Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Colm
San Francisco is crowded and loud. I have lived over a quarter of my life span—probably more, if we’re being honest about my future—and I have got to finally admit that I don’t fucking like cities.
All the people on top of people reminds me of the group homes and behavioral units I grew up in. I’m used to never being truly alone. It’s not like the Banna are quiet to live with. But this is too much.
I didn’t say anything, but when we got out to Possum Hollow for the first time, I felt like I could really breathe. And it’s not like we were in a San Francisco-sized metropolis to begin with.
We drove here without stopping after the incident with the Aryans.
Now that the tracker is gone, I think we’ve finally shaken them off our trail.
Or hopefully killed enough that their whole grudge doesn’t seem so important anymore.
Either way, it seemed to be worth powering through and putting some distance between us and the crime scene.
Luckily, I bought spare plates with us, so we’ve switched them out twice and now we are safe and anonymous in the city. The loud, busy city.
As soon as we got here, we ate, showered and crashed, sleeping for well over 16 hours.
I woke up once to have a brief conversation with Kaitlyn, and she’s working on getting us into some casino where she says her trail leads.
I’d rather ask her straight up where Ellery is, because that’s the real goal of this whole shenanigan, but I’m not convinced she wouldn’t warn them and send Ellery scurrying for cover.
I have no idea whether they’re genuinely avoiding Fallow or they just took the opportunity to run and didn’t think about what it would mean to leave him behind. My guess is on the latter, although he definitely suspects the former. Either way, I don’t want to risk it.
Bright light is filtering in around the thick motel curtain the next time I open my eyes. I’m groggy and tempted to go back to sleep, but as soon as my stomach rumbles, I realize there’s more important things to take care of. I sit up enough for a full-body stretch and look around for Fallow.
He’s still asleep beside me. By the time we were looking for a motel room last night it was getting late, and we were both exhausted to the point of delirious.
We found one with vacancies and parked quickly.
By the time we’d walked in with our bags, the motel would have had to be on fire for me to not stay there.
I looked at Fallow for objections when the woman behind the desk told us they only had king beds available, no double rooms.
He just shrugged, like it was no big deal.
And I’m at the point where I’ll take any excuse to be close to him that he doesn’t seem to find objectionable.
I was careful not to touch him through the whole process leading up to bed, and we fell asleep with our bodies on opposite sides of the mattress but facing each other.
It felt calm, and more normal than I expected. Fallow didn’t say much, but whenever he did, it was in a soft voice that contributed to the peaceful atmosphere. Right now, it’s difficult to remember why we ever have to leave this room.
I don’t mean to stare, but I definitely do, and Fallow catches me when his eyes blink open. He’s hazy for a minute and then focuses on me, eventually curling his lip in that specific smile that says he’s about to tease me for something.
“Is this a Sleeping Beauty/Prince Charming situation? Or are you heartbroken that I didn’t wake you up to fuck this time.”
I don’t pretend not to smile back. This person makes me goofy for no reason I can explain, and I’m done trying to play it cool. He’ll run if he wants to, but maybe the way I can get him to stay is by not hiding how much I love being around him.
“I think we both needed the sleep this time. I just woke up a minute ago. Are you saying you don’t like being adored and admired from a respectful distance?”
He turns a little to rub his sleepy face into the pillow before he answers.
“Being adored isn’t my main goal in life, but I can’t say I’m not partial to it.”
“Good. It’s pretty hard to resist.”
We should get up. I should check my phone for messages from Kaitlyn. But I don’t want to break the bubble that we’re in until I have to.
“Come here,” he says, like he’s throwing down a gauntlet.
I keep staring for a second to make sure he’s serious. The teasing face is still there, but there’s the slightest hint of nerves behind it.
I think this is the exact moment I decide I’m going to dedicate my life to making Fallow want to keep me around. Fuck the rest of it. The Banna gave me structure and a purpose, and I’m grateful for that, but I’m realizing it’s okay to want a little bit more and for me, Fallow is that bit more.
I’ll do anything it takes. He’s a complete weirdo and it’s perfect.
I shuffle closer to him slowly, adjusting the comforter until it’s laying on top of both of us with nothing bunched in the middle. I stop short of touching him, but there’s barely an inch of warm, sleep-scented air, and then lay my head on his pillow.
“Good morning,” I say.
Fallow stays quiet. His eyes are darting around, like he’s taking in my face from this new, closer angle. I’m content to wait for him to come to me, even if every inch of my body is straining towards him in a mixture of affection and hunger.
He hesitates, then jerks forward and kisses me. He doesn’t touch me anywhere else, but the kiss quickly softens into something sweet, and I want to simmer in it forever. Lips and tongue in a glorious slide, tasting of this unique Fallow-ness that I’m finally getting to experience.
We kiss for a long time, as I wait for him to make the next move.
Even if he’s softening to letting me touch him, I don’t think he’ll ever stop being a bossy bitch when it comes to sex, so I’m content to wait him out.
And he does shuffle closer to me a little at a time as the heat builds between us.
By the time he tentatively presses the front of his body against mine, one hand flat on my chest, we’re both aching hard.
Once he gets comfortable enough to be truly draped against me, I push a little closer and wrap one arm around his waist to hold him to me.
I wait for a reaction, but he keeps kissing me like before, gradually starting to grind his cock against mine.
He’s in sweats and a t-shirt, like always, but I’m wearing nothing but briefs. It’s easy for him to tug them down when he decides he wants to, so he has more space to fist my cock.
Fallow jerks me off slowly, spreading the wetness leaking from my cock and never truly breaking our lazy, indulgent kiss.
At some point he brings his other hand up to cup my stubble-rough cheek, and I almost have to break the kiss to grin at him.
It feels amazing. No hand job in my life has ever felt this good.
I’m rolling my hips into his grasp, feeling closer and closer to the edge.
I wish he would take off his pants as well, or let me jerk him off in return, but I want to leave him in control.
And every time I rub my length against his erection, even through the fabric, has him making little breathy noises directly into my mouth.
“Gonna come,” I break off to gasp as my orgasm barrels towards me.
Fallow doesn’t stop. He strokes me quickly, and lifts his top leg to hook around my thigh like he’s trying to keep me right where I am.
“Fuuuuck,” I groan as I come all over his hand, my hips bucking with the feeling of it. I tighten the arm I have around him, wishing I had two handfuls of his tight ass instead, but still floating on a cloud of my own bliss.
My little psychopath doesn’t let my coming or cursing interrupt. He keeps ravaging my mouth all the way through it, dropping my cock the second I’m finished to push down his waistband and pull himself out.
He strokes himself frantically, clearly close to the edge. I feel fucking drugged from how hard I just nutted, and it makes me bold. I slip my free hand in between us to cup his balls, tugging on them a little. Just enough to get a reaction.
A deep red flush paints his cheeks, and a few seconds later he’s spraying his own cum on top of mine with a gasp, completing the mess we’ve made between us.
We keep kissing after. It’s messy, but it doesn’t seem to be bothering him right now, so I take what I can get. It isn’t until my god damn phone starts to vibrate that I pull myself out of the orgasm bubble we’re both living in.
“Fuck is that?” he asks, his lips clearly swollen and a little stubble burn on his chin in a way that makes me feel feral.
“I bet it’s Kaitlyn. I was waiting on a response from her.”
I roll over enough to grab the phone but keep one hand on his side, before rolling back to my original position. I have a bunch of messages from Kaitlyn, and it takes me a minute to bring the words into focus.
“Are you okay?” I ask him, glancing past the screen.
He frowns at me like a dissatisfied woodland creature.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
The stern look I give him doesn’t seem to penetrate through his feigned indifference, so I let it go and focus on my phone.
“Just checking,” I say in a sing-song voice.
I’ll keep checking, whether he wants to answer or not.
“I need to shower.”
He looks down between us, an ick expression forming on his face.
My eyes quickly scan to the end of the messages, and I look back up at him when I’m done, suddenly feeling awake and focused.
“Yep. Time to go. We have criminal shit to do, and I have the secret instructions.”