Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Waking up next to Luka was both the best and the worst. It was the best because Luka was there.
It was the worst because Reno knew he needed to be at his photoshoot in an hour.
It meant not nearly enough time to kiss Luka senseless as much as he wanted.
He tried anyway, starting with the nape of Luka’s neck, then pulling on his shoulder to get him to turn enough that Reno could reach his jawline, his cheek, and the side of his nose.
He loved how Luka looked in his sleep, the serious line of his brows softened and the tension in his shoulders gone with the way he curled on his side.
By the time Reno was pecking the corners of Luka’s eyes, Luka was waking up, feebly pushing at Reno to get him to stop.
Reno paused, considering the balance of affection, expression, and traditional roles they avoided, before deciding it wasn’t time to tell Luka the full meaning of those words.
“Hm, look it up.” Reno placed a kiss on Luka's forehead and giggled when Luka let out an exasperated sigh. The annoyed frown Luka gave him was almost as cute as the way his hair tangled and waved around his face. “I have a shoot in an hour. I should be free after five if you want to do something.”
“I thought we needed to stay in for the week.”
Reno considered the risks for a moment. “True, but we could go to the pub down the street. It’s on the block, so security should keep everything away. We mostly would have to worry about going out past the neighborhood. Oh, I can go buy a wig after my shoot!”
“You’re cute,” Luka said and peeled away from Reno to stretch out. “I’m gonna go sightseeing today. August helped me figure out a bunch of places to go.”
“I wanna go with you.” Reno pouted, pulled himself up to sit, and looked down at Luka sprawled out on the bed. The morning sun peeking through the window curtains hit Luka’s face, making his eyes look like glass. “Or even better, I wanna stay here with you all day in bed.”
“Mhm, I’m sure you do.” Luka smiled. “How soon do you need to go?”
Reno dug around for a bit until he found his phone. “Forty-five minutes. That’s enough time.”
“Time for?” Luka asked, but before he could finish, Reno was already diving under the covers and settling between Luka’s legs.
He heard Luka gasp, and the cool air from the room hit him when Luka pulled the blanket up to lock eyes with Reno right as Reno wrapped his lips around Luka and sucked. “Oh—”
Luka’s head fell back and the blanket dropped over Reno, leaving him to Luka’s warmth, his taste, and his smell.
He loved drawing noises from Luka, feeling the sensitive skin of his thighs, running his teeth gently over his erection, pulling it into his mouth and letting it press against his tongue.
He savored every bit of him, the twitch of his hips, the tremble of his legs, the little breaths coming in quicker and more shallow the longer Reno teased him.
He swallowed Luka down when he came, the knowledge of pulling a piece of Luka inside his body scratching an itch deep in his chest. And, as he placed wet kisses on Luka’s thigh and brought himself to completion, spilling between Luka’s legs, he felt a part of himself unspool.
He ran his fingers over the mess he made, rubbing it lazily into Luka’s skin as he watched him twitch with every touch, and wished deeply he could stay here all day.
“Sorry," Reno muttered, kissing the inside of Luka’s knee, “I made a mess and soon I have to go.”
“You could wake me up like that every morning,” Luka said, looking almost like he’d fall back asleep any second. “You don’t need to apologize.”
“It won’t be like before,” Reno promised.
“Hm?”
“I’m coming back. I’m not leaving you like this for long.”
Luka’s lips parted with an “Oh," as he blinked a few times, understanding what Reno was saying.
“I’m not gonna do that to you again.”
“Yes, you will. You’re a busy man.” Luka frowned, and Reno had to crawl up his body to kiss the frown away.
“No," Reno said between small kisses, “because I will be back. Long as you’ll have me, I’ll come back.”
“Okay.”
Reno’s warning alarm went off and he let out a long sigh.
He reached for his phone, turned the alarm off, and reluctantly pulled away from Luka and all his warmth, beauty, and tenderness, then got out of bed.
He reached out a hand and hoisted Luka up to drag him into the bathroom, where he turned the shower on and crowded Luka into it.
He had to make quick work of washing himself off between pinning Luka against the tiles and kissing him breathless, struggling to pull away each time so he could rinse himself off and brush his teeth and wash his face.
If his alarm didn’t go off again, he would have stayed in there with his fingers between Luka’s legs, making him gasp so sweetly.
“I gotta," Reno said, his hand still teasing Luka.
“I know,” Luka gasped. “Get out.”
“Sō, sō, sō, sō3.” Reno laughed and leaned away, trying his hardest to memorize how Luka looked surrounded by steam, his hair wet against his face and his cheeks a delicate rose red. His lips were a shade darker, plush from pressing against Reno all morning and night.
“I’m finishing this later.”
“I’m sure you will. Now go. I’m gonna finish up in here.”
“Uh huh.” Reno knew what finishing was and would think about that all day. He said so. “I will think of that all day.”
“Don’t, you probably shouldn’t look like a thirsty freak on camera too much.”
“Yes, I should.” Reno kissed Luka’s cheek and finally left the shower. “I’m sure the photographer would love it.” His alarm went off again; he was officially running late.
He dried off as fast as he could, said a final goodbye to Luka, who told him to stop fooling around and go to work, found his clothes in the living room and was out the door in a matter of minutes.
He put his mask and sunglasses in place, and, as he walked to the bus stop, he roped his damp hair into a braid, knowing the stylist could fix it once he arrived at the studio.
By the time he dropped into their chair, he was a little breathless from nearly running down the block from the bus stop to the building.
“You beat me here.” Arnaud plopped down beside him. “Impressive.”
“Bonjour, mon capitaine4,” Reno huffed. “Not so impressive, I was up early, you see. Seb gets back tomorrow, right?”
“Oui, mon ange5. I hear he and Angel have been writing, making all kinds of beautiful sounds in Sweden.”
Reno hummed, watching as the stylist approached. “I’m sure whatever song he’s been writing with Angel is—um, Hello, Andi, how have you been?” Reno beamed at the stylist who looked too curious for Reno’s comfort.
“Good, good. Just you two today?” Andi asked and Arnaud made an affirming noise. “Okay, Reno, we have a few dresses picked out for you to pick from. Zana, would you like something more feminine or masculine? Seeing as how it’s just you two, we could go either way for these promotional images.”
Arnaud thought for a bit before responding, “Let’s play with dresses today.”
“Oh!” Reno cheered, “I love when you get all gender with me.”
“Shut up.” Arnaud sat back in the chair. “Make sure it’s black, though.”
“Of course,” Andi said before sweeping away in search of their wardrobes.
“Has he finished the new track?” Reno asked as soon as Andi was out of earshot. “He sent me a sample, but not everything.”
“No, I think he needs your input.” Arnaud shrugged. “You know he doesn’t like writing guitar for you.”
Reno grunted. “Speaking of, how’s your practice going?”
“Good. Since you’ve left me alone for a few days, I’ve had nothing else to do.”
“Gomen ne6, I’ve been busy.”
“Don’t, babe. I’m happy for you.” Arnaud flashed him a smile. “You owe me details.”
“You sure you’re okay with all this?”
Arnaud hummed, his eyes trained on the room behind them to ensure they weren’t overheard. “What did he say about us?”
“He wishes he could have watched.”
“What?” Arnaud’s mouth fell open. “Freak.”
“I know," Reno sighed, dreamily, “he’s made for me, I swear. But, he did say none of that can happen now, or at least not until he knows I’m being real. I think… I think he’s had a lot of trouble with his exes not being very faithful.”
“That's kind of shocking.” Arnaud’s sharp brows creased in the middle. “He’s extremely attractive, and if he keeps up with you, then he’s—forgive me for speaking of your man like this—a fucking kinky piece of work. Why would anyone cheat on that?”
“It’s beyond me.” Reno shook his head. “Do you think it has something to do with, um, gender stuff? I mean, men can be really fucked up about it.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, even in my experience, since I don’t exactly stick to normal masculine stuff, men can be really…
.weird… towards me. Placing me into roles I don’t want to fill, making me feel less than them for being feminine.
When I don’t conform for their comfortability they can get strange, aggressive even.
I can’t imagine what it’s like for Luka. ”
“Why, because he’s a feminine guy too?”
“Babe, he’s transgender.”
“Oh.” Arnaud blinked then put his hand over his mouth, his long fingers splayed over his thin lips. “You are a steel trap sometimes.”
“Eh?” Reno’s eyes widened. “Sorry.”
“No, no. It’s good. It’s not really my place to know or yours to tell without him saying it's okay.”
“You’re my best friend.” Reno pouted. “I tell you everything. He also has the trans symbol tattooed on his chest. It's not like it’s a big secret. I think he’s proud of it, similar to how I’m proud of the stylist walking up behind me with beautiful dresses in hand!
Oh, Andi, your team has outdone themselves once again.
” Reno pushed out of his seat and went to admire the rack of clothing Andi had wheeled over.
She smiled and said, “Feel free to pick whatever you want.” Then she left to get Arnaud’s rack, too.