The moon had shifted by the time Adrian moved again. Hours must've passed, but inside that blood-warm cocoon, time meant nothing. Kai lay curled against his chest, hair damp with sweat, body humming from too much pleasure and too many whispers.
Adrian's fingers threaded through his curls, slow and reverent, like he was soothing a tempest with touch alone.
"You're so quiet now," Adrian murmured, pressing a kiss to Kai's temple. "Did I finally break that smart little mouth?"
Kai gave a hoarse laugh. "You didn't break it. You just… rewired me."
"Mmm," Adrian smirked, trailing his hand down Kai's side. "I like you like this. Dazed. Used. Completely mine."
Kai arched into his touch with a soft sound half pleasure, half protest. "Stop talking like that… You'll get me hard again."
Adrian's eyes flared with heat. "Is that a threat or an invitation?"
Kai opened one eye, his lips twitching. "Depends. Are you going to ruin me again, or just hold me like a normal person?"
"Oh, mi amor…" Adrian purred, dragging his mouth along Kai's collarbone, "I am not a normal person. And you? You're not just anyone. You're my obsession. My drug. My home."
Kai's breath hitched. Those weren't just lines. They weren't spoken for effect. Adrian said them like they were carved into the bones of his soul.
A beat passed. Then two.
Then Kai whispered, "Say it again."
Adrian kissed him slow and deep and whispered it into his mouth like a vow.
"My home."
He rolled them gently, so Kai was on top now, straddling him with a lazy sort of grace, his skin lit in the low light like honeyed velvet. Adrian didn't rush. He just held him there, staring up like Kai was something sacred.
"This doesn't have to end in fire," Adrian murmured. "We can stay here. Just us. Just this."
Kai leaned down, resting their foreheads together. "No more running?"
"No more cages. No more vampires at your door. Just us."
Kai's smile was fragile. Hopeful. Dangerous.
And Adrian kissed it like he'd been starving for centuries.