Work Text:
“Neuvillette, I need my coat at the very least.”
It breaks Wriothesley’s heart to disturb Neuvillette’s nest. Just before dawn, he moves quietly around their bedroom. The air is damp after a shower, and steam billows in from the adjoining bathroom, carrying the scent of aftershave and mild soaps – Neuvillette cannot manage stronger smells, far too sensitive a stomach as the greater part of the day creeps by.
“I’d rather you stay.” Neuvillette turns beneath the sheets, watching Wriothesley as he runs a comb through his hair before the vanity. Wriothesley’s shirts, ties and slacks are all carefully placed around the edges of their bed, and Neuvillette noses at Wriothesley’s coat, loath to let go of it. Thank the Sovereigns, Wriothesley’s scent is the one thing he can manage indulging in.
“Perhaps you should pass a law to grant me the right to remain home with you.” It’s half a joke. Neuvillette is only nearing half term of his gravidity, four months along, and in two more, Sedene is bound to demand Neuvillette go on bedrest. “Staying on your feet will be sorely missed, I know, but we should enjoy work while we can.”
A high price to ask for both of them, when their days are already so long.
And Neuvillette does laugh at that. Sits up in bed and places Wriothesley’s coat at the foot, trading it for a shirt. He tucks it beneath his chin, a cheek running over wine-red silk; one of Wriothesley’s evening shirts, reserved for special occasions. If Neuvillette breathes in deeply enough, he can catch the lingering scent of cologne, spiced, upon the collar.
“At least we have a meeting this evening. You’ll be able to take me home with you after.” A soft purr laces Neuvillette’s words, and Wriothesley’s heart blooms with warmth.
To know his husband is pleased and wanting after his presence is a beautiful thing. He notices the sweetness in Neuvillette’s scent, too, and how it dips into honey and smoked tones, all an attempt to keep him near.
“I’ll bring tea. Something savoury from Debord.” Wriothesley lets promises fall from his lips as he sits beside Neuvillette, careful to not shift their nest too much. He bends over the soft line of Neuvillette’s body, pressing a kiss to his temple. To the high of his cheek. The tip of his nose, which earns a gentle sound of humour. And then, finally, sighs into a kiss.
Neuvillette threads fingers through Wriothesley’s hair, knowing it’ll have to be combed again after. But isn’t Wriothesley’s hair always charmingly unruly as it is? He moans softly, pulling Wriothesley atop him, if only to feel the weight of him.
Their clutch shimmers beneath Wriothesley’s touch, alight in his presence, as if knowing exactly who he is. And Wriothesley knows he’ll be late for work when he sets his eyes upon Neuvillette’s; amethyst darkened with need. With a gentle hunger still lulled into somewhat placidity with sleep.
“Stay a while longer, won’t you?” Neuvillette asks, just above a whisper, against the corner of Wriothesley’s mouth. This moment is too tender to be broken just yet, and Neuvillette arches into Wriothesley’s hold, the heat of a callused palm smoothing over the line of his spine sending skitters of pleasure across skin and scales exposed to the cool, morning air. “Scent me before you go?”
Of course, it’ll be more than scenting. They’ll shed clothes. Wriothesley will undo the sash of Neuvillette’s robe with teeth, if only to sink his tongue into the heat of Neuvillette’s vent, to taste and to savour his essence.
Oh, he can’t resist.
Wriothesley can’t deny Neuvillette. Not when he asks so softly. So blatantly, a hand coming between them to press to Wriothesley’s length. Neuvillette is achingly hard, too, rutting lazily against Wriothesley’s thigh, silk a decadent friction.
“Sigewinne will hold this against me, I can promise you that.” But Wriothesley is already falling into their nest, allowing Neuvillette to turn them to their sides. Fingers already undo the buttons of Wriothesley’s shift, fangs and the drag of a draconic tongue following their path.
“Nevermind that. She’d be glad.” Neuvillette smiles against Wriothelsey’s pulse, knowing Sigewinne will be more than glad.
As if Sigewinne hasn’t already thrown knowing looks Wriothesley’s way as he’s come into work the past month, covered in Neuvillette’s scent. She’d laughed with glee, praising him for taking care of Neuvillette.
“I would rather –” Neuvillette sucks in a sharp breath, words cut short, as Wriothesley urges his leg atop his hip, to press their hips flush. “Rather not bring any other names into our bed, though, Wriothesley.”
“How do you want me?” Wriothesley’s fingers tremble, just enough for Neuvillette to notice. He cradles Neuvillette’s jaw, taking him in for a kiss that is both laced with spearmint and coffee – so often does Wriothesley indulge in morning espresso over tea these days, needing more –, dragging tongue against teeth, all raw lust.
His need is barely withheld as is, and Neuvillette moans into Wriothesley’s mouth, heated breath, at the knowledge of that; he is the source of Wriothesley’s undoing.
“To hold both of our tastes upon my tongue would be ecstasy.”
What a feral thing to tumble from Neuvillette’s mouth. And so softly and purely.
Wriothesley shudders. Closes his eyes for a moment, fingers biting in their grip upon Neuvillette’s hips, stilling the rock of them. The slick heat of Neuvillette’s vent sullies silk, and already, Wriothesley’s thigh is damp with that release. Neuvillette’s scent is cloying and thick and divine, and in this moment, Wriothesley cannot be happier to be so attuned to Neuvillette’s body. To his pheromones and instincts.
Shifting to his knees, Wriothesley urges Neuvilette to lay on his back. He parts legs corded with lean muscle, skin the shade of cream, pinkened marks suckled into the creases of knees and the bases of ankles still very present. Wriothesley gets to his hands and knees between those legs, and Neuvillette knows exactly what to do.
Intimacy has become a synchronized routine of movements; a practiced dance long weaved into the memory of muscles.
“How stunning you are like this.” Wriothesley’s words are a breath of air against the base of Neuvillette’s cock, reverent. He presses the pad of two fingers to soft flesh, and it parts so easily, flushed and scaled, for them to sink in to the last knuckle.
Neuvillette moans, unashamed to let pleasure make itself known in the quiet of their townhome. Beyond the walls of the Court, the sea is their only witness. The gales of wind are their only accomplice. Claws sink into the sheets. Into the burl of Wriothesley’s shoulder.
“ Yes .” Neuvillette’s eyes fall closed. Lips part, as Wriothesley draws those fingers out from the heat of his vent, before pushing back in again.
Fingers part, stretching silken flesh wide, before crooking up, pressing into the firm hold of muscle. And then Wriothesley’s mouth is on Neuvillette cock, tongue tracing the vein and scales lining the side. Flat, the broad expanse of Wriothesley’s tongue circles the head, collecting prerelease, a heady flavour that has Wriothesley half delirious – honey set upon an open flame and tempered with salt.
Wriothesley’s fingers counter the pace he sets with his mouth. Each drag of his tongue over the base of Neuvillette’s cock on the down, fingers withdraw, and then press in with the retreat of the heat of Wriothesley’s throat and the flex of every swallow. Tears fill Wriothesley’s waterline, but Neuvillette does nothing to brush those tears away, no. Neuvillette witnesses Wriothesley lose himself to pulling the strings of his pleasure.
Such a beautiful, giving Alpha. A giving mate. A generous and doting lover.
“Close. I’m close.” Neuvillette presses a palm, flat, to his belly. Finally tangles fingers in dark hair to urge Wriothesley’s mouth further on his length.
Wriothesley obliges, as he always, always does, throat constricting as he chokes slightly. He doesn’t ask Neuvillette to stop, though, he simply groans, a thing borne from his chest, as he lets Neuvillette take and take and take . Claws graze his scalp, a sharp addition to pleasure, and he ruts against the bed, chasing his own end.
Oh, how wonderful it would be to sink into the heat of Neuvillette’s vent. To see Neuvillette’s face twist in rapture as orgasm finds him, to have his body tight around Wriothesley’s, the push and pull of the tides around him.
Wriothesley shatters. Finds his release against sheets, filling their nest with his scent, with his spend, fresh and new and just what Neuvillette needs. Swallowing, Wriothesley fights to breathe through his nose, as Neuvillette comes, hot and strong. Tears streak down Wriothesley’s cheeks, and he flicks his gaze up to witness Neuvillette ride the endtails of his pleasure.
Rhinophores fill the room with a soft and gentle light. Kiss-swollen lips part of gasps, and Neuvillette meets Wriothesley’s eyes, all sharp silver.
“Fuck Neuvillette.” Wriothesley’s voice is hoarse as he kisses up Neuvillette’s length, already flagging. He traces his tongue over the slit. Suckles until Neuvillette’s thighs flex, just shy of jerking away to retreat from the oversensitivity that comes with his attention. “How will I leave you like this?”
Wriothesley holds Neuvillette’s eyes as he brings fingers to his mouth to lick clean of Neuvillette’s release, slick and spend and him . A soft churr of pleasure is offered, appreciative, desire sated and instincts abated.
“Perhaps you stay.” Neuvillette welcomes Wriothesley back up the length of his body, kisses left to the subtle swell of his belly, nosed at and fingers traced over scales. They meet for a kiss, slow and languid and tasting. Neuvillette groans. Inhales, the scent of sex so very present and thick in the air. “Perhaps I ask Sigewinne to give you today off.”
“You know I can’t do that.” Wriothesley’s smile is apologetic. “You can’t either. The Opera Epiclese calls for your attention.”
“Sinthe has proven to be a terrible thing.” Neuvillette growls, not out of annoyance, but out of anger, a thing that cradles his heart in a tight grasp. “The world continues to turn beyond our home, I know.”
“And our children will be all the safer for our work.” Wriothesley is kind to remind Neuvillette, a kiss left at his temple. “Now, I have to go.”
The sun already peeks between barely opened curtains, and Neuvillette sighs. Helps Wriothesley takes off slacks. As Wriothesley redresses, Neuvillette purrs softly, tucking sullied pants at the head of their nest, beneath their pillows.
This nest won’t last long. Come evening, Neuvillette will toss everything in the hamper to be washed, and he’ll be in search of clean linen. So is the cycle of pheromones, thrown into overdrive for the sake of their clutch.
“I’ll see you this evening for the debrief, then.” Neuvillette slips on his robe, following Wriothesley through the hall to the door. “Don’t be late.”
“If anything,I–” Wriothesley presses a chaste kiss to soft lips. Noses one last time at Neuvillette’s neck, a subtle claim, and Neuvillette follows in turn. Drags fangs over their bond mark, now safely tucked behind black, silk wrappings. “ – will be early.”
“I’ll hold you to it.” Neuvillette hands Wriothesley his keys. Passes him his briefcase. “For now, promise to tell me of your day, beyond the court hearing we will both attend.”
“You have my word.” Wriothesley’s smile is crooked, turned up more to one side than the other, just as rugged and handsome as the day they first met, a Duke newly addressed by a given title.
As much as it pains Neuvillette to watch Wriothesley go, on his way to the Court – a short walk up the beach and the beaten path, really, only twenty minutes to the aquabus – he thrums with warmth, settling back into their nest.
Their meeting will bring with it the promise of scenting the day on Wriothesley. Of taking his husband into his arms. Of softer things.
And that will have to be enough to carry Neuvillette through the day. Along with the way hips ache and the heaviness in his belly reminds him of love, far deeper than the band of gold upon his finger.
Nosing at soft blankets and a pillow that carries Wriothesley’s scent heaviest, Neuvillette dozes off, content to catch an hour’s worth of sleep before duty pulls him, too, to the Palais Mermonia.