Chapter 12

Spared Out of Spite

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"I want to see those eyes again begging me to drown you in pleasure, like how you made me satisfied with your mouth..." Red Hilt said this while caressing Arondight's lips with his finger.

It took Arondight long enough to recover from the shock. With a sudden, almost frantic motion, he swatted Red Hilt's hand away, causing Arondight to stumble back in his seat and nearly fall to the floor.

"You..." Arondight's voice wavered with pure disbelief. He can't accept that the man before him was the same person who had introduced himself as Ivan Ross days ago, the unknown bartender from that fleeting one-night encounter three months ago.

"You're...Ivan Ross?"

Arondight felt the room shrink around them for some reason, and the tension between him and the villain was thick enough to taste.

"No! No-fuck! This can't be true!

No sound escaped Arondight's lips as he stared into the eyes of Red Hilt-or rather, Ivan Ross. The shock was evident in his wide eyes-the slow, dreadful realization that he had somehow, by sheer stupidity and cosmic bad luck, slept not just once but twice with the second most famous villain in the city...without even realizing it.

"How could I not have noticed this sooner!"

How could he, really? He'd been so drunk that night at the bar, to the point that he was barely able to remember the bartender's face. If only he'd remembered his face, he never would have agreed to the villain's insane idea of a "casual" hook-up the first time they met as hero and villain.

But no, of course not. It's not Red Hilt's or Ivan Ross's fault, for that matter. All of this was his fault. His stupidity, weakness, and inability to say no when temptation smiled at him put him in this situation. And now, all he could think about was the humiliation waiting for him when the whole world found out he'd slept with a supervillain...twice!

He couldn't even claim ignorance of the fact, that would just make him look even dumber!

Arondight instinctively took a step back, then another, until panic took over and he turned to run. But before he could even take a few more steps, a large shadow loomed before him and cut off his escape.

And then-wham!-a strong hand clamped around his arm and yanked him backward, sending him stumbling straight into Red Hilt's hard, warm chest.

"And where do you think you're going?" Red Hilt leaned in close enough for his breath to tickle Arondight's ear. "Our date isn't over yet. We've barely reached the appetizer, but you're already trying to escape?"

Arondight shoved the villain back, his face was blazing with embarrassment, "It was a mistake for me to agree to come here! This is not right! What will people say when they find out we're doing this!"

He tried to get away for the second time, but Red Hilt's grip on his arm didn't budge, and instead he pressed his face even closer to Arondight's.

"Maybe you do, sure-but come on, we're only human. What's wrong with having a little dinner date with someone you like? Whether a hero or a villain, we all need a bit of social interaction now and then, don't we?" Then Red Hilt slowly brushed his lips against Arondight's neck and ear, making the young hero shiver even more. "Just relax, will you? You're acting like I'm about to eat you alive...though you do look very tasty when you're flustered."

"Stop saying stuff like that!" Arondight snapped as he twisted to pull away, only for his foot to catch on the chair leg, which caused them both to fall to the floor, ending up in a very awkward position with Red Hilt on top of Arondight.

"See?" said Red Hilt, seemingly teasing the hero even more while running his hand into the hero's hair, "The more you struggle to escape, the more likely you are to fall for me. Unless you like this push and pull thing between us, I suppose that's completely consensual."

Arondight's face was burning hotter than a furnace. "You're insane! How could I possibly like a crazy person like you!"

Red Hilt's grin widened as he spoke, "Well... you're just as crazy as I am. What sane person had sex with a stranger, or agrees to hook up with a villain in the middle of a fight? Honestly, you're not so different from me, my dear hero..."

"It's just you, you fucking psycho!" Arondight groaned angrily, trying to push Red Hilt off him as much as he could, only to manage to roll them both and flip positions. Now, it was Arondight hovering above Red Hilt that turned the young hero's cheeks on fire.

"Oh, so this is the position you want?" the villain smirked and teased the hero even more, "Not bad, I suppose. I'm curious to see how you handle being in control for once while riding on top of me."

Arondight glared down at him, almost stopping himself from swinging his fist toward the villain's face. Then he said, "Lucky for you I can't use my power right now," he snapped, "Otherwise, I'd have thrown you across the room by now!"

But Red Hilt did not flinch much from Arondight's threat. Instead, he took full advantage of the hero being on top of him by slipping his hand beneath the edge of Arondight's coat in a slow, malicious motion. The sudden warmth of his touch made Arondight tense and flinch, causing the heat to prickle up the hero's neck despite his effort to stay composed.

Realizing exactly what the villain was trying to do, Arondight's reflexes kicked in, and he immediately grabbed Red Hilt's wrist tightly and warned him, "Don't you dare touch me!"

Red Hilt's smirk deepened as he responded, "And if I did...what would you do then?"

"I'll punch you and ruin your pretty face if I have to!"

"Okay, then do it."

Red Hilt inserted his hand deeper into Arondight's clothes until it reached and touched every bulge of the young man's abs and chest. Arondight was about to snap back when a sudden wave of dizziness hit him so hard he nearly lost his balance.

"What's happening to me?" Arondight asked himself as he pressed his hand against the floor to keep himself steady, while his other hand clutched at his chest as if to stop his racing heart from bursting out of it. At the same time, a significant amount of cold sweat broke across his hot skin.

This was how he felt when he'd been hit with the neutralizer at the warehouse, but he didn't feel this intense as compared to the first. This was way worse, as if someone had doubled the dose in his system.

But that couldn't be right. The hero hadn't been hit with anything...

"Wait..."

Arondight's gaze drifted back to the table.

"It's wine...."

That was the last thing he'd drunk before this all started. Only then did he realize that the wine he had drunk earlier had been spiked with a significant dose of neutralizer that was used to nullify all his powers and abilities.

Arondight's breath caught again as he looked at Red Hilt with fury, "What...did you do to me?"

Arondight tried to get up, but his legs couldn't handle the weakness, and he immediately collapsed into Red Hilt's arms.

"There's no point in fighting anymore, Arondight..." Red Hilt told him while his arms wrapped firmly around the weakened hero. When he was sure Arondight could no longer resist, he effortlessly lifted him into his arms, carrying him as though he weighed nothing.

Then, he turned to the staff with a cold and commanding tone and said, "Leave us. Now."

Upon hearing the order, the waiters and helpers immediately scrambled to leave, moving so quickly they didn't even dare to stop to collect their belongings. Silence settled over the hall when the last of the waiters and helpers disappeared through the doors. That's when Red Hilt took Arondight to a private room he had reserved exclusively for them.

With a quiet push from one of Red Hilt's shadowy extensions, it reached forward and pushed the door open to reveal a vast, private chamber. The room was as elegant as the grand dining hall with crystal chandeliers, gleaming floors, and expensive dark wood furniture. At its center stood a single, huge bed draped in white sheets, and beside it was a small table, neatly arranged with an unopened bottle of scented lube and a few sachets of flavored rubbers.

Red Hilt lowered Arondight carefully onto the edge of the bed. The only sound that could be heard in that elegant, vast space was the uneven rhythm of the young hero's breathing. Then from there, the villain began to crawl over Arondight's legs. He slowly shed his jacket and necktie, letting them fall into the floor, before reaching for the buttons of his undershirt. With each button he undid, his gaze was fixed on Arondight's fiery red face, barely capable of movement as he lay paralyzed on the white sheets.

Red Hilt had never really taken the time to study the young hero's face before, but now that he had that chance, he realized Arondight's face wasn't bad at all. In fact, the man was strikingly beautiful, especially his pair of deep blue eyes and that deceptively gentle face.

Yes, that face...

He wanted to see them twist and melt with pleasure under his touch.

"Don't worry, hero..." Red Hilt lustfully murmured as he shifted his weight, pressing his body against Arondight's incapacitated form. "I'll make sure you enjoy the night with me." Then, he dipped his head forward, placing a long, lewd kiss just beneath Arondight's ear, trailing down to the sensitive curve of his neck. "The only difference is...you won't be able to move as much as you like."

Arondight let out a strangled, helpless moan as Red Hilt's lips brushed down his neck. He wanted to scream, tear himself free from the oppressive weight of the villain, and run away, but he couldn't. He was unable to move. His body was so hot, it felt like he was burning from the inside. To make matters worse, beneath his elegant clothes, his shaft was starting to get hard and rise, pushing against the fabric of his trousers.

It was painful...

"I swear, I will kill you!" Arondight's voice broke with anger as he struggled to move. He attempted to twist his head away, to summon every single, genuine word of protest. Still, the paralysis held him like iron chains. Tears started forming in his eyes because he couldn't do anything about his situation. Despite that, Arondight still showed courage and defiance against the villain's will. He lunged forward, twisted his head, and sank his teeth into the solid muscle of Red Hilt's shoulder. The hero's teeth drove deep, tearing through the villain's undershirt and biting into the flesh. Blood immediately bloomed on the white fabric, and the coppery taste of blood filled Arondight's mouth.

Yet, Red Hilt didn't flinch, as if the hero's desperate attack were just some kind of mosquito bite for him.

"You're only torturing yourself, Arondight..." Red Hilt said to him, then he pulled Arondight's hair and forced the hero to meet his gaze. "First of all, I have no intention of hurting you. But if you insist like that, I won't hesitate to finish you off."

"Just kill me then!" the hero boldly ripped out those words while his eyes were starting to form tears. "I'd rather do that than have my remaining dignity trampled like this! I'm not what you think, Red Hilt! I'm not some draggy person who would randomly fuck someone I don't like! Everything that happened between us was a big mistake, and I swore to myself that it would never happen again! So if you're going to force me, you'd better just kill me! Right now!"

Those outbursts of words made the entire room fall into silence, and the only sound in the room was Arondight's ragged breaths of anger, accompanied by his weak and suppressed sobs. Red Hilt did not move as he stared into Arondight's fierce, tear-streaked pair of blue eyes, still burning with defiance and strong desire to die with honor rather than be defiled.

Something about it hit Red Hilt the wrong way.

First of all, he never actually intended to hurt the hero-teasing him, yes, maybe even breaking his composure a little, but deep down, there was also that urge to touch him again and to chase that same intoxicating pleasure he'd felt the first time they've done it.

And yet...because of those words Arondight threw at him, all of it vanished, and just like that, his appetite was gone.

Arondight had managed to do the one thing Red Hilt thought was impossible....

The hero killed his mood.

After a long, heavy pause, Red Hilt slowly drew back. Without a word, he reached for the blanket at the foot of the bed and draped it gently over Arondight's trembling form.

Arondight blinked. He was very surprised by the sudden turn of events.

"What are you doing? Why did you stop?" He suddenly blurted out in response to his confusion.

"I'm not in the mood anymore..." Then the villain got out of bed and picked up his jacket from the floor. Arondight could hardly believe what had just happened, that Red Hilt had backed down. All he could do that time was watch helplessly as the villain turned and walked away. At the same time, the sound of his heart kept on pounding inside his chest, as if to remind him that what had just happened wasn't a form of mercy from the villain...

It was a pity.