[mature] like dreams that turn to dust,

[atrox]

hangman hooded, softly swinging; don't close the coffin yet, I'm alive

Atrox has never been the kind fo indulge in friendships.

Never the kind to truly nourish relationships with others—and, outside of Twinge, he has never truly sought out romantic entanglements. He has been entirely selfish with his time and attention. He has been utterly self-focused, taking without bothering to give. So it is surprising to him that he comes back to her in any capacity, that he asks her questions, that he does not make the entire situation about him.

Surprising to him that he remembers her name.

But this surprise does little to dull the anger she stoked in him when she made him remember that he can no longer be remembered. Does little to dull the heat of his fury or the keen edge of his boredom—and it does not help that she responds to the feel of his teeth against her. That her eyes light up when he snaps and she presses against it, her breath faster than it should be, her body warming to the danger.

It does not help his selfish mind—does not slow it.

He can practically feel the increase in her pulse, the erratic way that it shivers through her. He growls, low and deep in his throat, scarred lips brushing against the wing again. “I know what it means to be cursed,” he finally replies and, out of curiosity more than anything, he strikes out. It’s fast, his body reacting more to the heat and the desire that pools in his belly as much as it reacts to the decades of hunting and war.

His teeth sink into her flesh, the delicate skin at the base of her wing, and her angelic blood rises up to flood over his tongue. It is warm and potent and he closes his eyes on a purr as he withdraws his mouth, his mouth stained crimson with it. He pulls back to press those same blood-stained lips to her neck, her cheek, and then down to her throat, leaving a trail behind him of her, of this moment.

“This does not feel like a curse to me,” he drawls with his mouth pressed to her neck.

“This feels like a gift.”

ATROX | THE PANTHER KING