Kiss me, then...

Impossible. Kaylen couldn't be talking about him. In the original Asahin's memories, Kaylen had shown nothing but coldness and disdain. Disinterest at best. Annoyance at worst. He had barely acknowledged his existence beyond a cursory glance.

So how could Kaylen possibly have shifted from outright disdain to… whatever this was… in the span of a week?

"You can't possibly be referring to me," Asahin said abruptly.

He pushed himself to his feet so quickly that the chair scraped against the floor. His hands slammed down onto the table — too loud — and he quickly bit back a curse, shooting a wary glance toward the door. He didn't need the guards patrolling the annex to hear this.

Without waiting for a response, he stalked toward the middle of the room, his back to Kaylen. His thoughts were spinning too fast — unraveling, falling apart.

He heard the quiet rustle of movement behind him, followed by the unmistakable sound of footsteps.

Then Kaylen's breath — warm — brushed against his ear.

"Why can't it be you?" Kaylen's voice was dangerously soft, dangerously close.

Asahin whipped around, his breath hitching. "Because you can't stand me!" His violet eyes flared with heat. "You abhor the very thought of me!"

Kaylen's gaze didn't falter. "I don't think I've ever behaved like that toward you," he replied calmly.

"You're kidding, right?" Asahin barked out a humorless laugh. "That night — when you first snuck in here — you practically told me to stay the hell away from you and Darrien!"

Kaylen's brow furrowed. A flicker of something dark crossed his expression — not guilt, but remembrance.

"That…" Kaylen's gaze sharpened. "I had only just met you that night. I didn't realize you weren't him."

Asahin's eyes widened. A sharp pang of confusion and unease surged through him. "What do you mean you didn't realize I wasn't him? What are you talking about—"

"I'm not forcing you to tell me anything you aren't ready to share," Kaylen interrupted smoothly. He took a step closer — not threatening, but sure — his presence steady and unyielding. "I can wait. But I won't reject this pull I feel toward you," Kaylen murmured. "It's inexplicable. But undeniable."

"You…" Asahin's voice thinned to a whisper, unable to tear his eyes away from Kaylen's intense gaze. "You're insane."

But Asahin knew what Kaylen was talking about. He had felt it too — that sharp, unrelenting pull that gripped him tightly. That night at Kaylen's house — it had made itself known. A current beneath his skin. An ache he hadn't been able to name.

But he had ignored it. Suppressed it. How could he possibly feel that kind of magnetic pull toward someone he had only known for a week? Toward someone he had previously only known through the pages of a novel?

It made no sense.

But then again… transmigrating into the body of a male omega who could get pregnant didn't make sense either.

And yet… here he was.

"I don't know how deep this attraction runs," Kaylen's voice was low, almost hesitant, the words brushing against the silence between them. "I don't know if it can grow into something more… but I know that I want to explore it."

As he spoke, his right arm slipped around Asahin's waist, the contact both light and deliberate. His hand settled against the small of Asahin's back, his touch sinking through the thin fabric of his shirt. Slowly, he pulled Asahin closer, until there was barely any space left between their bodies.

"I want to hold on to it," Kaylen said, his breath stirring the hair at Asahin's temple. "And I want to hold on to you."

His face hovered inches away, his gray eyes dark and steady beneath the flickering glow of the lamp. "I really want to kiss you," he confessed, his voice dropping to a rough whisper. "But I won't do it if you don't want me to. So, if you tell me to stop… if you tell me to let go… I will."

Asahin's breath caught. His mind screamed at him to pull away, to snap out of it, to stop veering so dangerously close to the heart of the story's main plot. Logic begged him to remember that this wasn't supposed to happen — that he wasn't meant to be involved with the protagonist. That he wasn't meant to derail the narrative like this.

But the logic of the novel no longer held sway. This wasn't just fiction anymore — this was reality. His reality. Kaylen was real. His warmth, the rough edge in his voice, the intense way his gaze lingered on Asahin's lips — it was all real. And Asahin's feelings, though shocking and wholly unexplainable, were real too.

His heart hammered so loudly that it drowned out every other thought in his head. So, without thinking — without even realizing he had made the decision — Asahin let the words spill from his lips:

"Kiss me, then."

Kaylen's eyes darkened, a sharp flicker of heat passing through them. He hesitated for only a fraction of a second before closing the distance between them.

The first touch of Kaylen's lips was soft. Gentle. Barely a kiss at all — more like a quiet question. But then Kaylen's left hand slid behind his neck, fingers threading into his hair as he tilted Asahin's head back. The kiss deepened. Kaylen's mouth pressed more firmly against his, and his lips parted — slow and unhurried — coaxing Asahin to open up to him.

The taste of him — sweet, warm, tinged faintly with vanilla — filled Asahin's mouth, and heat curled low in his stomach. His pulse hammered wildly in his ears as Kaylen's tongue slid against his own, teasing.

Without even realizing it, Asahin's arms wrapped around Kaylen's back. He pulled him closer, until their chests were pressed tightly together, heat searing through the thin barrier of clothing. Kaylen's body was solid, warm, and it felt too good — too natural — to be wrong.

Asahin melted into the kiss, his knees weakening, his thoughts scattering like ashes in the wind.

When Kaylen finally pulled back, Asahin was left breathless. His chest heaved, and his lips throbbed with the lingering heat of the kiss. His eyes fluttered open, dazed and unfocused.

Had kissing always felt like this?

Asahin's thoughts spiraled, trying to grasp onto any memory from his original world that even remotely resembled the intensity of this moment — the heat that thrummed beneath his skin, the edge of desire curling low in his belly.

But there was nothing. Definitely not.

No kiss had ever unraveled him like this before — left him so breathless, so helplessly adrift. His lips still tingled from Kaylen's touch, a lingering echo of heat and pressure. His heart slammed against his ribs with wild insistence, as if his body was trying to tell him something his mind hadn't yet caught up to.

Was it because Kaylen was an alpha and he was an omega? Was that why the connection between them felt so intense, so raw — as if it bypassed thought and reason and went straight to instinct? Or was it something deeper — something uniquely tied to him and Kaylen?

Asahin's gaze lifted, meeting Kaylen's eyes. They were dark and heavy-lidded, the gray deepened to molten silver under the dim light. A quiet storm brewed beneath his irises, a simmering hunger barely held in check. It was as if someone had struck a match behind them and left the flame to burn unchecked.

Asahin wondered what his own eyes looked like — whether they mirrored the same naked desire reflected in Kaylen's gaze.

They must have, because Kaylen's restraint fractured in an instant, as he pulled him forward into another kiss.

This kiss was different. Deeper. More urgent. Kaylen's lips moved against his with fierce intent, parting his mouth as his tongue swept inside — hot and claiming. A low sound vibrated in Kaylen's throat as his other hand skimmed down Asahin's back, pressing him closer until there wasn't even a sliver of air between them.

Asahin's head spun. His arms wrapped around Kaylen's shoulders of their own accord, his fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt. His body responded instinctively, molding to Kaylen's as if they were made to fit together.

Kaylen guided him back, and Asahin barely registered the soft press of the mattress beneath him until Kaylen's weight settled above him. His hand slid down Asahin's back, before gliding over the curve of his hip. And then—lower.

Kaylen's hand traced down the length of his thigh before skimming back up beneath his shirt. The contrast of cool fingers against flushed, heated skin sent a violent shiver through him.

A sharp, breathless sound escaped Asahin's throat — half a gasp, half a moan — and at that moment Kaylen stilled.

His mouth lingered over Asahin's, his lips barely touching. His hand froze where it rested beneath the hem of Asahin's shirt, fingers pressing lightly against the bare skin of his waist. His breath came shallow and uneven.

"I think I should go." Kaylen's voice was rough, frayed at the edges.

His gaze flicked down to Asahin's parted lips — flushed and swollen from his kisses — and then back up to meet his eyes. His hand slipped away from Asahin's skin, leaving behind a phantom burn where his touch had been.

Kaylen's expression was tight, his eyes trembling with barely leashed tension. He looked like he was holding himself together by sheer force of will.

Asahin's breath came in shaky bursts as Kaylen slowly began to pull away. His arms loosened from around Kaylen's shoulders, falling back to his sides. His chest heaved, his mind still fogged with the lingering heat of the kiss.

Asahin didn't say anything. He could barely think, let alone speak.

"Next time you go to the university," Kaylen said, his voice steadier now, "head for the library."

Asahin's brows furrowed. "I'm… going tomorrow," he murmured, his voice husky from the remnants of the kiss.

Kaylen's lips curled faintly. "Then tomorrow it is."

Before Asahin could respond, Kaylen leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to his forehead. The gesture was achingly tender — too tender — and it left Asahin's heart racing all over again.

Then Kaylen stood and walked toward the door. He moved swiftly, too quickly for Asahin to react, and before Asahin could catch his breath, Kaylen was gone.

The room fell into silence. The only sound was the sharp thrum of Asahin's pulse in his ears.

He lay there, sprawled across the mattress, his body trembling with residual heat and confusion. Slowly, he rolled onto his side, curling inward as he pressed his face against the cool fabric of the sheets.

Kaylen's touch lingered on his skin. His lips still tingled. His mind was a chaotic blur of desire, disbelief, and something sharper — something dangerously close to longing.

His body felt like it was burning from the inside out.

He needed a cold shower.

An icy one.