A Crown of Lilies and Regrets (MxM)

Chapter 7

The man led Mikael to a place that he dreaded. His head pounded as the foul stink of sweat emitted from the older man. Mikael felt as if the hallway was closing in around him. As if to mock him, to remind him that he'll never escape.

The two reached the room and Mikael felt a little of his soul either as he heard the click of the door locking behind him. The man had a gleeful grin on his face as he sensed Mikael's dread.

"Strip." The man ordered.

Tears welled in Mikael's eyes as he recounted those memories to Nikolson.

"He would touch me whenever he pleased. And if I ever tried to retaliate then he would lock me in a room with other men and those men touched me. I hated it so much, they wouldn't stop." Choked sobs escaped the young demon and he found it so hard to speak. He wrapped his tail around himself as a form of comfort.

Nikolson desperately wanted to wrap his arms around Mikael in that moment, kiss his forehead, and whisper words of comfort. He didn't out of fear that he would just frighten the demon.

After a while Mikael was able to calm down his sobs to light sniffles. Nikolson spoke.

"You mentioned something about a smell? I think you might be referring to pheromones."

"Pheromones?" Mikael asked confusedly. All humans and demons emote pheromones, but only demons have the ability to sense them. Typically it's just a subtly sent that can only be smelled by someone who is aroused and the demon has to be close enough to the person to smell it. It's a way of attracting people. Nikolson explained this much, though leaving out the part of arousal considering Mikael likely didn't know what that meant. And he didn't want to be giving Mikael sex ed lessons, especially knowing the kind of history Mikael has with sex.

"Though, to be able to sense pheromones so strongly is strange." Nikolson murmured to himself as he absent mindedly wiped away a few more tears that were rolling down Mikael's cheeks.

"I'm not really sure, but all I know is that all men smell like that." Mikael sniffled. Nikolson then thought back to all of Mikael's previous behavior around men. How he reacted at dinner, the incident with Jullian, then what happened in the hallway. It all started to make sense, but one thing was still puzzling to Nikolson.

"Why don't you react negatively with me? I am also a man after all." Mikael stared at him for a second before moving his gaze to his lap.

"I'm not sure, you smell different. Comforting, actually and also familiar. Which is strange considering no one else smells like you and I've never known you up until now. But you smell so familiar to me. And really nice too." Mikael blushed hotly at that last sentence and got quiet. The silence was unbearable.

"Well, we can discuss this further at a later date. You're probably exhausted from all the excitement that just occurred." Nikolson offered.

Now that Mikael thought about it, he was exhausted. He nodded his head and laid down on the pillow. He fell asleep instantly. Nikolson hovered near him for a moment, watching the rise and fall of the demons chest as he slept.

"Aaron, come in." He whispered under his breath. The door slowly opened,

"You called, my lord?" Aaron asked.

"There are some arrangements I want you to make for me." He caressed Mikael's cheeks lightly.

"Of course, my lord. What do you need done?" Nikolson smiled softly as he felt Mikael unconsciously wrap his tail around his arm.

Mikael woke up and felt a heavy pressure on his chest and a tickle on chin. A comforting scent wafted in his nose. He looked down and saw Nikolson curled in his arms, face buried in his chest. He felt the Lord's soft breathing. He froze, scared that if he moved them he would wake up the sleeping lord. Just then, the Lord looked up at him.

"Why are you holding your breath?" Nikolson asked. His voice was deep and groggy from sleep. Mikael released the breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

"What woke you up?" Mikael asked quietly.

"Your heart rate sped up and your breathing stopped." Mikael's face flushed. Nikolson lifted himself from the bed and started dressing. Mikael watched as Nikolson's muscles moved as he lifted his shirt.

The young demon felt an unfamiliar warmth between his legs that made him shift in the bed.

There were so many scars on Nikolson's back. Mikael wanted to trace every one with his finger and have Nikolson share how he got each one.

Nikolson slipped on a white tunic and some black leggings as well as some black knee high boots. He tossed some smaller clothes on the bed.

"For you." He said to the young demon, who was still trying to control the unexplainable heat between his legs. He looked at the clothes and then looked back at Nikolson. "Is something wrong" The Lord asked.

"I feel weird..." Mikael mumbled. Nikolson instantly came over and started examining the demon's body.

"Are you hurt somewhere? Do you feel sick?" Mikael shook his head.

"I feel warm."

"Warm?" Nikolson felt his forehead with the back of hand. "You're not heating up."

"No, I'm warm down there." Mikael indicated down to his nether regions. There was a long pause. It was a little surprising how ignorant Mikael was considering everything he'd been through. *When is a good time to teach him sex ed?* Nikolson realized that he would have to come up with a solution relatively soon.

Nikolson lifted his head, "I will prepare you a cold bath, that should help." Nikolson made the necessary preparations and waited for Mikael in the hallway.

Mikael joined him after taking care of his situation. He opened the doors and saw the Lord leaning against the wall. His arms crossed in front of his chest and his legs crossed at the ankles. His eyes eased open and met Mikael's. Nikolson offered him a small smile, Mikael felt his own lips tug upward. He walked up to the Lord and there was a silence.

A strange silence. Strange that it was comforting, strange that it was familiar.

"Mikael," Nikolson broke the silence. "There are going to be some changes to our arrangement." Mikael felt his heart drop. Is he getting rid of me? Does he hate me? Is he going to leave me alone? Will he bring me back to 'him'?

Mikael felt an arm grip his shoulder, firm yet somehow gentle.

"I'm not leaving you anywhere." The Lord said gently, all the tension bled out of Mikael.

"W-what are the changes?" The demon asked.

"Instead of having you work around the house with others, I'll have you tend to me personally. This is to keep you comfortable." Mikael's heart swelled and he felt so grateful. He was honestly super anxious about going back to the servant's quarters.

The two walked to the Lord's office and Nikolson explained the details of the arrangement.

"You won't actually be doing much for me, I would rather you focus on your lessons. I will make sure you learn how to read, write, and do basic arithmetic. I might occasionally ask something of you, but that will be your main focus. I'll make sure all of your teachers are women considering you can handle being around them more."

The two entered the office and Aaron was there.

"The proper arrangements have been prepared, my lord." Nikolson nodded his head and Aaron was dismissed. The Lord sat at his desk and gestured for Mikael to sit on the couch that was near a crackling fire place.

"When will my lessons start?" Mikael asked curiously as he perched on the couch. Nikolson thought he looked like a little bird and it was adorable to him. Nikolson gave Mikael a small smile.

"Your lessons start today."