0. Heat

Spica drew in a trembling breath. Her wrists, held captive above her head, tingled with numbness.

But the presence before her was too overwhelming to pay attention to that.

“I told you not to come in.”

A voice so low it seemed to scrape the floor. A menacingly furrowed brow. A forehead with veins bulging as if suppressing something.

This was a side of Alkaid that ‘daytime’ Spica didn’t know.

“I……”

Her lips had dried up before she knew it. Spica reflexively stuck out her tongue to moisten them. The man’s red gaze crushed against her lips, following the movement of that small piece of flesh.

Spica’s body temperature shot up. Just from his gaze touching her, she felt like she might be devoured at any moment.

She wished he would. Her lips, moistened with that desire, parted slightly more. But Alkaid didn’t come closer. He only took her deeply into his eyes, like observing prey.

It was a frightening yet simultaneously coveted gaze.

Spica opened her mouth as if entranced.

“I wanted to help you…… That’s why.”

“Do you even know what you’re talking about?”

She knew, which was why she came in despite him blocking her. But when she tried to put it into words, the courage she had gathered scattered like sand.

Faced with her hesitation, Alkaid’s firm jawline stood out prominently. His breath, growling through his chewed lips, was hot. She might be driven out like this—cornered by his menacing presence, Spica shouted out as if to block him just as he opened his mouth.

“H-heat!”

“……”

“……It’s your heat, isn’t it.”

A gleaming light flashed through Alkaid’s red eyes. Spica flinched and trembled. His body, which had drawn close as if she’d given the right answer, now filled her entire field of vision. Above, below, to the sides.

However, Alkaid wasn’t satisfied with just occupying her gaze. He lifted her small chin as if snatching it up.

“Knowing that. Without any fear.”

His firm thumb pressed down hard on her lower lip. Through the gap that opened without resistance, something long and hard like a snake’s head pushed in.

When it touched her tongue before she could dodge, Spica gasped. Alkaid also growled fiercely in response.

The sound heard from beyond the wall every night.

The sound that made Spica feel strange.

“……”

It was no different now. A blush was added to her already reddened cheeks. The heat transferred from Alkaid coursed through every part of her body, warming her.

At the same time, his scent grew thicker. Spica could no longer stay still. Strength entered between her legs, and she kept fidgeting with her body. Like she herself was going into heat instead of him.

It was frustrating. Rather than being restrained like this, she wanted to embrace Alkaid.

“I-I’m not without fear.”

“Then.”

“That’s obviously……”

Spica stopped and closed her mouth. She had almost said ‘because you’re the commander’ like usual. But she hadn’t stepped foot here with the foolish thought of a subordinate caring for her superior. She was the one who had first crossed the line between knight commander and adjutant anyway. So……

“……Alkaid.”

Alkaid’s lips twisted at the name called out pleadingly.

However, the expression that had momentarily looked like a faint smile had vanished without a trace by the time the startled Spica blinked.

What remained was only the taut tension right before a predator pounces on its prey.

The beast that had been waiting only for this moment opened its mouth.

“Try it… once.”