Chapter 78: Chapter 78: The gaze of an alpha

Gregoris’s gaze.

The hunger was still there, a silver-fire intensity. But beneath it, woven through it, was something else. It was a look of awe, of reverence, of a deep, soul-shaking adoration he was no longer trying to hide.

It stole the breath Rafael had just managed to catch.

He’d expected the dominance, the lust, and even the sharp edge of cruelty. The alpha was Gregoris, so it was given. He had not expected this… this open affection in the midst of being utterly taken. Sure, it wasn’t love yet, but it was so close that he lost what little control he did have.

“Gregoris,” Rafael whispered, his voice trembling.

“Mine,” Gregoris replied, the word low and pushed forward, entering him in one deep, relentless surge.

“Ah! Gods…” Rafael arched, his back leaving the bed, completely thrust. Gregoris sheathed himself to the hilt, their hips flush, and held there, buried, letting Rafael feel his member pulsating, the veins inflating even more… everything.

Then he began to move.

It was more intimate than the sex itself. He was being devoured, and the predator was looking at him like he was the only thing that had ever mattered.

“So beautiful,” Gregoris breathed, his voice thick. A drop of sweat trailed from his temple, down the strong line of his jaw. “Watching you take me… feeling you take me… Rafael…”

He leaned down, his body covering Rafael’s, but he kept Rafael’s wrists pinned. His lips found Rafael’s, and the kiss was a gentle exploration of tongue that made Rafael whimper into his mouth.

The contrast was overwhelming. The hard, driving possession below. The tender, claiming kiss above. And those eyes, those eyes, holding him captive in a way his strength never could.

Gregoris’s thrusts began to deepen further, to gain a slight, frantic edge. The bed rocked with their motion. Rafael’s legs came up, wrapping around Gregoris’s waist, heels digging into the small of his back, pulling him in closer, deeper, more.

“Please,” Rafael begged against his lips, knowing that his mate knows what he wants.

“I know,” Gregoris murmured. “I know, my omega. I’ve got you.”

He released Rafael’s wrists, but Rafael kept them there, pinned by choice, by the weight of that gaze. Gregoris’s hands slid under him, gripping his ass, tilting him up to meet every downward thrust.

Rafael’s climax built, flooding every nerve ending. His cock, trapped between their stomachs, dripped a steady stream of pre-cum, smearing the wet and hot between them.

“Look at me,” Gregoris commanded, his voice guttural. “Look at me when you come.”

Rafael’s pale blue eyes snapped to his. The intensity there, the adoration mixed with raw hunger, was the final trigger.

The tide crested and broke.

Rafael came with a silent, open-mouthed cry, his body seizing, clenching wildly around the hard length. White streaks painted both their stomachs and chests. The pulses of his orgasm seemed to go on forever, leaving him shuddering and boneless.

Through it all, Gregoris never stopped. He drove into the convulsing tightness, his own control fraying. His movements became rougher, more erratic. His forehead dropped to Rafael’s shoulder, his breath scalding against his damp skin.

“Rafael…” His name was a prayer, a curse, a plea. He didn’t know anymore.

Gregoris’s hips stuttered. He pushed deep, so deep, and held. Rafael felt the hot, abrupt swell at the base of his cock, the knot. It pressed against his stretched rim, insistent, demanding entry. Gregoris gave one final, powerful thrust, and it popped inside, locking them together.

A ragged sound was torn from Gregoris’s throat as he came. Rafael felt the hot, liquid pulses deep inside, flooding him. Gregoris shuddered violently above him, his entire body taut with release.

—

Gregoris shifted them slowly, easing Rafael comfortably against the pillows, still locked together by the knot.

For a long moment, there was only breathing.

Ether settled around them in a warm hush, the wards dimming to a gentle glow, as if the room itself understood that they needed quiet. Or at least one of the two men.

Rafael breathed softly against Gregoris’s chest, skin flushed and chest rising softly, his fingers still curled in the fabric of his shirt.

Gregoris brushed a slow hand through Rafael’s hair. There was still hunger in his gaze, yes, but satiated for now, and under it was adoration and awe.

Rafael felt it and, for a heartbeat, couldn’t breathe. The world stilled around that look and what it meant, that Gregoris had cherished him.

“Gregoris…” Rafael whispered, because emotion needed escape, even in only a single name.

That earned him a slow, lingering kiss on his temple.

“Rest,” Gregoris murmured softly.

Rafael allowed himself to fully relax, muscles unwinding and trust settling into his bones.

Which was precisely when Gregoris’s fingers snapped.

A flicker of ether shimmered in the air.

Rafael blinked, sleepy, bliss-heavy, already halfway slipping into that soft, boneless haze… and then a familiar, elegantly cursed object materialized neatly in Gregoris’s hand.

Rafael stiffened.

“…No,” he whispered weakly.

Gregoris looked utterly calm. Utterly composed. Utterly aware of the chaos he was inviting into their bed.

The Guide pulsed cheerfully. HOW TO DEAL WITH AN ALPHA.

Rafael closed his eyes. “…Gregoris.”

“Yes?” Gregoris replied, entirely too serene.

“If you read that now, I swear-”

“I must,” Gregoris said reasonably. “We have just completed the application of lessons one through three. It would be irresponsible not to review the rest of the Chapters.”

Rafael made a pained noise.

Gregoris flipped the page with a single finger, absolutely unhurried. The fact that he was still holding Rafael firmly against him while doing it did not help Rafael’s sanity in the slightest.

“Lesson Four,” he read aloud, tone cool and instructional, as if he were delivering a military briefing rather than reading a ridiculous imperial pamphlet in bed. “If the alpha growls, you’re winning.”

Rafael stared at him.

Then slowly, very slowly, he narrowed his eyes.

“That is not,” Rafael said quietly, “a win.”

Gregoris blinked once, all false innocence.

A heartbeat later, there was a sound.

A controlled, restrained rumble that vibrated right through Rafael’s chest, up his spine, and straight into the part of his brain responsible for very bad decisions. The wards even flickered faintly, ether acknowledging instinct as law.

“Why not?” Gregoris had the audacity to grin. “Everything started with a growl from me. You like it, and you can consider it a win.”

“Please read the rest before the knot deflates and I can run from you.”

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