Ren sat there, dripping and exposed, watching as Cilian sat heavily beside him.

He was expecting what would come next.

He thought they would do it right away, and he just had to prepare his mind, since his heart wasn’t fighting it at all.

But nothing happened right away.

The Alpha’s face was pale now, the flush fading to reveal the sheer exhaustion of the blood loss.

"The bandages," Cilian panted, gesturing with a weak tilt of his head toward the small pile of clean clothes the village women had left for them. "If I bleed out on this bed, the locals are going to think you’re a very violent bride, Ren."

Ren looked at the bandages, then at the jagged, weeping mess of Cilian’s shoulder, and then his face went completely crimson.

Was he the only one who had been thinking they were going to do it as soon as they walked in?

How embarrassing.

The hypnotic pull of the water hadn’t completely broken, but the reality of the wound was back, demanding attention.

He reached for the cloth, his hands still shaking and his face still flushed. He couldn’t bring himself to look Cilian in the face, because he knew Cilian would use this to mock him.

And he did.

"Were you looking forward to it that much, Ren?" He asked, bringing his face closer, but Ren ignored him, measuring the length of the bandage.

Then, Cilian’s mouth reached Ren’s ear, and he blew hot breath into it, saying,

"So was I."

This made Ren fling violently, and the bandage nearly dropped to the floor, but Cilian caught it.

"What is it, darling? Do I make your body shudder?" He teased even more, but Ren immediately stood up.

"I... I’ll get some fresh air first. The water made my head light."

Cilian chuckled. Was that the excuse he was going with?

"I’ll fix the wound once I get back," he said and hurriedly picked up a robe, planning to wait outside until his head cleared up, but before he could even reach the exit, Cilian was right behind him, his hood hand pressed to the bamboo door and his body pressed on Ren’s.

Ren’s breath hitched, feeling the proximity and not only that... behind him, against his butt, there was... he gulped. There was something thick and inexplicably hard pressed to his naked butt cheeks.

"Haa, Ren," Cilian called, leaning his body even more and grinding his cock against Ren’s ass. "You can’t just bolt and leave your husband alone. Not when he’s this hard, right?"

Ren froze. He didn’t know what to do or say; he just... wanted to run first and clear his head.

He knew this was a mistake, and that he was getting lured, but he just couldn’t... he couldn’t stop his body from reacting.

He began to grind his hips against his will, pressing his butt further into Cilian’s hard cock, and Cilian noticed this, licking his lips.

"You see? Your body’s way more honest,"

Then, he sank his teeth into Ren’s nape but only a little bit as he sucked on it and licked it, tasting Ren’s delicious scent with his tongue.

"It’s like you’re begging me to mark you," he said, his voice muffled by Ren’s skin, and Ren trembled even more, his knees threatening to buckle at the intensity of this moment.

"Ci-Cilian," Ren called, but his voice sounded so embarrassing to his ears. It was like a broken sob, a plea for something to happen... anything.

Cilian laughed.

"My darling Ren," he mused. "You smell especially nice today. Is it because it’s our honeymoon?"

"S-shut up!" he rasped, but there was no single bite to his words, and he felt himself slipping away into the moment.

Cilian’s frosty blue Pheromones wrapped around him like a shroud, messing with his mind and what he truly wanted to do at the moment.

And he didn’t know how to fight it. Ah, did he even want to fight it? 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Surrender. His heart whispered. Give him your body. You want his body too, don’t you? You’re an Omega, and it’s been years since an Alpha held you. It’s been years since you felt his wonderful touch. Just surrender and have him thrust into you the way you like it.

The advice constantly hummed in his heart and mind. It was despicable, telling him to surrender his body to the one man he hated. But it was the truth.

A bitter truth he would’ve been better off not hearing.

His body needed Cilian at this moment. And this wasn’t just Cilian’s Pheromones hypnotizing him anymore; it was his own body’s biological response.

After all, setting aside the destruction, the hate, and the mission to kill, Cilian was his Alpha. The Alpha who had marked him two years ago during his heat.

Cilian felt the shift, the moment Ren’s muscles stopped fighting and started seeking. He turned Ren around in his grip, pinning him against the bamboo door.

In the dim light of the embers, Cilian’s face was flushed a deep, feverish red, his eyes blown wide with an intoxication that mirrored Ren’s own. They both wanted this; it was clear.

"Hate me later, Ren," Cilian breathed, his mouth hovering just an inch from Ren’s. "But right now, be my bride."

Ren didn’t say a word. He couldn’t. He simply reached up, his fingers tangling in Cilian’s hair, and pulled the Alpha down to finish what had started in the mist.

Their lips met, and not gently this time, it was a feverish kiss, a frantic exchange of breath and heat that made the narrow hut feel like it was shrinking around them.

They couldn’t tear themselves apart; every time their lips disconnected for a second to gasp for air, they crashed back together, driven by a hunger that both of their instincts wouldn’t stop craving.

Cilian steered them toward the small bamboo bed, his good hand never leaving Ren’s back for a second. As he dropped Ren and himself on the bamboo bed, the frame creaked loudly under their combined weight as they tumbled onto the thin mattress, the sound echoing in the quiet of the jungle night.

Cilian hovered over him, steadying himself on his left elbow to keep the pressure off his mangled shoulder. He looked down into Ren’s eyes, his own gold-brown irises glowing in the dim light of the embers. He looked mesmerized, his chest heaving as he drank in the sight of Ren flushed and panting beneath him.

"Ah, I was right about you being a star, Ren," Cilian murmured, his voice a low, thick rasp of pure adoration. "Your eyes... they keep twinkling from a simple kiss. It’s captivating."