Chapter 54: 54-Dare to be shameless
Sseraphis let out a musical laugh as he bent down to touch the water in the pool. "Aren’t you getting too comfortable in my home?" He asked, a chill in his voice that could free up the water in the pool.
Nytherael, unfazed by his coldness, smiled. "How can I? The cold has never bothered me anyway," he responded, free of worry, and he swam around the water, enjoying the way the ice cold water felt against his warm skin.
"Are you bothered by my presence, Sseraphis?" He stretched out the snake’s name, intentionally testing waters.
Sseraphis sneered. He straightened his body and slowly let his clothes fall off his body.
Nytherael gasped, swallowing a mouthful of water. Cough...cough... he hadn’t been prepared for Sseraphis to strip in front of him.
His eyes remained glued on the soft ink stained skin, marking every pattern of scales that glowed softly under the candlelight. He stopped swimming and stood in the water, his hair falling on the surface of the water and clinging to his skin.
His ears twitched. Picking up on every slight shift in Sseraphis’ movements, breathing, and the turning red at the heat pooling in his face.
’What is he up to now?’
"Beautiful," he offered an honest compliment. His heart thundering against its cage, begging to be set free to run over to Sseraphis and grant the snake all the love he had.
"I know I am," Sseraphis said unapologetically. He dipped his toe in the water, testing the temperature. "I hope you don’t mind me joining you," be added.
"No, I don’t," Nytherael welcomed his initiative. He took a long, deep breath to calm his beating heart, his eyes never straying away from Sseraphis.
Sseraphis knew the power he held against Nytherael, and he owned it without mercy. His goal was to torture Nytherael with desire. To dangle just enough that the fox is hooked but without the pleasure of actually giving him what he wants.
’Since you stubbornly refuse to leave on your own. I will torture you so much until away from us is the only place you’ll find peace,’ he thought, his violet-black eyes observing Nytherael as he entered the pool.
Nytherael cleared his throat. He shook off the fog of last clouding his brain and changed the subject. "It was always my dream to have an underwater palace..."
"I thought it would feel good to build one and live in it since you weren’t around anymore," Sseraphis answered before he asked the question. "Your dreams seemed to have some sense in your absence. So I went ahead and built one."
Nytherael cracked an awkward smile. Now, it was clear to him that Sseraphis was there to annoy him. The snake was still determined to force him to leave but was only playing nove because Aeltharion was against the idea.
"I am just glad to know that even in my absence, you still had me in your thoughts," he said, putting up a brave face and thickening his skin.
He refused to let Sseraphis get under his skin and anger him to the point of leaving. He’d left once, and that was more than enough for all lifetimes. Now, he just wanted to stay and enjoy the present and future building his marriage life.
"Of course I had you in my thoughts. How else would I get the motivation to ruin the dynasty you call home?" Sseraphis didn’t ease up. Instead, he fired up.
He twirled his fingers in the water. The gentle motion sent a ripple of waves through that hit Nytherael’s chest.
Cough...cough...
Nytherael coghued out blood. He clutched his chest tightly. Holding back the urge to glare at his mischievous husband who was resorting to cheap tricks.
"With you in mind, I have developed a tendency to do bad and evil deeds. So lume dynasty and every beastfolk should thank you for their misery," Sseraphis let out, acting oblivious to what he just did.
Nytherael washed away the blood and calmed down. "From what I’ve learnt so far, they are also to blame for what you’ve done to them. Why should they only thank me?"
"Shameless!" Sseraphis shook his head. He acted disappointed, but Nytherael knew that the two-faced snake had no remorse for the beastfolk suffering or for him.
Sseraphis only cared about inflicting pain unto others to ease the pain in himself. He was projecting the pain of his betrayal onto the world.
"I am shameless. And I won’t apologize for it," he claimed.
Hahaha!
Sseraphis’ humourless laugh tickled the hairs on Nytherael’s skin. When Sseraphis swam over to his side of the pool, he tensed, his body growing stiff.
"Really?" He asked. The same mischievous venom he had when he asked Nytherael to let him kill Rhysandor was still playing in his eyes. Nythereal swallowed. "How shameless can you get?" He whispered, brushing his lips on Nytherael’s neck.
Nytherael naturally wrapped his hands around Sseraphis’s waist. Sseraphis’ smiled, biting down on his collarbone.
"Aah," Nytherael gapsed, pain shooting from the spot Sseraphis bit, a tinge of poison seeped into his skin from Sseraphis’ poisonous teeth.
"Too bad," Sseraphis looked up. "That night in the hut was the last time I’d ever let you touch me," he said and pulled back.
Nytherael ran a hand over his damp hair. His racing heart struggling to return to its usual beat, and the heat in his skin only increases with every tease.
He exhaled. "You’re really good at playing a villain."
"I was raised in the abyss, Nythe. Villain is all I have ever known," he let out proudly.
"But you weren’t a villain the first time you left the abyss and joined me and Aeltharion on the surface."
The reminder made the nasty smile on Sseraphis’ lips freeze. He lowered his head, his eyes catching a glimpse of his face in the water.
It reflected the monster he became after the angel he was back, then was betrayed, wounded, and abandoned. His eyes paused on the image for a moment before he moved, the movement stirred the water, and his reflection disappeared.
"I have long forgotten what that beast you speak of looks like," he lied.
"Then, I’ll remind you."
Sseraphis looked back over his shoulder and let out, "Do that, and I’ll erase every memory in my head of us!" He watched Nytherael’s face lose colour, and the smile on his face bloomed again. "Still dare to be so brave and shameless?"
