Chapter 44

The rich, sweet smell of pancakes drifted from somewhere nearby. His body stirred in response to the appetizing scent. Yuri turned several times in bed, and after a branch hanging close to the window tapped softly against the glass in the wind, his eyes opened.

Sunlight filtered gently through the pale-blue curtains, casting the shape of the window across the bed. Perhaps because he had fallen unconscious and slept for so long without even taking a sleeping pill, the dreamlike scenery seemed unreal. Yuri stared at it for several minutes.

The sunlight was quiet.

It lacked the glare of the midday sun and carried a subdued hue that made him feel peaceful. Blinking his dry, stiff eyes, Yuri slowly turned his head and looked around. The room held an old rosewood dresser, a worn bedside table, and an elegant floor lamp.

His gaze stopped on a framed photograph atop the bedside table, a short distance from the bed. A man and woman stood before an emerald lake nestled between vast mountains, holding a child beautiful enough to resemble a fairy. All three wore happy smiles.

The blond man looked remarkably like Cherriot. His features were stronger and somewhat more masculine than Cherriot’s were now, but aside from the shape of his jaw and nose, every part of his face brought Cherriot to mind.

A much smaller woman stood enclosed in his arms. She had curly red hair and mysterious green eyes fixed on the camera. She was not smiling as brightly as the man, but the slight rise at the corners of her mouth and the way she held his arm made her happiness unmistakable.

The child between them was unquestionably Cherriot. His reddish-blond hair and green eyes staring directly at the camera perfectly combined his parents’ features, making it clear that he belonged to them both. The photograph made it seem miraculous that two entirely different people could meet, mingle their blood, and create such a beautiful life.

Yuri could not take his eyes from the family portrait. Come to think of it, he knew almost nothing about Cherriot. He knew the man was an enormously popular, highly paid hockey player. He knew his public age differed from his real one by a year and that he came from a family wealthy enough to have established a trust for him. That was all Yuri knew.

No. That isn’t all I know.

Cherriot was an excellent swimmer. The man had enough stamina to talk without pause even after driving all night, and if someone bought him sweet snacks, he ate them diligently. Good weather lifted his mood, making him delight in it like a child. And… He claimed that men who looked like Yuri were exactly his type. He had sulked because Yuri spoke to another Omega, then brightened again after receiving only a little praise.

He was also considerate enough to understand what Yuri wanted with uncanny accuracy, even when Yuri said nothing. And he was absurdly strong. His stamina was grotesquely excessive too.

The final thought made Yuri smile faintly. He released a satisfied breath and slowly sat up, tilting his stiff neck from side to side to loosen the muscles. As he began moving, sensation returned to his entire body, and he gradually became aware of his condition. Although no one had beaten him, there was scarcely a place that did not hurt. His body protested after enduring Cherriot for nearly three days. His lower back felt the worst.

When he moved slowly and placed his feet on the floor, the weakness he had experienced before returned. He had not needed to get out of bed since then, so he had briefly forgotten about it.

Even for a rut, that was fucking insane.

The realization that they had spent more than two full days doing almost nothing but having sex finally settled over him. Yuri had been abstinent for more than three years, but Cherriot had partners and regularly relieved his ruts. Even so, he had behaved like a starving beast.

There had undoubtedly been moments when they could have stopped. Yuri had simply enjoyed being wanted so relentlessly and continued accepting him until they ended up like this.

Then I haven’t eaten in more than two days.

The instant the thought occurred, his empty stomach cramped painfully. At the same moment, the pancake scent from beyond the door stimulated his senses, and Yuri felt ravenous. Ordinarily, he found maple syrup too sweet and left it off. Today, he wanted pancakes drenched in syrup with butter melting over the top.

It had been so long since he had desired a specific food this intensely that even Yuri was surprised. With a low groan, he followed what he had learned from his previous attempt and forced as much strength as possible into his lower body before standing.

The moment he straightened, his hips and thighs throbbed. At the same time, he felt a numb, burning sensation behind him. He had barely taken one step when something began flowing from the slightly loosened opening.

The sensation of liquid repeatedly spilling from him was so unfamiliar that chills spread across his skin. Yuri looked down. Semen was running along his thigh. It did not stop after the first stream. More continued to follow, traveling as far as his ankle.

Yuri remembered that they had done everything without condoms. Thank God I’m not an Omega. While Yuri lowered his head and awkwardly examined the traces Cherriot had left behind, the bedroom door flew open.

“Morning, Wolfie!”

The man who entered with a cheerful greeting carried a round-topped folding table in his other hand. He had thrown the door open energetically, but stopped in surprise when he saw Yuri standing there. His gaze shifted to Yuri’s naked body.

A sensual gleam entered the previously innocent green eyes. Starting at Yuri’s chest, Cherriot slowly lowered his gaze. Yuri raised one eyebrow at the sensation of being touched by those eyes.

Neither of them should have had another drop of semen left to produce. Even so, the instant he saw Cherriot’s expression, Yuri realized that the man was remembering the previous night.

—Yuri, fuck, you’re impossibly hot inside. It feels like my cock is going to melt. What am I supposed to do? Your skin is so cool, but inside you’re boiling like lava.

—Enough, Cherry. I can’t… There’s nothing left…

The memory returned of Cherriot pressing Yuri down from behind after every bit of strength had drained from him, thrusting into the overheated opening while muttering such things. Originally, Cherriot had pulled Yuri’s arms behind his back and held his wrists while fucking him. Once Yuri’s thighs lost enough strength that he could no longer endure even that position, Cherriot had forced him onto his stomach, half buried him in the bed, and continued thrusting.

At the time, Yuri had been too overwhelmed to feel ashamed of the scar across his back, far worse than those on his chest. His most private shame had become meaningless while he was consumed by what Cherriot was doing to him. After exposing his entire body that completely, standing naked before Cherriot now no longer seemed difficult.

“Don’t make that face. I don’t trust myself to hold back.”

The sincere warning pulled Yuri, who had also been remembering the night, back to the present. Surprised that Cherriot could still want more after everything they had done, Yuri met his eyes.

Cherriot cleared his throat and entered the room. “This is bad. Yuri, could you put something on? If I keep looking for another few seconds, I really am going to need another round.”

“My clothes are in my room.”

“Wear mine.”

Cherriot forcibly kept his gaze away from Yuri and pointed beneath the window, where he had placed his suitcase separately. It was still full of clothes.

Yuri stared at it for a moment, then walked over and picked up the white short-sleeved shirt lying on top. He could not put on anything below the waist when it would inevitably become stained with semen.

“Are you dressed?”

Cherriot had unfolded the table on the other side of the room. Yuri straightened again, briefly narrowing his eyes at the pain running through his body, then erased the expression and nodded.

“Yes.”

“I love it when you say yes.”

After the abrupt compliment, Cherriot hurriedly looked toward him. He seemed like someone who had barely managed to resist looking until then, and Yuri smiled without meaning to.

Cherriot was larger than Yuri, so his T-shirt was one size too big and hung low enough to cover most of Yuri’s ass.

“No. Wait.” Despite Yuri following his request and putting on clothes, Cherriot looked even more flustered. “Why aren’t you wearing anything underneath? That’s so outrageously hot…” He covered his face with one hand, then slowly spread his fingers and peered at Yuri through the gaps.

Cherriot’s strange behavior seemed only adorable. Yuri walked toward him, step by measured step. He wanted to touch Cherriot.

“Yuri, don’t come over here. We need to eat.”

“I put on what you told me to. What’s the problem?”

“Wearing only a shirt with nothing underneath is more seductive!”

“I can’t dirty your clothes.”

Yuri approached the large man retreating toward the corner and carefully reached out, lightly touching his hair. After seeing the family photograph, Yuri had wanted badly to touch Cherriot’s hair. The moment the soft texture brushed his fingertips, a smile appeared at his mouth.

“Stop acting adorable and put your hand down.”

“…You’re doing every possible thing that drives me insane.”

After rubbing his face roughly with both hands, Cherriot finally obeyed and lowered them. His reddened eyes fixed on Yuri without blinking.

Meeting that nearly unbroken green stare, Yuri asked, “I haven’t done anything.”

“Why are you being so sweet?”

Yuri did not think he was, but Cherriot looked entirely serious.

“Why do you keep smiling at me? Why is your voice so soft? And then you put on something that obscene, walk over, and touch my hair. How is that not a signal that you want to do it again?”

Cherriot had barely spoken during sex, but now that he had returned to normal, the words were pouring out again. Feeling as though he had discovered another side of the man, Yuri quietly lifted one corner of his mouth before lowering his gaze.

“Aren’t you going to tell me what the table is for?”

“Wolfie has to answer me first.”

“Answer what?”

“Are you always like this with someone after you’ve slept together? Smiling at them, touching them, and… all of that?”

Cherriot looked as though he would be deeply wounded if Yuri answered yes. He might even become angry, as he had at the café.

Yuri released an amused breath and shook his head. “No.”

At the concise answer, Cherriot’s expression became adorable again. Seeing relief cross the green eyes made Yuri smile once more.

“I’ve never been like this with anyone else.”

“…Then that’s good.”

Yuri did not know what exactly was good about it. Cherriot’s answer confused him. Yuri wanted to ask what it meant, but swallowed the question out of fear that he might nurture meaningless expectations alone. Perhaps it was only temporary possessiveness after sex.

“So what is the table for?”

“I thought you might have trouble getting out of bed, so I was going to serve you a late lunch in here. Or an early dinner, considering the time.”

Cherriot cleared his low, hoarse throat, then glanced down Yuri’s body. Bruises had formed here and there along the hard lines of Yuri’s thighs. Cherriot had sucked hard enough to leave marks across his entire body. There were probably teeth marks on his shoulders as well.

As Cherriot’s gaze continued toward the intimate traces along his inner thighs, Yuri tapped the table lightly with the back of his hand. To be honest, if Cherriot attacked him again, Yuri suspected he would accept. It seemed wiser to disrupt the dangerous atmosphere before that happened.

“There’s no need to eat in here. Let’s use the table.”

“Are you sure you’ll be all right?”

“Yes.”

Fortunately, perhaps because his rut had ended and his self-control had returned, Cherriot nodded belatedly and returned to their previous topic. “Then let’s go to the kitchen. Wait. You’re not planning to walk out like that, are you?”

Yuri shrugged. “What is it, Cherriot? Do you genuinely not know?” Judging by the green eyes rounded in confusion, he had not yet remembered what he had done. “Your semen is still running out of me. I can’t put anything on until I’ve cleaned it all out.”

“…!”

Cherriot’s eyes widened, and his lips parted slightly. His unsteady gaze slowly traveled toward Yuri’s abdomen. Apparently finally noticing the semen still flowing, he began opening and closing his mouth soundlessly.

“Ah, fuck. I’m really sorry.” Even as Cherriot apologized, his stare remained fixed on the area near Yuri’s groin and thighs, barely concealed by the edge of the T-shirt. “I didn’t bring condoms, so we couldn’t use them. And I never even thought about going out to buy any. I suppose I should take responsibility. Mm. Do you want me to… scrape it out for you myself?”

The offer probably came from a mixture of guilt and goodwill, but it sounded suspiciously like an invitation to have sex again.

“I’ll take a quick shower. Start eating without me.”

Yuri turned away and left the room first, cutting off Cherriot’s scheme. A disappointed sigh sounded behind him, followed by Cherriot quickly hurrying after him.

“My hands are bigger, and I’m the one who caused the problem. Wouldn’t it be better if I personally took care of you?”

“No.”

At the lingering desire in Cherriot’s voice, Yuri smiled with his back turned.

“Goddamn it, Yuri. Every minute of every second feels like a test of my self-control. You’re far too dangerous for me.”