Eren's POV
At six in the morning, I stood out on the balcony in the frigid morning air. The parking lot was empty, which I considered a good thing, seeing as I hadn't bothered to put on any clothes. If anyone showed up right now, they would get an eyeful of everything below my waistline. I grinned as I thought about the scene that would cause, and pulled the lit cigarette from my mouth, blowing out a cloud of smoke that dissipated in seconds. I had cut down to a few a day by sheer willpower, but I was determined to quit before Levi's birthday in a few months. Although he wasn't pressuring me into this, we both knew nothing good could come from smoking, so I started a regimen of Nicotine patches and Nicorette gum without him knowing about it.
I folded my arms on top of the railing and leaned forward. Levi would be performing for the first time tonight. It didn't matter how many times I tried to come to terms with it, I was still pissed that I wouldn't be able to work as the head of security. I'd tried to convince Mikasa to let me, despite my injured arm, but she wouldn't budge on the matter. She was dead set on giving me time to heal and rest up, even after I insisted that I'd already spent the last three days doing that. I didn't need any more time. Of course it didn't matter what I thought, because she was the one that ran the club and called the shots.
I glared down at the gauze covering my stab wound and cursed.
"Such foul language so early in the morning," Levi said as he came strolling out of his apartment with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders to protect him from the cool breeze. He glared at me as though I were at fault for the weather. "How can you smoke out here right now? It's too nipply."
"Nipply?" I smiled around the cigarette.
"Nipply," he confirmed, coming to stand behind me to wrap his arms around my stomach. He pressed the side of his face against my back and hummed in content. "Mm, you're so warm."
"What do you want for breakfast this morning? I'll make you anything on your big day."
"Porridge and tea."
I tapped my cigarette out and turned around to face him. His hair was a wild mess of tangled puffs on top of his head. It was horribly adorable. "If that's what you want, then that's what I'll make." I took his face between my hands and squished his cheeks. He whined and batted at my arm. "You're so cute."
"No," he grumbled, the word coming out slurred through his pursed lips. "I'm manly."
"Did I say you weren't manly? You're incredibly manly. I mean, I get lost in your manliness on a daily basis."
"Shut up. You're so mean. Not everyone can have a defined six pack like you, you ass."
I kissed the side of his mouth. "I love your body just the way it is, though. I wouldn't change a thing about it. Now let's go inside. If you didn't remember, I have porridge to make."
We went back into his apartment and I closed the sliding door behind us. The first thing Levi did was walk over to his dresser to pull open the top drawer. He spent a considerable amount of time rummaging through his socks before he found a pair of black boxer-briefs he was satisfied with. I watched as he made a show of dropping the blanket from his shoulders, the fabric pooling at his feet in a heap of blue. Then, slowly, he bent down and slipped the underwear on. When he snapped the band in place, he looked at me over his shoulder with a wicked little grin on his face.
"You're such a tease," I said, not minding whatsoever.
"What are you talking about? I'm just practicing for tonight. Maybe you should get your head out of the gutter."
"I will once you stop teasing me."
He ignored me in favor of glancing down at my exposed lower half. "Looks like you're going commando this morning, because I'm not going to let you wear the same boxers you had on last night. That's gross."
"You act like I've never gone commando before." I scooped up my jeans from off the floor and slipped them on. "Take my word for it, I'm going to prepare the best breakfast you've ever eaten while I'm not wearing underwear."
Levi wrinkled his nose. "Way to kill my appetite."
I slipped my thumbs into the two belt loops on the front of my jeans and purposely pushed the rough material down over my hipbones, low enough to reveal my happy trail. His eyes shot down to follow the movement. "Sure about that?"
"That's not even fair." He pointed at me in an accusatory way that made him look like an angry hamster that was about to attack—too cute for words. "You know your V-cut and happy trail are my ultimate weaknesses! That's foul play!"
"Still yelling when you're nervous, I see," I said.
"I'm not nervous. I'm yelling because I'm mad! So mad... I'm seeing red!"
I laughed. "God, I love you. I really do."
His eyes widened, and then he covered his face with his hands, but not before I caught a glimpse of the blush spreading across his cheeks in a deep shade of pink. "Little cheater," he mumbled, voice muffled against his palms. "You can't just drop that on me without any type of warning."
"Why not?" I walked up to him and wrapped my hands around his wrists to pull them away from his face. He stared up at me, the flush in his cheeks deepening. I kissed the warm skin there. "It's true."
He crossed his arms in false imitation of anger. "J-just go make breakfast."
"Okay. Don't get flustered now," I said in a teasing tone. Then I went into the kitchenette and hunted through his cabinets for the ingredients I would need to make porridge. When I had everything set out on the counter, I put a small sauce pan on the stove burner and added water, almond milk, cauli-oats, and flax to it. Although I'd made this for Levi several times over the past few months, I had never tried it myself. Vegan food just wasn't for me. It always tasted bland in comparison to other things I enjoyed eating, though I would never admit that to him. This was his lifestyle and I wasn't about to inject it with negativity.
After the oats were cooked, I poured some into a bowl and topped it off with sliced bananas, granola clusters, and a few pinches of cinnamon. I set it down on the table while Levi made green tea.
"That smells good," he said as he came to stand beside me with an absurdly small mug in hand. He turned his head and leaned up on tiptoes to kiss me. "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
"What are you going to eat?"
I leaned to the side and picked up a banana as a last minute resort. He didn't like when I didn't eat breakfast. "This."
"That's not enough for someone your size."
"I'll pick up something after we leave."
"Okay. You better," he said while he went to sit down at the dining table.
As he ate his porridge with a book in his free hand, I went through the text messages I'd received while we slept. Most of them were from Jean and Mikasa, reminding me that I was supposed to be meeting up with them in a couple of hours to go over tonight's security plans and also to touch base on Levi's after party, which was a secret I somehow managed to keep from him. He had no idea about our plans for when the curtains came down, but everyone wanted to celebrate his first performance, so we all pitched in—me the most. Last night, when I was supposed to be at the warehouse, I'd made the boys' lug a bunch of shit to the club. None of them minded too much, because they all knew how much Levi meant to me. I had never tried to keep it a secret.
"You're meeting Armin at the dance studio after this, right?" I asked.
"Yeah, he wants to practice the routine a couple of times and make some last minute outfit adjustments."
"Okay, I'll drop you off there before I head over to the club."
Out of nowhere, he clapped his hands together several times. When I looked up at him questioningly, he said in a rush, "I'm sorry, but it's all happening tonight. I've waited for this for so long, and now I'm really nervous and excited."
"You're going to do fine." I reached across the table and took his hand. "I'm proud of you, Levi."
"You're going to make me emotional on top of everything else."
"Wouldn't want that. Your mascara might run."
He rolled his eyes. "That's exactly why I don't want to cry."
"I'm serious, though. I'm really proud of you."
He squeezed my hand and stared at me shyly over the rim of his glasses. "That means a lot coming from you."
---
Half an hour before the club opened for the night, I knocked on Levi's dressing room door. Technically speaking, I wasn't supposed to be here. Armin had made it all too clear that he didn't want me seeing him before the performance was underway, but I needed to know how he was holding up. Plus, I tried calling him before I ended up here, but it went straight to voicemail every time, so I couldn't even be blamed for resorting to this. Desperate times called for desperate measures.
Just as I was about to knock again, the door swung open and my jaw dropped to the floor. Levi stood in the doorway in nothing but tight leather shorts, black sheer stockings, white cuffs, and black heeled boots that went up past his knees. "You're not supposed to be here," he said in a low, teasing tone, drawing my attention to his face. He toyed with the collar bow tie around his neck. "You're being a bad boy, Eren Jaeger."
I licked my lips, but couldn't formulate words. Fuck, how was he expecting me to speak when he looked like that?
"Are you coming in or not?" he asked after I stood there like an idiot for several minutes. I went to answer, or attempt to, but he took matters into his own hands and reached out to take hold of my belt. He tugged me into his dressing room that way, and I basically kicked the door shut behind us. "So"—he released my belt and turned around to gaze at me as he slowly walked backwards toward the vanity table—"want to tell me what you're doing here?" He leaned back against the table and stared at me in a way that made me groan aloud.
Realizing he was waiting for an answer, I said, "I came to check how you were doing."
"Is that all?" He lifted himself up onto the table and crossed his legs as he grabbed the edge with both hands. He leaned forward, eyes boring into mine as he added, "How disappointing."
God help me. I was ten seconds away from losing any and all control I possessed.
"You have to perform soon," I argued, but it came out sounding like a growl.
"You don't think I can afford to get a little dirty before then?"
Oh, fuck it.
I closed the distance between us and grabbed his face to claim his mouth with nothing but uncontrolled yearning. I was desperate for the taste of him, so I slid my tongue under his and turned my head to deepen the kiss. He moaned as he buried his fingers in my hair, but then he yanked on the strands hard enough to draw my head back and break our lips apart. I looked at him, breathing fast.
"Naughty boys don't get to do whatever they want," he said in a hoarse voice.
My cock throbbed hard in response to his words. "What do naughty boys get?"
"They get punished." Lifting his leg, he pressed the toe of his boot to my uninjured shoulder and pushed me back. I watched as he ran the tip of his finger up his thigh. "They don't get to touch, either. So turn around." I wasted no time in doing what he asked. He grabbed me by the wrists and bound them together with something silky. When he was through, he put his hands on my arms and spun me back around to face him. I glanced at the clock. Twenty minutes till show time.
My eyes snapped back to Levi's when the underside of his boot made contact with my groin. He moved the ball of his foot in a circular motion, applying just enough pressure to make me push back against it. I didn't think I could come this way, but then he slipped his hand into his shorts and began to stroke himself. My hips jerked forward in desperate search of more friction, even when I knew he wouldn't give it to me.
"Do naughty boys get to come?" he asked in a breathy voice that was far too tempting. "Or do they get to wait?" The answer was obvious, but if he made me wait, I was going to end up killing every guy who looked at him tonight.
"Listen—"
The door flew open behind me, the knob banging against the wall with the force. "Levi! It's almost time! Aren't you..." A long pause, followed by, "Tell me I'm not seeing what I'm seeing?"
"Shit," I muttered.
Taking his hand out of his shorts, Levi said, "Um, hi, Armin."
"Don't you dare give me that innocent act," Armin hissed, coming around to stare me down with a glare that promised pain. "I thought I told you not to come in here. Dammit, Eren! Why can't you ever listen?" He suddenly looked down at the evident swell in my jeans and smiled in a cruel way. "Serves you right, you little perv."
"I was actually going to finish him off," Levi said.
I groaned in agony and despair. "Armin, see what you've done?"
"Excuse you. I haven't done anything. You need to get your tart ass out of here before I kill that boner with a jiu-jitsu kick. Levi is about to go on and I will not let your dick get in the way of things."
"Fine," I relented. "Just untie me."
Levi gave me an apologetic look as he hopped off the table. When he reached behind me to loosen the fabric around my wrists, he leaned up and whispered into my ear, "I'll take care of you after my performance."
"Don't even worry about that right now," I said. "Focus on your performance." But before he could step away, I put my hands on his ass and lifted him up against me. "Afterwards, though, I'm going to fuck you in those boots."
He bit my lower lip, tongue darting out to lick the spot straight after. "Going to bend me over my vanity table?"
"That is enough," Armin interrupted, pointing at the clock. "We need to get going, and you don't even have on your vest or bunny ears yet."
I put Levi down, knowing that we couldn't waste any more time than we already had, and he rushed over to the vanity table the second his feet were on the ground. After he took his glasses off and tucked them into a case that he'd stuck in one of the drawers, he went about putting on contact lenses.
"I hate these," he said, blinking several times after he put the first one in.
Armin smacked him on the ass before he slid the black bunny ears headband into place from behind. "Your glasses would fall off with all the moving we're going to be doing tonight. That would ruin the flow of things, now wouldn't it?" He turned around and looked at me. "If you want a spot in front of the stage, I suggest you go out there right now. Jean's going to be opening the front doors soon, and there are a lot of people here tonight."
"Okay, I'll head out in a minute," I said. I went up to Levi and kissed him on the top of the head. "Good luck." I watched his reflection smile in response, and then I left the dressing room to let him finish getting ready.
The dance floor was already crowded by the time I got out there a couple minutes later, but in spite of that, I still managed to snag a spot in front of the stage. That was probably because a lot of people recognized me and allowed me to pass them with no trouble. Even if someone had tried to stop me, I wouldn't have had a problem decking them into tomorrow—wounded arm be damned. No one was going to get in the way of me seeing Levi's first performance up close and personal. This was only going to happen once.
While I was getting settled in, I heard, "What are you doing down there, Eren?"
"Fuck," I muttered, the feedback from the earpiece causing me to flinch. I'd forgotten that I had put it in earlier. Once I recovered, I said, "I'm not planning to do anything stupid, so don't go jumping on my ass now, Mikasa."
"Really? So if someone attempts anything with Levi, you'll sit there and do nothing?"
"If by sitting here and doing nothing you mean kicking someone's ass, then yes. That's exactly what I'll do."
She sighed. "That's why I wanted you to stay behind the bar with Marco. If you strain that arm too much, it can cause permanent damage to the nerves. Is that what you want?"
"Mikasa, I can't see the stage from behind the bar. Did you really think I would miss Levi's first performance? Let's be honest here."
"No," she admitted. "Just be careful, okay? Don't start anything, if you don't have to."
"Okay." I shut off the earpiece just in case she decided to change her mind.
Right after I spoke, she strode onto the stage with Jean and Thomas trailing behind her. After they took their spots beside the cages, Mikasa brought the microphone she held up to her mouth and said, "Are you guys ready to welcome our new male dancer Levi?" The crowd hollered their approval. "Then let's get things started."
All but one light dimmed. The remaining one trained on the walkway, where Levi stood in front of the pole with his hands on his hips. Seeing him caused my heart to thud wildly in my chest. He looked so confident in himself, gazing out at the crowd with a teasing smirk on his lips. When his eyes landed on me, he winked, and my chest swelled with pride. Everyone here may want him, but he was mine.
Levi held his hand out to the side and snapped his fingers. In response, Jean slipped a leather crop into his awaiting hand and Levi cracked the end against his thigh just as the music began to play. He swayed his hips in time with the beat of the song and grabbed both ends of the crop to raise it above his head as he pressed his back to the pole behind him. Keeping his eyes fixed on me, he moved down the pole until his ass was practically touching the stage. I was so turned on by this that it amazed me how I was able to stand still. All I wanted to do was go up there with him.
The crop snapped against the stage floor when he moved forward to come onto his hands and knees. My heart leaped into my throat at the sight of him on all fours. Noticing my reaction, he bit down on his bottom lip and started crawling toward the edge of the stage in the most seductive way possible. Reaching the edge, he leaned toward me, our lips coming together in a kiss that was way too passionate to be done in front of a roomful of people, but everyone clapped and cheered us on. Even if they hadn't responded that way, I would have kept on kissing him. In fact, if Levi didn't lean back, I would've dragged him right off the stage.
He smiled mischievously—he knew what he did to me—and stood up. He sauntered back to center of the walkway and lifted his leg to wrap it around the pole, shifting the weight of his body forward so that he could begin to spin. He raised his arms above his head before he curled inward and grabbed the pole with both hands, contorting his body in a way that left me speechless.
I knew he was flexible, but fuck, I had no idea that it went this far.
By the time Armin came out to join him, my body was on fire. I didn't know how much more of this I could take.
The music melted into a new, slower song and the crowd shouted both their names as they met up in between the cages, turning their backs to one another to take hold of the cage bars in front of them. They started moving their hips in slow circles, their asses almost touching as their backs dipped with the movement, which drove everyone crazy. I just kept my eyes on Levi. I couldn't tear my gaze away from him even if I tried. I almost groaned when he grabbed his ankle and brought his foot above his head, stretching his body out beautifully. I wanted to be down on my knees in front of him.
When the song picked up, both Levi and Armin circled their individual cages, running their hands along the bars. They stopped when they reached the doors, and pulled them open at the same time, stepping inside. I saw Levi move his lips and I realized that he had an earpiece in to talk to Armin. How could I have forgotten about that.
I raised my hand to my own earpiece and turned it back on, impatience making my movements jerky. I heard it crackle to life and I cupped my hand over the mouthpiece. I said, "Levi?"
Several minutes of silence, and then, "Eren? Before you say anything, remember everyone can hear us on these."
"Does it look like I give a fuck?"
He laughed and I drank in the sound. "Did I look okay out there?"
"Are you kidding me right now? You looked amazing. I'm practically dead right now."
At that, Armin said, "You looked it. I bet your dick is as hard as a rock."
"It actually is," I confessed, unashamed.
"Well, I'll take care of it after this." That came from Levi. I died a little more inside.
"Too much information," Jean barked.
"Mad that I'm not going to take care of you afterwards?" Armin asked.
Jean snorted, which carried through the earpiece rather well. "I'll remind you of this when you try something tonight."
"No," Armin whined. "I was kidding around, babe. Let me ride you."
Mikasa, sounding exasperated, said, "That's enough from all of you. I don't want to hear who's going to ride who."
All of us responded with, "Yes, ma'am."
Feeling rebellious, I said, "Meet me in your dressing room after this."
"I was already planning to," Levi told me.
"Enough," Mikasa roared, which caused us all to break into laughter. Still, I was going to be meeting with Levi after this, and that was enough to keep me quiet.