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It's three minutes to 8 by the time you shove open the doors of the lecture hall, panting hard. You scan tiered rows full of your equally sleep deprived peers until you spot Valko waving at you. If it were anyone else you'd have felt some annoyance, an ounce of jealousy even, upon seeing someone so full of energy at this hour. But it's hard to find that same irritation when Valko's eyes are pools of summer sunlight, warming you to melting the longer you gaze at them. Your heart is beating faster now than it had been just thirty seconds ago when you were sprinting across campus. You wonder if you should bring this up at your next check up. How's your heart holding up? Oh, fine, barring the fact that the mere sight of your crush puts you at risk of a cardiac event.
For the sake of your health, you pull out your phone as you march up the steps. You let Tara know that you made it with a few minutes to spare. She replies with a million happy stickers and a text saying that her spell must have worked then. Considering how far your dorm is from this part of campus, you're inclined to believe that her witchy interventions might have been at work today.
But then you have to look up again, and your heart lurches in your chest when you're met with the welcome sight of a smiling Valko. He slides his backpack from the aisle seat so you can plop down into it.
"Morning. Miss your alarm again?" he laughs.
"The AC in my dorm is still busted. I was way too hot to sleep last night," you groan as you rummage through your bag for your notebook and pen. "It was nearly 3AM when it finally cooled down enough for me to slip into a coma."
You remembered hearing your alarms in your dreams, but aside from recognizing the ridiculous sounds, they hadn't roused you at all. The only reason you made it to your one class that takes attendance –with a quiz at the start of each class, no less – was because Tara came back to grab her tarot cards and shook you awake. She's been sleeping at her girlfriend's apartment since your cooling crisis began last week.
"Told you, my room's always free and blissfully cold," he says.
"I know, but I don't want to impose."
"Impose away. I'll be the perfect gentleman and let you have the bed while I sleep on the floor."
"Why sleep on the floor when your room also has a couch?" you ask.
"Couple of nights on the floor will do my back some good. Besides, you've seen how big I am and how tiny that couch is, right?"
Unfortunately, yes, you are way too familiar with his physique. Aside from his trim waist, Valko's robustly built; his entire body is packed with solid, drool-worthy, muscle. Broad shoulders, wide chest, thick thighs, and biceps the size of your head. You have to picture him struggling to get comfortable on that puny couch just to settle your heart again.
"Well, I'm not letting you sleep on the floor, or anywhere other than your bed for that matter. Maintenance guy should be swinging by today or tomorrow to work on the AC so I shouldn't be suffering much longer."
Before Valko can offer his usual rebuttal, the professor strides in and announces, surprise, surprise, a pop quiz. While this course is focused on the science of protocores, your professor is older than old-fashioned and wants most everything done on paper. Meaning, one of two TAs has materialized beside you to hand off a thick stack of quizzes.
There's only one question today, thankfully. You have to write a formula to determine the final attribute percentages of three sets of protocores once they've all been enhanced to the highest degree. Out of the corner of your eye, you note how quickly Valko writes out his formulas and pick up the pace at the expense of your penmanship. Twice a week you both compete to see who can finish the quiz first. Valko is up by three wins, two of which you'd had to forfeit for miscalculations.
While you're able to get the individual conversions for each protocore with ease, the real challenge is calculating how the compounded attributes will impact overall attack power, defense, and resonance skills. You know the professor only wants the numbers, but it's difficult not to tackle this question with a Hunter's perspective in mind. Set 1 would be better suited for a team with health recovery at the forefront. Set 2 prioritizes raw attack power, high crit rates and damage, but at the detriment of a lower stamina reserve and lackluster defense. And even though Set 3 has a slot vacant, it boasts a high oath strength and quick recovery time, so the real damage happens when a Wanderer's shield is down.
As you look over the stats one last time, you see it. An error in the Set 2 formula. In your haste to write faster, you must have mistaken a 7 for a 1. The little fleck at the top is all but negligible. Valko must see it too, because he leans into your space to peer over at your work. Even in your peripheral vision you catch the beginnings of his smug smile.
"Hey. How's it going?" he asks in your ear. You grip your pen tight, a shiver courses right through you at his proximity.
"Leave me alone."
"You sure you don't want my help? I know these formulas always trip you up."
"Go away."
"Aww, that's not nice. I just want to help, that's all."
"Then why are you smirking like that?"
"Like what?"
"Like the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood. I swear all your teeth are bared."
"How would you know? You're not even looking at me."'
At this stage of your friendship, you should know better than to give into his provocations, but still, you turn to face him. A grave mistake that all but confirms that Valko is terrible for your health. That fragile heart of yours still manages to pump blood despite how fluttery it feels at being nose to nose with the boy of your dreams. To think you'd felt so ensnared by his pale gold eyes before. Up close like this, you want to fall into their warm, tender depths and never leave them. But then your eyes track the movement of his lips. In the absence of the arrogant grin you'd been expecting to see, a fond smile quirks up at the corners of his mouth.
"Time. Is. Up! Pass your papers to the ends of the aisle."
"What?" You're freed from your trance at once. Projected onto the screen behind your professor, the ten minute timer mocks you as it flashes 00:00. How long had you been staring at Valko when you should have been rewriting your formula?
"Here you go." Valko holds out the stack of papers from your row, arrogance clear on his face now.
"You did that on purpose!" you hiss as you snatch the papers from him to hand to the TA.
"Not my fault you find me oh, so distracting," he laughs.
"Bite me."
"Don't tempt me with a good time."
The professor claps twice, drawing your attention to the front of the room again. Now projected on the screen is his view of the podium where he writes out his equations. You swear under your breath when he gets to Set 2 and confirms what you already knew to be true. If only you weren't so easily fazed by a mop of burgundy hair and a boyish smile. You'll have to really bring it come next lecture.
Valko makes a big show of leaning forward and squinting at the screen. He digs into his backpack for his glasses, wipes the lenses before slipping them on.
"Huh. Would you look at that. Seems like your math was off," he murmurs.
"I would've gotten it right if I hadn't made that mistake."
"But you did, so that makes me the winner. Yet again. What a surprise."
"Ok, we get it, you're the actual STEM major here. Claim your prize," you sigh.
The overhead lights dim, and the first slide of today's presentation appears on the screen: Advanced Core Matter applications.
"Let me get back to you," Valko says. Safe to say he'll quit teasing you now that his favorite topic is up for discussion.
You open up your notebook to write the title of today's lecture at the top of the page, but the ink runs dry as you're writing 'applications'. You shake the pen a few times and scribble on the page but it does nothing more than leave scratches. You find another pen in your bag but it's also out of ink. If your professor wouldn't have a meltdown at just a glimpse of your laptop, you'd take notes that way, but alas.
"Hey, sorry, do you have an extra pencil?" you ask.
"Yeah, let me just…" Valko digs around in his bag and produces a chewed up number 2. Even under the dim lighting you can see his face flush.
"You know what? I'll just borrow your notes later."
Valko nods, hurrying to jot down the content of the next slide.
By all accounts, a student like yourself, enrolled at the School of Professional Studies on the Hunter track, would not have reason to interact with someone like Valko, who's majoring in Materials Science and Engineering on an accelerated track. But as luck would have it, you'd had room in your schedule this semester for an elective course of your choosing. Tara and Simone had both been surprised when you decided to take one of the advanced Cosmic Energy courses at the Polytechnic school. Simone, pleasantly so, as she's dual enrolled in both SPS and Poly for a five-year program. And Tara…well, her surprise was more akin to horror. She'd picked a course on Astrology at the Spiritual Center as her freebie. No assignments, no exams, the occasional night class in the park to look up at the stars.
But you understood why picking such an intense class caught them off guard. You'd spent the final days leading up to course selection indecisive as ever. It was only thanks to your advisor, Jenna, mentioning the class that you learned about it. Considering your lifelong battle with Protocore Syndrome, she figured you'd have an interest. She had an in with the professor and managed to get you a seat without the usual slew of prerequisites. While the class is challenging and meets way too early in the morning, you're a much better Hunter for it. So much of what you've already learned about Protocores and Cosmic Energy has helped you rise in the ranks in combat instruction, identify and exploit Wanderer weaknesses, and better understand how the Protocore in your heart is affecting your life.
And though you're loathe to admit that meeting Valko might be the highlight of your enrollment, you can't imagine your paths would have crossed if you hadn't taken this class. Your first meeting had followed today's script for the most part. You'd rushed into the lecture hall with a minute to spare, even held the door open for the professor, and sat down in the first empty seat you could spot. You'd pulled up the desk and started dumping your stationary onto it before you remembered your manners.
"I'm so sorry, were you saving this seat for anyone?" you'd turned to ask your peer, who happened to be a jaw-dropping, massive, beauty of a man. And he smiled at you in a way that made you feel as though you'd long since been conspiring with one another.
"Too late for that," he'd said, amusement twinkling in his eyes. "Looks like it's your seat now."
From then on, Valko would save you a seat every Tuesday and Thursday morning. After the third class, he offered to study with you to help you catch up. "Not to brag or anything, but I'm something of a prodigy. Please, hold the applause." And by the sixth class, you two were meeting up for lunch, watching movies, bickering and play fighting. The real challenge of this class evolved from understanding the required reading to not staring at Valko for the entirety of lecture.
Something that you happen to be struggling with at this very moment.
If you were taking notes like usual, you'd have a better time concentrating on the lecture. But the words go in through one ear and out the other, you're so caught up in watching as he diligently takes down his notes. Though he'd stated otherwise, you really do think he's to blame for how distracting he can be. Sure, you can admit that he does need his glasses to see the slides from this distance, but you think more than anything, he brought them out because you always, always, tell him how cute and nerdy they make him look. Somehow the lenses add an extra layer of softness to his sharp features.
And yes, he might just be concentrating hard, but his lower lip is caught between his teeth, sharp canine a flash of white pressing into rosy flesh. You're almost envious of him; you would love to be the one with his lip between your teeth.
He reaches into his backpack with his free hand, writing his notes without pause, and pulls out a piece of candy wrapped in cerulean cellophane. Still with one hand he blindly looses the dark chocolate from its wrapper and brings it to his lips. Chews slow, works his chiseled jaw as he savors the sweet.
Valko looks over at you, raises an eyebrow. "Want one?" he asks.
"What? Oh, yes please. Didn't have time for breakfast," you say.
"That explains why your eyes were burning a hole through me," he says as he reaches into his bag again. "Your glare is so intense."
"I wasn't glaring," you say as you accept the candy.
"Could've fooled me with your eyebrows all scrunched up like that," he says.
You immediately try to relax your face. Is glaring how you convey boundless affection?
"Anyway, just ask if you want something from me. You know I'll always say yes."
Yeah, there's no way you'll be able to focus on advanced core matter applications now. You can only repeat Valko's words in your head. Did he mean that in a flirtatious way? Or in a really good friend way?
You flinch when the lights flicker back on. The room fills with the sounds of mass exodus. The zipping of bags being closed, the clunky slam of desks being retracted, footfalls hurrying past your seat and down the stairs and out the room. How is class over already?
"You good?" Valko asks. He's all packed up but remains seated, waiting on you.
"Yeah, yeah. Sorry, spaced out for a bit." You stuff your notebook into your bag before slinging it over your shoulder. You make it down two steps before Valko slides your bag off and hooks it over his own shoulder.
"I thought we had an understanding," he tsks.
"You really don't have to," you say. Not that you don't appreciate him hefting your bag across campus. It's just difficult for you not to make a big deal about it. Again, you wonder if his default setting is chivalrous or if he's putting moves on you.
"Sure I do. A strong hunter like you needs to preserve energy," he says as he jogs ahead to hold the door open. "Think of this as my way of supporting our troops."
"Shut up."
Though you weren't seriously asking him to, he does not, in fact, shut up. Quite the opposite, actually. As the pair of you shuffle through campus, Valko tells you about the impromptu video game tournament that he won in his dorm last night, the prize being a chorus of 'fuck you's' from his teammates and fifty bucks. He's already finished with his midterm project for his metallurgy elective – a broadsword, which you called dibs on once his instructor gives him the final grade on it – so right now he's just making random stuff for fun until they start the next unit. Rings, a set of flatware, a bunch of hammers and mallets.
"How are you gonna top a broadsword for your final project?" you ask.
"Oof." Valko clutches his chest and staggers into your side. "Your total lack of faith cuts me deep. Cuts me real deep."
"I'm sorry," you laugh as you shove him off. "I just don't know what could be more impressive than that."
"I've been metalworking all my life. Trust that I'm a little more creative in that field than you."
"Ouch."
"And, now we're even," he says before coming to a stop. You hadn't even realized you'd gotten to your school's building. Why did the walk here feel quicker than usual?
Valko shifts your bag off his shoulder and holds it out to you. A pang of sadness lances through your chest as you take it back. You're not ready to part ways with him so soon, but you decide to wear a brave face.
"Thanks for walking me. And carrying my bag," you say.
"Always happy to." He rocks back onto his heels, an expectant gleam in his eyes. But you're not too sure what he could possibly be waiting on…
"Oh, right! Have you given any additional thought to what you want your prize to be?" you ask.
Valko crosses his arms, looks upward as he ponders your question, and you take the opportunity to ogle him. His biceps bulge, and you just want to lick your way across the swell of each one. The veins in his forearms and hands are so pronounced, a testament to his rigorous athletic training. You can't believe someone as hot as him just walks around so unaware of his good looks. He could date anyone he wants, yet he's been single his whole life, allegedly. Sure, he has his nerdy moments, but you didn't think they were that egregious that it could contribute to his singleness. In fact, you think his dorky side makes him all the more irresistible.
"I got it," he says, and your eyes snap up to his face again. That gorgeous face of his. "How about you pick me up from practice today."
"I thought that was tomorrow?" you ask.
"No, the game's tomorrow. Which you're still going to," he says. "But I want you to stop by today, too. We can grab a bite to eat after."
"And it'll be my treat as part of your prize, right? Don't say no–"
"No, it'll be my treat. You're the real prize at the end of the day," he says.
Heat blooms beneath your cheeks. You try to fight the beginnings of a goofy, lovesick smile, but the effort is in vain. Valko beams at you in turn, and you feel yourself melt for him all over again. Saying such sweet things and smiling back at you like that is so not good for your mental or cardiac health at all.
"So, I'll catch you later then? Practice should end around noon."
"Yeah. I'll see you later," you say with a wave. You hurry inside, already counting down the hours until you get to see him again.
Midday finds you settling onto the steel bleachers overlooking the field where the rugby team is still in the throes of practice. There are two lines of players facing each other. Those on the right have a ball in hand, the others on the left are poised to catch. Valko is third in line to pass; even crouched like he is he still dwarfs his teammates.
The coach whistles and the first pair faces off. The player on right passes the ball, and the one on the left receives. They run at each other with fast feet; the one on the left swerves out of the way but his partner dives for his waist and tackles him to the ground. Both guys roll back onto their feet and jog over to the bench. The coach whistles again and the second pair executes the same drill, though there's a struggle to get the sturdy receiver to the ground.
Valko makes the pass as soon as the whistles blows and drives forward. He tackles the receiver to the ground just as he makes contact with the ball. Valko jumps back onto his feet and helps his teammate back up before he jogs over to where you're sitting.
"You made it!" he says as he folds his arms on the divider separating the bleachers and the field. "We should be done in ten, fifteen minutes if that's cool?"
"Yeah, no worries. My day is yours. I'm not exactly in a rush to get back to my room."
"My offer still stands, but I won't hound you about it now."
"Appreciate it."
Three shrill whistles pierce the air and Valko winces. "Gotta get back out there. I'll see if Coach will indulge his star player and cut things short."
"Don't worry about me. I'm having fun watching you," you say, and Valko jerks back as if he'd been stunned. "I mean, watching the practice!"
"Uh-huh." There's that smug look of his again, but it's not as effective with how flushed his cheeks are. He could just be flushed from practice, you reason with yourself. What you can see of his chest is just as red, as are his ears. Is it really so hard to believe he could be blushing because of you? Tara or Simone could ask you 'If someone is always making me chocolates and making me laugh, does that mean they might have feelings for me?' and you'd simply say 'Duh'.
"What's on your mind?" Valko asks. "You're glaring again."
"Seriously?" you yelp, and Valko huffs out a laugh.
"Lucky you're so cute when you do it. Otherwise I might have to take offense."
"I swear I didn't mean to!"
"Yeah, right."
You both wince this time when the coach blows out one long, loud trill of the whistle.
"Valko! Get your ass over here now!"
"Duty calls." He jogs back and pairs up with the same teammate from before. They kneel down and bind onto each other, gripping from hand to shoulder. Valko raises his knees off the ground and extends forward. All the muscles in his powerful legs tense as he works his hips to push against his partner. He repeats the motion three more times, then his teammate pushes forward in turn. Your mouth goes dry at the slight arch in his back, the firm curve of his ass on glorious display.
The drill goes on for long enough that you have to drain your water bottle to keep from getting parched. You're stuck between grief and relief when Valko and his teammate drop back to their knees and straighten up when they finish up the drill.
The team huddles around the coach and Valko, both of whom share their noticings from practice before they go into their strategy for tomorrow's game against Chansia University, which will secure their place in the semi-finals.
With a warning to get a full eight hours, the coach sends the guys to do three laps to end practice with and takes his leave. The team jogs onto the track, save Valko, who all but sprints. He salutes you when he passes your seat at the halfway point. He clears the first lap in well under a minute while the other guys have just made it halfway around. Since they're all jogging at the same pace, Valko has to thread through the team when he reaches them again.
"It's called a cool down, Captain!" someone shouts.
"I'm not even breaking a sweat," Valko calls out as he completes the second lap.You can't comprehend how he can move so fast after a little over an hour of physical exertion. He catches up to his team just as they finish their first lap but keeps running, only slowing when he reaches your place on the bleachers. Aside from his unruly hair, he hardly looks winded.
"Gonna take a quick shower, then we can head out. Sound good?" he asks.
"Yeah, take your time."
"I'll be quick."
"Remember Cap, full eight hours!" someone says, Number 44. He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively as he passes, and the entirety of the team laughs. You don't glean the meaning until another team member says, "Don't worry! She's bound to tire him out!"
You stare down at your feet, face on fire. Their laughter swells even more in volume.
"Alright, two more laps!" Valko calls out before he makes his way to the locker room. Despite the groans and complaints, the team complies. Though, halfway through the fifth and final lap, a few members of the team veer off the track to press against the barrier in front of your seat.
"You Valko's girlfriend?" someone asks.
"I fucking hope so. Can't let the guy die a virgin. Reflects poorly on the team."
"Hey, could you tell him to ease up on scheduling runs at the ass crack of dawn?"
"You're that same Hunter girl he's always going on about, right?"
"Imagine she wasn't, dumbass? You need media training."
"Yeah, put your mouth guard back in!"
The locker room door slams shut, and they all book it for the track again. Valko threatens to add five more laps and they run even faster.
You grab your bag and walk down the ramp to join Valko. He looks handsome in his white tee and dark wash jeans. His hair is dark burgundy from the shower; water still drips from the spiky strands. You chart one droplet's descent from his temple, down his tense jaw and along his neck.
"Were those guys bugging you?" Valko asks when you stop just in front of him. He takes your bag and hefts it onto his shoulder along with his gym bag.
"Now who's glaring?" You raise your thumb between his dense brows and try to smooth the wrinkle marring the skin there. "They were just wondering who I was."
Valko drapes an arm around your shoulders and pulls you into his warm, solid body. He smells clean, woodsy, like a cool, crystalline lake nestled between the pines. Would he be freaked out if you just turned your face into his armpit and sniffed?
What the hell is wrong with you? Never in your life have you had a thought like that. You decide to categorize it as intrusive instead of a real –slightly perverse– desire. Best to focus on the fact that he's holding you so close as he leads you to the parking lot.
Valko opens the passenger door, and you mourn the physical contact as soon as you move from under his arm to climb into his Jeep. He closes your door behind you and heads to the trunk to set your bags down. Once he's settled in the car himself, it purrs to life.
"Mind passing me my glasses?" he asks. "Should be in the glove compartment."
"You have the most random stuff in here," you say. Aside from the standard registration papers, you have to rifle through little metal trinkets, defunct protocores, and a variety pack of dark chocolate covered berries before you find the leather lens case.
Valko murmurs his thanks as he fits his glasses on his face. He then rests his hand on the back of your headrest so he can he can peer through the rearview and guide the car out of the parking spot. You'd always heard people say that this is the peak of attractiveness, but you would have never believed that until today. The concentration on his face is almost too much to handle, and that lickable arm braced against your seat is inspiring more of those perverse intrusive thoughts.
"Hungry?" he asks as he drives out of the lot.
"Starving." More than you could possibly let on.
"Good answer. I got just the place in mind. It's a little ways away so why don't you play some music in the meantime."
You connect your phone to the car and play an artist that you're both fans of. Valko nods in approval as he turns the volume up and lowers your windows. You two almost drown out the track, you're singing along so loud, wind and sun warm on your skin as you speed along.
Valko pulls up to an American diner just on the side of the road. He puts the car in park and does a little jog to open your door. He offers his hand to help you out, but you don't let go once you're on the ground in the hopes of confirming your suspicions. He doesn't drop your hand either, only gives it a squeeze as he leads you to the entrance.
There's not too many people here at the moment. An elderly couple in one booth, four giggling teens in another. It looks like something straight out of the movies with its retro decor.
One of the waitresses, a middle-aged woman, beams at Valko as she passes with her arms full of plates, "Welcome back, sweetheart. Sit where you like, I'll take care of you and your friend."
On the way to your booth, the line cooks in the kitchen yell out in greeting, poking their heads out of the pass through window. Valko greets them just as warmly and asks if they'll be at the game tomorrow. They both let him know they wouldn't miss it.
Valko gestures for you to sit, and you slide into the booth. You end up having to move in more because Valko slides in beside you. Again, his arm finds its way around your shoulders so you're plastered to his side once more. You have to mentally berate yourself in order to relax your rigid frame.
A young guy with a mop of mahogany brown hair covering his eyes comes by to wipe the table down. He puts out his fist for Valko to bump before he slinks off elsewhere.
"You must come here a lot," you say. "Everyone seems to know you."
"That hairy kid is my cousin Bruno. His mom, my Aunt Ksenia, owns the place actually."
"No way? That's so cool."
"I might be a bit biased but the food is amazing, and she makes the best chocolate milkshake around. There was a time I'd show up almost every night to get my cocoa fix. I only stopped cause my aunt chased me out of here one night and told me to get a proper meal for once."
That checks out. Valko, the chocolate connoisseur, would be the one to frequent a restaurant on a nightly basis if their cocoa creations were up to par. And considering how close he seems to be with his family, an opportunity to see a relative probably sweetened the deal.
The waitress appears with two glasses of water and a menu for you. Valko orders the same thing every time, so it's just you perusing your options while they chat. She talks about her son's own rugby game on Sunday, which Valko is apparently attending. Valko says he has some good gear back home for kids her son's age so he'll be sure to bring it back the next time he visits. You wait until a lull in their conversation to put in your order.
"I didn't realize rugby was so big around here," you say after the waitress disappears into the kitchen.
"Huge. Everyone goes to the university games. Tomorrow will be your first, right?"
"Yeah, I'm excited for it."
"You'd better be. Cause I'm dedicating our win to you."
You duck your head to hide your bemused smile. Maybe you really aren't delusional…Which is exactly what a deluded person would tell themselves. But his arm is still wrapped around you as he talks about the community training camp he helps run during off-season. His fingers trail along your upper arm as he listens to you recount how Grandma made you and Caleb go to a basketball training camp one summer. You'd been miserable the entire time but you came out of it knowing how to hit a three pointer, no problem.
The waitress brings out two massive cheeseburgers with mountains of fries on the side.
"Oh, you serve American portions here, too," you say when the waitress stops at your table. She and Valko laugh when she places your plate before you, probably because your eyes widen to the size of your burger. It's the biggest sandwich you've ever seen, and the mountain of golden steak fries don't help either.
"I'll help you finish if you want," Valko says as he unhooks his arm from your shoulders.
"Worry about yourself," you say as you eye Valko's downright intimidating double cheeseburger. It towers over your own and is piled high with all the fixings, something straight out of a commercial.
"C'mon, this is light work. I could have a second one if I really wanted."
"That's disgusting. No wonder your aunt chased you out of here."
"I promise you'll see why that was necessary once you start eating."
You take a bite of your burger and let out a pleased hum; any fears you had of being able to finish your food dissipate at once. You haven't had food this good since Caleb went off to the Airspace Academy. The burger is juicy and full of flavor. There's this mysterious sauce on the bun that you can't get enough of, the cheese is sharp, the veggies are fresh. And the fries? Like a little bite of heaven. They're surprisingly light for steak fries, perfectly golden and salty. You find yourself feeling grateful for the massive pile on your plate.
"What'd I tell you? It's good, right?" Valko says.
"If you think I'm gonna say yes, it makes total sense that you were eating here every single night you are out of your mind." Doesn't matter that you know for a fact that you'd be chased out of here too if you were in his position, you refuse to give him the satisfaction.
Halfway through your meal, a different woman rounds the corner with a chocolate milkshake in hand. Her eyes are the pale gold of a sandstorm, her burgundy hair is streaked with grey and mauve strands, and her smile reveals the signature sharp canines that confirm that this is the aunt in question.
"Why didn't you tell me you were bringing your friend here?" she says as she sets the milkshake on the table. "I had to hear from Bruno of all people. Bruno, who is always the last to know. Now I am the last to know. I do not like that."
"Teta Ksenia," he groans.
"Hush. I'm ignoring you like you ignored me."
His aunt leans over the table and kisses your cheeks in greeting. "Last time Valko was here he went on and on about you until his milkshake melted. First time that's ever happened!"
You turn to face Valko just as he closes his eyes, drops his head back and sighs.
It's unclear how you engage Ksenia in conversation for as long as you do because you're distracted by what she'd first said. You can't stop glancing over at the chocolate milkshake topped with a generous heap of whipped cream and a maraschino cherry on top. Two red and white striped straws stick out at opposite sides of the glass.
Ksenia excuses herself with more kisses to your cheeks. She clears her throat and Valko finally opens his eyes, smiles fondly at his aunt. She ruffles his hair before she goes, a promise to see you both at the game thrown over her shoulder.
"Speaking of the game," Valko says once she's disappeared off the floor. "Some of the guys are throwing a party tomorrow night at their frat house if you want to come. Assuming, they're not put on probation between now and then."
Valko regales you with the sordid history of the athletic fraternity's many probational periods, but your attention is on that milkshake with two straws. Just begging for you to read into things more than you have been already. Why did his aunt assume you'd be sharing? Have you ever shared a drink with just a friend like that?
…Yes. Plenty of times, actually. You grab a fry and dip it into the milkshake.
"What are you doing?" Valko asks.
"Is that judgment I hear? At least try it first." You hold the fry out to him and after a moment of hesitation he takes a bite. A spark of electricity travels through you at the feel of his lips grazing your fingers.
"What do you think?" you ask as he chews.
"I think you might have just changed my life." Valko grabs two of his own fries and swipes them through the milkshake. He lets out a little groan when he eats them. "The salt is doing something weirdly delicious to the chocolate. It's like there's an extra layer of sweetness on my tongue. Wow."
You giggle softly as he goes for another serving and makes more contented sounds. "I'm glad you like it."
"Here. I owe you one." Valko holds up a milkshake covered fry for you this time. Had you been watching him that closely when you first offered? He's tracking your mouth with an intensity that makes your entire body run hot. When your lips graze his fingers this time, you hear his breath hitch.
"Hey, so there's something I want to talk to you about. Or ask you, I guess," Valko says.
"Oh, is everything okay?" You turn to face him fully.
"Yeah, I just…the reason I brought you here is because this place is important to me. It's hard to think of a time when it wasn't. And that's exactly how I feel about you. Since the moment you fell into the seat beside me that first day of lecture, I haven't been able to get you off my mind."
Your heart stutters to a stop, then kicks into an irregular rhythm.
"I'm sure you can guess that I'm crazy about you." What? "And after some careful observation, I feel pretty confident that you like me back. So, my question to you is: will you let me be your boyfriend?"
What? What what what? Your once extensive vocabulary is no longer at your disposal. You don't even think your brain is connected to your mouth anymore.
"But if you decide you don't want that, nothing needs to change between us," Valko adds. "As long as you're in my life, I'll be pretty content."
Valko, the guy you have a big, stupid crush on, wants to be your boyfriend. And you're stuck on mute. Say something, damn it!
"You alright?" he asks, concern coloring his tone.
"Yeah! Sorry, I forgot how to speak just then," you say, and he lets out a bellowing laugh.
"Glad to see you back online," he says. "So, do you want more time to think about it, or–"
"Yes! I mean, no I don't need more time. But, yes, I'd love to for you to be my boyfriend."
His face splits open with his smile. He gathers you in his arms and hugs you close. If he weren't touching you, enveloping you in his scent and his warmth, you'd be scared to wake up.
You're not sure how you, Tara, and Simone manage to secure such great seats considering how packed the stands are when you arrive. You'd been navigating through a sea of fans with very little hope until you happened upon your spot from yesterday, which, miraculously, had just enough room for three.
"Yay, front row. You're really living your WAG fantasy right now," Tara says. "Maybe we can get you on a reality show!"
"I don't think Valko is famous enough for me to cinch a spot on your beloved Housewives," you say.
"Not yet, but I pulled some cards the second you said you guys were official and I saw a lot of wealth in his future, a very high-profile life. Don't make that face, you know I'm never wrong about these things."
"Still, you don't strike me as the type to engage in psychosocial warfare with middle aged women," Simone says. "Don't get me wrong, you're witty enough, but with your temper…"
"What about my temper?"
"You're liable to threaten death on someone if you get worked up enough," Simone says and Tara laughs in agreement.
"Which is why I'm planning to be a Hunter, not a Housewife. It's fine if I kill wanderers."
"And just like that, my dream of being cast as 'Friend of' dissolves right before my very eyes," Tara sighs.
"We just started dating and you're already making me his wife?" you ask.
"Not me. The universe. My card pulls did hint at you being mates for life or something along those lines. Your union is written in the stars," Tara says.
You look at Simone, who shrugs and says. "She rarely is wrong ever since she started that elective."
You hear a sharp whistle followed by someone calling your name. All three of you whirl around to see Ksenia waving both arms at you. She's seated with Bruno and the other diner staff, all of whom are decked out head to toe in the university's colors. Bruno's even painted his face, what little you can see of it that is.
"You know those people?" Simone asks.
"Yeah, those are his relatives, the ones I met yesterday," you say as you wave back to them.
"See, you're already cozying up with the in-laws!"
"Tara, please shut up."
"Or what, you'll kill her?" Simone asks.
"Not you too," you groan. "Why don't we focus to the game, it's starting."
You can't say you have much rugby knowledge, but you're here to watch Valko more than anything. He uses his sheer size and strength to break through tackles, sprints at top speed to get the ball over the try line. His every move is an explosion of power, and you can hardly tear your eyes from him. It's nice seeing him in his element, yelling plays to his teammates, making seamless lateral passes and defending the line.
The team does have their work cut out for them. You'd say they're pretty evenly matched in terms of ability. Around the 60 minute mark, Chansia takes a three point lead. Boos echo in the stands around you.
For next 15 minutes the field is gridlocked. Neither team makes much progress to the try line as Chansia is trying to defend their lead, and Valko's team is looking to overtake it. Just as the minutes whittle down to seconds, Valko pops up from midfield and powers forward, evading when he can and slamming past his competitors when they close in. You gasp when an opponent dives for Valko's waist just as he's about to reach the end zone, but he manages to trudge forward even with the extra weight. When he's finally dragged down, Valko reaches his arm out and touches the ball to the opponent's try zone, bringing the team up by two.
The stands erupt in raucous cheers and screams of joy. You also jump up and hug your friends, so excited that the team will be advancing that much closer to the championship. Valko rolls onto his feet and runs across the field straight to you. He pushes himself up on the barrier so that he's at your height and presses a kiss to your mouth.
"Thanks, good luck charm," he says and gives you another quick kiss. Before you can really comprehend that you've just had, not just your first, but your second kiss with your newly minted boyfriend, he's jogging back onto the field to celebrate with his team.
"I think he broke her brain. Simone, see if your EVOL can fix it."
The phantom touch of his soft kiss has you in such a daze, you hardly realize that your friends have herded you off the bleachers. Regardless of your blissed out state, you doubt Simone could make any significant modifications to your brain that could dampen the effect Valko has on you.
You hear the music blasting from the frat house before you even see it. There's tons of people littered across the lawn and porch, drinking and laughing as they await the rugby team's arrival. According to Valko, his teammates purchased enough booze for a major blow out with the entire campus or to drown themselves in their sorrows.
The three of you squeeze through the smokey din of the frat house until you reach the kitchen. All available counter space is covered with handles of liquor, towers of red plastic cups, and big bottles of mixers. Simone whips up a drink that tastes deceptively of just juice. You watched her the entire time, you know that there’s enough alcohol for one sip to put you on your ass, but you’d never be able to tell by drinking it.
Tara swats at your cup. “Hey, wait, we have to cheers first.”
"My bad! Cheers to what?" you ask.
"Cheers to us! Besties for life. Nothing can come between us," Tara says, and the three of you toast to that. You have to cut yourself off in the middle of your second gulp since the drink goes down so smooth.
There's a lot of commotion from the front of the house all of a sudden. Cutting through the crush of people is Valko and the other rugby players. Your hearts kicks up into that concerning rhythm that only happens when he's in view, and right now, you can't tear your eyes from him as he greets people as he passes. He flashes his signature confident smile, the same one that had met your lips only a little while ago. A thousand butterflies flutter in your stomach at the reminder.
"Think you spoke too soon, Tara," Simone laughs.
"Hey! I'm not gonna go AWOL just cause I have a boyfriend now," you say. Both your friends laugh this time.
"Oh, I know that," Tara says. "But it's safe to assume you'll be all over each other for a little while. At least tonight, I doubt I'll see much of you."
"I've also made peace with it," Simone adds. "I'll still run into you in class, I'm sure. "
"You guys are acting like I died or something," you say. "I'll still spend time with you like always."
"Mhm."
"Yeah, I'm sure."
You take another sip of your drink. Are they right? Probably. When Tara first started seeing her girlfriend she was so hard to meet up with that you'd been convinced that your friend got caught up in a spacetime anomaly at some point.
Valko hugs Simone and Tara in greeting first. They both offer him a congratulations that he humbly accepts. He saves you for last, wraps you up in his arms and squeezes you close.
"Yeah, she's all yours," Tara says.
"Catch you guys later!" Simone adds.
"What's that all about?" Valko murmurs into your hair as he rocks you both from side to side.
You rest your chin on the center of his chest so you can look up at him. "They think you're going to monopolize all my free time now that we're dating."
"Reasonable fear to have." He leans down to nuzzle your nose with his. "I want you all to myself."
You manage to shove him away from you. "Stop playing."
"Fine, fine, I guess I can share," he laughs. He tucks you into his side and leads you through the house. "Anyway, let me introduce you to some of the guys. They've been pestering me nonstop about officially meeting you."
You don't have to go far to find one of them at the other end of the L-shaped counter, drinking a beer while he checks his phone. As soon as he spots Valko, he gives him a knowing smirk and daps him up. You recognize him as Valko's partner from yesterday's drills.
"This is Malachi, our Fullback. We were roommates our first year," Valko says.
You offer your name with a wave, and Malachi lifts his beer in greeting.
"Is it too soon to ask when you're gonna pop his cherry?" Malachi asks.
"And, now we're leaving." Valko steers you away from his chuckling friend towards the back door.
"C'mon, it's just jokes," Malachi calls out behind you. "Bryan paid me 20 bucks to ask. You know a man's gotta eat!"
Valko apologizes once you're out on the deck, ears bright red. The question did catch you off guard, yes, but not enough to justify the mortification twisting in the pit of your stomach. You've experienced second-hand embarrassment before, but nothing quite so visceral.
"It's okay. Don't stress it." You rub his arm in a bid to soothe him, but the feel of his skin under your palm ends up calming you down as well.
"You still up to meet the other guys? I can't promise they won't say anything out of pocket, but…"
"They're important to you, so I want to meet them. Just lead the way."
Valko's other teammates are different stages of blackout drunk when you meet them playing beer pong, doing keg stands, dancing haphazardly in the living area, smoking on the front lawn. You recognize a few more of them from practice, and they are all too eager to get some face time with you. Valko must be traumatized from your first interaction with Malachi, because he guides you away before or just as they say something untoward. Still, it's nice having him on your arm and telling everyone who matters to him that you two are an item.
After you make your rounds, Valko plops down on one of the couches in the darkened living area of the house. Before you can drop into the empty space beside him, he pulls you into his lap. His arms find their way around your waist again and he pulls you snug against him.
"Stay here, I need to recharge after all that," he grumbles into your neck. His warm breath and lips on your skin make you squirm in his hold.
"Yeah, right. You're the most extroverted person I know," you say.
He lifts his head again and pins you with his heatless glare. "Doesn't mean I can't get tired. Don't forget I just played a grueling rugby match for a little over an hour. And you haven't even congratulated me yet."
"Congrats on the win, you played a great game. I couldn't be prouder of my boyfriend."
Valko seems to puff up at the praise, but he wouldn't be Valko if he didn't try to mess with you just a little bit.
"Thank you," he says, "but it's a little too late for just that. Now you've gotta show me you're proud."
He taps a finger to his cheek and presents it to you. Instead of giving him what he asks for, you place a hand on his jaw to draw him in closer.
"I'm really, really proud of you, Valko," you say, and you slant your mouth over his. He follows your lead, kisses you slow and passionate. The party rages on around you, but right now, in the eye of the storm with him, all you notice is the subtle scrape of stubble growing back in, the groan emanating from his open mouth, the heat of his body beneath you and his sharp alpine scent. You do what you'd been dreaming of just yesterday and bite that plump bottom lip and tug it away when you part from him.
He's back on you at once, kisses you with more ardency than before. Valko lightly wraps a hand around your neck and pushes you back until your head rests on the arm of the couch, his mouth never leaving yours. His tongue pushes past your lips and another wrecked groan leaves him. You bury your fingers in his burgundy locks, wanting to kiss him deeper, have him nearer.
"Get a room, Cap! There's plenty!"
"Yeah, mine's free if you let me watch!"
Valko parts from you with a growl and a promise to be right back. He stalks over to three of his snickering teammates, two of whom successfully skitter away. Malachi, however, gets dragged back by Valko's heavy palm on his shoulder. While Valko chews him out for interrupting, you touch your fingers to your tingling lips and find they're quirked up in a grin that won't fall away. You'd been hoping to leave him in a daze this time around, but your plan has backfired gloriously. You don't even think you could walk straight after a kiss like that. A kiss from your boyfriend, no less.
Your hand cramps with the effort of writing your decomposition formula as quickly as possible. You don't even chance a glance at your boyfriend because he'll use any means necessary to distract you.
You slam your pen down a little too hard, but you can't find it in you to care. You finished your work first, and that's all you care about.
"Competitive much?" Valko asks under his breath as he finishes up his work.
"That's rich coming from a star athlete."
"Time is up. Pass the quizzes down."
Your professor starts writing out the formula on the screen and explaining his process. You turn to Valko instead; you know for a fact that you got it right.
"Now, what to pick as my prize," you hum.
"I actually have a prize for you, if that's okay."
Valko unzips his bag and pulls out a slim black box the size of your palm. He places it on top of your notebook, and you pull off the cover to reveal a pair of silver earrings fashioned into the shape of lilies of the valley.
"Happy one month," he says.
"These are beautiful," you whisper. "Did you make them with your EVOL?"
"Yup. Remember, I have nothing but free time during metal working. I gotta admit, it took me a while to get the metal ratio just right. I needed them to be delicate, but still hold up. Anyway, I know you claimed the broadsword, but I wanted to give you something else, too. I hope you like them."
"I love them, Val, thank you! You're the sweetest." You take advantage of the dimmed lighting to kiss his cheek.
"I'm glad. I hope you'll wear them tonight for our date."
Ah, yes. Your much anticipated monthiversary. Valko has been very secretive about the planning of it, only telling you to dress up and leave the rest to him. You'd asked Simone to try to get some details from him since they also share a course at Poly, but he's been especially tight lipped.
"He said, nice try, just please be surprised." She'd reported back this most recent time.
You close the box again and slip it into your bag. You'd have switched out your usual studs for this, but you really can't risk anyone pulling them out of your ear during combat training later.
At the end of class, you pass Valko your backpack without protest. He takes your hand in his and you two leave the lecture hall to walk to your next class.
In a lot of ways, not much has changed since you decided to couple up. You still roast each other like usual, still compete like all your worldly possessions are on the line. But your playful dynamic is tempered with holding hands and hugging and kissing and all the things you dreamed of doing with him when you were just a girl with a crush.
You get to the professional studies building as quickly as always, even though you're walking at a leisurely pace. Time moves differently with Valko around, so much so that you wonder if his true EVOL is actually time manipulation.
"So, I'll pick you up later this evening." He hands you your bag before adding. "Don't wear anything with heels."
"Why? Scared I'll be taller than you?"
"Pft, I'm not that insecure. Besides, heels make it easier to do this." Valko leans down and kisses you tenderly. "But, it'll be difficult to walk in them where we're headed. On second thought, wear whatever you want. I'll just carry you."
"You really are piquing my curiosity to an unhealthy degree."
"Baby, it's only a few more hours. I think you'll survive," Valko says.
"Fine, I guess. I'll see you later, then."
"Later." Valko kisses the top of your head and takes one step backward, then another. He doesn't turn around the further he gets and you stay rooted in place.
"Don't you have class?" Valko teases, still walking backwards.
"Can't a girl look at her boyfriend a little while longer?"
"I'll allow it."
The day passes in a blissful blur, to your detriment. Nero gets the jump on you during combat drills, much to his and Jenna's surprise. You unknowingly agree to co-host one of Tara's full moon parties – something you've avoided for the entirety of your friendship because she gets very intense around that time of month.
You couldn't be more grateful when your final class of the day ends. You hurry back to your dorm room to get ready despite how early it still is. You hang up your dress— a pearlescent slip dress that you and Simone went shopping for last weekend— in the bathroom while you take a long, hot shower. The steam thankfully gets rid of the little wrinkles marring the fabric.
You yelp when you see Tara lounging on her bed for the first time in weeks. You hadn't even heard her come in.
"Did you forget we live together?" Tara asks. "Or that we were just in the same class?"
"I honestly did forget, I'm sorry." Even after your AC got fixed, Tara still stayed at her girlfriend's place, so you've basically had a single this whole time.
"I kinda forgot too," Tara giggles. "But I came back to help you get ready for your date!"
Tara styles your hair much better than you would have. She also lends you her favorite eyeshadow; it adds a beautiful silver sparkle to your eyes that makes you feel ethereal.
You slip into your dress and look at your small collection of shoes. While you do have a pair of flats that would match, you decide you want your boyfriend to carry you afterall.
"How do I look?" you ask once you've stepped into your heeled sandals.
"Like a moon goddess. You seriously need to wear this to the party. Make sure you get Valko to come this time!"
"Oh! Almost forgot." You get the jewelry box from your backpack and switch out your earrings. It's the final touch you needed for your outfit.
"Don't wait up!" you call as you grab the gift bag on your desk and head out the door.
"I'll be in my other room anyway. Have fun!"
Valko is already waiting for you in the lobby, chatting with the public safety officer, when the elevator opens to the ground floor. He's dressed all in black; slacks, dress shirt, leather coat. The top two buttons of his shirt are undone, revealing the strong bones of his clavicle. One step out of the elevator and his gold eyes snap up to you. They pass over your body like a pair of hands and you feel so hot with that level of awareness.
Valko excuses himself from the conversation to meet you halfway. He offers his elbow for you to wrap your hand around.
"I see you're wearing heels," he murmurs as he kisses your temple, no need to dip down to reach you.
"I wanted to take you up on your offer."
"I'm glad. You look amazing."
The drive to your undisclosed date location is pleasant. Valko rests one hand on your thigh while he navigates the darkened roads and listens to you talk about your day.
"Oh, and I somehow got roped into Tara's monthly full moon party, which is fully your fault."
"How is it my fault?"
"If you had just told me where our date was gonna be, I wouldn't have been spacing out trying to figure it out when she asked."
"Yeah, I'm the worst boyfriend ever for trying to surprise you. What punishment will you dole out?"
"You have to come with me to the party."
"Wish I could baby, but I have to head home that weekend."
"Oh, right," you say, a bit disappointed. "I'll have to think of a new punishment for you."
"Looking forward to it. We're here by the way," he says as he slows the car to a stop. All you can see are the silhouettes of towering trees and shadows.
"Are we hunting Wanderers?" you ask when he comes around to help you out.. You grab the gift bag before he closes the door behind you.
"No, this place is thankfully Wanderer free. We just gotta walk a little bit." Valko scoops you into his arms and carries you into the treeline. You wrap your arms around his neck and snuggle closer to him.
"How can you even see?" you ask.
"Some of us are just blessed with really good looks and good vision. Seems you were only blessed in the first department."
The compliment makes you giddy, but then you realize. "Wait! You're the one who wears glasses!"
The two of you bicker until you catch a glimpse of light in the distance. Before you know it, you're greeted by hundreds of orbs of golden light strung up in the trees and decorating the grass of a clearing. In the center, there's a table set for two, a bucket of champagne in the center.
"Surprised?" Valko asks as he places you on the ground and pulls out your chair.
"How did you even set this up?"
"I called in a favor or two," he says with a shrug as he takes his seat.
Affection blooms in your heart as you reach across the table for his hand. "You're so sweet to do all this."
"Only the best for you."
Your eyes snap up when you detect movement behind Valko. But instead of the stray Wanderer you were bracing for, Valko's younger cousin Bruno appears, dressed as a server. His hair is pushed back from his face for once, so you can finally see his honey-colored eyes. He looks absolutely miserable.
"Looking sharp," Valko says. "Your mom brush your hair?"
Bruno cuts his eyes at his cousin but says nothing as he pours you both a glass of champagne. You track him closely when he turns on his heel and walks off, but you can't see where he disappears into. It just looks like he's been swallowed by night. How is he possibly navigating this deep darkness?
Valko raises his flute of champagne and you rush to do the same.
"This month with you has been the best one yet. And I'm excited for all the months to come," he says.
The champagne bubbles delicately on your tongue, silky white peach in your mouth. The bottle alone must have cost an arm and a leg.
"Now my gift feels really lackluster," you say, feeling sheepish. He made you these beautiful earrings and arranged this spectacular dinner in the woods and all you have to show for it is something homemade.
"I doubt it. Hand it over." He doesn't even wait for you to pass it to him, just reaches over to grab the bag. Valko pulls out the decorative tissue before reaching in for the little wolf plushie that you and Simone spent way too much time trying to make perfect. Valko handles it carefully, adjusts the glasses on the toy's smug face. He holds it up to his nose and takes a sniff. That's when you know you're in too deep with him. You don't think it's weird at all. If anything, it's cute.
"A wolf, huh," he says with a smile. "You made this?"
"Yeah. The design reminded me of you. I'm sorry it's nothing too flashy."
"Apology not accepted. I love my twin." Valko rises from his seat to kiss you. Each brush of his lips conveying his appreciation.
"You guys done or what?" Bruno asks, the longest sentence you've heard him utter.
Valko breaks the kiss with a sigh and returns to his seat. Bruno gives you your first round of dishes, seared scallops with spicy soba, drizzled in a sesame peppercorn sauce, black truffle prawn Har Gow, lobster bao with ginger and scallions, and crispy duck skin with caviar.
"Who do you know who can make scallops in the middle of the woods as a favor?"
"My Teta Ksenia. She used to be the executive chef at some Michelin starred restaurant in Goldtree City."
"That's so cool."
"Right? Anyway, she loved the cooking, hated the stress. So she quit and opened up the diner; she always dreamed of owning one when she was a kid. But every once in a while she busts out her more impressive recipes if her favorite nephew begs and pleads enough."
Just as you mourn the last bite of one appetizer, you and Valko dig into the next, and somehow it's even better than the last. You'd be content with just this tasting platter, but Bruno returns with roast duck, wagyu beef, steamed sea bass, crab fried rice. So much delicious food, made even more delicious when Valko feeds it to you.
How could he possibly top this? You think as you accept a spoonful of chocolate mousse for dessert.
You'll just have to trust that he's a little more creative than you.
Loathe as you are to admit, organizing Tara's party was not as stressful as it had been the first time. You have a venue in the form of Tara's girlfriend's roof, the perfect place to look at the moon. There's plenty of drinks, empty vessels for making moon water, and a working speaker courtesy of Simone. Tara has a table set up in the corner to pull tarot throughout the night. All there's left on your end is to bring up the boxes of pizza you'd ordered.
"Okay, big spender," Tara says when you place the stack on the long table of snacks.
"Yeah, Valko ordered them as an apology for missing the party," you say as you reach for a slice.
Tara frowns at that. "It's just, you always invite him but he can never come. Don't you think that's a little weird?" Tara asks.
"No, not really. His family just has full moon traditions that he doesn't like to miss. Besides, he basically has the week off since he finished all his midterm projects." He'd only had one midterm exam in your shared class.
"But to miss every single one? He's gotta be a werewolf or something." Tara says.
You laugh out loud. When she doesn't join in you say, "Don't be ridiculous."
"His name is literally Valko," Tara deadpans.
"You're reading into things way too much. It's just a name," you say.
"And you spent ages making him that wolf plushie because the design reminded you of him."
"Because it was cute like him! The fur was the same color as his hair, and they have the same glasses."
"Cute is probably the last word I would use to describe him but okay," Tara says with a shrug.
"Look, I know you're annoyed he's not here, but you don't need to make up these elaborate theories to explain why. He had other plans, it's as simple as that."
"I mean, in a world where Lemurians exist, anything is possible right?" Tara says. "Come over here. Why don't you pull a card before everyone gets here."
You follow Tara to her table. She shuffles the cards a few times before cutting the deck and spreading them on the table.
"Okay. Close your eyes and pick a card," she says.
You do as she says, blindly scrabbling for a card. There's a woman sitting against the base of a gnarled tree, gazing at the different phases of the moon in front of her. The High Priestess.
"See. I'm right! The Priestess is symbolic of unveiling secrets. Valko is going to reveal to you that he's a big, bad werewolf and then I get to say I told you so."
"Let's just worry about the party."
Which turns out to be easier said than done. Throughout the night, people keep asking you where Valko is and why he couldn't make it. One too many werewolf jokes are sprinkled between these conversations, and you can't help but wonder what everyone else sees in Valko that would inspire such remarks. Is it really such damning evidence, not attending these parties, not once?
"Did you know that we have Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man to thank for our ideas of modern lycanthropy? "Nero says to you after yet another werewolf accusation from Andrew, one of your upperclassmen. "Though there are some Greek legends that elude to full moon transformations, the film really popularized the concept and–wait, where are you going?"
You feel bad for leaving Nero so abruptly– it took lots of begging on yours and Tara's part to get him to come out at all. In the end you'd had to bait him with the hopes of catching a glimpse Lumiere since he's been active in the area recently. But if you have to spend one more second listening to him expound about werewolf lore, you might just scream.
Had Tara not said anything tonight, you doubt you would've given much thought to Valko's absence. But now, you have no choice but to think about it more critically. You know he's telling the truth about spending time with family. You'd stopped by the diner earlier in the week and Ksenia asked Valko if he wanted to ride back with her and Bruno. But as to what these traditions actually are, you're still in the dark about them.
"They're private rituals, can't be discussed outside of the family," he'd said when you asked what exactly goes on when he's back home with everyone. "But look, here's some pictures from the last time I was there."
Your heart had swelled as he swiped through photos of all his younger cousins piled atop a laughing Valko, him draped over his grandmother as she cooked, his sister Ania sprinting with a rugby ball under her arm, a gaggle of toddlers putting colorful clips and bows in his hair as he sat dutifully on the floor. His voice grew fonder with each photo, his love for his family made clear with each word spoken. The happy, loving family in those images, they couldn't be werewolves.
And, now you miss your boyfriend. So much so that your heart squeezes when you picture his smiling face, imagine him hugging you tight and nuzzling the top of your head. You don't know how you'll survive a week without seeing him.
Your only saving grace until he returns are midterms. You never thought you'd ever be grateful to have so many on your plate. Between studying with Simone and Tara, writing papers, and finishing up your projects, the time passes quickly. When you leave the building following your Hunters practical exam, Valko is leaning against a tree waiting for you. He gathers you in his arms when you run towards him.
"Missed you, Pancake," he says into your neck.
"I definitely missed you more." You kiss him on the cheek.
"Yeah, not possible." Valko puts you back down, but snakes his arm around your waist. "Wanna watch a movie in my dorm until the dining halls open for lunch? I don't have practice today so we can spend some time together."
"Lead the way."
"So how was your practical? Safe to assume you passed with flying colors?"
"Naturally. Jenna says my agility with a broadsword is unbelievable, so thank you for giving it to me early."
"That's what I like to hear! What else are we adding to your armory, huh? A rapier? Maybe some guns."
"I think your coach would kill me dead if you dedicated your time to weapons making instead of rugby practice," you say.
Surprising to no one at all, the athletic housing complex is the nicest dormitory on campus. It boasts an exclusive dining hall with an executive chef, state of the art training facilities including a pool. There's even a sauna somewhere around here. Valko has to sign you in at Public Safety for you to gain entrance.
Though he was obligated to live here this year, he's toured a few apartments in the hopes of moving off campus at the end of the semester. In your opinion, his room is basically like a high-end apartment, thanks to the university's intervention. Instead of the standard twin XL, Valko's bed is closer to a King to accommodate his large frame. He has a living area with a 'too small' couch and flat screen television, and a kitchenette off to the side.
Valko drops into the too small couch and pulls you down with him. He grabs the remote and scrolls through the list of horror movies available.
"Why do you always put these on if they scare you so bad?" you ask once he makes his choice.
"Because I can do this if things get too hairy." Valko curls into your body and hides his face in your neck. His breath on your skin brings goosebumps to the surface.
When he straightens up again, he tilts his head at you in question. You bring one hand up to his jaw and pet him there.
"I really missed you, Valko," you say, the words petal soft. You lean into his space and Valko surges forward for a long awaited kiss. You trace your tongue along the seam of his lips and he opens his mouth for you. The taste of him makes you moan softly, and Valko grabs you by the waist and puts you astride his lap. You card your hands through his soft, burgundy hair and he pulls you further down his lap until your center meets the heat of his firmness. You rock your hips experimentally, and Valko groans into your mouth before kissing you with unbridled hunger. His tongue tangles with yours and his fingers press firmly into your sides as you grind against him. You both part from the kiss, chests heaving and lips slightly swollen. His pupils are blown out, darkening his eyes into rich pools of amber. Valko charts a trail down the slope of your neck down to the hollow of your throat
"Want you so much," you whisper into his ear, and he bites down on your pulse point. Your breath shudders out of you as he kisses his way back to your lips. You've never felt this kind of hunger before. Despite how freely Valko lavishes you with his attention, you're still greedy for so much more.
You release your grip on his hair and trail one hand down his chest. His muscles tense as your fingers descend lower until you reach his belt buckle and–
"Ow!" you yelp when he bites down on your lip hard enough to draw blood. You swipe your fingers across your mouth and sure enough they come back stained crimson at the tips. Valko lifts you off his lap and places you back on your own cushion on the couch. He's breathing heavily enough to concern you, and a bolt of anxiety sparks in your chest.
"I'm so sorry. Is your lip okay?" he asks as he inspects the blood on your mouth.
"Yeah, it's fine. Already stopped bleeding. But are you okay?" You try to crawl back over to him again, but he keeps you away with a hand on your shoulder. The anxiety mounts.
"Yeah, don't worry about me." He stands up abruptly, tugs his collar away from his neck and clears his throat. "You know what? Why don't we forget the movie and go down to the dining hall? Should be open by the time we get down there."
You most definitely would rather stay up here and get back to making out with him. But he looks so on edge that you just agree and follow him out the room. You feel calmer as you make your way to the elevator, but it's so at odds with the confusion, the hurt that you're experiencing.
You remember what his teammates had said when you picked him up at practice. Can't let him die a virgin. Maybe he's embarrassed by his lack of experience. Or he'd been nervous, so much so that he'd bitten you really fucking hard.
Embarrassed? Nervous? These aren't words you'd typically associate with Valko. He's captain of a D1 rugby team, president of the University's Engineering Club, the most extroverted person you know. He tackles everything in life with the same decisiveness he does on the field. Even when he'd asked to be your boyfriend, he'd done so with the confidence that you felt the same as him. No way you can reduce him to a big bundle of nerves, right?
You get to Thursday lecture at 7:50. A Herculean task if there ever was one. You'd had to set alarms at 10 minute intervals from 6:15 onward in order to make it this early, and you hope not to do it again.
Since that afternoon in his dorm, Valko has been distant. Well, he's actually been busy, but same difference. He has a big game tonight against Skyhaven, the final match to determine the regional championship before the the season goes on hiatus. His coach has been on their asses about 'distractions' and explicitly barred the team from partying, partners, and any other vices they may have for the past two weeks. He also moved their practice to an earlier slot on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so Valko hasn't been able to walk you to your second class all this time.
Additionally, his metalworking instructor has tasked him with creating a piece for a student expo, and his advisor for his advanced major is helping him prepare for some conference that he'll be presenting at.
You're proud of Valko, you really are. He is so smart and talented and wears so many hats. You just wish he had time to wear his boyfriend hat, is all. Hence, your early arrival today. You're desperate for some time with him, even if it's just a few minutes before lecture.
That's why you have to fight the aggravation that threatens to overtake you when he enters the lecture hall four minutes before the start of class. He drops into the seat beside you with a quiet good morning. You notice he's without his backpack. There's only a chewed up pencil on his ear.
"Are you feeling okay?" you ask as you take in his appearance. Under eyes dark like he hasn't slept in months, skin clammy and flushed, his hair an unruly nest atop his head. You reach up to smooth down a cowlick but he catches your wrist just as your fingers brush the errant strands.
"I'm fine," he says as he places your hand atop your desk. "Just got a lot on my plate right now."
"I'm sorry, baby. Hopefully you can catch a break soon."
You hesitate before speaking again, wavering between guilt over adding yet another thing to his already busy workload and wanting to advance your relationship past this stagnant period you find yourselves in.
"You know how Caleb is visiting me for the weekend?"
"He's staying with you in your room?" Valko asks.
"Well, yeah. Tara basically moved in with her girlfriend so her bed's free, and it wouldn't be the first time we share a bedroom," you say.
Valko clenches his jaw hard. This is far from the first time you've talked about Caleb with your boyfriend, but it is the first time he's reacted like this. In fact, this is the first time you've seen him so visibly angry, and it's hard not to feel pissed yourself.
You take a deep breath before you continue. "Anyway, Caleb's coming down for the game; he knows a bunch of the guys on the Skyhaven team. I was hoping that, while he's here, the two of you could meet. Maybe we could all go to dinner or–"
You're interrupted by your professor announcing today's pop quiz, a self reflection. There's no competitive energy swirling between you, but there is a tension you've never experienced before.
As soon as Valko finishes writing he rises from his seat, descends the stairs with quick feet and hands the professor his paper. They speak quietly for a moment before Valko strides out the lecture hall. Your heart fissures when the door slams closed behind him. You can't believe he left his favorite class, left you, without a second glance. You have to press the heels of your palms into your eyes to keep from tearing up, the frustration and sadness welling up inside you almost too much to bear alone.
Which is why you're so relieved when you see Caleb waiting for you in your dorm's lobby. Despite how crestfallen you've been after your shit morning, seeing him sitting there makes all your troubles melt away. Tara and Simone had done their best to console you during class earlier, but a big hug from Caleb is the balm to soothe all wounds.
"Don't tell me you missed me that much, Pipsqueak?" he says as he rubs your back. "You gonna let me go or what?"
"Nuh-uh. We're gonna walk everywhere just like this."
"Fine by me. You mind grabbing my wallet from my back pocket then? And handing the officer over there my ID? Oh, and your hand is closer to my suitcase, why don't you roll it over for me, too, huh?"
"Now you ruined it," you say as you pull away from him.
You spend the next little while before the game catching him up to speed on your life. While he unpacks his suitcase, you tell him about your most recent visit to the student Hunt Zone where you'd taken down a rampaging Petro Golem all on your own. On your way to the dining hall for a late lunch, you talk about the trip you, Simone, and Tara have planned for your next break, a week long stay at the Azurie Islands complete with swimming with dolphins, jet skiing, and plenty of sun. Your actual meal has you reminiscing about all the delicious food Caleb would whip up for you when you still lived together.
"I'll make whatever you want if that means you'll tell me about your other classes," he says when you finish eating. "Glad as I am to hear you can take down Wanderers in your sleep, I hope you're actually studying. How's that Cosmic Energy course going? Still kicking your ass?"
You manage to talk about passing your midterm despite the thickening lump in your throat. Every word out your mouth evokes images of the many sleepless nights spent in the library with Valko, studying for the most part but cracking jokes and stealing kisses and tossing dark chocolate covered blueberries into each other's mouths.
It wasn't all that long ago that everything was perfect. Now you're at his most important game yet and you have no idea where the two of you stand.
Caleb follows you to an empty row of bleachers in the second row, two hot dogs in each hand. It's still early enough that it's mostly empty here, but some true die-hard fans already occupy the very first row. You're hoping to at least catch a glimpse of Valko before the game starts, just to make sure he's okay.
"I really am so glad you came out to visit," you say as you take a seat.
"I wouldn't miss a Skyhaven game in the world. And I guess it's nice to see you, too."
You shove him hard and he raises the hotdogs in surrender. You snatch one of them out of his grasp.
"But seriously, how are things? I'm glad school is going well and you're having fun with your friends, but you still seem really low energy," he says.
"It's that noticeable?" you ask as you unwrap your hotdog.
"Oh, yeah. The last time I remember you getting this down in the dumps was when you missed out on an exclusive plushie in the crane machine."
"You know they never did a rerun of it!"
"I know," Caleb says. "So whatever's bugging you must be something serious."
If you tell Caleb that your boyfriend has been ignoring your very existence and got all grouchy at just the mention of him visiting, he'll probably launch over this barricade to try and kill him. You're not that mad at Valko that you would resort to that. Fortunately, you're saved when Simone, Tara, and her girlfriend arrive. You go through the motions of doling out hellos and hugs. Everyone is more than happy to chat up Caleb, so you have a moment of reprieve that is spent surveying the field for your elusive boyfriend.
"Oh, some of the guys are warming up. I'm gonna say hi before the game starts," Caleb says before he makes his way to the opposing team's side.
"Have you spoken to Valko since he left class early?" Tara asks. So much for your reprieve.
"Can you drop it?" Simone sighs.
"No, I cannot 'drop it'. You know what I think this is all about but–"
"My boyfriend is not a werewolf," you say, tone sharper than you'd intended. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. It's just…"
"Things are weird between you two right now," Tara says. "But I'm concerned. He's more irritable than ever, rarely even speaks to you. And don't say he's just stressed, there's clearly something going on."
"This should all blow over soon," Simone says. "You said yourself, he has a lot of competing responsibilities. After the game he should have some more time for you. Hopefully you two can find some way to move forward."
The rugby team makes their way onto the field, and the stands explode with excitement. You stand up to watch them as they arrive in a single file. Valko's face is hard and serious, but he does acknowledge your wave with a nod of the head. He goes up to the referee for the coin toss. He always picks tails, but this time, the coin lands on heads.
Caleb returns to his seat just as Skyhaven reaches the end goal and secures five points. He lets out an enthusiastic 'Woo' before he realizes he's sitting with the opposing team's fans. He has the decency to appear embarrassed at least.
As the clock ticks closer to 80 minutes, Valko moves across the field with the explosive grace of a predator in the woods. He tackles hard, powers through blockades, runs the ball to the try line time and time again. But something is off about him. He hardly passes to his teammates, barely even looks at them if you're honest. And he's far more aggressive in his domination of the field.
Valko charges into an opposing player at top speed, knocking him onto his back with an audible thud. The referee blows the whistle and awards Valko with his first yellow card of the season. Malachi jogs over to Valko and places a hand on his shoulder to get his attention, but Valko shrugs it off and stalks over to the bench while another Winger takes his place in the formation.
"What's good with your boyfriend?" Tara's girlfriend asks and you cringe.
"That's your boyfriend?" Caleb asks, tone incredulous. You see a tick in Caleb's jaw as he stares him down, the same smoldering look reflected in Valko's gold eyes. They flick to you in agitation and your stomach flips.
"Down boy," you say to Caleb. "He just got ejected from the game. Of course, he's upset."
"Pips, he flattened that kid like a pancake. It's a miracle he didn't snap him in two."
Pancake. Valko hasn't called you that in ages. Why not? Is he not into you anymore? Could that explain the distance? You want to believe him when he says he's just been really busy, but he hardly even texts you these days. If only he'd say more than, 'I'm fine' when you ask him what's up. It's so frustrating to know he has so much on his shoulders and won't accept your help. Not like you can make anything more impressive than a wonky metal ring. You could try your hand at being a Winger, you're sure your Hunter training might come in handy. The most you've done for him is take really comprehensive notes from today's lecture.
If the ten minute penalty was supposed to alter Valko's strategy on the field, it certainly had little impact. He's not flattening the Skyhaven players quite as bad as before but he's still acting like a one-man team. The awe you felt at his first game is nowhere to be found, instead replaced with bone-deep concern. You can't even bring yourself to feel excited when he slams the ball in for the winning play of the night. His teammates huddle around him in celebration, but he breaks free of them. For one, fleeting second, you think he'll run over to you, kiss you breathless like before, apologize for being missing in action. But he only cuts his eyes at Caleb before retreating to the locker room, door slamming shut behind him.
Tuesday marks your second time being early to lecture, thanks to Caleb. He'd had an early flight into Skyhaven and woke you up to say goodbye at 6:45 so you'd decided to get ready early, squeeze in a proper breakfast before lecture for once.
There's only five other people already settled at their desks when you arrive, two slumped over as they catch up on sleep. You really hope Valko gets here early enough so you can talk before class begins, or at least stays so you can do so afterwards. But as the minute hand twitches closer to 8 and the hall fills with people, your hopes fizzle away.
You accept the stack of papers when the TA hands them off. You have to reach over Valko's empty seat to pass the rest of the quizzes down the row. You answer the questions on auto-pilot, your thoughts stuck on where Valko could be, if he's in any trouble. He hasn't returned any of your calls or answered your texts, you haven't seen him since the game either.
You dutifully take down notes on today's lecture, Introduction to Aether Cores. You're sure Valko would be bouncing in his seat if he were here. He'd want to talk about Aether Cores and their impact on Deepspace the whole walk to your next class. Then he'd bring it up again at lunch, maybe say something cute about the protocore in your heart.
"Thanks for your attention everyone. And, as a reminder, no lecture on Thursday, I'll see you all next Tuesday."
You pack up your things and hurry out of the lecture hall. No class on Thursday means you'd have no other reason to run into Valko. Not that it matters, he didn't even bother to show up today. You send a short email to Jenna letting her know you won't be in class as you march across campus, determined to find Valko and get to the bottom of things at once. In your hurry to get to the student athletes dorm, you'd neglected to come up with a plan to get inside. Your ID won't let you through the optical turnstiles, and you doubt that the public safety officer at the desk would take too kindly to you trying to break in. Perhaps you could reason with him. You offer him the same smile that has gotten you free drinks many times over.
"Hi, so, my boyfriend lives here. You probably know him, really tall, burgundy hair, plays rugby?"
"Valko, right? He's a good kid. Can't say I've seen much of him lately."
"That's because he's been very sick the past few days. He's not answering his phone or anything so I was hoping you might let me into the building so I can check on him? Please?"
The security officer sighs. "He can't come down to get you?"
"No, he doesn't even know that I'm here." You mentally curse yourself. Now this man probably thinks you're Valko's crazy stalker, showing up unannounced and begging to be let in on the sly.
"Unless someone signs you in, there's nothing I can do for you. Why don't you try calling again? You can sit in the lounge area over to the left."
At the very least, the sofa is a comfy place for you to spiral as each attempt to call Valko ends with a trip to his voicemail. You can't even leave a voicemail anymore since you've likely clogged up his inbox. Any sane person would tell you Valko's lack of communication means he's no longer into you, but you know deep down that's not it. You can't shake this feeling that something's wrong, and you don't want him to go through it alone. The very thought brings tears to your eyes. You blink them back and try to call again.
"Hey, you're Valko's girl, right? You waiting on him or something?"
You look up and see Malachi, try to match his smile and fail miserably. "No, I'm… Actually, do you think you could do me a huge favor?"
"I can't thank you enough for signing me in," you say to Malachi as you ride the elevator up to the 7th floor.
"Don't sweat it. I've been a little worried about Valko too, so I'm glad you're checking up on him. If I even breathe near his dooror he yells at me to fuck off."
You've never heard Valko swear before.
"Anyway, his room's over there, 709," he says once you both step off the elevator. "I'll catch you later. Good luck with everything."
Even if Malachi hadn't told you your boyfriend's room number, you would've found it on your own anyway. A wave of agitation crashes into you as soon as you reach his door. You knock quick and loud.
"Valko? Please let me in." You knock more insistently. "I'm really worried about you, open the door."
To your relief, the door does crack open, revealing one golden eye piercing the shadows of his room.
"What are you doing here?" he asks, voice gravelly.
"What am I doing here? No one's seen or spoken to you since Thursday."
"I came down with something that night. Should clear up by the end of the week."
"Then let me take care of you."
"No, I-I don't want you to catch it." He tries to close the door but you wedge your foot in the gap just in time.
"You weren't in class today, meaning I won our competition by default." You actually got the question wrong, but that's neither here nor there. "So I want you to open the door and let me look after you."
"I can't do that. You shouldn't be here."
"That's just it; I feel like I should be. Don't ask me to explain how, but I just know you're in distress and it's breaking my heart. "
Your anxiety mounts in the ensuing silence. What could have transformed your sweet, doting boyfriend to a near stranger in a matter of weeks? You're completely in the dark as to how your relationship devolved to this point where he can't even react to a text.
"I hate this," he bites out. "I hate that you're so sad and it's my fault."
Faster than you can comprehend, you're tugged into the dark of his room and enveloped in his arms. Your eyes sting as you embrace him in turn. You missed the solid warmth of him so much, you just want to sink into him further. He rubs his chin on the top of your head and hht tears silently track down your face.
"I'm sorry, Pancake," he says as he drops a kiss to the crown of your head, and the levee keeping your emotions at bay fractures. You hide your face in his chest as you sob, convulsive gasps racking through your body as relief coalesces with built up trepidation. He crushes you closer to him as you hiccup and snivel, and to your surprise, an insistent erection presses into your stomach. Does crying do it for him? You hardly have time to dwell on that because something brushes the back of your calves, startling you enough that you huddle closer to Valko with a yelp.
He lets out a deep sigh. "I need to tell you something. I won't blame you if you freak out, but I hope you'll at least let me explain first."
He reaches out to flip the light switch. You flinch when the overhead lights flicker on; once you adjust to the brightness you see a pair of wolf ears twitching upon his head. You break free from his hold and find the culprit from earlier in the form of a long fluffy tail flicking behind him. You can almost hear Tara singing 'Told you so, told you so!" in your head.
"Is this why you've been keeping to yourself lately?" you ask.
"Part of it," he says; his already sharp canines are more visible than usual as he speaks. "I normally have no issue hiding my wolf features but…to be blunt, I'm about to start my rut which is why I've been out of sorts lately."
You'd learned about ruts as a first year since there are a few classes of Wanderers that become increasingly dangerous while in rut. Usually, it results in territorial behavior, increased testosterone, and heightened arousal. That could explain the tear-induced boner, but it doesn't explain half a month of estrangement.
"So you've been keeping your distance because you don't want to sleep with me?" you ask.
"What? No, are you kidding? I do want to sleep with you, that's the problem. I've never been through a rut before, but I sensed it was coming when you were here last. I started taking suppressants, but the efficacy drops to zero quick whenever I'm around you too long. Even talking to you like this is a major test of restraint because I want you more than anything, but I don't know if I can control myself once I give into my baser instincts."
"So out of concern for me, you've just been holed up in your room?"
"Pretty much, yeah."
"Well, I'm here now. Let me help you out." You take a step closer to him, and he takes one back.
"I don't think you really understand. Ruts can be relentless. I'm not sure what to expect of myself but based on what people have told me, I won't let up, won't let you out of my sight. Not until the rut runs its course."
"I get that. But the alternative is probably more painful for you." You chance another step forward. He goes stock still. "I care about you so much and I want to help you through this. If you turn me away again, I'll just worry myself sick."
Anguish roils off him in palpable waves. You hate that he's caught up in this maelstrom of emotions. More than that, you hate the idea of him continuing to deal with this on his own. You need to get through to him for both your sakes.
"What happened to always saying yes to me?" you ask, continuing your slow approach. Valko's tail goes rigid, a warning signs that you choose to ignore. You reason that if he really wanted you to leave he could definitely carry you out of here.
"I'm sure this can't be easy." You close the distance until you're only a hairsbreadth away. "Having me so close, offering myself to you, and still denying yourself relief. All because you care more about me than your own comfort."
You palm his straining cock and he lets out a harsh exhale.
"You're such a good boy, Valko," you say, and though his face has hardened into an unreadable expression, his wagging tail thumps against the floor.
"Let me reward my good boy."
Valko pulls you into an urgent, bruising kiss, all groans and teeth. You've missed him so much, and you pour all of that longing into the glide of your lips. You wrap your arms around his broad shoulders to pull yourself closer, but Valko breaks the kiss and places you on your back on his bed. He kisses his way down your body, shedding layers that get in the way of his lips touching your skin directly. You help him tear off your shirt when he gets to the neckline and whimpers against your throat. He's on you the instant the fabric is over your head. Nips at the swell of your heaving breasts, wet kisses down your quivering stomach.
Valko drops to his knees on the floor before you, tugs off your jeans and tosses them aside. His tail sways a little faster when he looks at you in his bed, only in a bra and underwear. He leans forward and drags his tongue along the gusset of your panties. Your breath shudders out of you, intimate muscles clench in anticipation. You lift your hips when he starts to peel the soaked fabric away. He fits himself between the wide spread of your thighs then puts his mouth on you. There's no finesse to the broad licks he gives you at first, intent on coating his tongue with the taste of your soaked flesh. But then he parts your lips with his thumbs and slides his tongue in your cunt. His nose nudges against your clit each time he pushes his tongue deeper. You fist the blanket beneath you and let out a harsh exhale of his name.
One of his large, calloused hands glides up your body and reaches beneath your bra to squeeze your breast. You sit up a bit to unhook it with trembling hands. After a few failed attempts, you're able to discard the last of your clothes. Valko slides his tongue up to your clit and licks firmly. You bury your fingers in his hair and tug him closer.
"F-faster," you sigh, and he does exactly that. Your body trembles with the onslaught of his tongue and you feel too hot, even with the AC at the lowest setting. All that's grounding you now, keeping you from floating away is your grip on his hair. You wonder if the ears atop his head are just as soft. As soon as your fingers graze them, Valko lets out a moan so filthy that it's borderline pornographic.
He presses sultry kiss after sultry kiss to your clit, and that coupled with his fingers tweaking your nipple makes your thighs clamp around his head as you come hard. Valko flattens his tongue to catch your essence with more broad strokes.
When he parts from you he's panting gently, lips shiny and smiling. He rests his wet cheek on your thigh and his warm breaths tickle your sex. His gaze is hazy as he looks up at you, and it reminds you of winter mornings when the quality of light gilds the world in white gold.
"Your scent is so strong here," Valko groans before he nuzzles back in. He grabs you by the waist and pulls you closer to the edge of the bed, so quick that you fall onto your back again. Your hips jolt up into the soft suction of his lips around your clit, but Valko braces a heavy hand on your stomach to push you back down onto the bed. With his other hand he pushes your right thigh up. Valko laps at your clit even as he suctions it deeper into his mouth. You've never seen anything quite so erotic as him pleasuring you between your legs. It's almost too much for you to handle.
"Oh, my god," you whimper when he finally does release your clit with an obscene wet pop.
Valko drops your thigh to swipe his fingers across your slick sex; arousal splashes with each firm pass over your folds, and Valko stares at you like you'd designed the cosmos yourself.
"You're so soft. Everywhere, just soft." He kisses your pussy and you mewl. "And you taste so good, too. I'd eat you out all night if it wasn't making me this hard. But I gotta make sure you can take it. Can you, baby?"
Valko eases one slick finger into your clenching cunt. You gasp out a yes when he crooks it against the spongy patch inside you.
"Nah, I'm not convinced yet. Let me give you one more before the suppressant fully wears off."
He pushes another finger in before he puts his mouth back on your clit. He fucks his fingers into you deep, grazes that sweet spot inside of you, while he flicks his tongue on your sensitive bundle of nerves. You whine his name, voice so high pitched you can barely hear yourself, but you're sure Valko does based on how he picks up the pace of his fingers and tongue. Your entire body curls forward, muscles tensing and relaxing as your orgasm leaves you awash with ecstasy.
And Valko doesn't take his eyes off your trembling form. His golden irises glow with a lecherous luster that almost makes you feel like prey, trapped in the maw of a great beast. Though it puts you a bit on edge, this undercurrent of apprehension as he presses to his feet, towers over you more than usual, arousal gushes out of you. Turned on by the idea that, for the next however many days, Valko will be all over you. Consumed by the compounded effect of his dizzying desire for you and insistent primal instincts.
I won't let up, won't let you out of my sight. Your body jolts with a shiver of anticipation. It's true, you don't really know what you've gotten yourself into, but as Valko tears his shirt off –all the divinely sculpted muscles of his arms and torso lustrous with a light sheen of sweat– you can't imagine anywhere else you'd rather be.
Your mouth goes dry when he drops his sweats and his heavy cock bobs into view. Forget about a soda can cock, what you're facing is more aptly compared to an energy drink, long and thick.
It's nice to look at once you get over the initial shock. Curved upward, a deeper shade than the rest of his body, prominent veins running along the bottom and left side of the shaft. The foreskin has mostly retracted, so his glistening head is revealed to your greedy eyes. His balls are heavy with his need for release, and the base of his cock, nestled in a bed of pubic hair wet and matted with pre-spend, is slightly thicker than the rest of him. Could you seriously take something like that? Is it strange that you really, really want to find out?
Valko grabs his erection and squeezes at the tumescent base. "Are you sure you want to do this? I won't be upset if you changed your mind, I know it's a lot. Just…if you do want to go, I really need it to be now while I'm mostly lucid."
"Baby, I already told you I'm not going anywhere." You'd been so anxious and miserable less than an hour ago, overwhelmed by the distance Valko had established and the absolute certainty that there was something wrong. There's no way you could bring yourself to leave now that he's finally let you in.
"I'm only worried that I won't let you leave later–"
You press an ankle to his lower back to pull him closer. His cock glides through your folds and it's electrifying, the contact, his firm flesh on your soaked sex. Cum spurts onto your stomach, opaline and creamy on your skin. You swipe it off with your index finger and lick it clean, surprised by the mildly sweet taste.
"I'm not leaving until you to fill me up, Valko." You spread your legs further apart, and a pitiful whine emits from his throat. "I'm so empty without you, I'm aching for it."
"Shit," Valko swears, breathless. He guides the tip of his erection to your entrance and sinks in, inch by inch. His body quivers with the effort of easing in slowly and allowing you time to adjust to the stretch of him inside you. No one has ever filled you quite so good, and he's only halfway into your cunt. You nudge him closer with your foot on the small of his back.
"You're going too slow," you whine.
Valko grips your waist tight; his sharpened nails biting into your flesh ten bright points of pleasurable pain. You gasp at the punishing pace he sets, warmth blooming from his cock as he thrusts inside you. He doesn't slow with his release, only pushes his cum in deeper, chases his climax in a desperate pursuit to expend all of his pent up arousal. You grip onto his biceps for purchase. The intensity of your coupling leaves you gasping, makes you feel like your soul might slip out with your next heated exhale.
"Look at how well you take it."
You follow his gaze to where you're joined, his cum-soaked cock disappearing into your cunt. Your walls bear down on him at the sight, squeezing more of his spend from him. Valko jerks into you hard and the base of his cock meets your clit. You arch up at the sudden flare of pleasure and Valko leans down to mouth at your breast. His lips sucking and nipping at the pert bud makes your blood pulse hotter.
He releases your breast with a wet smacking sound, the cool air of the AC on your wet skin makes your nipple tighten almost painfully. He goes to give the other the same treatment but you wrap your arms around his neck to pull him in for a kiss. But with the force of his rutting, it's difficult to keep your lips connected. Valko growls when your lips break apart again, so he gathers you in his arms, kneels onto the bed and places you in the center. He braces his forearms on either side of your head and pounds into you. Like this, his wagging tail stirs the humid air around you. Like this, his pelvis bumps your clit with every sticky meeting of your hips. Just when you think your desirous delirium has hit it's peak, he licks into your mouth. It's needier now –the glide of your lips, the tangling of your tongues– and overwhelming to the point that you feel like you could drown in this kiss.
But then he rubs up against your sweet spot, and you pull away from him to moan, "R-right there, right there."
Each drive of his hips knocks the head of his cock into that spongy patch inside you, makes you beg him not to stop as desire tingles across the soles of your feet and up your shaking legs. Even with him this close, you want to be closer still. You reach for his ass, but his wagging tail gets in your way. You grip that instead, reveling in how plush his fur is. It seems to move faster now that it's in your grasp, as do his hips. He takes hold of your ass and drives into you, erratic and desperate. Your vision blurs when the coil of pleasure snaps. You arch against him and tug hard on his tail. Valko's hips snap into yours, and you groan at the thick penetration of his knot in your pussy. Frissons of bliss overtake him, his strength gives out as he spills into your contracting walls. It's euphoric. The luscious warmth and weight of him on top of you. Not knowing where you end and he begins as you both succumb to bone deep ecstasy.
Valko buries his face in your neck and inhales deeply. "Feels so good. So fucking good."
Though his orgasm has waned, you're both locked together still. He wraps you up in his arms and shifts you both so he's on his back and you can lay atop him to wait for his knot to go down. Your hearts beat in sync, slow and sure. Fingers dance up and down the length of your spine, as if to coax you to sink into him more. You love being this close to him. The intimacy of simply having him inside of you, sharing heat, being one.
You trace along his hairline, scratch just behind his ear. His tail thumps gently against the bed and he pulls you closer so he can rest his chin atop your head.
"I thought you were a virgin?" you giggle into his chest.
"A virgin, not a saint."
You reach out to pet his tail; it's so incredibly soft that you can't stop touching him. That's when you notice a duffel bag by the door.
"Were you planning to go somewhere?" you mumble.
"What was that, Pancake?" he asks, warm breath ruffling the hair atop your head.
"I asked if you were going to leave. Your bag's packed."
"I was gonna head home, actually. Wait out the rut in the woods."
"Why didn't you?"
"Because I couldn't stand the thought of leaving you here alone. At least if I stayed on campus, I could reason with myself that you would be somewhat in my vicinity."
"Can I ask why you didn't tell me to begin with? I'm just curious. I seem to have a big impact on you, so it would stand to reason…"
Valko releases a deep breath. "Cause I really like you. And I would've liked to have been dating a little longer before having to address a rut. I always planned to tell you about the whole wolf thing a few months in, although you were weirdly perceptive about it anyway."
In retrospect, his lupine characteristics were more overt than you'd been willing to admit, to both yourself and Tara.
"Since I hadn't been through a rut in all this time, I didn't think I would have to bring it up so soon. And I would've just found better excuses to explain long absences. But when I would steel myself to leave, I physically couldn't. The soul imprint is too strong to resist during a rut. I'm lucky I was able to stay holed up here at all."
"Wait, back up. Soul imprint? You imprinted on me?"
"See, that was also something I hadn't planned to mention. In my defense, it happened completely by accident."
"Since when?" you ask. Again his face is red and he avoids eye contact, which is so unlike him. Then it clicks. "Don't tell me it was the day we met. Are you for real?"
"Might have been," he mumbles.
"Wait, wait, wait. All this time I thought I was insane for always wanting to be under your skin and you're telling me there's a biological reason for it? Is that why I knew something was going on with you?"
"More than likely." Valko takes one of your hands and kisses the back of it. "Our bond makes it so we can feel each other's emotions, among other things. It was subtle when we first met, and at the start of our relationship when we were more in tune with each other, a lot of our emotions overlapped, and they were mostly positive."
True enough. You'd never been happier than that first month and half you'd been dating. To know that he felt the exact same way makes your heart soar.
"That's also what was making it so hard to leave. The weight of your anguish was like a physical burden on my chest. There were moments when I couldn't breathe, it was so heavy. And it just amped up my own negative emotions. I wanted to ease your pain, but I didn't want to risk trapping you with me if I couldn't keep my rut in check. I know I should've been honest with you from the start, but I couldn't anticipate how you'd react. I didn't want to lose you, but I'm sure I nearly did by straight up ignoring you."
Valko cups your face in his hands, pins you with eyes full of regret. "I'm sorry for hurting you. I don't know if I can ever forgive myself for it."
You kiss the dip of his clavicle. "You shouldn't be so hard on yourself. You already shoulder a lot of responsibility here at school and at home, too. You need to show yourself some grace, and let me help you when things get to be too much. I'll always be here for you."
"Come on, you can't be this understanding," he groans. "At least tell me you were pissed off at me or something."
"I admit, I was really upset with you, but mostly because I wanted to help you and didn't know how. But now I do."
You push yourself up so can sit astride Valko. His cock had softened at one point in your conversation, but starts to fill out again when your intimate muscles clamps down on him.
"I'm not clairvoyant by any means, but I'm positive that we'll be in each other's lives for a long time. Which means I'll probably have to get used to dealing with your ruts, won't I?"
That damp haze of lust falls over his eyes as you brace your palms on his chest and rock against him. He meets your fervent thrusts with his own. Everything between you is wet, hot desire. A mess of his cum and yours, sweat and sin, tears of pleasure and labored breaths. You're both desperate for it now, the cresting of your climax.
Valko grips your hips to bruising, lifts you so only the tip of his cock is notched at your entrance, and splits you open again on his thick cock. You claw at his pecs and groan when he bottoms out, reaches so deep inside you, presses right up against where you want him. You're slurring praises from how good the stretch of him feels, and then you reach down for your clit. Rub tight, concentric circles around it until you're falling apart on his cock, eyes rolling into the back of your head. You're so boneless from your orgasm that Valko ends up bouncing you on his cock himself, slamming you down onto his length like you weigh nothing. He's eager to sate this arousal that burns too hot to withstand. Eager to plug your spasming cunt with his hot seed.
The moon is high in the sky when Valko finally lets up. You both lay horizontal across the bed while you try to catch your breaths. This is the first time he's been fully soft and it comes as a small relief. You'd thought Valko would resort to carrying you around with his cock stuffed inside you, he'd been so reluctant to part from you until now.
You turn your head to look at him and find his eyes are already on you. He offers you a sleepy, sated smile that you return. His tail drops over your middle and you run your fingers through it's dense fur. You pick it up and bring it to your face, nuzzle against the softness, breathe in his alpine scent and sigh. Now you get why Valko is always doing the same thing to you. It's such a comfort to be so close to him.
"Having fun there?" he laughs.
"Mhmm. I can't believe you have a tail. Or how soft it is. Now I have to watch out for other suitors and poachers," you say and he let's out a howl of laughter.
"I would only have to worry about poachers when I'm in full wolf form, but I doubt they would present much of a problem."
"You sound confident."
"Have every reason to be. I can always redirect their bullets with my EVOL. But even without it, I don't back down without a fight."
"Okay, now what about your gaggle of admirers?" you ask.
"What about them? I didn't realize I had any, if I'm being honest."
You roll onto your side and smack him playfully on the shoulder. "Bullshit."
"I basically said I only have eyes for you and you resort to assault? Maybe you should redirect me to this gaggle you speak of. I'm sure they don't have your penchant for abuse."
You flick him between his eyebrows. "Take that back now, or else."
"Or else? Oh, you're so scary."
You scoff in annoyance before you start to poke him in the temple. "Why won't you take it back?"
"Because I'm clearly a masochist." He grabs your hand and brings it to his lips. He gives you a sweet kiss on your palm before he licks along the length of it.
"Ew, you're so gross," you squeal as you yank your hand back to wipe on the comforter. "Why would you slobber all over me?"
"You know the saying, 'I licked it, so it's mine' right?" he asks, looking very smug. Your whole face burns when you consider the implications of that statement. He'd quite literally licked you from head to toe just now.
"But seriously, I need you to get it through your head that you're it for me. I have no interest in entertaining anyone who isn't Y-O-U." He pokes you in the forehead with each letter he spells out.
"So, if the most beautiful person on earth came up to you and said they want you for themselves, what would you say?" you ask.
"Well, I'd first ask if you have amnesia or something. Seems like a major thing to forget, that I'm all yours."
Your cheeks almost hurt from how big your smile gets. He leans over and gives you a kiss on the forehead, right where he'd been poking.
"Don't lick my forehead now," you murmur.
"No promises," he laughs. "You good, though? Anything I can get you?"
"Maybe some water, a snack if you have anything." You're not sure what time it is, but you doubt you'll be able to order anything at this hour. Granted, you doubt Valko would even let you out the door to pick up an order.
"I got you." He gives you a peck on the lips and gets out of bed in search of something to replenish your energy.
You roll onto your back again to watch him make his way to the kitchenette. You have an incredible view of his backside, even if it is upside down. You catch every minute ripple of muscle as he grabs electrolyte drinks and a chocolate protein shake from the fridge. A bag of chocolate covered berries and some potato chips from the pantry. His tail swishes slowly behind him all the while, but you still catch glimpses of the artful lines you scratched into his sinewy back.
But when he turns around to join you on the bed, his cock is hard. Again.
"Seriously?" you laugh as he places the haul on his bedside table. "What kind of break is this? It's barely been ten minutes."
Valko sighs. "I'm sorry."
"No, you're not."
"You're right, I'm not. I can't help it. Just looking at you turns me on. Scratch that, just knowing you're here in my room turns me on. I promise, I got hard going through the kitchen because I knew I'd be delivering these snacks to you. Hey, why are you giggling? This is serious!"
"And here I thought I'd sufficiently worn you out."
"I can go into the shower or something."
"No, it's ok, I can find another way to help." You're still a bit sore from all the sex you've had already, but you can be creative. You shimmy forward so that your head hangs off the edge of the bed. Valko's eyes widen almost comically when your mouth falls open, but his cock jumps, pre beads on the tip.
"Just don't knot my throat or anything," you say, and he flushes crimson.
"I'm not that far gone."
Valko grasps his length and guides it into your waiting mouth. He shivers when his hot flesh first touches your tongue, and more pre spurts out of him. He sucks in a deep breath before he slides in further, twitching and hardening the deeper he reaches, until a little more than half of his dick is in your mouth. The taste of him, silky salt, must have some addictive quality to it, you want to keep your mouth on him for as long as possible.
His pelvis jolts forward when you grab his balls and squeeze. A harsh 'sorry' sounds from above. You hum around his length by way of acceptance, and again he jerks forward, the movement sudden enough to make you gag. Valko lets out a whine of your name when your throat tightens around him as a result, and he moves his hips faster, desperate to come again. He fondles your breasts and caresses your stomach all while he chases after his next orgasm.
You didn't think you would get so much satisfaction from him fucking your throat, but you like his reactions, his shivers and whimpers and moans. You like the taste and weight of his dick in your mouth, the way he says your name like a vehement prayer. And though you don't have the same primal urge to fuck his brains out, you can understand what he'd meant just now. Simply watching him above you like this, brows furrowed with concentration, is a major turn on.
You hollow out your cheeks and moan; Valko collapses forward but catches himself on the bed. He braces his forearms on either side of your hips and brings his mouth back to your pussy. You're still so sensitive from your earlier orgasms that it only takes a few concentrated licks over your slit before your body convulses with your climax. Valko follows not too far behind you, buries himself deep so his release slides down your throat.
But when he pushes himself back on his feet and pulls out of your mouth, he's still as hard as before. Harder, even. He has the grace to appear apologetic though.
"Here." You push your breasts together and look up at him expectantly. Valko gets back on the bed and positions his thighs on either side of your torso. He lets out a breathy moan when he thrusts his cock between your tits, his pace immediately frenzied. You stick out your tongue, his soft tip poking at it with each thrust forward.
It's not long before more of his cum shoots out of him, coating your tongue and breasts with another hot load. Valko leans down to kiss you when his climax subsides. He moans at the taste of himself on your tongue and kisses you more roughly. His panting mouth travels down your neck until he reaches your breasts. He cleans you up with sucking kisses and broad licks before he lays on his stomach beside you, his cheek on your stomach. He lets out contented rumbling sounds from the back of his throat as you gently scratch and pet his hair. His breaths slow the longer you play with it, and you feel yourself relax along with him. The tenderness between you a welcome change from the distance.
"Feeling better?" you ask. "Valko?"
You peer down at him and see his eyes have fluttered shut. Soft snores fill the quiet calm of his room. A miracle. Or it would be if he'd only laid down properly to sleep. You'll never be able to get comfortable yourself if you remain like this. You try to gently rouse him but he still shoots you a sleepy glare anyway.
"Come, lay your head on the pillows," you say.
"But you're comfier," he whines.
"Your legs are hanging off the bed."
"Don't care."
"Come on. The sooner you fix yourself, the sooner we can cuddle."
Valko groans but still does as you ask. As soon as he lays down again, he tugs your back into his chest and nuzzles his cheek into your hair again with a sleepy murmur of, "G'night."
Despite the arctic chill blowing from the air conditioning you wake up hot. As if Valko's body –still burning up from his rut– pressed up against you isn't bad enough, his fluffy tail is draped across your waist and his hot erection is scalding your back, adding insult to injury.
You reach for the chocolate covered berries that you never got to sample. To your immense relief, your fingers graze the bag so you can snatch it up. You can see why Valko always carries these around, they're really tasty. Or you're so desperate to eat that anything would taste out of this world right now.
Somehow, you're able to wriggle your way out of his ironclad hold. There were a few close calls – sleepy Valko does not like relinquishing whoever he's snuggling– but now you're able to stretch your limbs. You pad over to the kitchenette and check the contents of his fridge. It's clear that he'd not planned to stay here for the duration of his rut as it's empty save for the bottles of protein shakes and electrolyte drinks. Either that, or he really thought this would suffice. You're hoping he's a little more reasonable today so you can run out and stock up on groceries.
You cross his room to take a much needed bathroom break. You take in your reflection as you wash your hands afterwards. You look thoroughly fucked: disheveled hair, glowing eyes, and puffy lips. Though you paint a pretty, debauched, picture, you feel disgusting. Sweaty and sticky. Taking a shower will definitely be in vain as soon as Valko wakes up, but you still hop in. You switch the shower head to an intense massage setting and revel in the heavenly water pressure on your sore muscles as you lather yourself up with oaky body wash. Damn the university and their luxurious athletic apartments. You might actually cry when you have to go back to showering in your annoying dorm.
It takes all your willpower to cut off the spray of water. You towel yourself off and, after a second of contemplation, grab his toothbrush to brush your teeth. You're sure after everything you got into yesterday he won't mind sharing. In fact, you think he'll, oddly enough, be a bit turned on knowing his toothbrush was in your mouth.
Valko is awake when you leave the bathroom feeling refreshed. He's visibly distraught where he lays.
"What's wrong?" you ask, though his raging erection seems to be answer enough. You don't go to him right away, instead seeking out your phone from your bag, discarded by the door when Valko first whisked you into his room.
"You weren't here when I woke up. And, seeing you all naked and soft is getting me so hard it hurts." He reaches for his shirt at the foot of the bed and tosses it to you. "Here, cover up. Maybe that'll help."
You pull the huge, worn t-shirt over your head. The lettering is faded from many washes, but it seems to be his jersey from his high school team. It's comfortable, so you don't mind strutting around with it on while you're here. You shoot a text to Tara and Simone to let them know you're okay, email your professors to excuse your absence for the rest of the week before you join him in bed. You sit beside him and he wastes no time moving his head to rest on your lap. He watches as you peruse a food delivery app; the handful of chocolate berries you had is barely holding you over as is.
"You smell like me," he says as he kisses the top of your thigh. "I knew I shouldn't have let you in here. Now I don't ever want you to leave."
Valko starts to pull you back down to him, and you hurriedly tap to the checkout option.
"Let me at least finish the order fir–" Your words are cut off with a sultry kiss, broken only long enough for Valko to tug the shirt right off of you. He turns you onto your stomach and stuffs a pillow beneath your hips. He kneads the flesh of your ass, spreads the globes apart. Arousal is already pooling between your legs.
"You're soaked," he says, and you can hear the awe in his voice.
You whimper when he nudges the head of his cock at your entrance, moan when he sinks in with a wet sigh that makes your intimate muscles clench. He grips your waist and fucks you hard, the sound of your skin meeting his a rhythmic slap in the quiet of the room. You push yourself onto your forearms to meet his powerful thrusts, but he fits his palm between your shoulder blades and pushes your chest back down again so your back arches deeply. It's easier to fuck him back like this; each time the soft flesh of your ass slaps against his pelvis, his balls strike your clit, and you arch deeper for him with a wanton moan. White hot desire jolts through your nerves, singes your blood.
"You're so fucking sexy, holy shit," he whines as he speeds up his already rough thrusts; the bed shakes and groans from the effort. "Just want to keep you stuffed full all day."
Valko fully melds himself on top of you. He braces his arm around your neck, and the restricted airflow makes every thrust that much sweeter, the orgasmic pressure sharper. You bear down on him tighter than before. He rocks his hips into you slow and deep, grinds his cock up against your sweet spot. The feel of him inside you is so incredible, and you try to tell him so through incoherent mewls.
"That good, huh?" he asks with breathless amusement; his warm words at your ear makes you tighten up. "I can make it even better for you."
He fits a muscled arm beneath your body and reaches for where you two are joined. His fingers find your clit, and he applies firm pressure that has you screaming as your body tenses and relaxes with ripples of erotic pleasure. Valko pushes into you a few more times until his swelling knot catches at your entrance and he reaches his climax.
He unwinds his arm from your throat and all but collapses on top of you. His softening body is a hot, damp weight at your back. While you normally love that he's the human (?) equivalent of a weighted blanket, something about laying on your front underneath him is making you claustrophobic.
"Valko, you're crushing me."
He murmurs an apology before he grips you around the waist and rolls onto his back. The fit of his cock is much more snug in this position. Valko must be overwhelmed with it, too, because his erection fills out between your plush walls, his chest rumbles at your back with a low growl of frustration.
"Just when I start to feel fine, you do something to make me want you even more than before," he says, voice raspy and thick with arousal. His hands find your hips and he starts driving into you again. The sounds of wet suction are almost embarrassing as he drives himself into your tight, sopping pussy. Your only consolation is that Valko is so lost in the throes of his rut that he either doesn't notice or care. He braces his feet into the mattress and pistons his hips hard and fast. You arch up away from him when his balls hit your sensitive clit, but he pulls you back down again.
Valko stops thrusting suddenly, long enough to grab your thighs and hike them up. The stretch of your legs burns deliciously, and it heightens your arousal. He can't pull out quite as far with how tight your intimate muscles are squeezing him; he can only press deeper and deeper into you.
You shiver when Valko settles his tail across the backs of your knees. His fur on your tacky skin makes you feel like you'll overheat, but your protests die in your throat and are reborn as a quivering moan of his name when the soft appendage presses down on your thighs even further. It's like a silky iron rod, powerful enough to keep you folded on its own. Now Valko's greedy hands can roam free, touch you everywhere. He grabs your heaving breasts, tugs hard on your nipples and your walls flutter at the stimulation. One of his hands trails up to your neck, turns your face for a kiss that's more an exchange of breath than lip locking. The other he smooths down your stomach until his fingers find your swollen clit. He rubs firm circles that make your vision blur with tears. It's overwhelming, dizzying, being the singular point of his focus. All you can do is grab at the sheets in a fruitless attempt to ground you as waves of pleasure threaten to inundate you.
You throw your head back against his shoulder when he pinches your clit, the sensual pain a shock of electricity through your body.
"T-too much, it's too much," you mewl as you reach for his wrist, try to wrench it away, but Valko resorts to lightly slapping the swollen nub instead. The strike of his fingers paired with the friction of his cock nudging your sweet spot makes your vision go white, you're so close. Ecstasy buzzes just under your skin, and your pussy sucks him in deeper until the tip of his cock kisses your cervix on his next heavy grind. Your walls contract even tighter when he gently knocks into it, and then you feel his teeth at the juncture of your neck and shoulder. He bites down on the soft flesh, right at the racing pulse point. You scream out as another intense orgasm rips through you, tremors wracking through your body. He falls out of rhythm as he nears his own orgasm, the jerks of his hips short and erratic until you feel the hot pulse of his cum oozing into your spasming walls. There's so much that, without his knot to plug you up, it squelches out of your cunt as he languidly ruts into you.
Valko pulls out with a groan, and you hiss at the loss of him. He situates you on the bed beside him and takes stock of your appearance. You notice his eyes get caught on your spent cunt as a thick glob of his cum drips out. His cock twitches at the sight, but, thankfully, remains soft.
"I really did a number on you, huh?" Valko rubs a hand on the back of his neck; you get distracted by the way his muscles bunch up at the movement.
"As long as you feel better, I'm content. Besides, you've taken such good care of me. I don't think I've come this hard with anyone else."
"Anyone else?" His eyes take on that steely look, the same one he'd shot you and Caleb at the game. Best not to set off his territorial side if you want to make it out of here in pursuit of something to eat.
You grab his face and kiss him all over. "Don't worry about that. I'm here with you, aren't I."
Valko nods, but still looks unconvinced until you pull him in for a slow, charged kiss. You hope the glide of your lips can convey the depth of your affection for him. You'd say you were successful based on how dazed he looks now. You smile at him and he returns it easily.
"Be right back," he says, pecks your mouth before he rolls out of the bed and heads into the restroom. You sit up with a groan. Your muscles are aching with exhaustion from all the manhandling and relentless fucking.
You open the bag of potato chips on his nightstand, nearly finish half of it when you remember your phone. Where the hell had that gone? You search through the rumpled blankets and haphazard pile of pillows until you find it, deader than dead. Damn it. You plug it in and hope, at the very least, you don't have to select your items all over again.
Valko returns just as the screen flickers to life. His tail and wolf ears are noticeably absent, and you feel a small pang of disappointment.
To your dismay, he hefts you into his arms and you're forced to drop the phone once again. Your body feels heavier than normal on account of how drowsy and sated you feel, but Valko carries you into the bathroom with ease.
The tub is full of warm water and epsom salt. Valko lowers you into it and you sigh in relief as the soreness alleviates some. Valko fits himself behind you in the bath and some of the water splashes out in a wave as he settles.
He wraps his arms around you and pulls you close so you can relax against his firm chest. Nothing could feel more heavenly than this.
Your growling stomach clearly does not agree.
"You haven't eaten in all this time. I'm sorry," Valko says. You can hear the frown in his voice.
"I mean, neither have you, baby."
"Yeah, but wolves can go days, a week or two even, without food. When I finally decided to stay here through the end of my rut my aunt cooked me a big meal so I'd be good." That would explain why his fridge is so scarcely stocked.
"Well I did try to order food but someone has only been hungry for one thing. Now I see why that is." You peer at his sheepish face from over your shoulder. "Anyway, if I order something right this very moment, I could probably eat within the hour." More chocolate covered berries and protein shakes for you until then.
"No, that's too long from now. Let me get something from downstairs, that way you can eat sooner," Valko says.
"I forgot you live in luxury. That's a good idea."
You both finish up your bath and towel off. Valko gives you another one of his shirts and a pair of boxers to wear while he pulls on sweats and a t-shirt.
"Want me to come with?" you ask.
The question distresses him more than you'd thought it would. His brow furrows as he bites down on his lip, and while this is one of your favorite little habits of his, you're concerned his rut-sharpened canines will break skin.
"What's the problem?" you ask, pet his arm gently.
"I'm torn between wanting you with me wherever I go, so I can make sure you're safe, and not wanting anyone else laying eyes on you."
You give him a soft kiss that you have to cut short because he starts prodding at your lips with his tongue. "You go. I'll be waiting right here for you, ok? You can even video call me while you head down there, that way we can keep an eye on each other."
He nods. "That's a good idea."
"I know right. Now hurry up, and make sure you get a lot of food ok? Bring multiple containers if you need to!"
It's day 3 of his rut, and Valko has calmed significantly. He didn't feel this overwhelming urge to knot you and fuck you the moment he opened his eyes. Even last night, he'd been much more subdued and tender when it came to having sex. So, you two are playing video games and sampling an expensive box of chocolates as a little break. Valko sits in the middle of the couch, while you lounge across his lap, your back to his chest, his arms around your shoulders. A fluffy blanket is draped over both your laps, and his tail thumps faintly beneath it.
You're…not bad at fighting games, per se, but Valko is much better than you are. His character KO's yours within the first few seconds of Round 1. But Round 2, you manage to back his character to the very right of the screen and spam the one combo you can do successfully.
Valko leans down and kisses your neck. You giggle and shrink away from him. The moment of distraction allows him to kick your character away and he wins the match.
"You don' t play fair," you whine when he gives you a kiss on the lips.
"You're only saying that cause you're so bad at this."
You pinch his nose hard. "What did you say?"
Valko shakes himself out of your grasp, turns your face up to his and speaks to you between sweet kisses. "You suck at this. You're a Hunter but you're bad at fighting games. That makes zero sense."
"Enough. Let's play again." You sit up and scramble out of Valko's lap so you can't be so easily sabotaged with smooches and his warm, rumbly body. When you settle beside him on the couch, he hooks an arm around your shoulders again, pulls you flush into his side and queues up the next fight. Despite how many buttons you mash or how loudly your curse his existence, he still wipes the floor with you round after round. The only time you won a match was when Valko took your controller because he wanted you to finally see your character's fatal blow animation. You'd never see it otherwise, not playing with your boyfriend at least.
"Sorry, Pancake. Looks like you really are beyond bad at this," he says.
"Whatever. I forfeit," you say, toss the controller onto the cushion beside Plushie Valko.
"I mean, you lost, but I'll accept."
"How about I watch you play something?"
Valko kisses your shoulder and switches to a different game. You kiss his cheek in return. He smells so good that you press another kiss right by his ear, then on his neck. Whatever pheromones he's emitting are making it hard to resist kissing on his neck, where his scent is especially enticing.
"Why do you smell so good?" you giggle against his ear.
"You're obsessed with me, admit it."
"I am." You reach beneath the blanket covering his lap and grab his cock, hot and firm. "And I'm pretty sure the feeling is mutual."
You give it a few slow strokes. Valko keeps his eyes on the television screen, though you do note the tick in his jaw when you squeeze him at the tip. You block his view by moving in for a kiss that, while romantic, remains more chaste than you'd like. You sink your fingers through his hair, kiss on his neck and cheek again, but aside from a few shivers, he doesn't fall into your temptations. Fine, then.
You turn Plushie Valko so he's facing the arm rest before you get under the blanket and fish his cock out of his boxers. You suck on the flushed, tumid tip and work your way lower. You moan around his length and another shiver courses through him. You can feel him throbbing on your tongue, so you swallow more of his cock down, lips nearly at the base of him.
The blanket is torn off your back, and you release his cock to glance up at him, flushed in the face and clearly turned on. His erection flops against his stomach and you lick from base to tip, eyes still trained on his. But you're interrupted by the fanfare of the death theme music coming from the television. Sure enough, his character lays in a pool of blood, 'Game Over' scrawled over the gruesome scene. Valko presses a few buttons on the controller again to return to his last save point, meaning you'll have to recapture his attention once again.
You wrap your hand around the base and put his dick back in your mouth. You can understand why he's been eating you out with such gusto the past few days. The taste of his desire, his musky scent, the feel of his hot skin, all of him is intoxicating. Despite the size of his cock, you manage to get your mouth around most of his length and suction harder. Valko finally drops the controller and caresses your body. His hands chart the slope of your spine, the curve of your ass, your breast through the arm hole of his big muscle tank. You hollow your cheeks and bob your head lower. His breath becomes more audible and his body tenses the more of him you take.
"You're so good at that," Valko grunts. But even without saying anything, you know you're pleasing him. His tail is moving a mile a minute, thumping loud and fast on the couch.
He helps you into a kneeling position and fists a hand in your hair to capture your mouth with ravenous kisses. You blindly reach for his cock to jerk him off, but Valko breaks the kiss and repositions you so you're sitting across his lap again. He nudges your knees apart, licks his fingers, and reaches between your spread legs to play with your pussy. You writhe and moan as he swipes at your clit until you're arching against the back cushion. Valko tugs the large opening of the shirt to expose your breast to him and sucks.
He plunges his ring and middle fingers into your dripping cunt, and your walls flutter around the thick digits. Your hips pitch upward, your clit dragging against the heel of his palm as he fucks you with his fingers. You're so worked up from just his hand, arousal splashes out of you as erotic tension coils deep in your belly. It finally snaps when he sets his teeth into your pert nipple, climactic jolts shuddering through you.
Valko reaches for the neck of his shirt, pulls it over his head and tosses it somewhere behind you. He brings you back in for a kiss even as he shoves his boxers off and backs up to one end of the couch, but instead of keeping your lips locked with his, you duck down again to put his cock back into your mouth, your pace faster than before. Valko's hands find their way into your hair again to guide your head up and down the length of him until his spend coats your tongue.
You sit up on your knees and tear off the shirt he let you borrow. Confronted with the sight of your bare breasts, Valko leans in and captures your nipple in his mouth before he meets your lips again. Even in the heat of the kiss, Valko still manages to maneuver your body how he likes. He lays against the arm rest and positions your body so that you're sitting on his chest. He buries his face in your cunt, eating you out with loud sucks to your clit and fast strokes of his tongue. You brace your arms on the cushion and lay against his bent knees so you can grind into his face.
Valko's wandering hands are all over you, pinching your nipples, rubbing your clit, squeezing your waist. You can only tremble in the face of his sensual devotion, and you release a throaty hum of delight when his lips, wrapped around your swollen clit, brings you to your climax. Valko laps up your arousal even as your body falls back onto his. He lifts his head and prods his tongue into your clenching hole, all the while rubbing hard and fast at your clit and massaging at your breast until the tremors return in full force.
Once you come down from the shock of two orgasms back to back, Valko shifts you both so he's sitting up and you're sitting astride his lap. You grab his cock to sink onto it, his name a moan on your lips when you reach the hilt. You rock against each other with enough force that he ends up on his back again. Your desperate movements slow into a grind as you try to drag your clit against the hard muscle of his pelvis, but you can barely keep up that rhythm with how good you're feeling.
"Hold me good," Valko says against your ear.
You wrap your arms around his shoulders and he presses to his feet. He puts you on your back, grabs you by the ankles to spread your legs wide and bend them back. He pitches his hips forward and slides into you, good and deep. Even when he lets go of your ankles so he can suck on your tits again, you grab your thighs yourself to keep them right where he wants them. With his body flush against yours, the base of his cock rubs deliciously into your clit until you come for him again. You press your head against the cushion as you arch against Valko's hard body with a cry of ecstasy, but something fuzzy tickles your cheek. You crack your eyes open to meet Plushie Valko's innocent gaze. Your thrashing must have shifted him this way. With a started gasp, you grab the little wolf and pitch him over to the bed, grateful that he lands face down.
"You're hilarious," Valko laughs as he pulls out of you, dick still hard and wet with your essence as he looms over your panting form.
"What? He's too young and innocent to see what you put me through."
Your face heats up at the thought of all the obscene positions Valko's folded you into over the past few days. It's surprising that this is your first time having to shield the plushie's eyes from the lewd, downright indecent, activities you've been engaging in, considering you've fucked just about everywhere in his room.
"You sure you wanna keep going at it?" Valko asks, and you nod. He doesn't make a move to touch you, though. Instead he looks up at the ceiling in mock contemplation.
"On second thought, maybe I should lay off you for a sec. I'm sure you're exhausted."
"What are you talking about?" you ask, venom dripping from every word.
"Well, if you don't use your words how am I supposed to know what you want, huh? I'd hate to just assume."
"I'm literally naked in your room. We just had sex ten seconds ago. Is that not enough for you?"
"Nope." He rubs his thumb along the cleft of you, swiping from your clit to the dip of your entrance, back and forth. The feather light affection is enough to make your empty walls clench. "Tell me all the things you want me to do to you, Beautiful. Let me hear how bad you want me."
"I miss when you were stuck in your horny rut fog and didn't make such considerations. Please just fuck me already."
"Come on, I've been doing that. At least try to entice me."
You glance down at his drooling cock, then back up at him. "You seem plenty enticed."
"Fine, then," he sighs and draws his thumb away from you. "Maybe we can get some studying in. We both missed today's lecture; might be a better use of our time to catch up. Now where did I leave my Core Matter textbook?"
"You're so annoying," you huff. "You already know that I want you."
"Yeah, but I still want to hear it. Just indulge me a little."
Frustration threatens to cool the burning lust in your veins; leave it to Valko to tease you at the most inopportune times. Your emotions should be as clear to him as his own, right?
In all fairness, just because Valko can feel that you're happy and relaxed when you're with him, that doesn't mean that he knows with 100% certainty that he's the reason why. He's probably 99% certain, he's that confident in himself, but like he said, he doesn't want to assume.
Your heart grows tender with affection for him. Someone overly intellectual like him is always on the hunt for irrefutable facts. And right now, he wants to know without question that you like him as much as he likes you.
Back when you'd been making out on his couch that first time and whispered how much you did want him, how much you'd missed him, it had felt like he was prepared to swallow you whole. Now that you think of it, that day had triggered the onset of his rut, the very reason why you've been sequestered here for days. With that in mind, his interest in you couldn't be clearer. At the very least, you can tell him just how much you care for him.
"The moment I see you, my heart jumps into a crazy rhythm. Don't laugh, my doctor got concerned cause it happened when I looked at a photo of you. I said don't laugh!"
"Alright, alright. I'm not laughing," he snickers, though his face has gone peachy with his blush and his tail wags happily behind him.
"Whatever, can I continue or what?"
"The floor is yours."
"Thank you. Anyway, I feel like I'm at my happiest when I'm with you. Even when we were studying for midterms, I was having the time of my life because we were together. I don't know, you're just…you're my favorite person."
"You sure about that? Cause your brows all furrowed again."
"Damn it!"
Valko leans down and gives you a chaste kiss, a laugh on his lips. "It's all good. Now I know you only make that face because you really, really like me and don't know what to do about it."
He's seriously too smart for his own good.
"But don't worry, baby. I'll give you something to do."
Valko hauls you up and puts you on your hands and knees, but doesn't sink into you again. You look over your shoulder just as he lowers himself to the ground. He grips your ass and massages the globes apart. His tongue broadly licks up the length of you, from your twitching clit, over the puffy lips of your cunt, and up between your ass cheeks. You screw your eyes shut and let out a salacious moan when his tongue teases at the tight ring of muscle there. No one has explored this part of your body, and as foreign as it feels, you find yourself trembling from his attention there.
You arch like a cat when Valko moves on to your pussy and kisses you there. He moans against your intimate flesh, mouth open and tongue dragging along your slit. He laps up your essence as it seeps out of your shivering form; he's so thorough with his affections that you're always teetering between never wanting it to end and becoming twitchy from overstimulation.
You can hear his wet panting when he wrenches his mouth from your sex. You look at him from over your shoulder again and see the bottom half of his face is shiny with your arousal. He rises to his feet and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, a wicked grin spreading across his lips.
"You need more, angel?"
"Yeah. Want your cock. Want you to fuck me just like this," you whimper.
Valko swears under his breath before he guides his cock back into your weeping sex. His name is a moan on your lips, you can't get enough of how full you feel, the heat of his body nestled so intimately in the clutch of your cunt. Each hard thrust makes your vision flash white, gets you wetter than the last. You bury your face in the couch cushion to muffle your screams of delight, but Valko grabs your hair and tugs your head back. A lick of pleasure burns straight from your scalp down to your clit as he deepens the arch of your spine.
"Let me hear you, baby."
You cry out as he pistons his hips against you, his heavy balls slapping your clit, breasts bouncing from the force of his thrusts. Your entire body is taut with anticipation; toes curl as pleasure tingles along your soles, your tensed thighs burn from the effort of keeping your body from melting onto the couch. He fucks you to the point of sobbing, it's as though he's found another dimension of passion and pleasure that he so desperately wants you to join him in.
Valkoty tugs your hair again and pulls you up until you're upright. He wraps his other hand around your throat and pounds up into you. Raspy breaths burning in your lungs, pitiful sobs scalding your throat, bones molten down to magma. Your eyes melt with hot tears. You're almost scared to come, you're not sure your body can withstand your impending orgasm.
Valko's cock slips out of you and slides between your lips on his next thrust. He wraps his arms around your waist and pulls you down onto the couch with him, both you you laying on your sides. He hikes your right leg into the air by the crook of his elbow and reaches for his cock so he can slide it into your creamy cunt.
This time you reach back and grip his hair tight. You turn your head and draw him into a kiss that he gladly reciprocates. He drops your thigh in favor of cupping your face and the side of your neck to suck your tongue into his mouth. You try to keep your leg up yourself but your sore muscles burn in protest. Valko hooks his arm under your thigh again, rubs messily at your clit, and any remaining strength you had seeps out of you with a whine.
Valko presses his cheek against yours, his mouth nearly at your mouth again. He mutters and whines with each stroke, hot intensity in your clenching walls.
"You look so cute split open on my dick like that," he breathes out. "So fucking cute."
You arch against him, and Valko seizes the opportunity to take a taut nipple into his mouth.
"Baby, please–please make me come," you wail. "Want you to fill me up. Want your cum."
Valko releases your breast with a growl. He falls out of rhythm as he drives into you with hard strokes. "I'll give it to you. Fuck, I'll give it all to you."
Then his teeth sink into the curve of your neck again, and you are desire given form. Your orgasm ripples through you, heated blood roaring in your ears, seismic shivers wracking through your spasming muscles. You sag against Valko, spent and boneless as he ruts into you until warmth fills your cunt and he collapses from the effort.
He turns you onto your other side to face him. His face is glowing, sleepy and satisfied. He's drenched in sweat, same as you, perspiration glittering in the dips and curves of his muscles. He brings a hand up to the side of your face; the back of his fingers gently graze the skin of your temple down to the curve of your cheek.
"I'm glad it was you," Valko murmurs before he drops a kiss to the top of your head.
He hasn't explicitly said it, but you know this is a big deal for him, going through his rut –his first one– with you. And though you've spent the last few days wrapped up in each other, nothing has reached this level of intensity that your profession of devotion evoked.
"I'm glad it's you, too," you say, a soft smile on your face.
"I'm sure your doctor isn't, though."
You reach for the pillow at his back and whack him over the head with it. "Why would you say that? You're killing the mood."
"Cause it's true. Hey, stop hitting me!"
He plucks the throw pillow from your hands and flings it over with Plushie Valko. Before you can snatch up the other pillow, Valko binds you with his arms and draws you in close. You sigh in defeat as he scoots lower on the couch so he can rest his cheek on your chest. You rest like that until your breaths are one in the same. You'd like to lay like this all day, but you know Valko will start complaining about how small the couch is any minute now. The only reason you're on the couch at all is because you'd refused to spend another minute laying on sheets drenched in the musky mixture of sweat and cum. At least he'd eventually relented to washing them despite how distraught he'd been over losing the unique scent of your coupling.
"I'll find a way to fix your heart," he says against sternum.
"What was that?"
"I'll fix it. The aether core in your heart." He lifts his head to pin you with his serious gaze. "I know I can, I just need to keep looking for the right solution for a case of Protocore Syndrome as unique as yours. And when I do, I expect lots of kisses and lots of praise. Make sure to lay it on real thick, too."
You let out a soft hum of agreement as you blink back tears. He's so earnest in his promise that you can't help but get emotional.
"You don't have to wait until then. I'm already really proud of you, Valko," you say. "And I'll give you as many kisses as you like."
He wipes the lone tear that managed to escape the corner of you eye. "That so? Well I'm feeling pretty greedy, I won't lie. Better get to kissing now so you can meet the market demand."
"You're such a nerd," you laugh, your smiling lips meeting his.
"Yeah, yeah, and the sky is blue. Now hurry up, demand just skyrocketed."
"You're hard again?"
"I told you, demand is way up.”