Chapter 15

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Sebastian woke up to James playing with his hair. It felt so fucking good, fingers exploring in the most tender little motions, tugging his curls and sending tingles racing over his scalp. He floated on a happy, half-awake cloud as James's chest rose and fell beneath him.

Their bodies were hot against each other, the blankets mostly kicked back. Sebastian moaned as James's massaging became firmer. He stretched, arching his back and pressing his half-hard cock against James's hip.

"Hey there," James crooned in a deep, lust-laden voice.

Sebastian cracked his eyes open to the pre-dawn darkness shrouding the room. "Your hands in my hair feel so good."

"Yeah?" James turned, dislodging Sebastian from his chest. Before Sebastian could protest, James aligned their bodies, both of them on their sides, facing each other, and cupped Sebastian's ass. He brought them together, his erection pressing against Sebastian's.

"Fuck, yeah. This feels even better." Sebastian rolled his hips as his dick hardened fully. He hitched a leg over James and pulled them tighter together. Their lips met. James squeezed Sebastian's ass, his fingers delving between his cheeks. Sebastian groaned into his mouth. "I want to wake up like this every day."

"So do I." James held Sebastian firm, massaging his hole as he rolled his hips, rubbing their erections together.

Sebastian whimpered. James wanted to wake up with him every day. He was wanted, and every touch James gave him confirmed it, over and over. Sebastian was wanted, and it felt fucking amazing to accept without caveats.

James rubbed his nose over Sebastian's. He made a satisfied sound as Sebastian's hole twitched against his finger, eager for more. James pressed against the puckered flesh, tapping and rubbing but not penetrating. The teasing touch had Sebastian panting, his cock leaking, giving away just how needy he was.

James held him in place, lining them up perfectly, and rolled his hips, precum easing the slide of skin against skin. "You're so wet. Fuck, Sebastian, you feel amazing."

Sebastian's cheeks were on fire. "You like that I'm wet for you?"

"So much." James pulled back and grabbed Sebastian's dick, watching as more precum beaded at his slit and rolled down his already glistening head. "Look at you leaking, sweetheart. You want me so much."

The first time they'd hooked up, Sebastian had been embarrassed by how much of a mess he'd made of himself aching for James. His arousal had always come with an excessive amount of precum, but with James, it was unparalleled.

"I want you," Sebastian panted as James worked his leaking cock. "Can't hide how much I need you, James."

James moaned, swiping the wetness with his thumb and rubbing it around Sebastian's tip. He rolled Sebastian onto his back and aligned their dicks, taking them both in his hand. James squeezed their lengths together, tight. "Tell me you've never needed anyone like you need me. "

"Fuck, James," Sebastian whimpered. "Never. I've never needed anyone but you."

"Yes, Sebastian." James stroked them hard, his face flushed, gaze fixed on their cocks. "You're mine. You know that, right? Say you're mine."

Sebastian clung to James's shoulders, digging his fingers into the taut muscle. "I'm yours. All my wetness is for you, James. Every drop."

" Fuck ." James came on a strangled cry. Cum spilled over his hand, onto their cocks and Sebastian's stomach. James thrust into his fist. His cock slid against Sebastian's swollen, aching erection as James chased his orgasm, grunting, "Mine, mine ."

A whine escaped Sebastian. He was so close. James was a hard, unrelenting beauty on top of him, and his words were just as potent as his touch. Sebastian was nearly sobbing it all felt so good.

James readjusted his grip around Sebastian, not even pausing to catch his breath as he smeared his cum over Sebastian's cock. His intensity didn't die. It was as if he wanted Sebastian's release more than he had his own. James jacked Sebastian off with perfect, tight strokes, his attention shooting up to study Sebastian's face.

"Come for me, sweetheart," he commanded in a low rasp. "Show me you mean it. All of this is for me. I'm the only one for you."

Sebastian moaned and came hard, James's stare searing itself into his memory. Nothing had been easier than letting James know he meant it. Nothing had felt better. No orgasm in his life as consuming as this one. All of Sebastian's arousal was for James. All his feelings. And the fact that James seemed to come alive knowing that, like Sebastian's desire burned a fire in him, was the most intoxicating thing Sebastian had ever experienced.

James worked him until he whimpered. Only then did he relent, collapsing on top of Sebastian and kissing him deeply until neither of them could breathe.

James rested his forehead against Sebastian's shoulder, panting.

Sebastian felt almost high. He'd never been this keyed up while simultaneously spent and deeply satisfied. He wiggled beneath James. In response, James picked up his head. Sebastian grinned. "I like this possessive side of you."

James's face heated, his breathing still ragged. "I may have gotten carried away."

"Good." Sebastian rolled his hips, smearing their cum between them. "Hope it happens again soon."

James bit his lip like he was going to protest and retreat back into his bashful shell. Then his eyes flashed mischievously. "Think I can arrange that." He lowered his head and bit the crook of Sebastian's neck, not hard enough to hurt, but not too gently either. "Mine," he growled in a commanding yet playful voice that sent a shock of pleasure through Sebastian. James bit him again, groaning and sucking on the spot before picking his head up and fixing Sebastian with serious set eyes. "Now you've been claimed and can't be taken away. How's that for possessive?"

The words were tender and unfaltering, causing Sebastian's breathing to turn shallow. He threaded his fingers through James's hair and pulled him back down. "Again," he whispered.

James bit and licked and growled mine with more intensity. It seemed like something had unlocked within James, like he was freeing a need he'd longed to express but hadn't allowed himself to.

Sebastian wondered if James was letting this side of himself out to show Sebastian how much he meant to him, like Sebastian's need for reassurance had given James permission to express himself without worrying it would be too much.

James bit him again, letting out a guttural moan. There would most likely be an array of bruises on Sebastian's pale, freckled skin later, and he couldn't wait to see them.

He loved this, even if James's possessive side was born out of his fear of losing people, as Sebastian suspected. Chances were, James wanted to claim Sebastian so he couldn't be taken away, assert to the universe that Sebastian belonged to him so it would know not to separate them. That was a level of possession Sebastian hadn't even dreamed of.

Sebastian's neediness was the perfect match for this side of James. Their imperfections fit together like they were made for each other almost as if their traumas had been twisted together for the last fourteen years, not out of random chance, but to create their other half. A person who understood them like no one else.

It made what they had feel inevitable. Meant to be. There was no room left for doubt between them. Nothing would tear them apart now. Not when they both wanted each other with equal desperation.

Sebastian tugged on James's hair. "Let me claim you too."

James let out a low whining sound. He tilted his neck, exposing it to Sebastian.

Sebastian bit James where his neck and shoulder met. James moaned and rolled his hips in response, pressing their soft cocks together.

"Don't leave me," Sebastian warned, then bit him again. "If I'm yours, you can't leave me. I need you to stay with me. I can't survive without you. I want to be yours forever."

A day ago, Sebastian never would have let such co-dependent words out of his mouth, but James whimpered in response and crashed their mouths together, kissing Sebastian as if he'd just heard exactly what he'd been longing for.

With anyone else, Sebastian didn't doubt it would be too much, but that didn't matter. He was with James, where the imperfect parts of him were as wanted as the rest. It was acceptance like he never would have believed if he hadn't experienced it.

"I won't ever leave you." James rasped, licking Sebastian's throat. "No matter what, I'll always want you to be mine. You're so strong. You make me feel brave, and I'm fucking addicted to it. You turn dark things into light, Sebastian. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me."

Tears filled Sebastian's eyes. He was speechless. He was loved. Even if neither of them were saying that word yet. Sebastian was sure beyond doubt that James would love him one day, and he would love James back, and they would share a future no matter what. No past tragedies or curses could stand in their way.

James kissed Sebastian's cheeks as his tears fell. "Believe it," James ordered, and Sebastian nodded, smiling like everything in his life was perfect, even though it wasn't. It didn't need to be when the important things worked out.

"I believe it," he promised, blinking through tears, cheeks straining in a smile that probably had his dimples out.

James kissed him, eating up all his tears, swiping them off his cheeks with his tongue. When they were gone, he worked Sebastian's lips until they were swollen.

Sebastian had never been lavished with affection like this. He felt pampered to the point of dazed by the time James flipped him over, laying him out on his belly and spreading his legs.

James settled behind Sebastian and kissed down his spine. "I'll never get enough of these perfect little freckles." His mouth moved to Sebastian's hip. "Or these dimples." He kissed Sebastian's lower back. "Or this lovely ass."

Sebastian made a strangled sound of anticipation as James parted his cheeks to expose his hole.

"I'm going to eat you out until you come, sweetheart." James shifted, his next breath ghosting over Sebastian's pucker. "And you're going to let me because you're mine. Your pleasure is mine. "

"Yes," Sebastian panted. He always begged for James's cock to fill him when James's mouth was on his hole, but it wasn't exactly a hardship to let James get him off this way, especially not if it was what James needed. "Yes, please , James."

He pressed his face into Sebastian, stubble scraping in all the right places, as he lapped at Sebastian's hole, groaning like he was devouring his favorite dessert.

James's tongue swiped and swirled. "You're mine to give pleasure to," he rasped. "Mine, and I need you to know it."

"I know," Sebastian whimpered. "I'm yours. I'll never doubt it again. I trust you. I trust us."

"Good." James bit each globe of Sebastian's ass, then buried his face between Sebastian's cheeks and ate him relentlessly. He didn't stop or slow down when Sebastian started rutting into the mattress. James squeezed his ass cheeks, groping as he licked and fucked Sebastian with his tongue. He groaned and made sounds so obscene Sebastian's face burned, but all Sebastian could do was press his ass back against James's face harder.

"Damn, you feel so good, James." Sebastian buried his head in the sheets. He rolled his hips, his hard cock trapped between his stomach and the bed. He couldn't take it. His body flamed. "Oh yeah, oh fuck. James . I'm gonna come."

James growled against Sebastian's hole, pressing his face impossibly closer.

Sebastian bucked his hips and shouted as he erupted into the mattress. He white-knuckled the sheets, his hole contracting against James's mouth. James licked and kissed him through it, only stopping when Sebastian was nothing but a limp, satisfied puddle.

After a few deep breaths, Sebastian glanced over his shoulder, propping his chin on his palm. "Wow." He wanted to say more but his thoughts weren't quite coming together.

James pushed himself to a kneeling position, his eyes heavy-lidded with lust, lips parted, swollen and glistening from eating Sebastian's ass so fucking thoroughly. He grabbed his straining dick in a tight fist.

"I love seeing you satisfied." James spit in his hand and pumped his hard length. He grabbed Sebastian's ass and squeezed, pulling one cheek back to better expose Sebastian's hole as he continued to jerk himself off.

"Yes," Sebastian breathed, biting his lip as he watched. His cock did its best to rally.

The muscles in James's abdomen tensed. His cock jerked, and he came in long white ropes. Sebastian felt James's cum hit, covering his hole and dripping down his crack. If Sebastian could have, he would have orgasmed again, just from that. He watched James work himself until every last drop was spent and covering him.

James let go of his softening dick and massaged Sebastian's backside, rubbing his cum over Sebastian's cheeks.

"Fuck it into me," Sebastian panted.

James groaned. He didn't take his eyes off Sebastian as he rubbed cum into Sebastian's rim, then pushed it inside with a finger. He took his time filling Sebastian, swiping all his cum from the globes of Sebastian's ass and pushing it into him.

One finger became two. Sebastian arched. He wanted so badly to get hard again, for James to fuck him without a condom so he could get him deeper inside and be absolutely flooded with his cum.

"There you go, sweetheart." James crooned as he pumped his fingers. "Take it all and know you're mine."

"Yes," Sebastian whimpered as he accepted what James gave him.

When James seemed satisfied he'd stuffed Sebastian full, he flopped forward, covering Sebastian with his body. They lay there unmoving except for James's lips on Sebastian's neck.

Sebastian luxuriated in James's weight on top of him. "I'm yours," he whispered, and he fucking believed it. Nothing had felt so good.

"And I'm yours," James whispered back.

They stayed like that for a long while until James shifted his weight slightly, saying, "I want to lie here forever, replaying this morning in my mind on repeat. Because fuck , that was the most amazing sex I've ever had. But we should probably shower."

"No. I can't move. I'm stuck," Sebastian whined, and James chuckled. "I'm staying in these cum-stained sheets forever. Though, instead of replaying all that mind-blowing sex, we could just keep fucking."

"Forever?" James sat up and tugged Sebastian's arm, giving him a bemused grin. "Don't be ridiculous."

"But you like it when I'm ridiculous." Sebastian rolled onto his back, feeling smug as James's attention went automatically to his soft, cum-covered cock.

James blinked and met Sebastian's eyes. "Yes, I do." He frowned and tugged Sebastian's hand again, this time with determination, like he was trying to be sensible in the face of Sebastian's silly, forever-fucking idea. "Come be ridiculous in the shower with me."

That got Sebastian up.

It was still too dark to be close to when James needed to get to work—they must have woken even earlier than Sebastian thought—so they took their time. The shower here wasn't as nice as Sebastian's at Storm House. It was a much tighter fit with two, but they made it work.

James didn't seem to be done with his claiming. He kissed Sebastian roughly and insisted on washing him with a soapy cloth, fussing and pampering him, paying extra attention to Sebastian's groin and backside.

"I can feel your cum leaking out of me," Sebastian groaned, one arm braced on the wall as water cascaded down his back.

"Think I'll need to fill you up again. "

Sebastian turned around to find James red-faced. "Listen to your dirty mouth."

James stuttered, going redder. "I—yeah—I still prefer you being the scandalous one."

"I don't think it's that scandalous, James." Sebastian bopped him on the nose.

He frowned.

"I love it when you say dirty things while you're fucking me, but hearing it now is almost better. I think it's a good sign you aren't holding yourself back."

James's frowny lips twitched. "What can I say? You bring it out in me."

Sebastian smiled, overly pleased with himself.

James traced Sebastian's curved lips with a wet finger. "I'll say anything to show you how I feel."

Sebastian's breath caught, but James wasn't done.

"I know we're only at the start of us, but I'm fucking gone for you, Sebastian. I'm constantly in awe of you. Your humor, your enthusiasm, your resilience. I just need you to know you don't have to be strong alone anymore. I'm here for you. You can come to me with anything."

James's finger continued to trace Sebastian's lips as tears slid down Sebastian's already wet cheeks.

James cupped Sebastian's jaw. "You burn so bright nothing could put you out. You're amazing, and I can't believe I'm with you."

Sebastian threw himself on James and crushed him into a hug. "Holy shit, when you open up, you go all in."

"Yeah, well." James shrugged from within Sebastian's embrace.

"You're my dream, James," Sebastian murmured in his ear. "Having it come true, knowing you wanted to actually date me, scared the hell out of me. I didn't think I could have you. I didn't trust it would last, but I was wrong."

James pulled back. "Why didn't you think you could have me?" He didn't sound accusatory or incredulous, just like he needed to understand.

Sebastian blew out an exaggerated breath. "I didn't deserve it." James opened his mouth to protest, but Sebastian held up a hand to stop him. He grabbed the washcloth and soap and began washing James. "Nothing good has ever lasted for me. No one ever wanted me. My mom conceived and raised me to sacrifice me for my sister, and even before I knew that's what was happening, I could feel it. Every little thing she did to abandon me, to not choose me, added up and left me hollow. So I tried to earn it. I tried to be worthy of her loving me." He choked on a breath, the washcloth stopping in its tracks.

"Sebastian." James covered his hand.

He cleared his throat and continued his washing. "Even my uncle, who was kind to me, who I trusted when I didn't trust my mom, even he betrayed me. I thought we had a good relationship, even though I was a moody kid and he was this seemingly out-of-touch adult. But it was all a lie. He let my mom discard me at Storm House. He trapped me and forced me to face all the worst parts of the curse blind. And alone." A sob choked out of him despite his best efforts to hold it in.

James took the cloth from Sebastian and hugged him. Water cascaded over them, rinsing the suds from James. Sebastian cried into James's shoulder, glad he could let it out. James didn't rush him or try to tell him it was okay and not to cry. He let Sebastian be, and when Sebastian was done, James turned off the water and guided Sebastian out of the shower, wrapping him in a soft towel.

Sebastian leaned into James. Talking felt good. Even crying felt good. He felt so safe in James's arms that he didn't even consider holding back. "I didn't know how to believe anyone would want me when the people who were supposed to couldn't manage it. I was afraid I'd caused too many problems for you and that, in the end, I'd be alone again. If no one could choose me when I was a kid who'd done nothing wrong, how could anyone tolerate me when I came with this curse. But I believe you aren't holding the curse against me and never will. It just took me a while."

Sebastian blinked and looked James straight in the eye. "Before you, I don't think I believed genuine trust was real. I didn't think I'd ever give it to anyone, but I trust you, James, with everything I am."

James gripped both Sebastian's hands in his. "I'll guard that trust with my life, Sebastian. I choose you." He pressed their faces together, nose to nose.

"I know, and I finally believe it." Sebastian gave him a tiny smile. "I'm yours. You've claimed me, and I'm never doubting you again."

"Good." James released Sebastian's hands. "And just so you know, biting you was actually magic in disguise, so you're stuck with me now. We're bound together. No takebacks." He almost delivered the line with a straight face, but he cracked, a laugh snorting out of his nose.

"No, it wasn't." Sebastian whipped off his towel and snapped it at James.

He jumped out of the way just in time, laughing fully now. "Might as well have been."

"Na, it's better this way." Sebastian threw a fresh towel at James, disappointed he was going to cover up his glorious Speedo tan lines. They really accentuated his toned ass. "Your promise means more than magic."

James puffed up his chest at that. He kissed the crook of Sebastian's neck, where mouth-shaped bruises were staring to appear. Sebastian sighed. Nothing had ever been more romantic.

James seemed unable to stop peppering Sebastian with kisses as they dried off. On the way back to the bedroom, James caught Sebastian's hand. "I was afraid to open up too, you know." He tugged Sebastian close like he wasn't ready to part. "I didn't let anyone in. I resisted you at first because I resist everyone. Even when I was young, I tried to push my crushes away and did my best to ignore them. I never liked dating and didn't want to connect with anyone in that way. Then, with you, I did want to, but I was still afraid to get attached to you."

Sebastian traced James's serious-lined brow. "Because you were afraid of losing me?"

"Yes. And that fear still hits me sometimes. But being trapped at Storm House with you forced me to face that fear in a way I'd avoided all my life. It also gave me a chance I never would have taken. Even though it was a crushing situation, I wouldn't change it. Not when it allowed me to reach for you and open up in a way I'd always been afraid to."

Sebastian's heart pounded. "Really?"

"Yes. There isn't anything I wouldn't sacrifice for you, and you can't throw any problem at me—no matter how big—that I'd give you up to solve. I'd choose to deal with the curse all over again to end up with you. Would not change a thing. I just wish you hadn't been left alone for so long."

"Of course not." Sebastian couldn't find it in him to be bitter about his confinement just then. It was over, and James was saying too many soul-shattering, loving things. "I wish I'd known you were back in Moonlight Falls sooner so I could have written to you years ago. You were the one I needed, James. Not anyone else."

The furrow in James's brow deepened. "But why? How did you know I would figure it out?"

"I didn't." Sebastian shrugged. "I just knew you were good. That you'd care about me. Or if you didn't care, then no one would. And—more importantly—I had a massive crush on you."

James's eyes widened, and a smile broke through his thoughtful expression. "You did?"

Sebastian grinned wickedly. He wanted James to know how deep his feelings went, how far back through history they stretched. If James liked Sebastian enough to be glad he'd been trapped, to not want to wish away any of the stress of the past weeks, then Sebastian needed him to know his feelings were just as strong.

Sebastian cupped James's face. "I've been pining for you since we were kids. It was always you, James. My first crush. My queer awakening. My light in the dark. My future."

Tears clung to James's lashes. "I wish we'd gotten together sooner."

Sebastian kissed the tears away, as James had done for him. "Doesn't sound like it would have worked out. We weren't ready when we were younger."

"You're probably right."

"Course I am." Sebastian released James and swept back his damp hair. "Besides, seducing you as an adult isn't something I'd want to give up for any teenage fumbling."

James snorted a laugh. "You would think that, you nightmare."

"Aw, don't pretend you'd want to change it. Unless you wish I was your first. Oh, you do , don't you?"

James went red and grumbled, "Shut up," without any real bite. He glanced down at his clothes from last night, discarded on the floor, then at the curtain-covered window. "How early did we wake up? The sun still hasn't risen."

Sebastian was distracted by James's ass as he bent to retrieve his phone. Even towel-covered, it was perfect. "We can always role-play. You know, pretend we're deflowering each other. You can wear your swimsuit and ‘catch' me changing in the locker room on the way to swim practice."

James straightened and stared. "I—that's…" His words trailed off, a blush spreading down his neck as the front of his towel tented.

"Mm. You're into it. Fuck yeah." Sebastian dropped his own towel. "Come on, James, show a shy little boy like me the kind of stamina all that time in the pool gave you. "

James's eyes were glued to Sebastian's rising erection. "You are not shy."

Sebastian stalked closer. "But I could be. If it's what turns swim-star James Gray on. The shy little virgin you saw around town and thought was cute. He'd have been overwhelmed by you."

James squeezed his phone, maybe in an effort to resist pulling Sebastian in and fucking him senseless—Sebastian could dream—but before James had the chance to give in to his apparently conflicted desires, the screen on his cell lit up, drawing their attention.

"It's nine o'clock!" James shoved the phone under Sebastian's nose in disbelief. "I have to be at work. Like now."

Sebastian narrowed his eyes at the phone. "No way." He marched to the window and drew back the curtains. "Look how dark it is. The sun hasn't risen. We must've started fucking at four a.m."

James checked Sebastian's phone. "No. It's really nine. Look."

It wasn't pitch black outside, but nine o'clock should be nowhere near this dark.

"Come on." James pulled him away from the window. "Let's get dressed and see what's going on."