Chapter 11: What Julius Carries

Julius had been a Prime for six years, and in six years he had never once been hungry for a person.

He was hungry now.

It had started the morning of the Court, a dull heat low in the belly, and by the second night it was all he could think about.

He sat on the edge of his bed in the Apocalypse suite with his shirt open and a hand pressed flat over his stomach.

There was nothing to see yet. There was only a faint, steady warmth, and the knowledge of it.

A pup.

His pup, and the omega's.

He had walked the length of the palace twice already to calm himself, and both times his feet had carried him to the same door.

The third time, he did not turn around.

He knocked once, and Lucas opened it with a half-eaten apple in his hand and his hair sticking up on one side.

"Julius," he said, mildly. "I thought you'd be asleep."

"I cannot sleep."

"Come in, then."

Julius stepped inside and shut the door behind him, and then stood there, because he did not know what came next.

Lucas finished the apple, dropped the core on a plate, and wiped his fingers on his shirt.

"Sit down," he said. "You look like you're about to break something."

Julius sat on the edge of the bed.

"The door at the end of the hall," Lucas said, leaning on the bedpost. "The one with the cradle on it."

"It was open last night, a hand's width, with a light inside."

"I went to look, and by the time I got there it was shut and locked, and nobody was in the corridor."

"Melinda," said Julius.

"Probably. She has the key."

"What is behind it?"

"I don't know. Nobody does." Lucas rubbed his eyes. "Not tonight, though. Tonight I'm only here for you. What do you want?"

It was the simplest question in the world, and Julius could not make his mouth answer it.

He had been raised to take. He had never been asked.

Lucas waited, patient and calm, with his grey eyes steady.

"You," Julius said at last, hoarsely. "I want you. Please."

The last word came out raw, and Lucas smiled at him, slow and pleased.

"Take your clothes off."

Julius stripped without a sound.

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