Isaac stared at him in complete astonishment, as if he had never expected to see him again so suddenly. And yet Noctis had told him beforehand that he would come back. He had actually wanted to give Isaac more time, but he simply hadn't felt right leaving him alone.
He had lasted half an hour. Thirty agonizingly long minutes during which his thoughts had circled endlessly, until he finally gave in and turned back.
His gaze swept over Isaac, who sat on the bed in the wrecked room, breathing heavily. The mattress had shifted, the sheets were half torn off, and objects were scattered everywhere. Isaac's hands were gripping the blanket so tightly that his knuckles stood out white. His eyes were red and swollen from crying, but contrary to Noctis's worst fear, there was more than just emptiness.
Isaac looked furious.
Seeing him like that relieved Noctis immensely.
The past half hour had been absolute hell for him. He had left Isaac in a state he had never seen him in before. Isaac was strong and had fought his way through everything, no matter how difficult the challenge he faced.
But this time, he had been afraid that Isaac might seriously hurt himself.
Anger was good. He could deal with anger. Unlike all the tears Isaac had shed since learning about the boss's machinations and everything Noctis had been preparing all these years.
"Noctis…," Isaac finally breathed, his voice hoarse and breaking. He bit his lower lip, as if trying to stop himself from saying more, and looked away. "…you were right about everything."
Noctis suppressed a curse. His hand clenched involuntarily into a fist, his nails digging into his palm.
So all that sick shit in the folder was exactly what he had expected. He had never known what exactly was in it, but they had had their theories—especially after Vincent had discovered that the orphanage belonged to the boss, and after he had learned from Isaac that Levi had been responsible for his misery.
For so many years they had tried to obtain all the incriminating evidence. For so long he had tried to punish those who had hurt Isaac. Of course, all within the framework of his brother's plan. Noctis might be hot-headed, but he wasn't stupid.
Even if he killed everyone who harmed this city, it wouldn't change anything at all. New groups would keep emerging and take over the operations of the fallen clans. They had to stop it in a way that involved the police.
Besides, they finally had the lists in their hands—the ones they had been waiting for all these years. If they brought about the boss's spectacular downfall, then all those lurking in the shadows whose names were on those lists would tremble. They had their leverage now—and a list they could work through.
If one disappeared after another, at least seventy percent of the city's problems would resolve themselves. Their goal was not to solve or suppress all crime. There would always be idiots trying to conduct business in the shadows.
And then the Webster clan would return and crush those operations again.
His gaze fixed on Isaac.
Once the boss and Levi were gone, Isaac could finally live the life that had been taken from him for so many years. A quiet life. A safe life—at Noctis's side. He would inflict irreparable damage on both of them until they wished they had never been born.
His expression hardened as he saw the damp traces on Isaac's cheeks. They would pay for every single tear.
There was so much he wanted to say to Isaac.
How sorry he was for everything.
How often he had been on the verge of killing the boss with his own hands. How much self-control it had taken to stick to Vincent's plan instead of giving in to his hatred. How great the fear had been of losing Isaac for good.
And how much he had missed him.
The mere thought of not being allowed to touch Isaac anymore had slowly driven him mad. He had felt as though he were being torn apart inside every time Isaac had avoided him or looked at him as if there were nothing left between them but distrust.
His desire for this man was far from normal—but what was he supposed to do? He loved no one more than Isaac Walker.
The barista who, with a cool expression in public, made the best coffee he had ever tasted. The artist whose paintings had earned him a large following. The thief Moonshadow who prowled at night. The mage of the Webster clan whose abilities were still unrefined—and the man who had once given himself to Noctis, body and soul, before his trust had been broken.
To him, Isaac was the most beautiful, fascinating, and desirable person he had ever encountered—and that would never change.
Now that Isaac finally knew the truth, maybe Noctis could stop holding himself back. Maybe they could finally find their way back to each other, without lies between them.
Maybe this time, he could bind Isaac to himself completely.
Slowly, he walked toward him.
Isaac raised his gaze and looked at him with a determination that sent Noctis's entire body into tense anticipation. He loved that expression. Whenever Isaac had made a decision, there was something dangerous in his eyes.
Even if Noctis still didn't know what that decision was this time.
He stopped directly in front of the bed. Isaac now had to look up at him.
"What was in the folder?" Noctis asked calmly.
Isaac's jaw tightened.
"Everything, damn it," he growled furiously. "I still can't comprehend that all these years he…"
He broke off, as if the thought alone threatened to overwhelm him again. His hands clenched tightly into the blanket.
"I want to see him bleed, Noctis."
A dark, pleasant shiver ran down Noctis's spine.
An angry Isaac was rare. Normally, he swallowed his pain, stayed silent, endured everything quietly until there was nothing left but exhaustion. But this time, his anger wasn't directed at Noctis.
It was directed at the boss.
And Noctis enjoyed it far more than he should have.
You can do whatever you want, darling.
He stepped closer, leaned down toward Isaac, and climbed onto the bed with one leg. One hand braced itself beside him while the other gently touched Isaac's cheek. Carefully, he brushed away the last traces of tears with his thumb.
Isaac's reddened eyes, with those beautiful blood-red irises, immediately locked onto him.
"You're allowed to create a bloodbath if that's what you want," Noctis said softly. His voice was tender, a dangerous contrast to his words. "But first, we expose him publicly. Vincent has worked toward this moment for years."
"I'm not letting him take my revenge from me!" Isaac hissed. "You can't expect me to sit around doing nothing while he just gets locked away!"
Noctis pressed a finger against his lips.
"You'll get your revenge," he promised calmly. "There's always an afterward, darling."
His gaze darkened.
"Let's finish the plan first. After that, he'll belong entirely to you."
Isaac's eyes burned with fury and restless determination.
"No one is going to take him away from me. I will hurt him. I'll make him pay for everything he's done to me," he growled. "Even if it's the last thing I do."
His words sounded like a vow.
Noctis could accept Isaac's desire for revenge. In truth, he had wanted to hurt the boss himself. After all, the man hadn't just destroyed Isaac's life, but also his own and his brother's. However, Isaac was the only person for whom he could truly muster patience, and so he would take a certain satisfaction in watching him tear the boss apart. As long as the bastard suffered, Noctis was content.
The boss had killed Noctis's parents when he had been too young to form real memories of them. He only knew their faces from the photographs hanging in Vincent's office. Everything else was just a blur.
For so many years, he had exhausted all his patience at the boss's side. All so his brother's plan would work and they could free Isaac from his grasp. But soon, everything would come crashing down on the boss.
Just a few more days—and that only if the boss didn't notice in the meantime that his safe was empty. They barely had any time, and there was still so much to prepare.
Finally…
His gaze drifted back to Isaac as his hand once again brushed gently over his cheek.
They could have struck earlier.
But Isaac had been the one reason they hadn't. Because Noctis had wanted to get him out of the line of fire, and because they had wanted to bring him back to the clan without violence. His return had been chaotic, and yet Noctis couldn't be more grateful for everything that had happened, no matter how terrible it had been for both of them.
A faint smile touched his lips.
"He belongs entirely to you, darling."
There was still Levi, after all—someone he could take his frustrations out on. Perhaps he already had an idea of what to do with him.
Isaac leaned his head into Noctis's hand. He exhaled in relief, his gaze softening, though there was still a clear pain lingering in his eyes that struck Noctis sharply.
"I'm still angry at you," he said quietly. His hand took hold of Noctis's. "But you were right about everything, and I was too stubborn to believe a single word you said."
Noctis's expression grew slightly more serious.
"He manipulated you from the very beginning," he replied calmly. "How were you supposed to believe me?"
Isaac let out a quiet breath.
"I wouldn't have," he admitted.
His gaze drifted to the folder on the floor, as if its mere presence threatened to tear everything open again. "Not before I saw all of this."
A single tear slipped from the corner of his eye.
Isaac pressed his lips tightly together, as if trying to hold it back—or perhaps everything that came with it.
Noctis's thumb stilled against his cheek, catching the tear before it could fall further.
"You should have shown it to me sooner!" Isaac sobbed. "You shouldn't have kept it from me for so long! Do you have any idea what I've done for that bastard over these seventeen years?!"
"Darling…"
Noctis leaned forward and rested his forehead against Isaac's. For a moment, he closed his eyes, as if he had to remind himself to stay calm.
"I remember every single wound and every scar so vividly that I can barely keep myself from killing that bastard. I remember every humiliation he put you through and all those impossible assignments. Especially these past few months—ever since that damn cop got involved—it's burned into me so deeply that I would've liked nothing more than to drive my knife into his face more than once."
"Then why didn't you?!" Isaac struck his chest. "It was in your hands! Otherwise, you kill anyone and everyone without even batting an eye!"
Without hesitation, Noctis pulled him into an embrace and held him tightly. His hand moved soothingly over Isaac's back as Isaac pressed himself against him.
"I'm sorry, darling… there was no other way…," he said quietly. "There wasn't a single day I didn't want to tell you. I tried to tell you everything, to give you hints. But every time I said something negative about him, you got angry and shut me out. I couldn't do anything except show you that you could trust me and that you could always rely on me…"
Isaac clung to him, burying his face in the crook of Noctis's neck. His body trembled with every sob, his fingers gripping desperately into the fabric of his shirt.
"You're an idiot…," he managed, his voice breaking. "You always knew how much I care about you…"
His voice faltered.
"Do you really think I wouldn't have believed you? A few months ago… or a few years ago?"
His grip tightened.
"That folder has existed for so long! I would never have had to deal with Noah and the cops! I might have lived a completely different life!"
He pulled away from Noctis and looked at him, his face streaked with tears.
Even like this, he was simply beautiful.
"We could have disappeared! You and me—just like you suggested all this time!" Isaac snapped. "Instead, you waited until everything ended up in this fucked-up situation!"
He hit his shoulder again, weaker this time—more an expression of frustration than a real attack. Then he looked away, as if he couldn't bear to face him any longer.
Noctis didn't let him.
His hand slid beneath Isaac's chin, gently but firmly forcing him to look at him again.
"I never knew how you felt, darling. It took so long to get any kind of emotion out of you that I thought you would never belong to me," Noctis said with a faint smile. "I've loved you ever since the first moment I saw you, and I looked forward to every single day we met. Every training session, every mission, and every time we ran into each other by chance."
He brushed his thumb over Isaac's cheek.
"That's why I kept approaching you. Because I wanted to know how you were doing and whether you'd been hurt after a mission. Sometimes I even followed you because I was afraid something might happen to you. You only really started to open up about a year ago."
Isaac pressed his lips together.
"Because you drove me insane," he muttered at last. "You kept suddenly appearing behind me and scaring me half to death with your random visits."
Noctis's smile widened.
"You were scared? I never noticed."
"Who wouldn't be?!" he huffed.
For a brief moment, silence settled between them. Not an uncomfortable silence—rather one that carried all the unspoken years within it.
"In any case, it was only a few months ago that I realized you might have at least a hint of feelings for me," he continued. "Only then did I feel like you were ready to listen to me, and that we could finally put an end to all of this. But I lost myself in you—and I didn't want to ruin what I had finally achieved."
Slowly, he raised a hand to Isaac's cheek. His fingers brushed gently over his skin.
"I love you more than anything in this world, darling," he whispered.
He kissed him gently.
"And I regret every single day that I failed to show you the truth."
Their lips met again. This time the kiss lingered longer, calmer, heavy with all the things they had never spoken aloud. Isaac stiffened instinctively at first. But after a few seconds, he hesitantly returned the kiss.
"Noctis… I can't fully trust you yet," he murmured against his lips. "I don't even know if I still can."
Noctis closed his eyes for a moment.
"Then let me prove it to you," he whispered softly. "Let me earn back your trust. Step by step."
His heart was beating far too fast. For days, the memory of Isaac lying motionless in his arms had haunted him. How frighteningly cold his skin had become. The image had burned itself into his mind.
Isaac studied him for a long moment, uncertain. Then he pulled him close again and kissed him this time of his own accord.
Noctis immediately lost himself in the touch. Every movement, every breath felt like salvation. Isaac's lips were soft again, no longer dry and cracked like they had been after the gunshot wound. Color had finally returned to his skin.
Slowly, Noctis wrapped his arms around his waist and pulled him closer. He could feel Isaac's warmth through the fabric of their clothes and savored every single second of it.
He had been so afraid of losing him.
Isaac wrapped his arms around his neck while Noctis pulled away from his lips and scattered gentle kisses along his throat. His fingers brushed over Isaac's back. A soft moan escaped Isaac, and Noctis paused for a moment just to take in the sound.
It was the most beautiful proof that Isaac was still with him.
He had struggled with everything that had happened. Isaac had almost died.
Noctis wrapped his arms around his waist and pulled him closer, rubbing against Isaac with small circular movements of his hips. How badly he wished they had already gotten rid of their clothes.
He had died in his arms while he had tried to get him out of the museum.
Isaac pressed against his stomach with unmistakable hardness. He wrapped his arms around Noctis' neck while Noctis left his lips and kissed his way down Isaac's throat. One hand caressed his lover's ass, while the other slipped beneath Isaac's shirt and gently stroked over his chest until he found his nipple and kneaded it between two fingers.
He was rewarded with a sweet moan.
The image of Isaac lying lifeless beneath him suddenly flashed before his eyes. The way he had resuscitated him — he could still hear the bones cracking beneath the pressure of his hands.
But now Isaac's heart was beating strongly. Noctis could feel the pulse beneath his fingertips. He let out a quiet sigh and kissed Isaac's lips again. At the same time, he began undoing the button of Isaac's pants. Firmly, he pushed him back until he was lying on the messy bed.
He looked Isaac over from head to toe.
It had been a long time since he had seen Isaac without an injury that made his life harder. His pale cheeks were flushed from the kissing, his tears dried. His lips were slightly swollen from their kisses. He looked absolutely irresistible.
Beautiful.
Without another word, he leaned forward and pulled Isaac's pants off. Then he pushed up his shirt and turned his attention to Isaac's chest. His tongue teased the pale nipple, nibbling at it with his teeth before finally sucking on it as Isaac inhaled sharply.
Isaac buried his hands in Noctis' hair. Softly, he whispered his name. Noctis' body reacted instantly; his already painfully hard erection pressed impatiently against the waistband of his jeans. Slowly, he kissed his way lower until he reached the scar that had nearly killed Isaac.
For a moment, Noctis froze.
Then he leaned down and kissed the healed wound with almost reverent care.
"You're alive…" he whispered hoarsely. "I still can't believe you survived…"
"Noc…"
Isaac's voice was barely more than a whisper. Gently, he brushed a hand over Noctis' cheek.
Only when Isaac's thumb touched his skin did he realize it was slightly damp.
Was he crying?
"Why are you suddenly crying?" Isaac asked, confused.
Noctis let out a quiet, bitter laugh.
Because the last few days have been absolute hell. Because every single second I thought I was going to lose you.
"I was scared for you," he finally admitted softly. "Twice I thought you weren't going to make it."
Isaac's expression softened.
"But I survived," he said calmly and gently kissed his forehead. "I'm sorry I made you worry so much."
Noctis lowered his gaze.
"I thought you were going to leave me," he said quietly. Even he could hear how desperate he sounded.
Was this the stress of the past few days finally breaking out of him?
"I wanted to," Isaac admitted softly.
Noctis blinked and looked at his lover in shock.
Again, Isaac brushed a hand over his cheek. His touch was surprisingly gentle, his gaze soft.
"But I can't just leave you behind, Noctis. The feelings I have for you aren't something I can simply ignore," he continued. His voice dropped to a whisper. "No matter how angry I am with you."
"Isaac…"
But Isaac only pressed a finger to his lips, silencing him. There was a fragile vulnerability in his eyes, so delicate and unfamiliar that Noctis was afraid of destroying it with even the slightest wrong movement.
"I want to try rebuilding the trust we lost between us."
Isaac's confession and the promise that followed were more than Noctis could ever have hoped for. Didn't that make him the first person Isaac was truly trying for with all his heart? He couldn't fully describe the feeling that suddenly filled him.
But it felt good. He felt happy — and ready to do anything to earn back his lover's trust for real.
"I love you, darling," he murmured softly before kissing Isaac again.
Isaac's breath brushed against his lips. "I love you too, Noctis," he whispered back, barely audible.
Only reluctantly did Noctis pull away from him. For a moment he held Isaac's gaze, losing himself in his eyes, before slowly slipping his index and middle fingers between his lips and carefully wetting them. Isaac's full attention rested on him. His lips were slightly parted, his breathing already uneven, and the tension in his body clearly revealed how much the sight alone aroused him.
"Lean back, darling," Noctis said in a low, calm voice.
Isaac obeyed without resistance. Propped up on one elbow, he watched him closely while Noctis slowly slid off his underwear. The moment the fabric disappeared, Noctis leaned over him again. A challenging glint flashed in his eyes before he gently pressed his lips against Isaac's tip. Slowly, he let his tongue glide over it, circling the sensitive spot with deliberate precision before finally pressing the tip of his tongue against the slit.
Isaac's reaction was immediate.
A soft, strained moan escaped him as his fingers buried themselves deeper in Noctis' hair. That sound alone sent a satisfied warmth through Noctis' chest.
His fingers carefully stroked over Isaac's entrance, massaging him patiently and easing the tension little by little. His lips closed around Isaac's tip, letting more and more of his length slide into his mouth until he found a steady rhythm he could maintain effortlessly.
At the same time, he pushed two fingers into Isaac.
Noctis knew that Isaac had endured more over the past few days than he let show on the surface. The anger in his eyes may have been real, but the dried tear tracks told a different story.
Besides, he didn't just want Isaac to feel good. He wanted Isaac completely focused on him. He wanted Isaac to forget the Boss and Levi, at least for the next hour — or longer.
Isaac was supposed to call his name and, ideally, forget the reason for his tears altogether. Noctis wanted to merge with his lover and lose himself inside him. He needed to reassure himself in every possible way that Isaac was alive and that they were beginning to rebuild what they had lost over the last few days.
He needed Isaac. He needed his attention and his touch.
Noctis had definitely suffered during the days when he hadn't been able to feel Isaac as his own.
A throaty moan finally tore him from his thoughts.
Isaac was now lying fully on his back. His chest rose and fell rapidly while his fingers remained tightly tangled in Noctis' hair. His gaze was blurred with desire, and he looked at him with such longing that Noctis' heart involuntarily began to race.
"Noctis…," Isaac breathed out.
And the way he said his name alone was enough to make Noctis completely forget how fragile their relationship had still been only a few hours earlier.
Carefully, Noctis pushed a third finger into Isaac. By now, his body accepted him willingly; the muscle was pleasantly relaxed and yielded eagerly beneath his movements. Normally, he would already have been devouring Isaac completely. He did not even understand himself why, in this moment of all moments, he was being so patient and focusing entirely on Isaac's needs while completely ignoring his own.
Even though he himself was already at his limit.
Maybe he also wanted to show Isaac through sex just how much all of this meant to him.
How much Isaac meant to him.
Slowly, he curled his fingers and focused on the sensitive spot inside him, massaging it exactly the way Isaac loved. Immediately, he felt Isaac's body tighten around his fingers. From the way his hole clenched and throbbed around them, he knew Isaac would not need much longer before he came.
Isaac began moving along with his rhythm, subtly rocking his hips against his hand. By now, a constant stream of soft, breathless noises spilled from his lips, every single one sending another wave of hot arousal through Noctis' body.
So he took him deeper into his mouth.
He increased the pressure of his lips, sucking harder while his fingers continued gliding relentlessly over the most sensitive spot inside Isaac.
Isaac's reaction was immediate.
"N-Noctis… w-wait… it's too much…!"
Isaac's voice nearly broke. His hands pressed against Noctis' shoulders as if he wanted to push him away — yet at the same time, his fingers only tangled tighter in his hair.
Noctis looked up just in time to see Isaac's eyelids flutter and his features completely relax under the pleasure.
Slowly, Noctis let him slip from his mouth again. Deliberately, he swallowed what his lover had given him before dragging his tongue one last time over the sensitive tip. Afterwards, he ran his tongue over his lips in an almost provocative gesture and held Isaac's gaze.
Isaac let out a frustrated groan and buried his face in both hands.
"I hate that you still look breathtaking even after giving a blowjob…!" he muttered irritably.
Noctis smirked. He opened his pants and finally freed his own cock. Relief immediately shot through him, even if it only lasted a moment. By now he was so hard that every additional second without touch felt almost painful.
Impatiently, he slicked himself up. If he did not get inside Isaac soon, he was going to lose his mind. Well, more than usual. But that really was not the point right now. He was so painfully hard that he felt like he would burst if he did not deal with the problem soon.
"Breathtaking, hm?" he asked hoarsely.
His cheeks felt hot, and he was fairly sure Isaac's hands had completely ruined his hair by now. But the way Isaac was looking at him made it impossible to care.
Isaac nodded slowly.
"You're just good at everything you do. Seriously… when did you even learn that?"
Noctis leaned down toward him and gently pulled Isaac's hands away from his face so he could look at him again.
And for a moment, his breath almost caught. Isaac looked beautiful.
His breathing was quick, his pale skin noticeably flushed, and his white hair lay completely disheveled across the pillow. His lips were swollen from kissing, his eyes glazed with desire.
Noctis had put him in this state.
And only he would ever be allowed to see Isaac like this.
The thought made his dark desire for the man beneath him flare intensely inside his chest. He lifted Isaac's hand to his lips and slowly kissed the back of it.
"I just remember what you react to and what you like," he answered.
"That's all?" Isaac asked, and despite the faint teasing in his voice, there was an almost inaudible trace of doubt beneath it.
Noctis did not answer immediately. Instead, he lifted Isaac's leg slightly to get better access and slowly pushed into him. Isaac's eyes widened instantly.
"Wait—!" he blurted out quickly. "I just came… mnh—"
The rest of his protest dissolved into a muffled moan as Noctis continued pushing into him without hesitation. He savored every single reaction Isaac gave him — the warmth surrounding him, the uncontrollable trembling of his body, the immediate tightening around him.
Gently, Noctis brushed a pale strand of hair from Isaac's sweat-dampened face.
"But that's exactly what you like too," he murmured with a self-satisfied grin. "You love it when I keep going right after your first orgasm."
His gaze deliberately drifted to Isaac's hands, which had already tightened firmly around his forearms.
"You always cling to me," he continued softly. "Up here…"
Slowly, he thrust deeper, until Isaac sucked in a sharp breath.
"…and down here too, when your body simply refuses to let me go."
Then he kissed Isaac — first on the lips, then along his cheek and down to his neck.
"Idiot…," Isaac breathed out shakily. "Where do you even get all that ridiculous confidence from? You were exactly the same our first time."
Noctis straightened up slightly and thrust harder.
Isaac's entire body tensed in response. His fingers trembled noticeably against Noctis' skin, and that sensation alone drew a strained moan from Noctis' lips.
Fuck, this felt far too good. At least this time he could fully enjoy it, unlike the quickie he and Isaac had shared a few days earlier in the training hall.
"Why are you suddenly asking that?" Noctis asked hoarsely. His voice already sounded dangerously strained. "I can never control myself when it comes to you."
Isaac tightened around him again violently.
The sensation hit Noctis with such unexpected intensity that his entire lower body tensed painfully. A moment later, Isaac came with a loud, uncontrolled moan, and that sound finally pushed Noctis over the edge as well.
A wonderfully light numbness spread through his hips before he climaxed and spilled inside Isaac. He straightened up and pushed the sweat-damp hair from his forehead.
Then he grinned at Isaac breathlessly.
"Did you really think I'd already had experience before our first time?" he asked with a quiet laugh. "I was only waiting for you."
He continued moving slowly inside him, even though his body was still trembling faintly in the aftermath.
"For so long, actually, that I imagined more than once what it would be like if you finally accepted me."
Isaac blinked at him in surprise. Suddenly there was something uncertain in his expression, almost vulnerable.
"I'm twenty-five," he said quietly.
Noctis tilted his head in confusion. "And?"
Isaac let out a breathless scoff before another soft moan escaped him when Noctis took his hand and firmly intertwined their fingers.
"You seriously want to tell me you waited that long?" Isaac muttered in disbelief. "You're impatience personified."
Noctis laughed.
"And yet I still waited."
He bit Isaac gently on the neck, just hard enough to draw another shiver from him. Even as he spoke, he could already feel his body hardening again. So he slowly increased the pace.
"Are you calling me a liar again?" Noctis murmured against his skin before pressing a needy kiss into the crook of Isaac's neck and lightly biting down.
Isaac shoved at his shoulder. "Obviously. Who waits that long for someone to—"
Noctis cut him off with a passionate kiss. For a moment, he devoted himself entirely to Isaac's lips while pressing Isaac's legs closer to his body so he could thrust deeper inside him.
Isaac's words dissolved into the kiss. He wrapped his legs around Noctis' hips and his arms around his neck. Noctis gripped Isaac's waist and pulled him tighter against him. He wanted to feel more of him. Everything felt wonderfully intense — the warmth, the wetness, the sensation of their sweat-slick skin. Everywhere they touched tingled pleasantly.
As far as Noctis was concerned, they could stay connected like this for a very long time.
Finally, Isaac was allowing his touch again. Finally, he was allowed to touch him and feel him once more.
I'm so glad you survived.
Their kisses grew hungrier, more intense. Their tongues met again and again, slow and familiar, until Noctis changed his rhythm and a throaty sound escaped Isaac.
"Noc…," Isaac breathed shakily against his lips.
Never again would he allow Isaac to be torn away from him — and just as little would he allow Isaac to leave him.
You belong to me.
The thought sent a shiver through him.
Isaac's body pulsed rhythmically around him. It became harder and harder to resist the sensation. The orgasm built steadily, electric through his veins, leaving him feeling strangely light and carefree. The sweet sounds Isaac made echoed inside him. He loved everything this man gave him and shared with him.
Noctis loved the fact that he was the only person who had ever shared Isaac's bed.
When climax finally overtook him, he moaned helplessly against Isaac's mouth. Moments later, Isaac came too with a deep, trembling sound that struck Noctis to his core.
Noctis held Isaac close and sat up with him still in his arms, without withdrawing from him. Slowly, he kept moving.
"I would have waited forever, Isaac," Noctis finally said breathlessly, returning to their earlier argument. "If you knew how nervous I was our first time…"
He stroked over Isaac's lower back. He still had not let go of his hand.
"Did you really think I'd slept with anyone before you?" Noctis asked with a quiet laugh. "I was terrified I'd come immediately the first time I was inside you."
Isaac let his head sink against his shoulder.
"…I didn't notice any of that."
"That's only because I pulled myself together," Noctis murmured in amusement. Then he gently kissed Isaac's cheek. "But trust me, internally I was a complete mess."
For quite a while, they simply stayed like that.
Neither of them felt the need to speak. Slowly, their breathing calmed, their heartbeats lost their frantic pace, and the earlier heat faded into a pleasant, heavy stillness. Noctis continued holding Isaac close, absentmindedly stroking his back and simply enjoying his presence.
"I was just glad you seemed so sure of yourself," Isaac finally admitted softly. His voice had grown calm again. "Not for a single second did I think you could've had someone before me."
Noctis smiled with satisfaction and kissed Isaac's forehead.
"Good. I put a lot of effort into figuring out what you like and how to make you come."
Isaac laughed quietly under his breath. "You sound like you're studying me."
"It's not just you who carefully observes what to do next. The way you look at references for your artwork, I want to know everything about you and make you happy," Noctis said. "If you're doing well, then I'm doing well too."
"Idiot," Isaac murmured, though he could not hide the small smile on his lips. "And don't you dare turn me into one of your terrible stick figures."
Noctis immediately grinned. "I'm your idiot," he replied. "And don't insult my stick figures when you don't even know how good I am at drawing them."
Isaac laughed a little louder, his hips moving only slightly in the process. Then he suddenly stiffened and straightened up to stare at him in disbelief.
"You're joking." His eyes widened. "Are you seriously hard again already?"
Noctis lifted his shoulders innocently.
"A lot has built up." He shot Isaac a challenging look. "You're not tired already, are you, darling?"
Isaac scoffed, shifted his position, and began riding him.
"Don't forget who you're talking to."
Their lips met in a slow, passionate kiss while Isaac rode him with deliberate, measured movements.
I'll make sure nobody ever hurts you again.
With that thought, he lost himself in their lovemaking.