Chapter 129: First Scent

Chapter 129: Chapter 129: First Scent

Nero disappeared into the dressing room before Sebastian could decide whether allowing him near the collars had been a tactical error.

Considering the expression Nero had worn when Sebastian agreed, the answer was probably yes.

Sebastian remained in the sitting room with one ankle resting over the opposite knee, watching late-afternoon sunlight stretch across the carpet in long golden bands. The balcony doors stood partially open, letting warm Altera air into the suite along with the faint rustle of trees from the private gardens below.

Nero returned carrying a narrow velvet case.

Sebastian’s attention dropped immediately to it.

The case was dark green, which told him everything before Nero even opened it.

Inside rested the first collar they had chosen at Villa Petrana, back when the royal jeweler had arrived with enough cases to outfit an entire palace and somehow transformed one receiving room into a temporary showroom.

The collar was understated by Nero’s standards.

Deep green material lined with something softer against the skin, brushed silver fittings, no visible crest, and no gemstones large enough to finance a small municipality. The only engraving was hidden inside, exactly where Sebastian had permitted it.

Nero lifted it from the velvet.

Sebastian raised an eyebrow. "Before you become distracted by your victory, you still owe me an answer."

"I remember."

"You look suspiciously pleased for someone who hasn’t answered yet."

Nero’s mouth curved.

"Twenty-six centimeters when fully erect, approximately seventeen around."

Sebastian stared at him.

Nero remained perfectly composed.

Sebastian’s gaze dropped involuntarily toward his cream trousers before returning to Nero’s face.

"That is ridiculous."

"I didn’t design myself."

"You are built like a structural hazard."

Nero laughed, and Sebastian leaned back in the chair while the number settled somewhere unpleasantly beside the memory of the window.

Suddenly Roberta’s lecture about reasonable recovery periods felt insufficiently dramatic.

Sebastian considered standing up.

Not running, exactly.

Simply creating enough distance to reconsider several choices he had made over the past month.

He had barely shifted forward before Nero caught the movement.

"You’re leaving."

"I’m considering relocating."

"Because you asked a question and disliked the answer?"

"I am reassessing physics."

Nero placed the case on the nearby table, caught Sebastian around the waist, and lifted him before the thought could develop any further.

Sebastian barely had time to protest before Nero sat in the wide armchair and settled him sideways across his lap.

The movement was effortless.

Sebastian stared at him.

"You have an alarming relationship with personal space."

"You agreed to wear the collar."

"I agreed to the collar, not abduction across two meters of carpet."

"You survived."

"That is not the standard by which we evaluate your behavior."

Nero’s amusement softened as he reached for the velvet case again.

The change in him made Sebastian stop arguing.

For all the months Nero had obsessed over collars, there was surprisingly little triumph in his expression now. He handled the green band carefully, running one thumb over the silver fastening before looking at Sebastian.

"Lift your chin for me."

Sebastian did.

Nero gathered the hair away from his nape first, fingertips brushing carefully over the skin before he brought the collar around Sebastian’s throat.

The lining felt cool for only a moment.

Nero adjusted the fit without rushing, checking the space beneath it with two fingers and making certain nothing pinched before closing the silver clasp.

His hands remained at Sebastian’s neck after he finished.

Sebastian looked toward the mirror opposite them.

The collar suited him far more than he wanted to admit.

The dark green looked almost black where shadows crossed it, while the silver fittings caught the last sunlight from the windows. It did not resemble ownership or restraint. There was nothing excessive about it, nothing that overwhelmed the rest of him.

When Sebastian turned back, Nero was watching him with an expression he had never seen before.

"You like it," Sebastian murmured.

Nero swallowed. "That description is painfully inadequate."

Sebastian smiled.

Nero touched the edge of the collar with one finger, and Sebastian understood what the moment meant to him without needing it explained.

For seven years, Nero had wanted things he had never permitted himself to take.

Sebastian’s affection. His body. A bond.

The right to put anything around his throat and know Sebastian had chosen to wear it.

Now Sebastian was sitting willingly in his lap, wearing something Nero had selected with him rather than imposed upon him.

"You can breathe," Sebastian said quietly.

"I am breathing."

"Not convincingly."

That brought a faint smile back to Nero’s mouth.

He leaned forward and kissed the skin immediately beneath the collar.

The touch was soft enough to surprise Sebastian.

There were no teeth, no attempt to leave another mark, and none of the hungry impatience that had covered Sebastian’s neck in bruises the previous week. Nero merely pressed his mouth against his pulse and stayed there for a moment.

Then his entire body went still.

Sebastian felt the change immediately.

Nero lifted his head slightly and inhaled.

His expression sharpened.

"What happened?"

Nero did not answer immediately.

He leaned closer again, nose brushing beneath Sebastian’s ear as he breathed in more deeply.

Sebastian’s amusement disappeared.

"Nero, what is it?"

One of Nero’s hands moved from Sebastian’s waist to the center of his chest, spreading there as if he needed to confirm something physically.

Then Sebastian noticed it too.

A scent lingered beneath the clean soap on his skin and the smoke of Nero’s pheromones that always seemed to cling faintly to his clothes.

It was subtle, almost too faint to identify, carrying something warm and lightly sweet with a softer note beneath it that reminded Sebastian vaguely of flowers after rain.

Nothing he had ever smelled on himself before.

Nero’s pupils widened.

Sebastian stared at him. "That is coming from me?"

Nero bent toward his neck again.

This time the breath he took was deep enough that Sebastian felt it against his skin.

"Yes, it’s yours."

The answer came rougher than Sebastian expected.

For months, every change in his body had existed mostly through medical language. Hormonal activity, gland development, receptor conversion, secondary-gender markers, and laboratory values had all told him that the transition was progressing.

Those things were measurable.

This was something he could actually perceive.

Sebastian touched the collar instinctively.

"What kind of scent is it?"

Nero’s fingers tightened once against his chest before deliberately relaxing again.

"It’s omega."

The words settled between them more heavily than Sebastian expected.

Nero looked almost stunned.

"You have your own omega scent now."

Sebastian remained quiet while that registered.

The transformation had stopped being something happening invisibly beneath his skin.

It had become something Nero could smell.

Something Sebastian himself could recognize.

Nero lowered his face into the curve of Sebastian’s neck again and breathed him in with such open wonder that Sebastian’s hand rose automatically into the long white-blond hair at the back of his head.

A quiet laugh escaped him.

"Is it really that good?"

Nero’s arms tightened around him.

"My moon, you have no idea."