Chapter 38 #2
When my back tires from the motion, Luke takes the liberty to flip us over, lying on his stomach, back arched, ass up, and buries his face in the pillow as I bury myself to the hilt inside him.
For the next few minutes, there’s nothing but the sound of skin slapping against skin, groans of pleasure, and Luke’s breathless moans.
I run my fingers along his spine, pulling his hips back against me as far as they’ll go, reaching underneath him to stroke his throbbing cock.
“Don’t stop,” Luke begs deliriously, gripping the sheets beneath him. “Don’t stop.”
“I’m so close,” I manage to say in a gasp, feeling the inevitable orgasm right around the corner. There’s no holding it back as it rips through me, swirling through my lower back and expanding to the top of my skull and down to my toes in a rolling wave of ecstasy.
And as I feel myself coming, the warm, sticky fluid filling Luke to the brim, it topples his pleasure over the edge, and he cries out in a loud and violent moan as he spills his load all over the bed beneath him.
His whole body shakes under mine, aftershocks of pleasure moving through him, and he lies breathless and unbothered in his mess, too weak to move.
Pulling myself free, my own mess trickling between his legs, I collapse on the bed behind him, utterly spent.
I drag him back against my chest and bury my face in the crook of his neck, kissing the soft spot of his collarbone and nuzzling my head against his. He chuckles softly as my beard tickles the delicate skin, but he reaches back for me, holding me closer.
“What’s your name, baby?” I tease, our old inside joke coming to mind.
Luke laughs breathlessly. “Whatever you want it to be,” he murmurs, closing his eyes and relaxing within the comfort of my embrace. I listen as his breathing slows, and he drifts to sleep, completely at peace.
With the sun's warmth enveloping us in all its glory, my body grows comfortably heavy. Drifting to the edge of sleep, I can’t help but think I might be willing to give up everything if it meant I could stay like this with Luke forever.
With nothing requiring us to get out of bed—we are on vacation, after all—we spend most of the morning lazily touching and kissing each other, going in for more rounds of indulgence until we’re depleted and in desperate need of real food.
Then, we get up and shower together in the apartment’s tiny bathroom, using the intimacy of the cramped space to have a little more fun before all the hot water runs out.
Keeping my hands to myself is nearly impossible, and I’m craving him like some horny teenager, but Luke relishes the attention.
I haven’t felt this turned on and eager for sex since I was in my early twenties, and it feels a little juvenile to give into the desires, but I can’t deny how alive it makes me feel.
It’s the first time I’ve felt so young and carefree in a long time.
However, in my desperation to be with Luke as much as possible, I have entirely forgotten that he doesn’t live here alone.
When we finally emerge and join the rest of his roommates in the living room, there’s some definite side-eye and cheesy grinning turned our way, and I realize they all know exactly what we were doing.
I guess the walls in this place might not be as thick as I’d hoped.
“Some people have all the luck,” Rei grumbles into their coffee cup, mumbling about the various injustices of life while Star and Dmitry snicker on the sidelines.
Luke doesn’t seem embarrassed to have been heard in all our glory.
Instead, he winks at Rei, sending them even further into a jealous tizzy, before sitting on the couch with a satisfied sigh.
I, on the other hand, need a moment to let the blush on my cheeks settle before I can face any of them again, so I head into the kitchen and make myself a cup of coffee.
But I can still hear how the others joke and tease with Luke about our escapades.
They try to whisper, but the space is so small, it’s impossible not to listen as they gush about me like they’ve never encountered someone of my kind before—like I’m a different species altogether.
They’re obsessed with my stamina, physical build, and, according to Rei, plump little chipmunk cheeks…
I can’t tell if they mean my face or my ass.
Maybe both. Then, Dmitry starts raving about how I carried Luke to bed last night, and I can tell he’s incredibly impressed.
“When I tell you, my jaw dropped,” he says. “The man fucking princess carried you to bed like the dainty heroine in all my romantic fantasies. He’s a god.”
I can’t help but snort at the description. No one’s ever referred to me quite like that before. With my laugh, Luke catches on to the fact that I’ve heard all of this nonsense and gives me a quick grin before dropping into a blatant act of disbelief.
“That’s not fair!” he whines, standing up from the couch. “You’re not allowed to just sweep me off my feet like that when I’m unconscious. Do it again!”
Then, without further warning, Luke leaps around the couch and darts across the tiny space, straight for me in the kitchen.
I only have enough time to set my very full coffee cup down on the counter behind me before Luke leaps up and throws himself at me with all the trust a 6’7”, 220lb man should not have when performing such a stunt.
And yet, I catch him easily, scooping him up and holding him in my arms bridal style without breaking a sweat.
He laughs and pulls my face in, planting a gleeful kiss on my lips.
The others let out jealous noises from across the room, and Luke laughs, wrapping his arms around my neck more tightly, really playing it up in front of his friends. I roll my eyes and pinch his thigh while I’ve got him trapped. He squeals and squirms in my arms.
“You’re such a fucking dork,” I tease before setting him back down on the ground.
“And you are a god among men.” Luke chuckles.
He takes my face in his hands again and kisses me, then entwines his fingers in mine, dragging me back to sit with him on the couch once I’ve picked up my coffee, effectively making me forget there’s any reason to be embarrassed.
The next few days pass in a similar manner.
While Luke’s roommates vacate the apartment for work and various errands, we let the minutes turn to hours in bed, savoring the quiet moments without the weight of the world pinning us down.
There’s nowhere we need to be, nothing we’re supposed to be doing, and if we never left his bed again, I would be content.
However, Luke doesn’t forget all the things he wanted us to do while we’re here, and after some minor convincing, he drags me up and out into the world so he can show me everything he loves about this city. And there’s a lot to see.
Restaurants and food carts seem never ending for his quote-unquote “absolute favorite foods on this planet,” and I can see why he has a hard time pinning it down to just one.
Everything’s so unique and delicious that I can’t complain.
I even wonder if I could recreate some of the recipes.
Then there are museums, art galleries, and indie art scenes across the city that he seems to have exclusive knowledge of—even an underground rave, which is definitely not my scene, but Luke absolutely adores, and watching him come alive under the black lights and thumping music is a sight I’ll never forget.
After manifesting tickets to the Broadway musicals he thinks I’d enjoy, it’s his turn to show me the part of his soul that makes him whole.
After each breathtaking performance (god, I love musical theater) he takes me backstage to meet all of the cast and crew, many of whom, if not all of them, know and dote on Luke like he’s the prodigal son returned.
It's clear how loved he is. Not only have these people missed him, but his absence from their lives is notable—more than I think he’d expected with how he tears up at the revelation.
It’s clear that this is a solid community with bonds stronger than those of many I could claim to know.
Luke belongs here, and that slight clench of fear goes right through my gut as the thought reminds me that this is why our paths will ultimately diverge.
But for as much as I’d feared that I wouldn’t fit in around Luke’s friends, I find myself being enthusiastically welcomed into their fold with open arms. Everyone goes out of their way to make me feel included in conversations or bring me up to speed when I look confused, and as we get to talking, I realize that I have a lot more in common with them than I’d expected.
My tastes in music, my love of cooking, even my passion for books…
Luke introduces me to so many people who match different facets of my personality in ways I didn’t think possible, and I begin to wonder why I’ve lived so long keeping them hidden.
Finally, Luke takes me on a novelty stint through Times Square so that I can say I’ve been to the iconic heart of the city.
He’s avoided the more touristy attractions, staying away from the traps that are wildly overcrowded and more for show than a truly authentic New York experience. This is the only exception.
The energy of the massive buildings and blaring billboards is truly a sight to behold, and even though it’s full of people in almost every direction, I don’t find myself panicking like I would have expected.
In fact, the more we venture out into the city, the more I realize that I haven’t been genuinely anxious this whole trip.
Despite being surrounded by more people than I’ve ever seen in my entire life, I’m perfectly calm.
Awareness washes over me like a ray of sunlight breaking through a cloudy day, and I can feel how my body tingles with the discovery that I’m okay.
Not just okay, but…good. It’s unexpectedly cathartic, healing a wound I never thought I could recover from—but can it last?