Bound by the Mark of Lies (BL)-Chapter 280 - 275: After confession

The fireplace had burned down to a low, amber glow by the time Damian finally moved.

Gabriel was limp in his arms, still breathing softly, cheek pressed against his shoulder, marked from every angle—claimed, bonded, loved.

Damian brushed the damp hair from Gabriel’s temple, his own heart still beating too hard. He didn’t want to let go, but Gabriel was flushed to the point of fever, skin hot and sticky, legs trembling with the aftermath of being knotted more times than either of them had counted.

"Let me carry you," Damian whispered, kissing the edge of his jaw. "Let me take care of you."

Gabriel made a sound—something between a sigh and a hum—and didn’t argue.

That was all the permission Damian needed.

He stood carefully, adjusting his hold as he pulled out with a slow groan. Gabriel whimpered, barely, the loss making him shift, but he didn’t resist being lifted. Damian held him close, one arm beneath his knees, the other around his back, and carried him out of the wreckage of the sitting room, past discarded plates and shattered restraint.

The bathing chamber was still warm.

Edward had done his job too well.

The water was steaming, laced with calming herbs and oils that shimmered faintly with ether. Damian stepped into it slowly, lowering them both into the depths. Gabriel hissed as the heat met his skin, but then sank against Damian’s chest with a sigh.

For a long moment, neither of them spoke.

Damian ran his fingers through Gabriel’s hair, tilting his head to kiss his forehead. Gabriel’s body floated against his, weightless now, the only tension left in the lingering bond that hadn’t dulled even for a second.

"You did so well," Damian murmured. "You were—"

"Don’t," Gabriel rasped, lips brushing Damian’s collarbone. "If you say something sweet again, I might start crying like an idiot."

Damian smiled and pressed another kiss to his hairline. "Then cry. I’ll hold you."

Gabriel didn’t cry, but he did go quiet.

Until his fingers moved.

Trailing down Damian’s chest. Slow. Testing. Intentional.

Damian froze. "Gabriel—"

"You’re still hard," Gabriel whispered, voice soft and a little hoarse. "Even after all that."

Damian swallowed. "I’m trying not to be."

Gabriel shifted in the water, pushing up slowly until he was straddling Damian’s lap. His knees on either side, his hands splayed over Damian’s chest, head tilted.

"You love me," he said, gaze cutting into him like the edge of a blade dipped in warmth.

"Yes," Damian said without hesitation.

"Then let me love you back."

Damian’s eyes narrowed. "This is how you use it?"

Gabriel’s lips curved into a smirk that promised eternal doom.

"I’m an omega in heat," he said slowly, grinding down just enough to make Damian’s breath catch. "What did you think I’d do with a confession?"

Damian growled low in his throat, but it wasn’t anger. It was want. Worship. Warning.

"You’re impossible."

Gabriel leaned in, brushing his nose against Damian’s. "You love me anyway."

"I do," Damian murmured, hands tightening on Gabriel’s hips.

"Then shut up," Gabriel whispered, "and let me ruin you a little."

Gabriel leaned forward and kissed him—soft, lingering, sweet like the words he never said but meant. Then again, deeper. Then again, until Damian groaned and his hands found Gabriel’s waist like he couldn’t not touch him.

He reached between them, guiding him back inside slowly, his own body still slick, sore, willing. Damian moaned, head falling back as Gabriel sank down on him in one slow, drawn-out motion.

Damian groaned again, but it was softer this time—lower, worn out and wrecked in the way only love could do. His hands moved up Gabriel’s sides, gripping gently, like he was scared he’d wake up and none of this would be real.

But it was real.

Gabriel was warm and flush against him, chest pressed to chest, heartbeat frantic. He rolled his hips in a slow, grinding rhythm that made Damian’s thighs twitch beneath the water. The sensation was different now—softer, deeper, all heat and ache and desire.

The bathwater sloshed gently with each movement, warm oil glinting across Gabriel’s back as he moved—fluid, breathy, gorgeous. He held Damian’s gaze through every slow rise and fall, every breathless moan, and every shiver when Damian’s cock dragged against a spot too sensitive and still overstimulated.

"You don’t have to be perfect right now," Gabriel whispered. "You don’t have to hold it together. You don’t even have to breathe if it’s too much."

Damian choked on a laugh, his eyes shining in the light.

"Who’s the terrifying one now?"

Gabriel kissed the corner of his mouth. "Still you."

His rhythm didn’t falter. He moved with maddening grace, every roll of his hips dragging Damian closer to the edge, but not pushing him over. Not yet. He wanted him there, trembling and gasping and worshiped, held together only by Gabriel’s hands on his shoulders, Gabriel’s mouth pressing kiss after kiss to his jaw, his cheek, his throat.

"I wanted to say it for so long," Gabriel murmured. "I love you."

Damian’s arms tightened around him instantly.

"I know."

"But I needed to mean it," Gabriel continued. "Not because of the bond or the heat. I needed it to be mine. Like this."

Damian groaned as his mate clenched around him, just enough to make his head fall back. His fingers dug into Gabriel’s hips, but he didn’t thrust, not yet. He let him keep control. Let him love him the only way he knew how, through touch, through movement, through reverence disguised in wicked rhythm.

"Then take it," Damian whispered. "Ruin me."

And Gabriel did.

He moved faster now, chasing the peak with slow, precise thrusts, dragging Damian into it with him—both of them slick with oil and bond and breathless love, bodies shaking, pleasure spiraling again. Damian’s head rolled back, the golden light in his eyes gone molten, and Gabriel leaned in to whisper into his mouth:

"Come for me."

Damian shattered. Hard.

He came with a broken groan, his body locking beneath Gabriel’s, hips bucking, orgasm ripping through him with a force that made the bond burn.

Gabriel followed seconds later, breath catching on a gasp, his own release spilling between them, warm and slow, his body giving in one last time to the bond, to the man who had never stopped loving him.

Damian said it again, ragged and real:

"I love you."

Gabriel shattered.

And this time, he cried.