Help! I Became A Guy In A BL Novel!

Riven didn't bother knocking when he pushed open the study door. Soren didn't even look surprised to see him—he only raised his eyebrows mildly, as if he'd been expecting the inevitable invasion.

Riven strode right up to him and, without preamble, plopped himself down across Soren's lap, facing him. His fluffy ebony tail swished in victory.

"Hi," Riven said, as if he hadn't just climbed him like a tree.

Soren huffed a quiet laugh and pressed a kiss to Riven's cheek. The moment was sweet…and then he calmly picked up the leather-bound folio sitting open on the desk and started reading again.

Riven blinked.

Wait.

Wait a damn minute.

Soren's hand absently rubbed his hip, like he was petting an affectionate cat that had perched there, but otherwise he was utterly absorbed in reviewing the stack of reports Xavier must have brought over.

"…Really?" Riven finally blurted.

"Really," Soren said without looking up.

Riven pouted, his brows scrunching in visible offense. He tilted his face up, expecting another kiss, something to reassure him that Soren hadn't suddenly forgotten how irresistible he was. But Soren was flipping to the next page.

Fine. If he wanted to pretend he was unbothered, Riven would just have to remind him how much fun it was to be bothered.

Riven leaned in, curling a finger under Soren's strong jaw. When that still didn't get a reaction, he decided to skip the preliminaries and pressed a warm, insistent kiss to Soren's mouth.

Soren's lips softened under his. For a second—just a second—he kissed him back, and Riven felt a surge of triumph and relief.

But the moment Riven tried to deepen it, Soren pulled back with a sigh.

His hand came up, fingers brushing along Riven's cheek in a gesture so gentle it made Riven's chest ache.

And then he went right back to reading.

Riven stared at him.

He was losing his mind.

He, too was a hot man right? So what happened?!

He was sitting here, in Soren's lap, practically begging to be ravished—and Soren was reading reports.

He bit his lip, thoroughly doubting his appeal. What the hell had happened?

His pride could only take so much.

Riven narrowed his eyes, leaned forward again, and deliberately blocked Soren's view of the paper. "Don't ya wanna do something more?" he demanded, voice pitched low and hopeful.

Soren's gaze flicked up. He looked tired, calm, and wholly unamused.

"Riven," he said slowly, "we talked about this."

"Talked about what?" Riven lied, blinking innocently.

Soren's jaw twitched. He set the folio down, studying Riven's face with that quiet, assessing look that always made him feel naked in a way no amount of undressing could match.

Then, with maddening restraint, Soren lifted one gloved thumb and brushed it across Riven's lower lip. He pressed just firmly enough that Riven shivered, leaning in instinctively—thinking he'd finally, finally won.

But Soren's hand drifted away before their mouths met.

He picked up the folio again.

Riven made an honest-to-gods whine, exasperated and half-desperate. "Why?!"

"You know why." Soren's tone was level, infuriatingly patient.

Riven scowled, refusing to move off his lap, he was going to play dumb! "No. I don't. Enlighten me."

Soren exhaled a slow breath and finally set the paperwork aside fully. He raised one brow, all authority and quiet amusement, and said simply, "You are still recovering."

"Ugh." The same thing that Ronan said to him!

Riven grumbled, though a traitorous flush crept up his neck. "I'm fine now."

"No."

"Yes!"

Soren pinched the bridge of his nose, like he was suppressing the urge to lecture him or laugh—or maybe both. "If I indulge you, you'll push yourself too far. Ronan and I agreed."

That betrayal stung. "What?"

Since when did they agree now? Whaaaat-

"This is cruel," Riven muttered.

"Mm," Soren said, utterly unimpressed.

Riven sat there a moment longer, trying to come up with another tactic. But he didn't think anything would work.

He slid reluctantly off Soren's lap, muttering under his breath about cruel, heartless men he was surrounded by and stomped toward the door with his tail puffed up in indignation.

Soren didn't look up as he left, but the corner of his mouth did twitch in a tiny smile.

Riven caught it.

He huffed in defeat, slamming the door behind him just for emphasis, and stomped off in search of someone else to torment.

Eli had been visiting the mansion so often lately that the guards no longer even announced him. By now, he was practically a member of the household. A nervous, pink-haired rabbit who scolded everyone when it came to a certain wolf and worried over Riven as if he were a fussy mother hen.

Today was no different. Eli let himself into Riven's room after a polite knock, already reaching into his satchel for the usual assortment of tinctures and medicines he carried to be prepared for anything.

He looked up to find Riven sprawled dramatically across the bed like some tragic prince, his ebony tail twitching with impatience.

Eli greeted Riven in the gentle tone he always used around Riven these days. "I'll be taking your pulse and checking your—"

But Riven threw his arm across his eyes and huffed like the world had wronged him.

"I have a bone to pick with you," he announced, voice quivering with exaggerated heartbreak.

Eli blinked, caught completely off guard. "Huh?"

Riven slowly lifted his head, lower lip wobbling with a performance worthy of the stage. "Yes. A very serious bone."

Eli set his satchel down with care, his brows knitting in confusion.

"Those two—" Riven gestured vaguely toward the ceiling, as if Ronan and Soren were hovering above them in spirit— "have REFUSED to touch me. Can you imagine? Me!"

Eli opened his mouth. Closed it. Opened it again.

Riven sighed dramatically, as though the weight of his beauty unappreciated was more than any mortal could bear. "Am I not charming anymore?"

Eli made a strangled little noise in his throat. "I—well—"

Riven fixed him with a pitiful, wounded stare. He shifted closer to Eli, leaning forward so their faces were only a breath apart. "Tell me the truth, Eli. Did the coma… Knock out the charm in me?".