In the sun-drenched dining hall, the world was temporarily at peace.
Julian sat perched on his chair, scrubbed clean and smelling of lavender soap. The Begonia he had so laboriously "harvested" now sat in a polished ceramic pot at the center of the table. Between bites of lunch, he would pause, his crystalline eyes fixing on the vibrant petals with a look of profound, secret adoration.
He smiled at the flower as if it were a brother already born. The maid, watching him from a few feet away, felt her heart ache with the sweetness of it. Every time Julian caught her eye, he beamed, convinced that his mission was well under way.
Meanwhile, in the shadowed sanctuary of Maurice library, the atmosphere was vibrating with a much more volatile energy.
Maurice sat with his spine as straight as a scalpel, sipping a cup of Earl Grey. Leon lounged opposite him, his mismatched blue and brown eyes tracking every movement of the doctor's throat.
There was a peculiar infection in the Davenant household—a mercurial temper that seemed to haunt everyone under its roof. Isidore was a storm of pride; Zayn was a charming facade that hid a ruinous streak; and Maurice was the cold, clinical anchor who could turn into a flamethrower at a moment's notice.
Leon sighed, leaning forward until his shadow fell over Maurice's tea. "Well, Mr. Doctor... what was this 'treatment' you promised? I've been waiting quite patiently."
Maurice didn't flinch. He slowly placed the fine cup onto its saucer with a deliberate clink. He removed his glasses, exposing eyes that were narrowed into sharp, dangerous slits.
Leon blinked, maintaining a mask of wide-eyed innocence. He knew Maurice wasn't an instigator by nature, but he also knew exactly which buttons to press to short-circuit the man's professionalism.
Suddenly, Maurice lunged.
His hand darted out, fist curling into Leon's collar with surprising, lean strength. He yanked the larger man forward, closing the distance until their breaths mingled.
"Woah, Doctor," Leon chuckled, though his heart gave a heavy, visceral thud against his ribs. "What are you—"
"You need to learn how to behave," Maurice hissed, his voice a low, jagged rasp.
Leon's brow arched. A slow, wicked grin spread across his face. "Well, I thought I was being quite the gentleman. What more do you want? Should I behave better in your bed then?"
Maurice's jaw tightened. He felt the heat of Leon's words, a siren call to the chaos he usually spent his life suppressing. He didn't want to melt; he wanted to conquer.
He didn't give Leon the chance to finish his thought. Maurice leaned in and crashed his lips against Leon's in a kiss that was less of a greeting and more of a declaration of war.
Leon's eyes widened in genuine surprise before his instincts took over. His hands traveled down to Maurice's waist, his large palms gripping the doctor's hips and pulling him flush against his body.
Maurice flinched at the sudden, overwhelming contact, but he refused to yield. He had promised himself that today, Leon wouldn't be the one holding the leash.
With a surge of strength fueled by pure, unadulterated pride, Leon managed to twist their positions, pinning Maurice back against the upholstery of the couch.
"Well, well, Doctor," Leon purred, his voice thick with a dark, melodic amusement. "I see how you want this to go."
Maurice's face was a frantic shade of rose, but his eyes remained defiant. "You are... still just as disobedient as a stray dog."
Leon stopped. He reached up, stroking his chin with a single, thoughtful finger. He looked at Maurice, his mismatched eyes glowing with a predatory light.
"Hmm. How should I perform so you find me... truly attractive?"
Leon stood up abruptly, only to lean back over Maurice, pinning him down with one knee wedged between the doctor's thighs. Maurice gasped, his breath hitching as Leon reached up and loosened his own tie with a slow, agonizing drag of silk.
Leon ran a hand through his blonde hair, his expression shifting into something dangerously playful. "How about this",
"my darling?"
Maurice stared blankly, his mind struggling to keep up with the physical onslaught. "What the fuck was that supposed to be?"
Leon blinked, then laughed. "Ah, so that wasn't enough? Then... I have a better idea."
Leon reached into his pocket and produced a small, silver square. The foil shimmered under the library lights. With a daring, feline grace, he caught the edge of the packet between his teeth, leaning down until he was inches from Maurice's nose.
"Wanna try with this?" Leon mumbled through the silver foil.
Maurice's face went from rose to a deep, bruised crimson. His scientific mind tried to analyze the situation, but his body was already screaming. If I try that... will it be different?
Leon seemed to read the thoughts as they flickered across Maurice's face. He dropped the packet onto Maurice's chest and pinned his wrists to the cushion.
"I promise you, it's entirely different," Leon whispered, his voice a low vibration. "It will make you feel ten times more tender than your medical journals suggest."
"Fuck you!" Maurice barked, though his voice lacked any real venom. "I haven't said yes to anything yet!"
Leon leaned down, his lips brushing against the shell of Maurice's ear. "But I know you want it. And also stop using words like that?"
"What words?" Maurice snapped.
"Words that make it sound like you're the one in charge," Leon chuckled, his hand moving to grip Maurice's chin, forcing him to look up. "Even knowing that you're the one who is going to end up utterly undone by me."
Rage and desire warred behind Maurice's eyes. "Fuck you, you giant, beast!"
He leaned down, his lips finding the sensitive line of Maurice's throat. He didn't bite—not yet. He licked the pulse point, feeling the frantic, galloping rhythm of the doctor's heart.
Maurice let out a sharp, shameful gasp, his eyes fluttering closed as the library fell silent, save for the sound of their shallow, synchronized breathing.
"See?" Leon murmured against his skin. "I know you like this. And also I know you like me."
"Don't think too highly of yourself, you... you bullshit artist," Maurice groaned.
The silver foil of the packet didn't just tear; it shrieked, a jagged punctuation mark in the heavy silence of the library.
Leon's mismatched eyes—one the color of a summer sky, the other a deep, earthy brown—shimmered with a predatory mirth. He tossed the shredded remnants onto the plush rug with a flick of his wrist.
Maurice's head snapped to the side, his gaze fixing on a row of leather-bound medical texts as if they could offer him a professional escape.
"Oh, come on, Doctor," Leon purred, his voice a low, melodic vibration that seemed to bypass Maurice's ears and go straight to his spine. "I know you like it this way. Admit it."
Maurice's brow furrowed in a flicker of genuine confusion. "What the hell do you mean, 'this way'?"
Leon didn't answer with words. He surged forward, his large, calloused hands hooking under Maurice's armpits. With a grunt of effortless strength, he hoisted the doctor from the velvet sofa. Maurice gasped, his feet momentarily dangled before Leon deposited him toward the massive mahogany desk that dominated the center of the room.
In one violent, sweeping motion, Leon's arm cleared the surface. Medical journals, fountain pens, and anatomical sketches clattered to the floor in a chaotic cacophony.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Maurice barked, his voice cracking with a mixture of indignation and an electric, burgeoning fear.
"You're so narrow-minded, Doctor," Leon murmured, his hands coming down to pin Maurice against the cool, polished wood. "You think intimacy only belongs in a bed? How clinical of you."
Maurice stared up at him, his narrow eyes wide and reflecting the amber glow of the library lamps. He couldn't believe the sheer audacity. The desk was his sanctuary, his place of logic and order, and now Leon was turning it into an altar of ruin.
"Is this how you behave, you bastard?" Maurice hissed, his pride stinging even as his heart hammered a frantic rhythm against his ribs.
Leon leaned in, his face inches from Maurice's, and gave a slow, deliberate wink. "Just wait and see how I can satisfy you this time, Doctor. I'm feeling particularly... inspired."
Maurice felt utterly untethered. He opened his mouth to deliver a scathing rebuttal, a command to stop, but the words died in his throat. Leon had already crossed the boundaries of polite society, shredding the doctor's professional veneer along with that silver packet.
The moment Leon pushed forward, the air left Maurice's lungs in a sharp, jagged exhale.
Leon's face flushed a deep, handsome bronze as he leaned down, his breath hot against Maurice's ear. "You're going to understand everything today. Every detail. Every friction. It's going to be crystal clear."
He paused, his eyes searching Maurice's face with a searing intensity. "Because last time we did this, you were drowning in scotch. You were a blur of whiskey and bad decisions. But today? Today, you're sober. You're going to feel exactly what you do in your drunken daze."
Maurice's face ignited, a scorched-earth scarlet spreading from his neck to his hairline. He was so ashamed, so profoundly mortified by the lack of a curtain between him and the reality of their bodies.
Leon's tongue traced a wet, searing path up the side of his throat, and Maurice found he couldn't stop the involuntary arch of his back.
How can he be this strong? Maurice wondered dimly, his mind fracturing. He tried to shift, to regain some semblance of leverage, but Leon's hands remained like iron manacles on his wrists, pinning him to the desk.
Then came the first hard thrust—a forceful, uncompromising movement that sent a shockwave through Maurice's entire system.
"Ah—! Fuck!" Maurice cried out, his voice a raw, unscripted sound that echoed off the bookshelves. He squeezed his eyes shut, his legs instinctively curling behind Leon's waist, dragging the "giant beast" closer as if trying to merge their very atoms.
Leon leaned in, his lips brushing against Maurice's trembling mouth. "I'm doing it, Maurice. I'm really doing it."
"I can... I can tell, you idiot!" Maurice gasped, his anger failing him as a wave of liquid heat crashed over his senses.
"How does it feel, Doctor?" Leon teased, his voice a low, gravelly rumble of satisfaction. "Tell me the anatomy of it. Is it tender? Or Is it sharp?"
Maurice was too far gone for medical terminology. His pride was the only thing left holding him together, even as his body betrayed him with every rhythmic rock of Leon's hips. "I... I don't... it's just..."
Leon licked his upper lip, a predatory smirk flashing on his face. He increased the tempo, his movements becoming more urgent, more demanding. He wanted to leave Maurice breathless, and he was succeeding.
Maurice's moans became a frantic, staccato melody, punctuated by the occasional curse. He called Leon a bastard, a beast, a walking disaster—but his hands, finally freed from the pinning grip, were clawing at Leon's back, pulling him in with a desperate, starving intensity.
Leon chuckled, the sound vibrating against Maurice's chest.
"Today, I'm teaching you a lesson, Maurice. A permanent one.
So you won't ever think of getting with anyone else. Not a nurse, not a patient, not some random Alpha at a bar. Only me."
He kept rocking against him, his movements possessive and grand. And God, Maurice actually liked it. He had never experienced anything quite this visceral, this raw. It was as if Leon were stripping away the "Doctor" and finding the man underneath, layer by painful, beautiful layer.
Maurice wouldn't let him know, though. Not yet. He wasn't ready to surrender the last of his dignity to this golden-haired lunatic. He bit his lip, trying to stifle the sounds of his pleasure, but Leon saw the way his eyes rolled back, the way his fingers dug into the muscle of Leon's shoulders.
"You like it," Leon whispered, a note of triumph in his voice. "Don't you, Maurice?"
Maurice didn't answer. He couldn't. He just held on as the library blurred into a kaleidoscope of mahogany, leather, and the overwhelming scent of the man who had finally broken his heart—and his temper—on the top of his own desk.