palm while his crimson irises filled to the brim with boundless, tender affection. "I love you, Senri," he said quietly, holding his enamored stare.
"And I love you, Raha," he answered, delicately rubbing his thumb over his heated skin as he inclined his head and brought their foreheads together.
"And…" his lover chuckled funnily, tightening his hand around his. "…I do hope that you don't mind not asking you beforehand, my heart, but if you do me the honor… in a bit over a moon, marry me, Snark?"
He blinked slowly, leaned his head away, and grinned slyly, wiggling his dark eyebrows playfully.
"Oh…? I don't know…" he pursed his lips in a pout and wrinkled his nose, watching his lover's expression twitch as he fought the need to snort at him. "A moon, you say…? Dunno, Raha, I'm quite a busy man," he sighed with exaggerated resignation.
"Are you…?" his lover arched his eyebrows at him and put on an impressive pout of his own. Defeated instantly, T'senri gushed embarrassingly, then rained adoring, shameless kisses over his mate's face until he snorted and pushed him back, snickering at him. "Gods, you're impossible…. But I'm serious now, Snark, and I already set the preparations in motion, asking your mom for help organizing the whole thing."
"She had to be thrilled," he said, wrapping his hand around his lover's neck and rolling to his back, pulling him along until Raha settled atop of him, straddling his waist as he braced his hands around the Warrior's head.
"She was," his lover chuckled, then leaned in to press a sweet, tender kiss on his mouth. "So… what do you say, Senri?"
"Silly Raha," he sighed loudly, rubbing his hands over his thighs as he grinned at him crookedly. "If I had my way, I would have brought you the altar over six years ago, my prince. I want you – every single way I can have you – then, now, and for the rest of eternity," he said with utter conviction.
"Good," his mate whispered with a smile, pushing his hand under T'senri's head and tilting his head as he leaned in and placed another kiss, now on his throat. "Because that's what I want, too, my beast," he growled softly, trailing his mouth toward his shoulder, and he arched his neck harder, shamelessly purring in invitation as he wrapped his hands around his lover's behind in a possessive claim. "For you to be mine… always," he trailed off to another growl and then bit him, groaning quietly into his skin, and the sound seemed to reverberate down to the deepest recessed of the Warrior's soul as he moaned deeply at the sensation… then knew no more.
"How are you feeling?" Ares asked, rubbing his hand over his husband's back.
"Better," Damon sighed, barely shifting delicately to rest against him more comfortably, and kept his eyes closed, simply enjoying his lover's heat. "What Hades did… helped to fill out quite a few holes," he chuckled sheepishly, then deep, slow purrs vibrated at the back of his throat when Ares wrapped his arms around him securely, burying his face against his throat.
"I'm glad," he whispered with a relieved sigh. "I'm still going to make you pay for what you did, my heart, but can't do that until you're fully back to yourself."
"Mhmm," he hummed his agreement with resignation, gladly melding deeper into his embrace. "Of course, you will."
"I'm serious," his husband grumbled, and Damon smiled involuntarily. "Not to mention, you still owe me for that last bet."
"Mhmm," he hummed again, biting back a snicker when Ares lightly swatted his bottom in punishment for his tone, apparently.
"You can be so unbearably smug sometimes," he complained with a funny annoyance in his deep, rumbling voice.
"Sometimes," he replied smoothly and grinned at another grumble against his skin. Then he sighed and lifted slightly in his husband's grasp, bracing against his chest as he looked with some uncertainty into the nearly luminous sky-blue irises he loved longer than the world around them existed. "What now…?"
"Meaning… now that our work is done?" Azem replied, putting his hands around his cheeks.
"Yes, that, obviously," he snickered, almost giddy as his lover's eyes lit up with pleasure while they trailed over his face.
"Now… I'm going to fuck you," Ares stated in a very serious tone, and Damon wiggled his eyebrows playfully, sending him a coy grin. "Then… we will just… be and enjoy this new, wild world alongside our boys, friends, and family. How about that?" he asked with his trademark crooked grin – that, in Damon's enamored opinion – Senri's couldn't quite match.
"That sounds like a plan," he grinned back, then lifted, letting his lover claim his lips in a deep, delicious kiss and downright laughed with unbound abandon when Ares rolled them over, pinning him down with a rumbling growl.
SIX MOONS LATER
"That's good, my Warrior," his lover purred blissfully, then freed his hands to wrap his muscular arms around T'senri's neck to pull him closer – then nipped delicately on his lower lip – tearing a helpless, hungry growl from his throat as their bodies pressed against each other in the most… tantalizing way. "Now that we're spoken for, you don't mind if we… fuck?" he said, blushing beautifully but with a teasing smile that had T'senri's heart stop.
"If you're… sure…"
Raha downright squeaked and flustered when the door of his office suddenly snapped open, and his husband walked in with a huge, cocky grin.
"Aha, caught!" Senri sing-a-songed teasingly, stopping at the other side of his desk and resting his hands on the dark-red wood and leaning forward while the redhead with a fiery blush hastily folded the papers spread out in front of him, pouting something fierce at his tall lover.
I have no idea why you are embarrassed about that, Damon said with a chuckle. And it was just getting to the good part, too…
Hush, he hissed at him, blushing even darker as he attempted to flutter his lashes innocently at his dark-haired mate. "I have no idea what you mean, Snark," he tried, folding his hands carefully to cover the page in front of him.
"Spare me excuses, my naughty prince," the former Warrior of Light leaned forward and flicked him on the nose playfully before walking around the desk and kneeling while stretching out his arms for the pleased by it Salina to jump in them from her customary nest. As the oldest of their 'pride,' their Princess insisted that the only proper place for her nest was in his office – where she could avoid the younger kittens whenever she was in the mood for a nap. "I have my sources," his husband stood up with a cat purring near-deafeningly when he rubbed her ear fondly. He walked around the desk again, settling in the chair and resting his booted feet at the empty corner of the desk while the nagxian cat curled into a ball of almost too-loud purrs on top of his stomach, obviously more than happy for a new spot for her nap. Raha narrowed his eyes at the cat suspiciously, and then his pout grew deeper as he raised his eyes toward the smirk on Senri's beautiful face.
"Are you teaching her to snitch on me?" he drawled, raising his eyebrows pointedly.
"Correction, my silly mate," his lover replied in a haughty tone, looking at his fingers running through the soft fur. "I'm teaching all of them to… inform me what everyone is up to when I'm not around," he wiggled his eyebrows playfully when Raha gasped with an offense. "My dream of having an army of spies is coming ever closer," he added in a sage tone, pointing his finger at him, and the redhead couldn't take it, snorting inelegantly.
"An army…?" he chuckled, relaxing involuntarily and leaning back in his seat. "Six cats is hardly an army, Snark."
"Ah, I'm only warming up, Raha," Senri grinned toothily, and he rolled his eyes, already more than expecting that sooner or later, there would be even more cats running around their house. Between his own and his lover's pleasure with the cute felines and their family's enthusiasm in taking care of them, with already six young, talking cats, he barely got to see any other than their Princess – as perhaps because she still remembered the moons while they were away, she insisted to stalk either him or Senri constantly.
The first morning in their new home – a massive mansion in Lavender Beds, the residential district of Gridania – he was woken up by his lover happily covering him with five adorable kittens that, in tiny voices, instantly demanded to 'play,' and considering the ridiculously cute way his mate funnily waved his tail at his instant enthusiasm, he was more than enamored instantly with all of them. And the way the kits reacted – with Ralla and Nari downright squealing with delight and each of them, including Navi and Nico, picking a kitten to be their constant companion with one graciously offered for Jalla to care for – again, he ended up barely able to interact with the kittens, and honestly… didn't mind the idea of getting more of them.
"Actually, glad you're here," he said, hoping to distract his lover from his… secret while folding his forearms over the pages and leaning forward. "We're invited to a celebration in Thavnair and…."
"Nuhuuu…" his mate pouted, pointing his finger at him accusingly and raising his eyebrows expectantly. "First, admit what you had been hiding from me this time, my silly Raha. Sali said you had been, and I quote, going redder constantly while writing lately," he grinned triumphantly when – as if to prove their daughter's words – he blushed darkly, and his eyes darted away from his amused gaze. "Come on, spill."
Busted, Damon chortled quietly, and he rolled his eyes, going even redder as he cleared his throat.
"Well…" he said, smiling sheepishly as he looked back at his husband. "I might have… thought to write down the account of our adventures, Snark."
"Ohhh…?" his lover grinned his ridiculous, goofy grin, wiggling his eyebrows meaningfully as he went back to petting the blissed-out cat in his arms. "And that's making you so 'blushy'?" he looked toward the papers under his arms with obvious enthusiasm. "I guess… there are some naughty bits, then?" he snorted a laugh when Raha almost squeaked with embarrassment, covering his flaming face with his hands. "Aww… adorable. So, you had been writing your own 'fanfiction' now?" he chortled when the redhead tossed him a deadpan stare through his fingers.
"It's hardly… fanfiction if it's true," he pointed out hauntingly, even as his face blazed as inferno and pouted when his husband laughed at that.
"Sorry, sorry…" Senri waved his hand, then raised his eyebrows slightly. "Then, you'll read it for me, yes? Especially the naughty bits," he grinned toothily again. "I do like how riled up it gets you," he snorted at his expanse when Raha dropped his head against the papers with a groan. "My silly mate," he chuckled and sighed with obvious happiness, splaying in the chair comfortably. "You're going to send it to that newspaper you take your stories from…?"
"Are you kidding?" he gasped, looking up at him with an even hotter blush.
"I mean… why not?" Senri shrugged with a quiet laugh. "Most of them are written under pseudonyms anyway, right…? So no one has to know it's you… or it's true, right? If you're adding Damon and Ares's involvement… I don't think anyone would even believe that," he grinned even wider when the redhead frowned, looking toward his papers with unbidden consideration.
"I'll… think about that," he finally said, tossing him a slightly shy look from under his lashes as his heart stuttered at his husband's reassuring smile. "I mean… if you think it's any good," he added, dropping his gaze.
"I'm sure it is," Senri said confidently and shifted slightly in his seat as his long, black tail flicked with obvious enthusiasm. "So you will read it for me…?"
"O-Okay," he agreed with a quiet sigh, reached for the letter lying on the edge of his desk, opened it, and offered it to his lover. The black-haired Seeker took it from his fingers and settled back as his ice-blue eyes ran over the text. "Later. Anyway, as I said, we had been invited to the ceremony in Thavnair, love, and sometime before you barged in, Alisaie called to make sure we also received the invitation from Vrtra, and we will be attending."
"Oh?" his husband muttered, dropping the letter against his thigh as he looked at him again and smirked. "Let me guess… she's inviting Themis as her 'escort' and doesn't want to let him use us as the excuse to refuse again?"
"Something like that," he rolled his eyes with a chuckle, leaning back in his seat and running his fingers through his hair with a hint of frustration. "He's being unreasonably stubborn, I guess."
"Eh, you know his misgivings, Raha," he replied, putting the paper on the desk's surface and returning to petting purring Salina. When he blinked, his ice-blue eyes shifted to bright, sky-blue irises, and Ares grinned at him crookedly. "And… the last time he agreed to accompany her, you know what happened."
Raha snorted a laugh, leaning forward again and grinning at the immortal. To say stumbling upon them – Themis and Alisaie – kissing while they sneaked away from the crowd looking for a quiet place to perhaps… fool around a bit was hilarious.. was an understatement! But Ares's teasing his younger protégé afterward spooked Themis – and the next occasion the Scions were invited to a party, he used their, his, and Senri's absence to refuse her invitation.
And between them – and Ares and Damon, apparently – they had a running bet about how long it would take the Elzen to snag the stubborn immortal.
"If anything happens… this time, you should refrain from teasing him so much," he pointed out and chuckled when Ares shrugged helplessly and pursed his lips.
"It's a sure way to get him off my back, though," he said with resignation, and Raha snorted again.
As enamored with his idol as ever – since now Themis lived with them – whenever they didn't find him something to do, he tended to trail after Senri like a puppy and as cute as it was – and hilarious with the way it made his husband sometimes force Ares out to get a break from the young immortal's adoration and entertain his obvious need for his mentor's attention – he could easily imagine that there were few ways to have Themis leave them be.
While they and their friends decided to officially disband the Scions of the Seventh Dawn soon after his and Senri's Ceremony of Eternal Bond – that turned out to be an even bigger event that his lover's mother warned him about and went over his expectations. Sparking the raw enthusiasm among the most notable people of their world – though, the Ceremony itself was quite brief, it turned into a party that lasted nearly a week – with off-shots of it held at each city-state for the citizens who didn't manage to snag an invitation to the event itself that took place in their new then house.
Housing so many people for so long would not be possible without Damon's idea of magically 'expanding' the underground level of their mansion. With Hades and Hythlodaeus's help in arranging it – and Themis and Venat's coordination of the guests, they barely pulled it off anyway. If not for Ares carefully monitoring the moods and stepping in if there were some… misunderstandings between the inebriated people of too many different customs, he doubted it would go as well as it did.
But thanks to that using the occasion to introduce their Ancient friends – and their capabilities – to the most influential men and women of their realm, each of them seemed to make a massively positive impression – if they carefully omitted going anywhere near the word 'Ascian.' Plus, he and Damon used the party to mention their idea of reworking the Crystal Tower to serve as the gate to the remaining Reflections. To say the idea enjoyed the enthusiasm was an understatement! Their guests from Sharlayan especially, with Fourchenault as their representative, offered a massive donation toward that goal and help of their gleaners in securing the necessary materials in exchange for the possibility of sending their scholars across the Rift when it is safe and possible to do so.
Now, a moon away from officially starting the rebuilding and recalibration of the Allagan structure, they already had more than enough money and backing of the city-states to proceed – as when the word spread, the enthusiasm between the people of the Source to meet their 'neighbors' went over the roof. With the Scions carefully spreading the stories of their stay in the First and how different it was from their world, the merchants were literally dying to get their hands on the trading contracts across the Rift and pretty much tossing gil at him to make it a possibility. That Senri made it worse by gleefully offering 'samples' of the choice materials from the First to his 'favorite' stores – including some specials requested from the crafters of the Crystalline Mean – only spiked the appetites so much higher!
With Venat glad for her task of traveling to the remaining Reflections and establishing the talks with the representatives of their worlds – since they all agreed it would be unreasonable to start their endeavor without gaining the permission of the citizens of the respective shards – they calculated the day of the beginning of the rework and until then, they were free to enjoy their time however they chose for now, mentally preparing for the enormity of their plans.
Though, after all they went through already… it wasn't that scary – and perhaps that led him to think of writing down the account of their story – with Damon's gleefully cheering him on to add the… 'naughty' bits as Senri called those. And after his lover more than fulfilled his threat: demanding that Raha reads him his favorite stories… As he said, more often than not, it led to especially heated bouts of lovemaking that his husband never hid his enthusiasm for.
But that's just how it was with his silly, insatiable beast… and he hoped it would never change!
"If you do publish it, I have a title for you," torn out of his reverie, Raha blinked rapidly, looking up and smiling sheepishly under the amused stare of the ice-blue irises – realizing he missed the switch, looking toward the pile of the papers in front of him in his distraction.
"Which is…?" he raised his eyebrows expectantly, even as his face grew hot again when his lover dropped his feet to the floor and, despite a quiet meow of protest from their Princess, put her on the floor. Senri stood up and walked around the desk, then leaned in and wrapped his fingers around the redhead's chin, leaning in to press a sweet, tender his on his lips when Raha turned his chair toward him.
"'Ice and Fire,'" his lover chuckled, and he grinned, standing up and wrapping his arms around the black-haired Seeker's neck when his mate growled playfully and hooked his hands around his thighs, picking him and seating him on the edge of his desk. Pushing his legs apart, he settled between them, sending him an absolutely mind-blowing, fanged grin as he set to open his shirt slowly, and Raha grinned involuntarily, returning the favor impatiently. "How does that sound, my prrrince?" he rasped lazily, curling his hands around the redhead's ass and pulling his roughly to the edge of the desk and setting a small, sharp bite on his lower lip.
"Marvelous," he gasped, greedily smoothing his hands over his lover's pale skin and pushing the soft material of his black shirt off his shoulders.
"And I'll help you, love…" his husband sent him a sly grin, hooking his clawed hand around his neck as he leaned in and tore a mewl of arousal from his mouth as he trailed his rough tongue over the Archon's mark on his throat. "…making sure that the… love scenes are accurate to my recall," he chortled quietly when Raha sighed with exaggerated resignation but gladly wrapped his arms around his neck, running his fingers through his husband's ink-black hair.
"You just want to use it as an excuse to fuck," he accused with a moan while his lover chuckled, holding him still as he rutted his more than aroused flesh into him.
"I don't need excuses, my silly mate," Senri purred, nuzzling against his throat affectionately.
"True," he agreed with a laugh, then leaned away to pull his lover into a deep, heated kiss, purring his need for him and swallowing his hungry growls as Senri's hands eagerly moved to the fastenings of his pants.
No, they never needed excuses – equally as hungry for each other since the moment he broke through his inhibitions – that now seemed so silly – and be it by fate or instinct, decided to approach the famous, beautiful Warrior with the idea of becoming his friend. And now, years down the road and after everything they had been through – good and bad – each day he woke and fell asleep in his beast's possessive embrace, he thanked the stars for the bravery to do so.
He thanked their immortals for their schemes and directions that brought them through the storm unscathed and let this timeline play out better than the one that started it all.
And – sometimes, when he thought about it – he thanked the gods as well, that in their infinite mercy, allowed for the most uncanny event in existence: as once upon a time frost caught flame, so was he afforded the wonder of his soulmate's heart.
Ice and fire… fitting, indeed.