RTYY 218 - Dark Temptation

Snow watched the tall, dark figure walking in front of him. He'd seen that image so many times now that it was actually more familiar to him that his own reflection.

As usual, ZaiWin wore his hair tied up in one simple ponytail, and it slid down his back all the way to his waist, gently flowing from side to side with every step he took. His hair was so dark that, under the light of the day, it glistened in shades of night-blue, and it looked so silky smooth that Snow almost reached out to grab it.

Blinking, Snow couldn't help blush all the way to his ears, glad that he'd managed to stop himself in time. How embarrassing would that have been?, suddenly pulling his hair just like that. And yet, the more Snow looked at him the more flustered he felt.

Every little thing about ZaiWin was way too familiar. The posture of his shoulders. The soft swing of his hips. The relaxed posture of his arms. The width of his footsteps. The almost inaudible sound of his feet as they touched the ground. Snow's heart was beating so fast now that it was starting to feel harder to breathe.

How come he knew all that? When had he taken notice of all those little traits? How many times had he unconsciously watched him in order to memorize such small details? Snow could even see it in his mind, the expression ZaiWin would have on his face should he turn back to look at him. Something was definitely wrong with him, Snow concluded with a self-chastising a frown. And why couldn't he stop his heart from beating so fast? They were just walking down the street! Nothing new about that. Nothing dangerous either.

Annoyed with himself, Snow decided to stop looking at him and averted his gaze.

They were almost at the village's entrance, where a group of young men was practicing bow and arrow, shooting against an old sac filled with dirt.

That's right, Snow thought, watching them. It had been a while since he had practiced shooting with a bow. And it wasn't as if he was some renowned expert that could afford to go without practice for so long, without risking losing what little ability he had been able to gain. MenTar had told him that such things must be practiced on a daily basis. Even masters of the art had to keep up with a strict practicing schedule.

"Do you want to join them?"

Startled, Snow looked up at him. He'd inadvertently stopped following him to watch the other's practice, which had inevitably alerted ZaiWin to his distraction.

Faced with those bright blue eyes, Snow shook his head without a second thought.

ZaiWin looked at the group of young men taking turns shooting their arrows against the only target they had, and a small smile touched his lips.

"I never got the chance to tell you. But that ice bow you made before, it was actually pretty amazing," he declared, the words slower than normal as he peered at Snow from the corner of his eyes.

His words had sounded like a compliment, but somehow ZaiWin looked very much like a feral animal stalking his prey. And Snow quickly looked away, trying to escape that obvious trap, his heart beating so loud inside his chest that he had to wonder if ZaiWin couldn't hear it as well.

"Was that why you wanted to learn how to shoot?" ZaiWin asked, his voice sounding smooth but, at the same time, strangely cold and dangerous.

Snow quickly shook his head.

"I … That was the first time. I had never done that before …" Snow admitted, unable to understand why he suddenly felt threatened by the mere fact that he was standing there, talking with him.

Was ZaiWin angry?, he wondered, taking a peek at him, which he immediately regretted. It was true he didn't look angry, but that small smile was creepy to say the least, not to mention that ZaiWin kept looking at him as if he wanted to stab him with a thousand needles.

"At the time I really didn't think," Snow went on, instinctively trying to say the right thing and somehow appease him. "I just wanted to … help … I remembered MenTar shooting an arrow made of wind … I wondered if I could do the same," he concluded.

Something passed so fast right next to his face that Snow couldn't even see it, and the hand that grabbed him by the back of his neck, pulling him forward, startled him.

Darkness enveloped him, making him hold his breath, and Snow instinctively reach out for the person he knew was standing right in front of him. He knew ZaiWin had dragged them into one of his jumps, but no matter how many times he'd done that, Snow still couldn't help feeling apprehensive every time that thick darkness surrounded him. That other world was not a place where living creatures should enter, he instinctively knew. He also knew that every time ZaiWin came out from one of his jumps he brought some of that darkness back with him. And yet, even though that should have been harmful, even though it should have corrupted and even driven any other person mad, ZaiWin seemed immune to it. Just like what happened every time he stepped into a corrupted land to fight the feimao. It was amazing and, at the same time, scary.

This time, however, even before Snow could glimpse the light of day, something clashed against his lips, warmth invading his mouth, making him moan a protest that could hardly be heard.

He couldn't breathe. And the arm that wrapped itself around his waist pulled him forward, making sure his entire body was surrounded by that intoxicating warmth, making Snow stand on the tips of his toes, his feet barely touching the ground.

"Don't say his name again …" that same warmth whispered against his lips and Snow blinked, feeling dizzy.

For an instant he thought he'd lost his bracelet, since all he could see were those blue eyes staring intently at him, almost as if they were about to devour him. His lips felt numb but incredibly warm. And he couldn't help be grateful for the cold wind that brushed through his hair, cooling down his burning cheeks.

"I hate the thought of all the time he spent with you. Of all the things he told you."

Snow blinked, feeling small and constricted, wrapped in those long, strong arms. Was he talking about MenTar?

"You were the one who told him to watch over me. You were the one who ignored me. Who wouldn't even speak to me," Snow mercilessly reminded him, but the clear agony that immediately took over those blue eyes had him regretting his own words the next instant.

"I know. Above all, I hate the way I treated you," ZaiWin admitted, to Snow's surprise, his arms squeezing him a bit harder. "If I could erase all that from your memory I would."

Snow gaped at him. By the way he spoke, Snow didn't doubt that he would actually do something like that if he could. ZaiWin might have changed the way he treated him, but he was still the same fundamentally self-centered person he'd known, deciding and executing what he thought was right all on his own, no matter if those decisions involved someone else. So he would haply erase all the cruel things he'd told him, and make it as if they had never happened. Was there anything more self-serving than that?

"You said you'd never lie to me," Snow reminded him and that small smile returned to ZaiWin's lips.

"If you can't 't remember it, how can that be a lie?"

"You would make me forget all the things I've learned? All the things I've seen?"

"I would teach you all those things, all over again."

Snow lowered his head and took a deep breath. His heart was still beating too fast. And yet he couldn't understand his own feelings. Wasn't he supposed to feel angry or at the very least outraged when faced with such an open and clear lack of consideration? After all, ZaiWin was openly telling him that, if he could, he would gladly step over his free will and mess with his head, all to serve his own purposes.

Warmth spread down his neck and across his face when ZaiWin nuzzled his soft skin, sending small shivers coursing through Snow's entire body.

"You're mine," he whispered directly into his ear, and a strange heat flooded Snow's chest, making strange things happen somewhere in his stomach.

He wished he could defend himself by straight-out denying ZaiWin's arrogant declaration, but he couldn't. Not anymore. He could only stand there, feeling as his body slowly melted surrounded by that warmth, as his legs slowly turned to mush.

Those words were worse than the chains that had imprisoned him for ten whole years, he suddenly realized, a hint of fear slithering into his heart. But even that was quickly consumed by heat, when ZaiWin licked his ear, nibbling his sensitive skin, making him dizzy.

"You only need to listen to me. To see me. To feel me."

A large hand couped Snow's face, gently tilting his head back, allowing ZaiWin free access to his jawline and neck, and a hot thumb traced his parted lips and slid inside his mouth.

"I will kill everyone else. Do you understand?"

Snow wanted to answer, even rebuke him, but the finger inside his mouth wouldn't allow him to speak, his dragged, mumbled voice sounding like an unintelligible moan.

ZaiWin slowly licked the thin thread of silvery saliva sliding down his chin and held his head between his hands, looking straight into Snow's drowsy, glazed pale eyes. He didn't know if it was a Tien'Elhar thing, but it was clear that the one in front of him was too sensitive, too weak against any kind of erotic stimulation. Which was at the same time beautiful to see and very hard to resist.

Looking at that delicate face, at the way those silver eyelashes trembled, at those reddened parted lips, at the way Snow's pale cheeks were blushed pink, ZaiWin couldn't help wanting to tease him more, to see what other enticing expressions Snow would award him with, if he were to show him what real physical pleasure felt like. In his mind, he could clearly see how those soft lips would gasp for air, how those pale eyes would tear up, how his alluring voice would call his name. Snow's cold, pale skin would redden and warm up at his touch. And his entire body would shudder and hold him tight, his cold hands sliding up his naked back, his small fingers tangled in his hair.

ZaiWin felt dizzy just thinking about it, his body reacting violently, hardening beneath his clothes, a voice inside his mind telling him to just push him down onto the hard floor right there, rip his clothes off, and simply take that which was already his.

No. Not his. Not yet.

ZaiWin knew better than anyone that words were only worth so much. That words were easily taken back and betrayed. And the incomplete, unbalanced link between them deeply resented that truth. He knew he could never truly have him through that incomplete bond. But there were other ways to possess him, to shackle him, to make him truly belong to him and only him, to claim him as his own.

His hands twitched.

Snow felt so soft and pliable, so comfortable and trusting in his arms. Would he deny him? Would he fight him off? Would he feel hurt? Would he hate him?

Others had touched him before, hadn't they? And the mere thought of that was enough to ignite a fury so deep and strong that the daitai on his back burned in response.

Looking at the face he now held between his hands, how could they not touch him? How could they resist? If they weren't all dead already he'd leave in that precise moment and shred them all to pieces. He wished he could kill them all over again! Those filthy bastards that had dared lay their eyes on what was his. That had dared lay their hands on what was and had always been his!! He wanted to dig out their eyes! He wanted to cut off their hands! Wanted to stuff their filthy fingers down their own throats! And yet, if such pieces of filth had been able to touch him, to hurt him, to bleed him, why couldn't he do as he pleased as well?

A cool hand touched his face and part of the rage storming inside his chest immediately quieted down. Those beautiful pale eyes were silently staring back at him. Snow didn't look as dazed as before. Instead, that icy gaze was looking at him filled with warm and loving affection.

Would Snow lose that? Would he lose that gentle touch? That tender gaze? Would making him his ruin him more than he'd already been ruined? Would he be the final stab that would finally break him?

Looking into those eyes, ZaiWin knew that the emotions he saw there weren't specifically for him. He'd seen that same kindness take over Snow's face when he looked at other living things, no matter if they were small and insignificant like a flower growing by the side of the road, or big and powerful like his horse.

Ultimately, that's what it meant to be a Tien'Elhar. That's what ZenTar had meant, when he'd told him that Tien'Elhar did not feel the same way normal people did. He knew all this all too well. He also knew that he would be taking advantage of that to satisfy his own insatiable need and desire. Snow was just playing along. Just giving in to him, like VinWei had told him. He didn't know any better. He couldn't understand the limits imposed by society regarding things like touching and cuddling. He was the first one to kiss anyone in need without a second thought. As long as what was being done to him didn't hurt, Snow couldn't see why doing this or doing that was wrong. ZaiWin knew all this. But he doubted Snow would be able to remain forgiving if he were to do anything more than occasionally stealing a few kisses. And now that his fury had subsided, he really didn't want to lose that trusting and tender gaze, even knowing that it wasn't meant especially for him.

"Are you still angry …?" Snow whispered softly, doubtfully, and ZaiWin sighed, slowly shaking his head so he wouldn't dislodge the cool hand still pressed against his cheek. Closing his eyes, ZaiWin leaned into that hand, trying to fill the void inside him with the warmth of that cold touch.

Snow's heart almost stopped at the gentleness of that gesture. Just a moment ago he'd been facing a ferocious, violent dark beast. And now that same beast was softly rubbing against his hand like a tamed puppy. Holding one of the warm hands still framing his face, Snow turned his head and placed a kiss on its palm, almost like a reward.

Taking a deep breath, ZaiWin lowered his head, gluing his forehead to his.

As if touching their foreheads together had opened a closed door, Snow couldn't help feeling startled with the chaotic echoes that filled his mind. Was this ZaiWin's mind, he wondered looking up at him, at his peaceful expression, almost as if he'd just fallen asleep.

"I'm sorry …" the almost inaudible whisper that caressed Snow's lips startled him, nevertheless.

"What for?"

"You wouldn't want to know," ZaiWin whispered back. And the way his blue eyes glistened when he finally opened them made Snow blush, even though he couldn't exactly explain why.

Lifting his head, ZaiWin placed a light kiss on his forehead and finally released him.

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What can I say? Bad, bad ZaiWin! 😤 Although I guess he's not as self-centered as Snow thinks ... 😊 And well, one is free to think and dream whatever one pleases. 😈