Chapter 157: Chapter 157: Try it on me (1)
"Liar."
Victor’s smile only widened, slow and unbothered. "Hmm..." he murmured, the sound velvet-dark. "I could refute that, but where would be the fun in it?" His thumb brushed once against Elias’s hip, the ring catching the lamp’s glow. "Besides, if I actually wanted to convince you, I’d tell you outright. I don’t lie, Elias. I just prefer to let you wonder."
The glint in his crimson eyes turned wicked. "It keeps you looking at me like that."
Elias exhaled through his nose, somewhere between a scoff and a laugh. "You’re impossible."
"I’ve been told," Victor replied without shame, sliding his arm more firmly around Elias’s waist. He didn’t even glance at Robert and Ashwin still standing a few metres away; the two of them had long since stopped reacting to the sight of their emperor sitting with a man in his lap as if no one else existed. Robert merely shifted his weight and pretended to check the restraints. Ashwin flicked a look at Elias, smirked faintly, and went back to his phone.
Victor’s thumb traced another slow circle at the small of Elias’s back. "You’re still trembling," he murmured, voice soft enough to be for him alone. "Come back with me."
Before Elias could protest, the world folded. Red-black ether swirled up from under Victor’s boots, wrapping them both, and the night-air yard dissolved into the warm lamplight of the manor’s corridor. The scent of imperial iris replaced the smell of asphalt and iron; the chill of Victor’s power bled off his coat like frost.
Elias blinked at the sudden change, still in Victor’s hold, the weight of his coat heavy around his shoulders. "You could have warned me."
"Maybe next time," Victor said mildly, setting him down only enough that his boots touched the carpet but keeping him within the circle of his arm. "I like you in my arms."
Elias pushed at his shoulder without much force. "You’re going to make everyone in the house think I’m furniture."
Victor’s mouth curved, crimson eyes flicking over his face. "Let them," he said softly. "They’re used to me carrying what I want."
"That’s comforting," Elias muttered, tugging his coat tighter as if to anchor himself. "God of execution and public displays of clinginess."
Victor’s laugh came low, pleased. "A title upgrade," he murmured, thumb brushing a slow arc at the side of Elias’s throat. "You’ll get used to it."
Elias tilted his head just enough to look at him. "And you’ll get used to me pushing back."
"Never," Victor said, voice velvet-dark but almost warm. "That’s the point."
He eased him down the hall, still half-holding him, and turned them into the nearest sitting room. The fire was banked low in the grate; the lamplight painted Victor’s hair in a dull gold glow. He sank into the armchair and, without asking, drew Elias sideways across his lap again, long fingers sliding to rest at his waist.
For a moment he only looked at him, the banked fire of his eyes unreadable. Then his thumb began its slow circle again, and his tone shifted from teasing to intent.
"You unstitched a corpse built from red ether with your bare hands," he said quietly. "That isn’t something I want left unexplored."
Elias’s brows rose, suspicion threading through his fatigue. "You’re about to say something I won’t like."
Victor’s mouth curved, dangerous and amused. "Possibly." He lifted one pale hand, palm up, and turned it slightly so that the black-stone ring caught the firelight. "Try it on me."
Elias blinked at him. "On you?"
Victor nodded once, unbothered. "You won’t harm me. But I want to know what it feels like, what it does. I want to know the shape of what you are."
Elias stared at him, then let out a sharp breath. "That’s not an experiment; that’s insane."
Victor’s thumb made another lazy arc at his waist, eyes never leaving his. "Maybe," he murmured. "But then, so was walking up to Matteo." His grin sharpened a fraction. "Humor me, little stabilizer. Just once."
Elias slid off Victor’s lap in one abrupt motion, the heavy coat half-slipping from his shoulders as he did. "No," he said, tugging at the buttons with quick fingers. "If you’re going to start using words like ’try it on me,’ I’m putting at least a meter between us."
Victor didn’t move to stop him; he just tilted his head back against the armchair, watching with that unreadable glint that made Elias’s stomach tighten. "A meter?" he murmured. "Ambitious."
Elias shoved the coat off, draping it over the back of a chair, and straightened his shirt cuffs as if the small act of order could push away the weight of Victor’s presence. "I’m not ambitious. I’m cautious."
"You say that," Victor said softly, "while undressing in front of a god."
"That’s not..." Elias shot him a look over his shoulder. "You know exactly what you’re doing."
Victor’s mouth curled into a smile that gave him butterflies. "Yes," he agreed. "I’m watching you pretend you can leave."
Elias drew a slow breath and stepped back once, twice, until the edge of the rug met his heels. He should have felt relief at the space, but the heat of Victor’s ether still reached him like the ghost of a fire. His pulse jumped in his throat. "Stay there," he warned, lifting a hand as if it would stop him.
Victor rose without hurry, uncoiling from the chair like a great cat stretching after a nap. "You should know by now," he murmured, each word low and velvet-dark, "telling me to stay doesn’t work." His shoes whispered over the rug as he closed the distance Elias had tried to carve out, crimson eyes glinting under the lamplight. "If you really want space," he added, head tilting a fraction, "you’ll have to run."
Elias’s breath caught; his back found the cool paneling of the wall. "You’d never let me," he said quietly.
"True." Victor’s mouth curved, the air between them thick with their mingled pheromones. "Now..." his voice dropped to a drawl, equal parts invitation and challenge, "...would you be kind enough to try that on me?"