Free Web NovelChapter 99: Long before you knew me
Nico
I didn’t realize that my mind had completely spiraled into the dark, suffocating abyss of those childhood memories until I felt the sudden, grounding sensation of Alaric’s hand wrapping around mine.
With a firm but gentle grip, he reached past me, turned the tap completely off, and carefully pulled my dripping wrists away from the sink.
"Are you alright, Nico?" he asked quietly. His voice was incredibly gentle, sounding almost as if he could read the frantic thoughts racing through my mind and was actively trying to soothe the storm inside me.
A genuine, fragile smile formed on my lips as I looked down at him. Alaric had always been my singular source of joy, long before he ever realized it.
Years ago, during the absolute darkest periods of my youth when I genuinely contemplated ending my own life to escape my family, I would sit in the dark and watch his racing matches on a screen.
The fierce, unyielding way he commanded the track had captured my eyes completely, anchoring me to reality.
It was because of him that I swore to change my life for the better, driving myself to become a professional racer just to exist in the exact same world as him.
Alaric had absolutely no memory of it, but we had met briefly long before my debut on the grid years ago, when I was just a nameless kid in a crowd, and he had signed a piece of team merchandise for me.
"Why the hell are you staring at me like that?" he asked, shifting uncomfortably under the intensity of my gaze.
Instead of answering, I reached out and grabbed his free hand, lifting it up and placing his palm flat against my face. I guided his fingers gently across my cheek, using them to intercept and wipe away the damp tear that was trailing down toward my jaw.
"What are you doing, Nico? Don’t start any of your usual shit right now," he warned, his voice dropped to a low, cautious murmur, but he didn’t pull his hand away.
I didn’t stop. I leaned my face more heavily into his open palm, closing my eyes for a fraction of a second just to feel the warmth of his skin against mine. "You have absolutely no realization of how profoundly grateful I am that I met someone like you, do you?" I murmured against his fingers.
Alaric just stared at me, his breath hitching slightly, his expression completely unreadable in the harsh bathroom light as he remained entirely silent.
"That’s why..." I opened my eyes, raising my head as I gently but firmly cupped both sides of his face with my hands. Without giving him a chance to retreat, I leaned forward and wrapped my arms tightly around his shoulders, burying my face into the crook of his neck and hugging him as if my entire life depended on his next breath.
"Don’t leave me. Please. And don’t you ever do that kind of dangerous shit on the beach ever again." freewёbnoνel.com
Alaric let out a soft groan against my shoulder, his body tensing under the sudden, desperate weight of my embrace, but he didn’t pull away from me. "I already told you a dozen times, Nico, I was only going in for a swim," he muttered, his voice muffled against my shirt.
"Why the hell won’t you believe me? Are you completely drunk right now?"
I was tipsy from the cognac, the alcohol buzzing pleasantly in my veins, but I was nowhere near drunk enough to misunderstand the gravity of what was happening right in front of me. freewebnovёl.ƈom
"The day your accident happened on the track, Ric... I completely lost my mind," I whispered fiercely into his skin, my grip tightening around his waist. "When the media started putting out those endless speculations that you would never be able to race again... I almost broke down completely because I thought you were going to die in that hospital room. Did you ever even get those letters I sent to you during your recovery all those years ago?"
"What letters are you talking about?" Alaric’s voice sounded thoroughly confused, the vibration of his vocal cords rattling directly against my chest, and it was only then that I realized the alcohol had loosened my filters entirely.
I wasn’t just thinking these thoughts anymore—I was actively saying them out loud.
Was I truly that drunk?
I let out a low groan of frustration and pulled back slightly, rubbing the palm of my hand firmly over my face to clear the haze. "Forget what I just said. I just want to hold you right now," I whispered, my voice dropping to a possessive cadence as I leaned right back into his personal space, trapping him against the edge of the marble counter. "And kiss you..." I breathed against his skin.
I leaned down and nibbled lightly on the sensitive edge of his earlobe, sending a sharp shiver through his frame, before spreading a trail of slow, wet kisses down his jawline, moving intentionally toward the side of his mouth. "Kiss you until you are completely out of breath..." I whispered against his skin, just a split second before I shifted my angle and captured his lips with mine.
The kiss started slowly at first but Alaric reacted almost instantly, his hands coming up against my chest as he tried to push me away.
I refused to let him retreat. I reached up and securely grabbed the back of his head, locking my fingers into his hair to hold him perfectly in place as I deepened the pressure, slanting my mouth over his to completely seal his lips.
A low, frustrated sound escaped his throat, but I ignored it, using the opportunity to slide my tongue past his teeth, forcing my way into his mouth and taking complete, unyielding control of the kiss.
I sucked on his lower lip, nibbling at the soft flesh until he let out a sharp gasp, before swirling my tongue against his in a deep, heavy rhythm that left no room for resistance.
I consumed him completely, marking my territory with every possessive stroke until his hands stopped pushing against my chest and tightened into the fabric of my shirt instead, completely holding onto me.
