Page 7 of Distant Heart (Vicious Valentine)

Outside the wind was howling loud enough it helped to mostly drown out the sound of Rexton’s footsteps as he raced through the woods behind Castle Black.

Mostly.

Illya could hear them well enough, tracking his prey through the thick cropping of trees, hunting him deeper into the darkness and further away from civilization. He’d admittedly been surprised when Rexton had ignored the stairs and instead gone straight to the back of the building. Even more so when he’d yanked open the back door and darted out into the cold.

It was snowing now, thick white flakes slowly spiraling downward around them, most getting caught up in tree branches. The woods were still a part of campus, with pathways and lamp posts set up every ten or so feet. If they stayed on one of these paths, there’d be enough light to avoid ice and accidentally tripping over something.

But of course, Rexton was too stubborn for that. He’d left the path ages ago, fleeing on quick and nimble feet as though he really was trying to escape Illya.

Maybe he was.

That thought didn’t sit right with him, and Illya picked up the pace, his vision tuning into his surroundings and adjusting to the shadows. The people of Usurn were used to darkness and had evolved with better night vision than many other species, even those on Vitality. Rexton thought he could see, that he was being sneaky.

But Illya could see better.

A thrill shot through him every time he caught sight of Rexton’s form slipping between tree trunks, and his cock lengthened between his legs when he drew close enough to make out the other man’s harsh breaths.

When was the last time he’d given chase like this?

The last time he’d wanted something desperately enough to bother?

Rexton Xiphus was beautiful and graceful, and there was nothing more that Illya wanted than to throw him to the ground and fuck him brutally in the snow. Take him savagely, maybe even a bit cruelly, so that he’d forever be branded on Rexton’s psyche. Forever a part of him.

Illya’s multi-slate rang suddenly, the shrill noise cutting through the forest. He glanced at the screen, his eyes only lingering for half a second—a second at most—but when he looked back up again…

He cursed and came to a standstill, tilting his head to try and catch any sound of his prey.

His prey who’d wised up.

Or perhaps he’d been wrong, and Rexton had been aware of his disadvantage from the start.

A flash of light to the left caught his attention and his head whipped in that direction. The tiny red glow of the heart pin was unmistakable, and Illya made his way toward it. When there were no movements, his suspicions lifted. By the time he reached it and found the pin had been left nestled in a bush at knee level, the thrill of the chase had returned full force.

His xa’us had a little more fight in him it seemed.

Illya scanned the ground, searching for tracks in the snow. He’d only lost sight of Rexton for a moment, not nearly long enough for the other man to orchestrate an elaborate scheme. He had to be close.

A dark thought hit him then, that there was a chance he’d underestimated Rexton. If he’d misread this whole situation and he ended up losing…Illya’s head tipped back, his eyes finding the inky night sky through the tightly woven canopy above. No, there was still time. He had until morning to catch his Praeda.

Rexton Xiphus wasn’t going to get away.

Illya forced himself to calm and finally spotted the signs he’d been looking for. Soon he’d have what he wanted. What he craved.

It’d been easy enough to spot the issue with Rexton earlier because Illya had been experiencing the same thing in his own life. Dreadful monotony and a future that seemed to be going nowhere. Sure, his situation was different in the fact that his job after graduation was already decided. His career path had been set even before he’d stepped foot in Sacrum Cor Hart.

That didn’t bother him. He had no problems with his designated path forward. It was the emptiness he’d begun to feel along the way that got to him. For all the crap he’d said about it prior to now, Cor Night wasn’t so bad. All things considered, this was probably exactly what both he and Rexton needed. A way to a fresh start.

A way for their separate paths to finally, and definitively, collide.

Something heavy slammed into him from behind, sending him flying forward. He barely caught his footing but managed, spinning around just in time to evade the fist swinging toward him. A growl rumbled up his throat.

Rexton didn’t slow, keeping the punches coming as though he thought he actually stood a chance. Whatever training he’d been doing with the Shepards, it’d done something for him though, because his skills weren’t half bad.

Illya found himself retreating just to avoid taking a hit as he waited for his opening.

The other man switched tactics, twisting his hips a second before he lifted his leg in a kick that he most likely would have landed if not for the uneven terrain they were standing on. As it were, Rexton slipped in the snow, and it cost him.

Grabbing onto his ankle, Illya used his own momentum to tug the other man forward, catching him against his chest. He’d recognized where they were and grinned when he spotted the wooden bench tucked beneath a large willow tree less than ten feet away.

“Let go!” Rexton struggled as he was dragged toward it, cursing up a storm. The second he was tossed down onto the seat, he shot back up, pushing and shoving at Illya’s chest. “Move! I don’t want this!”

“Too bad.” Illya spun Rexton around, forcing him into a kneeling position on the bench. “Just remember, you’re the one who brought violence into the mix.”

“Fuck you!”

“That’s where this is going.” He tore off his belt and used it to secure both of Rexton’s wrists to the top rung of the bench, stripping the other man of his pants a second later before he could properly react to being tied up. His shoes and socks came off as well. Illya wasn’t taking any chances and knew it would suck to try and run barefoot through the snow.

“What the—” Rexton bucked against him and tried to tug his arms free, but the leather strap held, trapping him in place with his back to Illya.

As soon as the pants and shoes were gone, Illya made quick work of his shirt, tearing the cloth in half in his haste. It was dark this deep in the woods, but his eyes had already adjusted and he could make out the way Rexton’s skin prickled from the harsh cold once he was completely naked.

“You’re so sexy,” Illya praised. He really was.

Snow fell over Rexton’s shoulder and back, flakes catching in his hair. He kept hurting himself by struggling with the belt, but all that did was draw Illya’s attention to his muscular back and the plump curve of his ass.

The temptation to keep him out here, locked to the bench, in the perfect position for Illya to take him, was strong.

But his prey’s skin was already starting to change coloring. Vital’s weren’t meant for this type of cold.

“Come for me quickly,” Illya suggested as he unzipped and pulled his cock free, stroking it a few times to slick the precome down his thick shaft. “The sooner you do, the sooner we can take this back inside. I want to fuck you in my bed, xa’us. Want your cream all over my sheets.”

“Good Light, this is not—” Whatever he’d been about to say died on his tongue when Illya forced his thighs apart and reached beneath him.

“You’re hard for me,” Illya purred, dropping his mouth to the side of Rexton’s neck as he moved closer. He rolled Rexton’s balls in his hand, the other slipping around his front to tweak his nipple.

“Illya,” Rexton tried to pull away but there was nowhere for him to go. “Please. It’s freezing.”

He hummed in agreement. “Let me warm you up.”

“Ill, stop. I—”

Illya shoved him forward so his upper body was practically hanging over the top of the bench. It forced Rexton’s ass higher, his bare cheeks cradling Illya’s cock as he slid himself slowly up and down Rexton’s seam. The plan, when he’d realized where his prey was heading, had been to hurry through this part, but now that they were actually here, he was starting to change his mind.

“I’m seeing things from a new perspective,” he drawled, leaning back just enough to stare down at where their bodies touched. “Maybe you chose this game because you wanted it rough all along. Maybe you wanted to be hunted and used.” Illya grabbed himself and stroked his cockhead in circles around Rexton’s hole. “Viciously forced.”

The smaller man noticeably shook beneath him. “No, I…I don’t want this. Illya, untie me.”

“Let you go, you mean?” He clicked his tongue. “Not going to happen, xa’us.”

“Illya,” he firmed his tone, putting on a strong front that neither of them bought into, “this is—”

“All within the legal realms of Praeda.” He lined himself up. “And it’s far past time I claimed my prize.”

Illya held onto Rexton’s hips and entered him slowly, forcing his way between those tight walls inch by excruciating inch in a bid to torture them both. His head fell back as electricity pinged through him, the heat from Rexton seemingly transferring to light him on fire.

They both moaned once he was fully seated, but Rexton began mewling instead when Illya started to move, fucking into him with short, deep strokes that kept them constantly joined.

“It hurts,” Rexton’s voice shook almost as much as his body was.

“You can take it.” Illya screwed him harder, causing the bench to creak as it rocked beneath their weight. “Be a good boy. Milk my cock dry and I’ll go easy on you for round two.”

He vehemently shook his head and tried to press back, but that only rubbed at Illya’s primal instincts, he settled more of his weight over him in response.

“Don’t think about the pain,” he cooed.

“Easy for you to say,” Rexton shot back. “You’re not the one being torn in half right now!”

“So dramatic.”

“It burns, Illya! You’re huge and—” He made a strangled sound when Illya rammed into him and rolled his hips. “Good fucking Light! You’re going to kill me!”

“Scream a little louder, baby. I don’t think the people at the party can hear you. Actually.” He grabbed a fistful of that gorgeous blond hair and pulled, grinning when Rexton cried out. Illya adjusted his stance and wrapped an arm tightly around the other man’s trim waist, keeping a hold of his hair so they were pressed together, front to back. “Moan for me louder. I can’t hear you.”

“Bastard.” Rexton rattled the belt against the metal top of the bench. “I—”

Illya’s free hand dropped down, cupping Rexton’s balls and giving them a warning squeeze. “This will freeze off if you don’t hurry. Shouldn’t you put aside that stubbornness and be good like I asked? It’s in your best interest, xa’us.”

“You’re twisted, you know that?”

“You bring it out in me.” Deciding to take pity on him, Illya captured his dick and started to stroke him in time to his thrusts. “Come on.” He licked a wet line up the side of Rexton’s throat, knowing the chill that brought would add incentive. “Finish for me. Tell me you want it.”

“I don’t.”

He growled. “Enough. Tell me you like having my cock open you up. Tell me to fuck you harder.”

“I’m not going to say any of that.”

Illya stopped working his dick and brought his fingers to his base and cinched around him.

“Wait,” Rexton gasped. “What are you doing?”

“If that’s how you want it, then only one of us will get to come.” He bit at his earlobe. “Spoiler alert, it’s not you.”

“Illya.”

“You know how I like to keep my word though,” he stated. “I already said we won’t leave here until you’ve blown a load, so I guess we’ll just have to be out here for a while. I wonder if your body can take it. Being from Usurn, my body is used to these temperatures, but yours…”

“You wouldn’t,” Rexton sounded unsure despite his words. “You wouldn’t risk permanently damaging me. I’ll get frostbite if I’m kept out here, Illya.”

“I’m sure most of your extremities can make it till morning, and if not.” He shrugged, making sure the other man could feel the motion.

“…That isn’t funny.”

“Baby,” he chuckled darkly, “does it seem like I’m playing around?”

For a moment the only sounds came from their joining bodies and the squeaking bench as Rexton seemed to weigh his options, then he stopped fighting with his bonds and turned his hands around to grip the bench instead, bracing himself the next time Illya thrust into him.

“Illya, please,” Rexton whimpered. “I want it. You don’t even need to stroke me, I can come for you just like this.”

“You said it hurt.”

“It does.” He licked his lips and confessed, “But I like it.”

“What else do you like, xa’us?”

“I like how you didn’t get bored and choose someone else.”

Illya pounded his ass harder. “Never.”

“I like your cock. I like it inside of me. I want to come on it.”

“Want me to fill you up?” Illya asked. “I’ll pump so many loads in you, you’ll have to crawl to get around. My come will drip from this abused hole all day. Try to leave me then. You’ll only expose and embarrass yourself.”

When Rexton didn’t immediately respond, Illya forced his chin up. “Answer me, baby.”

“Yes,” he said. “I…I want that.”

Illya couldn’t tell if he meant it that time, but they were both too close now for it to really matter. He couldn’t drag this on any longer, not just because he was about to explode, but because Rexton was right about the dangers of staying out here.

His hand loosened and his movements increased, chasing that high. He knew the second Rexton was about to lose because the man clenched around him.

Then he screamed, the beautiful sound echoing in the dark night as he twitched and painted the bench in cream. He continued to jerk in Illya’s hold, wailing all over again when suddenly Illya went off inside of him.

“There you go,” Illya praised as he continued to thrust through his own orgasm. “Take every single drop of me.”

If he’d known it could be like this, he would have hunted in the woods sooner. Would have skipped the earlier play and gone straight for the main course. He relished the feel of Rexton convulsing in his arms, his cock finally going limp a second before the shaking started to slow.

Illya undid the belt and lifted Rexton’s wrists up to get a better look, scowling when he saw they were rubbed raw from all his struggling. “Does it hurt?”

Rexton made a humming sound and shook his head. “Doesn’t. Too cold to feel much of anything now.”

Well shit.

“I’m going to pull out, but there’s another rule I need you to follow, baby, understand?”

His brow creased. “More games?”

“You going to be good for me this round or what?”

He sighed. “Yes. You made your point, Illya.”

“Oh? And what point is that?”

“It’s Praeda. You claimed me.” Rexton turned his head on Illya’s shoulder and met his gaze. “I belong to you.”

He was definitely going to be rewarded for that later, but for now…

“I’m going to pull out,” Illya repeated. “You better clench up. If you lose even a single drop, I’ll fuck you on the cold hard ground until you go hoarse.”

“What do I get if I win?”

He chuckled. “You’ll like it, I promise. Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

Illya slid his cock free and then quickly removed his uniform jacket, draping it over Rexton’s shoulders before catching him up. He cradled him against his chest, making sure to keep a firm grip as he spun on his heels and headed back the way they’d come.

After a moment, Rexton curled into him and silently allowed himself to be carried back to Castle Black.