We sleep lightly, though the shift often leaves Verando exhausted, I could feel him resting fitfully in my arms. My gaze struggled to leave the cuff, why had Fenrir wanted to take it? My reflection peers back at me in the morning light, glinting off the solid gold of the large band. A gift from a god, but the god's don't give gifts?
Slipping out of bed, I travel out of our bedroom in the small suite of the hotel and move over to the desk that houses a laptop. Verando had attempted to become more versed in technology but at the end of it all, it tended to be me who had the patience for the typing that came with computers.
I turn it on, move over to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee and bury my nose in the collar of my borrowed shirt. The scent of my husband was less potent to me, but still delicious, enough to stir the deep connection our wolves had for each other, but I could feel that my 'heat' cycle was finally over.
Sitting in the chair, I cross my legs as I feel the chill creeping through my body. A deep frost from using last night, my fingertips still dark from the lack of protection against the ice. I open and close my hand, cursing as I type quietly.
I couldn't do both, perhaps. My wolf needed the warmth to be content, but my body had to maintain a chill to form ice, leaving me vulnerable to frostbite though my healing from my wolf side probably saved me from stronger repercussions.
Turning my attention to my task, I type in a quick search for the Egyptian gods, attempting to formally educate myself in the ins and outs of what I was dealing with. Fenrir would have done better to warn me not to trust a cat than to throw the virtue of gods back into my face. We'd dealt with many selfish deities, what was one more if they actually wanted to help?
Resting my elbow on the desk, I sacrifice my posture to lean my chin into my palm with a pathetic sigh of defeat. "Where are the good ones?" I mutter.
There was supposed to be balance, why were we always finding the cruelty of these upper beings? Yet, thinking back, I guess we were also surrounded by the difficulty that surrounded creating such a creature.
We had one, our own slice of perfection, in Darrius. Verando, himself, was the product of multiple attempts at a 'good' side.
All research on Bastet came with its ups and downs, romanticized versions of a more intimidating Goddess coupled with bouts of fertility, women, and healing.
The Lady of Dread, the Lady of Slaughter, alongside stories of the desire others had for her and the beauty she possessed. I close the laptop with a heavy exhale, smelling that my coffee was ready, I couldn't go any further into this without a guide as to what to believe, I'd have to look into this further when I could go to a library. While I was getting used to these internet pages, books that could be in my hands were something I felt more comfortable with.
"What's wrong?" Verando's voice makes me jump.
I straighten, feeling his warm hands resting on my shoulders as I unfold myself from my defeated posture. Kissing his wrist, I place my hand over his, smiling at the warmth radiating off of him that was so familiar from those first nights together. He bends, folding his arms over my shoulder to hug me and kiss my cheek.
"You're freezing."
"A little repercussion for using yesterday." Showing him my fingers, he frowns and I quickly place my hand back in my lap. "It's fine, I'm recovering quickly. I was just making coffee, you hardly slept last night so I didn't want to wake you."
Leaving me, he steps stiffly into the kitchen and I watch as he opens a bottle of pills and swallows down a handful with a glass of water. We were both worse for wear, sore, tired, and worn thin from the stress of managing this all. Standing, I tread across the rooms as the sleeves of the pullover unravel to cover my hands with their length. My arms wrap around his midsection, pressing my cheek against his back.
"You're sore." Frowning, I touch the cut on his bicep, still not healed. "You're also.. not healing?"
"My own side effects, I suppose. All of this work to keep Fenrir weakened is weakening me, too. Besides, the bullets were intended to kill something like me. Silver quenched in holy water, I am harboring the end of the world, you know."
I didn't find it funny, I kiss his back before I carefully turn him around in my arms to inspect the wound on his chest. Just a puncture now, I press a kiss to his collarbone as I stretch onto my toes, before kissing down to his pectoral to pass my tongue over the wound. Feeling him shiver under my touch as I inspect the cut, only to freeze as my eyes slip down to see that he'd been mischievous in his time away from me.
Clutching his chest in both hands, my eyes focus on his nipples to see he'd pierced them. Why hadn't I noticed that yesterday? "Are you done fondling me?" His tone is dull as he places his palm over his temple, wincing at my scrutiny.
"What the hell is this?" I demand my boxer-brief-clad husband. "When did you decide to deface what belonged to me?"
Cocking his head to the side, Verando considers this for a moment before tilting his head down to see what I was talking about. The industrial bars cause him to flush as his hand moves to his mouth. "Oh... ohhh.. fuck."
"Fuck?"
"I was rather intoxicated, darling..." He sighs, flinching as I squeeze the pectorals in question. I could almost see his affinity for breasts, the muscular chest was squeezably delightful. But, nipple piercings weren't anything close to what I'd imagined for him when it came to things he'd partake in while I was out. "One must be three leagues under to deal with Tiberius for any length of time, besides I had to sing that song for Tyler... to say I started early was an understatement."
I was so distracted I hadn't even noticed him acting any different, perhaps we were both getting better at holding our liquor. In my time with the court, I'd gotten quite good at drinking for the entire day. But, that wasn't the Verando that I knew. I enjoyed his lightweight humor, and his cuddly nature when he was beyond drunk off of two or three drinks.
"But your nipples?" I sigh, confused. "I'm not sure I see the appeal. I mean... wasn't that painful?"
Verando shrugs, flushing as I take a closer look. "Nic, we could go in circles all day asking questions with no good answers. I'll take them out-"
He hesitates as I pass my tongue over one of the swollen nubs, still raw from the piercing. A shudder runs through him, making him inhale with a shakey breath. Hesitating, my tongue remains over the bar as my eyes flick up to catch his. "Oh my." I snicker, making him flush darkly as he attempts to slip out of my grasp, only for me to block him with one of my hands on the counter.
"You're a bad boy." I exhale, licking with the flat of my tongue in a long, drawn out stroke. Squirming under my torment, Verando manages a whimper that sets my loins ablaze. Suddenly, I'm thankful for my short height, for this was directly in my line of fire. "These require a more thorough inspection."
"Nic..." he manages, flushed as I slip my thigh between his legs, pausing to suck and roll the bar between my teeth. Verando bows his head with a low growl, panting, arms flexed as he clutches the countertop hard enough to make the granite pop and shiver under his fingers. When I tilt my head up, he clutches my throat, kissing me deeply and claiming my mouth.
Shocked at the sensation, I pull back to shove two fingers in his mouth, hooking his lower jaw to reveal the horizontal pierced stud, two perfect circles, centrally on his tongue. "What the hell were you and Tiberius doing?!" I demand roughly, shivering as he catches my finger with his teeth.
"Punish me." He purrs, wincing as I sink my teeth into his chest with a rumble in his throat. Releasing him, I force myself to take a step back, wondering if some other creature had taken over my husband and I was being tricked, yet the blood on my lower lip from the bite had me thoroughly convinced my needle-phobic warlord was before me.
We both pant heavily, cautious as we catch our breath in the short space between us.
"They're silver," I conclude, acknowledging the taste on my tongue. "Are you turning your body into something uninhabitable for Fenrir? Is that your plan? You have to live in it, too, you know."
My eyes drift to the bruising on his neck, still not healed from yesterday though the welts were gone. The chain did a number on him every day, why add more?
"The more I do to keep him under wraps the better. The shift was shorter this time, doesn't that mean it's working?" He manages, running a hand through his tangles as I attempt to piece this together. "I didn't expect to have that reaction but.." Noting the hint of self-conscious shuffle, I know he's concerned about how I view him.
He was worried I didn't find him attractive when the opposite was true. I adored him, every ounce of him, yet I couldn't help but feel as though if we went too far with this, I would lose him as well.
"I love you for who you are, it doesn't matter what I think of these.. these.. piercings! They're going too far, we are already putting you through so much, it's not fair to now punch holes in you too-" My rambling trails as Verando slides to his knees before me, hooking one of my legs to slide over his shoulder as he yanks my underwear down.
"The tongue isn't just to keep Fenrir at bay, though the hope is it will make it harder for him to speak." Wrapping his hand around me, he strokes slowly as I scramble to grab ahold of the island and stabilize myself.
"You're burning my coffee," I grumble.
"I'll buy you more." Taking me into his mouth, I shiver at the warmth, unable to take my eyes off of him as those light orbs lock onto my own. Swallowing as much of me as possible, he sucks hard as that sinful tongue presses against every inch of me with each withdrawal. The studs trigger nerve ends, making me shiver and sink my teeth into my lower lip as I squirm.
"Randy-" I manage, resting one hand in his hair as he removes me from his mouth to lick the tip of my manhood so deliciously slow. "You're a wicked man."
With a smirk, he kisses down the length of me, pressing his lips to the point of my hip as his stubbled jaw makes me jerk and squirm. "I'll be anything you want me to be, darling." I feel his free hand gripping my ass, pulling me close as he kisses me at the base, torturing me with his tongue as he works his way back to the tip.
Pulling desperately on his hair, I shove it back into his mouth with a low groan, tilting my head back as my body feels like it's coming apart at the seams. "Randy. Gods, Randy." I manage, glad that even with my heat cycle over, I still wanted him this way. That we were still us, that we still desired each other even after nearly a week of not being able to leave each other's side.
Rumbling in his throat, I feel two of his fingers slip inside of me as I struggle to hold myself together. Curling around him, stretched onto my tiptoes, my leg clutches behind his back as I wring my toes with a cry of desperation. His tongue was so soft and experienced, his mouth warm and hot, and the way he clutched me drove me wild as if he was just as starved for my release as I was.
Those skilled fingers tease me, curling, plunging into me with each bob of his head. While he drove me wild before, I was impressed with the added level of the tongue piercing, my body was struggling to contain my release.
"You're so beautiful when you moan like that." Verando manages, removing me from his mouth to stroke my length with his fist, lapping at the tip of my cock. I groan loudly, bucking my hips as he tortures me with each slow, purposeful pass. "I could do this to you for hours."
"If I knew you liked being on your knees so much, I'd not even question what these studs were for." I manage, my voice heavy with sarcasm as he hesitates to catch my gaze with a wicked grin.
"Anything to make you mewl like a common whore, my darling. My body was made to worship yours-"
I grip his chain, jerking him to his feet as I crush my lips against his with a pleading groan. My body rolls against his, cursing as I shred his boxers off his hips. "Every time Fenrir comes out I'm so afraid I'm never going to see you again, that.. you're going to find some horrible way to make me kill you." I manage, grabbing his hard length, and pulling him to me as he lifts me onto the island counter.
"Nothing is going to take me from you, I'm not going anywhere." Verando exhales, snarling as I pinch one of his nipples, rolling the bar in my fingertips only to cry out as he shoves into me. My body lurches onto his, "I'll do whatever it takes to make sure I keep coming back to you."
His words hit me hard, I wrap my leg around his waist, forcing him deeper and refusing to let him get too far from me. One hand on either side, Verando takes me as my head cranes back to expose my neck. Sliding his tongue over the olive skin of my neck, I moan deep in my throat as I grind against him.
"You're so tight." Verando manages, stifling a breathless gasp against my lips as I kiss him.
"So good." Is all I can manage, clinging to him, wanting more of him as he takes me with each long stroke. While I wanted him to devour me, Verando seemed as desperate to reconnect as I was for he buries himself within me as if it might be the last time we lay hands on each other.
Slow, deep, claiming my body with each thrust, I lose track of time and forget about the coffee as I place my hands on his face to guide his lips to mine once more. I could have lost him, he could have seriously hurt me, and we were terrified the other wouldn't survive each time there was an encounter like last night.
"Nic-" he murmurs, holding me impossibly close, kissing me passionately.
"Don't stop.." I whisper against his mouth, breaking the kiss to pant and moan, my body getting close no matter how much I fought to make it last as long as possible.
"Come for me, I'm not nearly done with you yet."
I was unaware of how long our lovemaking lasted but it was well past noon by the time I forced him to shower with me. My coffee was long since burnt, and to make up for it, he ordered lunch to be delivered while I got the shower up to temperature. Finally entering the bathroom, I knew he'd been preparing himself by the look on his face.
"I'll help you," I reassure him, putting myself under the water as he stepped in front of me. Leaving him on the cooler side, the warmth of the hot water pulled the last bits of ice from my fingertips as I picked up the washcloth to carefully stroke it over his chest. "I was doing research, on Bastet," I told him cautiously, knowing better than to hide my search from him.
"I saw." He manages, tense as he attempts to force himself to relax under the heat of my washcloth. "What did you find out?"
"Mixed reviews. But... I'm keeping the cuff."
"I figured." he frowns, making me reach up to carefully smooth over his lips with my thumb, cupping his cheek in my palm as I slowly massage the cloth in circles. "You already know how I feel about this... I love you, I'm going to do what I can to keep you safe."
I didn't want to pry any further, wrapping my arms around him, I hold him as he clutches me under the spray of the warm shower. We would have more to speak about when, and if, the time came to worry about the repercussions.
I imagined as far as he was concerned, the point was moot for I was a man and could not bear children. If there was a possibility for a god to truly give a gift, I could only hope beyond hope that my gift could potentially become a reality for me.