The air inside the warehouse grew even heavier.
The scent of wine and the stench of blood permeating the damp stone walls left Richard struggling to breathe.
He finally managed to speak, steadying his breath as though forcing a stone lodged in his throat back down.
"What... do you mean...?"
He could not form the words properly.
His mind was in utter turmoil.
He knows? He knows I returned to the past?
How? Since when?
And what did he mean by saying it was pointless?
Countless questions dug into his chest. His heart pounded wildly.
But he had no time to collect his thoughts.
Cailus approached.
His breath, steeped in the mingled odors of blood and alcohol, brushed Richard's nose.
Crimson eyes flickered in the darkness, filling Richard's vision.
"...Richard."
His low voice resonated harshly and heavily through Richard's chest.
Though each breath seemed deliberately controlled, an undercurrent of desperation made it tremble.
"I... love you."
Richard's breath caught.
His body instinctively went rigid.
The cold hand cupping his cheek slowly slid downward.
It was cold, yet its warmth somehow felt desperate.
Though his eyes wavered with drink, the obsession within them was unmistakable.
"That is why... I do not want to lose you."
Cailus's voice was low and trembling.
As wine-scented breath washed over his skin, Richard involuntarily flinched away.
"I cannot stand by and watch you put yourself in danger."
Richard remained frozen, eyes wide.
He could not understand what those words meant.
Danger? What danger was he talking about?
What did it have to do with knowing Richard had returned to the past?
His lips parted, but no sound emerged.
"...Cailus."
He had barely managed to say the name when their foreheads touched.
Their hot, damp breaths mingled.
Each trembling exhale brushed the other's lips.
"Richard."
Cailus spoke his name solemnly, as though reciting an ancient oath.
"You, at least... I will protect you no matter what."
Richard's heart plummeted.
The crimson eyes shook violently before sinking into profound darkness.
Unable to meet that gaze, Richard breathed heavily.
But the next moment, a crimson shadow swallowed his entire field of vision.
"...!"
Before he could speak, he was roughly seized around the waist and dragged forward.
His back struck the cold stone wall, knocking the breath from him.
"...! Cail—"
Before Richard could finish, lips both cold and hot descended upon his.
The bitter taste of wine lingering on Cailus's tongue flooded his mouth.
The kiss was fierce enough to steal his breath.
The stench of blood and alcohol mingled as crimson eyes flickered like flames.
Cailus said nothing.
He merely pressed Richard against the wall, rough yet gentle, as though he had been waiting for this moment.
"...Ha, ngh...."
When their lips parted, Richard's suppressed breath burst free.
But as the shadow descended on him again, his eyelids quivered.
Cailus's hand slid from the nape of his neck to his shoulder, then down to his waist.
The heat of his body penetrated Richard's clothes and engulfed him.
It was desperate enough to make the chill of the stone wall seem insignificant.
A low, ragged breath grazed his earlobe.
Richard could not understand.
How... does he know I returned to the past?
The term he had used was unmistakable. Someone who had returned to the past. It was neither a common joke nor something anyone could have known.
Richard's heart pounded.
When had Cailus realized, and how?
More than that... his behavior was strange. The man who had always pushed him away so coldly was now acting as though terrified of losing him.
...What is this? What the hell is going on?
His thoughts spun as fear and confusion surged through him all at once.
Even his own breathing no longer felt like his.
That was when he heard it.
"...Do not ask."
The voice was low and firm.
"Do not learn anything. You must not know anything."
Each word came wrapped in Cailus's breath.
His voice was desperate. Resolute, yet concealing fear beneath it.
Richard's eyes trembled violently.
"...What does that mean?"
His voice shook.
"......"
Cailus's crimson gaze darkened.
He seized Richard by the chin and tilted his head up.
"If you find out...."
Cailus's voice sank lower.
But he did not finish.
"......"
Richard instinctively steadied his breathing as he stared up into those crimson eyes.
Then, without any answer, Cailus's lips crashed violently against his once more.
"...!"
His breath was rough and desperate. Richard's shoulders trembled as he was pinned against the stone wall. His hands reflexively tried to push against Cailus's chest, but Cailus only tightened his grip around Richard's waist and pulled him closer.
His hand swept down Richard's neck and ruthlessly forced its way beneath his collar. Richard's eyes widened.
"...Wait...."
His voice trembled in his throat. But no answer came. There was only the hand clutching his clothes as though to tear them away.
The finely crafted buttons flew off one after another. Each sound spread through the silent warehouse like a heartbeat. Cold air slipped through the opening in his clothes and brushed his skin.
Richard's breathing grew ragged.
"...Stop...."
The feeble protest escaped him, but Cailus seemed not to hear it at all as he buried his face against Richard's neck. Hot, damp breath moistened his skin.
"...Ngh."
Richard breathed harshly, his back pinned firmly against the wall.
The cold stone against him had already become meaningless. Hot lips on his skin and the intermittent wash of moisture consumed every sensation.
"...Cailus, stop...."
The weak protest slipped out and scattered. No answer came. Instead, Cailus pressed deeper and more insistently into the curve of his neck.
A hot, lingering pain remained where his mouth had been.
Before Richard could catch his breath, those lips traveled down to his shoulder.
The lightest brush of lips was followed by a hot, wet kiss. A vivid red mark remained in its wake.
Richard's fingers grasped at empty air. He wanted to push Cailus away, but his body had gone rigid and would not move properly. His heart beat faster and faster as heat swept through his entire body.
"...Richard."
The low voice tickled his ear, its resonance rough yet aching.
With it, another mark was engraved beneath his jaw. The heat of Cailus's body, stark against the cold stone wall, seeped deep into him.
Unable to breathe, Richard tipped his head back. His vision wavered, crimson eyes blurring before him at close range. Cailus narrowed his eyes and stared at him in silence. As though inscribing a vow, his hands and lips continued leaving marks across Richard's body without the slightest hesitation.
His neck, his collarbone, and down to his chest.
Every breath made the marks sting. Richard squeezed his eyes shut as his breathing dissolved into disarray. Fear, confusion, and even an inexplicable heat—all of it pulsed through him like a heartbeat.
Red marks spread thickly across his skin.
As though branding him.
A possessive brand declaring that Richard belonged to him, that no one else was allowed to touch him.
"...You do not need to know anything."
Cailus whispered in a low voice.
Richard's shoulders jerked as he tipped his head back. The marks burned into his neck stung, and the air, damp with the stench of blood and alcohol, seeped deep into his lungs.
"...Hnng...."
His breathing was uneven. His fingertips trembled against the stone wall as though flailing through empty air.
Cailus narrowed his eyes as he looked over the marks.
"Ask no questions," he whispered. "Do not learn anything."
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