Broken Bond: Between Vices and Virtues (BL)
Chapter 31: Hands on you

Chapter 31: Hands on you

Azrael’s hands tightened around Knox’s arms. He pushed him further to the corner of the landing to lock him up, in case he tried to escape again. His anger was skyrocketing, yet he felt like rejoicing after finally having the omega within his reach again.

He bent down, leaning closer to Knox who lowered his head and tried to avoid his furious gaze. Azrael grabbed his neck and slowly traced them up until it stopped on his chin, cupping the entire curve of his jawline.

Knox shivered from that simple touch. The fear that he has was starting to be drowned by the yearning feeling of an omega to his bonded alpha. He was in peril, yet his heart kept beating faster from that contact. He bit his lips until he tasted blood, and prayed for someone to interrupt.

Azrael waited furrowed his brows in between his rising anger, why was someone always ready to kick and hit him back then cowering like a coward now? Where was the Knox who could throw a punch even in the clutches of a few men?

A whiff of lavender scent permeated Azrael’s nose. He flinched, and dropped his gaze down at the man before him.

He forcefully lifted Knox’s head and smiled wickedly, "Where have you been, Knox Arden? I’ve been looking for you all these years. I’ve got so many questions. Did you know that? So, you purposely hide from me so skillfully that even with all that money I have, it took me four years to find you?"

Bright green eyes met Azrael’s dull grey eyes. Those orbs kept shining even when filled with fear for him. Knox was afraid of him, Azrael thought to himself. It was somehow satisfying. He wanted him to fear him, so much that he won’t try to run off ever again.

Azrael pulled back and dragged Knox up the stairs.

Knox struggled and kept pulling his arm, "W-Where are you taking me? Let me go, please!"

Azrael looked down at Knox from a step ahead, his face was shadowed by the darkness, and only his grey eyes blazing with restrained fury were recognizable. He spat sarcastically, "You want to swim back in that sea of alphas and seduce them with your leaking scent? What are you? A malfunctioning squid? Do you always walk letting your stinky pheromones like that?"

Azrael pulled Knox up aggressively and he bumped on his chest. But instead of losing balance from that narrow step, Azrael stood firmly, his hand wrapped around Knox’s waist and the other was holding his hand captive.

Then, he spoke harshly, "Or are you purposely going on and about offering your bloom to any alpha you find, seducing them to offer you a home and money, then finally sleeping with them and running away? Is that a trick, hm, Knox Arden? Your modus operandi—

Bam!

Thud!

Both bodies fell on the stair landing. Azrael with his legs stride open and between them was Knox with a reddened forehead.

Azrael, "...what?"

He was dumbfounded. He let his guard down and was convinced that the Knox he knew back then was no more than a shivering coward, but he was much fiercer and crazier! Knox used his forehead to slap Azrael’s face since his hands were caught, because of that, they both lost balance and fell.

Instead of getting madder, Azrael smirked. A glint of forgotten amusement flickered in his eyes for a moment.

Knox was still feeling dizzy, but he quickly pulled himself up and tried to run down the stairs, but his waist was once again caught with large arms. They wrapped around him tightly and pulled him down.

No matter how Knox kept struggling, those strong limbs were like metal chains that shackled him. He used his feet and tried to stomp on Azrael’s legs, but before he could land a foot, Azrael pushed forward with force, thus overturning their position.

"Argh!" Knox groaned from the heavy figure pressing him down. He was scared that his head might hit the floor, but a warm, large hand caught his forehead before it did. However, his body’s fall wasn’t cushioned, thus, his shoulder and chest slammed into the floor heavily.

"Let go! Why are you doing this?!"

Knox wriggled underneath Azrael. But his struggles were useless. Azrael only pinned down his body more by pressing his forearm on Knox’s back. He took his hand the support Knox’s head abruptly which made his forehead hit the floor without warning.

Another groan came out from Knox’s mouth.

Azrael grinned and whispered, "Hey, don’t this position remind you of something?"

Knox winced from the hot breath that hit his ear. His face flushed as he unwantedly remembered that night. He tried to push himself up, but Azrael’s free hand grabbed his right arm and twisted it on the back.

Knox gasped and grunted, "Stop...let’s talk properly..."

Azrael chuckled, "Ah, my nose is bleeding, Knox. Your head is so hard. I wonder if we will get to talk properly if I let you go even an inch, or you’re going to kick me again in the slightest opportunity you see."

His nose was indeed bleeding, but rather than getting worried at his crooked nose, he was instead enjoying their unanticipated wrestling.

With a weary voice, Knox stopped struggling and spoke, "I won’t. I won’t run away. Let’s talk properly."

"I don’t believe you," those words were cold and filled with indifference. Azrael untied his necktie and snatched Knox’s other arm, then he tied them on his back using his expensive necktie.

With that, he stood from the floor and dropped his gaze at Knox wrapped like a gift before him. He flipped Knox over, took his necktie, and wrapped it tightly on his ankles.

"You’re smelling like lavender. You’re releasing your scent. If I give you a chance, you’ll bolt out," he ribboned the tie and pulled Knox up. Then, he patted his shoulders as he crouched down to level his face on him, "You’re an omega, Knox Arden. How did I not notice it back then? I almost believe I made you into an omega due to my excessive release of pheromones, but you...you’re an omega all along."

Azrael laughed bitterly as if he was laughing at how foolish his past self was. He lifted Knox’s chin with his thumb and index finger, and asked him with genuine confusion, "How did you do that?"

Knox gazed at Azrael’s eyes firmly, hiding the trace of fear and anxiousness at the back of them, "I was a recessive omega. Because of that, my body was somewhat immune from some alpha’s minor release of pheromones, but when I worked for you...I started taking stronger suppressants to strengthen that immunity..."

Azrael asked curiously, "So, then? Why did you suddenly go into heat?"

Knox grunted. His sitting position was straining his back which got hammered on the wall twice, on top of that, his tied legs were beginning to numb. He scooched away from Azrael, but the latter only pulled his foot closer and even held his bent knees.

"Answer."

Knox sighed and frowned, "I said let’s talk properly."

Azrael, "We’re talking properly."

"Not like this! Don’t you have an engagement to attend to? What if your fiancée is already looking for you and they find us like this? They’d think you’re trying to murder me...!"

Knox stopped talking. Shivers ran down his spine after witnessing that sinister smile. He gulped. Azrael looked like a bomb ticking near its set time.

Knox cleared his throat and answered obediently, "I was trying to hide the fact that I’m an omega, even to my closest friends. As you already know, I’m in debt, so if I get caught by those loan sharks, they might use me and sell me to brothels, force me to bond with them, or whatever.

"I was trying my best to live peacefully like a beta, so I was already taking suppressants before I met you. It was to hide my scent and to...keep my heat from coming. When I met you, I took double the dosage, and because of that, my body felt numb from its own warnings.

"Before we came to the night district, I was already near exploding. Then, I got surrounded by lots of alpha pheromones and was even almost..."

Knox stopped talking. The memories of that event at the night district resurfaced in his mind. The causes of his nightmares at times he was alone and lying in a dark empty room shut his mouth, and then he started having difficulty breathing.

What happened? Knox asked himself. He was certain he already overcome those nightmares that plagued him at first but disappeared after Knoa’s existence came to him. Traumas tend to resurface once the victim experiences a familiar scene or meets someone involved.

But Azrael was the one who saved him that day, his fear of him shouldn’t be dawning like a trauma to him. So, why was he suddenly hyperventilating?

"Knox Arden!"

Two voices came around. Knox tried to peek over his disheveled hair obstructing his sight, and he sighed in relief after seeing Athan running to him. Before he lost consciousness, he saw Azrael stand and block him.

’What a bastard...’ Knox mumbled inwardly.