Chapter 9 Benny

I t was good to be back in Seacliff.

Benny was all for that private island life—or portal to the fae realm life, as it turned out—but there was nothing like home. The beaches may have been more rocky than tropical, but the air still smelled like salt, and it was still summer enough that the weather was warm and sunny.

As Benny waved to another friend across the street, Helio snorted beside him. “Tell me, do you know every single soul who lives here?”

Benny considered. “Well, not the tourists. But otherwise, pretty much.”

Helio snorted again, tucking Benny closer under his arm.

Honestly, he seemed a little nervous in their new digs, lacking the easy confidence he’d had in Miami, and the intense command on their island. In the fae realm , Benny reminded himself.

Benny supposed he could have been a little more freaked out by that revelation, but it didn’t really change much, did it? He’d already known Helio was a little cagey and a lot possessive and more than a bit lonely and strange. Those things hadn’t changed just because he’d turned out to be a different…species?

Were fae a species?

And maybe Helio had done some shitty things in the past—maybe he’d originally intended to do some shitty things to Benny, even—but…

Well, the thing was Benny had never been lonely. He’d grown up in a nurturing town that knew him well, close with his extended family even after his parents had passed. He didn’t know what it was like to not have anyone. But he’d seen tourists come through, the ones who didn’t have a friend on their side. The ones who drank a little too much or got a little too aggressive.

It did things to people, didn’t it? Loneliness.

So Benny had been lucky, but Helio couldn’t say the same. He’d been isolated and abandoned, and who was Benny to judge?

As long as Helio didn’t do it anymore, not to any innocent bystanders. He could keep tricking Benny if he wanted to—if he really needed that outlet. Benny didn’t mind.

He ducked out from under Helio’s hold, grabbing his hand instead and tugging him around the corner. “Come on, I want you to meet Seth, my baby cousin.”

“Must I?”

“Yeah.” Benny gave Helio a reassuring grin. “Don’t be nervous. He’s great.”

“Nervous,” Helio muttered, like he was offended at the idea.

They’d arrived early the night before, but Helio had teleported them in (although, he kept telling Benny “teleporting” was a science fiction term and was too undignified for his fae powers), so Benny hadn’t had a chance to introduce Helio to anyone yet.

It was possible Helio would have been okay to keep it like that. He didn’t seem to like any humans besides Benny, if the way he was frowning now was any indication.

He was kind of cute when he was grumpy though.

Benny kept tugging him all the way inside the Bakeshop, where Seth was at the other side of the counter, serving up pastries to-go, his brown curls held back by a flower-print headband.

Seth smiled wide as soon as he saw them. “Benny! I was just starting to wonder if you’d been kidnapped for real.”

Benny laughed, squeezing Helio’s hand. “Me? Never. Just enjoying the summer with my new boyfriend.”

Seth’s gaze immediately switched to Helio, his eyes widening in appreciation. “Well, damn. Way to pick ’em.”

“Yeah, he’s super good-looking, isn’t he? I told him that the first night we met.”

“I’m right here,” Helio muttered.

Benny just smiled at him, but Seth looked sheepish. “Sorry to ogle. I’m Seth.”

Helio stared him down for a minute, then glanced at Benny, who gave him an encouraging look. “Helio,” he said shortly.

“Um.” Seth’s eyes darted between them. “Charmed?”

This was so cool, everyone getting along. Benny kissed Helio’s cheek, mostly because he’d learned just this morning that doing it made him blush, and that was awesome. “You can wait outside if you want,” he told him.

“Thank the heavens.” Helio darted out the door immediately.

Seth’s eyebrows rose, and Benny shrugged.

“He’s kind of…solitary by nature.”

“Boyfriend though.” Seth’s eyebrows did a little waggle. “That’s new for you.”

“I guess so?” Benny had never thought of himself as solitary, but it had been a long time since he’d had a partner. A really long time, now that he thought about it.

“I’ve seen you get picked up by plenty of hopefuls,” Seth pointed out, grabbing the coffee pot without Benny asking and pouring him a cup. “It never lasted beyond a few weeks. Why’d that one make the cut?”

“Well…” Benny accepted the cup, humming in thought as he tried to figure out how to articulate it. He knew how he felt, but everyone always wanted to know the why of things, didn’t they? “I just like his vibes,” he settled with. “And he likes mine. He doesn’t try to…change anything.”

“Ah.” Seth nodded like he understood, and maybe he did. He knew Benny as well as anyone, had seen his past attempts at dating. Benny tended to attract people who were drawn to him for whatever reason initially but then always wanted him to be…more. Better. They wanted him to pick up interests besides fitness. Wanted him to give up video games and take up a more grown-up hobby. Wanted him to basically be smarter or more interesting than he was.

Helio just let him be Benny.

Plus, he fucked like a god.

But maybe that was a fae thing.

“I should take him home,” Benny said, trying not to exude eager horniness but probably failing. “We’ve been wandering all morning, and he’s kind of shy.”

“Sure.” Seth glanced outside, and Benny followed his gaze to where Helio was sitting on a bench, kind of glaring at a little girl with a melting ice cream cone who kept trying to scoot closer. “Shy.”

Benny took a second to give Seth a half hug over the counter. “We’ll catch up later. Promise.”

It probably wouldn’t be cool of Benny to spill Helio’s secret, but he could give Seth a general picture of his summer, get his own fill of the town’s goings-on. Later though.

Helio stood from the bench as soon as Benny was out the door. “You’re done?”

“I’m done.” Benny walked up to him, grabbing his hand. “Want to head home?”

“God, yes.”

Benny started to lead him in that direction. “I’m pretty social when I’m here, just to warn you. But you don’t always have to come with me, if you don’t want.”

“I’m…adjusting,” Helio said slowly. “I’ve had you all to myself for several months now. I liked it that way.”

Benny swung their arms while they walked. “We can still do that sometimes. I meant it about splitting time.”

It was a short walk home, and Benny couldn’t help grinning when they made it back to the house his parents had left him. He really loved this place.

“You can take off your glamour if you want,” he told Helio, heading up the stairs to his bedroom, hoping to change into a fresh shirt. “All the curtains are drawn.”

He’d never understood why Sascha and his devil boyfriend didn’t just buy thicker curtains themselves. But then again, Benny had never said anything, so maybe they didn’t know people could see them sometimes.

Now that he had his own boyfriend with secrets to keep…like, should he have said something?

But he’d have to think that over another time. For now, he was kind of frozen in his bedroom doorway. He rubbed at the back of his neck. “Hey, Helio? This isn’t my bed. It’s way bigger. And there’s, like, a crystal bowl of lube packets on my bedside table.”

A sudden warmth at Benny’s back let him know Helio was behind him. “Yes,” he confirmed, a hand landing on Benny’s hip. “The house changed some things while we were away.” He sounded like he approved.

“Huh. Is my house a magical villa now?”

Helio kissed the back of Benny’s neck, immediately repeating the move when it made Benny shiver. “The villa follows me,” he explained, tugging at the hem of Benny’s shirt. “It’s more a spirit than a singular place.”

“Oh, cool.” Benny raised his arms obediently so Helio could take off his shirt. “Hey, Villa,” he called out, raising his voice slightly. “Thanks for all your hard work. Sorry I thought a secret horde of servants was behind all of it before.”

The villa couldn’t talk back, obviously, but a whole bunch of rose petals appeared on the newly massive bed all of a sudden, so it must have heard him.

Helio paused in his efforts to unbutton Benny’s shorts. “Stop seducing him,” he hissed.

Benny tilted his head back to peer at him. “Um. Which one of us are you talking to?”

Instead of answering, Helio claimed Benny’s mouth and shoved Benny’s shorts and underwear down, nudging at his legs until Benny stepped out of both. The kiss was greedy and a little harsh, like he was putting all his sulkiness into it.

Helio did that sometimes. It was like he couldn’t always be vocal about his feelings—or maybe had trouble being fully honest?—and so he tended to put it all into the way he fucked Benny. Like when he spent hours kissing every inch of Benny’s body sort of reverently, or when he pushed his cum back into Benny’s hole possessively after railing him. Maybe fae were naturally tactile like that, or maybe it was just Helio.

Either way, it made for killer sex.

Benny shivered with anticipation as Helio pushed him toward the bed without breaking the kiss.

When they hit the foot of the bed, Helio pressed at Benny’s back until he was bent forward over it. “I should take you back to the fae realm,” he muttered, kicking Benny’s legs apart. “Keep you under a thrall until I’m all you know or remember.”

See? Helio wasn’t always so good at saying what he meant. Sometimes he resorted to weird threats instead.

Benny sighed happily as he stretched out, laying his head on his folded arms, pushing back into Helio’s touch. “But you won’t.”

Helio’s hands landed on Benny’s ass, squeezing hard. “No. I won’t.”

A slick finger stroked at Benny’s entrance. Had there been lube packets mixed in with the rose petals? Probably.

“But you should know I’m tempted,” Helio muttered, sounding distracted in that way that meant he was staring at Benny’s hole like it held all the secrets in the universe.

Benny let out an encouraging moan when Helio’s finger breached him. It wasn’t going to take long to open him up—they’d already fucked before leaving the house. “That’s fine, babe,” he soothed. “We all have fantasies.”

Helio paused with two fingers inside him, no longer sounding distracted. “And what are your fantasies, Benny?”

“Um…” Benny thought it over while he wiggled his ass hopefully, trying to get Helio to pick back up where he’d left off. When that didn’t work, he relaxed, giving in to the delay. “Well, I want to take you dancing at the Lighthouse,” he said. That was the gay club in town that Benny sometimes worked as a bouncer at, and they had great music every first Friday of the month. “And I want you to try a lobster roll. Not a magical one,” he added, before Helio could protest. “A local one. And I want to escape the snow on one of your islands this winter.”

Yeah, that was a pretty good start. Those were awesome fantasies.

“Oh, and I want to sit on your face sometime,” he added, his dick jerking against the mattress at the thought.

“ Fuck .”

And then the blunt head of Helio’s dick was notching at Benny’s entrance, entering him in one steady push.

God, that felt good.

Sometimes Helio took him apart slowly, like they had years just for a single fuck, and sometimes he was fast and furious, like he needed the reassurance of Benny’s body.

This is definitely one of the fast and furious times , Benny thought, as Helio covered him completely with his form, snapping his hips in a way that had Benny keening within moments.

Benny got it though. Change was hard.

He relaxed into it and let Helio fuck him into their new mattress, not even surprised when he came minutes later without even touching his dick. He tried to be a little quieter than he’d been the past month, now that he had neighbors again, but it was hard when Helio knew every little spot that could make Benny scream.

Afterward, they lay panting, Helio petting Benny in that really nice way he did.

There was a knock on the front door.

Benny lifted his head from the bed. “One of my neighbors must have realized I’m back.”

Helio groaned, smushing his own head against Benny’s shoulder. “Tell me again about splitting time between realms.”

Benny laughed. His boyfriend was so cute.