26. More Blessed to Give
Stavros
“B reaker is fixed,” I said, joining Zach in the kitchen, shaking the leaves off my boots to the mat and hanging my jacket up.
He smiled at me and flicked the stove on, setting down a pot of stew to warm. “Worth it to warm up the loaf in the oven?”
I hummed and shook my head. There would be new loaves baked tomorrow to share with the town, but for now we had only had the remnants of last week’s and it was getting pretty stale.
“Probably better just let it sit in the broth to soften up. We haven’t had much sun or wind lately and I think Bethel’s power is low. ”
Zach turned away from the stove, immediately grinning at me and moving closer. He was just a little bit taller than me, but slimmer too, and I hesitated over the impulse to press him up against the wall just to enjoy the way he fit against me.
The door opened, and we both swung around eagerly, hoping for Deyva to walk through. Instead, it was Kais, a little sweaty still from training.
“Water?”
“Cold,” Zach said, shrugging.
Kais frowned, but nodded and then looked past us to the stove.
Zach and I were only a few inches apart and it never failed to surprise me the way Kais took the shift in our relationship in stride.
The most we’d gotten out of him in response had been an arch of his eyebrows and a nod of his head, and he never looked surprised or disturbed to walk in on a moment where Zach and I were kissing or standing close to one another.
“Making soup. There’s enough for all four of us,” Zach told him.
Kais nodded. “Deyva’s working with some of the women still.”
“Alone?” I asked, frowning. Bethel was, in general, still pretty frosty where it concerned our lovely succubus, but some of the women had been especially discouraging.
“Nah, Az is with her.”
“Not sure that’s reassuring,” Zach muttered. His head tilted and he gave Kais a longer examination. “You look good. Younger, almost.”
Kais grunted, but his cheeks turned a little rosy and he rushed for the stairs.
“I bet it's Deyva,” I whispered to Zach.
“I thought they only...you know, the once?” Zach said, smirking.
Oh God, he couldn’t even say it, and for some reason that only made me want to strip him down until he was chanting ‘fuck me’ over and over.
“Yeah, but she’s been making sure he sleeps through the night,” I said. “The dark circles under his eyes are fading and he quit slamming all the doors.”
“Oh! It has been quiet lately,” Zach said, nodding and grinning.
“You’re gonna be okay with it though, right? If she and Kais do keep, you know -ing?” I teased.
“Yeah! Yeah, I think so,” Zach said, shrugging and heading for the stove again.
I watched his back as he moved and wondered if I was imagining the tight set of his shoulders. “You think, huh?”
“I mean...it’s not like you and I are just...you know, who she wants in the meantime, right? So…” Zach stirred his stew studiously, avoiding my gaze.
“Do you think you’re a lot like Kais?” I asked. “Or that I am?”
Zach snorted and rolled his eyes, finally looking up at me speculatively. “Hell no.”
“Exactly, so why would we be placeholders?”
Zach’s smile tightened for a moment, his gaze drifting away thoughtfully. “Okay, yeah, I see what you mean.”
I forgot sometimes that of all us, Zach was really the one who’d never been in a relationship before, had never had to deal with those emotional negotiations. And it wasn’t like what we had with Deyva was really a conventional model either.
“Deyva wasn’t a placeholder for you, either.”
“Of course not!” Zach rushed out and then blinked at me. “Ohhhkay. Yeah, I get it. It’s about her appreciating all of us as different people, and not about, like, how hungry she is, or that fact that she’s sharing us with each other.”
“Mmm, exactly,” I said, cozying up to Zach’s side, smiling as he slung his arm over my shoulder. “I’m sure Deyva minds sharing us just about as much as I mind watching the two of you together.”
Zach blushed, remembering the night I’d made them fuck each other for my viewing pleasure and I’d ended up making a mess of myself without either one of them touching me.
“Got it,” he said, his voice getting rough.
“Or when I have you to myself, in my mouth, begging. Or when Deyva let me eat her out until she nearly ripped my hair out—”
“Stav,” Zach ground out, turning to face me, clutching my hips and grinding against me so I could feel how hard he was getting.
Man, I forgot how easy it was to get up in my twenties and I laughed and grinned, sliding my hand down between us to cup and rub him.
Zach moaned, his forehead dropping to my shoulder.
“I fucking get it now. But if you wanna remind me some more, we could turn the stove off and Kais can have his soup cold while you finally do that thing I’ve been begging for. ”
It was my turn to groan. Zach said it all cute and casual and shy. That thing .
“You know I’m not—” I cleared my throat, “I’ve only done that like once before, Z.”
Zach was outright humping me in the middle of the kitchen, and I would not put it past him to get himself off in his pants, just rubbing against me while we talked about me fucking his ass for the first time.
“I trust you,” he breathed, turning his face and burrowing into my throat. “Your finger felt so good.”
I huffed and then grunted as Zach slid his leg between mine, using his thigh to tease my cock into interest. “I dunno if you’ve noticed, but my finger is significantly smaller than—”
“Stavros, please . Can’t we just try it?” Zach whined, lifting his head and grinning at me, all flushed and glassy eyed. “Think about what Deyva would say.”
I laughed and bucked against Zach, my arms circling him to savor his shudder in response. “Fine, after dinner.”
“You really wanna wait?” Zach asked, gaze glinting wickedly. He leaned in and I moaned as he licked a stripe up my throat. “We both just showered. I stole a stash of coconut oil from the diner.”
“Zach,” I gasped out, eyes growing wide with feigned shock. “You stole? You stole?”
Zach huffed but his cheeks turned bright red. “Shut up, it wasn’t like I could tell Georgie what I wanted it for.”
“I’m not sure I should be encouraging such lewd and delinquent behavior,” I said, digging my fingers into his back and then thrusting against him, watching his red tongue flick out over his bottom lip as he sighed.
Upstairs, the water shut off and my decision was made.
“Get your ass upstairs and on my bed before Kais walks out of that bathroom.
Zach ripped away from me, storming up the stairs, and I caught my breath and held my laughter in check.
Fine, dinner could wait. The stew had just started to bubble, so I turned the stove off and put the lid on over the pot.
Kais wouldn’t care if we vanished and he probably wouldn’t want me to leave a note explaining why.
I hurried for the stairs, barely sneaking into my bedroom as the bathroom door opened. I turned and found Zach wrestling himself out his clothes with a comical urgency, one arm trapped in his sleeve, cuff still buttoned.
“You’re gonna rip your buttons off,” I said, moving to him, and catching his arm as he yanked on the fabric. As soon as I had his hand free, he moved them both to his belt. “Hey, hey, come here. Slow down.”
Zach puffed as I caught his face in my hands, lifting it up and drawing it to mine, skimming my mouth over his until he sighed.
He relaxed against me, pants open at the waist and I kissed him slowly, thoroughly, teasing as much as I could until his arms were wrapped around me, tongue trying to chase and claim mine.
“This isn’t something we wanna rush, I promise you,” I breathed against his lips before pulling one between mine to suck and bite gently.
Zach groaned and nodded a little, trying to press himself closer, rocking against me as he had in the kitchen.
“You’ve been thinking about this for a while, haven’t you? ”
“Yes, yes I—” He swallowed hard and then leaned back, blushing deeply. “I tried to...with my own fingers once, a few months ago.”
Now it was my turn to swallow, imagining Zach alone in bed, trying to fuck his own ass with his fingers. Oddly, my heart ached for the self-inflicted shame he must’ve suffered, every bit as much as my cock ached at the mental picture.
“Did it hurt?” I asked.
Zach shook his head. “I got two in, but it was mostly awkward and I came jerking off before I got any further. I was...I was thinking about you.”
“Fuuuuck, Zach.” Zach was every bit as seductive as Deyva in all his natural desire and innocence. “Take off my clothes.”
Zach was quick to follow orders, which was its own kind of heady thrill, just being able to stand still and watch as he rushed to strip me, like I was a present wrapped up under a tree.
I pulled his zipper down, reaching greedily into his boxers to stroke his length.
Zach might want me to show him how this felt, but I was almost equally eager to have him do the same to me someday.
“Oh fuck, Stav. Wait, I’m too close already and I wanna come with you inside of me,” Zach whined, trying to back away from my touch as I kicked my pants off my legs.
I laughed and shook my head. “I get to choose how this happens and I’m definitely getting you off first. You’ll be more relaxed and less likely to tense up. Anyway, it’ll still feel good even if you’ve already come.”
Zach’s eyes lit up at that. “Yeah?”
God, I hoped so. I paused, taking the opportunity to take him in, in all his bare, pale glory, so muscular and lithe.
I brushed my hand up the side of his thigh, and then higher, over the planes of his stomach, watching them twitch under my touch until I reached his chest. I ignored the bobbing length of him, leaning forward to lick one small, flat nipple and then bite the other, Zach wobbling forward as he tried to find satisfying friction.