Manuscript Monday: First Kiss

It's still Monday!

I meant to post this in the morning and got busy with other work related things, but it's still Monday so it counts.

Also, Yuri!!! on Ice! OMG. I didn't know I could love it any more, then Episode 9 happened. *sigh*

Now for more of Beta and the Black Prince! Kamil and Aslan have their first kiss under weird circumstances. 

Enjoy!

"I'm sorry," Kamil whispered into the still night air.

The section of the city was quieter than most. Residential, he guessed, and the bustle that maddened the rest of Istanbul didn't reach this far. Not so late in the evening. From the ache of his muscles, they must've been moving for hours.

Aslan stood completely still, and Kamil was sure he would raise a fist or a claw or, hell, even shift and rip at Kamil’s throat. 

He did none of those things. 

Slowly, the Prince turned to face him, hazel eyes bright in the light of the moon. Kamil expected a sneer, but instead the Prince only looked weary. "You have nothing to apologize for."

Kamil stood in stunned silence for several minutes. 

What? He had plenty to apologize for. 

"I'm the one who insisted we go down. If I hadn't, then—"  

"They would have killed him slowly. More painfully. Me killing him, that was a kindness. Believe me," Aslan said, his voice as rough as it had been back in the courtyard. The thread that linked them together felt more like barbed wire. It dug into Kamil’s heart until the pain made him want to scream. 

Kamil moved before he realized what he was doing. As if Yue pushed him forward, pushing him towards the mate he never wanted or thought he needed. But Aslan looked like he needed something right now, and the only one around to give it was Kamil.

If he thought about it too much he’d stop and, shit, he needed to think about this. But the pain in his chest, like old wounds that had been torn open for the hundredth time, filled him. The only way to get it to stop was by replacing it with a different sensation.

He moved slowly. First letting his shoulder press into Aslan's gently. The Prince glanced at him from the corner of his eye and didn't shove him away. 

While they had stripped in front of each other, seen each other nude more times than Kamil wanted to think about, Aslan hadn’t gotten as close to Kamil as he had that first day in the bath. Sure, they slept in the same bed, but that didn't mean they slept wrapped in each other's arms. 

Far from it. 

In that moment, Kamil couldn't figure out why they didn’t.

"This is dangerous territory, beta." Aslan whispered against Kamil’s rough lips.

"It feels like I've been in dangerous territory for the past few weeks."

The shadow of a smile flickered across Aslan's mouth and he let out a pained bark of laughter.

Kamil shouldn't be trying to understand this other wolf. This enigma of pain and lies he would eventually have to betray. Who would come to hate him in no time at all. And yet Kamil  couldn’t stop himself if he tried.

His arm snaked around Aslan's waist and yanked him close. His other hand snagged on the prince’s bare shoulder. The skin was as slick with sweat as his own and hot to the touch. Aslan’s nose brushed Kamil's, and his musk—that infuriating musk that filled Kamil's nights and days and even invaded his dreams—enveloped him completely.

"If anyone caught us. . . .” Aslan breathed.

"Is anyone watching?" Kamil said and kicked himself internally. He needed to back away, not start things. But the need that filled Aslan snaked into him. The spikes on his heart squeezed harder. Throbbed in unison with Aslan’s.

Aslan's eyes scanned the surrounding walls. He shook his head, and his fingers grasped Kamil's cotton shirt. They tangled in the chain that dangled from Kamil's neck and pulled him closer. 

As close as they could get while clothed.

The impossible heat of Aslan's lips engulfed him, and Kamil’s entire body was devoured by it—the inferno coursing through him, a mixture of lust pushed to the edge and ancient hurt that needed so badly to be mended. 

And what better way to mend it than this?

In all of Kamil’s thirty-four years, he’d never kissed anyone like that before. He’d never felt the passion tingle across his skin the way it did with Aslan pressed firmly against his chest and their lips and tongues battling for some strange form of dominance. 

No.

Not dominance.

It was more like they were both seeking absolution. Or Kamil was seeking it on Aslan's behalf. 

Yes, it was better to think of it that way than the other.

Still, his mouth definitely should not have slipped over Aslan's chiseled jaw and wandered down that sleek brown neck, picking at the flesh yet not daring to leave any marks. And his groin shouldn't have surged with pleasure at the keening sounds the crawled out of Aslan's throat.

"Bastard. Trying to seduce me," Aslan moaned and shoved Kamil against the crumbling brick wall. It knocked the breath from his lungs, and he wiped his mouth and stared at the other wolf.

"I'm not trying to seduce you. But I thought this is what you needed." 

It sounded stupid when he said it out loud. And no way in hell would the Prince believe it.

Aslan smiled, and his eyes regained some of that lost light. "I need a lot of things, and a lover isn't one of them."

Kamil felt the heat rise to his cheeks and scratched the back of his neck. "You—"

"What? I fancy men? That’s right. But it's not exactly accepted. And in case you didn't notice I saved your life tonight. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t throw it away."

Kamil's heart throbbed faster in his chest. Or perhaps it was Aslan's. It was difficult to differentiate them now. When had it gotten so hard, and why hadn’t he noticed it until this moment? 

He sucked in a breath of the cool night air and couldn't tear his eyes away from the Prince.

"But this. You have to feel it. To know." 

Kamil couldn't bring himself to utter the word ‘mate.’ Like it was some terrible thing and not the fate most wolves dreamed of.

The laughter that erupted from Aslan's mouth was anything but kind. It was bitter and dripping with disdain instead. "I was waiting to see if you’d say anything about that little problem. Of course I've noticed. I'd be an idiot not to. But what shall I do about it? Announce to the palace that my slave, a man, is whom your goddess decided I belong with. I can’t do that."

Kamil swallowed, but the lump in his throat didn't go down. Probably a lack of saliva. His mouth felt as dry as the moon shining over them at that moment. Here he thought he would be the one to hate that they were mates, to be irritated by it and not want it, and yet it was the other way around. 

That twisted his heart. Ridiculous, he knew. He never needed at mate before so why did he need one now?

He didn't.

“You’re right. I’m just your slave," Kamil said and put his hands on his hips and narrowed his eyes. He stood at his full height, several inches taller than Aslan.

Aslan stopped smiling and considered him. "That's more like it. Soldier. Beta. You’re good at playing slave, but that's the idea, right? We’re playing. When you find your traitor, you’ll leave.”

Kamil's chest constricted. “You could come with me.” 

Aslan’s eyes widened. “Honestly? Do you think I’m some meek princess in need of rescuing? No! In case you haven't noticed we have a problem of our own. If I don’t stop the Sultan soon, he’ll start a war that will rip our Empire apart.”

"What's going on?"

"Why should I tell a slave?" Aslan asked and leaned his hip against the wall. The guilt and hurt were still a tight ball inside his stomach but they’d eased somewhat. Enough for Kamil to ignore them once again. 

Aslan must’ve ignored them too.

"Because I might be able to help. I'm a soldier, remember? I was Captain of the Guard. Still am, once I get out of here." 

He hoped Aslan believed him. He never cared if the prince believed him before. 

How had one kiss changed that?

"If I tell you, you'll be in it just as deep as me. And if we’re caught, we die." Aslan’s gaze bored into Kamil.

That's what mates are for. The words flitted across his mind, and he bit back the urge to say them. "Tell me."