Scars

by Avery Ford

  Henry’s lips twitched. “Damn right you shouldn’t have.” He swallowed, though, softening, and when he spoke again, he poured every bit of sincerity he had to muster into his voice. “I don’t think that you’re hideous at all, by the way. You’re stunning. If people can’t see through your scars, then that’s their problem.”

  “You think so?” Caleb asked.

  “I know so.” Henry closed the rest of the distance between them, more confident than before. He ran a hand across Caleb’s left cheek with total confidence. Caleb’s burns didn’t disgust him, and they didn’t give him a second of hesitation. Nothing could change his mind about Caleb.

  He was in love.

  And Caleb was in love with him.

  Caleb wrapped his arms around his waist and pulled him close, and Henry snuggled against his chest. He’d almost let his past come in the way of their future, and he knew that Caleb had done the same. There were still some kinks to work out, but with the way that Caleb made him feel, Henry was confident they could overcome them together.

  The wind picked up and chilled them both, and Caleb held him tighter. Sparks flew, and Henry sighed and nuzzled closer to him. Caleb’s touch made every fiber of his being light up, like he was lighter than life and caught in a dream world. While his relationship with Pritchard had been a nightmare brought to life, Caleb was his fantasy. Henry was so glad that they’d agreed to work out their differences and give one another a second chance.

  “Why don’t we go inside?” Caleb asked. “It’s cold out here, and you’ve been concerned about my thin skin for so long I’d hate to stay out here any longer than I need to.”

  Henry smirked and bit down on his lip. He pulled back from Caleb and looked at him mischievously. “I can think of a great way to warm up.”

  Caleb arched an eyebrow. “Is that so?”

  “Totally.” Henry took him by the hand and led him back toward the house. “Don’t worry. I’ll be more than happy to show you.”

  Caleb

  Caleb stumbled on his way up the stairs, but Henry caught him and held him steady. With the way he walked, it was hard not to misstep. Caleb climbed the stairs backward, each step blind, as he kissed Henry deeply.

  Warming up had never been so fun.

  Henry’s hands glued him to the top, and Caleb broke from their kiss long enough to give him a questioning look. “Is this as far as we’re going?”

  “I can’t wait anymore,” Henry said. He grinned. “So yeah. This is as far as we’re going.”

  Henry was physically smaller than he was, but with the awkward position, Henry had the advantage. When he pressed down on Caleb’s shoulders, Caleb sank automatically until his ass hit the top of a step. He sat, stunned, as Henry looked down at him. There was something so incredibly sexy about seeing Henry take control of the situation, and Caleb gave into him entirely.

  “Do you want me to apologize?” Caleb eyed Henry’s crotch. The difference in their height was reversed because of their position on the staircase, and Caleb was at perfect crotch level. “Is that what this is about?”

  “No,” Henry said. His eyes sparkled. “I can’t wait anymore to taste you, Caleb. I was so lonely sleeping alone last night. I never want to have to miss you again.”

  Henry dropped to his knees a couple steps below Caleb, the height difference now placing Henry at just the right spot. Caleb watched, stunned, as Henry undid his fly. He worked the pressure garment free beneath, then eased Caleb’s cock out from the slit in his briefs.

  Caleb was rock hard and ready, thinking about how desperate Henry was for him, but also from thinking about how much Henry had missed him. They’d been apart for a day, and while Caleb missed him deeply, he was shocked to learn that Henry felt the same.

  The love between them truly was equal. Caleb closed his eyes and tilted his head back, in tune with the beating of his heart and the touch of Henry’s body. It felt so good to know that Henry really did love him.

  Henry’s hot, wet tongue lapped a bead of precum from Caleb’s cock, and Caleb had to restrain himself from bucking up and claiming Henry’s mouth. His cock bobbed, and Henry laughed and nosed at his velvety skin.

  “So hot,” Henry whispered. The torrid temperature of his words wrapped around Caleb’s shaft and felt like heaven. “Can’t believe you love me back. I want you, Caleb.”

  “I want you, too,” Caleb found the presence of mind to say. He opened his eyes and reached forward, running a hand through Henry’s hair. “God, do I want you.”

  Henry’s eyes had been downcast, watching Caleb’s cock as he nuzzled and ran his tongue along it, but he looked up at Caleb in that moment from beneath his brow. Caleb’s heart shot into his throat. Henry was the most gorgeous man he’d ever seen, and to see him looking like that was breathtaking.

  Maintaining eye contact, Henry let his tongue trail down Caleb’s shaft. Caleb groaned, eyes locked on Henry. The eroticism of the moment pulsed down his core and right through his shaft, and he felt like he might lose it all right then and there. Henry seemed to read his mind. He laughed and opened his mouth, taking Caleb between his lips and all the way down into his throat.

  Henry’s tongue slipped across his cock and teased him from base to crown. Henry bobbed his head steadily, keeping a rhythm, sucking like he wanted to drain Caleb of every last drop. Caleb couldn’t catch his breath. His attention was centered only on Henry and how Henry looked up at him with his molten brown eyes.

  “Fuck, Henry,” Caleb breathed. His fingers tightened in Henry’s soft hair, and he guided Henry’s head forward so that he could feel the back of his throat. Henry didn’t so much as sputter. “You feel so good, I’m gonna…”

  Henry didn’t pull back. In fact, he pressed tighter against Caleb’s body until his nose brushed Caleb’s abdomen. The back of his throat squeezed against Caleb’s cock, trying to expel him, and Caleb couldn’t hold back any longer. With a yell, his balls clenched and the first spurts of seed shot through him. Henry drew back enough to catch his load in his mouth, and Caleb watched as he swallowed. A drop of hot seed escaped Henry’s lips and trailed down his chin, and Caleb reached forward and brushed it away with his thumb. He presented the digit to Henry, and Henry sucked it clean.

  Caleb had just climaxed, but a shudder ran through his cock all over again. He fed his thumb to Henry, and Henry sucked and lapped at it just like it was a small dick.

  Caleb had never been more aroused in his whole life.

  “Come on,” Caleb beckoned. He reached forward with his right hand and clasped it with Henry’s. Henry didn’t even blink when Caleb’s uneven skin met his own. At this point, Caleb knew his scars didn’t matter to Henry. They were beyond that. “I need you.”

  “You just came.”

  “Give me ten minutes and I’ll be ready to go again. You light me on fire, Henry.”

  “Is that supposed to be a joke?” Henry grinned, and Caleb couldn’t help but laugh. God, did he love that man. Henry completed him in every way he needed and reminded him to stay positive even in the toughest situations.

  Henry reminded him how to live.

  Caleb rose to his feet and pulled his pressure garment and pants back into place. They headed up the stairs together and returned to Caleb’s bedroom — their bedroom. Henry wasn’t his roommate anymore, and he never would be again. They were boyfriends, and lovers, and they shared everything equally.

  Henry’s mouth tasted like Caleb, and he couldn’t get enough of it. They laid on the bed together, plucking off pieces of each other’s clothing and kissing until their lips were sore. The progression was slow, but Caleb wouldn’t have changed it for the world. By the time they were both naked, he was hard again, and he knew he could shoot.

  Henry was hard and dripping, and their kissing grew rougher as passion started to overwhelm them both. Caleb palmed him, pumping Henry’s cock and running his thumb along his slit to gather his precum and work it down his shaft. He remembered the sultry way Henry had sucked his thu
mb on the stairs and puffed out a sharp breath. This was the man he got to spend every day with? Who he’d get to bring to bed every night, and wake up beside the next morning?

  Caleb didn’t know how he’d become so lucky.

  He reached out for the lube, but as he went to reach for a condom, Henry caught him by the wrist. “No.”

  “No?” Caleb asked. “What…?”

  “Take me bareback,” Henry insisted. Wild lust shaded his gaze. “I want to feel our bodies together, Caleb.”

  Caleb almost shot right there. He took a deep, grounding breath. “I’m negative,” he said. “After all the tests they ran in the hospital on me, there’s no doubt of that.”

  “Me too,” Henry murmured. He pressed a kiss to Caleb’s lips. “So take me. I want to feel all of you.”

  Caleb’s heart fluttered. Henry made him feel like he was the most important man in the world, and like nothing could come between them. He snapped the cap off the lube and poured some into his palm, using it to coat his raw cock. He wasn’t used to feeling the chill, and he shivered.

  Henry kissed him again, insistent. Their bodies shifted. Naturally, they fell into position beside one another, and Caleb’s head brushed against Henry’s tight entrance. It felt so right to guide himself inside, and when he sank beyond Henry’s ring, he grunted and held back an orgasm.

  It felt so good to be bare inside the man he loved the most. It felt so damn good.

  Henry seemed to think so, too. He moaned and arched his back. His thighs tightened against Caleb’s hips, and he pistoned his body against Caleb’s cock. Caleb fell into rhythm with him, enraptured by how he stretched Henry’s tight hole and filled him so perfectly.

  “So good,” Henry cried. “Baby, so—”

  Caleb silenced him with a passionate kiss, and Henry mumbled into his mouth and wrapped his arms around Caleb’s neck. They tumbled on the bed. At times, Caleb thrust down into Henry. Other times, Henry gained advantage and straddled Caleb’s hips, riding him from above. Caleb wasn’t sure which view he liked better — Henry submissive and cooing with pleasure as he pumped into him, or Henry riding him for everything he was worth as his cock bobbed and he threw his head back in ecstasy.

  Caleb’s orgasm on the stairs helped prolong their union. Henry came first, tightening around Caleb’s cock suddenly and dropped his head. He was on top of Caleb, and Caleb watched as ribbons of Henry’s seed erupted from his cock and striped Caleb’s stomach and chest.

  Seeing Henry’s lips draw into a tight O, watching him squeeze his eyes shut, and feeling the head-to-toe shiver that ran through his body, sent Caleb over the edge. He came inside of Henry’s tightened body, pushing up inside of him, needing to get as deep as he could go. When it was all over, Henry slumped over Caleb’s chest and kissed him lazily. They laid there, content and quiet, regulating their breathing for a few minutes.

  “So now that makeup sex is over,” Henry murmured, “I have some things I need to talk to you about. Serious things.”

  “Me too,” Caleb replied. “But you first.”

  It made him nervous to hear Henry had things to share, but Caleb didn’t let it get to him. If he could live through the results of a disastrous fire and come out on top, he could get through whatever it was Henry needed to share.

  Henry hesitated. “I got the job in Ashford.”

  Caleb blinked, then broke out into a huge grin. “Henry! That’s fantastic! Congratulations.”

  Caleb knew where this was going, and he wasn’t going to let it bring him down. He wanted to hear what Henry said on the topic before he offered any suggestions.

  “I’m not sure I’m going to take it,” Henry admitted. “I’ve been thinking all day about it. They’re waiting for me to call back later today to let them know, and… and I’ve been thinking that jobs come and go. Money is money. What I have with you I’m not going to find with anyone else. If I don’t take this job, then I’ll be going to work for my father’s company and he’ll train me to take over one day. At some point, he’ll probably send me to finish college. But it’ll mean I get to stay here, with you.” Henry took a deep breath. “I don’t care if I have to endure working with my father for the rest of my life if it means we have a chance at being happy. If I take that route, we can stay here. I can be with you. I wouldn’t have to move.”

  “If I wasn’t in the picture, would you take the job?”

  “No questions asked.” Slowly, Henry lifted himself from Caleb until their bodies parted with a wet pop. Both of them grimaced in unison, and Henry settled down beside Caleb and stroked his chest. “But in this reality, you’re a part of my life, and I don’t want to give up on you like that.”

  “What if there was a way we could both move to Ashford?” Caleb asked.

  Henry looked up at him, gaze losing the sleepiness it once had. “What do you mean? Your house is here, Kota is here, you can’t drive on your own without skirting some rules, so…”

  “I decided what I want to do with the rest of my life,” Caleb said simply. “I want to go back to school to become a certified fire investigator — a forensic detective specializing in fires. The training programs are very strict, and the next nearest one is in Ashford. With my qualifications, I know I’d be accepted into the program in a heartbeat.”

  Henry’s lips parted in surprise. “Are you serious?”

  “Dead serious.” Caleb nodded. “Besides, Ashford is only a forty-five minute drive from Durham. All of my doctors are specialists at Duke University. It’s a hell of a lot more convenient than a four-hour drive. It’s not exactly easy to find volunteers to go that far.”

  “You’d want to move in with me?” Henry asked. “You’d really want to make the move to Ashford?” The excitement in his voice made it impossible for Caleb not to smile.

  “Yeah. I do. Even if you leave your socks in the living room and pile all your dirty dishes in the sink instead of washing them. I want to be a part of your future, and I want to make my future better so that you can be proud to be a part of my life, too.”

  Henry’s eyes glistened with unshed tears, and Caleb cupped his cheek and stroked it with his thumb gently. In the aftermath of sex, both of them were emotionally vulnerable to each other. Their hearts beat in time, and their spirits were entwined. Caleb had never wanted to make another man happy like he did Henry.

  “Oh my god, Caleb,” Henry whispered. His words warbled. “That’s beautiful… I…wow. I love you so much.”

  “I love you too, Henry,” Caleb said. He meant every syllable of it.

  “I guess this is a good time to tell you that I went to check on the dogs you took to the police station,” Henry said softly. “I adopted one of the Dalmatian puppies.”

  “So we’re parents now?” Caleb laughed. “God, we move quick, don’t we?”

  “Well, I mean, you don’t need to take care of him if you don’t want to…”

  “Of course I do.” Caleb kissed Henry’s forehead. “We’re going to take care of him together. We’re not roommates anymore, Henry. I love you. What’s yours is mine, and if you love that puppy, I’m going to love him, too. We’re going to raise him right.”

  Everything was turning out incredibly. If those were Henry’s biggest issues, then they were in the clear. Their destinies had started to align, and Caleb took it as a sign that they had always been meant to be together.

  Through whatever storms came their way, and whatever arguments they would inevitably have, they would rise above it all. Love was never easy, but it was always worth it. The feeling Henry stirred in Caleb’s bones and the way he heated Caleb’s blood convinced Caleb of it.

  They were meant for one another, and Caleb would do everything in his power to make sure he cherished and honored that bond.

  Caleb would belong to Henry forever, so long as it was what Henry wanted.

  Henry

  The Dalmatian puppy perked up the second they walked out through the front door of the shelter, and he hopped into the back sea
t of Henry’s car without a moment’s hesitation. His oversized paws kicked and scratched as he scrambled to clear his jump, and Henry had to lift him by the butt to help him onto the seat. A black collar hung around his neck, and an identical leash dangled from it. Henry hadn’t decided on a name yet, so the tags on the puppy’s collar only contained contact information. Once he came up with the perfect name, he’d update the tags.

  Caleb sat in the passenger’s seat, hands tucked behind his head. “You picked the cutest one.”

  “There was only one to choose from,” Henry grumbled.

  “Well.” Caleb grinned. “I guess you got lucky then.”

  The puppy curled up on the back seat, and Henry shifted into drive. They made their way through town, then beyond city limits. It was a short drive to the Weston estate, and Henry turned onto the long driveway and took it slow.

  After what had happened in Caleb’s house, it felt strange to be coming back home, but both Caleb and he agreed that clearing the air was important before they left for Ashford. Henry was starting in two short weeks, and they’d be moving almost immediately.

  “They’re not going to have me wait on the doorstep, are they?”

  “Of course not.” Henry wished that he was as sure of it as he sounded. Neither of his parents thought highly of Caleb, he knew. Hopefully, they could accept their love and understand that their relationship was serious. Not only were they moving to another city together, but they were also going to raise a puppy.

  “If you say so,” Caleb said with a laugh.

  They arrived at the top of the driveway. Henry parked and got out of the car, then retrieved the puppy from the back seat. He jumped down and padded across the sidewalk, then lifted his leg and peed on his mother’s garden.