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TL: This is PG-15 so no explicit scene. Though in the side story there would be.
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The sound of splashing water in the Duke’s bathroom finally ceased hours later. In those few hours, a poor Omega’s voice had long since become hoarse and powerless.
“Ugh…”
“Are you alright?”
In response to Lucian’s question, Etienne weakly shook his head, unable to speak. Even his lips felt unbearably heavy from the exhaustion.
The Omega’s neck, wrapped in a large towel like a cocoon, was covered in red marks. The Alpha’s upper body, visible through his loosely tied bathrobe, was in a similar state.
While Etienne, struggling to breathe, panted heavily, Lucian, far from exhausted, licked his lips in dissatisfaction, unable to calm his overflowing vigor.
“Why are you so weak?”
“Well, it’s been hours…!”
Etienne, with reddened eyes, cried out in a hoarse voice.
What felt like a bold embrace by the Alpha just hours ago now seemed like a distant memory.
The excessive pleasure and unfamiliar sensations were beyond imagination.
Sticky, wet sensations, ecstatic stimuli that melted the whole body. The Alpha’s rough instincts toward the Omega.
Those were indeed what Etienne had desired, but now the tormented Omega couldn’t think straight.
“Are you cold?”
“Yes, c-cold… so cold…”
Etienne nodded continuously in response.
Although now wrapped in a dry towel, shivering was inevitable after enduring hours in cold water.
“Really?”
“Wa-wait…!”
Without waiting for an answer, Lucian lifted Etienne effortlessly, as if he weighed nothing.
Then he pulled the pitiful Omega closer, whispering softly into his ear.
“Then let’s finish this outside.”
At those terrifying words, tears streamed down Etienne’s cheeks once again.
Dripping water, Lucian carried him out straight to the bed, throwing him down. His violet eyes, still filled with intense desire, showed no intention of letting go of the Omega.
“More… here?”
Etienne clung to the towel wrapped around him, burrowing into the blankets, his voice cracked with despair.
Whether aware of the young Omega’s desperation or not, the merciless Alpha smiled, pulling up the corners of his mouth.
“Of course.”
When Etienne trembled with fear, Lucian gently brushed aside his wet brown hair, speaking in a tender voice.
“Etienne.”
The dazed Omega could barely react to his name being called, only shivering and sobbing.
Looking down at him with a loving gaze, Lucian’s lips curled into a satisfied smile.
“My precious and wise partner.”
Soft lips touched the Omega’s tear-stained eyes gently. It was a gesture of endless kindness and tenderness.
There was no need to go this far for mere research, but for some reason, he felt an urge to melt him with such affection.
“It would be troublesome if you get tired here.”
“You call that… saying it now…”
“You haven’t eaten, but you’ve taken in a lot, haven’t you? So, try a little harder.”
As Lucian leaned closer, his robe slightly parted, revealing his muscular chest. Beneath that, his abs were clearly defined.
Sweat and water droplets mixed, running down the Alpha’s pronounced muscles.
Having experienced firsthand how fiercely those muscles could push him, Etienne pleaded for his life.
“Wait! Wait… let’s take a break.”
“I think you’ve rested enough.”
“No, the records… I need some time to make the records…! I already lost my drawing because of you, Duke!”
“Hmm….”
Etienne clung desperately, trembling all over as if in convulsions.
With only his face poking out from the blankets and towels he was buried in, his pitiful plea was so cute and endearing it made Lucian’s heart ache.
Lucian, who had been contemplating while engraving the scene in his mind, eventually nodded with a faint smile.
He had already tormented Etienne for quite a while, and this small omega was clearly exhausted.
Besides, the night was still long and keeping records was indeed important, so giving him a little more rest wouldn’t be a bad idea.
“Well, yes. Records are important, as you said.”
With that conclusion, Lucian suddenly lifted Etienne, still wrapped in blankets, without any warning.
“D-Duke?”
“Don’t be scared. I’m just taking you to the desk.”
Lucian carried Etienne to the desk and sat him on it, placing a pen directly into his small hand.
Etienne, who had been secretly worried that Lucian might do something inappropriate to him on the desk, gratefully accepted the pen.
“Th-Thank you.”
“Thank you, indeed.”
Etienne immediately began writing vigorously, as if his request to keep records wasn’t just an excuse to rest. His shaky arm scribbled away on the journal.
Lucian couldn’t help but smile at the sight. He felt an urge to devour even the droplet hanging on the tip of Etienne’s long eyelashes.
After watching the struggling omega fumble with the pen for a while, the alpha lightly asked, “Is it that hard?”
“Doesn’t it look hard to you?”
Etienne replied with a sulky glance, as the hours spent in the bathroom had been enjoyable for Lucian but exhausting for him.
Learning new things made Etienne ecstatic, but his entire body still ached as if he had been thoroughly beaten.
“But you can endure it, can’t you?”
“I don’t want to hear that from you, Duke…”
Grumbling, Etienne wrote with trembling hands. Finally escaping the overwhelming pleasure, he was able to catch his breath a little and enjoy this small luxury.
“Other alphas wouldn’t be like this, right?”
“Other alphas?”
“Yes, I wonder if I should try dealing with a normal alpha at least once….”
Lucian’s purple eyes, already burning fiercely, flared even more at Etienne’s words.
It irked him. Even though it was a logical plan for research, there was no reason to feel that way.
“What do you think… ack!”
Lucian bit Etienne’s already swollen lips irritably, gnawing at the red, plump flesh without mercy.
This was an impulsive action driven by pure spite, not affection or desire.
“If you have time to chatter nonsense, finish your records.”
Lucian commanded sharply, his voice laced with irritation. He knew it was childish, but he couldn’t suppress the irrational spite.
“What are you doing? Hurry up, you need to keep records.”
“W-Wait… D-Duke, mmp!”
Lucian couldn’t leave the omega in his arms alone. At that moment, he was more like a biting beast than a person.
Despite squirming, Etienne clumsily continued writing, proving he was as stubborn and unique as Lucian.
As he watched Etienne, who wasn’t focusing on him, Lucian felt both annoyed and utterly enamored by the trembling letters. His rationality snapped again, overtaken by a dark sense of possession.
“Add another line. ‘An alpha stimulated by an omega’s pheromones feels an irrational desire for possession and….'”
Lucian’s hand softly cupped Etienne’s cheek.
Though the touch seemed affectionate, it was driven by impure possessiveness, greed, and a desire for conquest.
“…feels affection.”
Etienne’s beautiful green eyes, like summer grass, brimmed with clear tears, sparkling like jewels.
Lucian felt his reason slip away at the sight of Etienne’s stunning, enchanting face.
“That’s… probably because of oxytocin or dopamine, right?”
“Oxytocin, dopamine?”
“Yes, those hormones exist….”
Etienne, who had been weakly wriggling, dropped the pen and leaned forward into Lucian’s chest, rubbing his face against the exposed skin under the open robe, like a kitten seeking affection.
“And that’s… common to both alphas and omegas, I think.”
Etienne, hugging Lucian’s strong body tightly, stuttered through sobs.
“I really… love you, Duke….”
At those words, Lucian completely lost his reason.
He felt a familiar, intense heat boiling inside him. A fierce, fiery sensation swept through him as if he were engulfed in flames.
The scent thickened, pressing heavily on them, and Lucian’s heart pounded wildly as if it would burst. The alpha’s overwhelming scent filled the room, making Etienne struggle under its weight.
“A-Ah….”
Etienne trembled, unable to breathe properly. The delicate omega could only shed helpless tears under the relentless pressure of Lucian’s pheromones.
Lucian wrapped his trembling body roughly under the thin blanket and spoke.
“I have good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?”
“Ooh….”
The scent-dazed omega shook his head weakly, then finally whispered.
“The good one….”
“You have one more thing to experience.”
A faint curiosity flickered in Etienne’s unfocused green eyes.
“What is… that….”
“That’s the bad news.”
Lucian licked Etienne’s earlobe slowly as he spoke.
“My Rut has come.”
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