~17.

[NYX]

“No more,” the man said quietly against his mouth, his thumb brushing across Nyx’s jaw. “You need rest.”

Nyx should have listened.

He knew he should have.

But he body ached, dear Lord he ached, beneath the silk wrapped around him. His throat still hurt faintly every time he swallowed, still recovering from that mind numbing kiss. His legs felt heavy from standing for hours, smiling for hours, pretending for hours.

But this man’s hands were on him.

Careful in a way no one had ever been with him inside this club.

And that alone felt dangerously addictive. He couldn’t get enough.

Nyx kept his forehead pressed lightly against him for a second longer, catching his breath. The music around them blurred into something distant and slow while the private lounge carried on without them. His customer’s friend was still laughing about something across the table, one of the hosts practically hanging off his shoulder while the other looked seconds away from regretting all his life choices as he downed another shot of alcohol.

But Nyx barely registered any of it.

Not when that warm hand remained firm against his waist like he didn’t intend on letting him go yet.

“You say that,” Nyx murmured softly, lips brushing his as he spoke, “but you keep holding me.”

Those green eyes darkened slightly.

“That sounds like a complaint.”

“Mhm.” He smiled lazily. “Maybe it is.”

“It’s difficult to tell with you.”

Nyx laughed quietly under his breath.

God.

Even laughing felt easier around this man.

That scared him a little.

He felt Hawk-Man’s fingers flex slightly against his side, grounding and possessive all at once.

Like he was making sure Nyx stayed balanced.

The realization hit harder than expected.

No one here ever touched him gently unless they wanted something afterward.

Nyx lowered his gaze briefly.

This was dangerous.

Because part of him wanted to melt into it completely.

“What’s going on in that pretty little head?,” he said quietly.

Nyx blinked before looking back at him. “Nothing much?”

“Nothing much?.”

“…nothing much.”

“You hide exhaustion poorly too.”

Nyx sighed dramatically and let himself slump more fully against Noah’s chest. “You’re ruining my image, Hawk-Man. I’m supposed to look seductive and mysterious.”

“You look exhausted and stubborn.”

“Cruel.”

“And honest.”

Nyx tilted his head just enough to study him properly again.

The sharp jaw.

Those green eyes.

The composure that somehow always looked seconds away from snapping whenever Nyx pushed too far.

He liked that.

Liked seeing the cracks he could create in someone that seemed so controlled.

Especially when he only seemed to unravel for him.

“You know,” Nyx murmured softly, fingers trailing along the buttons of the man’s shirt slowly, “most people come here because they want to escape reality.”

“And you?”

Nyx smiled faintly.

“I come here because my reality doesn’t pay enough.”

Something shifted in his expression again.

That look.

That awful soft look he got sometimes when staring at Nyx too long.

Nyx hated how much he liked it. How much he craved that attention.

Hawk-Man’s hand moved upward slightly, fingertips brushing the back of his neck carefully. “You don’t have to stay tonight.”

Nyx almost laughed at that.

If another customer had told him this, he would have been on the other side of this lounge before they even completed their sentence.

Instead, he leaned closer again until his lips hovered just barely over his.

“You really want me to rest that badly?”

“Yes.”

The answer came too quickly.

Nyx’s chest tightened strangely.

He didn’t want to leave.

Couldn’t he just touch him a little more?

Like the last time?

“…why?” he asked before he could stop himself.

Nyx swallowed.

His throat suddenly felt too tight.

Stupid.

That was a stupid thing to say.

A customer shouldn’t make his chest feel warm like this.

He looked away first. Embarrassed.

“…you’re bad for business,” he muttered quietly.

The man huffed the faintest laugh against his hair. “I’ve been told worse.”

Then he shifted slightly beneath him, preparing to move him off his lap gently.

“No!”

The word left Nyx before he could stop it.

He paused.

Nyx tightened his grip lightly against the front of his now crumpled shirt, keeping him there.

“I said you should rest,” he reminded quietly.

“I heard you.”

“Then why are you still here?”

Nyx looked at him for a second too long.

Because I don’t want to leave yet.

Because I feel safe here.

Because kissing you feels like drowning in warm water and I don’t want it to stop.

But he couldn’t say any of that. He couldn’t bring himself to.

So instead, he smiled faintly and whispered, “One more.”

That sharp jaw flexed slightly.

“That sounds manipulative.”

“It is.”

“Should I be manipulated by this seductive and mysterious Nyx?”

Nyx grinned. “Yes, you should.”

Then before the man could respond again.

Nyx kissed him.

Slowly this time.

His hands slid upward carefully, fingers brushing into Hawk-Man’s hair as their mouths met again. Nyx exhaled quietly against him, like the kiss stole something straight from his lungs.

The man deepened it gently.

Warmth spread through him immediately as he kissed him back.

God.

This man kissed like he meant it every single time.

Nyx melted further into him without thinking, his body relaxing almost bonelessly against his chest while that hand steadied at his waist again.

Their lips moved together slower now.

Less desperate.

But somehow more intimate because of it.

Nyx felt his thumb brush lightly against his thigh beneath the silk and nearly shivered from how gentle and good it was.

Nyx kissed him deeper instinctively, chasing that feeling and trying to push his weariness away.

He felt HM responded immediately, mouth parting against his while his grip tightened slightly not enough to hurt, just enough to hold him closer.

The soft sound Nyx made got swallowed between them.

“Careful,” he murmured against his lips. “You’re falling asleep on me.”

Nyx laughed weakly against his mouth. “That’s romantic.”

“It’s isn’t .”

“Mhm.”

Another kiss.

Slower again.

Nyx felt himself sinking into it completely now, exhaustion finally catching up beneath the warmth wrapped around him.

His body felt heavy but in a comfortable way.

His hand slid upward once more, fingers brushing lightly through the hair at the nape of his neck.

Nyx nearly melted.

This man was dangerous, dangerously addictive.

“…okay,” he whispered eventually against his lips.

“Okay?”

“I’ll rest.”

“Good.”

“But only because you asked nicely.”

“There’s the brat again.”

“You talk like you’re older than me”

“I’m pretty sure I am”

Nyx smiled sleepily before pressing one final kiss against the corner of Noah’s mouth.

Lingering there for just a second.

Then another near his jaw before he finally pulled back.

And for some reason, that made his chest ache.

“I’ll see you again, Hawk-Man,” Nyx murmured quietly as he finally slid off his lap.

Deep green eyes followed him immediately.

“…you say that confidently.”

Nyx adjusted the ribbon around his wrist lazily before smiling beneath his mask and raising his garment,

“If you come next time, I’ll let you undo my ribbons”

His words seemed to stun the man more than he had intended, with the way he stilled and eyes narrowed to near slits.

“…”