Chapter 18
Teddy
Teddy kissed one pale, rounded shoulder, following the lines of faded scars up and over as Wren continued to slumber in his arms.
Satisfaction was still humming in his chest, his limbs feeling heavy and lazy where they wrapped around Wren’s naked body. He was a satiated lion, pride making his chest puff as he gazed down at the fruits of his labor.
Wren was covered in marks. Flowers bloomed in red watercolors all over his skin. Teddy’s teeth painting lines around them.
Groaning, Teddy pushed closer, already feeling himself harden even though that should have been impossible at this point. He rubbed against Wren’s soft thigh and moved his messy hair away from his neck, trailing ardent kisses toward the sensitive area.
Wren let out a sleepy sigh, almost a whiny grumble as Teddy licked behind his ear.
He knew at a certain point he had worn Wren out entirely, his maddened focus on consuming every part of him exhausting to keep up with.
Not that Wren hadn’t given it his best try.
He was demanding and insistent. So beautifully needy. They had been apart so long that their flame had soon turned into an inferno, unable to be contained. The world outside no longer mattered. That any of his team could hear what they were doing was an afterthought, Teddy was a man possessed.
It was only when they both passed out that it stopped, only for Teddy to wake up an hour later, already hard and starving, ready to start the dance all over again.
At first Wren had met him step for step, pace for pace.
But eventually he’d turned into a sore, sleepy, but pleased participant settling among the cushions to be doted on and filled.
Teddy loved him in all ways, but he held special affection for this one.
Unable to hold back, his kisses became more purposeful, his hand finding the bud of Wren’s nipple to slowly swirl it into a peak against his palm before his finger and thumb pinched.
Wren mewled and arched, in between sleep and wakefulness. His ass pressed back against Teddy’s hardness like an invitation.
“Little Bird,” Teddy whispered into his ear.
The hot breath made Wren shiver, his fingers spasming against the messy sheet in front of them. “Mm?”
“I have something important to tell you.”
Wren grumbled, nose and brow scrunching. “Five more minutes.”
Teddy chuckled, nosing his hair. “Don’t you want to hear?”
“No,” he declared, keeping his eyes tightly closed.
Teddy leaned farther over and kissed his cheek. “I love you.”
Wren twitched, his ear moving back toward him, smiling even as he kept his eyes screwed shut.
An answering smile rippled across Teddy’s face, and he leaned down slowly to kiss the corner of Wren’s lips. His happiness tasted the way a fresh meadow looked. Colors bloomed across his tongue in shades of emerald green and vibrant yellows.
Wren turned his mouth up to his, catching his bottom lip while his hand reached back to dive into Teddy’s thick strands of hair.
Teddy moaned, laying a hand against Wren’s lower stomach as he filled him from behind, feeling himself taking up room inside Wren again. The slide in was easy, his own spend slicking the way.
Wren whimpered at the intrusion and his beautiful eyes opened to meet his.
“Want me to stop?” Teddy whispered against his mouth. He felt the fingers on his head turn to claws as seductive eyes turned sharp.
“Don’t you dare.”
Teddy kissed the dissatisfaction from Wren’s lips, apologizing in full as his hips resumed their thrusts. Wren groaned, open-mouthed against his lips and Teddy sipped every sound from them like the finest wine.
Climbing to the peak required little effort—they were both just balls of nerves already after so many rounds. That didn’t mean he wasn’t going to work for it, however. It was hardwired into Teddy’s brain to make sure Wren received everything he deserved.
He angled his hips to hit that sensitive spot, making Wren whine in pleasure and push back on his cock while he pushed down on Wren’s stomach with his other hand. Their legs shifted under the sheet that was barely clinging to their hips anymore.
Panting and moans filled the air as pleasure spiked, Teddy pushing Wren over the edge with a final, deliberate thrust. Wetness hit the back of Teddy’s hand, driving him wild as he rolled Wren onto his stomach and rutted against him, losing control.
Wren moaned with oversensitivity, but like every other time, didn’t tell him to stop. In fact, he looked blissful as he took it.
That tipped Teddy over finally, and he roared, forehead finding Wren’s shoulder as his hips stuttered.
Completely spent, Teddy collapsed against the dirty mattress, sweaty and sticky. Wren rolled over and clung to him, Teddy’s arms wrapping around him as he pulled him close.
“I love you too,” Wren whispered against his collarbone.
Teddy kissed his forehead. “After the case is done, we’re not being separated again. We’ll figure something out. I’ll move there or you can move here. It’s only an hour commute to Arcstead or Slatehollow, right? Long distance isn’t an option. I want to fall asleep holding you.”
Wren pulled back to look up at him, eyes shimmering with the glow of his cursemark. “You want to fight?”
Teddy cupped his cheek. “How could I not fight for you?”
“You don’t have to. I understand why you’re scared. I don’t want to push you to do something just because I want it. I talked to my brothers. They said they’d help us avoid Nexus.”
“I think my team would too. Trace and Saint already knew about us and never said a word to anyone else.” Teddy smiled, like he was feeling hope for the first time, before it fell. “Kellan won’t let it go.”
Wren’s face hardened. “He won’t be breathing after I’m done with him anyway.”
“Wren,” Teddy warned, panic filling him automatically.
“I’m not afraid of him, Teddy. He already did the worst he could do to me.”
“He hasn’t touched you yet,” Teddy said.
“He touched you, though,” Wren said, laying a hand over the bruising on his ribs. “He hurt you. He’s been hurting you for years and he kept you away from me. He took you from me, Teddy. I’ve never been a forgiving person.”
“You don’t say.” Teddy tried joking, but Wren’s words were ringing in his ears.
He wasn’t lying. Wren held a grudge like nobody else Teddy had ever met. Once he decided he didn’t like you it was more or less over.
He felt Wren shift, and then he was propped up, elbows against his chest as he looked into his eyes.
“I know the system is against us, but I’ve always known that.
I was ready to spit in its face at seventeen.
And I’m more than ready to do it now at nearly thirty.
I don’t care about Nexus, Teddy. I don’t care if they kick me out.
I don’t give a singular shit about any of it.
There are three things I want in this world. My sanctuary. My brothers. And you.”
“I just need you safe,” Teddy whispered. “I get what you’re saying, but I need you safe.”
“I will be,” Wren said, leaning down to kiss Teddy’s chest, right above his heart. “And I’ll keep this safe too.”
Teddy watched him for what felt like hours before he could force himself to speak over the tide of emotion that rose inside him.
“Fuck, I don’t know how I existed without you,” he finally managed to say, the words coming out breathy and shaky. He pushed himself up and rolled them over again, pinning Wren beneath him and resting their foreheads together. “I never want to do it again.”
“Let’s not.”
“So will you live with me? Wherever that ends up being.”
Wren’s hands found his hair, his smile effervescent. “Yes. I get to choose where it is though.”
“Deal,” he whispered, leaning down to steal another kiss from Wren’s lips.
He’d barely tasted him when his phone rattled against the nightstand, the vibration he’d put it on doing nothing to silence it.
“I fucking hate that sound,” Teddy said, resigned.
“Is it him again?” Wren asked. Teddy slid the phone off the nightstand and checked his message.
“Just Trace.” He smiled. “They’re calling us down for food.”
“Ah, okay. We should eat something. And probably check in to see where we are with the case.”
He rolled over to lie on top of Teddy as he said it and Teddy chuckled.
“Not helping, Little Bird,” Teddy said, even as his arms went around Wren’s waist and pulled his naked body closer.
“Neither are you,” Wren said, brushing their noses together.
“Come on.” Teddy slid out of bed with Wren still held in his arms. “We can shower together. Save water.”
“I love you being eco-friendly.” Wren giggled as Teddy carried him into his shower.
It took them longer than it should have, but they eventually managed to get dressed and leave Teddy’s room.
He led Wren down the stairs, his peripheral vision catching Eerie leaving Trace’s room before they joined Saint and Trace in the kitchen.
“Someone had a good rest,” Saint said with a smirk as they joined everyone at the table.
Teddy felt himself blush, but he didn’t look away. He was done hiding the fact that Wren was his entire life. Done pretending he wasn’t the best part of who Teddy was.
“I feel better than ever,” Teddy said, looking at Wren who sipped his tea smugly, smiling into his mug.
“Well that is great because our investigation only confirmed what we suspected,” Trace said.
“All of our cases had an unregistered crap excuse for a caster. And I guess that’s all we can say about that.
They’re still not talking, their families are still refusing to cooperate, and PUMA will be foaming at the mouth if we so much as nudge anything else in this case. ”
“So that leaves whatever you got,” Saint said.
“An address,” Wren said. “We have an address that we hope holds some of their operation.”
“How the fuck did you manage that?” Trace asked.
“The shady pet store we called you about,” Wren said to Saint. “It was part of their operation. And we caught a guy there.”
“Wren scared him shitless,” Teddy said. “It was great.”