18. Roan

Roan

The soft roundness of an ass grinding itself into my morning wood is my first clue that I am not in my own bed. A happy little growl rumbles through me, while content, sleepy horniness drives my hips to grind back against the softness. Pleasure ricochets through my body, making my back arch and my toes curl.

A soft cry sounds out from next to me when my cock, fighting valiantly against the material of my boxers, slips between the crack of the two perfect globes, but in my hazy, sleepy pleasure I'm unable to open my eyes.

My body is wrapped around them, our legs tangled together. I can feel their toes stroking my calf, spurring me on, and my hips continue their rhythm, a sensual and slow movement, dragging my cock into their sheathed ass. My hand drifts down their smooth, bare skin, stroking teasingly across their belly.

A hand comes up to wrap itself around the back of my neck pulling me in closer, but they are too short and I nuzzle my nose into their hair, breathing deeply of them. Like a love spell, their sweet scent is overwhelming, flooding my senses and my already leaking cock jerks hard between their cheeks, threatening to come already. Too soon.

I turn my head slightly, despite the resisting tug of their hand, burying my nose in the pillows beneath us, but it's no use. He is all over them. He is everywhere. I nuzzle into the softness, breathing in the heady smell like an addict, because that's what I am. I want to drown in it.

A loud groan vibrates through my chest and I drive my hips in harder, the fabric of both our underwear tugging painfully in constraint. Their hand shifts to tangle their fingers in my hair, loose from sleep, and they pull the strands almost violently, sending sharp pleasure down my spine right to my balls, and I again threaten to spill.

Once again, I bury my face in his hair, curling my body around him as far as I can without breaking the delicious, torturous connection of our hips, to brush my lips against any skin that I can reach, along the side of his face.

Not wanting to give him an inch of reprieve against the seductive onslaught, I slide my hand down further to cup his cock through the straining fabric of his briefs. His dripping head is poking out of the waistband, coating everything in his slick pre-cum.

My grasp is firm as I slip my hand underneath the taut fabric, giving him a long, slow stroke from root to tip. A soft, mewling whimper breaks the quiet of the room; the only other sounds are our desperate breaths and the slick, wet sound of my hand jerking his length. The hand in my hair tugs again, hard and rough, those delightful toes digging into my calf, pulling me in. I roll with the movement, tilting the angles of our hips so I am half on top of him.

It's awkward to hold myself up without completely crushing him or ceasing the drive of my hips, but I manage. My thrusts are erratic now, the pulsing need to come urging me relentlessly on, matching the strokes of my hand around him. I can feel my orgasm building in my balls, high and tight against my body, but I shove it back, snarling ferally, thrusting hard enough to rock the bed, the telltale rhythmic banging joining the chorus of our lust.

Beneath me, I can hear his nonsensical cries, whimpers of pleasure, cursing and pleading, until I feel him swell, the base of his cock jerking with his blissful cries. His hips jerk erratically under me, humping into my hand, riding through his orgasm almost deliriously. I follow him over the cliff, spurting jet after jet of cum inside the confines of my boxers. I continue to ride him through my release, smearing my come soaked boxers all over his ass and back like a mark of ownership.

The primitive part of me likes that thought— mine .

It fits perfectly. I rub myself against him once more, dragging the wetness as far as I can. He doesn't seem to care, rubbing himself back against me like a cat marking his scent, his murmuring sighs of pleasure sound like he is smiling. That is, until I remove my hand from his briefs, bringing my fingers, slick with his come, to his mouth. His complaints cease as quickly as they started when his tongue darts out to clean himself off my fingers.

He laps at my hand until I am clean of him, groaning his approval, tonguing between my fingers to leave none behind and then sucking my forefinger into his mouth, swirling it with his tongue.

" Fuuuuck ." It's my turn to whimper, my cock trying valiantly to rally, twitching against his ass when he sucks his way up my finger, pulling off with a soft popping sound.

We lie together for a moment in still silence, trying to catch our ragged breaths. He, Theo , feels perfect in my arms. It's almost dangerous how well he fits against my body.

Like he was meant to be there.

The fuzz of sleep and lust is slowly dissipating from my mind, allowing me some clarity. When I'd crept into his bed in the early hours of the morning, after barring the doors for the night, I had hoped the morning, or whatever time it is now, would begin something like this. But honestly, waking up tangled up with his body was more than I ever could have expected.

I have never really enjoyed sharing a bed with others. It's always too hot, our sweaty bits end up rubbing against each other uncomfortably, and I never know where to put my arm. But with Theo it feels… different. It always does.

I feel the sheets shift as he squirms to roll over, escaping the wet patch beneath him and pushing on my shoulder until I am lying on my back. He tucks himself back around me, lying half on top of me, tracing his fingers over the top of my tattoos where they end on my hip bones. I crack my eyes open ever so slightly, barely making out the golden red of his curls with my bleary vision. With a few blinks it clears and the morning light is no longer so offensive. His head tilts back, his bright brown and gold eyes meeting mine, before he winks and presses a soft kiss to my chest. His contented sigh tickles my skin as he nuzzles in, the arm slung over my chest squeezing tightly for a brief second.

"Morning." The word is soft and breathy, satisfied. Unable to resist, I bend to kiss the crown of his head.

"Morning. What do you have planned for the day?" Theo stretches his lean body, giving me the opportunity to take in even more of it, the long line of his back, the curve of his ass as he tips it back, the bright golden freckles across his shoulder like stars on his milky skin.

As I suspected, when he wasn't sick and malnourished, his milky skin has the most beautiful golden glow to it. Almost like he holds sunshine within him.

My hand travels, worshipping as it goes, down the length of his spine, massaging the muscles there, the bumps and bones of his vertebrae no longer visible, to cup his ass. I can feel the smile on his face against my chest, making me chuckle with pride.

"I have more of that garden to tackle and then Seff is coming by later to help me replace some tiles in the bathroom and refinish the floors downstairs. It's a big job, and I don't want to stuff it up."

I grunt, trying to tamp down the completely irrational jealousy of Seff coming to help.

"Let me know-" His scoff cuts me off, and he lightly pats my hip, then goes back to tracing his finger around my hip.

"I know, ask you if I need help. I got it, Boss Daddy,"

Oh Gods, there it is again. Boss Daddy. That has never been a thing for me in my life, but ever since he started teasing me with it, it never fails to make me hard. Boss Man was bad enough.

He knows it too, loving to throw it out when we're working, and I am annoying him with my bossiness or over-protectiveness. At least he only uses Boss Daddy when we're alone. The last thing I need is the staff getting in on it, too. Or the customers.

I grunt, hoping to distract him from the fact that my cock has plumped to half hard beneath his thigh. There is honestly zero chance of that though, and he presses his thigh back down on my dick. It's kind of uncomfortable, considering my come is drying on my skin.

His head cocks back, eyes half lidded, bottom lip between his teeth. I reach down just as he arches up, our lips meeting somewhere in between, and he crawls his way up me until he is straddling my waist, his tongue in my mouth. His hands cup my jaw under my beard, his long fingers almost cupping my throat, too. I groan into his mouth, gathering handfuls of his ass to bring him as close to me as possible.

Our tongues and teeth clash until eventually we part to breathe again. Theo rises, dragging his hands down my neck and massaging across my shoulders, all the way down to my hands, where he threads our fingers together.

"I just don't want you taking on too much. Burning yourself out. That's not why I wanted you to stay at the tavern." His face twists in adorable confusion, his lust-addled brain not able to keep up with the switch back to our original topic. But he catches on, playfully thrusting his now-hard again dick towards me.

"I know why you invited me to stay here," he teases.

I manage to shake off his hand to swat at his ass, but that only encourages him. He bites down on his lip, throwing his head back on a salacious moan.

"Yes, Boss Daddy, spank me harder!"

Gods, the room next to him might hear his ridiculousness, and I wasn't exactly as subtle as I should have been about where I was going last night. My traitorous dick flexes behind him, brushing against his ass, and he winks saucily down at me, knowing that he's won. A flush creeps up my neck, and I roll my eyes.

"I am being serious; you're only just getting healthier. I don't want you going backwards." The poor man looks torn between being besotted with my concern and wanting to fight me on it.

The debate plays across his face with zero inhibition. It's one of the things that I love about him.

The casual thought smacks me in the face, stealing my breath. Love ?

I have been obsessed with him since his rescue. He's become a friend. A good friend, actually. Both of us go out of our way to spend every moment that we can together. Not even to do anything. Some of my favourite moments with him are those quiet moments where we are just… together.

He is the first thing I think of when I wake up, the last thing I think of when I go to sleep. Not to mention the way that he has both awakened and settled that sleeping beast within me, the berserker part of my heritage constantly rattling its cage to be near him, touch him, claim him.

Shit. I think I love him. He stares down at me, an easy, happy smile on his pink lips, completely oblivious to my confusion and panic. At least I manage to hide it this time. Because we promised to be friends . My reasons for not pursuing this seriously still stand.

Even if we are majorly blurring the lines with this whole friends with orgasms things. I mean, he is still free to go live his life. There is no commitment here.

Though the idea of him going and actually doing so makes my blood pump with rage and - shit. I can feel my blood pressure shift and my muscles begin to swell, veins rising to the surface as my berserker side rebels at the idea of Theo leaving.

I take a deep breath, trying to settle myself and pull myself back from the edge, red seeping into the edge of my vision. Theo's smile turns, his brows furrowing.

"Roan, what's happening?" Hearing the concern in his voice is enough for me to regain the final control of my body, and I take a shuddering breath, shaking my head to throw off the last of my rage.

"Nothing. Nothing, I promise." I try to keep my voice gentle, but it's shaky. Theo doesn't look at all like he believes me, but the concern softens back to a small smile, highlighting the shadows under his eyes. They are no longer as pronounced as they were, but they are still there.

He doesn't sleep well; I saw it last night when I crept in. He'd been thrashing about in the bed, crying out and whimpering in his sleep. When I'd slid into the bed he'd fought me for a moment, crying out not to take him. I'd been terrified I'd made a mistake; he'd obviously been trapped in a nightmare, and I'd feared I'd made it worse, but then he'd stilled when his hand had touched me. Safe. He'd breathed the word and then wrapped himself around me like an octopus.

"Are you sleeping okay?"

Theo pulls back at my abrupt topic change. He tries to slip his hand from mine, but I keep my fingers locked around his. His frown is back, but his eyes, they look… wary, darting all over the place. They land on the chest of drawers on the wall opposite the bed a couple of times before resting on the pillow beside my head.

"I sleep fine, Roan."

I snort a huff of laughter at his flat tone; he really is a terrible liar. He's not even trying.

He glares at me for laughing at him, squirming to get off me, his cock no longer proudly bobbing between us. I squeeze his hands again, pinning them against his knees to stop him from getting up.

"I'm not trying to coddle you, Theo. But you were obviously having a bad dream last night." Fear flashes over his face before he blinks it away again, and I wish I could take it from him, whatever is haunting him. "It's not unreasonable to be having bad dreams after everything."

He opens his mouth to interrupt again, and I increase the pressure on our joined hands against his knees. " I have nightmares too. I think we all do." Theo's shoulders sag as the fight disappears from his body.

"You do?" His voice is small, fragile, and my heart breaks. I gently tug on him, and he slowly drops his chest to mine, his head resting above the beat of my heart. I let go of his hands to rub his back in long, firm strokes.

"Of course, Theo, that shit was fucked up. Of course it's still affecting us." There is a sniffle against my chest, the first tear tickling me.

"You don't act like it." With my hands on his ass again, I haul him up, so his face is tucked into the hollow of my neck, so I can brush a delicate kiss across his temple.

"It may not seem like it, but it's true. None of us are unaffected. Theo, I think you need to speak to someone. You can't just keep burying yourself in work, hoping to not feel anything. There is no rush on the house. Or healing. Or any of it. We'll still be here for you, even when it's messy and hard. Even if you aren't okay."

There are more tears now. Followed by a choked sob and a frantic head nod. His sobs are silent, tearing at my soul with each shuddering bounce of his chest. But I just hold him while he cries until he is ready.

Eventually he pushes back, wiping the tears from his red and swollen eyes.

"I'm sorry, this isn't how I wanted this morning to go." His watery voice threatens more tears, and he fans his eyes with his head tilted back, trying to banish them.

"Don't you dare apologise. Look, I'll help where I can. You have that appointment coming up right? I will take you." Theo nods, lips rolled into his teeth like he's scared to open his mouth and unleash more emotions. "And in the meantime, try to take it easy, okay? You don't have to do it all at once. There is no first place in self improvement."

I am rewarded with the eye roll I'd been gunning for. With all the sass in the world, Theo rolls off the bed, standing hand on hips, in his tight, white briefs marked with both our cum like he didn't just have a small breakdown.

"Yeah, yeah, Boss Daddy. If we're done with all that, I need a shower. Would you care to join?"

I'm not quite certain that the tavern's showers are big enough for the both of us, but I am more than willing to give it a red-hot go. I almost fall out of the bed, my feet caught in one of the sheets in my rush. Theo's ring of laughter at my expense is well worth it, the sound lighting dark, lonely parts of myself I hadn't known existed.

"Lead the way, brat."