Free and Unfettered 83 Taking A Break

Could it be that he was getting so desperate that he was making up everything and blowing it out of proportion by himself?

Groaning, he rolled on the bed before getting up.

It didn't matter even if it was. It was like sweet torture being near Nine but not touching. He really didn't know whether or not Nine had forgiven him for forcing their marriage. Nocturne was lost in thought. Should he distance himself a little to give Nine space to cool off or not?

He wanted to do that, but at the same time, he was hesitant because he didn't know if there would be any bees and butterflies that would be attracted to Nine whilst he was away.

Nocturne paused. Scratch that, there would definitely be no small amount of people attracted to Nine just on his looks alone, but what if someone actually managed to snare Nine's heart?

Just look at that Prince Jasper! They only met for a short while, but he was already thinking of marrying into Nine's household?! Not if he had anything to say about it.

He was sorry to Seyton, but this was one thing that he wouldn't budge on no matter what anyone said. He would do his best to drive them away, but he could only do so much. Secretly, Nocturne thought to himself that he wasn't below killing someone off to get them out of the way.

Annoyed at himself and his thoughts that were going around in a vicious cycle, Nocturne crawled out of bed, having returned with Nine to Cosmos City whilst everyone else was out of the city and strengthening themselves.

Nocturne scowled at the thought that muscle-headed prince was here as well in the city. He stuck close, saying he wanted to be with Seyton, but even a blind man could see that he was obviously gunning for Nine (he wasn't, really).

More than once, Nocturne caught sight of both Seyton and that muscle-headed idiot staring at Nine with misty eyes then breaking out of it after a long time had passed. The looks the two exchanged were understanding and sympathetic.

Nocturne furrowed his brows at that thought. Why did he feel like his IQ was fading when he tried to understand the two brothers? Seyton was still fine, but that muscle-brain… all the warning signs in his head just blared whenever he saw him near to Nine.

Sometimes, Nocturne felt so disgusted at the way he had developed after falling in love with Nine. He felt like a petty and jealous person. He really didn't want to rush anything, but the feelings of insecurity had never been so prominent.

He was married to Nine, but at the same time, it felt like he was just like everyone else.

Nocturne struggled with himself before casting his doubts away. He mentally cantered himself and told himself that he had to show Nine his true self before he could ever have a hope of reciprocation.

With his mind in a better state, Nocturne decided that for once, he wasn't going to follow Nine around everywhere.

Nocturne headed to the parts of the residence where Nine frequented, enjoying tinkering and overall experimenting. He had kept it to himself, but his eyes shone every time Nine started one of his projects.

Nocturne rolled up his mental sleeves as he settled in for the long run. Today, he would not be seeing Nine at all. He would spend all day in this workshop and enjoy himself to the fullest.

With his goals for the day set, Nocturne knuckled down and started getting to work on one of the projects he had been thinking about for a while.

The teleportation runes that Cosmos City used were indeed state of the art, but there was always room for improvement. The way he looked at it, it was just too inefficient and sloppy for the rune to teleport based on blood alone. Not to mention, there wasn't anything cloaking the teleportation, so if they were trying to hide it and make it discreet, then something had to be done.

Nocturne drew out the rune from memory, attaching one rune on the edge of the table, and the other on a chair. He then tested it a few times, noting down the timings and effects each time it was used.

Humming, the silver-haired Vampire got to work. He pulled out a pair of magnifying glasses from within the interspatial bracelet Nine gave him, staring unblinkingly at the runes in front of him.

Without taking his eyes off the runes, he rapidly wrote on a sheet of paper beside him, his eyes gleaming. So focused on his work, he didn't notice for the first time when Nine entered the room.

Nine stood by the side, watching with interest as Nocturne worked rapidly, making great progress in a short time span. She had grown curious when he didn't turn up like he usually did.

She left him alone for half a day before she finally decided to sate her curiosity, catching him working in the workshop that she frequented. She wasn't too shy to admit that a serious, working Nocturne painted an attractive picture in ways that she hadn't caught a glimpse of before.

She watched him work with the glasses on his face, having to adjust them when they slipped down his face a few times. Nine felt like this Nocturne was rather cute as well. He usually got all flustered in her presence, so she couldn't openly stare at his face before it turned red.

Nine watched him work hard for another half a day before she noted that it was already dinner time. She didn't even hide her movements as she walked closer to him, but he didn't notice anyway, with how engrossed he was in his work.

Nine leaned down behind him and whispered in his ear. "Hey, it's dinner time, you know?"

Nocturne was so startled that he jumped in the air, shocked beyond belief. Nine grinned and hugged him with one arm around his waist, pulling him blush against her front.

Nocturne's heart hammered in his chest at the unexpected scare. He would have noticed had it been anyone else, with his Vampiric hearing, but Nine always slipped past his guard no matter what.

His face rapidly flushed red in embarrassment.

Nine nipped him lightly upon seeing those cheeks dyed red, her fang leaving a faint mark. She smirked toothily at him before letting go.

"Come on, time for you to feed," Nine said, hooking her finger in a come-hither gesture.

Nocturne resisted the urge to put his hand over his heart like a maiden. See! Did anyone else see this!? It wasn't just his imagination, right? Or was he overthinking things?! Was Nine always this tactile before?! Unfortunately, he was alone in the room with no one else as his witness.

Since he saw her doing similar things to bully Deltan, Nocturne really didn't know whether or not he was blowing things out of proportion.

Nine pulled Nocturne over when he neared her as she sat on the chair, pulling him on top of her lap. She unbuttoned the top few buttons, sliding her shirt down slightly.

Nocturne swallowed at the tantalizing sight before him as he felt like his husband was teasing him all the time. It was just feeding, but did he have to do it so sexily?

Resentfully, Nocturne bit down on the juncture of Nine's neck, his fangs elongated. He licked and sucked slowly, still prolonging the experience even though he felt like he was being bullied.

Before long, his actions caught up to him and his cheeks returned to the constant red state it was in whenever Nine gave him any attention. He inwardly whacked himself. He was older than Nine, but every time he was stuck in the position like he had no experience at all!

"Hey," Nine said, poking her wife. "Are you full already?" she asked.

Nocturne pulled back reluctantly and nodded, moving to get off her lap, but she anchored him in place.

"Mm, I'm a little hungry, so let me feed as well," Nine said, leaning in to bite at Nocturne's neck.

Instantly, he was stunned. This had never happened before.

Chapter end