9. After the Dance

CHAPTER 9

After the Dance

Tristan

I couldn't recall anyone holding my hand this tightly. Hardly anyone had ever wanted me so badly. We hurried into the night, Cedric leading the way, leaving a trail of sweet and spicy scent that I could follow anywhere had he not held my hand.

"Where are we going?" I asked, moving as if in a dream, as if leaping from one place to the next, with everything in between blurring.

"The Henriette," Cedric replied without hesitating. He was on a mission. He moved with a purpose. And with the way he had given himself to the beat of the music, he was more alive than I had ever seen so before. "I want to show you something."

A fine layer of perspiration had covered me on the dance floor, and the stuffy air of an August night that was ripe for a rainstorm didn't help, either. Whatever he wanted to show me, it would hopefully follow a good, cold shower. I didn't doubt His Royal Highness had a little en suite in his apartment at the Henriette.

The hotel was only a few intersections away, but I stopped abruptly somewhere between Neon Nights and the Henriette. The street lamps gave off their orange lights, setting Cedric's light golden hair aflame. "Cedric," I said softly, my chest trembling. Something tugged my heart toward him, but I needed this out of the way. I needed it settled before letting myself leap and fly. "Wait."

He stopped in the very next instant, our arms stretched as far as they would go, hands still locked together. Cedric took a long step back, his grip on me tighter. Even without words, I believed his intentions were purely good for us both. Still…

"I like you," I said, wild, misplaced laughter welling in me, barely held down by the little reason left in my head. "I really do."

His face lit up, eyes wide and so impossibly blue that the orange lights did nothing to affect them. "I like you, too," he said. As his lips stretched into a gentle smile, devastating dimples appeared on his cheeks. "It's the last thing that should have happened, but you…" He lifted his shoulder into a small shrug. "You're the best surprise that happened to me."

My hand tightened around his as I stepped closer. Every bit of me wanted to put my head on his shoulder and feel the same togetherness that I had felt while dancing. I resisted it. "I've done this before," I said. "This flirting, chasing, hooking up."

Cedric pulled on a fake-surprised expression. "You're saying you're not…a virgin? Gasp. "

I smacked his broad chest with my free hand. "I'm saying I can't do it again. Not like that. Not with you."

As I moved gently away from him, Cedric abandoned his teasing and straightened his back. He was as regal as if he'd stepped out of a fantasy series. That was what I had noticed about him first, but I couldn't pin it until now. He was so royal, so elevated by life and customs, that I couldn't but gaze at him. He released my hand and put both of his above my hips. "Tristan," he said softly, my name so perfect on his lips. "If you think this is just a hook-up, I did a very good job of resisting you so far."

I pursed my lips against a ridiculously broad smile that threatened to overcome me.

"By all means, that should have been the choice we made," he said, pulling me so gently toward him. It would have been easier to fight ropes yanking me to a bottomless pit. He was so magnetic. My heart would have found him in total darkness, anywhere in the whole wide galaxy, like a compass pointing to the north. "But I met you already, and I fought it only to find myself at the very beginning again. Maybe the right choice isn't right for me."

A chuckle burst out of me before I could stop it. I couldn't tell whether I was relieved or flattered. "You say these things, but there's still an angry prince searching for you and a marchioness waiting to marry you."

"I'm not doing that," he said firmly. "Not to myself and not to élodie. If I can't have the one I want, the one who wants me—" His body touched mine, and thrills ran through all my nerves. "—then I'll be a miserable husband to a miserable woman, ruining her life as much as my own."

"You'd rather wipe the tables for Mama Viv?" I asked .

He was reasonable enough to shrug and shake his head. "Tristan, I can't promise that this will end well." He took a small step back from me, and his hands found mine. "I can't tell you they won't come after me by force or that we'll just be happy dancing every night, although that's a life I'd choose over Verdumont in a heartbeat. But I can promise you this: I will try my best. And if the worst happens, it won't be because of my lack of trying."

"Okay," I whispered, using his grip on my hands to pull him toward me.

His lips stretched into a broad smile again, the happiness roaring through me visible on his face, too. "Okay?"

I nodded. Our bodies touched again, but the movement brought us even closer. His torso pressed against mine while my left leg fit between both of his.

Something inexplicable appeared on Cedric's face. Something so bright and wonderful that I didn't have a word for it. Happiness was a pale reflection of what I saw when I looked at him.

Cedric licked his lips and controlled his smile. "Can I kiss you now?" he asked. Hurriedly, he added, "I'd really like to kiss you now."

He didn't need to ask—not after all we'd said and done—yet the fact that he still asked made me want him twice as hard if infinity could be doubled.

As one side of my lips lifted into a smile, I rose to my toes. My eyes closed as I leaned in, the warmth of his body and the sweet and spicy scent he wore swirled around me, pulled me in, and embraced me until I felt the softness of his lips on mine. For an instant, it was a sweet and smoldering kiss, but my desire for him fanned it into a scorching, blazing wildfire that would consume us completely if we weren't careful.

I wasn't in the mood to be careful.

Cedric's lips pressed against mine harder, parting to let his tongue venture into my mouth, meeting mine, touching it playfully, and opening an endless well of lust I hadn't realized still existed in me.

I didn't know we were moving. I didn't notice us stumbling back until my back pressed hard against a brick wall, and a gasp left my mouth. He kissed me still, his fingers running through my hair, the other hand sliding down the length of my back. And when he stepped away, fear filled me for a moment. Was he about to run away? Was the Empire State Building happening all over again? Had I misjudged him so terribly that I would fall for the same move twice in a row?

Cedric grabbed my hand, a heated look in his eyes locking on my face and a grin pulling his lips wide.

The relief that lifted the fears off my chest revealed just how heavy they had been. Running after him now, when he set off toward the Henriette, was like floating through the clouds.

Cedric

My lips still burned by the time we crashed through the front door of the Henriette Hotel. A sleepy desk clerk had just enough time to spin around and see me passing with the man of my dreams trailing after me. I spoke a greeting, and if he greeted us in return, we were long gone by then.

The lobby was lit softly for the night, although the fine layer of sweat that covered my arms where the rolled sleeves revealed them shone regardless. It didn't matter. If I had my way, we would be much sweatier not long from now. The thought curled my lips.

"Oh, Your Royal Fanciness," Tristan teased, gaze taking in all of the hotel in leaps. "I'd never move out, either."

"Yeah, this won't last," I replied, not particularly regretful. Right now, I felt like I had scored the biggest prize of all. All else faded to unimportance. I'd sleep on his doorstep if that were what it took to be near him. "I'm as good at personal finances as you are."

Tristan laughed. "We're going to dance ourselves to ruin."

"Our money," I mused as if continuing a melody.

"Our reputation," Tristan gasped.

"We'll be the happiest beggars that ever begged," I promised, my free hand pressing the button to call the elevator.

The doors slid open, and we entered the spacious elevator. I wanted to steal kisses; my impatience had never been anywhere near what I experienced now. But when I pressed the button, Tristan chuckled. "Are you in the dungeon?"

"Better," I said.

As the elevator descended to the underground facilities that were available to a certain section of guests at all times, Tristan waited patiently. The door opened to reveal a blue and green-lit area, an oasis of tranquility where only the two of us existed .

"You weren't kidding," Tristan said, stepping into the spa center.

"Massages aren't available, I'm afraid, but I will do my best as a substitute," I said. "Besides, there's plenty we can still do."

"I thought we were going to your room," Tristan said levelly, although not in a disappointed tone.

I laughed. "The night is young, and you are beautiful." I lifted his hand over his head and spun him to some silent tune that lived in my heart, if not in the real world. Tristan turned around and neared me, our bodies pressing together, my arms wrapping around him.

"That is so sweet, Cedric," he said.

His eyes sparkled, and I released him, then led him down the spacious hallway of the underground oasis. The atmospheric noises of raindrops in a rainforest, distant birds, murmurs of hidden springs, and rustling of leaves in faraway canopies were enough to relax my muscles. We passed various sections and hallways, some leading to beauty treatments, others to massage rooms, dark rooms, quiet rooms, and one to a swimming pool. I led the way past all that and into the slightly cooler area that was kept dark for the purpose of total enchantment.

My shirt cooled on my body in a few moments as we passed through the hallway and into a dimly lit locker room. "Grab a towel," I said.

"Aye, aye," Tristan replied. I slipped into a booth to strip and tied the towel around my waist. Flutters filled me to the brim as I realized I would now return to the open space of the locker room and meet Tristan again. As I did, I held my breath. Tristan shuffled behind the wooden door of the changing cabin and stepped out. It made my heart lurch in my chest, and my gaze shamelessly explored all of his visible body. I cursed the towel—it was the enemy of all that was beautiful in the world—and looked at the fine curves of Tristan's muscles, the definition of his torso from his narrow waist to his broad shoulders and firm pecs.

"What now?" he asked, his voice noticeably tighter and more controlled. His gaze dropped to my waist and darted back to my face, his cheeks darkening. He was so beautiful, especially when he was surprisingly shy.

Our towel reached halfway down our shins, and the sweat on our bodies had already cooled and dried. I had to tear my gaze away from his beauty and show the way through another door. We passed a row of spacious showers lit with pale blue light, each separated by a sheet of misted glass and with enough room in each to fit a small crowd.

Yet when we passed the showers, we reached the final door.

Tristan

I was starting to get a clear idea of what we were doing, although getting to watch Cedric's cut definition and broad back as he led me through was enough. I would have done it had he been leading me over a cliff.

His body was like steel, unbreakable, unbending, unyielding. Every bit of him appeared to have immense strength beneath the surface. He moved steadily, almost elusively, as he opened the door to the heat chamber of the sauna. It was lit with bright yellow light and made mostly of wood, separated into three levels. The heat itself suffocated me almost instantly, but I stepped inside and waited for Cedric to shut the door.

The room was small, cozy, and incredibly hot, but to my left was a glass window looking at a high-quality projection of stormy cold seas, gathering clouds, distant rain, and the light of the sun filtered until it was just a pale highlight. With the heat that made my brain spin, I could almost believe we were lost at sea.

Sweat and steam covered me pretty much instantly, and Cedric chuckled. "You're glowing," he said, taking my hand and pulling me back to the lowest bench of the three.

I inhaled the hot oven air, and it burned my lungs. My brain knew I was getting enough oxygen, but my body failed to get the message.

"Relax," Cedric said and leaned back against the second row. He spread his arms wide to each side of the middle bench, his right inches away from my shoulders. It didn't help me one bit to relax, but it was nice to feel him so near me. "I know it feels like I'm torturing you, but it'll be worth it."

Part of me wanted to smack him and tell him I'd rather be kissing him, but another part of me was fascinated to the point that I couldn't do anything other than this. It was a total physical sensation, inside and out. Sweat poured down my face within one minute, but the soothing view of the distant storms and the golden rays of light coming from now setting sun chained me to my spot. Besides, Cedric was inches away from me, and he was just as sweaty and just as naked.

"I'm going to catch fire," I said in a surprisingly soft tone. The sauna mellowed me.

"You're not," Cedric replied. "You're going to stew."

I tried to snort, but I was so relaxed that even that much seemed to require the sort of effort I couldn't find in me. My chest felt empty, and the pressure from the outside felt immense. My hair was matted. I made the mistake of running my hand through it and discovering that it was drenched. I sighed, but it resembled a moan more than anything else. Even so, when I glanced at Cedric, he was gazing out of the window at the realistic projection of the passing storm. His fair skin was red now, and his golden locks were dark with sweat.

"Doing this reminds me that, sometimes, the best things come at a cost," he said in a huff, stretching his legs out. "I won't pretend that this is nice, but it'll be worth it."

I was always in the mood for a catharsis if that was what he was offering.

My towel loosened, and I stretched my legs out before me. My left foot was a fractional of an inch away from his right. With far more clarity than I possessed, Cedric looked at me. "I meant every word, Tristan."

"I know," I assured him. "I believe you."

He put his left hand into his lap, palm up and open, and I put mine inside it. They were wet, although this sweat felt much thinner and cleaner than if I had run a mile.

Our fingers threaded, and he still gazed at my face. "I'll fight for us." He nodded to emphasize how serious he was. "I'll start by moving someplace I can cover without my family's allowance. I'll be near you. And I won't let them tear us apart."

Holding his hand there in his lap, hearing these sweet promises from his lips, and seeing his bare torso glisten like this made me want him more than I ever wanted anything in my life.

I drew a deep breath, although it still failed to register as breathing. "And I'll fight for us, too," I said. I wasn't yet sure how. I just knew I would give us my best shot. Something foolish, something hopeful and optimistic, blossomed inside of me. It felt as though if we wanted it, it had to happen. It felt like there wasn't a royal family tracking him and the burden of a crown weighing his head down. It felt like I didn't carry the baggage of a past I didn't dare look at wherever I went.

It felt like we were two normal boys, falling in love at our leisurely pace, independent from the rest of the world.

Cedric leaned closer in, and I lifted my head just in time to accept his sweet, sensitive kiss on my lips. Even at a hundred and fifty degrees in the sauna, his kiss made everything else seem cold and lifeless in comparison. It was everything and more, giving me hope and life and will to go on, to crawl up from the darkness where I had been hiding. Maybe letting myself feel something wasn't guaranteed to end in a disaster. Maybe the small good deeds I had done meant that I deserved a bit of happiness after all.

He kissed me harder, his right arm sliding off the bench behind us and wrapping around my shoulders. I didn't care that we were sticky and wet. I didn't care that no breath in the last ten minutes felt like it carried any oxygen. I leaned in as well, kissing him back as hard as he kissed me until our mouths opened and our breaths grew shallow and until our arms tangled and our bare torsos touched.

"God, I want you," I whispered over his lips.

"I'm yours," Cedric said smoothly, kissing me again right away.

My hand pressed against his bare chest, feeling that deep strength of his body, the fine muscles that made up his torso, and his smooth, slick skin until I reached his abdomen and the edge of the towel around his waist. "I really fucking want you," I insisted.

He kissed me harder, making me moan against his lips, his hand on my leg, rising slowly over the towel to where my hard cock lifted the soft fabric and formed a thick mound. At the same instant as Cedric's hand covered my dick, his teeth closed around my lower lip and bit me nearly hard enough to draw blood.

I gasped, pressing my hand over his, adding pressure until I throbbed so hard that it gave him a smug smirk.

"You really fucking do," he purred against my lips. His hand dragged lazily over my cock once more, and then he turned it around and took my hand into his. "Let's get out of here." As we stood, the sauna spun around me, but I held on to Cedric. At full height and naked, save for the towel, he was the most beautiful thing I had ever laid my gaze on. He towered above me until I straightened and evened out our heights to the difference of those couple of inches, my gaze dragging from the wooden floor over his legs, the rise in the towel where his cock pressed against it—it gave my heart another reason to leap—and the wiry structure of his body. I craved him. I hungered for him.

Pulling me after him, which was starting to become a habit I enjoyed, Cedric led us outside, where the room temperature appeared freezing, and the air finally filled my lungs. I wasn't only heated by the sauna, though, but by the passionate kisses he had given me and the unspoken promises of a night I wouldn't soon forget.

Cedric paused by the row of showers. "Now comes the best part," he said.

I raised my eyebrows expectantly.

"Go in, throw away the towel, and press that button there," he said, pointing at the round metal button that I assumed turned on the shower.

"Ah," I said, not letting go of his hand. "Come with me."

Cedric paused for only a heartbeat as if surprised he hadn't thought of that and nodded. He wore his confidence plain on his face as he reached over to the knot on his hip and loosened his towel. It dropped without ceremony, quickly followed by mine, and my heart nearly stopped. He was gorgeous, beautiful without comparison, impossible to describe. His excitement was unmistakable, but so was mine, when I dared to look down between us.

My teeth closed tightly around my lower lip as I gazed at him. His cock was completely stiff, spearing upward and extending well over nine inches, swaying gently under its weight. I didn't care for the comparisons, especially when my partner seemed so pleased. "You're so hot, Tristan," he said, his hand reaching near me, then pulling back.

I might have mouthed a wow while staring at his surprising length, but then I reminded myself of an old myth about tall, skinny, golden-haired boys always being hung as hell. I just hadn't believed it until now .

Cedric pulled me into the shower booth and positioned us so close to one another that his cock rested against my upper leg and made my blood simmer. I wanted so much more than that, and I was certain he could see it in my eyes.

He wrapped his left arm around my upper torso and pulled me in, our naked bodies pressing tightly together. "Ready?" he asked.

I hadn't realized I needed to be ready until he asked. But before I replied, he tightened his grip on me and pressed the button that sent a flood of freezing water pouring from the showerhead above us. I heaved a lungful of air and bit down a cry as sharp needles pierced my skin all over my body. The pressure was such that we were completely wet and cold in a moment, and the last of the sweat washed away after less than a minute. It was like standing under a waterfall. It was like taking a plunge into the deep, stormy sea somewhere far, far to the north.

But he held us together, and the chills became bearable. With each passing moment, the energy I'd thought long gone was returning to me twofold. It filled me even more when Cedric kissed me softly, water sliding down our bodies.

And when the shower abruptly stopped pouring down on us, we remained in the booth, kissing, holding one another, and experiencing the true catharsis of what he had promised. Not only was the chilly air of the room seemingly the perfect temperature now, but the cloudiness inside my head was all gone. I knew clearly what I wanted to do, and he knew the same.

Colliding with one another, moving in a slow, passionate circle, we turned around until the glass separating our shower cabin from another was hard against Cedric's back. He gasped as he bumped against it, and I kissed him harder.

Without the cold water distracting me and the heat of the sauna dizzying me, I felt like I had never been so present in the moment, so aware of my body and my surroundings. I was completely here; every touch and scent and sight was clearer, more vibrant, and more intimate than any I'd experienced before.

Cedric's innate strength overpowered me with ease, though I hardly resisted. He turned us around, pushing me against the glass wall of the shower cabin, leaning into me, his leg sliding between my legs until I pressed my thighs tightly around it. Every rub and kiss and sigh seemed the loudest sounds and most thunderous sensations; every touch of my fingertips on his body was like touching glowing coals and discovering that they wouldn't burn me. Only me.

Cedric

My hands rose along Tristan's muscled torso. Each of my fingers vibrated with the sensation, my hands permanently frozen in this instant before trembling. I drew a forced calm into myself, controlling us so he wouldn't have to, yet inside, I shuddered and fought hard not to be overpowered by the intensity of my emotions.

Throughout my adult life, I had hooked up with guys who saw me as a milestone, a story to brag about if they were willing to risk the wrath of the palace lawyers or who meant to use me as a tool for their personal reputation. I'd hardly been a victim of some scheming predators. It had always been a clear agreement. You use me, I use you . But this…

A shiver ran down my arms, and I pinned Tristan harder against the glass wall, grabbing his wrists and lifting his arms high above his head, crossing and trapping them there with one hand firmly gripping him while the other lightly feathered the length of his ribcage. He tensed and huffed out that he was ticklish.

I grinned and tickled him.

Tristan wiggled under me and laughed loudly, his biceps swelling with the effort to break free of my hold.

"It's useless," I whispered over his lips. "I have you now."

A moan rose smoothly from his chest and through his perfect, parted lips.

My fingers dragged lightly from his hip to his armpit, the short brush of hair dark and wet, his muscles tensing harder, his body rising in protest until he was on the tips of his toes and still in my hold. The back of his head thumped against the glass as he twisted to escape my gentle touch, teeth clenched and bared, air hissing through them. "Fuck," he croaked. "Fuck, that's so…" But he whimpered instead of finishing that sentence. Hot? Devious? Likely, it was both.

He throbbed hard against my leg when I pressed my lips against his. Kissing him was like drinking fresh water from an oasis after a lifetime of wandering through the desert.

Tristan didn't have a secret agenda. I could smell scheming plots from a mile away, and there were none here. For once, there was a guy who wanted me for the way I was, not for the things given to me by the freak chance of birth. He wanted me now when I was willing to give up my position and live like everyone else lived.

I wrapped my free arm around his waist, holding his wrists tightly trapped with the other, and pulled him closer. To touch his abs with my abs, to feel his chest under mine, to press my hard cock against his lower abdomen and feel his cock pulse against my leg was like nothing I'd ever felt before. Lust had existed in my endless nights for a long, long time, but this was more than lust. I finally knew what the difference was. This was passion.

"You're such a tease," Tristan whispered tightly, tension building up in him to the point of spilling.

I realized that my muscles were just as tight, my breathing no longer so controlled, my chest trembling more with each passing second. "I don't want this to stop," I said between the kisses. I moved my lips over his defined jawline and to the soft part of his earlobe. "Not ever." My teeth closed around his ear, and Tristan sucked a shallow breath of air.

"It doesn't have to," he exhaled.

I released his wrists, and his arms fell around my shoulders, one hand dragging up the back of my head, fingers running through my wet hair.

His fist closed around the tousled locks and pulled my head back. A vicious look in his eyes had me swooning. "But you have to fuck me, Cedric, or I'm gonna die," he said. He was serious, too, his voice never breaking, never bubbling with humor .

For once, I was more than happy to do my duty.

Tristan

For a moment, determination came over his face. A trace of excitement, a spark of mischief, but mostly steel-like firmness and fiery passion. He spun me around effortlessly, overpowering my gym-sculpted muscles, half because I let him and half because he simply could. My torso slammed against the glass, open palms pressing it on either side of my head. I thrust my ass out with the sort of neediness some people would call crude or even slutty, but I didn't care what it made me look like. I did need him, or I would burn into smoke and ash from the sheer heat that ran through me.

Cedric wrapped his arms around my body, his dick sliding between my cheeks and reminding me that this wasn't going to be quick and easy. My heart lurched when he kissed the back of my neck, neared my ear, and asked me if I was sure I wanted this. He didn't have condoms, either, but he was on PrEP, just like me, so I promised that I wanted nothing else. "Just have me," I whispered, barely capable of controlling my lungs at this point.

His arms tightened around my torso, lips pressing hotly against the very top of my back. While he moved his hips and slid his cock between my cheeks gently, almost like it was some erotic dance, his lips moved lower and lower along my spine. He kissed the muscles left and right of my spine, licking me and exhaling heated breath over me until he dropped onto his knees and buried his perfect, handsome face between my cheeks.

Cedric was perfectly aware of his size and all that it entailed. He was aware of his strength, too, using it in controlled ways to benefit our mutual pleasure. Now, his hands held my cheeks firmly, pulling them apart and letting him drag his tongue over my tight hole. Yet, for all those ravenous gestures, he treated me with the kind of dignity worthy of a prince. Though I was just a kitchen helper at the best, Cedric made me feel worthy of the royal treatment.

When his right hand moved over from my cheek to the front, taking my hard, pulsing cock into a firm grip, I pressed the side of my face harder against the cool glass. Moans dragged from me despite my best efforts to remain quiet. I knew it was unlikely, but it was possible that anyone might walk in at this hour, just like we had.

It gave such a strong sense of naughtiness that I shuddered and moaned a little louder.

His tongue worked me gently at first, speeding up and adding pressure as time went on. I clawed at the glass sheet and pushed my hips back, relaxing for him as he stroked my dick and rimmed me to blinding levels of lust. When his finger moved over my hole, my muscles clenched momentarily, but I relaxed them after a wave of anxiety washed away from me. Breathing out, I focused on the sensations, his finger gently rubbing around my hole, the rest of his fist resting against my taint.

I reached around with my hand, resting it on Cedric's head, pressing gently to bring him closer. It wasn't enough. It could never be enough so long as our bodies were separate.

Cedric's finger slipped inside of me, my toes curling madly, my chest pressing hard against the glass as pleasure splashed through my body.

My hand slipped from his head, although Cedric continued to massage the upper rim of my hole while his finger rested inside of me. And when he pulled his head back, I snatched his wrist and worked my hole with his finger for a few irresistible moments.

Cedric pushed my hand away, working me slower, purring that I was his to toy with, and penetrating me quicker, his thrusts firm and determined. He knew exactly what he was doing, his finger finding the right spot with every other thrust. He intentionally strung the tension, never doing it enough to make me soar but always enough to make me beg for more.

My whimpers and moans stretched out from my throat and nose, legs trembling, chest shuddering, chills passing through my thighs. "Please," I choked. "Oh, fuck, please, Cedric."

He understood without the need for more words. His wrist twisted this way and that, loosening me with his spit for lube until I felt near falling apart. Finally, when he judged that I was ready and slick and relaxed enough for him, Cedric let his finger slide gently out of me.

My heart pounded in my throat. Cedric straightened me gently away from the glass and wrapped his left snugly around my upper body, holding my arms pressed to my torso. With his right hand, he spread saliva over his cock, held himself, and let the tip touch the warmth of my hole. By instinct, it clenched tight, relaxing after I managed to inhale a breath of air.

Cedric was a gentle lover with enough experience to make me jealous and possessive. He was also perfectly happy to be in charge, and I was glad to let him guide us. The pressure he applied let him sink into me, though never deep enough to hurt me. It was like he felt every tremor in my muscles and let it lead his movements.

Breath hitched in my throat. I used my trapped arms the only way I could and reached back to set my hands on his hips, pulling him closer. "I'm ready," I whispered tightly. "Fuck me, Cedric."

He throbbed hard enough that I felt it clearly inside my body. Softly, smoothly, he let me pull him closer, sure in his footing as I thrust my butt back against him. His length wasn't an issue just yet, but his thickness made my eyes bulge for one seemingly endless moment. Though when it passed, I struggled to remember if it had ever been there at all.

Cedric pulled a little back, then leaned in, setting our lazy pace until my body relaxed completely. His other arm wrapped around me, too, and I was trapped in the best place in the entire galaxy. I could stand like this forever if he held me. I could turn into a sentient stone statue and never move for the rest of my days without a single complaint.

With my body accepting him, embracing him with growing ease, Cedric picked up the firmness and the pace of his movement. Each thrust squeezed a moan from me, and each rubbed lightly against my prostate. His dick explored me deeper, and his searing lips pressed hard against the back of my neck .

As he fucked me with growing intensity, we moved against our wills toward the glass. My head rested against it, and Cedric straightened his torso, arching his back and ramming me with much more than I'd bargained for. Even so, it was only a matter of moments before I could surrender myself fully to be his to use however he wished. And when it happened, my deep and secret stubbornness took hold of my body and compelled me to relax, to open myself to him, until he could slide into me with ease. His lower abdomen smashed my cheeks with wet slaps. His fingers threaded on my stomach, arms hooking me and holding me in place as he fucked my brains out.

I no longer cared that my head was bumping into and rubbing against the grass wall. If I noticed it, it only turned me on harder.

My abs tensed as I forced my body to remain open, to welcome his hard length, to accept him entirely inside myself.

"Fuck, Tristan," Cedric huffed behind me. "You're so fucking hot."

Praise me , I wanted to whimper, slamming my hands against the glass and letting his rough moves pin me harder against the wall between the stalls. "Yeah?" I managed to ask, voice tight and pitch high.

"I love fucking your ass," he grunted, his arms yanking me back on him. The movement made me lose control for a moment, my hole tightening around him, making him growl and lust. "Oh, fuck, that feels so good." Cedric released my abdomen and grabbed my wrists. He pulled my hands all the way back until my arms were stretched as far as they could be .

I knew he was leaning back. I could feel him leaning, his cock angled down to impale me as deep as he could go, though not even close to his full length. He knew how to control himself just perfectly, always keeping me at the edge of what I could take, never more, never less.

My biceps knotted as I pulled my arms forward, and Cedric held them back. Legs spread wide, I leaned in, lifting my ass for him, and moaned over each thrust that filled me with his length. Whenever my body allowed it without risking cutting our fun short and spilling my cum too soon, I let myself tighten my hole around his dick, making him hiss and moan just as if our places had been reversed.

I could feel each throb, each flex of his muscles, and each sweet, wonderful word that left his lips. He showered me with praise, telling me how amazing it felt to be inside me, how good I was at taking his dick, and how warm I felt deep inside.

And when my panting quickened and moans rose higher, Cedric jerked my arms back as if grappling me from behind or holding me from running headfirst into a wall. "Do you want to come, baby?" he purred.

Baby , the word echoed through my skull.

"Fuck, please," I begged. "Make me come."

His fists tightened around my wrists, his dick sliding into me with ease and rubbing against my prostate mercilessly.

"I'm so fucking close," I said, frustration and pleasure warring for dominance inside of me.

Cedric twisted my arms until they rested on my lower back, wrists crossed and locked in his powerful hold. Fucking me all along, he reached over with his right hand and closed his fist tightly around my dick, letting the thrusts of his hips move my body, making me fuck his fist.

He jerked my arms back, lifting my torso seemingly by the sheer power of his will. My trapped hands felt his steely abdomen, and my upper back rested against his defined chest. With his fist firmly around my dick and our bodies grinding hard, it took me a single heartbeat before I let myself soar over the edge.

Every shred of me tightened. My hole closed hard around him, making him groan into the crook of my neck. My dick pulsed hard, and my abs and chest clenched. My toes curled, and my fingers dug into Cedric's sculpted body. In the next instant, cum sprayed the shower glass in long, white ribbons, leaving me a shuddering, hyperventilating mess.

"Fuck," I breathed out. "Harder. Please, Cedric. Fuck me harder." I needed to feel him finish while I still rode the high of my orgasm. As it thundered through me like the crashing waves of the ocean or the eruption of a volcano, Cedric rammed me just like I asked, filling me deep inside and grunting over the tightness of my hole until he warned me he was close.

He released my arms and held my hips instead, pulling me back on his cock. As his breathing grew quicker and more heated, I begged him to fill me with his cum. It was, as I'd hoped somewhere in some still-active part of my lust-clouded brain, exactly what he needed to hear.

Cedric's cock throbbed hard and long inside of me, hot cum filling me so quickly that I could have sworn I felt it. My hole burned and vibrated, sensitive and bruised. I could feel its wetness and the trickle of Cedric's cum as he pulled out, sliding his cock between my cheeks while I clenched my hole to keep the rest inside. Already, I could feel his absence. Already, I wished we could do it again.

Cedric turned me around, one hand resting on the back of my head, the other sliding over the small of my back until his fingers reached deep down to feel my hole. He rubbed it softly, soothingly, and kissed me deeply for a long, long time. "Such a perfect lover. You're perfect." His whispers covered my lips. His touch healed me. His proximity made me feel like I was falling through the clouds, but I didn't fear because it wasn't the solid ground that awaited at the end of the fall. It was something much nicer, softer, sweeter than I had ever imagined could exist. I was glad to fall for him.

Cedric kissed me for a long time before pulling away and suggesting a quick shower. This time, he regulated the flow of the water so it wasn't just the freezing bucket of ice being dropped on our heads. Instead, the shower was hot, and Cedric was gentle and sensitive. He washed my back and moved his hands softly over my body.

Throughout it all, I had that unique feeling buzzing deep inside of my chest like the bass of a really good beat. It was a feeling that only ever came after good fucking, enriched by all my welling hopes that this was more than just sex.

He still didn't think I was no good. He still didn't think I was a single-use guy. Instead, he kissed my lips while hot water poured down on our heads. He kissed the tip of my nose. He kissed each of my closed eyes in turn. He pulled me in and held me, pressing our bodies together and moving to the rhythm of some slow dance neither of us could hear.

The intensity of emotions that ripped through me choked me. I held them back, but every fiber of me wanted to cry and thank him and tell him how sweet it was to feel worthy of someone's attention and care.

How long had it been since I'd first denied myself these things? I didn't want to think. I knew the date far too well. It lived in the darkest, deepest corners of my soul, and I preferred it hidden from the light of day. No. I wasn't going to say anything. Instead, I kissed him back and made him smile.

"You're the best guy I've had in a long time," I whispered.

It made him chuckle and kiss me harder.

I was, for a moment in time, in heaven. I couldn't see the end of it, and even if I could, I didn't try to.

Much later, I lay in a big, expensive bed in a rich hotel suite, staring at the silk canopy while Cedric slept on my chest. I couldn't sleep. Nothing haunted me. In fact, it felt like when I had been a little boy waiting to go to the pool for the first time that summer. It felt like if only I wanted it hard enough, time would speed up, and tomorrow would come quicker. I couldn't sleep because I was far too happy to be bothered by such trivial needs.

I held him closer. His head rested so softly and peacefully on my broad chest.

We might be something if stars align and fate lets us , I thought. But I knew one thing for certain: I wasn't putting my future only in fate's hands. I would fight for us.