Chapter 27
Theo woke to an unpleasant sense of exhaustion that seemed to have settled into his every limb. He stretched, feeling the arms that held him, and just before his eyes cracked open, a few joints in his feet popped noisily.
“Ugh.”
“Good morning, Theodore.” Peter sounded wide awake, as per usual, but at least he wasn’t in the kitchen making breakfast already.
“Yeah, morning.” He glanced at Peter, who, disturbingly, gazed back with an expression full of love.
“Did you sleep well, dearest?”
Theo went back to burying his face against Peter’s chest, enjoying the smell of fresh linen, Peter’s scent and warmth, the quiet all around them. “Yeah. What time is it?”
“Oh. I didn’t check. I thought the best thing to do was skip everything we have on our respective schedules for today—except for getting your account set up, of course—and stay inside. Rest. I suspect you’ll not want to miss your first day back at work at Celeste’s, but that’s for later.”
Theo sighed. “You don’t need to—”
“But I do.”
With his eyes pressed closed, Theo nodded. “I think yesterday…I think I said stuff. I don’t know. I didn’t mean to hurt you. Or maybe I did, but not really. I know you’re not like him.”
“I’m not hurt, but I’m not sure I can give up preparing beautiful lunches for you after all. I may not eat that kind of food anymore, but I can at least appreciate it looking nice.”
“Did it take you all night to come up with that?”
Peter chuckled. “Maybe.”
“Are you going to keep hiring cooks?”
“I believe surprising your partner with dinner every now and then is perfectly normal, except most dinner preparation is currently beyond my abilities in the kitchen. There isn’t much else I can do if I want to surprise you with a nice, homecooked meal.”
Theo ran his creaky foot up Peter’s leg. “So you did spend the night thinking up excuses to treat me like…like…”
“Like you’re special to me? Oh, Theodore, I wouldn’t make an excuse for that, but I thought giving you an explanation might help you see yourself the way I see you.”
Theo fell silent. That particular conversational path led to scary territory, and he wasn’t ready for it. He might be someday, maybe even someday soon, but not today.
He tilted his head back until the stubble on his chin scraped against Peter’s chest.
“If we’re skipping work and school, we should at least have sex. I want sex now.”
Peter moved the arm he’d lazily draped over Theodore’s side so that he could run his palm over Theo’s butt. It was all very innocent as far as hand placement went, and Theo frowned, making Peter smirk in turn.
“Do you, Theodore?”
“Yeah. I’m young and horny. What else do you expect?”
Peter’s expression softened. “I’d like you to tell me that you’re feeling better. That you know you’re not here because of your blood. That you heard me when I told you I love you.”
Theo wanted to look away again, but the hand that had skimmed his butt went to his chin and held him fixed.
Theo let out a long breath and licked his lips before speaking.
“Yeah.”
“Meaning?”
“I heard you. And I’m feeling better.”
“Then you should have the sex you want. Care to tell me exactly how you want it?”
Theo snorted. “Well, do you want it too? It’s boring if I’m the only one who wants to fuck.”
“You’re not the only one. In fact, have I mentioned how beautiful you are? It’s difficult to resist you, that gorgeous mouth you have, all the soft skin and the—”
“Fuck, I get it. Didn’t have to elaborate. Let me turn around. I want you to fuck me from behind.”
“Good choice.”
Peter let him go, and Theo turned, stripping out of his briefs as he did so.
“Also, order me around a bit. Make me feel you.”
Peter made an appreciative noise, his breath washing over the crook of Theo’s neck. “Are you going to obey me? Or will you need to be held down?”
His hand moved to Theo’s hip, making him shiver. “I’m not sure. Depends on whether I feel like obeying.”
Another appreciative noise, but darker. “You’ll need to be held down, then. That’s good. I love holding you, Theodore.”
Theo was still lying on Peter’s other arm, and he wound it around Theo now, his fingers closing around Theo’s right wrist.
“Hold me, then. Hold me.”
Peter did, his grip firm but not bruising, even though Theo wouldn’t have minded the mark. If he marks me, I’m his. Am I his already because I want him to mark me? Theo pressed his eyes shut, struggling just enough to feel like this was real.
Peter slept naked a lot of the time. Today too.
It was nice—perfect, really—to have him in bed, just ready and waiting as if he was Theo’s alone.
Theo felt the hard cock rubbing into his crack before long, and he tried to push his butt out, make it better for Peter.
Just from that, Theo went from half to fully hard, and when he thought about all the other things he had to look forward to, it made his breathing heavy with lust, made his skin feel hypersensitive.
“The night’s rest has done you good, hasn’t it?” Peter released Theo’s hip, his hand inching toward Theo’s cock, where he began with circling the base with his fingers, then tracing upward to the head. “Yes, this will do.” He circled the tip with his thumb.
“Oh, fuck.”
“I could make you come like this if I wanted to. Just this one movement until you give in.”
Theo snorted. “Might get carpal tunnel.”
Peter chuckled. “Might be worth it.”
“I told you I want you to fuck me.”
“And I’m telling you I can make you do what I want with only my thumb on you.”
He was still doing it, too, and Theo gasped, pressing his knees together in an attempt to control the way his muscles were shaking. He wanted to lean into the touch, but he wouldn’t give in that easily.
“I want you inside me, Peter.”
“You have so many demands.”
“Just the one, currently.”
More of Peter’s warm breath when he leaned over Theo, his lips close to where he would bite when he was hungry.
“Say the magic word.”
“Abracadabra.”
The pressure on Theo’s cockhead intensified. He felt himself growing wetter and wetter, the sight ridiculously lewd probably, not that Peter seemed in the mood to watch. Or do anything other than what he was doing, for that matter.
“I’m not sure that’s getting you the magic wand you want,” Peter said.
“Should’ve…made you add that to the contract.”
Peter kissed his neck. “What, exactly?”
“That you fuck me without asking all these questions when I tell you to.”
“Too bad you didn’t. There’s no time to renegotiate and make changes now. The time for haggling is over, and I think I quite like this, the way your ass is shivering and moving. And all I have to do is go round and round, round and round.”
He was right, and that was the worst part of it. The best part of it.
In an attempt to get what he wanted, Theo tried moving his ass with more purpose, tried grinding against Peter to get him to give in, but his efforts were met with a huff of amusement against the shell of his ear. And Peter’s thumb never even slowed.
“I…nghhnn…I….”
“Yes. You’re going to come. I like the idea. After, you can rest a little while I stretch you open, and then when you’re ready to come again, we can continue this. I’ve never played hooky, but I believe that’s what it’s all about.”
“Not about…orgasms.”
“I think you’re wrong.”
“No…”
Theo rubbed his knees together. He was hot, getting sweaty, too turned on to stay still, but that didn’t matter because he couldn’t really move like this, not with Peter holding him, with Peter at his back, with Peter’s breath brushing against his cheek.
Hot tension collected in his belly, then deeper, and Theo could feel that he was seconds away from coming. He tried holding it back, desperate to defy, but too much at Peter’s mercy to succeed.
With a whoosh of air leaving his lungs and his spine arching while his mouth fell open in a near silent gasp, Theo came in Peter’s hand.
It was a deep kind of orgasm that lasted for longer than normal, the kind that had previously made him all floppy, breathing heavy and staring at the ceiling without seeing a thing.
Except Theo was floppy on his side, and he was staring at that hot fae romance novel he’d dropped on the bedside table…not even that long ago.
“Hot fae sex,” he mumbled through his orgasm haze.
“That’s not what this was.”
“Like in the book. Evil fae, but hot fae sex.”
Theo felt Peter’s lips curve into a smile before he brushed a soft kiss against the back of his neck. “I think you have evidence enough to realize that I am not an evil fae. You met evil Fae only yesterday.”
“Yeah, but…post-orgasmic free association. You’re hot, fae dude’s hot; you have a sword, hot fae dude has a sword.”
“I see. It might be best if you were cut off from those sorts of books. No more unsupervised trips to the bookstore for you.”
“Corvin made me read it?”
“Are you sure? I can make you tell me why you’re really reading it. I think I already know, but I can make you confirm it.”
The post-orgasmic afterglow was fading, which pulled Theo’s focus back to where they were lying entangled, Peter still hard behind him, still moving against him, but only enough to stay ready for more.
“Actually, I only got that hot fae book because they were out of hot Viking books. You know I prefer a hot Viking, don’t you? Especially if they’re tall. And blond. With blue eyes.”
Peter let out a rumbling almost-growl. “Theodore. I believe it’s time I teach you a lesson.”
“Are you going to show me where you sheathe your sword?”
Peter turned away, and Theo heard him get the lube from the nightstand.
“I’m not a Viking, Theodore.”
Theo turned onto his back. “You’re not going to sheathe your sword, then? Too bad. Maybe I should get up, grab a shower, and leave you to whatever else you had planned.”
Peter was on top of him in a moment. “Don’t go. Stay here. Right here, beloved.”
Theo’s throat tightened with emotion that echoed Peter’s. All he could do was lay a hand on Peter’s side and nod.