Chapter 23
Marc
It was probably weird how much I liked Andy and his boyfriend, Mitch.
And if marriage wasn’t in their near future, I’d sell the flower shop and reenlist in the Army quicker than a chicken on a June bug.
I kind of hoped we could all stay in touch…
and that I’d be invited to the wedding. But not only was that hella presumptuous, it also hinged on a lot more than if they actually liked me that much.
“What’s with the face, baby boy?” JD plopped down beside me on the sofa. “Looks like your thinky-thoughts have gotten pretty heavy,” he said with a relaxed smile as he reached over to smooth the apparent line that had formed between my eyebrows.
“My thinky-thoughts?”
He playfully waggled his head at me. “Yes, your thinky-thoughts.” His finger slid the rest of the way up my forehead until it, along with the rest of his fingers, slipped through my freshly washed hair.
A sigh of pure contentment escaped me, and my eyelids fluttered shut.
“I thought today went well,” he mused, sliding his hand free.
“Today did go well,” I said, cracking my eyes open, trying—and failing—not to smile.
“Mmm, I was really hoping you’d say that.” He angled his body and mine so he was leaning over me more than sitting beside me.
I had to bite my lip to keep from cracking or caving into the kiss I so badly wanted to give him. “Oh? And why’s that?”
“I believe someone promised me a treat,” he said, lowering himself to kiss along my neck.
“Wonder who that was, because I’m certain I said that if you were good, then you might get to lick my finger again.” I was clearly possessed because I didn’t have the faintest clue how I’d said all of that without cracking once.
JD went stock-still, then slowly raised his head to look at me. Still channeling… something, I arched an eyebrow at him. “You did not,” he deadpanned, complete with a disgruntled frown.
“It was implied,” I countered, my lips twitching as I struggled to keep the laughter at bay.
“Uh-uh. You clearly said that I’d get to have my favorite treat and I think we both know that involves your dick in my mouth.”
“Do we?” I asked through a smile that was actively hurting my face. “And again, the criteria was that you were good, not that the day was good. What do you think Andy’s ruling would be after you chunked him into the Gulf like a bag of bait?”
JD’s jaw dropped, shortly followed by his head, a miserable groan, and, oh yeah, the rest of his giant body.
“Oof,” I wheezed as he let his body become dead weight. “You’re squishing me, you freaking giant.”
“You’ll live,” he mumbled into my chest, refusing to move.
I wasn’t actually upset, not that he wasn’t heavy, but I could handle it.
Plus, there was something… comforting about having his weight on me, like an anchor.
No, that wasn’t right. More like a potted trellis.
Something stable and sure, a foundation to keep you grounded while lifting you up, even when falling seemed inevitable.
Yeah, that felt right, just like my hand running over the muscled planes of back felt right, and my fingers gliding through his bright red hair.
It was kind of silly, but the longer it grew, the curlier it got and the more boyish he looked.
Don’t get me wrong, he’d always be intimidating as fuck when he wanted to be, but it was as if the sweetness that was on the inside was finally showing on the outside.
Like a flower. Like a honeysuckle. Like my Honeysuckle.
“It really was a great day,” JD said as he resituated so that some of his weight was on the couch and he could rest his head more comfortably on my shoulder.
“Your brother’s flowers are stunning. I mean the tiger on his back is impressive as hell, but the flowers that take up most of his left arm and shoulder are just…
wow.” Truthfully, I’d been astounded to see Andy had tattoos at all, let alone been covered in them.
An intricate floral sleeve on his left arm, going all the way up his shoulder and spilling onto his chest. A bright orange Bengal tiger, stalking down his back against a jungle backdrop.
Not to mention the various assorted ones dotting every other major surface area, including a large family crest over his right ribs.
And every one of them was complex, done in rich colors, vibrant against his pale skin.
“You know, I’m a little surprised you don’t have flower tattoos, given how much you love them.”
I shook my head and resumed rubbing his back.
“The idea is nice, and as impressive as Andy’s tattoos are, it’s not the same.
Part of what makes flowers so beautiful is that they don’t last. For all of their resilience, they’re delicate; they need to be cared for.
Even then, they’re fleeting.” Unable to stop myself, I tilted my head to look down at JD and brushed my fingers along his cheek.
“But if you truly care for them, they’ll bring brightness and joy to your life.
And if you’re especially attentive, they’ll come back.
They’ll always come back,” I finished in a whisper, not sure what I was even talking about anymore.
I was too lost in the way JD’s eyes were pulling me in, like the very currents I’d warned everyone about earlier today.
Then, like almost every other time, the distance between us seemed to disappear without either of us moving.
One moment he was looking up at me, his chin perched on my chest. The next, my fingers were buried in his hair and our lips were fused together as we shared one breath.
We traded unhurried kisses, letting our hands wander aimlessly over each other.
God, the way his muscles flexed against me, the way his coarse hair tickled my palms, set me on fire in a way I’d never known existed.
When JD sat back on his heels to pull off his shirt, I was already tossing mine and reaching for his shorts.
I wanted his bare skin on me more than I wanted air.
No sooner had I successfully gotten ahold of the elastic on his shorts than he gently grabbed my wrists and pulled them away.
I squirmed beneath him, aching for more physical contact.
He took mercy on me and leaned down to seal our mouths together once more.
I arched into him to close the distance faster and moaned at the incredible feel of skin against skin.
“Marc,” he groaned, moving to kiss along my jaw as he ground his hips against me. I loved it when he said my name like that. Loved it. And the way he was rolling his hips was driving me closer and closer to falling off the Cliffs of Insanity. “Please let me suck you.”
“Yes,” I gasped, bucking into him at the breathy request. He paused kissing along my neck to look at me. I already knew what he wanted, so I gave it freely… mostly. “Arum.”
He raised both eyebrows. “I’m assuming that’s yet another strange green flower.”
I smiled. Lord only knew what he would say when he inevitably looked up the arguably very strange flower. “Yes.”
“Guess that means I was good today after all, huh, baby boy?” he said with a smirk before laying a trail of kisses down my torso.
Remembering the rules from last time, I allowed myself to thread my fingers through his hair as he continued to work his way lower.
Though I restrained my disappointment when that also meant he had to physically get up to fully remove my shorts.
But, hey, three cheers to post-shower me for skipping the boxers.
His blue-green eyes were still devouring me when he hooked his thumbs into the elastic of his shorts.
My breath caught in anticipation, and he paused, looking at me with raised eyebrows.
I could have come up with another green flower.
Probably. Or copped out with something like grass, but my thinky-thoughts were thinkied out.
“Green,” I said without preamble, my voice rougher than I’d ever heard it.
But I didn’t have the bandwidth to think about that right now.
All my focus was on each sliver of skin revealed as JD pulled his shorts lower.
There was a very good chance that the weird strangled noise came from me when his dick popped free. Appeared he’d also gone commando.
My gaze riveted on the pearl of liquid gathered at the tip of his swollen head like morning dew on a petal, and I wanted more than anything to lick it off, to know what he tasted like.
But this wasn’t about me. What I wanted could wait.
This was about what James wanted, and if he wanted to suck my soul out through my dick, I wouldn’t stand in his way.
I could almost laugh at how unironically I meant that.
Then James was settling himself between my legs, and all other thoughts evaporated.
“Oh God,” I groaned, digging my head back into the cushion of the sofa and tangling my fingers in his hair as his lips sealed around my sensitive head and slid down.
Of course, my damn hips bucked up as well, despite my determination to keep them firmly in place, and James immediately gagged.
I quickly released his hair, an apology bubbling up my throat.
James clapped his hand over my mouth and held my gaze. “This is my treat, yes?”
Too afraid to breathe, let alone twitch after nearly choking him to death, I held perfectly still.
“Blink once for no and twice for yes,” he said with a small smile. I blinked twice. “Good. Since it’s my treat, I can have it the way I want it.” He paused, leading me to believe it was a question.
I hesitated. That opened the door to a lot of unknowns, but I trusted him as much as I trusted Alex. I blinked twice.
He let out a breath that sounded startlingly like relief.
“Then I’d like to enjoy my treat by you fucking my face.
” My eyes widened in alarm. “Easy, baby boy. I can handle it. Remember, red, yellow, green goes for me too. It will just look a little different.” He squeezed my thigh, and I slowly blinked twice, betraying my uncertainty.
“One tap to ease up. Two for air. Squeezes are green. Will that work for you?”
This was the opposite of everything I’d ever been told or taught.
Except… he wanted it. There were clear boundaries.
If he needed to stop, he’d tell me. I gave it another second of deliberation, then, even though it felt like my heart was in my throat, I blinked twice.
When happiness washed over his face, I hated that I’d considered only blinking once.
Rather than simply remove his hand from my mouth, he slid it around to cup the back of my neck and pulled me forward to meet him in a slow, sensual kiss.
Our tongues tangled in a dance I finally felt like I knew the steps to, even as we lightly nipped at each other’s lips.
Then he was kissing his way back down my body again.
This time when he swallowed me down, and I reflexively thrust up, I didn’t back off.
His groan of enjoyment as I drove into mouth had me clawing at his scalp, twisting my fingers in his silken amber curls, and pulling.
He tapped once, and I eased off enough for him to set his own rhythm, bobbing his head up and down.
Each time he gagged and his throat constricted, it was like I fell into Wonderland amidst the singing flowers.
I didn’t realize I’d started thrusting again until he tapped my thigh twice.
I instantly pressed my hips back against the sofa, and he gasped for air.
Worry prickled the back of my neck, but he wrapped his hand around my shaft and gave me a grin that made me wonder for a hot minute if I had actually fallen into Wonderland.
His lips were red and swollen from being over-stretched and abused.
Spit dribbled down his chin while tears streamed from the corners of his eyes.
His hair was in wild disarray, and his face was splotchy and flushed.
In short, he was a complete wreck. And I’d never seen anyone so happy in my life.
He flashed me a cheeky grin and winked, then dove right back down with exactly zero warning.
The people across the street probably heard my shout, but it was nothing compared to the sound I made when he sucked me down as deep as I could go while tugging on my balls.
Everything was so slippery that his finger slid along my taint and I didn’t even have a chance to warn him before I was shooting down his throat hard enough for my vision to go blurry.
I was still adrift in the post-orgasm haze when I realized he’d sat up on his knees and was furiously fisting his cock.
“Nu-uh,” I mumbled, awkwardly reaching for him.
He barely got his hand out of the way before he collapsed on top of me.
“You got your treat, now I want mine.” He must have wiped his mouth while I was still out of it, because it was miraculously spit-free when I captured him with a desperate kiss. Not that it would have stopped me.
He grunted into me, and as much as I wanted to know it felt like to have his cock on my tongue, there was no way in hell I was convincing my body to move from this spot. “Marc,” he groaned deeply, dropping his forehead to my shoulder and rolling his hips against me like he had earlier.
“Fuck yeah. That’s what I want.” I snaked my hand between us, wrapped my fingers around his dick, which was impressively slick, and started jacking him.
“Get off on me. I want to feel your seed spill over my hand. Paint my chest with it,” I added, sucking kisses out on his neck as he continued to thrust into my tight grip with increasing speed.
“Fuck, Marc. Fuck. Fuck. Fuuuuuuuck.” His hips jerked, and warm liquid pulsed through my fingers, granting my wish. Completely spent, he rested most of his weight on me again, his heavy pants cooling the sweat on my skin.
I pressed kisses into his hairline and the side of his head; anywhere I could reach, really.
Slowly, I removed my hand from his softening cock, using my body as a towel, so that it was mostly clean when I re-wrapped my arm around him.
Absolutely everything about this moment was perfect.
I wasn’t sure how long we floated in that space when James broke the silence with a soft whisper.
“I don’t want to go.”
I tried hard not to tighten my arms around him, as if I could keep him there by will alone, as if I had any right to ask that of him. But I could dream, and hope fluttered in my chest like a butterfly come to visit the rose already in full bloom. “Then don’t,” I whispered back.