"Then why not satisfy your ulterior motives?"

"Who is seducing whom now?" Mahad was weak to your words and he showed it not only with his own but with his gentle expression, too. You had no excuse this time, and you more than allowed the brunet to gently place his hand on your cheek and bring your faces closer to one another. Leaning forward slightly, you ended up pushing the young man back a bit when your lips locked.

You now understood why kissing was described as melting because every inch of your body dissolved into Mahad's, even if you were doing it only for the second time. Your fingers gently gripped his hair, the braid you had previously made loosening until the hazel-colored strands were scattered all over the place again. Mahad was certainly not reluctant with his lips, but rather with his hands.

You being lightly dressed with only the beige nightgown that just barely covered the needed areas, the young man didn't know where to allow his arms and hands to rest. You noticed this certain lack of body contact and tried to imply with your actions that you wanted Mahad to hold you. And so, upon shifting even closer to him to the point where you had gotten on top of his lap with your chest pressing against his own, Mahad no longer hesitated and settled his hands on the sides of your waist.

The kiss could no longer be considered as an innocent one, both because tongues were involved and because of the way the both of you were touching each other and exploring one another's body. At some point your hands had travelled from the young man's shoulder lower to his muscular biceps — it was a shame your eyes weren't open enough to pay attention to how his dark skin complemented them. Had Mahad always been this well-built? When had he bulked up so considerably that you hadn't noticed?

You became more sensitive with every passing moment, you went as far as to shiver when you felt something rather cold compared to Mahad's body warmth come in contact with your bare skin. The source of that momentary chill was none other than the multiple golden bracelets which the male wore around his wrist and all the way up until his elbow.

Even though Mahad was touching you through your light clothes, you still began feeling somewhat improper. It wasn't necessarily in a bad way, rather it was more like the male you lied on top of was awakening desires and lust you never knew you possessed. The same could have been said about you and your effect on Mahad too, though.

Having you on top of himself, straddling his lap and kissing him so deeply, Mahad was no longer satisfied with only your lips. Even though he had mentally told himself that he would be gentle and responsible with you concerning his actions, he separated his lips from your own which for those few moments felt lonely and almost numb when they were left. You weren't kept waiting for more than a second or two when the brunet attacked your neck with the same attention he had been giving your lips up until now.

You caught your breath with a faintly open mouth, resulting in a small gasp as you felt Mahad's lips nibble the skin of your neck. Your hands had instinctively found their way to his brown hair as you tried not to emit any odd or off-putting sounds. You thought that you were the only one who was getting strange and rather indecent thoughts about the way Mahad's large hands held you pressed firmly against him, so obviously you were embarrassed.

But you were soon reassured, if one could even call it that, when you felt a certain physical reaction that was being pressed against you on Mahad's part. Afraid that you would stir him up even more if you were to budge too much on top of him, you attempted to remain in your current position in which your body made an S-curve, causing you to appear taller than the young man for once.

Wanting to pleasure Mahad the way he was doing it to you, you cupped both of the male's cheeks with your hands and distanced him from the area on your neck which despite all the pecking that had been done to it had remained of the same color. Mahad would not do something as rude and careless as to leave proof of your early disloyalty to his childhood friend and your husband.

After taking a good look at the young man's gorgeous grayish-blue eyes, you proceeded to near your face to his, your eyes sluggishly closing, until your lips lowered on Mahad's. Slow and sensual, your lips moved upwards and downwards in a developed rhythm until the brunet stilled his in order to drag his tongue over your lips. It seemed like you had developed a liking to kissing, and it wasn't even that questionable given how skilled Mahad seemed to be at it. It had made you lose your breath to the point that you almost forgot to inhale through your nose.

You could feel not only your cheeks burning, but your ears and the tips of your shoulders as well as you tried to keep up with Mahad's swift movements. Arousal had clearly gathered in your groin wether you wanted to admit it or not when you were suddenly flipped on your back, Mahad now hovering above you with his hands and arms propped adequately. The kiss had consequentially been put to a temporary halt which was an ideal opening for the both of you to catch some breath.

The sight of you so helplessly lying on your back, a bright red blush searing across your face while you wore your disheveled beige nightgown that in Mahad's opinion didn't cover enough of your skin was almost too much for a grown adult such as himself to handle. His face was flushed and his eyes glimmered with longing. On the other hand, hearing his somewhat hoarse voice after his series of heavy breaths had died down had a captivating effect on you as well. "[Name]... You may want to order me to stop now."

* * *

You had started becoming aware of the fact that your head had been lying on something rather firm, even if you had been realising it slowly. The moment you did, though, you allowed your eyes to flutter open, soon rubbing them somewhat lazily as you awoke from your slumber once more. The solid 'thing' you had been blindly referring to happened to be Mahad's lap. Then again, other than perhaps a cushion, it couldn't have really been anything else given your circumstances.

"You seem to have woken up." Mahad commented once he saw you blinking around impassively, caressing your cheek lovingly. You looked up at the male who up until now had been playing with your hair while you rested, a smile reflexively finding its way to your face. "How long have I been sleeping?" You questioned, not particularly moving since you found your current position to be quite comfortable.

"I would say a few hours. Two at most." The dark-skinned male replied, his voice as gentle as you loved it to be. He said that so easily, it was almost hard to believe that the young man had remained by your side this entire time without doing much more than simply admiring your peaceful face. Mahad had also covered you with the bed's thin blanket the moment you had drifted to sleep in order not to leave your bare body so boldly exposed while he himself had gotten fully dressed again.

"Is your body alright?" After what the two of you had done, Mahad was no longer embarrassed about personal things, but he was still somewhat hesitant when he posed that question. Then again, it wasn't like the brunet had ever been truly embarrassed about such matters, it was more like he felt that he didn't have the right to become more intimate than needed with you. Right now though, he simply wanted to make certain that you were well.

"I am fine." You replied simply, flashing the dark-skinned male a sheepish smile, almost immediately making him feel like you could have been doing better. You noticed his change in attitude right away, not due to anything he said since he didn't, but because of the slightly guilty yet endearing expression he pulled. You grinned in response and reached your hand out, cupping Mahad's cheek playfully, because pinching it seemed like a waste of such a pretty face. "Come on, what are you making that face for? I told you that I am alright."

"If you say so. But please, could you perhaps stop doing that with your hand? It is causing the blanket to slide down and it is rather... exposing. Please get dressed." The hazel-brown haired young man asked, blushing slightly as he pretended to look someplace else. Smirking, you were ready to enter a contest of words with the male if he had the nerve to mention the matter as if it were your fault that you were in this current state. "You say that, but it was you who stripped me of my clothes to begin with."

"Could you refrain yourself from phrasing it that way? You make me sound like a villain." Mahad commented rather bashfully for someone of his caliber, and despite your lack of clothes he still allowed you to sit up and get between his arms. You chuckled at his reaction and positioned yourself so that you appeared taller than the male before you cupped both his cheeks, making him look up at you and straight into your eyes. "Indeed you are. A villainous thief who stole my heart."

"That was so tacky." Mahad even snorted at your cheesy word play before kissing your lips, blaming his gesture on the fact that your face found itself in an awfully convenient position to do that. He had to stop himself at a peck since he didn't wish to put even more strain on your body and repeat what the two of you had done for about an hour or so. You were happiest even from the smallest of deeds, so you were far from disappointed even if your lips had joined for a few seconds only. Quite the contrary, actually. The two of you had lazed enough in bed already. "Say Mahad, would you accompany me outside for a bit?"

"Naturally. Do you not think that there is no need to ask for such things at this point?" The dark-skinned male was almost offended when you unconsciously drew a line. You became aware of your reflexive caution and apologized to the young man by kissing him again.

Mahad helped you get into proper clothes, but the moment you attempted to get off of the bed by yourself, a stinging pain in your thighs and back caused you to lose balance and stumble to the ground. The brunet was instantly worried, and helped you up immediately by lending you his body as support. "I knew it! It did take a toll on your body..."

"Now, now, it is not that painful. Though I do not think that I will be able to walk well in this condition." You waved the matter off, smiling at Mahad since you didn't want him to feel bad for something you obviously didn't dislike. However, you were a bit disappointed that you couldn't go outside with the brunet. Mahad perceived your dejected expression and sighed before getting down until he was almost on his knees. "Come now, what are you making that face for?" He mimicked you playfully, borrowing the words you had told him at an earlier point today.

"I will carry you." Mahad added and gestured you to get on top of his back. Your cheeks were kissed a bright pink color at his caring act before you followed his instructions and got on top of him. It hadn't been long since you were near the dark-skinned young man, but it still felt incredibly nice to be so close to the person you treasured.

As you rested your head on his shoulder, Mahad found his way out of the bedroom and in no time at all, the both of you already found yourselves outside the palace. You were more than glad that you hadn't run into Atem and Mana, or other serious servants of the Pharaoh such as Seto, Shada or Karim who would have nagged at you for spending too much time with Mahad, especially if they had seen you in your current positions. "Are we going to that place?"

"I am sure you can guess by now." You hummed innocently at his comment and waited a little in order to see if the male really had the same destination as you in mind. And of course he did, after all, there was only one special spot that truly united the two of you.

The garden area of the palace.

Just like during every time of the year, the garden was green and aesthetic, but your favorite part of it all were of course all the colorless butterflies that filled the air. Mahad led you right through a larger group of those delicate beings, so that you could reach out to their clapping wings with your bare hands. This whole scenery felt so nostalgic... It was even better to know that you were sharing this moment with Mahad happily, despite all the hardships you have faced.

"As I thought, I really do like chasing butterflies. With you."

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My note to you:
And that's that for this story as well^^ I don't know about you, but I really enjoyed writing this — especially since Mahad is terribly underrated. uwu

Thanks for reading and see you next time!