Chapter 4 – James
Chapter Four
JAMES
Somehow, they both managed to fall asleep within moments of each other, which meant James woke up with Leon’s perfect dick wedged between his butt cheeks.
The feeling was far from unpleasant, and if it had been sometime next month or possibly even next week, James would have ground against him, maybe arched his back, thrown his leg over Leon’s hips, and—
But not today. They still had to have their talk because he hadn’t been able to do it the night before.
During the years that James’ mom had been sick, sex had been James’ only escape.
He’d become an expert at giving the talk quickly and assertively before getting down to business.
He’d given it to men, women, enbies, and even a few fellow trans folks.
It had been years since he’d given it to a partner, though.
He was tempted to turn around and palm Leon’s erection.
Last night had been incredible. Leon was such a responsive lover.
Every one of his groans and gasps had shot through James’ heart and down into his core.
He was still carrying that knot of lust in his stomach, but it was starting to shift and grow.
He could feel small threads of affection and possibly even the beginnings of love winding together, like it was some kind of ever-growing rubber band ball.
Even with all of those feelings expanding inside him, his stomach still had the audacity to grumble about being empty.
James tried to gently extract himself from Leon’s arms, but it was like springing a booby trap. The more he struggled, the tighter Leon held, until finally he resigned himself to being a bad overnight guest.
“Leon?” he murmured, brushing his fingers over Leon’s forearm.
He was surprised that both of Leon’s forearms were free of ink.
The octopus on his left shoulder spread down onto his bicep, and a dragon was creeping down his right tricep.
His forearms were noticeably bare, though.
James could imagine a range of beasts and dangerous implements inked in black across his arms. With his finger, he drew a rough outline of a chain and mace, and then traced the path a sea serpent could take, wrapping down around his forearm all the way to his wrist. Then he sketched a silly-looking cat for good measure.
“What’cha doin’ darlin’?” Leon drawled, pressing his arm into James’ touch.
“Drawing you tattoos.”
“I don’t have tattoos there,” Leon mumbled.
“I know. I think you’d look good with them, though. That’s why I’m drawing you some.”
“Oh… okay,” Leon said, pressing a weak kiss to the back of James’ neck. “I‘ll call my artist ‘n the mornin’.”
“It is the morning, baby.”
“Uh-uh,” Leon grunted.
He dragged his lips down James’ neck, making James shiver, before leaning his forehead against the back of James’ head. They’d literally been snuggling for an entire night, and yet every brush of lips and press of skin felt like a revelation.
Leon wanted him. After all these months and repeated delays, Leon still wanted him.
James closed his eyes and wondered if maybe he could fall back asleep for a little while longer.
But then Leon’s words finally registered.
“Wait…what do you mean, call your artist?”
Leon moved his arm up and down in a weird way, pressing and rubbing it against James’ hand.
It took James longer than it probably should have to understand.
Some part of him was still holding onto the image of Leon as the gruff, bad boy who didn’t have any wants or needs.
In reality, he was a lot like Yarmen, a little aloof at first, but needy and affectionate once you gained his trust.
James began stroking his arm again, and Leon made a low rumbling noise, almost like he really was a cat, purring at James’ touch. “Baby?” he asked again.
“You said you want to draw me a tattoo,” Leon gruffed, his words coming out clearer now, even though his voice was still low and gravely. “I’m sure as hell not gonna ink it on myself. I bet Cincinnati would work with you if you have an idea for a design.”
“Your tattoo artist’s name is Cincinnati?” James asked, somehow asking the least important question.
“Mhm.”
“And…you would let me design a tattoo for you?”
Leon took in a long, slow breath. “I guess, if I was being responsible, I would say we should wait a couple months just to make sure.”
He let go of James and flopped over onto his back. James rolled over and cuddled up against Leon’s side, his stomach completely forgotten. All he could focus on now was the way Leon’s eyes sparkled in the soft morning light.
He didn’t have any blackout curtains, which was probably what had woken James up. When he was at home, he almost never slept in, but he didn’t mind it from time to time. If that was the desire for sleepovers, James would need to get blackout curtains.
For…Leon’s bedroom.
James cleared his throat. “That does sound more responsible.” Unlike thinking about ways James could better decorate Leon’s room for more sleepovers.
Trying to hide the slow flush that was spreading across his cheeks, James buried his face in Leon’s chest. Sleep had warmed his skin and added a slight muskiness to his scent. James had to stop himself from sniffing him like a dog.
He took deep, steady breaths instead. Super casually.
“Alright, darlin’, you win,” Leon said, brushing his fingers back through James’ floof of hair. “I’m awake, and I will do the responsible thing and not call my tattoo artist today. I’ll set an alarm and call her in six weeks.”
Glad his meandering morning thoughts seemed to have gone unnoticed, James folded his hands on Leon’s pec and placed his chin on them. “Why six weeks?”
“Seems like a responsible amount of time,” Leon said. “At least, to me. Correct me if I’m wrong, though, my little mensch.”
James shook his head, but he couldn’t keep the smile off his face. “It’s your body, so if six weeks feels reasonable to you, that’s fine with me.” It was also right after Valentine’s Day, but he didn’t think Leon had chosen it because of that.
“Perfect,” Leon said, tipping his head back to yawn hugely, giving James a very interesting view of the back of his throat.
“Sorry for waking you up,” James said, drumming his fingers absently on Leon’s pec. “I’m pretty hungry, but I can fix myself something, and you can go back to sleep?”
Leon ran a hand up and down James’ spine. “Nah, I’m up now. I’ll make us something. Just gimme a few.”
James pressed a closed-mouth, morning-breath-avoidant kiss on his lips before slowly sitting up. Leon’s bed was quite comfortable, as was Leon’s warm, sturdy body. He wouldn’t mind coming back to bed after breakfast, but he didn’t know if that was on today’s itinerary.
Leon brushed his teeth first and offered James the shower if he wanted it.
James was feeling a little gross after breaking a sweat going down on Leon the night before.
He was definitely not an athlete, and holding his muscular, desperately thrashing boyfriend down had really tested his limits.
Thankfully, it hadn’t seemed to break any of Leon’s limits, at least until the oversensitive end.
Hopefully, they could discuss more about that… tonight.
The rubber band ball of like, lust, affection, and joy in his stomach twisted as anxiety joined the mix.
James checked his phone as he got ready to shower and found a text from his mom wishing him a good morning and reminding him to pick up an extra pickle with her sandwich for lunch today.
Knowing his mom had fared all right went a fair way towards lessening James’ anxiety.
Leon’s shower did the rest, loosening the knots that always seemed to form at the base of his neck.
The showerhead had just the right amount of pressure and was easy to set and maintain the perfect temperature.
James’ shower at home was on the fritz, alternating between scalding and arctic at a moment’s notice.
He kept meaning to get it fixed, but he’d been so busy with the holidays and spending time with Leon, he hadn’t wanted to call a plumber and then not be there when they arrived.
Sure, his mom could probably handle it, but he didn’t want her to have to deal with it.
That seemed to be the core of a lot of his anxiety and concern for her.
She’d been through so much the past several years, and all he wanted was for her to have an easy time of things moving forward.
If her text was anything to go by, it seemed James’ nighttime absence hadn’t been a problem.
Hopefully, that would greenlight him for whatever it was they were going to do tonight.
Talk but…maybe even more.
As James toweled off, he tried to remember the last time he’d had sex with anyone. Probably sometime last winter, before he’d become so infatuated by Leon that he’d stopped bothering with all the apps.
Now that James was thinking about it, he actually did remember his last encounter.
They’d met up after work at the guy’s condo.
The sex had been quite good, but the company afterward had been lackluster at best, and it had put James in a foul mood for several days afterward.
Even though he never stayed the night, he liked to cuddle and chat for a bit, even if it was just about the weather or a recent game.
The guy had immediately gotten out of bed and gone to sit at his desk, pulling up a spreadsheet on one monitor, presumably for work, while logging into a video game on the second screen.
James had quickly excused himself and deleted the app on the elevator ride back down to the lobby.
James knew without a shadow of a doubt that Leon wouldn’t do that. If anything, he seemed to be the cuddlier one.
As James approached Leon, where he was scrambling eggs shirtless, like some kind of masochist, Leon turned around as if on instinct and pulled James against his side.