15. Marley

CHAPTER 15

Marley

C leaning someone is a multifaceted, intimate act requiring care. The burden of debilitating fear of vulnerability around another has prevented me from ever experiencing the emotional intimacy required in sharing a shower or bath with another. The idea of someone's hands on me or mine on theirs in this scenario would make my mind recoil instinctively. Hence the shock rocking my body as I relish lathering Iggy's flesh as the water cascades down his sculpted back.

Iggy turns around, his hand on his crotch as he cleans around the shaft and his foreskin.

"That skin seems like extra work."

His smile reaches his eyes, making his blue orbs brighter than I'd ever seen them. His eyes resemble deep Caribbean waters that you want to dive into headfirst. He appears happy. "Welcome to the wonderful world of a non-mutilated dick."

"I have to admit, having a personal built-in fleshlight has some benefits."

Iggy laughs, pulling my neck down before crashing my back to the wall. I'm taken aback at how much I enjoy kissing Iggy as much as I revel in fucking his ass.

"You think my mom heard you defile her son in the guest bedroom?"

"Are you trying to activate my anxiety?"

Iggy steps back, panic in his eyes. "No. I was just joking around. Shit, are you okay?"

I laugh. "Yes, Ig, I was just teasing."

"Maybe I'm not the only one that needs a spanking."

This is easy. There are no complications or regrets. Being with Iggy is as easy as breathing.

I take him in as he stands under the spray of the shower, washing the soapsuds off his sun-kissed skin.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" he asks.

"You complaining about being ogled? Usually, you throw a tantrum if someone notices anyone but you."

"No." Iggy laughs as he reaches behind the sliding glass shower door and grabs two towels from the rack, passing me one.

"Where are you going?" I ask Iggy as he shoves his clothes over his wet body.

"To my room. We fucked. Friends with benefits fuck and part ways."

My heart pounds frantically in my chest and a knot tightens in my gut as I watch him yank his t-shirt over his head, the fabric clinging to his damp skin. "What if I don't want you to go?"

Iggy freezes. "Is that what you want?"

"We can be fuck buddies who cuddle after. "

With a mischievous, lopsided grin, Iggy playfully strips off his clothes, his contagious laughter filling the space. "I like cuddles."

Nervously, I approach the bed. My hands tremble as I pull back the cover, get in, and pat the space beside me.

Iggy doesn't miss a beat, jumping in beside me and pulling me into his arms.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

"I'm cuddling you."

"I thought I was supposed to be the cuddler."

"Listen, Marley, I let you plow into my ass like it's a field and you're a farmer, but there ain't no way I'm going to be the little spoon."

I don't fight Iggy, instead settling in his arms.

In a gesture of pure affection, he pulls on my arm adorned with the piano tattoo and brushes his lips against my wrist. "Are you covering marks with all the tattoos?"

I'm surprised by Iggy's question, but I answer honestly. "Only a few on my arms and thighs. The rest are from realizing the tattoo machine provides the same thing as a straight razor. Guess you can say I found a healthy outlet for my cutting problem. The art on my flesh looks better than the wounds I was placing there." I touch my right snake bite. "Once my body became covered in tattoos and I realized the only space I had remaining was my face, I discovered piercings can fill the void."

"What are you going to do when you run out of piercing space?"

I smile at Iggy. "I've got at least ten years until that scenario becomes a reality."

Iggy's fingers hesitantly graze my body. His touch is simultaneously soothing and chilling. He stops once he reaches a tattoo etched on my rib cage. "Did you know you have my date of birth tattooed here? What happened on this date?"

My heart races as I weigh the consequences of revealing the truth or succumbing to the safety of a lie. After a moment of contemplation, I decide on the former. "You were born."

"What? "

"I got this one eight years ago. I'm surprised you never noticed it before."

"Yes, so am I. I've been checking you out for years." Iggy smirks. "I might have paid attention to your dick more than any other part of your body."

"We'd played a show in Houston, then banged those four groupies. I was happy. The next day I went and got this. I wanted to commemorate the person who had made me happy for the first time in a long time." Iggy pulls me on top of him, his smile bigger than I've ever seen it. "Why are you grinning like that?"

"You've just fed my overinflated ego and I like it."

"Not sure if it needs any more aid."

Iggy chuckles before tucking me in his arms, and we fall asleep entwined together.