[BL]Hunted by the God of Destruction-Chapter 180: Heat under skin

The marble tiles were cool under Elias’s bare feet when Victor set him down. Steam curled from the filled tub, blurring the winter light into pale ribbons across the water. Elias swayed for a moment, still half-drowsy, until Victor’s hands steadied him at the shoulders.

"Easy," Victor murmured. His fingers slid to the first button of Elias’s shirt, working it open with the same patience he used on contracts. "Let me."

Elias made a noise that might have been protest, might have been surrender. "I can undress myself."

"I know." Victor’s mouth curved faintly as he eased the shirt off his shoulders anyway. "But you don’t have to right now."

Piece by piece he peeled the layers away, folding them onto a chair rather than letting them fall. Every movement was gentle, a quiet answer to the heat that had Elias’s skin flushed and his breathing shallow. By the time Victor knelt to roll down his socks and set them aside, Elias’s head had tipped forward onto his shoulder, a muttered complaint lost against his collarbone.

Victor straightened, thumbs brushing once over the mark at the back of Elias’s neck. "In you go," he said softly.

He guided him to the edge of the tub, steadying him as Elias eased down into the steaming water. The first touch of heat drew a shiver out of him, then a low sigh. He slid lower, letting the warmth close over him, eyes fluttering shut.

Victor stayed where he was for a heartbeat, watching the color return to Elias’s cheeks, then began stripping off his own clothes in swift, efficient motions. White crisp shirt, cuff links, and belt, each piece folded and neatly set aside until only the pale skin marked by faint scars and the slow rise of his chest remained. The scent of him, dark smoke, rolled heavier in the humid air.

When he stepped into the bath behind Elias, the water rose, a warm surge that broke gently against the omega’s shoulders. Victor sank down until his long frame curved around Elias’s back, legs bracketing his under the surface, big hands finding his waist to steady him again.

"There," he murmured, voice low at his ear. "Lean back."

Elias did, his head coming to rest just under Victor’s chin. The alpha’s palms flattened against his ribs, making omega’s breath hitch. The steam softened everything: the ache in his muscles, the restless edge of his heat, and even the room’s sharp winter light. Victor’s scent wrapped around it all, a map his body could follow without thinking.

"Better?" Victor asked quietly.

Elias gave a small hum, eyes still shut. "For now," he said. "Until you start being possessive and brooding again."

Victor’s breath moved warm at his temple. "What makes you think I stopped?" he murmured. His teeth caught gently at the edge of Elias’s ear, not a bite so much as a question. "Hmm?"

A shiver ran through Elias’s body before he could stop it, the warmth of the water and the weight of Victor behind him blurring into something heavier. The low, tight ache in his belly sharpened for a heartbeat.

Victor felt the change immediately. His hands slid from Elias’s ribs to the flat of his stomach, wide palms pressing lightly. "Easy," he said quietly against the shell of his ear, the velvet edge back in his voice. "Don’t fight it. Breathe."

Elias dragged in a slow breath, the scent of pheromones and steam filling his nose, and let his head tip back against Victor’s shoulder. "You make it sound like I’ve got a choice," he muttered, but the words came out softer than before.

"You always have a choice," Victor answered, his thumb brushing another slow circle across Elias’s abdomen, a grounding touch that made his breath hitch again. "I’m only here to keep you steady until it evens out."

The ache in Elias’s belly eased a little under the heat and the slow circles of Victor’s hands. He huffed a low laugh, eyes still closed. "You’re ridiculous," he murmured. "You say things like that and then you act like a cat in my lap."

Victor’s smile curved against his temple. "Maybe," he said. "But I’m your ridiculous."

Elias’s fingers twitched under the water and then settled over Victor’s wrists, not pushing them away. "For now," he echoed, but the curve of his mouth betrayed him.

Victor’s hands stayed where they were, palms flat against Elias’s stomach under the water, the pressure firm enough to anchor but never to push.

"Breathe," he said again, softer this time, his mouth near the crown of Elias’s head. "Let the heat work through. That’s all you need to do."

Elias shifted his fingers until they were curled loosely around Victor’s wrists, eyes still shut. The ache in his belly had ebbed back to a heavy warmth; the steam, the scent of his alpha and water, and the steady circles of Victor’s thumbs had done what words couldn’t.

"I feel like I’m boiling from the inside out," he muttered, voice low. "And somehow you still make me feel like I’m the calm one."

Victor’s mouth curved just a fraction at his own words, but his hands didn’t change their rhythm. He kept tracing the same slow, grounding circles over Elias’s stomach, letting the steam bead and roll down his forearms rather than giving in to the heat under his own skin.

"I’m not calm at all," he repeated more quietly, his breath stirring the damp hair at Elias’s temple. "But you don’t need to feel that right now. You need steady."

Elias made a small sound, somewhere between a laugh and a sigh. "You’re saying all the right things for someone who’s not calm."

Victor dipped his head until his forehead rested against the crown of Elias’s, his breath warm and steady through the steam. "That’s because I’m holding it back," he murmured. "If I gave you every piece of what I want right now..." a low, almost-laugh escaped him, "...you’d end up pregnant before either of us had time to breathe."

For a heartbeat they stayed like that, Victor’s larger frame curved protectively around Elias in the water, their scents twining thick and sweet through the rising steam. His hands kept their slow, measured paths over Elias’s skin, careful in spite of the pulse running under them, as if he were holding back a tide with his palms.