cassiopeia ꒱ markhyuck

eighteen

They finally arrived at the next clearing and set up camp for the night, this time putting Mark and Donghyuck's tent right in the center of the soldier's camp for maximum security. The guards had all been assigned to their rotational shifts, and Mark and Donghyuck were told to stay in their tent at all times, and notify a guard if they had any reason to leave at any point throughout the night.

The king let him change first in the tent again, like the gentleman he'd proven to be over the past few weeks. As Donghyuck was pulling his sleeping robes over his skin, he spotted the coat Mark had been wearing earlier laid out across the floor out of the corner of his eye. He stared at the coat longingly for a moment, suddenly overcome with the need to snatch it up and cuddle against it, keep it with him while he slept and inhale the scent over and over again until it faded, and then steal another coat from Mark and repeat the process all over again. His thoughts then drifted to imagining being able to cuddle up against Mark himself, the alpha hugging him from behind and kissing down the back of his neck and holding him close as his hands traveled down his body—

He was snapped out of his thoughts by the feeling of slick sliding down his thigh. Mortified, he took a handkerchief Renjun had given him and swiped it away, reeling and trying his best to calm himself down before he exited the tent. His head was a mess, and he was totally confused as to why suddenly Mark was affecting him so much in ways he never had before. It made him feel uneasy and on edge, like one wrong move would set him off and put his erotic thoughts on display in a way that would be too obvious to ignore and then Mark would—

Well, he wasn't actually sure how Mark would react. But he didn't know if he was quite ready to find out.

When Donghyuck stepped back out into the evening air, Mark furrowed his eyebrows a little, looking at Donghyuck curiously. The omega instantly panicked, praying that the remnants of his earlier arousal weren't still detectable in his scent.

"Are you feeling okay?" Mark asked, stepping a little bit closer, "you're giving off distress signals in your scent... what's the matter?"

Mark extended his hand, attempting to put it up against Donghyuck's forehead to assess his temperature, but the omega ducked away quickly, avoiding his touch.

"Everything is fine," he squeaked, "nothing wrong at all. I have no idea what you're talking about."

Mark frowned, clearly not convinced, but he was gracious enough to drop it and just step into the tent himself to change. Donghyuck sagged in relief and tried to reel back in his pheromones, and he could only hope to god that the evidence of his erotic fantasies weren't lingering in the air inside the tent.

Thankfully, it seemed like he was still in the clear, because Mark came back out and said nothing to indicate that he knew anything. The two of them ate a quick meal and said goodnight to the soldiers, and then they were retreating back into the tent for the night, just the two of them.

Donghyuck laid back on his sleeping mat and pulled the blankets up to his chin, trying to keep his mind from wandering in the hopes of keeping his scent as neutral as possible. But he found it increasingly difficult, with Mark's smoky and alluring aroma clouding his senses and making it almost hard to breathe, his body tingling with the need to reach out, touch, caress, be close.

Mark looked to be at the edge of falling asleep when suddenly Donghyuck's scent spiked completely out of his control. A searing heat washed over his body, and he broke out into a sweat as fire burned through his veins. He let out a whimper, trying to keep it as muffled as possible in order to not alert Mark, and he curled on his side miserably as the realization hit him like a brick to the head.

The unprecedented nausea in the carriage. The sudden spike in his sex drive. The unexplainable urge to be as close to Mark and his scent as possible, and now... the warmth overtaking his body.