Chapter 6 #2
Emmett was quiet for a long time, and Cosimo knew why.
They hadn’t talked about the other night, but it was a heavy, unspoken topic between them.
And he had a feeling when Emmett was touching himself in the shower, or late at night when he couldn’t sleep, Cosimo wasn’t the only figure behind his closed eyelids.
And it was the first time Cosimo wanted his husband to be thinking about someone else. He hadn’t even spoken to the man much, but he could still feel it. Something about Miles fit.
Something about him was perfect.
He didn’t want anything he did—or the way he looked—to ruin it.
“I’m going to talk to him.” He started to move away, but Emmett caught his arm and met his gaze.
“Give him another day. I’ll invite him to dinner again.”
Deflating, Cosimo nodded. “Alright. But if he doesn’t show, I’m going to have a conversation with him. I’ll be nice,” he added when Emmett gave him a look. “As I can be.”
Snorting, Emmett pulled Cosimo back in and kissed him hard. A little teeth, a lot of tongue. “I love you so much.”
Cosimo knew that. That was as certain as death and taxes. But unspoken words hovered between them: if only it was enough.
Letting Emmett go, he stepped back to the sink and listened as Emmett’s bare feet padded along the tiles. The sound disappeared with the noise of the sliding door, and then Cosimo watched as Emmett stepped outside.
Miles looked panicked, freezing like a deer caught by a hunter. The metaphor seemed a little appropriate, if he was being honest. Whether Emmett wanted to admit it right now or not, they were hunting him. Testing him.
Wanting to consume him.
He felt a warmth creeping up his spine, and his dick thickened just a little as he watched his husband handle the younger man. He watched as Miles seemed to unconsciously relax around him. Emmett pointed to a bench, and Miles walked over and sat, obedient without even a hint of resistance.
That would never be him.
Not ever.
He squinted and thought about what it would be like to see the word Daddy on Miles’s lips.
He got even harder. Almost unconsciously, he slipped his hand beneath the waistband of his shorts and gripped himself.
He didn’t have room to jerk himself off—not that he would without Emmett’s say so.
They weren’t fully engaged in their power exchange in the moment, but that still held fast.
He needed that like a ballast—to give Emmett that control.
Still stroking himself, he watched as Emmett started making his way back to the house, and after a beat, Miles got up and went the opposite direction. His heart sank a little, but the feeling was eclipsed when Emmett appeared and realized what he was doing.
“Really?” His voice was a low rumble as he approached. He pinned Cosimo to the counter with his hips, then unbuttoned Cosimo’s shorts and pulled the zipper down. His dick was straining against the inside of his briefs. “Is that how you planned to greet me, you little whore.”
Cosimo groaned softly, the sound getting louder when Emmett’s hand joined his own, knocking his out of the way. His grip was tight—almost painful, but not quite. Not yet. “Is—is he…ah.”
“Is who what?” Emmett shoved Cosimo’s clothes to his knees, then began to jack him hard and furious. “Answer me.”
He was struggling to find words. “I—ah. Um…”
“Little come slut can’t even keep his words straight. It’s a wonder you can function at work.”
Fuck, he needed this. He needed it. Wanted it. Had to feel small. Feel pathetic. Feel useless without Emmett’s hands on him.
“Please.”
“God, I love the sound of you begging. It’s almost as good as the whine you get when I don’t let you come.”
Cosimo’s dick kicked and his balls tightened. His hips moved just a little. “Let me. Please…”
“I don’t fucking think so. You were standing at the window watching me talk to Miles with your hand down your pants,” Emmett growled. “What the fuck makes you think I’m going to let you come for that?”
Cosimo groaned in frustration and his head hung low, chin almost touching his chest. His eyes were only half open, but he was lost in the sight of Emmett’s hand tugging on him. “Is he coming?”
“There’s a better chance of him coming than you,” Emmett said.
Cosimo huffed. “Sir?”
“Mm.”
A long beat of silence, then Cosimo looked up. “Do you want him?”
Emmett’s hand froze. He swallowed heavily. Then he answered, stroking Cosimo still, but not the way he had been before. It was tender. “It’s very likely he doesn’t even like men, so there’s no point in me wondering. It doesn’t matter what I want.”
“I don’t think that’s true.” The moment between them was broken.
Emmett would always control him, but Cosimo lost his grip on the scene and had settled back into his husband role.
He knew Emmett felt it too. Stepping closer, he wrapped his hand around Emmett’s wrist and urged him to stroke a little faster.
“What you want always matters. And it always will. And if he doesn’t like men, a little fantasy about it can’t hurt. He won’t ever need to know.”
Emmett managed a smile and tipped Cosimo’s chin down to kiss him. “Do you want him?”
“I could. I was turned on by watching you two. By thinking about him calling you Daddy.”
Emmett’s cheeks pinked and he sucked in a breath. “Yeah?”
Glancing down the hall, Cosimo pulled Emmett’s hand off of him. “Let’s go talk about it, hmm?” He moved his hand to cup Emmett’s crotch, pushing hard against him, making him groan. “You’re frustrated. I can help.”
“You are good at that,” Emmett said with a small smirk. Before they headed for the bedroom, Emmett stopped him. “Tomorrow night.”
Cosimo blinked in confusion.
“You need it. Not this half-assed whatever we’ve been doing. I’ll make it good, okay? I’ll make sure that you forget for a little while.”
Cosimo felt something unknot in his chest. He dropped his hands and lowered his eyes. “Yes, Sir. Thank you.”
“You are my perfect, pathetic little pain slut. And I love you so fucking much.”
Cosimo kissed him for that. “I love you too, amore. With everything I am.”
Cosimo knew Emmett’s physical hungers were sated. Dinner had been good, the sex had been better. But the table sat only two and the lighted path between the house and the pool house was empty.
“He didn’t come,” Emmett said softly.
Cosimo swallowed thickly. “Maybe it is me.”
“Maybe we’re too much,” Emmett offered.
They’d talked about it a little. Cosimo had teased him with a fantasy while he was fucking his ass in front of the bathroom mirror, and Emmett had come so hard he squirted all over the counter. It had been more than hot.
It had been a tease of what could be, if they could only get Miles to trust them and spend time with him.
Cosimo had let himself hope that tonight would be different. “I’m going to talk to him. Not now,” he added when Emmett looked worried. “But soon. Maybe after we have our scene.”
“Yes,” Emmett interrupted. He knew how much Cosimo needed to get out of his head.
“I’ll fix it,” Cosimo promised. “If I broke it and ruined a chance at something good…”
“No.” Emmett sighed. “I think we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Miles is her ex. He’s dealing with a lot. We can talk to him, but we might need to realize that while he might be perfect for us, we will never be perfect for him.”
It was a tough pill to swallow, but Cosimo had only ever been intrigued by one other man like this, and that man was at the table with him. So he wasn’t going to give up hope. He wasn’t going to give up trying.
Miles was something special, and he was determined to see if they could finally have the missing piece in their almost completed puzzle.