Essence of Quinn Parts 3 & 4 (MxM)

Better Than Nothing

The door slammed behind them, and Quinn growled. He tasted blood, both of their blood, where fangs and claws had met skin. Their bond surged, fuelling the urgency. Reverberating with need, heat, hunger, and the desperate ache to come home.

Every shred of will Quinn had went into pulling back from his mate, but he managed it. Just.

“Air.” His voice cracked through the silence, the restraint and the emotion bleeding through. “Please. I’m sorry. So fucking sorry. I...”

Air’s eyes flared brighter in the darkness, brows drawing together. He had black blood on his lip. Probably Quinn’s. The feral ghoul inside him fought to lean back in and devour him.

“You what?” Air snarled.

“I...”

Fuck. What the fuck could he say? How could he fix this rift between them? This feeling of desolation without Air to anchor him felt like a death sentence. A punishment for all the depraved and fucked up things he’d done throughout his life. Like the penance he had to pay would finally destroy him.

Quinn looked away, his heaving breaths stark in the silent room. The walls somehow felt smaller, the shadows claustrophobic.

The words that dripped from his tongue felt like honeyed venom, but he meant every single one.

“I cannot lose you too. Please, Azael. Tell me what I have to do to make this up to you. I would defy the universe itself for you. You know this.”

Anger flared, lashing through their bond. Quinn should be used to it by now. It had been that way ever since he’d broken his promise to Air. Burning in the background. Tainting every thought and colouring every action.

Quinn chanced a glance at Air. He glared back, lips pressed into a tight line. It took him a few moments to speak. He was struggling to keep his composure, too.

“I fucking hate you right now,” he murmured, the words measured. “And I hate that I need you so badly. But I can’t take this ache anymore.” He fisted the skin over his heart. “It hurts so fucking much. I know you can feel it. I know you’re hurting too. Why do you do this to me?”

Quinn ran a hand down his face. He wanted so badly to go to him. To fall into their bed and tell him what had just happened with Calista and Alpha. But he couldn’t do that. That bombshell would have to wait.

“So what now?” Quinn said, sharper than he’d intended, but his own temper felt like it was fraying again. Air’s anger was rubbing off on him, it seemed. “You hate me, but you want me. You don’t want to forgive me, but you can’t keep your hands off me. What the fuck do you want from me, Air? I laid myself bare and you still shut me out.”

Air took a shaky breath, the tic in his jaw the only outward sign of how close to snapping he was. For a heartbeat, Quinn thought he might answer, that he might spit some venom back at him.

It didn’t happen.

Air lunged for him, shoving Quinn back against the wall. The impact rattled his bones, but it was nothing compared to the fire searing through the bond. Fury and a lust so powerful it couldn’t be untangled from it.

“Don’t fucking do this! Don’t be that self-righteous asshole with me!” Air hissed, eyes blazing. He grabbed Quinn’s shirt, holding him in place against the wall. He let it happen. Should take whatever Air gave him. “You abandoned me at my lowest and I still fucking want you. There’s something seriously wrong with me.”