19. Chapter 19 - Theron #2
The offer eased something ancient inside him. Theron exhaled, feeling the rigid knot between his shoulders begin to unwind.
“You make this very difficult,” he murmured.
Matt smiled. “Making things difficult for stoic werewolves is my specialty.”
A laugh escaped Theron before he could stop it. Real. Unpracticed. It echoed softly off the tile, startling him almost as much as the warmth blooming through the bond.
Matt’s smile gentled. “There it is.”
Theron shook his head, unable to suppress the answering smile tugging at his mouth. “You’re terrible.”
“And yet,” Matt said, amusement warming his voice, “you keep kissing me.”
“I do.”
The quiet admission lingered between them, carrying more weight than either of them tried to explain.
Theron slipped his hand into Matt’s damp hair and drew him closer, brushing a slow kiss beneath his jaw. Matt shivered beneath the touch, his fingers tightening instinctively against Theron’s shoulder.
“This okay?” Theron murmured.
Matt turned just enough to meet his eyes. “More than okay.”
That was enough. Theron stayed exactly where Matt had asked him to, holding him while the steady rhythm of the shower softened everything else.
The water drummed against their shoulders, steam curling lazily around them until the silence between them no longer felt like something waiting to be broken.
It simply existed, warm and peaceful, asking nothing of either of them.
Only when the water began to cool did Theron finally rest his forehead against Matt’s.
“We should get out before we freeze.”
Matt smiled, his nose brushing lightly against Theron’s. “Getting cold, big guy?”
“Getting worried about you.”
Matt’s smile widened. “You’re a terrible liar.”
Theron held his gaze for a long moment before answering, “No. You are.”
Matt laughed, the sound low and content, then reached behind Theron to shut off the water.
Theron stepped from the shower first, reached for a towel, and wrapped it around Matt’s shoulders instead of his own.
Matt looked up at him, surprise softening his expression. “You keep doing that.”
“Doing what?”
“Taking care of me.”
Theron frowned faintly.
“No one has ever done that before.”
The quiet admission settled somewhere deep inside him.
Without a word, Theron lifted the towel and worked it gently through Matt’s damp hair, slow, careful strokes that chased away the lingering chill. Matt simply stood there, eyes half-closed, accepting the care without trying to interrupt it.
Only after Matt was warm did Theron reach for a second towel.
Matt watched him dry himself, his gaze following every movement with quiet appreciation. There was no embarrassment in his eyes anymore. Only affection. Only want.
“Bed?” he asked softly.
Theron met his eyes and nodded. “Yeah.”
They left the bathroom together, stepping into the small room where the only light came from a single lamp beside the bed.
Theron stopped at the foot of the bed. His hands hung at his sides, uncertain. He'd spent so long learning how to take, how to claim, how to fill the space he was given. But this, this was different. Matt wasn't asking him to take. Matt was offering something Theron didn't know how to name.
Matt noticed. Of course he noticed. He crossed the room, his bare feet silent on the concrete floor, and stopped in front of Theron. Close enough to touch. Close enough that Theron could feel the heat radiating off his skin.
“You don't have to know what to do,” Matt said softly. “You just have to be here.”
Theron's jaw tightened. “That's the part I'm not good at.”
“I know.” Matt's hand found his chest, palm flat over his heart. “But you're learning.”
Theron let out a breath. Slow. Measured. His hand came up to cover Matt's, fingers threading between his. “What do you want?”
The question hung between them. Heavy. Honest.
Matt's gaze didn't waver. “I want to surrender to you.” The words came out steady, but Theron felt the slight tremor in his hand. “I've never done that before. Not really. Not with anyone I trusted.”
Theron's heart stuttered. “Matt…”
“I trust you.” Matt stepped closer, pressing his body against Theron's, warm and solid and real. “I want to give you that. All of it. But I need you to take it slow.”
Theron's hands found Matt's waist. Gentle. Grounding. “I can do slow.”
“Good.” Matt's smile was soft, almost shy. “Because I'm not going anywhere.”
Theron leaned in and kissed him. Not the desperate kiss from the cave, not the searching kiss from the shower. This one was careful. Reverent. A promise made with lips and tongue and the steady pressure of his hand cradling Matt's jaw.
Matt melted into him. His hands slid up Theron's chest, over his shoulders, fingers curling into the damp hair at the nape of his neck. He made a sound, low, pleased, that vibrated against Theron's mouth and sent heat curling through his gut.
Theron walked him backward, one step at a time, until the backs of Matt's knees hit the mattress. He pulled back just enough to look at him, at the flush spreading across his cheeks, the way his chest rose and fell with quickened breath, the trust in those warm eyes.
“Lie down,” Theron said, offering an invitation rather than giving a command.
Matt did. He settled onto his back, the sheets cool against his skin, and looked up at Theron with an openness that made his chest ache.
Theron followed him down. Braced himself on one arm, his body hovering over Matt's, close enough that their breath mingled. He didn't rush. He let himself look, at the curve of Matt's lips, the line of his throat, the way his hands rested loosely at his sides, waiting.
Theron turned his head and pressed a kiss to Matt’s palm before lowering himself, his mouth finding the hollow of Matt’s throat. He tasted salt, warmth, and the faint tremor of Matt’s pulse beneath his lips.
Matt tipped his head back, offering more. Theron followed the line of his throat with slow kisses, moving across his collarbone and down his chest. His lips brushed the hard plane of Matt’s stomach before settling against the jut of his hipbone.
Matt’s hands fisted in the sheets. His breath came in shallow gasps, his body arching into every touch. Theron felt the power of what Matt offered him. It was not control. It was trust, complete and unguarded, and Theron would do nothing to break it.
He made his way back up Matt’s body until Matt caught his shoulders and pulled him closer.
“Theron.” His voice was wrecked. Beautiful. “Please.”
Theron lifted his head to meet Matt’s eyes. “Tell me what you need.”
Matt trembled beneath him, but his gaze never wavered. “I need you to take me. Choose me.”
The words struck somewhere deep inside Theron. He pressed his forehead to Matt’s and breathed through the sudden tightness in his throat, letting the weight of that trust settle into him.
“I choose you,” he said. “Always.”
Matt smiled, and Theron kissed him again, pouring everything he could not say into it. For the first time in years, he allowed himself to believe he might not have to leave. He might be permitted to stay.
When the kiss ended, Theron remained close, his forehead resting against Matt’s as their breath mingled between them. Then he opened his eyes and truly looked at the man beneath him, the way someone might look upon the horizon after believing he would never see the sky again.
Matt’s palm rested over his heart. Theron covered it with his own, holding it there as the steady beat pressed against their joined hands.
“I have waited lifetimes for you.”
The confession emerged rough and unguarded.
“I spent every cold night and empty morning telling myself I needed no one.” His voice tightened. “I was wrong. I was waiting for you.”
Emotion sharpened Matt’s expression. His fingers brushed Theron’s cheek with a tenderness that made something ache inside him.
“I don’t know what I did to deserve you,” Matt whispered. “But I’m not going to question it.”
Theron leaned into his touch before lowering his mouth to Matt’s again. This kiss carried no desperation or urgency. It was a claim freely offered and a promise Theron intended to keep. Matt opened beneath him without hesitation.
Theron’s hand moved down Matt’s side, following the warmth of his skin until his fingers reached the sheet gathered around them. He pulled it aside, leaving nothing between them but heat.
Matt arched into him with a soft sound, his legs parting as Theron settled between them. Theron held himself there for a moment, surrounded by Matt’s warmth and the certainty that neither of them was alone anymore.
“Is this okay?” Theron asked, his mouth against Matt's throat.
“Yes.” Matt's voice was breathless. “God, yes.”
Theron kissed his way down: jaw, throat, collarbone, chest. Each kiss a question. Each touch an offering. He took his time, learning the landscape of Matt's body with his lips and tongue and the rough scrape of his stubble.
Matt's hands found his hair, fingers threading through the damp strands, holding on like Theron was the only thing keeping him tethered. His breath came in short, sharp gasps, his chest rising and falling beneath Theron's mouth.
“You're so beautiful,” Theron murmured against his skin. “I want to memorize every inch of you.”
Matt let out a sound, half laugh, half sob, and tugged gently at Theron's hair, pulling him back up. Their eyes met, and Matt's were bright, full of something that looked almost like wonder.
“You're real,” Matt said. It wasn't a question.
Theron's throat tightened. “I'm real.”
“Good.” Matt's hand slid to the back of his neck, pulling him down into another kiss. “Because I'm not letting you go.”
Theron kissed him back, deeper now, his hips pressing forward, the hardness between them a quiet confession of want. Matt's breath hitched, his body arching into the contact, and Theron felt the answering heat of him, the way Matt's cock pressed against his own through the thin barrier of skin.
“I want to feel you,” Matt whispered against his mouth. “All of you.”
Theron pulled back just enough to look at him. “Slow, remember?”