by EE Ottoman
“You’re beautiful.”
Augustus’ cheeks went a little pink, dark lashes lowering, and William gave his cock a long stroke before climbing back onto the bed.
“I want to suck you. Like you did to me last time.”
That made Augustus’ gaze snap up to meet his, and he wet his lips. “Not that I don’t want that, because I very much do, but are you sure?”
“I wouldn’t have offered it if I wasn’t,” William said with more confidence than he felt.
Augustus shifted up on the bed and spread his thighs, and William knelt between them. His cock was small, nestled in dark hair. William braced himself on Augustus’ thighs, pressing his thumbs against soft skin, and bent forward to lick a long wet stripe across it.
“Fuck yes.” Augustus spread his legs even more as William got down to licking and sucking him. “God, I wanted your pretty mouth on me so badly that first night; you have no idea. I wanted you on your knees and make you beg for it. You were practically begging for it as it was.”
He gripped the back of William’s neck, hard and demanding, not that William minded that in the slightest. Augustus’ hips ground up against his mouth, and William sucked hard and wet and then pulled back enough to trace the head with just the tip of his tongue.
“Yes. Do that again,” Augustus growled low in his chest and tightened his grip on William, tugging him forward and holding him there. William repeated the movement, listening to Augustus gasp and pant above him.
It was good, the way Augustus felt and tasted in his mouth and the sounds he tried to hold back but couldn’t. Having Augustus spend himself like this would be wonderful, but William was seized by the desire to kiss his lips and feel their bodies move against each other.
William sat back up. Augustus was biting his lip, his cheeks flushed dark now, the color trailing all the way down his neck to the top of his chest. William’s gaze caught there, at the rise and fall of Augustus’ ribs, the flush across his collarbone. He would be hot there if William kissed him, pressing his mouth to the overheated skin.
Augustus gasped when William licked along his collarbone and kissed up across the hollow of his throat.
“Come here.” Augustus guided him up so their mouths could meet, hot, wet, and perfect.
They lay together, chest to chest, William’s cock fitting between Augustus’ thighs. William dug his fingers into Augustus’ loose curls, and Augustus’ arm came around his shoulders.
Their bodies slid together. William was so aware of the heat of Augustus’ skin against his, the feel of their chests rubbing together and William’s cock rubbing into the crease of his thigh.
Augustus reached between them so he could stroke William’s cock slowly, spreading the moisture across the head and down his length. “I love how wet you become when you’re excited.”
William’s face heat at the words. His stomach did a flip that felt like a mix of exhilaration and nerves. He buried his face into the crook of Augustus’ neck so he didn’t have to meet his gaze even as he thrust his hips into Augustus’ hand.
Augustus’ grip around his cock, the taste of his skin under William’s mouth, the feel and scent and closeness of him—it was almost enough. William could very easily spend like this, against Augustus’ body and into his grip.
He didn’t want this time to be just about his pleasure, though, not again. So he reached down between them and eased Augustus’ hand off his cock, tangled their fingers together, and thrust against Augustus’ body, rubbed them together until Augustus was squirming against him, gasping into William’s mouth.
Augustus’ hips were thrusting up against his too. His hand had settled on William’s ass, sliding down to caress skin and muscle and then gripping tight.
William put his mouth on Augustus’ neck again, against the fragile place where throat met the bottom of his chin. He licked and sucked lightly as Augustus gasped and shifted.
“Please, yes please, more.”
William didn’t know if Augustus wanted more of his mouth or the slick slide of their bodies and cocks against each other. He sucked hard and then kissed the spot while rolling his hips against Augustus’ own.
He closed his eyes and let the pleasure build, hot and urgent inside him. Augustus’ reached between their bodies again, and this time, William didn’t stop him when he wrapped it around William’s cock. Augustus’ grip on him was sure, sliding wet across William. William thrust into him, so close to spending.
Augustus touched his mouth against William’s shoulder, murmuring words too low for William to make out but in a tone that was all affection and want. That—coupled with Augustus touching him, his body under him—was too much, and William shook as he came, Augustus holding him, his praise still on William’s skin.
They lay still, legs tangled together; William sprawled across Augustus’ chest. He had to be heavy like that, William thought, but Augustus didn’t complain or ask him to move.
William felt boneless after his release and a little lightheaded, but he was still very aware Augustus hadn’t spent yet. That fact made anticipation curl inside him all over again—a want of a different kind than when Augustus had touched him, but no less strong.
He kissed Augustus’ mouth, lazy but thorough, and down his chest, touching with mouth and hands, taking his time. He slid between Augustus’ thighs and spread his legs.
This time, he knew what to expect when he took Augustus into his mouth—the taste of him, the way he felt against William’s tongue. He was becoming more familiar with the sounds Augustus made as well, the way he panted and moaned, half muffled by his own fists, when William used his tongue to caress him and sucked him just so.
“Just like that.” Augustus held him in place, keeping him there, where Augustus wanted him. It made William go a little hot from the pleasure of it.
Above him, Augustus was saying yes, yes, yes, and please, his voice low, urgent, and very close to breaking.
His whole body tensed when he came—so hard William was almost afraid his muscles would lock—caught off guard by how good it felt. William smiled against his skin and stroked his stomach until Augustus went limp against the bed.
He sat up then and moved to lie beside him, their bodies close but not quite touching.
Augustus rubbed his face and then grinned at the ceiling. “Well, that went well. One of our better plans, I think.”
William laughed. “I’m glad you approve.”
“I do, very much.”
Some of the emotional tension William had been carrying for close to a week had finally lifted. There was still plenty to do and worry about, but for the moment, his whole body felt heavy and content, with sleep closing in fast. He turned the bedclothes back and managed to maneuver himself on the bed so he could crawl under them.
Augustus rolled off the bed, and for a moment, William feared he was going to dress and leave. Instead, Augustus just reached out and snuffed the candle before climbing back under the blankets and stretching out against William’s side.
William tucked his arm around him and fell asleep with his face resting against the top of Augustus’ head.
CHAPTER 8
~
AUGUSTUS WOKE IN THE DARK, unsure of where he was for a moment. It wasn’t his bedroom, although the space was very much like it, alike enough to be disorienting.
William’s bedroom.
He was sleeping beside Augustus, breath even, body solid where they touched. Augustus let his fingers trail from William’s shoulder down his arm. He wished there was a candle lit or that it was lighter out so he could see William, enjoy the sight of him naked, with his features softened in sleep. Not that William’s features weren’t always soft and sweet.
He was one of the most beautiful men Augustus had ever met, and he’d both sucked Augustus to climax and let him spend the night in his bed even after they’d fought. It seemed a little unreal.
William turned into his touch, shoving his face further into the pillow and making a low snufflin
g noise.
They were going to have to get up soon and go find Moss, but Augustus didn’t want to move from this spot where he could feel lazy and comfortable with William’s weight beside him. He traced his fingers back up William’s arm, listened to the small puffs of his breath.
Long term was not something Augustus had in his life, at least not with other people. It had been one thing in the Navy, where bonds of intimacy were created quickly by the necessity of having your life in another man’s hands and his in yours. Those bonds, he was finding, did not last beyond service, though, at least for him. These days, he had polite acquaintances, work, and men who let him fuck them on occasion, often because he was a paying customer. He wasn’t discontented with any of that, aside from his current work.
But now he had William, and he wasn’t quite sure where William fit. William was not just an acquaintance, not after the week they’d shared, and Augustus hoped the sex would be more than occasional.
Be practical. You cannot propose marriage to him and whisk him away to a house in the countryside so you both can spend the rest of your lives providing a safe haven for runaway sodomites and hermaphrodites.
“Good morning,” William said, voice still rough with sleep, startling Augustus enough that he flinched back and jerked his hand from William’s arm.
William made a small disgruntled noise. “You can keep doing that if you want. It was nice.”
“Petting your arm?” Augustus smiled as he reached out again and ran his fingertips across William’s shoulder.
William shivered in response and turned them both so he was lying on his back with Augustus a little on top of him. Slowly and gently he caressed down Augustus’ left arm to his forearm, tracing the scars there, and paused.
“May I ask how this happened?”
Augustus had been expecting the question since they’d met, although he hadn’t expected it in this context.
He had an answer, the one he usually gave when people asked—clipped, terse, and while not wrong, not really true either.
“One of the things you learn very quickly in naval warfare is that the most dangerous weapons involved are the ships themselves. That was mostly how men died or were severely injured. Pieces of the mast or rigging would detach and hit someone. Even a small piece can kill you if it’s falling from high enough. When the ship is hit, it sends up a spray of debris, wood and metal going faster than any bullet.”
This wasn’t what he usually said, but he found that, now he was talking, he didn’t want to go back to the rote response. He trailed his fingers up and down William’s chest, soothing small touches that anchored him to the here and now in their bed, rather than out there on the ocean. “I saw a Greek ship burn once. Men kept trying to run through the fire and jump overboard so they wouldn’t be trapped on the ship as it sank or burned, but I don’t think any of them actually survived it.”
He was silent for a moment and then went on. “I was too close to an explosion. It destroyed part of the deck. I remember being hit by a wall of flying shards. The piece of metal that went through my hand, I was later told, was big enough that if it had gone through my torso or head, it would have killed me outright. Instead, it just tore off most of my left hand.”
He stopped. William was very quiet, and Augustus wondered what he was thinking. If he was disgusted, horrified, or thinking over what his own medical response would be in such a situation. “What was left of my hand was crushed and unlikely to heal well. We determined my best chance of survival was to remove it completely. I...” He stumbled for the first time, feeling his throat close inexplicably around the words. “I was very worried about losing the entire arm at the time and am grateful now I didn’t.”
William’s hand was still on his forearm. He brought the other up to pet through his hair. He didn’t say anything, just let Augustus lie quietly against his chest until the memory of pain and fear receded.
“Can I touch you there?” William said finally, his voice serious.
“Go ahead.” Augustus shifted against him, leaning into William’s touch, just a little bit. Then, so they were both clear, he added, “You can touch me wherever you like. There might be some days where that’s not...” Briefly, he searched for words William would understand before giving up. “...not what I want. But I’ll tell you when that happens.”
He felt, more than saw William nod, and then his fingers continued, slowly and carefully, down to the rounded stump of his wrist. William’s touch felt strange there, almost too much, too intense, making Augustus feel vulnerable.
Augustus’ shoulder twitched. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to brush it off or lean into the touch.
“Are you sensitive or don’t you have much feeling?” William stroked the skin, his thumb skimming lightly across the scar tissue.
“I don’t have feeling on the scars themselves, but around them, the skin is sensitive.” Augustus tried to keep his tone clinical, but it came out a little strained. William’s touch certainly wasn’t erotic, but it was almost excruciatingly intimate.
“Do you like it?”
Augustus could barely make out his expression in the dark, but his voice was deep and slightly unsteady. He twisted around so he could kiss William, slowly, still not asking for anything, just wanting to touch.
William’s hand slid up his arm to his shoulder and kneaded into the muscles there as he kissed Augustus back, just as unhurriedly. Augustus’ caressed down William’s chest, and William made a small noise against his lips.
Their kiss changed, deepened, and Augustus shifted so he could straddle William’s waist and press his thumb against one of his small nipples.
Augustus broke the kiss finally to sit back on his heels. “What do you want? I could suck your cock, or you could fuck me.”
“Hmm.” William tugged him down and then rolled them over so they could lie side by side facing each other. He stroked up the inside of Augustus’ thigh. “I think I’d like to come here, between your thighs.”
Augustus’ breath caught. William’s voice was still low, the words pooling slow and thick like honey inside of him.
William’s touch so warm and soft against his skin as he trailed it up to the crease where thigh met body. Augustus groaned at the feel of it, especially when William worked him to hardness with careful fingers.
He reached down between their bodies to stroke him too. William made small noises of pleasure and kissed Augustus on the mark just under his chin he’d left the night before. It was a light kiss, but it still ached, and Augustus thrust his hips forward, ground himself into William’s grip.
The tip of William’s tongue traced the bruise, and Augustus’ eyes drifted shut as he concentrated on the pleasure and tender ache.
When Augustus pressed his legs together, William held on to his hips as he thrust between them.
Augustus reached down to touch himself where William had left off, listening to the sound of skin against skin, their ragged breathing, the small noises of pleasure William made when he could no longer hold back. William felt slick, hard, and very good between his thighs.
All around them, he could smell sex, linen sheets, and the chamomile mixed with pine scent that seemed to always linger on William’s skin and clothes.
He closed his eyes and let it all drive him forward, into pleasure, in the safe darkness of William’s bedroom.
He spent first, his body shaking, mouth opening on a silent cry. William continued to move against him, hips thrusting until he went rigid and spilled against Augustus’ thighs.
They lay quietly next to each other. Augustus let himself bask in the calm that always followed release. His eyes felt heavy, as though he could drift back off to sleep again. He needed to get up, but not now, not yet. After this was all over he wanted to just curl up with William and sleep forever. Not that they’d actually be able to do that, but still, the thought was a pleasant one.
“Do you think we could perhaps stop at an eating-house on the way to meet with
Mr. Moss?” William said from beside him. “I could use a large breakfast.”
Augustus smiled at that and rolled over onto his back so he could stretch his arms over his head, and then pillow it on them. “Depends on how early we leave, I suppose, but I would like that too.”
“Well, we should probably get up then and get dressed. Feel free to use my basin to wash in, and anything else you need.” William shifted away from Augustus with obvious reluctance and sighed as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed. He stood, stretched, and went to light some candles.
Augustus groaned in protest but did the same.
He was going to have to wear the same clothes as yesterday to their meeting this morning, he thought, as he shook out his linen shirt and then put it on just so he wouldn’t need to walk around the slightly chilly room naked. After their meeting with Moss, he’d go back to his own room and dress properly.
He did a sweep of the room, picking up his trousers, waistcoat, coat, cravat, and stockings off the floor and shaking each garment out, smoothing the wrinkles as best he could.
William, now dressed in a very handsome dressing gown of dark purple silk, had gone into the parlor to stoke the fire and heat some water for them to wash in. Now, he came back into the room, stopped at the washstand to pour the hot water into the basin, and unwrapped his shaving kit.
Augustus sat on the edge of the bed and watched William go about his normal morning activities. The precision with which he moved was domestic and soothing.
William filled the washbowl and wetted a small towel in it, which he handed to Augustus before turning back to mix his shaving soap. Augustus stripped off his shirt again and washed himself down.
“Do you shave?” William set aside his own washcloth and picked up his shaving brush and bowl of soap.
“No. I have a little hair there but not enough to bother with. I have thought of doing it, more for the experience really, but a shaving kit is expensive and why go through the trouble if I don’t actually need to?” He rubbed across his jaw on reflex. He could feel the fine hairs along his jawline, but they were only visible if someone was standing very close to him.