Soul Mate Service (boyxboy)

Chapter 27

THIRD PERSON POV

The darkness of the night was a blanket, warm and comforting as it cast dancing shadows across the knowing faces of a familiar, curly-headed man and the smaller, brown-haired one he held close. Clammy palms pressed tightly together and fingers intertwined, resting comfortably in the few inches of space left between their faces, and the pair breathed in each other's air as they giggled over all kinds of nonsense.

But even so, the joyful, carefree sound was barely enough to tamper the bubbling craters of anxiety that were minutes – seconds – from overflowing and scalding them to the bone.

Their last day of freedom had passed in a blur of stolen kisses, skittish teases, and languid glances laden with miles-deep valleys of dread. But no matter how deep concealed trepidation dug into quivering souls with claws like ice, neither male could conjure the nerve to discuss the obvious, lest they break the easygoing sense of confidence that they clung to with the very tips of raw, life-bitten fingers.

"It's your fuckin' fault. If you weren't so damn adorable, this wouldn't even be an issue." Thad murmured through an air of faux vexation, rolling his eyes only briefly enough so that he wouldn't go into withdrawals from not having Aria's face in full view at all times.

Lately, even just a few seconds without visual proof of his Soul Mate's safety felt like too much for his increasingly mushy heart to handle. It would begin to race, some kind of feral, overprotective type of irritability flooding his system and steadily increasing in strength until – finally – he could finally lay eyes on his Bug again.

"You're so dramatic!" Aria's soft laughter filled not only their room but also the hollow chiasms in Thaddeus's long-neglected soul. "I'm about one hundred percent sure that you tripped over your own feet and fell down that flight of stairs of your own volition. You can't just blame every single one of your mistakes on me being cute!"

"Oh, yeah?" Thad retorted, flashing a sharp canine in a crooked smirk. The glint of mischief that simultaneously flashed through his hazel eyes was not lost to Aria in the least. "And just who's gonna stop me? You gonna tie me up and tape my naughty mouth shut with those 'lil chicken wings you call arms?" He teased, raising a questioning brow.

"Hey!" Aria retorted, a pout tugging at his bottom lip. He opened his mouth to argue that even if his arms were skinny, they certainly weren't chicken wings, but Thaddeus beat him to the punch yet again, wriggling manicured brows suggestively.

"See, I knew you liked the idea of getting me all tied up and held captive at your mercy. Who would've thought that all along, the innocent, sweet Aria was really just an undercover, kinky 'lil fuck?!" He pushed the joke further, absolutely loving the way it made Aria's high cheekbones fill with so much blood that they looked like a bright red beacon in the darkness. He knew he'd have to slow down soon, to give his adorable little Aria who couldn't seem to formulate a good joke to save his life a momentary reprieve from his teasing, but right now he was just having too much fun to stop.

"But I'm not even the one who thought of that idea!" Aria defended himself earnestly, although his fingers still never loosened in their grasp on Thaddeus's larger ones. "If anything, you're the kinky one!"

"For your information, I'm actually a perfect cherub angel baby, thank you very much." Thaddeus beamed, showing off sparkling pearly whites. "But you on the other hand? Whew, you're a piece of work, always trying to show me what you wanna do to me through our bond. I mean, really Aria? You gotta stop thinking about my cock twenty-four seven or else you might just spontaneously combust one of these days, and then I'd be left with no choice but to revert back to being a dick to everybody again."