Chapter Text
As with so many of your firsts together, finally kissing Zenos is a softer experience than you thought it would be. It takes him a moment to reciprocate, and you nearly laugh that even through all that armour, you can feel how tense his body is underneath you at the show of affection. Ever the fast learner, with only a little nipping at his bottom lip, he opens his mouth to you. You seize the opportunity, slipping your tongue inside his mouth to taste him.
Weapons discarded, you bring your other hand to his cheek, tilting his head so you can deepen the kiss. The smell of blood and sweat fills you, but his breath is surprisingly sweet, his lips soft and pliant, and you let out a small sigh as you pull away in relief at finally getting to share in that bit of intimacy you had only been able to imagine.
You lean your forehead against his as you breathe against each other, but when you look at him, he stares back at you expectantly. He is right, you have won, and he is awaiting you to take your reward. Several days ago you knew what you would have demanded of him, but now your mind is on entirely other pursuits.
“Take your armour off.” You whisper against his cheek, and his obedience is immediate. You push yourself away from him to allow him to remove the bulky metal. While pieces of it are missing and others cut through, this time he has no issue undoing the many fasteners and buckles, and soon it lies in a discarded pile of leather and metal, leaving him standing before you in nothing at all. You are internally amused that he took the initiative to take his underclothes off as well, but he wasn’t wrong to do so.
Now that he stands naked before you, you can see how much the battle has taken its toll. Last night you had marvelled at the scars that littered his body, and now alongside them seemed to be weeping gashes and cuts in equal number. You shudder to think how close he really must have been to dropping, but that terrible future is gone now, and you have your work cut out for you.
“Lie back down.” You order, and Zenos settles himself among the flowers. You take the opportunity to remove your own torn clothing, giving you more freedom of movement, though leave your own smallclothes on for the moment. Before you put aside your armour, you retrieve the small wand you had stashed away from yesterday. It is a little cracked and likely won’t be as effective, and the injuries you have both sustained are much deeper and numerous than before to heal entirely, but it will be enough for what’s to come.
You let the healing magic flow over you briefly, only enough to close your own open wounds, but save the majority of your aether for Zenos. Bringing your hand up, you conjure a small sphere of water, letting it envelop your hand like a glove, glowing faintly green. You bring it first into contact with the wound on Zenos’ knee, by far the deepest one you inflicted on him, letting the liquid wash away the blood and knit the flesh together. You bring your face down to inspect it, and satisfied with your handiwork, you give the flesh a kiss, licking at the newly cleaned skin with your tongue.
The tension in Zenos’ body is immediate, and the gasp he utters makes you smile against him. There’s nothing he can hide from you now, and you are only just beginning. Moving upwards, you straddle his waist, ignoring his cock for the moment, even as it already begins to grow stiff. While you appreciate his body’s ever present enthusiasm, the crown prince will need to exercise some patience for the moment.
With the deepest wound closed, you can now turn your attention to the more superficial injuries, starting with the ones on his face. You bring your magicked hand up to his cheek, gently washing away blood, sweat, and dirt alike, leaving only clean shining skin and slightly dampened hair. You use the opportunity to kiss him again, though no longer limit yourself to only his lips. You kiss his cheek, his chin, his nose, even his third eye which earns you another sharp gasp and the smallest hint of a moan.
You reward the noise by capturing his mouth again with yours, kissing him deeply. Emboldened, he brings his own ferocity to it, and for the moment you allow him the control. When he snakes an arm around you to bring you closer, you oblige him and let him take of you for as long as he wants. It is only when your own lungs burn for air that you pull away and with the smallest of hesitations he relinquishes control back to you.
“When I’m done, you can do that as many times as you want.” You reassure him softly, and he hums in assent as you move back to his skin. Your hand leads the way and your lips follow, moving from his face down to his neck, and you barely resist the urge to suckle on it hard, the desire to mark him as yours only restrained by the promise of greater things to come.
His arm comes next, your first wound on him knitting itself together before you pepper his shining muscles with kisses and licks. You move all the way down to his hands, reverently washing each finger then taking them into your mouth, one at a time, and sucking on them.
The action is unmistakably lewd, made all the more so by your eye contact with Zenos the entire time. His mouth hangs open and you can see the desire shining in his eyes, not to mention the erection that is more than eager to make itself known. He pants softly at the sight of you, but is otherwise silent, and you can’t help but frown.
“No more holding back.” You whisper as you take his fingers from your mouth and place his hand against your cheek. “I want to hear everything I’m doing to you.” He seems unsure, and you know that for someone so unaccustomed to voicing his own pleasure this is a bigger ask than it may seem, but he nods all the same and you smile.
You move back up his arm to his chest. There are few injuries here to heal, but you lavish your attention on him all the same, instead finding each old scar and wound and tracing its path with your tongue. You nip at his collarbone, running your tongue along the protrusion, kissing his pecs and enjoying the rise and fall of each breath he takes as he tries to calm himself. You can hear his heart beating wildly underneath you, and when you take one of his nipples into your mouth, you are delighted by the strangled cry that emerges from him.
“That’s it, just let go.” You purr, swirling and sucking the nipple to stiffness. You wonder if he is especially sensitive here or if Zenos is just so starved for the soft, caring touches of a lover that any sensation overwhelms him, but when you bite down gently he moans. It is a beautiful sound that you feel rumble through his whole chest and into you, and you do all you can to coax out another, then another. Each are quiet, and likely no one other than you would be able to hear them, but they are music to you and it is now you who must remind yourself to be patient.
Leaving the stiffened peak behind, you move across his broad chest to the other, giving it the same treatment and being rewarded with more breathy whines as you thoroughly explore his breast with your tongue. You wish to move lower, but in the interest of thoroughness, move further away to clean and heal the other arm. Again when you reach his hand you take each digit into your mouth, and this time when you lock eyes with Zenos as you suck on his finger he lets out a needy groan, the loudest yet.
You purse your lips and hollow out your cheeks, letting the finger slide in and out of your mouth as you watch him, adding another and bringing it deep inside you. You suck this imitation cock with fervour as you watch Zenos’ composure crumble in front of you. “Please…my beast…” He sighs, but you stop, a string of saliva connecting his fingers to your lips as you pull back.
“No more titles, no more epithets, Zenos. I would have you call me by my name.” He hesitates for a moment, and you wonder if he will manage it, but you are nothing if not persistent, and when you move yourself back to lick at his stomach, tongue lapping over every muscle, your chest not so inadvertently rubbing against his cock as it lays against him, he can barely help the way your name comes out of him as a sigh.
Another barrier broken deserves another reward, and when your warm, wet hand finally makes contact with his leaking erection, he keens in a way you never thought possible, immediately arching his back into you at the first moment of stimulation. To see this man, this terror of a warrior reduced to a quivering mess of emotion and sensations brings you such joy. While his intention while working you over was to bring you low, you do this to raise him up. You are determined to free him from the fear and inhibition holding him back from expressing himself, and the way that he writhes in front of you, body displaying full honesty in all its splendid beauty, makes both your heart ache and cock throb in equal measure.
You want nothing more than to move on to the main course, but you are so close now, and you will never have anyone say you aren’t thorough. Reluctantly you move away from his groin, back down the remaining leg to heal and clean it. At Zenos’ realisation that you have stopped pleasuring him, he growls your name in a way that makes you laugh. It is unmistakably a threat, but you gently chide him for his lack of patience and with a grumble he lays back, arm over his eyes while you tend to the last injured parts of his body.
When you order him to spread his legs, he does so without hesitation, seemingly still focused entirely on holding onto his endurance. It comes as an obvious shock to him then as your hand and kisses move not only back up his thigh but between his legs. He flinches when you give a gentle kiss to the side of his shaft and then turn your attentions downward, towards his freshly cleansed hole. He sits up so suddenly at the first touch of your lips to his entrance that he nearly crushes you.
“Warri…” He catches himself, starting again, your name barely a whisper. “Such an act…you are the victor, do you not find this a degradation?” It is an honest question, and you are beyond certain that nobody has taken the time to worship Zenos’ body the way that you have been, nevermind to engage in so intimate an act. To him who until only a day or so ago seemed to view sex as an act of power, it is no wonder he couldn’t understand why you would do this. You put on your best smile, ensuring that you appear sincere and loving so as not to put him off for being so vulnerable.
“No more degrading than any other way we have been together. I want to make you feel good. I want to show you what being together can be like for you, but if this is too much I can stop.” You rest your hands gently on his thighs making no move to either continue or pull away. “Deal or no, I will not force you. Do you want me to stop?”
For how little Zenos has been given a choice in the path his life has taken, you want to make sure he knows that even now, he has control, that your pushing him stops here if that’s what he wishes. He stares at you for a moment, but eventually with a blush he lays back down, resuming his posture of his hand over his eyes. “You may continue,” He murmurs and you can’t help but laugh at his embarrassment and stoic permission both.
“In that case, bring your knees up and lift your hips.” You say as you resume your kisses on his inner thigh. He obeys, and you position him such that you are able to lay down between his legs and lick a long stripe between his hole and up to his balls. His legs shudder around you, but he makes no move to rise again. You repeat the motion, wetting him with saliva and on your third pass you let your tongue dip in just a little. The resistance is immediate at the foreign sensation, but it passes quickly as he relaxes around you.
You reach a hand up to stroke him as you fuck his hole with your tongue. He remains so very tight and you aren’t able to get deep into him, but he moans in ecstasy all the same. This is what you had been longing to hear, and the sound of him letting go of his inhibitions pushes you to your own limits. While part of you would like nothing more than to spend the next hour kissing and licking every bit of Zenos that you can find, your own arousal has become uncomfortably insistent in the face of Zenos falling apart at your touch.
When you sit up from between his legs, Zenos is panting hard, his hair fanning around him in the flowers. Bits of petals and leaves, destroyed by your fight, are caught up in his locks and he looks nothing less than angelic. You finally remove the rest of your clothing, placing it with your discarded armour and reaching for one more item that you made sure to bring with you. Zenos watches your movements and huffs a laugh at the familiar bottle from the night before you hold in your hands.
“You leave your weapons behind, but brought that with you?” Another refreshingly genuine question that you shrug at as you settle yourself back between Zenos’ legs, pushing his knees up gently.
“It’s good lube, shame not to use all of it.” You uncork the bottle and warm some of the liquid between your fingers before bringing it down to Zenos’ ass. While still wet with your saliva, the slippery liquid is another matter entirely. It doesn’t take long circling the ring of muscle for Zenos to relax enough for you to stick a finger in.
“This may be a little uncomfortable at first, but tell me if it hurts too much.” You say with concern as you look up to watch his reactions to your working him open. Though the absurdity of your statement doesn’t hit you until he stares back at you, looking positively insulted. Less than one bell ago you were both near death from injuries you inflicted on each other. Pain has never been a deterrent to anything you or he has done, though before he can comment on your seemingly ridiculous concern you wave him off.
“Yes, yes, I know what I said, but I’m serious. This is not something for you to endure. I want you to feel good, and I need you to tell me if it doesn’t.” When he continues to say nothing, you decide to pull out the big guns. “Do I need to order you to tell me if it hurts?”
“Very well, I will inform you if you go beyond my limits.” He sighs, and though you’re not entirely sure he truly will keep that promise if given the chance, it is yet another choice you are leaving up to him. Gently, you add a second finger, watching for his reactions, but while he breathes heavily from arousal, there is no obvious sign of discomfort.
You give a testing curl of your fingers deep inside of him, watching to see if you manage to hit that sweet spot you’re looking for, but while he continues to gently sigh there’s no reaction. Zenos is so, so much larger than you, and it’s likely your fingers do not have the reach to hit his prostate, and so while you are excited to show him that pleasure, for the moment it will have to wait.
Even with your efforts and the slightness of your fingers, he is still impossibly tight. You whisper to him to relax, and he does his best, but it is several minutes of only two fingers before you feel comfortable adding a third. He groans at the intrusion, screwing his eyes closed for a moment, but the discomfort passes and the slightest of nods gives you leave to continue. You use your other hand to gently stroke him, dutifully studying every shift in his hips, every twinge of muscle, learning just what makes his body sing for you.
You bend down to suck on the head of his cock while your other hands rhythmically pump the remainder of his shaft and ass, and are rewarded with a large hand tangling itself into your hair. You turn slightly to avoid your still injured ear, but Zenos makes no move to push you further down than you are willing to go. You suck and lick and swirl around him as he keens, a high pitched whine surprising both of you when it leaves him, causing you to cease and look up at him.
“Are you close?” You ask and he responds with a quick nod. “Good, I don’t know how much longer I can last myself just seeing you like this. Zenos, do you have any idea how beautiful you are?”
“I…ah…it is expected for a hunter to be at his best. To main-maintain the physical form at its peak, to push the limits of the body…” Zenos manages to get out between strained gasps, and all you can do is smile down at his lack of usual composure. Whether it is your actions or the simple compliment itself that is the cause, it remains endearing all the same.
“I am sure all that is true, but that’s not what I mean.” You remove your fingers, using the remainder of the lube on your own erection as you line yourself up with his entrance, already pulsating at the sudden emptiness. “You are beautiful when you are like this. Laid out before me, panting and moaning because of how good you feel, oblivious to everything else but your own pleasure.”
You slip easily into him, having done your job preparing him well, and though he gives a small hiss as you push past where your fingers had left off, in truth you are terribly lost in the pleasure found in each other’s eyes. This is what you wanted, what you had dreamed about lying in your prison bed, to explore each other’s bodies as lovers. And now that you can see him, blissed out at being filled by your cock, you wonder whether Zenos had dreamed of the same, or if he ever really dared to before you offered it to him.
“You are beautiful in this moment because all that exists in the world is us and how we fit together.” You continue your praise, pulling your hips back a little then sliding them back in slowly. “You are beautiful because your body tells me how much you love me with every sound you make.”
You pull back again, thrusting harder this time, bottoming out inside of him, and this time you hit your mark. The change in his expression is instant. His eyes roll back and he practically screams your name so loud you are surprised none come to investigate. His fists ball into the soft ground, tearing up bits of flower and grass with them as you reel back and repeat the motion, pressing into his prostate and knowing the jolt of pleasure you are giving him with each thrust. You had been waiting for this moment and it’s everything you could have imagined.
You want to continue showering praise on him, but for once your words fail you as your own pleasure mounts. Zenos clenches hard around you and it takes all you can not to spill in him immediately. You hold onto one of his bent legs for leverage to thrust harder against him. The sound of wet skin and freely given moans and cries fills the air as you both lose yourself to the simple pleasures of being together. You take his cock in your hand, stroking it fast and hard each time your hips meet his, your name a repeated prayer on his lips.
The combination of sensations is too much for you and with one last sharp snap of your hips, you come buried deep within him. “Come for me,” you command, and Zenos needs no more instruction as he follows quickly after you, hot ropes of seed coating your hand and his stomach both. He tenses to the point of pain on your own oversensitive cock still within him, but you remain inside, wanting to prolong this feeling of connection for as long as possible.
It is only when his legs fall and he lies panting on the ground that you finally remove yourself, crawling over his body gently so that you can be face to face with him again. You straddle his stomach, uncaring about the mess of fluids between you as you once again take his face in your hands and kiss him deeply. There is no urgency to it, no more tension left in either of you, but a sweet and tender kiss twinged with exhaustion both physical and emotional. You indulge in each other for some time before Zenos summons the strength to push gently against you and you lean back.
“So, my friend, you have had your victory and taken your reward in kind. Since it is clear that this is not to be the final battle I had envisioned, what do you propose happens now?” Zenos’ question is serious, but there is an easy, satisfied smile on his face that melts your heart. You would like to believe it took more than a good fucking for him to listen to what you were telling him, but the fact that he seems finally willing to accept there are other possible futures is all the victory you could ever hope for.
“Honestly? I don’t know.” You admit with a shrug. “My plan coming here was to help you only, to try to get you to see there was more to life than fighting and conquest.” You consider leaving your explanation there, but if he is going to be honest, you might as well be too.
“In truth, I half-expected to die in the process. Though, I may have neglected to tell the Alliance that part of the plan. Before, all I was considering was how to set you on a path that would free Ala Mhigo without the bloodshed of the battle that otherwise seemed inevitable.” You chuckle at how long ago this idea seems, even though it had been barely a week since you had originally conceived of it. It feels like the world has turned entirely upside down since. You idly play with the hair around his face, eyes unfocused as you consider all that has happened since then.
“But now?” Zenos prompts, bringing you back to him, and you take in his features, once again taken with how beautiful he looks and how it fills you with such longing that you have to blink back tears.
“But I never expected you to feel the way you did about me, and…I never expected to feel the same way back.” It feels both strange and yet undeniably true. Despite yourself, you love the man beneath you. You love him as much as he obviously loves you, and you will not waste any more time denying it when there is so much ahead of you. “Zenos, I want us to leave this place, to abandon this war. Send your troops home and come with me.”
“As your prisoner?” He looks back at you skeptically, but you only laugh at needing to shift his perspective yet again.
“As my partner, as my lover.” Zenos blushes at your casual admission. How strange it must seem to him considering the heroic efforts you needed to undertake to get him to come to terms with his own feelings. You hope that you never get tired of flustering him in this way with such honesty. Still, you try your best to show your seriousness, even if you want nothing more than to kiss away his embarrassment.
“If I have not earned enough credit with my allies for ending yet another war on their behalf then we can leave together and find a new path. I meant what I said, you can do anything you want, there are none who can stop you other than yourself.” This time you do kiss him. It is quick, barely more than a ghosting of your lips on his. He chases after you when you pull back just enough to look into his eyes, your face only ilms from his.
“So, Zenos, what do you want?” He hesitates and you wait, and wait. Your heart pounds in your chest, but your hands and face rest against his while you search each other’s eyes. He swallows heavily before speaking.
“I…want to be with you. I want to see what this world you love has to offer.” A simple statement followed by an uncertain smile, and your heart leaps with elation. It is all you can do to keep your own excitement in check before you give your answer.
“Well then, let’s go.”