The taste of Julian seemed to snap the last thread of the Duke’s control. He let out a low growl, looking into Julian’s eyes, and, before Julian could process the change in momentum, he felt the world tilt.

The Duke didn’t just help him up; he scooped Julian off the velvet couch as if he weighed nothing. Julian’s head fell against Alaric’s shoulder, his face buried in the crook of the Duke’s neck. He could smell the salt from sweat, the wine, and the raw, heavy heat of a man who was completely undone.

Julian’s heart was hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird trying to get out. Inwardly, he was screaming. He should stop this. He should pretend to wake up from the alcohol delusion and stop the Duke before he went any further.

But as Alaric carried him toward the massive bed, Julian felt a terrifying lack of will. He wasn’t disgusted. He was hot—feverish, even—and the way the Duke’s arms tightened around him made his own blood feel like it was boiling.

The Duke laid him down on the silk sheets with surprising gentleness, but he didn’t retreat. He hovered over Julian, kneeling on the bed with Julian between his legs, and hanging his weight on his elbows.

In the dim light of the magical fire, Alaric’s blue eyes were dark, almost black, with a hunger that had been suppressed for seven years. He looked at Julian—at the way his odd-colored eyes were half-lidded, his lips swollen and wet from the kiss, and his black hair splayed against the dark pillow.

’Beautiful,’ the Duke thought, the word echoing in his mind like a prayer. ’How can a man be this beautiful?’

Alaric leaned down again, his lips meeting Julian’s lips once more, devouring them and giving Julian no space to breathe.

Then, he started moving from Julian’s lips to his jaw, his lips leaving a trail down to the sensitive skin of his neck.

Julian’s breath hitched. He had to keep pretending to be half asleep, drunk, but the way the Duke was touching him made it nearly impossible. He could feel it—the Duke’s ’elephant’ was very much awake, a rigid, demanding pressure against Julian’s thigh that made his own stomach flip in a way that had nothing to do with the wine.

’Oh God,’

It was just too much. He could only imagine what the Duke was thinking with that ’thing’ in his pants. It was dangerous.

The Duke was definitely past infatuation, and just saying he was falling was too light because right now... He was drowning.

Julian’s fingers twitched against the sheets. He felt like he was watching a forest fire right from the inside; it was beautiful, it was scorching, and it was far too late to put out the flames.

The affection level was still glowing faintly just above the Duke’s head, a silent time bomb that he secretly wished would tick down and not increase further.

[Affection Level: 52%]

[Status: Falling / Possession Imminent]

The Duke’s hand slid under Julian’s shirt, his calloused palm grazing the skin of Julian’s waist. The touch was so electric that Julian almost cried out with an embarrassing sound. He bit the inside of his cheek once again, forcing his body to remain limp while every nerve, as crazy as it sounded, was screaming for more.

He had wanted to confirm his feelings. Well, he had confirmed them alright, and he was terrified—not of the Duke, but of the fact that he didn’t want the Duke to stop.

The Duke touched him, his calloused hand reaching inside his pants for the reaction Julian hoped to hide. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Though Julian was terrified, his body was willing to cooperate with the Duke’s needs. And by that, it meant Julian was hard.

"It seems you’re just as excited," the Duke whispered with a gruff voice.

He was using all he had to keep himself sane at the moment.

The Duke huffed, just thinking back to that night as he watched Julian pleasure himself. It was a sight he never thought he would witness, and a sight that changed him completely... giving him these... ’feelings’.

He wished he could do more than just touch Julian. He wished to feel his warmth deeply. He wished... to be inside him, but maybe it was too much for now.

He didn’t want to scare Julian.

He believed Julian would never remember what was going on in his half-sleep daze, but there was no telling how terrified he would be to feel pain, an unexplainable pain, on his behind.

Could he... even handle him properly?

A man was not supposed to be on the receiving end, so proper care needed to be taken. And that proper care... he did not have it.

So for now, he had to be very careful with him and just make do with something light.

He sat back, resting his weight on his heels, and brought out his own cock, groaning as he stroked the head.

Ever since that day, he had had to touch himself, thinking of Julian’s face and how his hands moved. Now, he wasn’t going to do it just for himself, but for Julian, too.

He pushed his body forward and then dropped his overwhelming size on Julian’s. It was warm, and it made Julian grip the sheets.

From there, the Duke began stroking both cocks at the same time, using his calloused hands that gave Julian an undeniable pleasure.

No matter how he tried to hide it, his face twisted, his lips parted, and moans flew out involuntarily. He thought this would alert the Duke that this was more than a half-sleep state, but the Duke did not stop.

He kept his hands moving and breathed hard, his heavy lids fixed on Julian’s expression.

For whatever reason, it may be... this man was truly beautiful.

"Aah—! Haa—!"

Julian’s breath hitched; his throat felt dry from all the moaning, too. He wanted to turn around and stop the Duke because the pleasure was becoming too much. He could already feel himself reaching his limit. He wasn’t supposed to be feeling it this well, but he was, and it felt so sinfully good.

"D-Duke..." he called, but his voice was lost. "P-please... Ngh—! Duke!"

The Duke leaned in once again and captured Julian’s lips, then he released them, his hot breath falling in Julian’s face.

He stared into Julian’s eyes that were beyond just half-closed kids now, huffing and panting as he asked himself...

’What am I doing to him when I know he won’t remember?’

Yes, the Duke knew what he was doing was wrong. It was the wrong way to go about his feelings and the wrong thing to do to a drunk person... But he never dubbed himself righteous.

Right now, he was a man being bent by his own desire to have this man under him.

He kissed his lips again and then grunted, watching Julian also grunt as he reached his limit, spilling his seeds into the Duke’s hand.

Julian breathed hard, looking at the ceiling in a daze.

What... just happened?