Alaric

Nico fucking Park was kissing me, and I was kissing him back. Did I enjoy it? Yes, I did.

I mean, the annoying man actually knew how to kiss perfectly, with a confidence and skill that caught me completely off guard.

And did I want it? Hell yes. I had been wanting to have a taste of his lips ever since that night in the corridor when he had leaned closer to me.

That moment had lingered in my mind far longer than I cared to admit.

And now, kissing me was the last thing I had expected that he would do. Although he had said it so many times before—that he wanted to bend me over and make me his forever—I had always believed it was just another one of his stupid jokes. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

But that joke was turning into a reality right here, right now, in this storm-lit room.

And we were kissing.

Our mouths moved together with growing intensity. His lips were soft yet demanding, and the way he deepened the kiss sent heat rushing through my entire body.

I could still taste the sweetness of the hot cocoa on his tongue, mixed with something uniquely him that made my head spin.

My hand, which had been pushing him away moments earlier, now gripped the front of his robe tightly instead of shoving him back.

I pulled him closer, almost against my will, as if my body had decided to betray every logical thought in my mind.

I hated how good it felt. I hated how much I wanted more. Nico Park, the man who irritated me more than anyone else on the grid, was currently making my pulse race and my skin burn with desire.

What the hell was wrong with me?

Yet I did not pull away. Instead, I kissed him harder, matching his passion with my own, letting the frustration and unspoken tension between us finally explode into this heated, unexpected moment.

Nico kissed me like a man starving for air after drowning. The kiss was hot and wet, his mouth claiming mine with raw hunger.

His tongue pushed past my lips boldly, sliding deep and tangling with mine in slow, deliberate strokes that made my head spin.

He explored every corner of my mouth with confident, sensual movements—licking, sucking, and tasting me as if he had been waiting years for this exact moment.

The wet heat of his tongue sent powerful shivers racing down my spine, straight to my core, and I could not hold back the soft, involuntary moan that escaped into his mouth.

The sound vibrated between us, raw and needy, as he swallowed it greedily and kissed me even deeper.

When he finally pulled away, I fluttered my eyes open immediately.

I did not want it to end.

We both panted heavily against each other.

Our foreheads were almost touching, and I could feel the warmth of his breath brushing across my face with every exhale.

Nico’s hand left my ankle and moved up, placing it gently beside my face on the bed. "Do you like men?" he asked, his voice low and husky.

I blinked at his question, stunned.

Why the hell was he asking such a thing when there was this crazy, electric tension crackling between us right now?

Of course if I did not like men, there was no way I would have ever let him kiss me like that.

I blinked again but said nothing in reply.

His hand caressed my face tenderly. His fingers trailed slowly along the side of my jaw until they reached my lips, tracing their swollen fullness. "Do you like men, Alaric de Villier? Because right now the only thing stopping me from kissing your beautiful full lips again is because I need to know if you like men."

I cleared my throat and tried to look away from him. His brown eyes were intimidating, burning with dominance and desire.

The last thing I would ever want was letting a man like him—especially someone I saw as a rival—show any kind of dominance over me.

Who knew if he would use it against me later?

"If you say you don’t like men, I would totally understand. After all, you and Sophia Laurent were together and almost got married," he added quietly.

At the mention of Sophia, my body tensed immediately.

I remembered how he and Sophia had appeared together at the gala, looking so perfectly matched, and the memory stung more than I cared to admit.

Nico gently tilted my head back until I was facing him again. "Tell me, Alaric."

The seriousness in his tone was hard to ignore, and his eyes—goodness, the way his eyes were staring intently at me with such open desire—made me gulp.

It had been so long since I had been with anyone. It was since the accident, and that was two years ago.

And I had been with men before, at least when I was in college, but the tension had never been this crazy and intense.

Nothing had ever felt quite like the electric pull I was experiencing with Nico right now.

"I..." I tried to speak, but the words got caught in my throat. "You..."

Nico chuckled softly and kissed the side of my cheek tenderly. Then he pulled away, his hand leaving my cheek as he shifted backwards on the bed.

The warmth I had felt from his closeness immediately left me, leaving behind an uncomfortable emptiness.

"That... that is understandable if you don’t like men or me, because after all, I am just the guy who gets on your nerves and..." he started saying.

I grabbed his hand before he could move any further away, shutting him up instantly. I placed his palm directly on my hardened cock, which was straining obviously against the thin fabric of the robe.

"Do... does this count?" I asked, my voice low and rough.

Nico turned to face me fully. His brown eyes widened in visible shock. "You..."

"Shut up and kiss me again," I told him firmly. "I am not sure what I am yet or if I truly like men, because the only thing I have ever done with a man is just kiss them. That’s all. But right now, Nico, I don’t care about whatever beef we have on the track. I just want to kiss you."

With that, I returned the kiss slowly this time, pressing my lips to his with deliberate, building hunger.

Nico responded immediately, kissing me back with the same measured pace. But he pulled away again after a few moments. "Are you sure?" he asked, searching my face carefully.

I rolled my eyes in pure annoyance. "Are you this annoying in every single moment of your life?"

He smiled, that infuriating yet attractive smile spreading across his face.

"Of course I want this. I am hard like a rock and you think I want to dance Macarena right now?" I said, my tone dripping with sarcasm.

Nico chuckled deeply and then he kissed me again.

This time it was the craziest thing I had ever felt.