CHAPTER 22

Bastian

Micah was released from the hospital several hours later and we swung by his apartment to grab whatever he would need for the foreseeable future. I hadn"t exaggerated when I told him I planned on keeping him in my bed. I was worried that I would seem like a certified lunatic for basically asking him to move in with me so soon, or at all, but Micah dove in headfirst. I believe his exact words were "Your ass belongs to me now, as well as half your closet space. There"s no getting rid of me, Dupont!"

Needless to say, I was perfectly fucking happy with that. He could have the whole damn closet if that meant I could keep him forever. The instant I told Micah I loved him, the noise in my head settled and I felt the first moment of true peace that I had in months. Suddenly, my dad and Ainsley weren"t as terrifying as before and I credited that all to Micah. He was my anchor, my safe place, and I knew in the deepest parts of me that I could weather any storm with him at my side.

The doctor had given strict instructions to wake Micah every few hours and ask him simple questions while checking for any changes in how he looked or acted. He definitely didn"t appreciate that around three in the morning when I shook him awake to ask him about the year and the president. His hand shot out, missing my face by a quarter of an inch, and told me to kindly fuck off. He managed to answer on the second try before passing back out. Besides a headache that was mitigated by pain meds, he seemed to be doing well considering the giant, stapled gash in his head.

The real problem for him was the lack of moderate to strenuous activity. More to the point, he was pissed at the lack of sex that the restrictions imposed. Sure, he grumbled and complained about not having any screen time for a bit, but finally being under the same roof, in the same bed, and not being able to give into our insane desire for each other was a real shit time.

If I thought I had wanted Micah before, it was nothing compared to now and lust hit me like a railroad spike to the groin anytime he was in my vicinity. I found anything he did dangerously hot, and if the doctor hadn"t expressly discouraged sex for at least the first couple weeks, I would have mauled him each time he stretched on the couch, or let out a moan while sipping his coffee, or even just walked by me and placed a kiss on my lips.

I had to admit that was one of the most incredible parts about our new relationship. The simple, loving touches that we weren"t allowed before came almost second nature now. Everything felt just as it did when we were only friends and would talk mindlessly for hours or make each other laugh with stupid jokes, but now those moments were interlaced with the sweetest intimacy. A peck on the lips, a hand caressing the back of the neck, arms wrapped around the waist from behind, a hand sweeping across a cheek while talking. Every tiny caress, stroke, or touch had the power to stir my blood and make me forget my name.

It was everything I had wanted with him. Once I surrendered to the intense emotions he provoked in me, it was almost impossible to remember a time when I didn"t think of him this way. Being with Micah was as natural and necessary as breathing air.

It wasn"t all smooth sailing though. On the drive home from the hospital, we had a rocky conversation about the Kit situation. No matter how much I begged or how angry I got, Micah refused to press charges on that fucker for hurting him and running out. I was irritated beyond fucking belief. He claimed that despite Kit being a raging douchebag and grabbing him, it was all still an accident. Micah didn"t want the headache of dealing with the police questioning him, and said he"d rather we get on with our lives. Of course, that was his call to make even if I hated it. He had been through enough, and I didn"t have the heart to argue with him. I never could. So I dropped it and supported his decision. Like the whipped asshole I am apparently.

The first few days after the hospital were spent trying to keep Micah from going stir-crazy. His professors had given him the all clear to stay out of class for a few days to rest and recuperate, so I of course took advantage of the promise of uninterrupted time together and took a few days off too. We never had problems with keeping ourselves entertained, but that came with years of deep friendship.

We played board games and Micah proved that his competitiveness far exceeded my own. Plus he took Monopoly way too seriously. We read books while curled up together on the couch. Micah talked my ear off about his psychology classes, captivating and fascinating me as he always did. We did a couple of puzzles that I got bored with halfway through, and spent good chunks of the time studying the slope of Micah"s nose, the sweep of his long lashes, and the soft pout of his bottom lip. My hands were vibrating from the need to touch him, to make him officially mine, but I kept my hands to myself since I was unwilling to mess with his recovery. He was decidedly not a fan.

One new thing I had learned about my "bestie-boyfriend", as Micah had newly minted me, was that he played dirty. By day four, Micah had taken to stripping off his shirt at random times, ostensibly because it was too warm in the apartment. He would bend over and stick out his pert ass any chance he could find, so dramatic in his gestures that it made me laugh as much as it had me popping wood. He cuddled up so tight against me in bed that his thigh would drape over my cock, making it rock hard until I had to sneak off to relieve myself once he fell asleep. The tipping point for me was when I was cooking dinner for us Wednesday night and my little temptress did everything in his power to distract me.

Micah"s hands would roam my back and hips when I was at the stove, he"d lean across me unnecessarily to reach for something, and he moaned seductively when taste testing for me. It made my blood boil and my teeth clench as I fought to keep control. When he wrapped his arms around me from behind in one of his favorite moves, he reached up to gently lick and nip at my earlobe. The second he sucked the sensitive flesh into his mouth, I was a fucking goner.

I ripped out of his arms, grasping his face with both hands and diving into his mouth. The moan he let out the instant our tongues connected sent fire spiraling through me. The kiss was desperate and messy as I slid my hands down his body, sneaking them under his thighs and lifting him into my arms. Micah secured himself to me as I walked him backwards to the island and set him down, standing between his legs.

I bit his plush bottom lip, pulling it into my mouth and suckling gently. The heels of his feet dug into my ass as he pulled me closer and he slipped his hands under my shirt to run them up my abs and chest. His touch set off an electric current that had me gasping into his open mouth. Every atom within me was electrified by the man before me, craving him on a cellular level.

"Jesus baby, you are such a fucking tease," I groaned as he writhed against me, his hips seeking out friction against my jean-clad dick. "You know what happens to teases, M?"

Micah whimpered and clawed at my hair, almost feral in his attempts to mold our bodies together. "Bash, please…" he begged softly, his voice wrecked with need.

I grasped the hair at the back of his neck, pulling his head back gently to grant me access to his creamy throat. I licked a hot stripe from the bottom of his neck all the way to his ear, making him tremble in my hold. "They get punished, baby."

I swear I felt his heart jump in his chest and heard him audibly swallow in both nerves and excitement. "H-how do they get punished?" Micah whispered, his body shaking and making blood shoot straight to my cock.

Instead of answering him, I pulled back and gave him a grin dripping with wicked intent, a sultry promise of things to come. He grunted in annoyance when I left him to go turn off the stove, figuring dinner could wait because I was only hungry for him now. I turned to face him and the clear, unadulterated lust I saw there had my heart clenching and my dick straining against my jeans. "Bedroom. Now." I growled out. Micah was off the island and headed toward the bedroom in 2.5 seconds, and his enthusiasm almost made me laugh. He was so fucking adorable.

And all mine.

When I got to the bedroom, Micah was sitting on the edge of the bed looking at me through hooded eyes, waiting to see what was required of him."Stand up," I commanded softly, my voice hoarse with my own desperate need for him. He didn"t hesitate. "Strip for me. Slowly…"

Micah"s eyes flared slightly, the deep caramel irises being eclipsed by black pupils. His Adam"s apple bobbed in his throat as he worked to swallow, just as on edge as I was. He leisurely pulled his shirt over his head, revealing his smooth chest with the dusky pink nipples that I wanted to suck on more than life. He smirked at me when he caught my gaze lingering there, and he unhurriedly worked the button and zipper of his own pants before lowering them to the ground in a slow descent that had me fighting to hold back. When he was in nothing but his boxers, he paused and teased me with his fingers hovering at the waistband, a challenge clear in his eyes. Mmm, my baby wants to play games…ask and you shall receive.

I remembered I needed to take it slow tonight because of his condition…but I could work with that. For someone who had never entertained the idea of sex with a guy before him, I was quickly becoming addicted to all the things I could do with Micah, all the ways I could make him come undone for me. I wanted all his kisses, his moans, and his orgasms to belong to me.

"Hands off, baby. Leave them on," I rasped. Confusion colored his face for a second, but he quickly lowered his hands and stood there like the good boy he was. I stalked over to him, taking notice of the increase in his breathing the closer I got. When I was a mere inch from him, I hooked a finger in his boxers and ran my finger along the edge, making him shudder from the featherlight touch. Without warning, I shoved him backwards on the bed with one hand, and he looked up at me with wide eyes. I tore off my shirt and shoved my jeans down fast, leaving me to match him in my boxer briefs. "Scoot up to the headboard, love," I told him, my eyes never leaving his.

Micah scooted himself backwards until he was lying on the bed with his head nearly touching the wooden slats. Absently, I wondered how he"d feel about being tied up, to be completely at my mercy, but I wasn"t willing to try it while he was recovering. We"d build up to that.

"Grab the headboard, baby. Keep a hold of it. If you let go, I"ll stop," I warned him, my eyebrow popping up as if to ask if he understood. He gulped again and nodded slowly, gripping the headboard slats firmly. I climbed onto the bed, slowly crawling up his lithe figure, coming to a stop above his chest. My tongue darted out to lash at a nipple, making him jerk from the touch. His breathing kicked up a notch and I again licked at the pink bud. I circled it with my tongue before sucking it into my mouth and biting gently. Micah yelped at the contact. I moved to his other one and took it between my teeth to tug at it just hard enough to blur the line of pain and pleasure. He keened softly, his arms flexing from the strain of holding onto the wood planks.

I licked and sucked small love bites on my way down his chest until my face was right above his cloth-covered cock. Training my gaze on his beautiful brown eyes, I lowered to give a hot, open mouthed kiss to his dick, feeling it twitch under the fabric. Micah stayed silent, harsh pants escaping as he watched me with unmasked desire. I licked him from root to tip and when I blew a cold breath against the warm, wet strip on his underwear, his hips bucked beneath me.

"Bash!" he gasped out, but I shushed him gently. My fingers found the band of his boxers and started peeling them down and off of him. His dick looked angry and swollen, leaking precum at the tip and looking sinfully delicious. Memories of his taste flooded my mind and saliva pooled in my mouth.

I placed gentle, teasing kisses all along his shaft as he fought to keep his hips from thrusting up to meet my mouth, his soft groans like a silky seduction in my ears. I pushed up to my knees and grabbed his calves, spreading his legs until his feet were planted on the mattress and he was open to me. I lifted a hand to Micah"s mouth and pushed my index finger into his mouth. "Suck," the word a quiet, cutting command. He moaned and closed his eyes as he swirled his tongue around my finger, making my dick throb in my pants. I pulled out after a few seconds, and brought the spit-wet finger down to his crease. His sucked in a sharp breath, his eyes alight with need.

I circled around his hole gently, coaxing the tight pucker to constrict and wink at me, and the sight nearly made me come unglued. I pushed a little harder, fighting the resistant ring of muscle until I was halfway in and Micah was moaning long and low under me. On the second pass, I had my finger buried up to the first knuckle and the feel of the snug, hot channel had my dick twitching with jealousy. I wanted more, to have as many fingers as I could stretching him to the point of madness, but I reminded myself what this was supposed to be. Slow, teasing punishment meant to gradually drag him over the edge.

"Bash, give me more," Micah moaned, his knuckles white with tension on the wood slats behind him. Aww, my poor needy baby…

"I"m sorry, love, but you wanted to be a tease, so a tease is what you get," I taunted sweetly, and the desperate arousal pouring from him was a tantalizing aroma. "Also you"re still recovering…I can"t give you too much, too soon," I teasingly lamented. The groan he let off was one of pure frustration. I took the opportunity to twist my finger in him just enough to have him squirm, and when he let out another groan, I crooked my finger into the spongy button I knew would set him off.

Micah let out a sharp cry, his body arching into my touch. I lowered myself onto my stomach and brought my face close to his rigid length again. I flattened my tongue and ran it up the side as my finger rubbed lightly against his prostate at the same time. The sound he let out was animalistic. It had my neglected cock leaking.

Using the tip of my tongue, I flicked it back and forth just under the head of his dick against the secret flap of skin there while my finger continued its leisurely invasion. Micah thrashed under the attention, his moans gradually increasing in volume. I tilted my head to gain better access to dance circles across his frenulum with my tongue, and his cock pulsed out another thick strand of precum.

"Oh God, Bash, yes…" he hissed, but his left hand detached from the headboard and gripped the covers. In the next heartbeat, I removed my finger and pulled away from his dick.

"No!" Micah cried, grabbing my shoulder in a frantic plea for me to continue. I clicked my tongue, shaking my head slowly. "You let go of the headboard, baby. I told you what would happen," I admonished. He whined pitifully, and grasped the slat again. I chuckled deeply, his obedience making me harder still. At an unhurried pace, I spit on my finger and gently shoved it back into his tight heat. He sighed out in pleasure, but then let out cry when I sucked the tip of his cock into my mouth, my tongue seeking out his taste from the slit.

He was wracked with a full body shiver, and I was elated to be the cause of such a beautiful reaction. My finger stroked in and out of him, hitting the tender bundle of nerves and eliciting a needy whimper from him. I released his cockhead and made lazy, firm figure-eights up and down his shaft with my tongue.

"Fucking hell, I need more…baby, it"s not enough," he pleaded, coming unhinged at the sensual, steady assault of my tongue and finger. I waited until he was writhing from my ministrations, and then I brushed over his prostate a little harder and sucked under the head of his cock simultaneously.

"Holymotherfuckingshit!" Micah moaned out the rush of expletives as he exploded, thick strings of cum decorating his chest with his pleasure. I looked up and the sight of his head thrown back, his eyes screwed shut, had my balls throbbing and my dick aching for release.

As he fought for equilibrium in the aftermath of his orgasm, I crawled above him and straddled his shoulders. Yanking my stiff length out of my boxers, I spit in my palm and started stroking in fast, hard pumps over his chest. "Goddamn baby, you are so fucking sexy…I love making you come, watching that gorgeous face of yours. Shit, I"m close…" I grunted, my orgasm rapidly approaching.

Micah looked beautifully dazed, smiling sensuously at me before biting his bottom lip. "Come for me, Bash…I want you to give me every single drop. Mark me, baby," he purred, and his provocative words had my release barreling through me.

My orgasm was liquid fire, spreading through my veins in a rush of euphoria. I shouted Micah"s name, my balls draining every ounce I had in me to mix with the remnants of his own climax. I strayed out of time and didn"t know how long I"d been out of it, but when I came back down to earth I saw Micah trailing a single finger through our combined mess. He scooped some up and meeting my gaze, he sucked the finger into his mouth, his eyelashes fluttering as he groaned at the taste of us. The filthy gesture had my flaccid cock jolting pathetically, but it gave a solid effort.

I moved backward to straddle his hips, and leaned down to steal his lips in a searing kiss, the salty tang of our mixture making me dizzy and had my heart twisting in my chest. When our frenzied kiss slowed to languid strokes of our tongues, I pulled back and stared into his mesmerizing espresso eyes. "I love you so much, Micah…I don"t ever want to be without you again."

His eyes held so much love and passion that my stomach flipped and churned from the sheer intensity of his gaze. "I love you more than words can say, Bash," he vowed. I ducked my head to his and brushed my lips across his forehead in a tender kiss. I then rested my forehead against his, breathing in the stimulating scent of sex, sweat, and Micah that had become my personal aphrodisiac.

After a few quiet moments soaking in each other"s presence, he leaned back from me and gave me a curious look. "Do you think multiple orgasms would be doctor-approved or frowned upon?" he asked, narrowing his eyes in mock thought. I laughed lightly at his ridiculousness, reclaiming his lips and planning to do something his doctor definitely wouldn"t approve of.

*****

Micah and I both went back to school the following Monday after a highly enjoyable week of hanging out together, finding the perfect balance between friends and boyfriends. It still threw me for a fucking loop to refer to Micah as my boyfriend, but it never failed to put a stupid grin on my face or make my heart flip in my chest cavity. Strangely enough, there was no weird transition period to our new situation or with Micah moving in to my apartment, even part time.

We had discussed it at one point and he felt strongly that he needed to spend some of his time at his own place, mostly for Rhys. Evidently, Rhys had a major incident over Thanksgiving break that badly shook him up. Micah didn"t get too many details from him, but we discovered some douchebag from the Lacrosse team had been giving him grief most of the year. He said he could handle it when we offered to intervene, but there was no denying the lost look in his eye.

Either way, Micah was spending a few days a week at his own place, leaving me to twiddle my thumbs and pass the time with schoolwork and other nonsense in a fog of frustration. Clearly I had crossed the line into highly problematic codependency a while ago. Oh well. I"d be damned if that was going to stop me from wanting to be around my boyfriend as much as humanly possible, despite what any shrink might say about it. If they got to play with Micah"s perfect ass like I did, I"m fairly certain they"d understand and forgive my attachment issues.

In a confusing blend of relief and dread, I mentally prepared myself to deal with Ainsley on Friday night. She had been quiet all through Thanksgiving, which now made sense considering she was doing the "Mattress McNasty" with that baseball player. Yes, that was Micah"s term for it and yes, I have been spending too much time with him. Go judge somewhere else.

It had been a fantastic week of silence from her, but this past week during Micah"s recovery, she had kicked up the ante and started making subtle hints that she needed an Ainsley-approved date or else. Her threats used to make me violently angry, but now seeing a giant glowing light at the end of this hellish tunnel had me cautiously optimistic. I decided a while ago I could never go through with leaking her photos, but I"d make damn sure she believed I would. My bluff would work because there were no other options. Ainsley had to go.

I sent her a clipped text that told her I"d meet her at her apartment at 6pm Friday, and she acted like I had planned our fucking wedding. I couldn"t wait to get this shit over with.

I told Micah the Cliffnotes version of events where Ainsley was concerned, only telling him that she had been threatening to out us to my dad if I had pissed her off. The string of expletives that came out of his mouth would have made Kevin Hart blush. He had been confused why her threat and my dad"s warning about the dean had me so concerned and hesitant to be with him before, and I felt like shit for still keeping him in the dark.

I didn"t tell him about the risk to my mom, or that everything hinged on Ainsley taking the bait and keeping her mouth shut about us. I didn"t want to place that burden on him. It was mine to bear. Micah loved my mom and would have felt incredibly guilty for any potential harm coming to her, and I couldn"t have him feeling that way.

I strolled up to Ainsley"s door about ten minutes early on Friday, and waited for her to answer. When she threw open the door and launched herself at me, I was quick to grab her waist and hold her back. She was not getting those poisonous lips near me again, even if Micah wasn"t in the picture.

"Babyyy! I missed you so much! Why won"t you kiss me?" Ainsley pouted, her hands pawing at my chest. If I cared about her at all, I"d suggest psychological testing because she has almost progressed to full on delusions. Sad, really.

"Ainsley, let"s go inside. There"s something we need to discuss," I said firmly, setting her away from me and stepping around her to head into the living room.

When I turned to face her, her pretty features were pulled into a frown and she crossed her arms petulantly over her chest. "What do we need to talk about? I thought we were going out tonight. We"re going to miss our reservation," she whined. I took a deep breath and took the plunge.

"We"re not going anywhere tonight. We"re done," I replied, voice strong and sure. It felt so fucking good to tell her those words that I wanted nothing more than to race out of there and go celebrate with my guy…preferably with his dick in my mouth. Or mine in his, I wasn"t picky.

Ainsley"s eyes widened comically and she gaped at me for several seconds. Suddenly, she burst out into a fit of giggles and snorted unattractively. "Good one, babe! I was seriously stumped for a second! So can we leave, or do you want dessert first?" she purred in a way that was meant to be tempting, but came across awkward.

I was baffled that she seemed to be stuck in her denial, so I pushed a little harder. "This isn"t a joke. I"m breaking up with you. I"m done with this dumbass charade and being chained to you. It"s over."

Her face melted into a look of pure venom, as if she could scald my flesh on command. "What the fuck do you mean it"s over? I"m not letting you dump me for some fucking boy toy! I know this is about Micah! You know I will call your dad so goddamn fast that your little whore will be out of UT before he wakes up in the morning!" she hissed at me.

I had been ready for her ire, but her hurled insults about Micah had me burning with rage. "Listen here, you vapid, duplicitous skank. You are done talking about him. You are done threatening him. You aren"t going to say one fucking word to my father, or I will sure as shit ruin you," I snarled at her, ice dripping from my voice. To illustrate my point, I yanked my phone from my pocket and opened it up to the most incriminating photo of her I had. Ainsley spread-eagled and on full display, face and all, was not something I had any interest in seeing again, but I"d suck it up if it got me what I wanted.

When she saw the photo I waved in front of her, the color drained from her face and was replaced by a look of absolute terror. "Where the fuck did you get that?" she squeaked, trying to lunge for my phone before I pulled it out of her reach. Satisfaction thrummed through me at the look of abject horror on her features.

"From your little boy toy, Ains," I retorted. "He sent it all to me. Every photo, every text, every story of the twisted, scandalous things you did to him. One word to my father about any of this, I have it all ready to be spammed out across campus. I will also forward them all to the dean and your parents. Let"s see if your precious reputation can afford that," I sneered, a dark promise in my words.

She was shaking in her four inch heels, and I could see the battle between fury and fear fight across her face. "You wouldn"t fucking dare. I know you, Bastian, you"re not that stupid or cruel."

I fixed her with a malicious smile that I felt down in my core. I poured every ounce of hatred, anger and helplessness I had felt being under her threats into my smile, and it worked. Ainsley looked terrified. "Even if you think I don"t have the guts to do it, my friend Nathaniel does. All I have to do is say the word and your dirty secret is out. My hands will be clean, and yours will be full dealing with this shitstorm. Don"t be so fucking naive to think you can get out of this." I said a silent prayer to anyone listening that she would back down, that this would work in my favor.

Blood rushed to her face as she let the defeated anger fuel her words. "UGH! I fucking hate you! You son of a bitch, all you had to do was let Kit have him! Kit should have fucked him at that goddamn party and sealed the deal, but you just couldn"t let your precious fucking Micah go!" she shrieked at me.

Epiphanies are a funny thing. You would think they"d slam into you like a freight train, hitting you with intense insight in a blinding second of clarity. Turns out it"s more subtle than that. It"s like a dense fog lifting gradually as you fight to find your way through. Your brain grapples with the information, twisting and turning to make sense of it all until finally you arrive at a truth that could knock you on your ass. My epiphany crept up on me and all the blood in my veins froze.

"How did you know about Kit and Micah being at that party together?" I asked, but I was pretty damn sure I knew what the answer was. Ainsley"s breathing stuttered for a beat before she tried to cover it up.

"What do you mean? I saw them there. I put two and two together because I"m not a fucking idiot like you think I am," she sneered. That would have been a convincing explanation…if not for the glint of apprehension in her bright blue eyes.

"Micah told me they ended up at that party because Kit"s cousin told him about it. Yet it doesn"t really make sense for a grown man who already graduated to want to hit up a college frat party. Any idea why Kit would choose that place out of all the places he could"ve taken Micah, least of all to his house, if he wanted to fuck him?"

Her eyes turned bitterly cold and the temperature in the room seemed to drop. "Kit was supposed to make Micah fall for him. At the very least, he should have banged him so good that he forgot about you and we could"ve gotten on with our lives."

I just stared at her in shock, rage slowly filtering in as the implications of what she was confessing to ran through my head. "How exactly did Kit meet Micah? That wasn"t a fucking coincidence, was it?" She rolled her eyes at me like I was wasting her time with my inquisition.

"Of course not, asshole. I told Kit about you and Micah the day after I met him. I knew in my gut that Micah had a thing for you, and I had a feeling he would sink his teeth into you if given half the chance. Kit and I spent all our childhood together, I tell him everything. He offered to…show Micah the error of his ways. I thought it was a little over the top, but the day he planned to tail Micah and "accidentally" meet him, he overheard him at a coffee shop with that nerdy friend of his talking about the concert. He thought that was a much better way to get his attention. Guess he was right," she smirked evilly. "It would have worked better had he been able to pop that ass cherry of his, but Kit says your boy toy"s about as sexual as a potato. Have fun with that."

I grinned widely at her, not being able to resist the barb. "Trust me, Ains, he rocks my world better than you could on your best fucking day. And according to your side piece, you couldn"t satisfy him even if you had beer-flavored nipples, so let"s not throw stones, shall we?"

The loathing and indignation that was rolling off her in waves would have made me jump for joy if I wasn"t in such a hurry to finish this shit and get back to my love, back to Micah.

"Accept this for what it is, Ainsley. You breathe a single word to my father about me, Micah, or us breaking up and I will make sure you are the talk of campus for months on end. That"s if your parents don"t lock you in a convent to keep you on a leash after they see and read all you"ve been up to," I said, making sure my voice was clear and confident. "Do we understand each other?" I locked my eyes on her and willed her to see the truth hidden there. For that single heartbeat, I made myself believe that I would ruin her if I had no choice. She needed to see it on my face.

She huffed out a breath and clenched her teeth so hard that her jaw shook. "Fine. Now get out," she snapped.

My fucking pleasure.