That frozen moment after his prideful outburst was the worst, Kel thought, the stillness extending on for what felt like minutes. It could only have been seconds, but time moved differently between each beat of his heart, rapid though it was. He didn't know if the other man would attack him or fling him away into the geysers, strike him or use those fangs as an animal might, to rend and tear. Or simply flay him further with that acid-coated tongue that purred and pierced his defenses so effortlessly.
The chuckle threw him off his balance, amusement that he hadn't expected from the earlier anger, and for a moment he blinked--
He struggled against the manhandling, adrenaline lending a frantic strength to trembling limbs as he tried to pull free, only to be trapped in a mockery of intimacy, pressed against the Ascended's chest as cool breath whispered against his ear. A shiver wracked him, a shudder of fear as he tried to shrink in on himself in spite of his earlier bravado, but there was no escaping the words that poured, all smoke and gravel, down his spine.
It took a moment for them to sink in, and when they did he froze again as he realized just how far away the city was. How far away any hope of rescue was...
If anyone in that pit of vipers would lift a finger to help him even if he could make it to their doorsteps.
Something in him shifted within Nate's grip, a twist of despair, black and wicked and deep as he hung in the predator's embrace. "You... you're going to hunt me? Like some kind of beast?"
The chuckle threw him off his balance, amusement that he hadn't expected from the earlier anger, and for a moment he blinked--
He struggled against the manhandling, adrenaline lending a frantic strength to trembling limbs as he tried to pull free, only to be trapped in a mockery of intimacy, pressed against the Ascended's chest as cool breath whispered against his ear. A shiver wracked him, a shudder of fear as he tried to shrink in on himself in spite of his earlier bravado, but there was no escaping the words that poured, all smoke and gravel, down his spine.
It took a moment for them to sink in, and when they did he froze again as he realized just how far away the city was. How far away any hope of rescue was...
If anyone in that pit of vipers would lift a finger to help him even if he could make it to their doorsteps.
Something in him shifted within Nate's grip, a twist of despair, black and wicked and deep as he hung in the predator's embrace. "You... you're going to hunt me? Like some kind of beast?"
