Chapter 132: Earned

Chapter 132: Chapter 132: Earned

Sebastian made it three steps into the dressing room before Nero followed him.

He heard the soft click of shoes on the wooden floor, then silence, which was somehow worse because Nero rarely went quiet unless he was thinking very hard or about to do something Sebastian would eventually regret encouraging.

Sebastian opened the wardrobe.

"You were supposed to figure it out."

"I am."

The answer came much closer than expected.

Sebastian glanced over his shoulder.

Nero had stopped just inside the doorway, watching him with an intensity that made the entire challenge feel increasingly unwise. The ivory shirt remained neatly tucked into warm brown trousers, bronze embroidery catching against his wrists when he folded his arms, but his expression had changed completely.

Sebastian narrowed his eyes. "Why do you look like I assigned you military intelligence work?"

"Because you gave me an objective."

"That is exactly what concerns me."

Nero stepped closer.

Sebastian turned back toward the wardrobe and reached for a loose shirt.

Nero took it from his hand.

"Nero."

"You said I had to work for it."

"That does not mean confiscating my clothes."

"It means you don’t need them yet."

Sebastian slowly looked at him.

Nero smiled.

There was the bastard.

Sebastian considered taking the shirt back, then decided he wanted to know where this was going badly enough to tolerate some arrogance.

"Fine."

Nero placed the shirt neatly over the back of the dressing-room chair.

Then, rather than reaching for Sebastian again, he disappeared.

Sebastian blinked.

"Nero?"

"Stay there."

"That sounds threatening."

No answer came.

Sebastian waited.

A minute later Nero returned carrying one of the thick towels from the bathroom, a bottle of massage oil Sebastian had forgotten they owned, and two glasses of water.

Sebastian stared.

"You planned quickly."

"I am adaptable."

"You brought hydration."

"Roberta would approve."

Sebastian laughed.

That, apparently, was Nero’s opening.

He caught Sebastian around the waist, kissed him once—slowly, without trying to turn it into anything more—and guided him toward the upholstered bench beneath the windows.

"Sit."

Sebastian raised an eyebrow.

Nero’s gaze sharpened.

"Please."

"Better."

Sebastian sat.

The towel remained secure around his hips as Nero moved behind him and gathered his dry hair away from his neck. His fingertips brushed lightly over Sebastian’s shoulders before settling there.

Then they pressed.

Sebastian’s eyes closed almost immediately.

"Oh."

Nero paused.

Sebastian opened one eye.

"Why did you stop?"

"I wanted confirmation."

"You have it."

Nero resumed.

Sebastian had expected enthusiasm.

He had not expected competence.

Nero’s hands worked slowly over the muscles at the base of his neck, thumbs moving along either side of his spine before pressing outward across his shoulders. The pressure was firm without becoming painful, and whenever Sebastian’s body reacted—breath catching, shoulders loosening, head tilting slightly—Nero adjusted immediately.

Sebastian frowned.

"How are you this good at that?"

"I read."

Sebastian laughed without opening his eyes.

"Of course you did."

"I also pay attention."

That was true.

Perhaps dangerously true.

Nero noticed everything.

A change in breathing.

A shift of weight.

Which places made Sebastian relax and which made him tense.

The difference between being touched because Nero wanted something and being touched in the exact way Sebastian wanted.

The massage gradually became less clinical as Nero’s fingers moved over Sebastian’s shoulders and down his arms, followed occasionally by his mouth against the back of Sebastian’s neck.

Nothing rushed.

Nothing assumed.

Nero simply tested reactions and remembered them.

Sebastian’s original challenge began feeling increasingly stupid.

He had expected Nero to turn it into a joke.

Instead, the man had apparently interpreted work for it as a command to dedicate his full intellectual resources to Sebastian’s pleasure.

That was unfair.

"You’re very quiet," Nero murmured against his shoulder.

"I’m reconsidering a decision."

"Which one?"

"Telling you to earn anything."

Nero’s mouth curved against his skin.

"Regret?"

Sebastian thought about it.

Nero’s hands moved lower along his back, careful around the areas Roberta had specifically warned them not to strain. The lingering tension from the day disappeared beneath warm palms, and Sebastian found himself leaning backward until his shoulders rested against Nero’s chest.

"No."

The answer came more easily than expected.

Nero kissed beneath his ear.

Sebastian’s eyes closed again.

The new omega scent had begun appearing faintly whenever he relaxed around Nero, something neither of them fully understood yet. Sebastian barely noticed it himself.

Nero certainly did.

The enigma inhaled slowly against his neck.

Sebastian laughed under his breath.

"You’re obsessed."

"Yes."

"At least pretend otherwise."

"I waited months for you to have a scent."

Nero’s nose brushed the place beneath his jaw.

"I’m enjoying it."

Sebastian tilted his head enough to grant easier access.

That was apparently interpreted as permission for escalation.

Nero kissed his neck.

Then his shoulder.

Then slowly turned Sebastian until they faced one another.

Sebastian expected another kiss.

Instead, Nero dropped to one knee between his legs.

Sebastian stared down at him.

"What are you doing?"

"Working."

The answer was delivered with such complete seriousness that Sebastian laughed.

Nero rested both hands against Sebastian’s thighs, looking up through pale lashes while his long hair slipped over one shoulder.

Sebastian suddenly understood that there were very few situations in which Nero Ezekiel Altera willingly knelt.

Apparently Sebastian had discovered one.

"That expression is criminal."

"I learned from you."

"You absolutely did not."

Nero kissed the inside of Sebastian’s knee.

Sebastian’s amusement faltered.

Then another kiss followed higher.

Not enough to cross the line into what Sebastian expected.

Enough to make him wonder how long Nero intended to drag this out.

"Nero."

"Yes, my moon?"

"You are enjoying this too much."

"Immensely."

Sebastian leaned back on his hands.

That was the problem.

Nero might have been inexperienced when they first crossed this boundary, but innocence had never accompanied inexperience. He learned too quickly, watched too closely, and possessed absolutely no embarrassment about experimentation once Sebastian made his preferences clear.

Worse, Nero liked pleasing him.

Genuinely liked it.

Beginner or not, the bastard was madly good at intimacy.

Sebastian reached down and caught Nero beneath the chin.

Nero looked up.

"You’ve earned it."

The satisfaction that spread across Nero’s face was immediate.

Sebastian pointed at him.

"Do not become unbearable."

"Too late."

Nero stood in one smooth movement and bent over him.

Sebastian barely managed to laugh before Nero kissed him.

This one carried all the restraint the earlier touches had deliberately withheld.

Sebastian’s arms went around his neck, fingers disappearing into white-blond hair as Nero drew him closer without disturbing the towel or putting pressure anywhere Roberta had forbidden.

Sebastian broke the kiss long enough to breathe.

Nero stayed close, forehead resting against his.

"Worth the work?" Sebastian asked.

Nero smiled.

"I’d do considerably more."

Sebastian should probably have regretted teaching him that effort produced rewards.

Unfortunately, Nero kissed him again before Sebastian could think very hard about it.

And it felt far too good to reconsider anything.