Divorce Contract C71

Chapter 71

The body in his arms, having no more to release, reached a dry and empty climax. The scant pre-cum that beaded forth was far too clear to be mistaken for seed. Go Igyeol rose on his toes, breath quick and shallow. Seo Dohyeon, his gaze resting on the hollow of that sunken stomach, at last released the fragile figure he had held so tightly. His eyes flickered from Igyeol’s flushed, panting face to the hanging stand where the fluids slowly dwindled, drop by drop.

The lids that had fluttered so faintly lifted, and the dusky irises, cleared for an instant of lust, turned upon him. Ensnared in his heat, the omega forgot for a fleeting moment his past—erased from his mind the cruelties this Alpha had visited upon him—and yearned only for more.

“Quickly… quickly…”

Tears still shimmered in Igyeol’s eyes as Seo Dohyeon denied him once more. To silence his pleading, he pressed their lips together, and when Igyeol’s body writhed, begging, his hands moved instead. The cock, never again reaching full hardness, wilted and rose in helpless rhythm. Seo Dohyeon poured forth pheromones, caressing the fragile body with gentleness until Igyeol’s strength gave way, and he collapsed into unconsciousness. That tear-stained face held his gaze fast.

The corners of his eyes, his cheeks, even the tip of his nose were reddened. He had wept much, and been just as much aroused. Dohyeon took a warm cloth and with painstaking care cleansed the fluids that clung to his body, then laid him upon a cot. He stripped the soiled sheets from the bed, spread fresh linen, and returned Igyeol to the clean mattress, covering him with a thick quilt up to his chin.

Even as Igyeol slumbered deeply, Dohyeon could not wholly ease his mind, uncertain when he might stir again. He worried the fevered body, now cooled, might turn chill, and so raised the temperature of the room until it grew almost stifling, releasing his pheromones in full measure.

Lifting a towel from the floor, he stepped into the bath. His arousal strained so hard against his trousers it threatened to pierce through. Though he had aided Igyeol to climax countless times, he himself had not once spent, and his lower belly throbbed in pain. The absurdity of being roused even in such circumstances made him laugh bitterly as he flung wide the bathroom door. He cooled his body beneath cold water, washing away the heat, and when he had finished, he went to the nurse’s desk to request fresh disinfectant, bandages, and ointment.

The nurse provided what he asked, yet suggested gently that if the bandages had come undone, she herself might better see to them. Dohyeon refused without pause. The tangled pheromones made plain what had transpired in the chamber. Even those ignorant of the ways of lust would understand the scent.

Though the staff all kept their tongues, Dohyeon knew well the whispers that circled regarding himself and Igyeol. He feared adding needless eyes and ears, feared giving the rumors fresh flesh to grow upon, and feared, too, Igyeol’s shame. Until the heat abated, he would not allow another to cross the threshold. His stance was firm, and the nurse, retreating, instead explained the proper method of binding.

“Wind the bandage thus, once more over itself, and it shall hold without tape.”

“May I also receive a draught of painkillers?”

“Oh—does the patient complain of pain?”

“I think he soon may, and would rather have them ready.”

Smiling, the nurse gathered what he required. She glanced up at the Alpha, tall and unmarred, so unlike the wasted omega within, then quickly lowered her eyes. When his back had retreated down the corridor, she clicked her tongue softly.

In rumor, the birthing parent was pitiable, and the spouse, cold. In truth, the omega was even more sorrowful to behold, and to her own eyes—even without knowing the details—there was something achingly tragic about him. Though propriety demanded she hide her bitterness, the nurse herself was an omega, who had borne and raised children, and to see another in such condition—brought low by his Alpha—made her blood run cold with distaste.

As expected, Igyeol’s heat did not last beyond two days. After the first night, he slept near endlessly until it passed. Dohyeon, his eyes upon the clumsily wound bandages, saw at last the faint stir of fingers. At once he sought his face.

His lips, dry and cracked, parted. The well-shaped brows twitched faintly. Long lashes, fanned like a brush, quivered until at last those dulled eyes appeared. Even the flutter of his lashes seemed heavy.

“Go Igyeol.”

“……”

“Are you well?”

It was as though he were submerged beneath water, hearing all through muffled echoes. Igyeol, staring at the white ceiling, rolled his eyes aside to find Seo Dohyeon. His gaze widened, startled, and his voice, calling Dohyeon’s name, filled his ears thick and heavy. But the moment he discerned the Alpha’s scent, he could not bear it and retched forth bitter bile.

“Hhk—urgh…!”

He had begged him to stop, pleaded for him not to—but Seo Dohyeon had once more ignored him, doing as he pleased. Igyeol wondered why he must be so merciless. Yet at the end of all thought lay only one conclusion: because he was the sort of man to whom such things could be done.

Even so… he need not have. Even so, just once, he could have yielded. The unspoken words knotted in his chest, tightening into pain. Better to die than live like this, he thought—but then he remembered the child who would be left alone. Death was no choice.

“Why! Why did you… why!”

When Dohyeon moved to brace him and place a painkiller upon his tongue, the body in his arms convulsed in rebellion.

“Hhh, no…! No, I won’t! I don’t want it! Ugh, no—ahh!”

“Igyeol, it is only a painkiller—!”

“I don’t need pheromones anymore, do you hear? I don’t want it, I don’t—I won’t swallow it…!”

Coughing and choking, he vomited bile again upon Dohyeon’s clothes and the sheets, thrashing to break free. Dohyeon, the pill still clutched in hand, thought of the pheromone supplements he had once forced upon him. He remembered pressing the tablets into his mouth, remembered what acts had followed, and at last understood what memories those had left behind.

“No… I don’t want it. I don’t… please…”

Before his eyes, Dohyeon cast the painkiller aside.

“Hhh, hhhff…”

The frail body quivered violently, lips once pale now tinged blue. He pressed the nurse call, then moved to steady him, but Igyeol shoved him away and sat upright.

“I need… to wash. I must wash, hh—I must… there’s a smell. A strange smell. On me, it’s… it’s clinging…”

“What smell? There is no smell—now, listen—!”

“I asked for suppressants! Why would you not give them! Why… not once have you granted me what I asked! I told you I hated it, told you it was vile—did you think the punishments you dealt were not enough?!”

“No. That is not so. Your body is too weakened for suppressants. They would—”

Smack! The sound cracked in the air. Dohyeon’s head whipped aside. Igyeol stared at his own hand, as if stunned he had struck another, and his whole body trembled. His breath came ragged.

“Hhh, hhh… wh-what have I… hh…”

“It is all right. Look at me. Look at me, Igyeol.”

“Hhk, why… why do you make me like this…!”

The meek, too-kind Igyeol, shaking, reached trembling fingers toward the reddened cheek he had struck.

“Do not weep. It is all right. Look at me. It is all right.”

Again and again, Dohyeon repeated the words, striving to soothe him. But Igyeol’s tears fell unceasing as he averted his gaze and slipped from the bed. Dohyeon did not need to ask where he was going. He knew.

He fretted that such a harmless blow should weigh upon Igyeol as guilt. It was plain he was shaken. Dohyeon had told him many times it was fine, yet he would not believe. He followed swiftly as Igyeol fled toward the bath.

“Your right hand, and left arm—both are injured. You cannot wash yourself.”

“……”

“If water seeps in, the wounds will worsen. And if they worsen, you will need my help again.”

“Then I would rather they worsen… than take your help.”

Igyeol slipped past him into the bath and shut the door. He sought to turn the lock, but the latch was broken, and no click of closure came. He tried again, pressing the bolt in and out, but soon abandoned the effort. If he meant to enter, he would enter regardless.