Chapter 13:Hunger and Restraint

The sunlight had barely started creeping in through the blinds, but neither of them had slept.

Kai lay sprawled on the couch, lips swollen, hair a tousled halo around his flushed face. Adrian sat at the edge of the sofa, one hand clenched in a fist, the other raking through his own hair as he fought the remnants of the storm they'd just shared. His shirt was somewhere on the floor. His control? That had already left the building hours ago.

Kai's voice broke the silence, soft and teasing. "You keep looking at me like you're about to devour me again."

Adrian shot him a glance, dark and unreadable. "Don't tempt me."

Kai rolled onto his side with a lazy, satisfied stretch, his grin positively sinful. "I think I already did. Several times."

Adrian growled under his breath. "You have no idea what you're doing to me, wolf."

Kai blinked up at him, eyes still heavy with the afterglow. "You keep saying that like it's a bad thing."

Adrian turned sharply, looming over him now. "It is a bad thing, Kai. You don't know what it means to be bound to me like this. I've tasted you, claimed you I can feel it. Your scent's in my veins now. It's not just about sex anymore."

Kai's lips parted, breath catching. "Then tell me what it is about."

Adrian's gaze dropped to Kai's throat, where a faint bruise from his bite still lingered. His fangs ached just looking at it. "It's about hunger," he said lowly. "Obsession. It's about you being in my thoughts, my instincts... my fucking bloodstream. And the more I taste you, the harder it is to stop."

Kai didn't flinch. In fact, he moved closer, wrapping his arms around Adrian's waist and pulling him down again. "Then don't stop."

"You're an omega," Adrian said through clenched teeth. "You're supposed to be the delicate one in this story."

Kai snorted. "Delicate, my ass."

Adrian's eyes narrowed, glowing faintly with the beast beneath. "I could ruin you."

Kai smirked. "Maybe I want to be ruined."

Adrian inhaled sharply. "Fuck," he muttered, pressing his forehead against Kai's. "You're going to destroy me."

Kai's fingers brushed along Adrian's jaw, guiding his gaze back down. "Let me."

In a flash, Adrian kissed him again this time slower, deeper. Not frenzied or frantic like before. No, this kiss was something darker. A claim. A warning. A promise.

Kai moaned into it, his hands exploring Adrian's bare back, fingers trailing down his spine. They both melted into the moment, losing themselves again, though the shadows outside the window crept closer with every passing second.

Because what they didn't know yet… was that someone was watching.

A dark figure stood at a rooftop across the street, eyes locked on the apartment window, where the vampire and the omega were tangled in each other. His lips curled into a sneer.

"So, the prince has found himself a little mutt," he said to no one in particular.

He turned, disappearing into the night, cloak flaring behind him like smoke.

The game had just begun.

Adrian finally stood, pacing the room like a caged beast. His back was tense, muscles rippling with every breath as he tried to reign in the predator clawing beneath his skin.

Kai sat up, sheets pooling around his waist. "You're overthinking this."

Adrian whirled on him. "I'm protecting you. You think I can't smell the mark I left? Every vampire within a mile will scent it too. And when they realize it's an omega I've touched claimed "

"Let them," Kai said, voice steady, even as his heart thudded hard against his ribs. "Let them come. I'm not afraid of your world."

"You should be," Adrian hissed. "You should be terrified, Kai. This isn't some twisted Romeo and Juliet fantasy. Vampires don't love, we consume."

"Then why haven't you consumed me yet?" Kai asked, challenging, his gaze locked onto Adrian's. "Why are you still holding back if that's all I am to you?"

Silence stretched between them like a blade.

Adrian looked away, jaw tight. "Because I can't lose myself in you. Not completely. Not when I don't know what happens after."

Kai rose from the bed, his bare feet padding silently across the floor as he moved to him. "You're afraid," he whispered, placing a hand over Adrian's still heart. "But I'm not. Whatever this is whatever you think it'll turn into I'm already in it."

Adrian's fingers twitched. He looked down at Kai's hand, then into his eyes, as if trying to read the soul behind them. "You're reckless," he murmured.

Kai's lips curved. "And you're addicted."

Adrian smirked, just the barest flicker of it before he caught Kai's wrist and yanked him flush against his chest. "Damn right I am."

Their lips met again, this time with a smoldering slowness, like the calm just before an explosion. But beneath the surface, tension brewed an undercurrent of something dangerous. Possessive. Feral.

And somewhere between that kiss and the way Adrian's hands gripped Kai's hips like he was anchoring himself, both of them realized something they hadn't dared to admit.

This wasn't lust anymore.

It was war.

And they were both already losing.