63. Submission

"Sipping tea while I languish in abject pain."

The sight of an unexpected lover walking in through the main door startled Ari. He feared that Rey might have discovered his meeting with Ned again. 'Hold on... He was in the hospital all this while. Therefore, he has no way of knowing.' "I wasn't expecting you."

Mun snickered at Ari's nonchalance. "This is going to be interesting.

"Stop it, Mun," Ari warned, smelling a flicker of tease from his friend. He turned his attention to Rey and slurped his tea before addressing him again. "Last I heard of you was you being attended to by my..." Ati cut himself short, spotting a familiar fiend walking in behind Rey and finished off with a hollow tone. "...My brother."

"Hello, big brother," Ari's brother appeared to be full of enthusiasm. "Mr Mun, it's lovely finding you both here."

"It appears you two are very close." Ari's remark expressed displeasure.

"A mare phone call you couldn't grant me?" Rey lamented, seeming unconcerned about his lover's disapproving tone, but Ari did not have it.

"You went looking for trouble on your own. What did you expect?"

"Go on." Mun snickered further, but Ari ignored his catalysis.

"I run a business, Rey, and you were in capable hands as I see it." Ari gestured at his brother. "What would I be doing once I got there? Pity, weep, sympathise with your chaotic state, which mark you, was of your own volition?"

Rey's expression remained unimpressed. He knew Ari was right, but he still felt wronged. "Can we talk in private? My sister is parking my car, and soon, she will be on the way up."

Feeling disturbed, Ari sized up Mun, concluding there wasn't much he didn't already know. Besides, he stubbornly wished to continue unwinding on his day off while enjoying a hot cup of tea undisturbed. 

Rey read Ari's body language and decided to join in on his obstinance. "Allow me to address the fact that I forgave you for kissing Chairman Ned, but you couldn't spare time to come and see me in hospital admission."

"What the...!" Mun exclaimed mischievously, standing up from his seat. "Are we going threesome now?"

Ari grunted, then stood up, placing his half-drunk cup of tea inside the sink. "Follow me or get out." 

Rey obliged, slamming the door shut behind him.

"You brought my brother here again."

"If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have recovered."

"Then what are you blaming me for?"

"Neglecting your boyfriend, that's what! You are so unattached to me, Manager Ari! You never called to check on me!"

"I kept tabs with your sister of your welfare!"

"I missed you."

Dumbfounded by Rey's sudden change of tone, Ari frowned. "So, this is why you are throwing a tantrum."

"Couldn't you tell?"

Ari let out an exasperated sigh and covered his eyes.

"It hurts everywhere." Rey sulked, seeking to drive more attention to himself. "I lost consciousness several times."

"Is it that bad?" Ari spoke in action, lifting Rey's pullover. He stared at the fading bruises for a while without uttering a single word, his thoughts taking him back to what Ned had cautioned him of.

"Don't worry," Rey assured, seeing that he may have gone overboard with his guilt-tripping. "It looks better than before."

"They pulverised you tremendously."

Rey chuckled, his hand reaching to caress his lover's cheek. "This is the look I wanted from you, one of concern and care. I almost thought you stopped loving me for a brief moment."

Ari looked up instantly. "Even in agony, you have time to be a jokester."

Rey smiled and reached for a gentle kiss. He groaned, pressing further onto his lover's lips, but Ari moved back. "Everyone is here."

"I don't care." Rey was quick to steal another kiss from his resisting lover, and knowing Ari, it was only a matter of time before he gave in.

Ari flinched upon feeling Rey's hand reaching his chest, then pressure on his left nipple. Grabbing Rey by the chin, he pulled away and insisted they put an end to their steaming act. However, the expression he wore showed the opposite of his words.

Lifting his lover, Rey felt a sharp pain in his lower abdomen but ignored it and slowly but surely, he strode to the bathroom and turned the shower on, the sound of splatter swallowing up their moans. Despite the agony he felt from every movement, he pressed on, each undressing the other until they were left skin to skin, chest to chest.

Within minutes, the tub was almost full to the brim, and Ari reached to turn it off but slipped and fell inside it. Rey burst out laughing, and out of embarrassment, Ari pulled him into his shame.

The two embarked on their mission, their bodies heated up for the taking. Rey felt more relief since having the feel of water on his bruises smothered his pain, but Ari's body pressing him teased the line between his pleasure and pain.

'He's going to go all the way.' Ari thought as he felt Rey beginning to prepare. "T-This may be a bad idea for such a confined space."

"You say that, yet you are as turned on as I am." Rey persisted for a kiss, then pulled away. "You taste like herbal tea."

Ari moaned, feeling another of Rey's fingers jab in. There was no turning back now. As heated as the bathroom was, as hazy as he felt, drowsy, he'd missed his lover just as much.

Muffling another moan, he began to feel a premature release on it's way. "...W-Wait..." But his plea was disregarded as Rey increased his tempo. Grabbing onto Rey's hand, he squeezed tight, followed by an involuntary spasming that sent his body twisting, splashing water everywhere.

Slumping on Rey's chest, he gasped for whatever was left of the humid air. Rey patted his back with his free hand and whispered sweet nothings to him. "I want to hold time, Ari."

"T-Take your f-fingers out first."

"And put something else in? Why yes, of course."

"You are full of mischief t-today."

"I've just begun." Rey held on tightly to Ari's waist, turning him swiftly without so much as a warning. Grunting from the feeling of entry, his mind went blank momentarily as he savored the fleshly sensual pleasure. With his lover's back facing him, he could not see the expression Ari was making. He figured it must be twisted in agony, but the shuddering told him what he wished to know.

"...Aaaah! Hnggg..."

Ari's continuous whimpering only pressed on the need to penetrate faster and delve deeper. It turned Rey on the louder he became, prompting him to spontaneously pursued even greater exultations. Soon, the musky bathroom was filled with vulgar sounds of their soaking bodies slapping together.

Rey grabbed Ari's neck when it fell back and looked at his dazed self. "Hot...inside...Ari..." He whispered into Ari's ear, then shamelessly moaning next to it as his other hand trailed from his lover's chest towards the abdomen and pressed. "I can feel everything."

Suddenly, Ari began shuddering again, his whimpers changing to a continuous gasp, his heart thudding so loud that his lover could almost hear it.

Rey knew he'd grazed onto something. And with that realisation, an insidious grin formed on his face, his intention clear as day.

"P-Please...no...!" Ari's body stiffened from the sudden potent entry, a loud cry escaping him a millisecond later. At this point, he didn't give a care any longer about those outside because right now, he and Rey were the only two people on earth, their submission no longer at war but unified into one.

Sharing a passionate kiss, parting only to catch his breath and were at it again, they went on, one spin after another; floor, wall, door... It became an endless spur, a splatter of sex, a hunger for ecstasy, a pursuit of love.

Ari was the first to throw in the towel, demanding to take a break, and when Rey didn't oblige, he grabbed his hair to pull him out of his trance.

"You've smitten me up indeed, making my heart satisfyingly full that I've begun to want not just a love relationship, but a life one as well, pouring with intimacy, fondness, warmth and deep attachment."

Ari snickered, resting his forehead on Rey's. "This is what I get for courting under my age. Unquenchable stamina and a pressing need to lavish me with praises."

"I meant every word."

"You lied to your parents though. I was the one who confessed to you first."

"And now I'm the first at making it official."

"You must like having sex with me then." Ari teased. "It has left you far from the reality of truth. These feelings that have your tongue flatteringly sweet, I wonder how long it will last before your rogue self awakens once more."

Rey appeared hesitant for a moment. There was nothing much he could do to defend his headstrong character, but he knew he wanted Ari to have faith in him regardless.

"Manager Ari, I hope that one day, when you become tired of me, you won't stop me from trying to rekindle what we have now. That is my only request to you."