Oblivion (A Black Clover Story)

Twenty-Three

William did in fact end up falling asleep for a few minutes during a light massage of my lower arm. The man loved aftercare but this time it seemed like he'd exhausted himself. He awoke with a jump when I called him by his nickname- something I knew he loved. Quickly he sat up and reached over me to pull a pocket watch from the folds of his clothes which were piled up on the floor. "The ceremony starts in an hour. I should start getting ready." I yawned, feeling tired enough to sleep myself. He smiled and leaned down for a kiss. "This was amazing. I wish this moment could last forever," he said again, just as he did when he collapsed onto me.

"Me too. But I do still want to get out there for a while," I smiled, pecking him back.

He laughed. "I know. We should get dressed then."

With those words, we both stood up from the bed and gathered his clothes. I was still fully dressed besides my shoes, which I'd thrown off just before we laid on the bed. There was a tiny mirror hanging on the wall that was conveniently level with my eyes and in it I fixed my hair. As I watched myself, I saw a few small purple marks on my neck. I was so startled by the sight, I exclaimed, "Oh!"

I felt his sudden gaze. "What's wrong?" he asked, walking over to me as I exposed more of my neck to him. It was where he was leaving his little bites on me. "Oh... I see," he paused, seeming to think hard, "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"No, of course not. I loved when you did that. Maybe it's because you bit such small pieces of my skin," I thought aloud.

Gently, he ran his fingers across my neck and then placed his lips on each mark he'd left. "Maybe. However... I think I like seeing these marks on you rather than a hickey. Can I leave more sometime?"

I laughed. "Of course you can." As I sat down to clasp my heels back on, I noticed even more marks on the leg he gripped when he was nearing his climax. I laughed, getting his attention. Pointing to the bruises in the shape of his hands he left, I said "You really did lose it this time. I want you to do this more often."

He blushed at the sight of such a mark. "Ah... A-as long as I'm not hurting you. Otherwise... I think I like seeing little bruises like that on you too."

"So dirty," I snickered, watching him continue to furiously put on his clothes again, embarrassed at my statement. With each passing second I felt more and more excited to join the festivities, so much so that I kissed his cheek when he was still buttoning his shirt and opened the door suddenly.

"Iris!" he exclaimed, startled by the sudden splash of light flooding into the room from the hall.

But his calling my name was drowned out by the blood suddenly roaring in my ears. Frozen in place, I stared up at the one person I didn't want to see in that moment. The one person that could ruin the entire day that I was already cherishing. Our eyes locked, his cold expression wavering as soon as he realized that I was coming from William's private room. There were dark circles under his eyes. "C-Captain Nozel," I greeted quietly, dipping my head slightly.

He was silent for a moment, but replied with a simple, "Iris," trailing off as his eyes wandered to my neck. They looked sad. Then he looked down at the rest of me, presumably taking in my outfit and figure. However it was obvious that he immediately saw the many marks that William left on me. His eyes fell on my neck once more before glancing at my eyes and ultimately looking away to clear his throat. "Y-you have sweat dripping down your neck."

I was so startled by the comment that I blushed and practically slapped my neck with my hand, feeling the wetness he'd pointed out. Even though William and I laid in bed for a while, I was still sweaty from the sex and that meant he was too. "Uh... Th-thank you..." I said quietly, avoiding eye contact. I didn't really want to look at him. We both stayed unmoving but I felt his eyes on me once more. I wondered what on me he was staring at.