Archive of Our Own

The end was upon them, that much Ciel was sure of as he gazed upon his bloodied hands.

The skies were dark and the carriage was silent. The tension between them as impenetrable as the melancholy aura that had shrouded them for just over an hour now. The pair should have been rejoicing. After all, the young nobleman's ultimate goal was at last achieved after nine long years. Yet, neither of the men could bring themselves to celebrate--both were far too weighed down by the implications that victory brought alongside it.

As Ciel expected, it had been a truly satisfying moment, watching the one who destroyed his family--and his innocence--die at his feet, torn apart like a rabbit seized by the sharpened maw of a ravenous wolf. He had felt the warmth of rich blood seeping into his obsidian gloves, felt the weight of the blade in his palms as it sank into fragile flesh over and over again.

A dark sense of excitement had filled him to the brim as the man begged for his life, his screams turning shrill when Ciel allowed his demon a turn to rend flesh and muscle from weak, mortal bones. The wet ripping of tendons and organs, the bursting of veins, and the cracking of splintered cartilage had done nothing to frighten the proud young man, in fact, it brought him only relief. While the continuous lick of wild flames upon one’s skin was an agonizing death for those ensnared in its all-consuming heat, it was nowhere near as excruciating as being bled out by a hungry demon.

The luminosity of Sebastian’s eyes had brightened as his claws became caked in blood, and as Ciel watched the half-conscious man in his devil’s grasp weep claret tears, he realized the full extent of Sebastian’s torture. He would not kill him without driving him mad first. He was inside his mind, reminding him of all he had done to the young man who stared down at him as if he were an insect trapped beneath his button-adorned boots.

The same crimson warmth began to drip from the beaten man’s lips and nose, tracing along the length of his trembling throat when his ears bled as surely as his tortured eyes. He would know the pain that the last Earl of Phantomhive had felt, and he would suffocate in the regret it caused until his last, painful breath. And Sebastian made sure he did...

Ciel’s chest swelled with the burden of his triumph as the light faded from those void, terrified eyes, and the broken, mangled body of his family’s demise fell limp at his feet. Had he not already been dead, he would have surely drowned in the sanguineous puddle beneath him, deep as it had become.

The mortal’s shoulders relaxed for the first time that night, his head light and lips parted in fascination as he gazed upon the vivid, violent display of his demon’s capabilities.

The man--no, the monster--beside him had done all of this for him.

The thought roused a certain warmth in his chest, one that he should be incapable of feeling for his butler despite the many years that it has lingered. For as surely as he had given Sebastian his soul, he had also given him his body and his heart. It was everything he had to offer, and it was everything that the immortal now possessed.

Ciel turned his gaze to his butler, watching, waiting, and when those hellfire eyes met his own, his heart sank.

The end was inevitable, but that didn't make it any less painful.

After all, this would be their last night together.

As the carriage rattled along down the road leading back to the manor, the soft glow of moonlight illuminated Sebastian's features, and Ciel found himself unable to tear his eyes from the ethereal being.

On any other day, he would have silently begged for just one more night to gaze upon Sebastian like this, but not tonight. Their time was nearly up, and he would not waste his final hours merely looking.

Sebastian had no doubt that he could admire his master this way every night for the rest of eternity and it would still never be enough, but now, with the end upon them, he knew he didn’t have that luxury. And so, he would make the best of it, and spend his last breath memorizing every tender stroke of those gentle hands, the soft touch of those worshipping lips, the way their hips rocked together like the tenuous waves beneath the tiny lifeboat they huddled within many years ago.

"Is there something else you require, young master?" Sebastian questioned upon noticing his stare.

Ciel shook his head mutely, and his butler seemed pleased enough with his nonverbal answer, despite the hesitation lingering in the warm glare of his sanguine eyes.

“Are you certain?”

“I am.”

The earl could see the emptiness festering inside those rich irises--the harrowing sadness they possessed.

Not only would he say goodbye to his lover for the last time on this night, and siphon the very thing keeping the young man alive from betwixt his all-too-familiar lips--come morning, he would have to bury him as well. Ciel would never see Heaven, nor Hell. Ciel's very existence would be erased. Ciel's soul would never be reborn or age with the endless passing of eternity.

No words were spoken between them as they departed the carriage and ascended the grand staircase, dodging worried glances from the servants when they caught sight of the dried blood covering the master and butler from head to toe.

Ciel’s lips parted only once they were in the privacy of his chambers, his voice hushed and eyes distant as his navy coat was eased from his stiff shoulders in a fashion so very delicate and unlike his demon. It was as if Sebastian was afraid he would shatter like porcelain with the lightest brush of his fingertips, and he supposed the demon wasn’t entirely wrong to think so. In a few hours, he would.

His chest welled with an emotion he couldn’t quite place, and he swallowed thickly, clearing his throat to keep his voice steady. “There is a note in my study, in the top drawer of my desk. Make sure it is placed where the servants will find it tomorrow.”

“It shall be done,” Sebastian answered quietly, draping the article of clothing over the back of the chair in the corner of the room. He had no care for the blood it would likely transfer onto the lavish piece of furniture, his master was his top priority--as he had always been.

“Would you care for a bath?”

The demon studied his master as the noble nodded, searching his expression for the words he refused to speak. He was not panicked, nor was he angry, he was resigned.

With practised movements, he scooped the petite man into his arms as he had many times before, whisking him away to the bath at a pace too slow to be considered normal. He wanted to savour this moment, holding his lover tightly to his chest. Here, he could pretend, if only for a split second, that this wouldn’t be the last time he followed through with their nightly routine of almost a decade.

A thousand years ago, he would have scoffed at the thought of growing fond of a human. They were frail, predictable, lacklustre. Or so he had thought. But now, as he cradled his master’s warm body close to his own, he realized how wrong he had been. For this mortal, this clever, stubborn, infuriating little mortal, was the strongest creature he had ever met. He was not invincible even with a demon by his side, he always knew that, and yet, he was never afraid to face death head-on. Even now, as he silently clung to his own demise, he had no fear. Only trust, and dare he say... Affection.

Balancing the nobleman with one arm, Sebastian shut the door behind him before striding to the bath, slowly lowering Ciel to the ground. It took him only a few short moments to turn on the faucet and check its temperature, moments he cursed for taking him away from the man awaiting him just three steps away.

When he returned to his master, the butler instantly knelt before him, reaching up to begin unbuttoning his dove grey waistcoat. As his hands trailed along that narrow chest, he mused on the nobleman’s diminutive stature. He had grown several more inches over the years, stopping just as his head reached Sebastian’s shoulders, but apart from that, he remained mostly unchanged.

His features were as delicate as ever, his form still small and lean, and yet, the spark of intelligence in his eyes had only grown over the years, his fire glowing brighter with every day that passed. Today, it had raged like a blazing inferno, but now, it was calm--mere embers--for there was no need for it to burn so hotly now, not when his goal was complete and his flickering flame was to be snuffed out entirely when the clock struck twelve.

Ciel’s shirt was cast aside, and as Sebastian worked to unbutton his trousers, his lips found purchase on the young man’s navel, lingering for the breadth of a moment before trailing upwards along the faint outline of his ribs and across his alabaster chest. His mouth chased after the plum marks he’d left three nights prior in the midst of their shared passions, following an invisible line between each, as if he could connect them all into small, unnamed constellations upon the man’s smooth flesh.

As his lips mapped the skin they had explored oh-so many times before, he slowly slid his master's sable shorts down his long, elegant legs. It was then that the demon noticed the way his hands quivered. It was nearly indiscernible, the faintest tremor that he initially assumed was only an illusion conjured by his racing mind, and yet, it was real.

A millenia had passed since his creation, but this was the first time that he had ever trembled.

"Sebastian, your hands…"

"It is nothing, young master. Do not concern yourself."

Pressing a peck to Ciel’s hip, a gesture he hoped would distract as well as convince his master of his words, Sebastian inhaled deeply, savouring the earl’s soft scent of lavender and cedarwood, combined with the clinging miasma of blood and petrichor. The sweet, ambrosial aroma of his soul was faint beneath the scents that were merely skin-deep, but it was there. Exciting, tantalizing, a grim reminder that it would soon be the last scent this human form would sense.

The demon took longer than necessary rolling his master’s socks down his calves, the ones that had draped over his shoulders in the throes of passion more times than he could possibly count, and even longer unclipping the garters that held the dark fabric up. This had become the part of their daily routine that he favoured the most, undressing the petite mortal, bearing every inch of sumptuous skin that lay beneath the man’s lavish attire.

The last piece of clothing fell away from the nobleman’s lithe form, and as Sebastian took a moment more to gaze up at him, he could not help but notice the longing glint in the single eye gazing down at him. That eye was an endless ocean, not only for its vibrant shade, but for the life it possessed. It was filled with waves, waves that were strong, vicious and untamed, brimming with conflicting emotions that the unholy being could not grasp.

Rising to his feet, the butler tugged a single string at the back of Ciel’s head, allowing his eyepatch to flutter to the ground and reveal the glowing sigil that had tied their fates together so long ago. He held the young man’s unending stare, lost in that conflicted gaze, unable to turn away to halt the nearly-overflowing bath. He used a thread of shadow to stifle the flow of water from the elegant, golden faucet, and at last, Ciel turned away to examine the new source of silence in the room.

With a relieved sigh, one so silent that no mortal could possibly hear it, Sebastian extended a hand, patiently waiting until the man’s thin fingers laced through his own. “Come, young master. Your bath awaits."

With his butler's aid, Ciel carefully stepped into the warm water, allowing its faint geranium aroma to ensconce him as the pleasant heat melted what little tension resided in his slumped figure. He paid no mind to his poor posture as he fully submerged himself, his shoulders peeking out from the crystalline liquid as his head rested against the high brim of the clawfoot tub.

His eyes fluttered shut when his right wrist was gently grasped and lifted, a soft cloth following along the length of his arm to wash away the blood and sweat clinging to him like a second skin.

He was tired from the events of the day, but he did not slumber; there was no time to waste on things as trivial as sleep. Instead, he allowed himself to truly focus on his other senses, able to fully appreciate them for the first time now that his mind was free of worries and schedules.

He revelled in the tranquility of the silence, broken only by the swish of water and Sebastian's even breaths, and was unable to resist a deep inhale to drink in the light, floral scent wafting throughout the room. It swirled alongside a far more unique scent, one of cardamom, blood orange, and something darker--something he was unable to place. He was not entirely certain that it was a named scent at all. In fact, he half-suspected that it was an aroma entirely unique to his demon. Perhaps it was Sebastian's natural scent, or perhaps it was one crafted exclusively for his own pleasure. But no matter its origin, he found himself wishing that the familiar scent was washing over him in place of the floral one he often favoured.

Pushing the thought to the back of his mind, Ciel's attention slipped to the tepid water lapping at his chest, its smooth surface stirring as his butler dipped the dampened cloth into it once more. The bare hands bathing him brushed along his shoulders, caressing betwixt them with a gentle pressure, and the earl swore that they moved with such reverence that he could easily close his eyes and imagine that he was a god rather than a man.

He watched as blunt, obsidian nails smoothed along his nude form, kneading softly as they worked to cleanse the minimal remnants of dirt and grime from his supine form. They fondled him as if he were hewn from glass, caressing the expanse of his flat stomach and dancing along his peaked nipples with reverent touches to remove the more stubborn blood that had managed to seep through his waistcoat and onto his skin.

For the first moment since the formation of the contract, he stopped to consider his own existence, and his demon's alongside it.

He longed to ask his butler's thoughts on the years they had spent together, he knew that as his obedient shadow, Sebastian would answer without fail. However, he could not force the words from his reluctant lips.

He was no longer a child, so very brash and careless of how he spoke. Indeed, he was rather blunt at times, but he knew when it was best not to pry. Now was such a time. And so, he remained silent as he slipped into his own mind, letting Sebastian do as he pleased to clean him before the final supper, so to speak.

A devil he may be, but the young lord had to grudgingly admit that he wanted the unholy being's last memories of him to be fond ones. He was the only lover Ciel that had ever taken, and he would remain that way for eternity. If a moment of hush to gather his thoughts was favourable to his demon, he would allow the man that much. Nine and a half years of servitude were almost up, and he would not let that time go unrewarded by actions aside from his predetermined fate.

It was a small gesture, but Ciel felt that it was a needed one. After all, Sebastian trembled as if he would snap at any moment.

His most loyal servant looked to be preoccupied with bathing him, but he could see the faint differences in the creature's appearance. His eyes were too bright, his nails a little too sharp, his hair a fraction too long; that was not to mention the darkened, twilit aura radiating from his kneeling form.

His demon was not hungry, he was starving.

Truthfully, he had pondered a handful of times how hunger truly felt for a demon. Was it a constant gnawing, an ache so profound that it was maddening, as it was for mortals left to go days at a time without a meal?

Or did it run deeper?

An endless void, all-consuming and as cold as ice, its ravenous maw eating away at its victim until all that was left was the hollowness buried deep within the chest cavity of all immortal beings born not from grace and light, but from darkness itself.

Was it as vicious as the sorrow suddenly grasping him when he considered the thought that Sebastian himself felt the same harrowing starvation that he himself had experienced shortly before being pulled from cold bars by the shadowy hand of Hell's mercenary; as suffocating as the sombre reminder that he would never see the demon again after this night?

Closing his eyes to clear his head of such unpleasant thoughts, Ciel heaved a shaky sigh, hardly noticing when the cloth sliding along his left calf retreated.

"Something on your mind, young master?"

Unshaken by his butler's sudden inquiry, the nobleman offered a hesitant nod, though he did not ask what nagged at his muddled mind. Instead, he uttered a query born from his need to wash away the questions that left him feeling strangely crestfallen. "Tell me, Sebastian, what do you plan to do after you devour my soul?"

The demon all but flinched at the unexpected question. "Why do you ask?"

"I'm curious. I find that I know nothing about you. Is there a family for you to get back to, or perhaps friends? I assume you have a home or some place in particular that you have missed."

"Families are not exactly common among my kind, young master, nor are acquaintances, though I do have a home. I'm afraid you would not be very fond of it," Sebastian answered, amused by the thought of his master turning his nose up at the living quarters so vastly different from his own. Had such a thing been possible, he would have thoroughly enjoyed his prickly master's reaction.

"I would assume not," Ciel chuckled, and as he did, Sebastian could only grit his teeth in annoyance at the way it tugged at his shadowy core. Had this mortal, this strong, infuriating, lovely little mortal, ever realized how he affected him?

By all rights of nature, it should have been impossible for him to feel anything, save for the seven sins in which this realm condemned. So why was it that dread weighed him down like a chain around his ankles, pulled him back like the unforgiving grasp of an angel attempting to tear apart the thin, inky membranes of his natural form's wings?

He knew that he was not the only one who had foolishly abandoned all thought, rushing headfirst into a bond that was ill-fated from the beginning; it was by unwitting instinct that they found themselves in this situation, and now it was too late. They had been doomed since the moment their lips met for the very first time.

His master watched him with eyes lit by consternation, though he was certain that the man was unaware of the way his brows furrowed and his lips thinned. He supposed he had caused such a reaction, unable to quell his unease as he prepared for the earl's departure from his bath, but he suspected that his human had it all wrong.

Indeed, he was hungry, but it was not his ravenous appetite causing him such grief. It was the ache in his chest that threatened to swallow him whole, not the one in his stomach.

His contractor, it seemed, did not share in his apprehension of the night's event.

His young master seemed somewhat despondent, resigned, but to Sebastian’s surprise, the man's heart did not pound as he expected. It was as calm as his breaths, steady and strong, and void of fear. Even now, as their reality was forced into the cold, bitter light, the earl trusted him not to hurt him.

And when the moment came, he would try his best not to hurt him anymore than necessary to extract his soul, not even if his master commanded it.

For all the nights they had spent together, limbs entangled and swathed in darkness, he owed his human that much.

"My lord, are you ready to retire to your chambers?"

Ciel's affirmative nod was all that Sebastian needed to wrap him up in his arms and pull him from the tepid water, careless of the way the droplets clinging to his master's dampened his sable livery as the young man spoke, "I am, but do not bother with a nightshirt. It will not be needed tonight."

"As you wish."

Lowering the mortal onto the checkered, marble tiles, Sebastian curled a plush towel around his shoulders, allowing it to drape over the nobleman's head and soak up the moisture trickling from his narrow shoulders and down the elegant arch of his back.

The soft fabric grazed along his spine, and as it did, the demon's lips pressed to the white cloth gracing his master's crown, a brush so faint and fleeting that the young man was offered little time to notice before the towel was sliding lower. As it trailed along every inch of his nude form, the pair fell into the comfort of their familiar routine; whether it was by instinct or willful, a poor attempt to grasp at the tattered shreds of normalcy, they were unsure, but neither could bring themselves to care enough to ponder the reasoning.

They could not bring themselves to care about the clothing littering the bathroom tiles either, not when Sebastian gathered Ciel once more and carried him into his opulent bedroom--the very place in which many of their most intimate memories had been created.

Placed onto the plush mattress at the center of his room, Ciel watched as the fireplace roared to life with a snap of Sebastian's fingers, and the heavy, cobalt drapes fell shut of their own accord, bathing the room in a comfortable golden glow.

Once the deed was done, his wishes fulfilled without any verbal command necessary, Ciel extended a single palm, beckoning the devil closer with a soft call, "Come here, Sebastian."

With amber reflecting from his obsidian locks, the demon approached his master, kneeling before him as he took the smaller hand into his own and laid a kiss upon the younger man's knuckles. "What is it that you desire, my lord?"

An exhale passed through Ciel's lips, almost reluctant in its drawn out fashion, and for a moment, he merely stared. Pondering. Longing.

Seconds stretched on before he reached out, slim digits tracing along the sharp line of his butler's jaw as he made his decision. He would not hold back his requests anymore than he had in the past. There was no point in such things, especially now. He had nothing left to give, and nothing left to lose.

And so, when his mouth opened again, it was not with a conflicted sound, but rather the determined baritone that his demon had grown so very accustomed to hearing throughout their years together.

"Tonight, I want you to take me in your true form, not your human guise. I want to see you for who you truly are."

Sebastian balked at his master's yearning, instantly shaking his head as he offered an apologetic squeeze of the nobleman's hand. "My lord… For your own sake, I'm afraid I cannot do that."

With a scoff, Ciel refused to back down, pushing forward with his words even as his body sank further onto his bed. He maintained eye contact with the immortal for the entire time. "And what is your reasoning? Does it not play into your perfect butler aesthetic?"

Sebastian rose when his master's movement parted their hands, and as his palm extended to stroke along the noble's jaw, he could only sigh as the stubborn little creature stared up at him with such profound defiance.

"I don't think you quite understand, my lord... The bodies of demons are created as the living manifestation of nightmares. We are made into what humans fear the most, allowing us to get what we want from them. I cannot manipulate that form, unlike this one, the one I made for you. You would surely find more satisfaction with--"

"You say that, but this night is far different from any other night,” Ciel interrupted, absentmindedly leaning into the fingers that caressed his cheek with all the reverence of a devout believer worshipping his god. “I'm giving you, quite literally, everything tonight... You should do the same. Consider this my last order.”

Given no choice but to comply with his master’s final wish, Sebastian could only give a slight bow and offer his usual smirk; the expression didn’t quite meet his eyes. “Very well, my lord. I hope you do not come to regret your decision.”

“I haven’t felt regret in many years,” Ciel chided, fingers latching onto the taut lapels of his butler’s tailcoat in an effort to pull him closer. The man obeyed his silent command, and once his ebony locks were within reach, Ciel affectionately curled his digits into their silken depths.

With anxious words on the tip of his tongue, the earl’s lips brushed Sebastian’s ear, placing a single peck just beneath his lobe as his eyes fluttered shut and a whisper parted his wetted lips. “There's not much time left, do not keep me waiting.”

The nobleman's tongue peeked from betwixt his lips, meeting fair skin with the next kiss he placed at the edge of his demon's jaw; the faint nip that followed after had the demon's restraint snapping like a tightly coiled wire.

Without another forced breath or wasted second, Sebastian's lips collided with Ciel's, quelling their longing quiver with a forceful urgency that could only be considered desperate--an unfruitful attempt at erasing the remorse buried beneath the layers of lust thrumming through his veins. They pressed insistently against the mortal's own, which shifted and melded with equal fervor, nipping with a triple set of elongated fangs and lapping up the single droplet of spilt blood.

Thin fingers pawed at the front of the devil's waistcoat, silently urging him to remove it as Ciel's tongue brushed his own, wholly undeterred by the threat of lacerations from the sharp canines grazing the roseate muscle. He followed the silent demand without parting from the noble, a snap of his fingers allowing the fabric to tear on its own accord, falling away with no unnecessary focus required. He had no time to waste on useless garments or stifled abilities.

Free from the restrictive nuisance that clothing had become, Sebastian lifted his master, placing him in the center of the large bed. He loomed over him, his eyes burning like the very fires of Hell, but he did not relinquish his grasp on his human's waist, continuing to lave over Ciel's eager mouth as all semblances of humanity began to fade from his shadow-encased form.

At the sound of shifting bones, Ciel's eyes shot open, though his lips did not halt, watching the change take place with unbridled anticipation and the overpowering urge to touch. To feel.

Inky tresses lengthened, flaunting a light-consuming aura of plum and sable, the longest strands brushing along the demon's shoulders. His locks met skin of the same obsidian shade, his entire body swathed in utter darkness, save for the veins of pure silver forming the rough outline of a pentagram along his chest. His blunt nails sharpened and grew, forming claws twice as long as the talons of a raven and more deadly than those of a wolf.

Four stately horns sprouted from his crown, tall and elegantly curved in opposite directions, their polished tips curled forward in an arch so smooth that it was easy to imagine them being hewn from marble rather than impenetrable bone. The thought did anything but abate when Ciel noticed the delicate ridges surrounding them, spiraling upwards in a pattern that greatly reminded the man of English ivy climbing garden walls. He reached out to stroke along their smooth bases when Sebastian did not move, allowing him time to marvel at his natural form.

It was then, as Ciel's fingers brushed the protruding bone, that he noticed movement from betwixt his butler's shoulders. The shadow cast over them expanded and more writhing shadows sprouted from his being as two gargantuan wings spread behind Sebastian, their lightless edges a stark contrast against the ochre flames from the hearth. Rather than feathers, they were crafted from thick, sable membranes, their appearance undeniably batlike as they shivered at the first breath of warm air in over a decade.

"Magnificent..." Ciel murmured, eyes wide as his unoccupied hand stroked one leathery appendage, unafraid of the many carnelian irises manifesting along their brim. From the black mists of Sebastian's shadowy aura, one hundred pairs of eyes narrowed on his smaller form, watching curiously, hungrily, as he admired the sight of their possessor in all of his unholy glory.

The sight of the man made Ciel's pulse quicken and his cheeks heat, pupils blown with renewed lust as he released his grasp on the ebony horn beneath his tracing digits. He claimed the palm upon his left hip and laced his fingers with the clawed ones, tightening his hold as he exhaled, a shuddering, needy sound. "Don't just stare. Touch me."

"You need not ask twice," Sebastian uttered, his cadence wholly unlike that of his usual baritone. His words were no longer as heavily accented, nor did they bear his usual teasing lilt; they reverberated from deep within his chest, made up of a silken purr as smooth as caramel and as dark as his own plumeless pinions. It was a voice that Ciel had heard only once before, when the man had appeared before him as the very embodiment of hellish salvation. It had rumbled above him as wolves, snakes, and lions had formed from the dripping darkness of his devil's creation, fading away into a more human tone only when the man took a mortal form.

Enthralled by the way his master stared up at him with wonder in his eyes, as if he were gazing upon something truly beautiful, Sebastian gave into the noble's wishes with little thought needed.

Grasping both of the young man's thin wrists within a single palm, Sebastian held them captive above Ciel's head. He pressed his lips to that tantalizing throat, dancing from the soft skin beneath the earl's sharp jaw, down to the swell of his Adam's apple, and then lower, trailing along the ridge of his right collarbone until he met the hollow just above. He lavished the luxuriant flesh with kisses, tender despite the nick of fangs with each lingering, open-mouthed peck. His tongue chased after the mark of his canines, dampening the plum-dotted flesh where both faded and fresh bites laid.

Blissful breaths fell from Ciel's lips, quiet and calm, and though his hands were restrained, his legs coiled around the devil's waist, keeping him as close as possible while he arched into the mouth gliding lower.

Sebastian's lips wandered along the peak of his left nipple, fondling the hardened bud with a swirl of his tongue and a prick from his bottom set of fangs. The blood it wept was cleared away with a harsh suck, and though the small hands trapped within the confines of his onyx fingertips wriggled, he did not free them, only mouthed at the rosy nub before moving onto the next.

Trails of charcoal saliva stained Ciel's chest and dripped from his throat, glistening in the flickering, topaz light. The ghost of a breath fanned over the damp strands, and as it did, a shiver coursed through his limbs, raising goosebumps beneath Sebastian's kneading touches.

The sable slickness coated Sebastian's lips as well, leaving wet trails along the earl's abdomen and hips as his devoted lips continued their journey. Their presses ranged from gentle to sharp, and yet, they exuded a feeling that was not entirely rooted in pleasure, nor pain. It was apologetic, longing... a goodbye.

As melancholy as it was, it was a unique feeling, and so very different from their usual romps beneath the sheets. Quick and rough, neither caring for excessively long sessions and delicate brushes when ecstasy was easily trapped within their grasp.

Their bond was not hewn from the softest of flowers and days filled with sunlight, it was not made for the fragile, dainty romance and lovemaking that so many would give their life to experience.

It was born of entangling vines of all-consuming shadows.

It was possessive, unrelenting, a bond of need rather than want; it was a partnership forged in the very depths of Hell, threaded from all seven sins. The only instincts it left behind were those goading the pair to claim and ravage endlessly until fate came to tear them apart.

Ciel could easily count the times they had taken it slow on one hand, and those particular nights had often catered to necessity rather than any desire to needlessly drag things out--workarounds for injuries and illness, when passion burned hotly despite whatever poor state the mortal found himself in.

Sebastian's touches were fluid, as if they were nothing more than water, merely rolling from his master's eager body as he writhed and gave an impatient moan. The devil chuckled at the sound, finally releasing the noble's warm hands to allow his own palm the freedom to roam as he began to paw at Ciel's thighs, grasping them between sharp talons and revelling in the way his fingers left reddened imprints along their alabaster softness.

The fragility and resilience of mortals would never cease to amaze the unholy being. How easy it was to pinken their delicate skin, almost as easy as it was to tear them apart, to rend them utterly broken both inside and out, to leave them consumed by betrayal and desolation in the span of a single moment... And yet, they managed to pick themselves up over and over again, to embrace their weaknesses and face their fears head-on.

In the beginning, Sebastian thought that gaining the trust of a human so horribly betrayed by his own kind would be an impossible feat. Humans did not put their faith in devils, not when they were aware of what the creature was beneath the layers of mortal flesh; they especially avoided doing so when they failed to find comfort in the words and easily-forgotten promises of their own brethren, let alone a beast born from the flames of the abyss. And yet, the youngest Phantomhive had proven to be an exception, a diamond among the ten-thousand lifeless stones that had cried out to him at the exact moment in which his newest covenant was formed.

Perhaps foolishly so, the young man had begun to trust him a mere three years into their contract, a fact that he was unable to deny no matter how badly he wished to. The earl had laid his very life in the hands of a starving demon more times than either could hope to recall, relying on his protection as he was dangled just out of death's reach, remaining unscathed save for a handful of minor scrapes during their longer missions.

Nostalgia, as he often heard humans refer to it, grasped the butler as he spread Ciel's legs. keeping them parted with a twirling pair of smoky tendrils as he dipped down to suck a tourmaline bruise into the crease of one of those soft thighs.

"You look quite fetching this way, young master," Sebastian purred, eyes burning brighter than ever before as he felt nimble fingers grasping at the spiked tips of his towering wings. They curled in further, shielding Ciel from what luminance the fire provided, and as they did, those digits began to massage along their bony frame, drawing a pleased roar as more filaments of shadow embraced the little enigma beneath him.

"I should be saying that to you," Ciel breathed, drawing a chuckle from his demon.

As he was securely ensconced by the dark extensions of his butler's being, Ciel allowed his hands to trapeze about Sebastian's wings as they pleased, feeling the muscles beneath shiver and twitch whenever he grazed a particuarly sensitive area. The eyes upon them never dulled when fingers brushed just beneath them, nor did they tear their unbroken stare from his flustered form, only watched with interest as his face contorted from his own source of pleasure.

The elegant nose buried into his inner thigh brushed the base of his cock, and the nobleman jerked violently, nails unknowingly digging into the bottom corner of the immortal's left wing. The action earned a hiss, but if anything, the leathery appendage only pressed harder against his palm, willing his blunt fingernails to bear down harder.

The devil's tongue, split, elongated, and tinted a deep burgundy, languidly dragged up the length of his flushed arousal. It moved torturously slow, following a vein up to his frenulum, curling ever so slightly around his shaft as he reached the weeping tip. His tongue gave one, two, three swipes along the earl's slit, causing him to squirm and unconsciously buck into the wet muscle teasing him so thoroughly, but his butler didn't offer him what he needed.

Instead, Sebastian chuckled, the sound's vibration causing Ciel to shiver and groan softly as it reverberated against his sensitive head.

Sebastian's mouth departed his master's arousal, much to the young man's annoyance, trailing lower as his hands squeezed and rubbed along Ciel's welcoming rear. His lips wandered further, grazing along the earl's sac and perineum before reaching the hole that he had all but worshipped over the years.

With a growl locked behind deadly fangs, the devil hitched his human's legs over his shoulders, allowing the younger man's bare feet to press into the notches at the base of each lofty wing. He felt the soft flex of Ciel's toes upon the sturdy joint they rested atop, as well as the way his foot arched against the thick, sable membrane spanning between each gap in the fanning of bones, and couldn't resist lifting them a fraction, savouring the way Ciel's heels dug into the massive appendages.

The amaranthine flames of Sebastian's eyes bore into Ciel's own as he delved betwixt those plush cheeks, his gaze refusing to stray even as his tongue began to breach the orifice that had offered him such profound pleasure time and time again.

A drawn-out whine parted his master's lips as he pushed past that tight ring of muscle, and such a sweet and tempting sound it was. It called to him like a siren's song, mesmerising in its gentle, melodic pleading for more.

There were many things about the human realm that Sebastian admired, things he greatly preferred to those which resided within Hell. The whisper of the winter breeze, the ripe scent of misery exuded by humanity, the curiously pricked ears of his favourite feral cats... And yet, the sound of his master's voice had easily become one of favourite things about this world.

His anguished screams, his witty remarks, his pleasure-choked moans... They were all wholly unique to the earl himself, each brimming with emotion. The sight rasp of his regal, airy tone was one that would follow the devil for all of eternity, haunting him long after this night had passed.

Willingly enslaved by his lord's unspoken wishes, the butler's tongue lengthened and his thumbs toyed with the noble's rim, spreading him wider and driving another longing moan from the spellbinding creature at his mercy.

The longest strands of Sebastian's hair fell forward, swiping along Ciel's stomach with the ticklish prod of a raven's feather, and the earl squirmed, overcome by the strange sensations entrapping him as thin veins of shadow spawned from the ancient being's overpowering aura.

They danced like leaves in the wind, twirling their way between his fingers, only to grasp at them as Sebastian's hands did when sliding his rings onto his fingers. They wriggled excitedly, pulsating in rhythm with his own elevated heartbeat, as if they shared the blood coursing warmly through his veins.

He allowed their insistent clutch to ground him as he was filled with the wet heat of Sebastian's tongue.

His legs trembled as he was explored both inside and out, held down by shadows winding around his chest and delicately licking at the edge of his throat, and opened up by the glide of a long digit and the fierce prod of the demon's tongue.

The appendage nestled within his tight channel curled ever so slightly, sending a sharp spike of pleasure through his very core, and he couldn't withhold a piercing yelp, gasping out his shock as a purr from his butler sent endless sparks of ecstasy throughout his restrained form.

The overly sensitive spot buried deep inside him was teased without clemency, stroked with every thrust of Sebastian's fingers as two more digits joined the first. His toes curled in response to the garnered bliss and his fingers departed Sebastian's wings to seek out his horns once more. He slid his palms along them despite the strain he felt reaching them past the darkness tethering him to the bed, fingers catching a handful of wild hairs as he tugged faintly, a plea on the tip of his tongue.

"Sebastian," Ciel whined, breaths labored and cheeks flushed. The man pulled back a fraction and the earl's palm slid to cup his cheek, stroking over velvety onyx skin as he shuddered at the departure of the demon's fingers. "Don't make me wait any longer..."

"Yes, my lord," Sebastian trilled, pressing a kiss to the trembling thigh on his right.

The demon bid his left palm to slicken upon its own accord, permeating the air and his digits with the faintest scent of cherry as the manifested oil began to drip from his fingertips. His hand coiled around his throbbing erection, generously coating it with the damp substance.

As the immortal stroked over the pronounced ridges that spiraled along his stiffened prick, vine-like in their nature, Ciel's attention was hastily drawn to its inhuman qualities.

Twin shadows curled from its ebony base to its tapered, crimson head, visibly pulsating with every squeeze of clawed fingers. Its arched tip shone wetly from the grey, pearlescent drop it wept, and as the demon's touch dragged up its generous length, more of its darkened flesh faded into a merlot shade far richer than that of any fine wine the earl had ever owned.

Ciel's hands fell from their place on his butler's jaw when he felt the man nudging his legs lower, leaving them to drape around his hips where they immediately locked in place to desperately urge him closer. Their eyes lingered for the breadth of a moment, boring into endless pits of lustful longing, and as Sebastian's lips parted in silent query, the nobleman offered a quick nod.

Without a spoken warning, the thickened head of the demon's prick was pressed to the noble's blushing hole, pushing in only once the younger man gave a shaky inhale and grasped at Sebastian's biceps, biting into the flesh just above his left hand.

Despite the stretch required to accomodate the his natural girth, Sebastian found himself fully sheathed far sooner than he anticipated. A feral roar, truly befitting the beast beneath the guise he'd shed, rumbled from his subtly chiseled chest as he was surrounded by the velvety depths of his master's clenching heat.

He delighted in the whimper that left his contractor's thoroughly-bitten lips as he retreated, only to fully sink in immediately after, using the brief movement that they were parted to slide his hands beneath Ciel's back and heft him flush against his chest.

Ciel didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around Sebastian's neck when he was filled once again, clinging tightly as his lips were claimed in a kiss as searing as the skin lavishing the most ardent of touches upon his shuddering form. With the distraction of the immortal's skilled tongue, he quickly grew used to the increasing force behind each unfettered thrust.

Lost in the bliss of being taken and held as if he were something to be treasured, Ciel's lips shifted with enough fervor to rival Sebastian himself. He traced the edges of his lover's fangs, savoring the addictive flavour of his lips as his own teeth scraped along their onyx softness.

His hips began to rise and fall with each jerk of the devil's, and as they did, he felt a sudden jolt of blinding pleasure shoot through him when the pivot of Sebastian's hips struck where he longed to be touched the most. Retaining the angle, the onslaught of sensations refused to cease, causing a never-ending pattern of gasps and keens to echo between their lips as he was clutched tighter.

Sebastian's talons dug into Ciel's hips as his movements grew rougher, his wings closing in on them as the darkness exuding from his body held the smaller figure as protectively as his arms did. A particularly loud yelp of his name sounded against his lips, and he could do nothing but croon a placating hum into the bruising kiss they shared. For it was not only a moan, it was a noise filled with adoration and sorrow; it was the call of a lover, the cry of a lonely soul.

With his own grunts and huffs growled alongside the mortal's, Sebastian bestowed upon him a kiss for every scar he had earned, a touch for every tear he had not shed, a moment of rapture for every time that he had sworn to never love but had done so all the same.

Whilst pummeling into the enticing form settled atop him, Sebastian kneaded into the relaxed set of his master's shoulders, utterly taken by the way the young man's rigid posture eased only when he was held securely in his arms.

Perhaps that was the reason he felt his chest tug with a yearning so profound that it was nearly tangible: the fact that he was the only one this lovely human foolishly trusted enough to let his guard down around. Or perhaps it was the tight squeeze around his cock, or the utterly depraved shine in the younger man's eyes as he was taken without restraint or remorse.

But the devil knew, not only was it a mixture of those things causing the hollowness that left him so confounded, it was the life burning inside of those dual-coloured eyes as they fluttered open to meet his own magma gaze.

With the next roll of his hips, words slipped through his onyx lips unbidden. And in that moment, despite his form being the visible representation of what he truly was, he felt more human than ever before. "Don't leave me."

“You know I have to," Ciel whispered between stuttering moans, his cries growing more frequent as the warmth his abdomen expanded, spreading into his chest and heating his cheeks as he balanced between the thin lines of pleasure and total rapture.

With a thread of shadow slithering around the earl's dripping arousal to help him reach his peak, Sebastian nuzzled into the silken mass of slate locks tucked beneath his chin. Unapologetic, he spoke the words that defied his very nature, pressing his lips to Ciel's forehead as his own release drew near. "Then let me hold you as you go."

“Always… But only if you promise me something."

"I will do anything you ask of me."

"Don't forget me."

"Never," he swore, and as those words were whispered, he was pushed over the edge. The flames of ecstasy raging in his chest filled him to the brim as he spilled into his master with a thunderous growl, lavishing his throat with open-mouthed kisses as his hips continued to move until he felt the younger man's hole constrict around his shaft.

Cradling the earl close to his fabricated heart as he shook and trembled, his ecstasy spiked by the languid drip of ashen warmth down his velvety thighs, was the closest thing to a confession of love that he could ever possibly offer his human.

But it was enough.

Words were not needed as the demon's claws raked tenderly along the young man's back, his lips at his throat, and his wings wrapped around him in a sure embrace.

Ciel still clung tightly to his neck, enamored by the sensation of smooth hair slipping past his fingertips he calmed enough to press a single kiss to his lover's jaw.

They were frozen in time for but a moment, bathed in the silence of adoration and mourning as they held each other for the final time.

When they finally moved, shifting only enough to lock eyes, they were instantly startled by the first ominous clang of the grandfather clock from down the hall.

All at once, it was as if every sense Sebastian possessed had been electrified.

With a single blink, his irises became a molten core, twin pits of raging hellfire, and as they did, Ciel's own cleared, somber and resigned as realisation set in.

It was time.

Ciel mustered the faintest of smiles as he held the stare of his conflicted lover, brushing his hands over the devil's cheeks in what he hoped to be a reassuring gesture. He could easily see the war residing in his lover's eyes, a battle between his fondness for his master and the primal hunger consuming him with each second that passed.

"Sebastian, I'm ready."

The noble's voice cut through the deafening, static sound crashing over Sebastian's mind, amass the voices of the ones he'd consumed before. A millennia worth of tones from masters and mistresses whom he could no longer recall.

His current master stood out above them all, and he knew that even after thousands of years had passed, the memory of the man that had made him feel would never fade, nor be replaced.

"It will be painful…" he warned, but the nobleman only gave a nod.

"I know... It's okay."

A clawed thumb stroked along Ciel's cheek, softly, delicately, pushing aside his hair to reveal the blazing contract seal that lied beneath. And as he heaved a heavy sigh, Sebastian could only press a lingering kiss to Ciel's forehead. "Yes, my lord."

Refusing to release the nobleman from his unwavering hold, Sebastian's lips met Ciel's, shifting and pressing with every ounce of ardor he possessed as he began to siphon that ambrosial essence from the young man's very core.

He was stunned to find it lacking the resistance that each and every soul he'd consumed in the past possessed, but it was to be expected. His human wasn't one to flee nor fight the fate that he had decided for himself nearly a decade prior. He would meet his last breath as he had each one before: with honor.

The first dredges of the essence he'd been seeking, thoroughly preparing for years, met his palate, and as it did, he could taste the spice of every hope, fear, and annoyance that had ever crossed his master's heart. The sweetness of his happiest moments, the bitterness of the anger that ravaged him, the spicy undertones of the lustful acts he'd never been denied of, the cloying, floral hints of the love he'd felt.

It was ambrosia, his laudanum, his very own hemlock--for just as surely as the departure of his soul would be Ciel's end, it would be his as well.

He felt Ciel's form weaken in his hold, caught the sight of vibrant sanguine as it began to drip heavily from his violet eye, and chose to lower them both onto their sides on the bed, keeping the young man pressed to his chest.

He tasted the coppery tang of blood as it wept from his lover's lips, as well as the salt of his tears as he shivered uncontrollably. The extraction of a soul was agonizing at best, and yet, only the trembling of Ciel's small form and a soft groan made his pain known.

Ciel's breaths were ragged and short, his heartbeat stuttering with every pull of his withering soul, but his arms did not loosen their embrace, even as every fibre of his being was set alight with the harshest pain that had ever burdened him. A tortured weep left his throat, but the protective shroud from his demon's magnificent wings consoled him as his grasp on consciousness began to wane.

The tendrils of darkness ensconcing him squeezed him tighter, begging for him to stay, to hold on, and yet the shadows of his body's own creation obscured his vision, dampening his senses until all that was left were the shaky breaths leaving Sebastian as he finally retreated, overcome by the feeling of warmth, a full belly, of loss.

Ciel's eyes fell shut as a peaceful numbness was cast over him, a welcome reprieve from his pain as his grip on his lover was forced to ease, leaving his arms to hang limp around his lover's neck. A weak smile curled his lips as he managed the strength to lay a final kiss upon the demon's lips, his words a nearly silent whisper as the world around him fell away. "Goodbye, Sebastian."

Sebastian did not look down to see the moment his master's chest ceased to rise and fall, instead, he kept his eyes firmly shut, a single tear falling as he exhaled a breath far too shuddering to be considered one of relief or satiation.

Sebastian held his master in his arms until the sun rose.

Morning dew dampened the ground, and the misty air of the cool English dawn was illuminated only by the first beams of sunlight.

The sky was only just beginning to streak with soft tones of lilac and cerulean, remaining partially darkened, though not nearly as dark as the silhouette knelt beneath the ancient limbs of a large beech.

Sebastian's clawed fingers grazed over the fine etchings of a marble stone, tracing the letters there with a frown marring his fair features. For three hours, he sat beneath the shade of the ancient tree, quiet and somber.

He had transplanted the finest white roses in the garden shortly after consuming Ciel's soul, leaving them to bloom on either side of his lover's grave year after year.

The flowers, as stunning as they were, were not meant to last for a lifetime, much less an eternity, but the demon was certain that they would never wither or rot with the passing of time. They would be cared for and replanted as necessary to keep them by his master's side, just as they had been for the last one-hundred years.

The sky was growing lighter and the air warmer, announcing that it was time for him to leave, not to walk these grounds again until yet another year had passed.

Another year in which he mourned, in which he remembered.

As he reluctantly stood from the soft grass beneath him, Sebastian pressed a single, lingering kiss to the cold stone before him.

His human form began to fade, and as his dark energy was absorbed into the cold and desolate plains beyond the mortal realm, a lone black rose was left in his wake, lovingly laid upon the grave of the one who he would never forget.

And as the clouds above parted to reveal the pale, amber glow of the early morning sun, a single tear sank into the soil, and a whisper sounded, as faint as the summer breeze.

“Goodbye, young master.”