The only thing that really felt different was Ruan seemed to take more jobs, keeping him away more often than not. Adrissu knew that he was steadily rising through the ranks of the mercenary guild and taking on more difficult assignments, so it only made sense.
Adrissu kept himself busy, as well. His new position on the Polimnos council meant that the meetings and discussions, which had only previously been known to him through Benil Branwood’s endless complaints, were now his responsibility to attend. Even though he had no particular speciality in town politics, unlike the rest of the council members, they seemed to value his opinion on how the town should be handled; thus most of his time was spent with the other council members and occasionally other townsfolk.
He saw Ruan less and less; but when they were together, Ruan was always polite and friendly to him. Though their interactions had largely gone back to how they once were, Adrissu was finding it more and more difficult to be distant toward the human. It was exactly as he had feared: his resolve could only last so long, and over time what was once a cool indifference in their interactions became a reluctant affection. When hewascold to him, he would always feel guilty afterward, even though it never seemed to phase Ruan in the slightest.
He knew it was only a matter of time before his will fully broke, until Ruan pushed too far, and he could not stop himself. Still, it took him by surprise when it did finally happen.
When Ruan would go on a job, especially if it were to be something longer than normal, he would tell Adrissu a few days before, then remind him once more the day before, even though Adrissu always remembered. This time, he explained that he would be guarding a trade caravan and would likely be gone for around three months—longer than he’d ever been away before
“I see,” Adrissu murmured, and he tried not to think about it for the rest of the week.
At the end of the week, Ruan said to him over lunch,
“I’m leaving tomorrow.”
“I know,” Adrissu replied, glancing up at him from across the table. They often ate together, and Adrissu had made it a point to hover around him more frequently in the days leading up to his departure.
“Aren’t you going to miss me?” Ruan said, a teasing grin spreading across his face. Adrissu huffed, looking away as a flush of warmth rose in his face.
“Perhaps,” he replied, and Ruan laughed, shaking his head.
For a moment both were silent, Adrissu glancing over at Ruan as the human swirled the cup of water in his hand and looked down with a suddenly pensive expression.
“Adrissu,” he said abruptly, looking up to catch him staring. “I... I must tell you something.”
Already his heart had started to quicken. Adrissu swallowed and replied, “What is it?”
Ruan gestured between them. “I can’t do...thisanymore. I don’t want to keep pretending to only be your employee. My feelings haven’t changed, not at all.”
“Ruan...” Adrissu started, but the human was standing, a determined expression coming over his face.
“And I don’t think you truly want that either,” he continued, taking a step toward Adrissu. “If you didn’t, you would have told me not to come back a long time ago.”
“Ruan,” he said again—his tone more stern now—but he couldn’t find anything else to say. Despite all his efforts to keep Ruan at arm’s length, lying to the human felt impossible.
“Tell me no, then,” Ruan said, closing the distance between them. “If you don’t want me, tell me no.”
He couldn’t. Ruan eyed him for only a moment, then leaned down and kissed him.
Adrissu’s hands clenched so hard around the arms of his chair that he thought he might splinter them to pieces. His back stiffened, tension coiling in every muscle, but despite himself his eyes slipped closed. His mate was kissing him, his mouth hot and hungry, and everything in the world seemed to slip into its correct place—the way it had when Adrissu had first seen him across the courtyard. Ruan’s tongue swiped against his lips. He groaned and pressed his own tongue against him, and with a faint noise Ruan’s lips parted to let him in. He wanted to bite, to claw, todevour; but he only let his tongue glide against Ruan’s, relishing in the soft moan of pleasure that escaped from the back of his throat.
Everything in him was screaming for more, but Adrissu forced himself to pull away.
“Adrissu,” Ruan protested, tilting his head to follow; but with every ounce of restraint that he had left, Adrissu turned his face away, so the human’s lips only brushed against his cheek.
“Ruan,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. He sounded as strained and tense as he felt, his fingers dug painfully into the wooden arms of his chair. “If you do this again—I will not stop. I will not be able to stop.”
“I don’t want you to stop,” Ruan murmured, before he leaned in closer. He had pushed himself between Adrissu’s legs, but now moved to straddle his waist, sitting in his lap. He pressed his lips to Adrissu’s neck; with an involuntary gasp, Adrissu tilted his head so more of his skin was exposed. Ruan started near the crook of his shoulder, mouthing and biting and licking upward until he was pressing kisses to his jaw, his cheek, the corner of his mouth.
When their lips touched again, Adrissu knew it was over. He surged forward—all but leaping to his feet and taking Ruan with him—pushing him up against the table as they kissed, making the human gasp and moan. Adrissu pressed forward until Ruan’s back was flush against the table, bent almost painfully at the waist as he leaned over him, first biting the human’s lower lip and then soothing it with his tongue. The human had gone entirely limp against him, helpless to the onslaught, but his erection strained against his trousers where they were pressed together.
One of Ruan’s hands came up, first cupping his cheek then trailing upward to feel along his ear. Adrissu gasped at the little thrill of unexpected pleasure it sent shooting down his spine.
Their lips finally apart, Ruan grinned up at him through heavy-lidded eyes.
“You like this?” he murmured, as he trailed his fingers along Adrissu’s ear again, pressing harder near the lobe and softly at the pointed tip.
Adrissu did not reply. He bit his lip, squeezing his eyes shut. It was not too late; he could still stop this. Couldn’t he?
