THIRD PERSON POV

Duvet rustling and breaths hitching between them, both men quivered at the edge of something that held the potential to change everything.

Thaddeus hovered over the smaller man, arms braced on either side of Aria's head as their eyes met – velvety hazel locking onto chocolate brown like a laser to its target.

Although not a single word was exchanged to substantiate the unspoken, one could tell by the way hearts hammered inside vibrating ribcages and pupils glistened with anticipation that a sense of newfound anxiety had plunged its teeth into both Aria and Thaddeus, quickly establishing a vice-like latch.

The sensation was vaguely uncomfortable, like a snake slithering, shedding its skin just below the first layer of his own. So, in keeping with his impulsive state of being which demanded he make every situation his bitch, Thaddeus smothered his nervousness with a kiss.

Aria whimpered at the unexpectedly expected advance, limbs tensing up for a brief moment of surprise before he managed to suck in a deep breath through his nose, relaxing into the caress of lips and tongue.

It was the same, but also somehow wildly different than the first one that they'd shared while cuddled up and conserving heat in this same bed only a few weeks prior. Compared to the hot and heavy meeting of lips that left Aria feeling like a kettle bursting with steam and Thaddeus reconstructing the very fabric of his reality, this one was frighteningly languid – tongues exploring and prodding with a curious sort of hesitation.

No longer possessing the freedom to move at the pace of their own, personal desires, this meeting of bodies was solemn, slow and inevitable like the shroud of impending doom as both men grieved a loss of control over their own fates.

But as Thad shifted, entangling cautious fingers with Aria's and pressing both of their hands into the mattress, as if in sync, a fleeting blip of hope flickered through both of their minds at the very same moment.

Thaddeus's palm tightened around Aria's as if searching for reassurance, and when he finally pulled back a few millimeters with plump lips shining with shared saliva, half-lidded eyes implored, flickering to the neckline of Aria's sweater as if trying to glimpse straight through the fabric and consume the creamy skin that lay underneath.

When Thad spoke, the words came out breathy and low, as if his lungs struggled to locate oxygen.

"Is it okay if I..." He gulped, throat suddenly feeling like a desert, "Take that off?"

Aria's chin trembled with the weight of such a question.

All his life the small man had been raised to embody the epitome of modesty, to exist in as small of a space as possible, and conceal his unusually shaped body until he came of age to fulfill his duty to The Society. But now that that moment was not only upon him but also ticking like a timed bomb, the idea of being stripped naked and witnessed in such an indecent state toed the line of mortification.

Aria closed his eyes, squeezing his upper and lower lids together.

Honing in on the intangible connection that whirred between them, the smaller man could feel it all – the rise and fall of Thaddeus's emotions as he vacillated wildly between fear, concern, desire, and so much more. How each emotion swirled and flickered before coalescing into a sharp juncture pointing directly at him, tickling the back of Aria's neck like a feather.

'I won't hurt you. I promise, I won't.'

Aria recalled the promise over and over until it morphed into a solid truth.

Through it all, at least it was him.

At least it was Thaddeus.

Aria opened his eyes once more, lower lids moist and fingertips quivering.

"Yes."

Thaddeus released a weighty gust of air that washed across Aria's face like a mighty wind – a breath he had held since the very moment that the question fell from his tongue. Then, he gently untangled his fingers from Aria's, sitting back a bit for leverage before sliding them underneath the bottom hem of the smaller man's sweater, instead.

A shared mixture of inexperience and nerves made what should have been a smooth movement much more jerky and shaky than either would have liked to admit. Even still, momentary embarrassment turned to dust when Thad finally tossed the intrusive sweater aside and managed to gather up a greedy eyeful of Aria.

And fucking hell, did he like what he saw.

Aria was a vision fallen straight from the heavens above, brown locks splaying around his head like a halo and drifting down to rest in the hills of his hollow collarbones. Creamy, pale skin lay before him like a tapestry, draped across a delicate, flat chest and leading down to a lean stomach and waist that was so gorgeously tapered that it honestly made Thaddeus choke a little.

But worst of all were the small, pink nipples that dotted either side of Aria's lithe chest. Shiny and pebbled as they turned to stone from the shift in temperature, Thaddeus didn't even notice that he was drooling until a small squeak from Aria ripped him from his fixated stare.

"Thad!" Aria exclaimed, glancing down at the tiny pools of saliva that had dripped into the dips of his stomach.

Thaddeus grunted, wiping at his bottom lip and swallowing the rest of the saliva that threatened to escape as he strained to wrangle the last few brain cells that managed to survive his momentary fizzle out of existence.

Seeing as to how his salivary glands still kicked into overdrive all the same, desperate to slather the pert nubs with his tongue, apparently it didn't even fuckin' matter that Aria didn't have a particular kind of female anatomy that the Thaddeus of only a few months ago so selfishly craved.

The small man was seriously scrambling Thaddeus's questionable moral compass.

"Sorry, I–" He started, reaching up to run a hand down his face and steady his breathing. Despite the fact that he reallytried his best not to, the very moment his palm passed across his eyes, Thad's gaze zeroed right back in on those fucking tempting ass nipples. "Fuck, Bug. I'm losing my goddamned mind."

The windchime-like sound of Aria's airy giggle made Thad's eyes snap back up to that divine face of his. The corners of Bug's lips tilted up, cheeks rounded with a soft pink color that made Thaddeus want to bite him all over.

"But I'm not even doing anything!" Aria retorted innocently, as if completely unaware that he was singlehandedly rewriting Thaddeus's entire existence.

Thaddeus groaned deep in his throat, unable to wait anymore as he leaned over and nuzzled into Aria's neck, welcoming himself back into Aria's personal space and licking all over the bite mark that still lingered there. The sensation of goosebumps rising along Aria's skin and scraping against his tongue made something hot and achy pool in the larger man's groin, engorging throbbing flesh.

"That's just the fucking problem. How the hell do you manage to drive me crazy without even trying?" Lost in a flood of peaches and Aria, Thaddeus tilted his chin upward, biting down on the smaller man's earlobe before whispering, "I swear you're trouble."

Aria keened, tilting his head to the side to offer more access to his neck as he clutched Thaddeus's biceps. "N-no, I'm a good boy!"

"Oh, yeah?" Thaddeus teased, tongue leaving behind a hot trail as he maneuvered the moist appendage back down to Aria's collarbone. Any second now, he would be able to taste that beautiful, pink bud... "Tell me more."

"Well, first of all, I turn in all of my assignments early. Secondly, I re-read The Society Rules and Regulations Handbook at least twice a yea– ahh..."

Hands clenched on either side of Aria's waist tight enough for his thumbs to nearly touch, Thaddeus shut Bug nerdy musings right up with a simple flick of his tongue, which had finally reached its destination at the smaller man's right nipple.

Thad reveled in the way Aria instinctively arched into his touch, pushing his chest up and into his mouth with a needy fervor. He asked for more without uttering a single word, and Thaddeus didn't hesitate to give it to him, digging the blunt edge of his teeth into delicate skin.

Having never gathered the courage to explore himself even in private, the novel sensation sent Aria spiraling straight into a tailspin, toes curling and nerves zipping with a deadly concoction of both his and Thaddeus's all-encompassing pleasure.

All that he could do was breathe deeply, tangling a desperate hand deep into the abyss of Thad's tight curls while the larger man nipped and slurped, ravishing his nipple to the point where it felt like it might leave behind a bruise. Aria practically dissolved into the delicious nip of pain that only amplified his craving for more, more, more.

Thaddeus paused when a scent, so much sweeter and more enticing than anything that had ever graced his senses in the past, swirled into his nostrils and took his entire being hostage.

'... What is that?' He thought, immediately popping his lips off of Aria's abused nipple to investigate.

And of course, as if he had some sort of built-in radar built specifically for exploration of the smaller man's body, Thaddeus spotted its source in no time at all.

Aria's thighs pressed together tightly, rubbing back and forth as if seeking friction. And, seeping into the light-colored pants that he still wore, Thaddeus could see a dark outline of moisture as it spread from the back of the fabric, plastering it against his skin like syrup.

"Hoooly fuck..." He breathed, unable to think past the alluring aroma that was filling up the room like a fog and infusing into his bloodstream like a drug. Thad blinked rapidly and shook his head, trying to clear it, but that only served to swirl even more of the good shit straight into his lungs.

Aria sighed breathlessly, staring up at Thad through eyelids that he could barely keep open.

"Off..." Was all that Aria managed to murmur, but Thaddeus understood the request loud and clear.

Pulling off the action much smoother than the first time, Thaddeus managed to shimmy Aria's pants and underwear down and off in less time than it took to blink, tossing the soggy fabric somewhere on the irrelevant concrete floor below them.

If Thaddeus thought he was losing his mind before, witnessing Aria beneath him, naked and shining like the brightest star made him lose his entire soul.

Yeah, there was absolutely no way in heaven or hell that he was ever going to recover from this.

"Thad... stop looking at me like that..." Aria mewled, managing a full-body blush. Even though it was he who had asked for it, the small man couldn't help but feel ridiculously self-conscious as – for the second time that day – Thaddeus stared blankly down at him with a fully unhinged jaw.

"Huh?" Thad snapped his head up, a dumbfounded look plastered to his face as if he had just returned from an entirely different dimension.

Aria looked so unbearably shy, assuming a position of embarrassment as he curled in on himself and used his hands to cover his most intimate parts. Then, he looked up at Thad through those pretty, long eyelashes and it took all of one second for the larger man to seek out a way to rectify all of it.

Slipping his hands underneath Aria's arms to glide his feather-light body higher up on the bed, Thaddeus ripped at the impeccably tucked duvet as he settled himself back on top of his Soul Mate. With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the thick blanket over both of their bodies, giving the smaller man a modicum of privacy.

"Better?" Thad asked, tone so gentle that it shocked even his own ears.

Aria nodded timidly, reaching up to intertwine his fingers atop the closely shaved hair at the back of Thad's neck.

"Lots."

Flashing a lopsided grin, Thaddeus used one hand to brush away a bead of sweat, smearing the salty fluid across Aria's forehead.

"Y'know, it's not fair." Aria continued, sulking a little. "How come I'm the only one... revealed?" He finished, substituting the vulgar word 'naked' for a much more muted alternative.

Thad raised manicured brows at the accusation. "Fuck, sorry. Lemme fix that."

Thad was quick to leap into action, ripping a giant hole beside the zipper of his jumpsuit in the process of tearing it from his body. He had no fucks left to give about the stupid thing though, and wasted no time in tossing the orange and grey monstrosity somewhere in the room along with the rest of Aria's clothing.

"Better?" He inquired again, repeating like a broken record once he finally sat, clad in only a pair of black boxer briefs that clung to his thighs and groin like a second skin.

Aria nearly swallowed his tongue.

Eyes wandered, taking in the firm dips of Thad's shapely abs until they gave way to bulging arms and shoulders. Warm cocoa skin yearned for touch, and Aria was a happy volunteer as he slid them from around his Soul Mate's neck in favor of tracing the sharp dip and curve of well-conditioned muscle.

"Lots." He croaked in return.

Aria's soft hands left flames in their wake, licking at Thad's brown skin with so much force that it left the larger man flayed open; raw, exposed and yearning.

A mutual need for greater connection plagued the pair, bodies gravitating together like magnets to their opposite poles, and in a flurry of limbs and lips, Thaddeus and Aria collided.

Existing in a place so sterile and unfamiliar despite having lived there their entire lives, sharing a moment like this felt like none other than coming home.

Aria breathed into Thad's mouth as his hands roamed, dug, and squeezed, tethering himself to the larger man's body as if he were a harbor in the middle of an endless ocean. Thad didn't hesitate to respond in kind, tongue tracing the subtle curves that lined the edges of Aria's lips in such a way that it plunged the smaller man into a fit of hedonistic cries.

Chest rising and falling with the pressure of impossible breaths, Thaddeus mumbled out the only question that was holding him back from succumbing to the need to bring the fixation of his wet dreams into reality.

"Can I touch you?" The words were so low and quiet that despite the fact that they were practically sharing the same air, Aria barely heard them. "Please." Thad tacked on at the end, some tiny part of his hole-riddled brain remembering rarely-used manners at the last second.

In any other situation, a question like that would have sent Aria turning on his heel and running at top speed as he tried to put a broad amount of distance between himself and the idea of letting someone do something so indecent to him.

But this wasn't any other situation, and at that moment, the smaller man was pretty sure that if Thaddeus didn't do every single horribly obscene thing that he could think of to his body, he would certainly be getting down on his knees and begging for it.

Aria grabbed Thad's left hand and – in a stunning display of confidence – placed the man's large palm against the creamy skin of his upper thigh.

"I might die if you don't."

Fucking hell, if that didn't make Thad's lips part, eyes fluttering a little as his cock punched up against his stomach, coating the front of his boxers with an embarrassingly large amount of precum.

The only halfway coherent response that he managed to muster was an incredibly lame, "D-don't die."

... Yeah, he was definitely gonna be cringing about that for the rest of his life. But, pushing through a brick wall of humiliation, Thad got to work unscrambling his thoughts.

'Touch him. He gave you permission to touch him. He wants you to touch him.' He reminded himself, unwilling to fumble the opportunity of a goddamn lifetime.

Aria gasped as Thad's hand tightened on his thigh, white-hot embers skimming across his skin and muscles until they settled in the core of his being. The sensation of more of that sweet, slick substance pouring from inside of him and soaking the mattress below only made matters worse, as before he realized what Thad was doing, a thick finger was right there, pressing against his rim with a firm force that left no doubt as to the larger man's intentions.

Aria's hand snapped down, gripping the offending wrist in a trembling grip, and Thad watched with hooded eyes as a jumbled mixture of emotions – disbelief, euphoria, and something akin to pining – erupted across soft features in rapid succession.

"Do you want me to stop?" Thad inquired through clenched teeth, all the while silently praying that Aria would have mercy on his soul and allow him to continue.

Lucky for him, it seemed like good fortune had become his middle name today.

"No!" The response was instantaneous and resolute, almost like a sob as it tore from Aria's throat. His cheeks were a bright pink, a few strands of light brown hair darkening around the edges of his hairline as they mixed in with drops of sweat. Slowly, his death grip on Thad's wrist gradually loosened until he finally go, and Thaddeus wondered if Aria had ever looked as beautiful as he did just then. "I just... got a little bit scared."

Thad's heart beat out of sync at the vulnerability in Aria's voice.

"Hey, it's okay. It's normal to feel that way." He comforted, leaning down to press a kiss to the scrunched-up skin between Aria's eyebrows. "Hell, I'm scared, too." He rested their foreheads together, lips millimeters apart.

"Really?" Aria's voice tilted up at the end, as if surprised.

Thad just nodded, eyes shifting around as he spent a second analyzing each of Aria's most prominent features. Had he always had that adorably faint dusting of freckles across his nose?

"Really, really. Bug, I'm just as new to all of this as you are." He explained truthfully, suddenly wishing he'd paid more attention in Reproductive Studies.

"Oh..." Aria respired, stupefaction evident in the tilt of his tone. "I guess I never really considered that..."

Seeing as to how Thaddeus also had zero experience with the whole 'comforting another human being' gig, sex wasn't the only thing he was entering at a rookie level. He could only hope that he wouldn't make a complete fool of himself in the process.

Thad reached out to the brightly flickering bond at the back of his skull, searching for the other end.

"You feel me, right?"

"Yes." Aria whispered, "I always feel you."

Thad nudged against the bond once more, showering Aria with as many of the positive emotions that were currently plaguing him as he possibly could. "Can you see? It's just you and me. Only us." He captured Aria's lips once more, rasping between touches, "Only you."

"Only you." Aria repeated, breathing truth into the words as if they existed for them, and them alone.

Lips trapped and beseeching, fueled by an insatiable craving to meld themselves into one, Thaddeus's fingers once again began to move.

Covering them in that sticky, slick substance until they practically dripped with it, Thad massaged the tight outer ring of Aria's hole, cock jerking in sync with the way the sensitive muscle puckered and relaxed in response to his ministrations.

"Nngh..." Aria moaned, eyes rolling back at the mouthwatering pressure, the scent and feel of Thaddeus surrounding him so completely. His hips moved without him, searching for the tip of Thad's finger when an uncomfortable sensation of hollowness began to spread through his burning loins.

Aria's pleasure zipped through the open bond, slamming into Thad with all of the force of a high-speed crash, and suddenly, without even a hint of physical stimulation, he was moaning too, the husky, broken sound harmonizing with that of his Soul Mate.

He had to get deeper, to feel the warm ridges of Aria's satin walls while they clenched around his plunging fingers, pillaging the innocent flesh deep inside.

The image of Aria thrashing and clinging to Thad as he was fingerfucked within an inch of his life was so vivid that it filtered through the bond effortlessly, filling the smaller man's mind with all of the depraved things that Thaddeus ached to do to him.

"Please..." Aria begged around the bulbous obstruction of a sob. Who it came from was anyone's guess. "Just do it!"

"Fuck!" Thad cursed out his sexual frustration, forearm flexing as the slick fingers of his left hand reached into the depths of Aria's body...

... Only to bounce right off.

For a moment, Thaddeus thought that he must have missed the hole, that he just needed to confirm his target during his next try. But when – just like the first – his second, and then third attempt to breach Aria's trembling body also resulted in a prompt rejection of his advances, his brow furrowed.

"Aria, I..." He looked up, catching the smaller man's narrow eyes. "I can't get inside. You have to relax."

"I'm sorry!" Aria apologized, trying to slow his heart rate and relax his muscles, to no avail. "I'm just so nervous, and I have a tendency to get tense when I'm jittery and–"

Thaddeus quieted the small man's rant with his lips, soothing their tongues together before pulling back so that their noses brushed.

"You don't need to explain anything to me, Bug. If you're not ready for this step yet, we will wait."

Aria balked, eyes widening and filling with moisture. "N-no! Please, I'm ready, I really am!" He grabbed Thad's wrist once more, trying his best to press slick digits back against his hole. "Just try one more time!"

"Shh..." Thad cooed, shifting his head to nuzzle against the bite mark nestled delicately between Aria's neck and shoulder. As he did so, he thrust his fingers forward once more in a last-ditch attempt to appease his Bug, only for the same, impenetrable result to send Aria spiraling into a fit of tears.

"T-try again!" He begged, scrubbing at his eyes with the back of his hands when moisture blurred his sight of Thad's face. "Just one more time!"

Thaddeus frowned, sitting back on his heels before taking both of Aria's hands between his own.

"Aria..."

"I promise I'll be good this time! P-please!"

Thad brought the delicate digits to his lips, smothering them in kisses and shivering when a few drops of that deliciously slick substance transferred onto his tongue.

"Aria, we just can try again next time. I promise." The words were meant to be comforting, but only served to make matters that much worse when tears poured from Aria's eyes and darkened the hair nearest his temples.

"But we don't have time!" He cried, voice fracturing with terror as his hands shook in Thad's grasp. "If we don't do this, The Elders will hurt you again! Or what if–" His breathing turned erratic, "What if they give you another strike!? Thad, please, we have to comply!"

Thaddeus bent over then, engulfing Aria in a giant hug that crushed the smaller man into his body hard enough to bruise, but neither of them cared about the pain. As Aria buried his face into Thad's shoulder, the larger man whispered into Aria's hair.

"Baby..." Thaddeus pressed a kiss against his Soul Mate's scalp. "We said that we would try, and we did. But I also promised that I wouldn't hurt you." He explained gently, "And even though it's probably not what you want to hear, even the threat of The Elders isn't enough to convince me to do something you clearly aren't ready for."

"B–but I can't let them hurt you again!"

"You think those ugly old fuckers scare me? Once again, I'm offended, Bug." Thad cracked a cocky grin, although it didn't quite meet his eyes. "Besides, this time there isn't anyone to snitch on us, so if you really think about it, they have no way of knowing if we did the deed or not." He explained, plan beginning to hatch into a solid shape, "Just let me do all the talking, and they won't suspect a thing, alright?"

The only reply he was rewarded with was a blubbering sniffle. Thad just chuckled as he pulled back to grasp Aria's heart-shaped face between both palms, attempting to brush away the copious moisture there with as insufficient of a tool as his thumbs.

"Alright?" He repeated the question, playfully nipping at Aria's nose in an attempt to turn the sad face before him into the joyful one that never failed to make his heart do weird things in his chest.

Aria gave a barely-there giggle through another sob, sucking in a breath despite the tears that still flowed down his cheeks. "Could that really work?" He asked, much too tired to make it come out as anything other than a whisper.

"Pfft," Thad brushed off the question as if it were ridiculous before suddenly grabbing Aria up and twirling him around so that instead of laying below him, he now on top of Thad's bare chest, caught in an inescapable trap of the larger man's arms. He rocked them back and forth as he continued, trying his very best to ignore the sensation of Aria's cock pressed firmly against his thigh or the warm caress of slick smearing across his skin. "You doubt me way too often. Stuff like that can really bruise a man's ego, ya know."

A louder, more definitive giggle sounded this time, and Thad's soul soared.

"Guess I'll just have to try harder." Aria teased, and Thad grumbled, turning onto his side so that he could smother Aria into the covers.

"You know, normally I would tell someone to fuck off for talking to me like that. But lucky you, my brain has recently come to the conclusion that you're too fuckin' cute to bully."

Aria flamed, his entire body developing an even darker shade of pink than it already was.

"You shouldn't be bullying anyone!" He retorted, scolding.

"Yeah, yeah, because I totally haven't heard that one a million times." Thad just rolled his eyes, arms tightening around the smaller man despite his snide remark. "Just be happy that you're on my good side, alright? The population there is currently one." He paused, "Well, one and a half if you count the times that Mitty decides to act right."

Aria shook his head into the pillow underneath it, the small smile that stretched across his lips contrasting the salty tracks of tears that dried there as he lay on his side, trapped in Thad's unrelenting grip. "And you try to call me trouble."

"Oh, but you are." Thad responded, feigning horror, "You're the worst type too, the kind that comes in a tiny, unsuspecting little package and cooks so much delicious fucking food that everyone gets addicted enough to do all of your bidding."

Aria's eyes widened, smile turning the slightest bit mischievous. "Are you suggesting that you're addicted to me, Thaddeus Axton?"

"Yes." Thad's stomach flipped at the instant slip of his tongue. "Wait, I mean no." Aria raised a brow that pierced right through the larger man's armor, and he winced. "... Maybe?"

The smaller man giggled, ducking his head a little. "See what I mean? Trouble."

Thad just snorted, trying to shake off yet another round of utter mortification as he opted to pivot their positions once again, this time shimmying down to tuck his cheek into the soft skin of Aria's abdomen. "Oh whatever, at least I'm hot trouble. Something good to look at through all the havoc."

Shaking his head yet again, Aria threaded his fingers through Thad's curls, and for once, the self-absorbed man didn't even think to complain about someone messing up his carefully styled tresses. "You're impossible."

Thaddeus could only grin in response, wiggling his brows underneath his mop of curls. "Impossibly charming and sexy."

The large man felt more than heard Aria's giggle as it vibrated through his body, and it was at that moment that he realized that they were both still practically naked as they lounged against one another.

Well, it was good while it lasted.

"Want me to grab your nightgown?" He trialed, already preparing to get up from the warm bed and venture off to find the offensively adorable garment. However, to his surprise, Aria just closed his eyes, breathing out a sigh as he relaxed into the small stack of pillows behind his head.

"Would you mind if we stayed like this for a while?" Aria asked, the pressure of Thad's body pressing down on top of his acting like a soothing balm against the heightening wave of constant uncertainty surrounding their future. "Just so comfy..."

Thad had to lower his head back down to Aria's stomach to disguise the unexpected excitement that overtook his face. Resisting the urge to kick his legs like a spoiled toddler, he could only try his best to sound nonchalant, too.

"Sure, Bug. We can stay like this for a bit. No problem."

A soft, sleepy trill of contentment lulled Thad into a place so warm and quiet that he thought he might disappear into it, never to be found again.

And that was how Aria and Thaddeus slept that night – tangled in one another's arms as they ran free in shared dreams of wide, green forests and uncontested existence.

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