SALOME Ch 61

“Wait, mph. Wh… at…?”

Cedric continued kissing him, transferring the heat from inside his mouth to Yuri. As the kiss imparted the bitter, unique aroma of a liquor that was smooth yet potent, Yuri gasped urgently for breath. Watching him take flushed, feverish breaths, Cedric planted a flurry of light kisses across Yuri’s pale face. As their bodies pressed closely together on the bed, the sheer volume of Cedric’s lower half—which could not be hidden even by the thick fabric of his clothes—was subtly felt. Yuri gasped in shock and shoved Cedric’s shoulders away.

“Stop, stop it.”

“Why? Do you dislike me?”

“More than that, a guy who’s already engaged doing something like this…”

“You… knew I got engaged? Has the rumor spread that far already…? Haha…”

‘Ah.’

Yuri had carelessly blurted out information he had learned through wiretapping. As Cedric was pushed backward, the tail of the coat he was gripping unraveled, revealing Yuri’s dark green military uniform, which he hadn’t been able to change out of. Just as Yuri caught himself and pulled his coat shut, Cedric violently tore open his own clothes with a frustrated look on his face. The lingering intoxication and the effects of the drug circulating through his body once again fanned the flames of his heat.

“You’re cruel. Knowing that I love you…”

“I get it. Put your clothes on.”

“Then did you know that too? That I like you?”

“…More or less.”

Yuri resolved to give Cedric a good smack once he woke up, doing his best to soothe Cedric’s drunken antics. At that moment, Cedric grabbed Yuri’s hand—which had been holding onto his clothes—and asked with a suddenly serious expression:

“Then, Daniel… do you… dislike me?”

“What?”

What kind of nonsense is this now? As Yuri hesitated, unable to answer immediately out of sheer bewilderment, Cedric exhaled a hot breath and seized Yuri by the shoulders.

“Haah, haah… I like you, Daniel. I really… like you…”

“…Hey.”

Seeing Cedric’s trousers bulging tightly, Yuri pressed his palm to his forehead. He needed to get Cedric out of here quickly before anyone walked in, but the person in question wasn’t helping at all. Looking at his state, he was completely out of it from the drug and alcohol; if they just walked out like this, he was bound to draw attention. That left only one option. As Cedric embraced Yuri, groping over his coat and repeatedly murmuring a feverish confession, Yuri let out a deep sigh.

“Out of consideration for your fiancée… handle it with your hand.”

Intending to soothe Cedric’s burning arousal with his hand, Yuri was about to roll up his coat sleeves. The moment he pulled off the leather glove he was wearing, Cedric pointed at it and laughed.

“Oh! Those are the gloves I gave you. You’re using them well.”

“…The size… fit well. It seemed a waste to throw them away.”

“I see. We should fit well together, too.”

At the dishonest answer, Cedric caught Yuri’s hand tightly with both of his own, narrowing his eyes to inspect it.

“Mmm…”

“Let me do it quickly.”

“Do what?”

“…”

Yuri wondered if he really had to spell it out, but Cedric dragged Yuri’s palm to his mouth and pressed his lips against it. The warm temperature of his lips rested against the cold touch, then moved slowly toward the inside of his wrist where the pulse throbbed, his straight nose grazing Yuri’s palm. Yuri flinched at the chilling sensation and tried to pull his caught hand back, but he was no match for Cedric’s strength.

“If you don’t dislike it…”

“…Let go.”

“Just once. Even just once would be enough.”

Cedric buried his face in Yuri’s palm and wrist, looking up at him with a deep, intense gaze. While Yuri remained captivated by that fierce look, Cedric pleaded in quite a somber voice.

“Won’t you give me a chance?”

“…”

“Like you said, once I’m engaged… maybe I won’t be able to see you for the rest of my life.”

That was only natural. That was how it was supposed to be. Perhaps it was for the absolute best for Cedric if Yuri didn’t get involved with him. After all, Yuri was approaching him under orders regardless. Yet Cedric, knowing nothing of this, begged for a love that would never come again.

“I love you.”

“…”

Dark strands of hair fell and tickled Yuri’s wrist. Once again, respectful kisses trailed up his wrist, passing in turn over Yuri’s forehead, cheek, and the tip of his nose. At the gesture filled with pure affection, heat rose through Yuri’s body like a boy experiencing a belated puberty.

“I love you with all my heart.”

He had learned through training how to stimulate the skin for pleasure, but it had never felt like this. Rather, it had been closer to feeling nothing at all. He had never been this flushed, nor had his chest ever felt so suffocatingly tight. If it were only that, he could have convinced himself it was because they were in a locked room or because of the smell of the drug. But Cedric’s heartfelt confession, gently resting against his ear, made his state of mind even stranger. In the dim room, Cedric somehow managed to notice Yuri’s unnatural reaction and chuckled softly.

“You turned red.”

“…Be quiet.”

“You’re still pretty, though.”

“…”

“You wouldn’t know that, right? You won’t know… unless you steal my eyes…”

Didn’t the report clearly state that Cedric had attended an all-boys school and had no romantic experience with the opposite sex? He had no idea why every single word out of Cedric’s mouth was unseemly enough to make his chest feel so constricted, his heart pounding harder and harder. Yuri’s eyes blinked once, deeply. Indeed.

“…You’ll regret this.”

While it was still possible to turn back, while there was still even a small place to return to, he had to send him back. Unlike his own life spent chasing shadows, Cedric had endless opportunities to walk in the sun whenever he wanted. If no one else, Yuri did not want to drag Cedric into the dark where he belonged. Regardless of everything…

“I still love you.”

…Cedric was someone who loved him. Not for the sake of fulfilling lust, nor for the sake of pleasing his eyes. He was the only person who loved him honestly, regardless of any reason. At the re-realization of this fact, the pale gold eyelashes softly scattered over Yuri’s blue eyes trembled slightly.

“Foolish guy…”

Even after saying it, Yuri didn’t know who the words were directed at. Telling himself that he wasn’t making his usual calm judgments only because Cedric had acted unpredictably first, Yuri accepted the burning warmth touching his lips once more without rejection and closed his eyes.

‘We should never have met…’

No matter how much Cedric had been a target of surveillance, he shouldn’t have interfered in what happened earlier. If he knew things would end up twisted like this, yet still found himself drawn in… he should have just ignored it and left Cedric where he was.

“Haha, since you’re smart… we should average out just fine.”

Cedric’s face, his voice—Yuri had grown curious, his eyes kept lingering, he kept drawing closer, until finally… a sharp sting from his injured arm vibrated through Yuri’s chest. But that was only momentary. As warmth radiated from the hand gripping his injured arm, the momentary pain subsided.

“Ngh…”

Flustered by Cedric’s persistent kissing, planting kiss after kiss on the spot he had just kissed, Yuri turned his head slightly. Cedric’s lips then trailed continuously over Yuri’s cheek and down to his tender earlobe. His straight nose dug into the gap of the soft ear cartilage, breathing out hot air.

“Ah!”

At the thrilling tickle that followed, Yuri’s fair throat bobbed once. It felt strange. It was probably because it was his first time—a relationship that wasn’t driven by orders.

“I love you…”

And the words softly reaching his burning ear were all things he was hearing for the very first time. The hand Cedric had rested on the plush surface of the bed finally moved, unbuttoning two of the military jacket buttons firmly fastened under Yuri’s chin. The pale skin revealed between the unraveled shirt was extraordinarily fair. Watching this, Cedric muttered blankly:

“Your skin is really white.”

While speaking so gently, Yuri quietly stared at Cedric’s swollen lower half, which looked anything but gentle. Yuri scratched his neatly combed hair and pondered for a moment. Should he just let Cedric enter him and get it over with?

‘Or… how does one do it? A normal… relationship…’