by Jace, Alex
Arjen half smiled, breathless, gripping so tight, as though Max might escape him. “Stay forever.”
“Okay.” Max pressed his forehead against his, his smile so wide it threatened to crack something. “I missed having you sleeping next to me.”
“You can have it every night.” Arjen smiled up at him, tentatively glowing. “Let me take you to bed.”
“Yes.” Max followed him; he would have followed him anywhere.
At last he was welcomed into the warmth of Arjen’s room. Arjen turned to him with a shy smile that Max had never seen before. “You’re dripping.”
Max looked down at the rapidly spreading puddle of rain around him. He laughed. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be.” Arjen leaned into him, heedless of his drenched coat, took him by the back of the neck and kissed him slowly as he worked on undressing Max. He was so delightfully warm, his mouth so hot, that Max swayed into him in pure yearning; Max felt like he was chilled to the bone and only Arjen could heat him back up. Arjen undressed him with his clever hands, then took over when Max fumbled to undress him too. “Shower.” Arjen tugged him along.
The shock of the hot water against his chilled skin made Max gasp. He was frozen inside and the ice was finally cracking apart. The water poured over them both, scalding, the shower rapidly filling with clouds of steam.
It felt so fucking good just being here. Max took his beloved by the chin and kissed him until Arjen was helpless in his arms. Max revelled in this moment, in having the privilege of touching him. He slid to his knees and took Arjen deep into his mouth.
Arjen’s head banged back against the shower tiles as he groaned. Max pushed a finger into him and made him gasp, teased his sweet spot and made him moan aloud. Arjen was so hot for him it was unbearable, all that lean muscle eagerly waiting for him. Max rubbed firmly against his sweet spot at the same time as he sucked hard.
Arjen came with a cry, his fingers tightening in Max’s hair. Max let him rock into his mouth, riding Max’s finger, chasing the last ripples of pleasure.
It was more than he could stand to have Arjen slick and ready for him in the steamy shower. Max lifted him easily, braced him against the tiles, pressing into him. Arjen kept making these intoxicating little sounds as Max slowly, slowly sheathed himself in him; the clench of his body was at once tight and yielding. Finally fully inside him, Max let go a tormented groan into the sweet plane of his throat. It should be illegal for one man to be so slippery, so needy. Arjen squeezed around him so tight that Max saw stars and it took all his self-control not to come inside him that instant.
No. He was going to enjoy every moment of this and he’d make Arjen come again before he finally let go. He began to rock into Arjen, setting a steady rhythm.
Arjen began to pant, then to whimper as his pleasure built again. The hammering of the water against the tiles drowned out the sounds he was making. Max pinned his wrists above his head with one hand as he kept driving into him; Arjen arched into him, utterly abandoned in Max’s arms. “Please, Max, that’s so good.” He buried his face in Max’s shoulder.
“Course it is,” Max murmured in his ear. “Because you’re mine.”
“Yes.” Arjen smiled against his shoulder. Their fingers twined together above his head.
“And because I love you.” Max pressed a kiss to his temple and kept steadily thrusting.
“Mmm.” Arjen’s eyes fluttered shut as he fought for control. He was biting his lip; Max dipped his head and captured that tempting lower lip for himself, bit it gently, teasing it with his teeth. “Oh,” Arjen said on a sigh. His clear satisfaction fed a part of Max that had been starving far too long. It had been so long since Arjen had trusted him that Max had forgotten what pure magic it was: how generous his affection, how open his body, how keen his desire to please.
Arjen pulled against Max’s grip on his wrists. “I need… I…”
“I like it when you’re incoherent. It’s cute.” Max shifted his grip on his ass, bracing him against the wall to slide deeper.
The new angle must have hit home even better, because Arjen was starting to cry out, pleading with him, squirming in his arms. He must be very close to the edge; he was starting to tighten up in that telltale way that threatened to tip Max over too. “Max. Please. Please!”
Max wrapped a slippery hand around his cock and tightened his grip as he slammed home. Arjen came for him unbelievably hard, his whole body tautening, squeezing tight around Max. Max lost his breath in a growl of sheer hunger and he couldn’t think any more, he could only pin Arjen against the shower tiles and drive deep as he followed Arjen over the edge. The force of his climax shook him to the core. Shudders of pleasure ripped through him and he had to muffle his cry against Arjen’s shoulder.
Afterward he was so, so glad to be able to hold Arjen the way he wanted, keeping him in his arms where Max needed him. Craved him. Arjen was trembling against him, his breath coming in gasps. Max couldn’t stop whispering to him, the words spilling out. “That was so good, Arjen, you’re so good. I love you. You’re mine.”
“Gah.” Arjen just turned his face into Max’s shoulder.
Max turned his cheek against the top of his head, stroking his hair. It felt so good to have Arjen wrapped in his arms. He was never letting go. “You’re safe with me. You’re safe.”
“I know.” Arjen snuggled closer.
Max’s throat closed and for a second he could barely breathe. He needed this complete trust so badly.
He slipped out of his body as gently as he could, cleaned him up, then coaxed him out of the shower. Arjen kept holding onto him, leaning into him, as though the world was unsteady around him: as though he had been as profoundly shaken as Max. Max got a soft towel and rubbed him down, then himself, and led him to bed.
Arjen no sooner slipped under the covers than he pressed himself back into Max. Max kissed his temple, his cheek, brimming over with warmth and happiness. The soft glow of the lamp turned everything to gold. He smiled, and felt the curve of Arjen’s mouth at the corner of his. “Sleepy?”
“Exhausted.” Arjen laid his head on Max’s shoulder.
“That’s a shame,” Max murmured in his ear. “Because it would take me a long, long time to make you come again. And you’d enjoy every minute.”
“You wear me out,” Arjen said, his eyes still closed, but his smile slowly deepened.
“Let me persuade you.” Max stroked his sensitive inner thigh.
Arjen caught his breath, shifted slightly beneath him, the first sign that Max was sparking his interest. “You can’t possibly want to fuck me again so soon.”
Max ran a finger up and down his crease. Arjen squirmed. “You’re right. I’m tired. But I think we can find something else to fuck you with. Can’t we?”
Predictably, Arjen reddened. Max grinned. He delved into Arjen’s bedside drawer and as expected found a dildo. “You are wicked, Arjen. You just couldn’t manage without something inside you, could you.”
“How did you guess?” Arjen was definitely blushing.
Max laughed. “Remember the first time I used one on you? The time I turned you over my knee and spanked you? You liked being fucked with a dildo way too much. Of course you would have bought one.” He leaned off the edge of the bed and rummaged in their discarded clothes to find his belt, which he duly looped around Arjen’s wrists and pulled tight to tie his hands to the bed frame.
“Max.” Arjen tugged at his bonds.
“Less?” Max teased him with the dildo, running it along his inner thigh, rubbing it into his crease, not quite touching his pucker. Arjen fidgeted. “Or more?”
“Max!” Arjen pulled harder, spreading his legs wider. “More.”
“It’s more fun when I use it on you, isn’t it? Much more fun than using it on yourself.” Max pressed the dildo into his still-slick body. Arjen arched up into it, his thighs parting reflexively, his body one taut curve. Max pushed it in only to drag it back out, making sure to brush the spot t
hat made Arjen groan loudly. “You need this, don’t you. Need the size of it in you.”
“Not as big as you.” Arjen was biting his lip, his body flexing delightfully beneath Max’s hungry eyes.
Max chuckled. “Isn’t it?”
“No. I like the way you stretch me open.” Arjen was panting now, his bound hands clenched. His teeth were set in his lower lip. He twisted under Max’s hands, trying to offer his body for the dildo. “Please.”
“It’s going to take me ages to be ready to fuck you again,” said Max with great satisfaction. “And I’m going to spend the whole time tormenting you.” Again he pushed it in, again he dragged it out. Arjen’s hands tightened into fists and his breathing got faster. “Playing with that little place inside you that gets you so hot. Until you’re begging me to let you come.” Max pressed it in deliberately.
Arjen’s voice went up a notch. “Ah! Max!”
Max grinned.
It did indeed take a full half hour for Max to recover sufficiently to fuck Arjen again. By that time Arjen was out of his mind with need, spread out and squirming on the bedcovers, teased so relentlessly that he would have let anyone do anything to him. Max drew that dildo out of him one last time, taking his time, and shifted to take its place between Arjen’s legs. “Please!” Arjen begged him, his voice cracking. His face was flushed, his dark hair sticking to his temples. “Max, God, I need—ah!”
His voice soared as Max thrust powerfully into him. Arjen clenched tight around Max, his back arching as he pressed himself up into him, his eyes screwing shut. That exquisite grip was so intense that Max growled his hunger, his possessiveness. His fingers dug bruisingly hard into Arjen’s thighs. “You’re mine,” Max told him, his voice so rough it barely sounded human. “All mine.” He began to rock into him.
“Yes! Yours!” Arjen clearly would have agreed to anything to get Max to let him come; he was so frantic that if his hands hadn’t been bound, his nails would have been raking down Max’s back. The belt must be biting into his wrists. Max dipped his head and stole a kiss, dipped further to taste his throat, savouring the salt on his skin. Arjen moaned aloud in helpless abandon. “Max, Max—”
“Come,” Max said through gritted teeth. “As soon as you’re ready.” Preferably in the next few seconds while Max was still clinging to the last of his self-control. “I want to feel your ass get so tight around me that I can’t fucking think.”
Arjen let go with a sweet cry. He squeezed so tight that Max saw stars as his climax hit him with the force of an explosion. Arjen rocked desperately under him, slipping and sliding up and down on Max’s impaling length, shuddering his pleasure. Finally he lapsed into shaky silence.
They lay twined together for a long time, still joined intimately, Arjen’s heart beating fast against his. Max let his head drop onto Arjen’s shoulder, panting, dazed, shaken by the force of their pleasure. Jesus. Arjen was trembling in his arms.
“Good?” Max kissed him.
“So good.” Arjen sighed contentedly.
Max pretty much glowed. He eased out of his body, unbound his hands, and took a moment to clean them both. Then Arjen snuggled into him, warm and sweet and trusting, and whispered, “Mine.”
Max stroked his hair, overcome with tenderness. “All yours.” He settled Arjen comfortably against him; Arjen rested his cheek against Max’s bare chest.
Arjen burrowed deeper into Max’s arms. “Stay tonight?”
Max smiled down at him. Nothing in the world sounded better. “I’ll stay,” Max said. “As long as you’ll have me.”
LIGHT OF DAWN
Max woke already smiling.
His smile only deepened as awareness came back, as he remembered where he was and why. The ticking of the unfamiliar clock, the softness of the unfamiliar bed brought back memories. Someone was asleep beside him; the knowledge filled him to brimming with contentment. Max lay in the warmth of that shared bed, eyes still shut, basking in an intense sense of wellbeing. It was such a perfect moment that he wanted to hold on to it as long as he possibly could.
He took a deep breath and let it go in a sigh of satisfaction. He already knew what would greet him when he opened his eyes.
When he finally opened them, sunshine spilled hazy through the tilted window above his head. Where it touched, it struck sparks from the shining metal of a laptop and glowed gold on wooden shelves. The room was all clean lines and pale colours, shelves piled high with books running along the walls. A stack of textbooks stuffed with tiny coloured slips of paper teetered on one shelf. Sunlight poured across the rumpled covers and pooled in the dips of the bed.
Arjen was snuggled into him fast asleep. His arm was draped across Max’s bare chest, his open hand over Max’s heart. His lashes lay against his cheeks, fluttering slightly with dreams, and his breathing was deep and even.
It was such a sweet sight by the light of dawn that Max stared up at the ceiling with tears in his eyes. He swallowed hard, remembering.
The first time they’d ever slept together Max had woken just like this. Except when he’d first felt this fragile uncurling of tenderness inside him, strange and intense, it had freaked him out. So badly that he had kicked out the one person he should have begged to stay.
He had not been allowed to spend the night with Arjen ever since. In fact, he had never slept in Arjen’s bed. So just waking up with him felt miraculous. Max remembered last night and smiled even bigger.
He was so glad to have a second chance. He might have messed up before, but he could do it right this time. He could treat Arjen the way he should have treated him all along—like something precious and irreplaceable.
Max stretched lazily and laced his fingers behind his head. The pillow was sun-warmed beneath him. Arjen only murmured and snuggled closer.
He was so stunning it took Max’s breath away. He had those sharp, chiselled features that Max wanted to memorise. Dark hair that Max liked to run his fingers through. Dark lashes lying along his cheekbones, hiding those beautiful dark eyes. Arjen was the smouldering type, smoky dark, and he’d only gotten hotter since Max had first laid eyes on him.
Max stroked a hand up and down his bare arm, enjoying the muscle there. He was delightfully warm. “You’re perfect.” Max kissed the top of his head. “And you’re all mine.”
Mmm. Arjen smelled good. Felt good. All warm and inviting tucked into Max’s side. Maybe Max should reward him for forgiving him. He wanted to give Arjen a good incentive to never spend the night apart from now on.
Max flung back the bedcovers and that familiar stab of hunger hit him. The sunlight painted Arjen’s lean body, bringing out the gleam of his skin, the reds in his dark hair. Irresistible. Max slid down his body, kissing as he went, tasting and exploring. He wanted to relearn that flat stomach, the planes of muscle, the sensitive dip of his navel that made Arjen shift even in deep sleep. Max spread his pale thighs, stifling a growl of hunger, trailed kisses along the inside of his thigh and nipped gently. Arjen stirred again in his sleep, getting harder.
“You are a very deep sleeper,” Max told him, before taking his cock into his mouth.
He took it in one slow, hot slide. Arjen made a small sound, starting to arch and tense under his hands. Max spread him wider, enjoying the heat of him, the taste, the feel. Those open thighs invited Max to do all kinds of wicked things to him. Max pulled off and licked up and down the length of his shaft, teased the tip with his tongue, took it deep into his throat.
“Oh.” Arjen arched beneath him, eyes fluttering half open, still mostly asleep. His hand lifted as if to catch Max’s hair, then fell back, fingers curling into his palm.
Max smiled around his mouthful. He slid off his cock and eased back up his body. Rifling through the bedside drawer turned up some lube; he took his time getting Arjen slick and ready for him with one finger, then two, while Arjen’s hands fisted in the bedcovers. Then Max braced himself over him and slid into him. It was pure torture sinking into such a hot, tight body and he g
roaned aloud as he fought the urge to come.
Christ. He took deep breaths and counted to ten until he regained control. Arjen shuddered under him, making the most delightful sounds.
“You drive me crazy,” Max told him once he’d caught his breath. “And I like it that way.” Max slid lazily in, then out, dragging little shivers from him. He dipped his head to taste the exposed line of his throat, clean and salty. “This is where you belong. All slippery under me. Mmm.” He licked, then nipped. “I can do this for you every morning, baby. Just ask.”
Arjen was starting to clutch at him even in his sleepy state, so Max coaxed him to a sweet climax and kissed him as he came. Arjen clenched deliciously around him. “I love you,” Max whispered to him, his voice cracking under the strain of holding back. “Never leave me.” He pushed Arjen’s thighs wider and pounded him hard until the intensity of his feelings broke over him in a wave and he had to let go.
Afterward he settled his beloved in his arms and soothed him back to sleep. Max kissed his cheek and stroked his hair until Arjen slid easily into dreams. It was utterly satisfying just to watch Arjen sleep like this, all of his stresses and worries smoothed out, safe and trusting in Max’s arms. Max kissed him one last time and sneaked out of bed to hit the shower.
The hot water burst on in a cloud of steam. Under the spray, Max grinned like an idiot. He could not believe how good he felt right now, happy and carefree, his heart so light it threatened to escape altogether. He was going to make this the best day ever. Make sure Arjen never regretted giving Max another shot.
After his shower he pulled on last night’s jeans and headed downstairs. Shafts of sunlight filled the hall, the living room with its leather recliners arranged around a flat-screen television, the kitchen with its tall metal fridge. Everything glowed gold. Max hummed as he started making breakfast, struck frequently by the memory of the night before, making him smile. He got the bacon and mushrooms frying, the bread in the toaster, the kitchen filling with delicious smells. It made him laugh at how domesticated he was becoming, but he liked it this way. He was going to surprise Arjen with breakfast in bed and enjoy his smile. He cracked an egg into the frying pan; it sizzled as it hit the hot surface.