Captive Mate BL-Chapter 454: + - +

"What are you doing now?" Silvia’s nosy voice came again and Nikolai considered tossing his phone out the window.

"Putting him in the bathtub," He replied without inflection, heading back to the room to pick up Angelo.

His skin burned to the touch, strands of his long hair damply sticking to his flushed face. Nikolai focused on the tousled black hair, there was simply nowhere else safe enough to look.

Angelo made quiet sounds of discomfort as he lifted him, and it brought his attention to the Omega’s round lips each time. He managed it into the bathroom in one piece, feeling like a perfume bottle had been dunked over his head.

Angelo hissed when he was placed in the tub, he had been out of it even while he was being carried, his head lolling to the side, his hands hanging limply down. But now, he clung to Nikolai, the shock of the water forcing his eyes open.

"It’s cold," He complained, his grip on the Alpha’s sweater tight.

Nikolai swallowed with difficulty, he had let Angelo go but he was still forced to kneel beside the bathtub because Angelo refused to let him go. "You’re just too hot," He dryly replied even as he made mental notes to make the water warmer.

"It’ll cool you down, Angelo," Silvia joined in the conversation, trepidation in her voice.

Angelo looked at Nikolai with wide-eyes, "Is Silvia here?"

"Not yet," Silvia answered for herself, her voice gritted. "Just hang tight, I’ll be there soon."

Nikolai held Angelo’s slender wrists, a strained look on his face— he wasn’t a fucking saint. "Let go," He calmly ordered, he needed to put some distance between them, maybe step all the way outside to get some air that wasn’t tainted with Angelo’s scent.

Angelo was seated upright in the bathtub, leaning in Nikolai’s direction, he glanced down at the point where his wrists were held like he was just realizing what his hands were doing.

He let go and was released by Nikolai, sinking deeper into the water despite the look of discomfort on his face, a shiver going through him. "I’m sorry," He mumbled, knowing that he had inadvertently dragged Mafia King Nikolai into his mess.

Nikolai held his breath as he adjusted the temperature of the water, rising to his feet before speaking so that he didn’t get a mouthful of Angelo’s scent. "It’s fine," He muttered, taking out his phone and placing it on the ceramic capped table beside the tub.

"I’ll be right out the door, if you need anything, call for me." He offered generously, already halfway out of the bathroom.

Nikolai closed the bathroom door behind him and panted, the bedroom wasn’t much better. With every breath of air, his blood got hotter.

He really wished he had a cigar right then, it would diminish some of Angelo’s scent and give him a fucking outlet. But he had none on him and he didn’t want to stray too far from the assassin.

Despite his words, he planned to check in on Angelo ever so often, even though that was a bad idea.

He just leaned against the door and tried not to think, that wouldn’t bode well for him. Not thinking was easy because it felt like his brain had been turned to molasses.

Silvia had mentioned this was Angelo’s first heat, it made Nikolai’s teeth tingle. He wanted to know how Silvia planned to handle it, but he couldn’t stay.

He could control himself around Omegas in heat, but that didn’t mean he hung out with them, and it was Angelo. He couldn’t quite explain it but when it came to the assassin, his gender and secondary gender was the last thought on Nikolai’s mind.

He was just Angelo to him, an assassin that tried to kill him, someone that reminded him of himself.

Nikolai straightened up and braced himself to check up on Angelo, it wouldn’t do if the assassin drowned in the tub, keeping him alive was important to him.

He pushed open the door and looked in, Angelo was curled up in the bathtub the way he liked to sit, with his knees bent and his arms wrapped around himself.

He was facing the door, his eyes heavy-lidded, his attention on the phone Nikolai left behind.

His hair partially obscured his back, it had tangled further in the water and it clung to his wet skin and his face.

Nikolai was rooted to the door, he knew he should close it once again after confirming that Angelo was fine to spare himself, but he couldn’t move.

He was decisive about things, especially about his own emotions. He had to be, or he would have gone under a long time ago.

Attraction wasn’t something he often felt, most of the women he hooked up with were merely an outlet for him to get some release.

But as he stood at the door, he decided that he was attracted to the assassin. Well, it was more accepting the realization. He didn’t have to do anything with the realization, their paths were bound to diverge soon.

It begged the question though, if he was attracted to men or if it was just Angelo.

He refocused on the scene before him, other than burning up and being a little dazed, Angelo was mostly fine and Silvia was constantly speaking to him.

He hadn’t thought the other had a heart but it was clear to see that she cared a lot about Angelo, she had even tried to negotiate with him to secure his freedom.

Angelo didn’t speak much, his words muffled, it looked like he was fighting sleep. Nikolai preferred this to him being in pain or passing out.

With a lot of effort, he stepped back and closed the door, returning to his wait. Ignoring his body’s reaction was easy but ignoring his craving for a smoke wasn’t quite as easy.

Silvia should come barging through the doors anytime soon, then he would get the chance to slip away to grab a cigar, and then leave completely, for his own fucking sanity.