Author's Note:
Wow! My sincere and most genuine apologies! I didn't realize how many people actually read and are actively reading the Submissive Assassin. I got an ample amount of comments and private messages (and I read all of them) of the love and support on that story, and I am so ever grateful. I agree with all of you that it's not fair to the lovely readers who enjoy the story and wanted to see it through. You've already put so much time into reader over a hundred chapters, and I agree that letting it all go to waste because of a few bothering comments is NOT FAIR at all. You guys really did well on making me feel extremely guilty for ending the story early, which again I SINCERELY APOLOGIZE.
So I decided to continue the story until my planned ending, but beware, there are many MANY more chapters ahead before we reach a finale. Since I messed up big time, I won't give you a spoiler alert but within the next few chapters, something...sad...might happen...(it made me cry writing it).
Anyhow, without further due, read on!!
Chapter 103
"You're just...you're my home."
"I loved you with all my heart, and I treated as if you were gold," Raphael screamed as Dante successfully pulled him into the bedroom, closing the door behind him and standing in front of it with his arms folded. "You were an asshole to me, daily, and I still protected you. But Lucius is right," he growled, stepping towards Dante and slamming the side of his fist against the door behind Dante, right beside Dante's face—Dante didn't flinch. "You almost got yourself killed to save this brat. You went ballistic, tortured Jules—who you all lied about being dead."
"None of us knew he was alive—"
"That's besides the fucking point!" he roared so close to Dante's face that he felt droplets of spit land on him. "You went above and beyond to save him in two days and I was there to help, but you couldn't even find some way to save me within nine fucking months."
Dante tilted his head to the side, not knowing what to say. Raphael was undeniably right, they should have gone to his rescue—if not as quickly—even quicker than Nate. There was no excuse they could say, not even that they were training since they didn't need to train for almost a year to be prepared for their rescue. He lowered his head, which only caused Raphael to reach for his chin and forcefully push it upwards. "Look at me," he spat, shoving Dante backwards and his back slammed against the bedroom door.
However, his face twisted in disgust when he saw Dante's eyes nervously glance elsewhere and his cheeks become a slight pink tint. Even worst, his lips were partially open, as if his breathing was growing heavier but he was trying to hide it the best he could. That when when Raphael stepped backwards and hissed, "Don't tell me you got fucking turned on by that!"
Dante swallowed hard. "Ralphy—"
"Holy shit, what's wrong with you?" Raphael exhaled in disbelief, throwing his hands in the air as he saw a flustered Dante divert his gaze again. "Is that all you care about? Whoever can beat the fuck out of you the best so that you can cum?"
Dante's regard instantly became sour. In the old days, Dante would've probably lunged forward and sent knuckles directly across Raphael's jawline. However, he took pride in the fact that he had been trying to change for the better, hence he instantly released the instinctive fists that formed. "You know I hate it when you say it that way," he hissed. "And stop staring at me as if I'm disgusting."
"Is that why you didn't come save me?" Raphael leaned in, his eyes squinting in suspicion. "I don't matter since I can't do that to you."
"What are you even—"
"But you couldn't wait a second to go save Nate because he can make you feel good with a fucking knife?" Raphael shouted, his arteries bulging from his neck from how loud he yelled. Dante's eyes grew even more narrowed and darker. "Did you hear the way he spoke to me?"
"He's drunk," Dante argued.
Which only made Raphael grow even more angrier as he again slammed the door behind Dante, causing him to flinch this time; he no longer knew if Raphael would hit him or not. "That's not a fucking excuse!" He reached for his own shirt as he shouted, "I went into that club and risked my life. I watched Molly die and tried to save him but couldn't, and then I got taken from the people I considered my family. All for him?" Dante inhaled a sharp breath when he heard a coil in Raphael voice. "And that's how he talks to me? Do I fucking matter to...hic!...to anybody?!"
Dante inhaled a sharp breath, his own eyes beginning to sting when he watched Raphael pull the sleeves over his hands and wiped his tears that had leaked onto his cheeks. "I told you that my entire family...hic!...was killed so you guys became my family. You guys were all...hic!...all that I had..." His breathing was growing heavier and he was trying to calm himself down by breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth, but every time he breathed out, Dante saw the trembling of his bottom lip. He even looked upwards, his red eyes still filling with tears as he gently paced around in a circle, trying his best to look anywhere else but Dante.
Before Dante could find an answer, Raphael shook his head and cleared his throat. "I need to go find Lucius anyway, I can't waste any more time here."
"Listen to me," Dante breathed, stepping towards him. The reaction from Raphael was to increase the distance between them and exhale a chuckle of disbelief, still sniffling and trying to get his emotions under control.
He didn't want Raphael to leave yet; they needed to at least have some form a rekindling before he left or else it would haunt him for the rest of his life. "I should have tried to rescue you and I'm sorry I didn't. I'm sorry I treated you so poorly when you were with us." He saw Raphael snicker, as if he assumed all of it to be pretentious nonsense, which made Dante beg, "Please look at me." Raphael's eyes slowly turned to meet his gaze. "At the end of the day Ralphy, the reason I'm still alive right now is because you were with me all these years."
"Stop it," Raphael hissed. "Move out of my way."
"It took Nate for me to realize how much my past self was fucked up, and I wish I realized sooner." Dante didn't want to start sobbing, but he felt his throat start to clog and needed to pause for a moment. He had to turn away from the swollen glistening eyes of Raphael. "Look, I took you for granted and I'm sorry. But I miss you, and I need you so much more now than I ever did before."
Raphael pointed to the door, his finger quivering when he did. "You don't need me, you have that brat—"
"Can we forget about Nate for just a moment and focus on you and I?" Dante pleaded, exhaling a long sigh and stepping towards Raphael. This time, Raphael didn't move away, which made Dante's heart skip a beat. His mind began to replay memories that only him and Raphael had shared, such as the times when Dante randomly decided to try to be a chef and decided to cook and almost burnt the entire kitchen area of the base. Or moments when Dante would be belligerently drunk and Raphael loved to give him a bath, since it was also the time Dante shared the most. It was also the time when Dante had first admitted that he was falling in love with Raphael.
Dante tilted his head to the side as he saw Raphael wipe another tear that laid along his cheek. "You were my first love, Raphael." That caused Raphael's eyes to widen as he met the gaze of the nervous and embarrassed Dante. "You were also...my first time..."
"No I wasn't," Raphael snarled, "Eleanor was your first. She took your virginity, I remember that because I was fucking there—"
"I meant that I had never been with a guy before you..." His eyes seemed ready to bulge from their sockets, which caused Dante's head to completely shift away from Raphael's gaze.
"That's not true either," Raphael said in disbelief, shaking his head. "You had those men come around to dominate you."
"Yes I did, but I never had sex with them, I was too scared," Dante admitted quietly, his shoulders falling as if he was humiliated. "What I'm trying to explain to you is...forgive me if sometimes I get turned on by you so easily. That will always happen because I can't ever stop loving you. That doesn't mean I don't love Nate because that idiot is my soulmate, but there will always be love for you, too. You're just...you're my home..."
Raphael noticed how his cheeks again became a slight pink, and how his eyebrows coiled, but it wasn't from being turned on, but from humiliation. He had never seen Dante this nervous in his life, and Dante soon stammered, "P-Please don't see it as disgust, it just means...I'm still a-attracted to you. I have a feeling I'll always be attracted to you..."
Dante noticed that Raphael took a step forward, and he didn't appear as hostile as he was moments ago; he was finally getting through to him. "And I don't know why I didn't think of coming to get you during those nine months. It's true, I was dealing with Nate since he has been impulsive and violent ever since his kidnapping, but that's not an excuse for not coming to get you."
"You're not being completely honest with me, Dante—"
"I was scared," he admitted truthfully, shrugging his shoulders. That was when his own eyes filled with overwhelming tears that he couldn't stop them. "I was scared to find you dead or in the same state as Nate, so I pushed you out of my mind. I made a mistake Raphael, and I'm sorry. I should've came for you, I know I should've."
Raphael tilted his head to the side and kept his lips sealed; he was truly listening to every word from Dante. "But let me prove to you how much I've changed and let me show you how sorry I am. I need you, we all need you. Please, come back to the base with us."
Raphael lowered his eyes for a second.
He kept his gaze locked with the wooden floorboards of the bedroom. Then, Dante suddenly heard very quietly, "...hic!...hic!..." Raphael began agitatedly wiping his face again with his entire palm, and Dante reached forward, tenderly grabbing his wrists to stop him. Then, he delicately placed fingers on Raphael's chin and gently pushed upwards, raising his face filled with tears and snot running along the edge of his upper lip, that he sniffled back into his nose; Raphael always reminded him of a kid in an adult body.
However, through those tears, there was a gigantic smile plastered along his lips. He finally felt as if he was being understood, as if what he had done mattered to them. At the end of the day, they were his family. That was why, as much as he wanted to hold the grudge and hate them, being welcomed back in this way was all he needed.
It happened all of a sudden, but one moment, Raphael was staring at him with overwhelming tears, and the next, both of them had simultaneously lunged forward, the hunger within their desires unable to resist the binding of their lips.
It had always been Raphael who overtook dominance, aggressively biting down on Dante's bottom lip and hearing a short grunt from Dante. Dante's entire body felt as if it was throbbing, his fingers eagerly fulfilling his cravings as he reached for the hem of Raphael's sweater and sliding his hands underneath. Raphael pulled him even more in, wrapping an arm around his shoulder as he played with Dante's waistband, wanting to experience again the love and intimacy they once had.
Nothing else around them mattered; it was as if they were the only two people in the world and time had completely stopped for them.
Both their hearts pounded against their ribs, their tongues dancing in unison to the tune of the heart rate. It was almost as if they could feel themselves be swayed from left to right, following the rhythm of a classical dance, predicting and adapting to one another movements, as if it had been rehearsed.
When Raphael reached for the bottom of Dante's sweater, he instantly lifted his hands. When Dante's lips left those of Raphael to glide along his neck, Raphael instantly tilted his head back to expose the thin layer of the flesh on his neck that glistened from sweat. He didn't hesitate to lick every single droplet, leaving residue of his own saliva forming a path, sliding along his jawline before returning to the soft swollen pink lips of Raphael that welcomed him with angst and heat.
Raphael's grip was strong, and he reached around Dante's waist, lifting him upwards before pushing him onto the bed, climbing over him. There, their gazes met, the navy ones of Raphael staring deeply within the gray ones of the man who had embraced, shattered and healed his heart.
Their bond could never be broken as much as they tried. It didn't matter how many times they fought, even if it was physically, they were one another's home, and that was why Dante allowed Raphael to reach for the waistband of his pants and pull them downwards to reveal his——
Dante blinked.
This intimacy between the two of them was no longer true, it wasn't their reality.
Raphael was still standing in front of him with the longest gigantic smile across his face, the same tears leaking across his cheeks; that had all been in his head. It was evident that there was love there between the two of them, but it wasn't romantic, it couldn't be. Raphael's heart belonged to Lucius, and Dante's heart belonged to Nate.
And both of them were content with that.
Through coiling cracking voice and barely able to let it past the lump in his throat, Raphael beamed, "Yes, I'll come back."