Chapter 18 Tallus
Tallus
Iawoke sometime in the early dawn, encased snuggly in Diem’s arms, the long length of his muscular body wrapped fully around me, emitting heat like a furnace.
His weight crushed me to the bed, but I didn’t complain.
Who would have thought that Diem Krause, a man who had once balked at the mere thought of sharing a bed, would become the world’s most esteemed snuggler?
I rolled in his arms, and he grunted, drawing me closer—which wasn’t possible since we were glued together.
Without opening his eyes, he mumbled, “How are you feeling?”
I took inventory, rotating my ankle and zeroing in on my hip. “Not bad. Mild aches and pains. Nothing serious.”
“Take more Advil. It’ll keep the swelling down.”
“I will. How’s your nose?”
“Feels fine. Am I bruised?”
“Faintly. Could pass as tired circles from lack of sleep.”
“Good.”
“When did you get to bed?”
“Too fucking late.” With a groan, he buried his face in my hair. The hard line of his erection dug into me.
I rested my cheek against his broad chest, listening to his lumbering heart and inhaling the sleepy scent of Diem in the morning. It was Friday, but the alarm had yet to go off, and I was in no hurry to get up.
It was rare for Diem to be home when I woke since he usually headed to the gym at stupid o’clock, so I savored the bliss of having him beside me, a warm and solid presence in my life.
His oversized hands traveled a lazy path up and down my spine, dipping lower on occasion to trace the contour of my ass. Every so often, he rucked his hips forward, pressing his erection against my belly with a soft moan.
The third time it happened, I moved a hand between us and fondled his swollen length. His fingers curled against my skin, gripping me as a faint burst of air passed through his lips.
“Tallus.” My name was barely a whisper and more of a choked plea.
I shimmied down his body until I was level with his cock and kissed it reverently, making him moan.
He brushed the hair off my forehead and shifted.
I glanced up, meeting his sleep-heavy gaze as he watched what I was doing.
“Yeah?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
I licked a path along the underside of his cock, traced the thick vein, circled his head, and dipped my tongue into his slit.
He hissed and tightened a fist in my hair.
I chuckled, resisting the urgent press of his hand encouraging me to suck him. “Good morning, D.”
The noise he made was muddled and incoherent.
“Concise as usual. Want me to suck you?”
A grunt and nod, then he urged me forward. I licked again, root to tip, before wrapping my lips around his head and sucking as much of him down as possible.
Diem grunted and cursed, his body shivering with pleasure.
No matter my determination, I had never been able to take every inch—the man was hung like a fucking horse—but Diem seemed to appreciate the effort and my unwillingness to give up. I set a languid pace that brought out more curses.
He jacked his hips, demanding and changing the rhythm, a silent plea for me to speed-the-fuck-up.
I didn’t.
The gradual build would end in something far more satisfying.
Slow and steady, I inched his pleasure up one notch at a time—drawing circles around his tip and pressing the flat of my tongue over his more sensitive areas, massaging with the muscles in my throat—until his fingers knotted in my hair and erratic puffs of air burst from his lungs in uncontrolled intervals.
“Fuck… Tallus. Jesus… This… is fucking torture. Let me come.”
I hummed around him and popped off for a moment. “Sweet, sweet torture.”
I knew exactly how Diem liked his blow jobs and toyed with him for as long as I could, employing every trick that drove him out of his mind with need.
A rumble grew in his chest. He spat curses and tried again to increase my pace to no avail.
Coming up for air a second time, I licked my lips and adjusted to get a better angle. “Feel good, Guns?”
“Are you kidding? Jesus fucking Christ.”
“You want to come in my mouth or my ass?”
Another growl, and he tipped his head back, rocking it from side to side in what I imagined was indecision. He was too lost in pleasure to think straight. Poor guy. “I just… I just want you to… Fuck, Tallus. Make me come.”
“Understood.”
But, before I could descend on his cock once again, he heaved me by the armpits until I lay sprawled on his chest, fisting two handfuls of my ass and grinding us together.
“I thought you wanted a blow job.”
The bear rumbled. Diem’s stormy gray eyes brimmed with a mountain of lust and love and longing… and impatience. He snagged the back of my neck and tugged me down. “You’re a fucking tease.”
Then we were kissing, erections grinding, panting breaths mingling, bodies trembling.
Diem broke the kiss long enough to spit in his palm before taking us together and stroking with determination.
I whimpered, the sheer pleasure electrifying my system.
Diem cursed against my lips, body quaking with his impending release.
His movements grew erratic, frantic.
With a not-so-stifled roar, his orgasm crashed like a tidal wave onto land. He shook and trembled and lost coordination of the kiss as his cum coated both our bellies. When the last ripples petered out, Diem physically manhandled me higher, until my cock was in line with his mouth.
He swallowed me down without warning, and I came on a cry, the intensity and suddenness so unexpected, I had to brace the headboard so I wouldn’t collapse.
Diem dragged me back into his arms while the hazy aftereffects still dampened the processing center of my brain. Crushed to his body, he chuckled and kissed my ear. “Good morning.”
“Nghuh,” was all I managed to say.
I nuzzled into his warmth, exhaustion dragging me under sleep’s veil once again. I expected the stupid alarm to go off at any moment, but it wasn’t the alarm that penetrated the quiet and ruined my ability to get five more minutes of shut-eye.
It was a petulant voice rising from our living room. “Oh. My. God. That was sooo gay.”
I jolted and would have launched from the bed in a panic if Diem hadn’t tightened his grip. His body bounced with laughter, but he summoned a stern voice, shouting, “Watch your fucking mouth, asshole, or I’ll show you how gay I fight.”
“Whatever,” mumbled the whiny brat. “Maybe fuck quieter next time. I’m scarred for life now.”
How had I forgotten that Diem adopted a surly teenager and brought him home like a lost puppy the previous night? It all came back to me.
“I guess he didn’t run off. Too bad.”
“He’s got nowhere to go, and we need him.”
“Need is subjective. In fact—” I had a hundred arguments and might have voiced two or ten, but the alarm decided to scream its wake-up call, interrupting me. “Goddammit. I’m still tired.”
Groaning, I buried my face against Diem’s chest. “Make it stop. I don’t want to go to work. Can I call in sick?”
Diem reached for my phone, silencing the noise. “It’s Friday.”
“Are you going to have fun without me?”
“No. I need you for what I have planned, but we can wait until you’re done for the day.”
Diem explained what he and Darcy talked about the previous night and how he intended to lure this Luke fellow into the open.
“I’ll get Darcy to drop the envelope wherever the guy requests and leave. You and I can stay nearby and wait for Luke to show. We won’t intervene right away. I’d rather follow him and see what we can learn. With luck, he won’t open the envelope immediately.”
“When he discovers it’s empty, he’ll know he’s been set up.”
“That’s why I want to wait until you’re off work. If he senses trouble, he’ll be alert to a tail. We can tag team him. Two vehicles. Take turns following. He’ll be less likely to pick us out that way.”
“You’re putting Darcy in danger. This Luke guy will hunt him down. He knows where the kid lives.”
“Darcy isn’t going home.”
I lifted my head, resting my chin on Diem’s chest as I peered skeptically at my boyfriend. “He’s not staying here.”
“Yes, he is.”
“D—”
“For now. We’ll figure something out after.” I wanted to object, but Darcy shouted from the living room again.
“Oh my god. You have a snake. That’s totally sick. Can I take it out and hold it? How big is it? Is it a python? This is so cool.”
“Don’t touch her,” I hollered, scrambling to get up.
Diem held me down, laughing.
“I will fucking kill you if you let that snake out, you brat. Do you hear me? Diem, stop laughing. Let go of me.” I smacked his shoulder, but he wouldn’t let go.
Echo barked and thought it was playtime, hopping around on the bed.
Darcy yelled again, “Your boyfriend is psycho.”
Diem and I replied simultaneously. “I know.”
I sneered at my captor. It had no effect. “He was talking about you. I’m not the one who owns a snake,” I retorted.
Diem cradled my cheek and brushed his thumb over my jaw. “You should get in a shower, or you’re going to be late for work.”
“Fine. Deal with him, and for the record, I thought we agreed we weren’t having children.”
“The boy is temporary.”
“He’s a teenager. You hate teenagers.”
Diem chuckled, smacked my ass, and rolled out of bed. “I’ll make coffee.”
A flood of warmth filled my belly, erasing all animosity, and I groaned. “No fair. My kryptonite.”
***
Diem and I had a morning routine that worked for us. On the days he went to the gym—which was practically every day—I showered at leisure and enjoyed a peaceful bowl of Frosted Flakes while scrolling my socials, updating myself on all the Hollywood gossip, and texting Memphis.
Diem typically got home while I was eating—sometimes with coffee and a treat.
He fed Echo and showered before scrambling six eggs and frying a thick slab of peameal bacon to go with two slices of buttered toast and half an avocado—he liked to mash it on the toast. It was no wonder he rarely ate much for lunch.