Chapter 4 - "I came."

A silence enveloped the room, too heavy for Nate to even hear Dante's panting. His eyes had been stuck on those slanted grey ones that seemed to have brightened excitedly. His palm still offered Nate the knife and the end of the chain attached to the collar squeezing his neck. Nate flinched when Dante moved, only to realize that Dante reached the hair tie from his bun and pulled it, letting his hair fall, brushing along his shoulders. Even Nate couldn't help but observe him, mesmerized by how he tilted his head backwards and shifted his head from left to right to freshen up his messy hair.

Nate flinched again when Dante met his gaze once more. However, he noticed the way Dante's eyebrows curled, his eyes glimmering as if he was on the brim of tears. He bit his bottom lip, lowering his arms to his sides and glancing towards his palms before asking, "What is it? Y-You...you don't like what you see?"

Nate had not spoken yet, gulping when he saw Dante's fingers drop the knife beside him and reach for the next button on his dress shirt. When Nate realized what he was doing, he instinctively leaned downwards, his mind completely pushing away the assassin murderous rumours and all the threats Dante had mentioned, instead reaching for his hands and stopping him from continuing down the placket.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Nate pushed his hands away, closing the other buttons as well and hiding the chain back into his shirt.

"No, no," Dante's eyes began to shift back to how they were earlier, somber and ruthless. His entire face seemed to sharpen as if had, the pink in his cheeks also vanishing the longer he stared at Nate fixing his shirt. "Be how you were before," he shoved Nate's hand away, grabbing the knife again and extending it towards his palm. "Take the knife," his voice had darkened, no longer soft as it was a few seconds earlier, "act as if you're going to stab me."

"No," Nate rapidly shook his head, pushing himself to his feet with a frown. "Why do you want me to—"

"Alright, you're of no use to me. I thought maybe you'd be able to..." He paused for a moment, rising to his feet and patting down his dress pants before lifting his eyes to meet Nate's bemused ones. "Never mind." He straightened his shirt, pushing it back inside his dress pants before stretching his shoulders. "I'm heading out," he yawned, waving his hand dismissively, "Raphael will be back to finish the job."

Nate felt his lips begin to quiver again. "What do you mean finish the job?"

"The obvious—to kill you." When he saw Nate's gaze widen, he added, "Both of you." His gaze scrutinized Nate's features, squeezing his lips together as he eyed him from his feet all the way to his ginger curls, but then sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "It's unfortunate, you would have been really useful. You're kind of cute too."

As he began walking away, Nate felt as if ever single of his steps were signing his death warrant. Time had slowed down exponentially, feeling as if every single second felt like an hour as his mind raced with thoughts of what Dante had wanted and how he could have been useful. He had no idea why he had to tease him or act as if he was going to stab him, and the worse was that Dante had began undressing himself. It was only then that Nate finally connected the dots, gasping when he realized what Dante had been begging to receive.

"You're..." he gulped, his eyes widening as he saw Dante's firm fingers reached onto his black hair and twirl his strands into a bun. "You're submissive."

Dante's footsteps halted, Nate hearing a long exhale from him. "Now that," he glanced over his shoulder with a smirk, "I am." He returned his gaze to the front door and shrugged his shoulders, lifting his hands as well, "I thought you'd be able to satisfy me after you screamed at me today and I adored when you threatened to kill me." He began walking forward again, "But you're useless to me. And you have to pay your debt for threatening to take my life, so—"

"I'll do it!" Nate screamed, instinctively taking a step forward. "Let me do it; I can be more useful than you think." He paused for a second, thinking of the screaming Aunt Judy being dragged from the room. "But only if you promise not to hurt my aunt."

That made Dante's heart begin to rush with hormones again, pumping the blood harder than it ever had before. He felt himself slowly begin to pant again, his chest feeling warm already as he turned to face him. It was easy as the thought of being dominated, causing his body to begin throbbing. He tilted his head to the side, not yet giving up his authoritative stance as he placed his palm on his hips and motioned with his chin towards the ground. "I promise. Now grab the knife and tease me—"

"Excuse-me?"

Dante rolled his eyes, seeing Nate step forward to approach him without grabbing it. "You're failing already. I said grab the fucking knife and—"

Smack.

Dante's eyes blanked, stuck on the blue eyes who angrily stared back at him. His fingers slowly reached for his cheek, slowly pressing on the skin and realize that it was stinging. Did he just—?

"Get on your fucking knees."

Dante gulped, his body moving on its own as it instantly fell onto the ground. The sudden change in Nate's demeanour, as if he was royalty, even maybe an emperor, was causing his entire body to feel as if all of its blood was new, speeding through every vessel with a twinkle he had never felt before.

The adrenaline continued to be pumped through his body and it almost felt as if his heart was burning for more. The hidden lust that he kept trapped into a cave could finally be opened and Dante's breath grew much heavier, his entire body beginning to slightly tremble.

Nate's voice had darkened, deepened, sounded as if he could kill if he was given the chance.

"You better not tell me what to do again."

Dante felt his heart skip a beat. He didn't even look when he he whispered in a shaky breath, "O-Okay."

Nate noticed the way his entire demeanour changed again, as if he was a lost puppy who needed to be saved. His breathing never calmed, his fingers even trembling from excitement. To him, it was lust.

But to Nate...

He raised his palm and slammed it against the side of Dante's face, hearing Dante grunt from the unexpected hit. "I don't remember saying that you could talk back." Dante attempted to glance upwards for a second but when he did, Nate gritted his teeth and pushed his head down.

"I didn't say you could fucking look at me either," he spat.

He heard Dante yelp when he said that, lowering his eyes towards his knees and waiting on any further instructions. His entire body felt as if it would start squirming any minute; every single second from this, it felt as if his entire soul would explode into forewords. It had been a while he had felt this way, and even so, with Nate, it all felt real. The hatred, the dominance, the smacks and the curses—it all felt ingrained deep inside his heart as if that had been his role all along.

"If you disobey me again..." Nate folded his arms, glancing around the room before remembering that there was a knife laying on the floor a few steps away. He snorted, reaching for it and leaning towards Dante, viciously gripping his jaw with his thumb and index finger, lifting his face to eye the sharp blade of the knife. "You'll get a slice for every time you don't follow my orders. Do I make myself clear?"

Dante gulped—Nate could see it in his eyes; that was what he relished. His irises seemed to quiver, even his tongue could not sit still in his mouth, both his lip quivering as sweat began to form on the corner of his forehead. And his cheeks had gotten pink again, almost red at this point, as he itched to feel more, he wanted more.

"Y-Ye—"

"Did I fucking say you could speak?" Nate suddenly brought the knife close to Dante's face, noticing that his eyes had diverted and were stuck on the sharp edge. "What did I say would happen if you disobey order, huh?" He twirled the knife before slowly approaching it towards Nate's shoulder, seeing his eyes follow that direction as well. "You weren't listening, we're you?" He gently placed the blade onto Dante's skin, not pressing hard enough to cause any wound. But then, his face contorted and he spat, "Then I'll make you listen to me—"

"Stop!"

The push from Dante was unexpected, throwing Nate off-guard as he fell backwards, the knife tumbling onto the ground. Both of them were breathing terribly hard, an uncertain spiralling between them, Nate unsure if he was to continue with his act to fulfill Dante's desires, and Dante unsure if he should reveal the truth to Nate as to why he pushed him to stop.

Dante seemed to be avoiding Nate's gaze, keeping his eyes lowered to the ground, his nail itching his own thigh. From the way his shoulders sulked, Nate assumed he had failed, his fate being sealed since he hadn't done enough to release Dante's desires. Neither of them spoke for a few minutes, Nate merely staring at the rise and fall of Dante's shoulders whenever he inhaled and exhaled. All Nate wanted was to assure that his aunt would survive, but by the looks of how things were going as of now, he wasn't sure that would happen.

Another minute passed and Nate felt his mouth begin to dry, scratching the back of his neck. Dante hadn't even moved yet and it had been almost five minutes since he shoved him away; he almost seemed furious from how his palms were squeezed into fists. Nate couldn't withstand the silence anymore and quietly asked, "What...did I...are you hurt?"

"No."

And that was it. Nothing more, nothing less. He kept his eyes staring at the ground, Nate unable to examine the details of his face. If he hadn't been hurt, did that mean Nate had failed? Based on the kind of submission Dante seemed to be into, he was aroused by pain which Nate may had failed since he hadn't inflicted much on him. But that would be easy to improve; he could definitely attempt more hits on Dante that could steam their encounter.

He needed to ask though in order to be sure. After a hard swallow, he tried again. "There wasn't enough pain, right? That's why your mad."

"No Nathan." The iciness in his tone made Nate's heart feel as if it would freeze any second. It was clear Dante had returned to his original state; his voice had thickened and all his muscles had tensed, clearly to intimidate dominantly.

But Nate needed to know what had happened; this was the only option in keeping Aunt Judy and himself alive.

"Was it the knife? I should have cut you, right?" Nate pushed himself forward before Dante could respond. "I can fix that, I'll do it next time, you just have to trust m—"

"Nathan." Dante finally lifted his eyes, revealing his visage which caused Nate's eyes to widen in surprise.

There was a long grin across Dante's lips, beaming as if he was a young child that had finally gotten his favourite candy. Overjoyed, he widened his arms and couldn't help but laugh when he admitted, "I came."