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  Cobalt’s hands in his hair gripped too tight, and Preston pulled back, forcing his lover to release him. He ran his own hands up Cobalt’s sides until he had Cobalt’s wrists pinned to the wall. He waited for Cobalt to meet his gaze again, to catch a breath, for the flush in his cheeks to settle, and then he moved in, taking a kiss that left no room for doubt as to who was in charge.

  Cobalt opened to him, willing and eager to offer whatever Preston wanted to take. It was a heady feeling, knowing this delectable treat was his for the claiming. He wanted it all, every ounce of air in Cobalt’s body, every thought, every beat of his heart, every tiny flicker of emotion and physical sensation. It all belonged to him, just as long as Cobalt was willing to surrender it.

  “Ohmygod,” Cobalt breathed when Preston finally released his mouth.

  Preston didn’t give him a chance to regroup this time, but continued down his throat, across his collarbone, nuzzling the filmy material of his top out of the way. “Want you,” he growled under his breath, spreading the words and the want over Cobalt’s exposed skin.

  Cobalt arched under him, hands still trapped, shoulders restrained as Preston found a sensitive spot just under his clavicle.

  “There,” Cobalt muttered. “Ohmygod, that is….” A gulp and a hiss followed as Preston bit him, pinching up the skin, sucking, leaving a mark behind as he moved on, lower, to find a nipple.

  “Prest—oh!” Cobalt arched again, writhing, pulling at his hands, groaning when Preston denied him freedom.

  “Wanna touch,” Cobalt begged. “Please.”

  Preston straightened, met his gaze, grinned, and moved Cobalt’s hands to grip them both in one of his. “Still a little bony,” he remarked as he fit both Cobalt’s wrists into the circle of one hand. He squeezed slightly. “Does that hurt?”

  Cobalt’s eyes shone with something too bright, too watery, and he licked his lips. “Hurts just right,” he croaked.

  “You’re sure?”

  Cobalt hitched in a breath and nodded.

  “Good.” Preston bent back to his task of driving his lover out of his mind with the need to touch and be touched, using his mouth everywhere he could reach to explore, seek out the most sensitive areas, and suck up tiny bruises to mark them for later. This was his territory now. He’d explore all its best features in his own time.

  Cobalt was breathing hard by the time Preston had repositioned their hands so he could crouch to reach Cobalt’s navel. He glanced up into his face, alarmed for an instant to see Cobalt’s cheeks damp.

  “Baby?”

  “Don’t stop,” Cobalt breathed. His belly, so close to Preston’s face, quivered, and he drew a shaky breath. “Please. Don’t stop.” He twisted at his hands a bit but didn’t seem particularly interested in freeing himself. More like he was testing the bond, reassuring himself it was still there.

  Preston flattened his free hand over Cobalt’s stomach, ran it in slow, lazy arcs, soothing Cobalt’s constant tremors with the simple touch.

  Cobalt jerked his hips. “Lower. Ohmygodplease.” He moaned and humped air, trying to get some sort of contact on his cock.

  Preston nuzzled, digging his chin in beside the hard lump in Cobalt’s jeans, caressing it first with his cheek, then his jaw, then his teeth, right through the denim. “You ready for that?” he asked.

  “Ohmygodyes. Please.”

  Preston nipped the button open, then looked up. “You do know ‘oh my God’ is three words, right?” Without waiting for an answer, he hauled the jeans down enough to get Cobalt’s cock free and wrapped it in his fist.

  “Ohmyfuckinggod!” Cobalt wobbled and gripped Preston’s shoulders with both hands, pushing his hips forward to initiate the friction he wanted.

  Preston gulped hard, slammed Cobalt’s ass against the wall, then looked up at him. “That’s four words.”

  Cobalt threw his head back and laughed. The sound was a blast of joy that made Preston’s heart skip. When Cobalt tried to pry himself away from the wall, Preston held him in place, forcing him to still. “Be quiet, now.” He didn’t wait for Cobalt to reply but began to stroke him, working hard to make him forget everything but Preston’s hand on his cock, his grip holding him still, and the fact that for this space of time, he was completely in Preston’s control.

  Cobalt slammed a fist down on Preston’s shoulder and keened, something about Preston being a jerkface, which made Preston snort as he released Cobalt. The view was mouthwatering. Seeing Cobalt’s head back against the wall, his chest heaving, his shirt sagging open to reveal his sculpted pecs and abs, and his jeans hanging off his hips so his cock jutted free ticked every box Preston had. It was mind-blowing, and Preston never thought he’d have the privilege of witnessing it. He caught his breath, mouth too dry to speak.

  The sound of the air sucked in so sharply must have caught Cobalt’s attention, because he looked down at Preston. His eyes glowed, and his kissed lips parted in a spacey smile. He twirled a bit of Preston’s hair through his fingers. “Hello there.”

  Preston swallowed hard at the angelic sight. “I want to be in you so bad,” he whispered.

  “Then you’d best get off the floor and into my bed.”

  Preston didn’t need to be told twice, and Cobalt offered no resistance to being summarily stripped and tossed on his back across his bed. He watched with hungry eyes as Preston got naked as well, and fetched condoms and lube from the bedside table.

  “Hurry up.”

  “So impatient,” Preston said as he lowered himself over Cobalt’s prone body.

  Cobalt wrapped himself around Preston. “Can you blame me? I’ve waited all night.”

  “All night?” Preston growled at him and used his weight to pin him to the mattress. “That so?”

  Cobalt touched his face, smiled. “I know, sugar. I know. So no more waiting, yeah?”

  “Works for me.” Preston pinned one of Cobalt’s wrists, then the other as their lips met. They kissed for a very long time.

  Preston lost himself in the feel of skin on skin, of Cobalt’s complete openness to his touch, to the invasion of his tongue and the soft, moaning pleas burbling out every time he gave Cobalt a moment for speech.

  Eventually he released Cobalt long enough to find where the lube and condoms had found their way under a pillow. Cobalt shivered when Preston plopped an unopened packet onto his belly, leaned down, and whispered in his ear. “I’m doing this now. Doing you. You want that?”

  Cobalt stared up at him, nodded, licked his lips. “Godyesplease.”

  Unable to resist the quivering anticipation making his lover flutter beneath him, Preston ran a soft touch down the side of his face, cupped his hand behind his neck, and lifted him into a kiss that killed his thought process yet again. It wasn’t until Cobalt squirmed under him, lifting his hips, seeking friction, that he snapped back to reality.

  “Fuck me,” Cobalt whispered. “Please.”

  Preston settled back on his heels and gazed down at him as he opened the condom package. “That’s not what this is. You know that.”

  A hush fell between them. Cobalt’s eyes, big, blue, and dark, sparkled in the light of the bedside lamp. “I—”

  Making a show of it, Preston clicked the lid of the lube open and squirted some onto his fingers. The act made Cobalt’s eyes widen even more, and he pursed his lips.

  “What is it?” Cobalt asked after a moment of watching Preston warm the lube between his fingers. “If it’s not fu—”

  He stopped when Preston placed a finger over his lips. “It’s us, together.”

  “Together.” He looked confused but nodded. “Of course.”

  Preston grinned and leaned forward, nudged Cobalt’s legs wider, using his dry hand to manhandle Cobalt’s cheeks apart. A wave of possessive greed overcame him as Cobalt spread even wider, allowed even more access, sucking in a breath when Preston stroked his lubed fingers over his hole. The willingness only made Preston want more, and faster, and for an instant, he couldn’t
breathe.

  “Babe?”

  “I—” Suddenly it was too fast. He wanted too much. He wasn’t sure he could restrain himself from taking without regard to Cobalt’s comfort or needs. His hands shook and he froze.

  “Oh no.” Cobalt sat up, his legs remaining spread wide around Preston. “No, you don’t. This is happening.”

  “Just wait.”

  “No waiting! I want this now.” He wiggled forward and grabbed Preston’s wrist, pulling it toward his bottom. He was strong. Frighteningly so, and viciously focused. “Don’t flake out on me, baby.”

  “No, I—slow down a sec. I have to breathe.”

  Preston knew the look he turned on Cobalt was probably a bit panicked, a bit wild. Cobalt met it straight on, cupped his cheek, smiled. “What’s that thing you say?”

  Preston frowned. “Huh?”

  “As you wish.” Cobalt lay back down and canted his hips so his ass and balls were in plain, full view, easy access, his cock resting hard and leaking on his belly, a wanton display of trust. He lifted both arms in front of himself, wrists together. “Anything you want,” he said.

  Preston swallowed hard. So much faith, right there, his for the taking. “Here.” He held out the lube. “Get me ready.” He forced his voice not to shake. He needed to sound the part, for himself as much as Cobalt, but he also had to be sure Cobalt had all the control he required.

  Cobalt smiled, serene and calm as he pushed Preston’s offer back at him until the lube was touching his chest. “I don’t need that, baby. I appreciate it, but I don’t need it.”

  “But I—”

  “Let’s be clear,” Cobalt said. “I’m no delicate flower.”

  “Of course not.”

  “And you’re no soft and tender lover.”

  Preston frowned.

  “Don’t sugarcoat it, darling. You crave being in charge, and I want your cock slicked up and inside me. Now.”

  “That’s—so romantic.”

  “This isn’t about romance.”

  “Isn’t it?”

  Cobalt grinned. “Fuck no.”

  Preston stared. He wasn’t sure how to feel about this. He was still searching for a reply when Cobalt’s hard fist slamming into his chest shocked him out of contemplation.

  “Hey!” He grabbed both of Cobalt’s hands and slammed him against the mattress. “Seriously?”

  “Fuck me.”

  “Fine.” He once more gathered both of Cobalt’s hands in one of his and proceeded to sloppily apply a very generous squeeze of lube over his dick. He hissed at the cool slide over his sheathed cock but didn’t waste a lot of time spreading it the full length. “Now I don’t have enough space to get you ready.” He tilted his head to one side, watching Cobalt’s face as he lined up and pushed the tip of his cock firmly against Cobalt’s entrance. “Speak now.”

  “Do it.”

  The dare in Cobalt’s tone jacked directly into Preston’s libido and made it difficult to breathe. He eased forward, shaking with the effort of not being brutal, even as Cobalt’s breath quickened and his hands twitched.

  Shifting his weight enough to once more grasp one of Cobalt’s hands in each of his, he leaned over him, clamping down, pushing steadily forward until the muscle gave and his cock popped inside.

  Cobalt hissed and gasped. Pink flushed up into his cheeks. His eyes widened, but the groan that came out of him was drenched in need. “More,” he panted. “Godpleasemore.”

  “God, is it?” Preston thrust gently, pushing deeper, forcing himself not to lose control.

  COBALT GROANED at the terrible, terrible smirk on Preston’s face, at the stretch and the lack of complete fullness. He lifted his hips, looking for more, just as Preston backed off.

  “Ohgodplease!”

  “That is so fucking adorable the way you do that.” Preston thrust for real at last, a wide grin on his face.

  The heat and sensation of being suddenly, completely stretched, filled, firmly held down under all that weight and power, made Cobalt gasp. The world fell away. All the newness of being home, finding Preston ensconced in his house, the uncertainty of the rest of his life, none of it mattered as Preston drew back, thrust deep, and at last fell into a hard, steady, demanding rhythm.

  “Sogood,” Cobalt whispered, “so—ohmygod.”

  Preston’s mouth covered his. His cock filled him, battering at his body in delicious abandon as the kiss got sloppy and the hammering sped up, became an insatiable draw on his every nerve, as though Preston was pulling every last bit of Cobalt’s being into him, making them one. The weight of Preston’s body over his, the ache in his wrists, and the electric explosion of pleasure every time Preston hit his prostate pushed him further and further from reality and into the white-hot void of delirious release.

  He flew past physical pleasure, barely noticing when the demands on his body pushed past orgasm and fully into the empty, floating expanse where all he knew was that his lover was getting what he wanted and Cobalt was able to give enough. Finally. What he had was enough.

  “Coby.” Preston’s roughened voice right in his ear jumped straight to his groin through the trails of electric bliss until it shorted out the last bits of thought. He knew only the heavy pounding of their bodies meeting, the slick sweat between them, the harsh rasp of Preston’s breath in his ear, the steadily increasing hammer of their hearts as Preston neared his limit.

  “Coby, I—”

  The world stilled. The only sound was Preston’s thundering heart. Even his breath stilled, and if Cobalt had a heartbeat at all, if he wasn’t just a collection of light molecules and sound ripples, he didn’t know.

  Preston shuddered. His thick cock pulsed inside Cobalt’s body. A low, grating moan issued from somewhere deep enough to make Preston’s whole body reverberate with it.

  “Holy fuck,” Preston breathed. “Cobe.”

  Cobalt wrapped his leaden legs tight around Preston’s waist, holding him inside, absorbing every last tremor and shake, soaking it all into his being and feeling it dissipate down to his toes, the roots of his hair, the tips of his fingers. He was limp with satisfaction by the time Preston finally shifted to look at him.

  “Baby, I don’t even know what that was,” Preston said, wonder overflowing the words.

  “That was fucking, darling,” Cobalt said with a grin.

  “Don’t you darling me,” Preston snarled, grinning back, then sinking his fingers into Cobalt’s hair to hold him still so he could devour Cobalt’s mouth in a kiss that left them both panting. When he pulled back, the scars at the edge of his mouth and over his eye were paler than normal. His eyes glittered, dangerous, even though his sagging body spoke silently of satiation. “That was not fucking. That was—”

  Cobalt waited, breath stopped, beating back a terrified flutter of wings in his chest. He should not have called him darling. Not here. Not now.

  Preston flexed his fingers, and Cobalt’s scalp burned at the pull of hair. He winced.

  “Don’t,” Preston said, gruff and demanding and utterly kind. “A piece of my soul just broke off, and it’s somewhere inside you. Don’t panic. Don’t get lost in your head.”

  Cobalt blinked at him. A piece of his soul? He wiggled his hips. “Is that what that is? Funny. I thought it was—”

  Preston kissed him again. Hard.

  Cobalt couldn’t help it. He groaned and his brain blanked once more. The void crept back, sneaking in from all sides, engulfing him. He dug fingers into Preston’s back, desperate for something to hold on to. He couldn’t lose himself.

  Jerking back, Preston glared down at him. “Calm down,” he gruffed. “I am not going to lose you. Nothing bad can happen. Not now.”

  Staring up at his lover, Cobalt searched for the crouching beast waiting for him to give in, to fall into the blank spaces between touch and take. He saw only the offer of patience. Kindness. Safety. Carefully he eased his grip until he could bring a hand around to touch Preston’s face. So much broader than�
��so square and solid.

  “You back?” Preston asked, voice turned gentle and soft.

  Cobalt swallowed a lump, managed to nod. “I think.”

  “Don’t panic.”

  “I—” He had panicked. He hadn’t meant to, but he had.

  Moving slowly, giving Cobalt time to adjust to a new position, Preston moved to his side, slipped off the condom and dropped it into the trash, then shuffled and tugged until he was on his back and Cobalt was lying half on top of him. Sweat stuck them together in a heated lump in the center of the bed.

  “Comfortable?”

  He was, surprisingly so. He half expected the bony protrusion of shoulder bones under his head, hard, unyielding planes under his hand as he splayed it over Preston’s chest. But Preston was soft in places Cobalt wasn’t used to. Strong in all the ways that mattered. Possessive when he dragged Cobalt’s legs close enough to drape one of his over top and hold them down. He was furry too, remarkably so, and the soft sizzle-rasp of hair under Cobalt’s palm as he ran his hand in circles offered a safe, comforting sensation to focus on.

  Preston held him quietly. Cobalt felt like he should say something, but he didn’t know what. That void hovered, a threatening nothingness just beyond his reach, but there, waiting for him. Should he mention it? How did he explain a thing like that? It wasn’t even a thing. It just—he let out a heavy breath.

  “Okay?” Preston hugged him tighter and covered his roving hand, thick, calloused fingers clamping comfortingly round his wrist.

  “I’m good,” Cobalt assured him, though he wasn’t sure he believed the words himself. He wasn’t bad. He was safe, and he wasn’t sure why that mattered more than getting off. More than the soft glow he knew was the abiding love he also felt. Safe. The void could hover all it wanted. It could even claim him, someday. He’d fall in, and it would be okay. Because Preston, because safe, were real things in his life, and they wouldn’t let him down.

  Preston kissed the top of his head. “Sleep.”

  Cobalt snorted softly. “Yes, dear.” He kissed Preston’s pec, because that was what he could reach, and twisted his captured hand. He made no real attempt for freedom. He didn’t want that. He liked the implied ownership. The safe haven of belonging to a man who could dangle him over the void and not leave him shaking in terror for having been so close.