Demon of the Deep

Chapter 30

CHAPTER 30

DECEMBER 15TH, 1666

T he wind whipped down the streets of Pirate Alley and dug its icy claws under the edges of Fox’s coat. He shoved his bare hands into his pockets as he and Ga?l stumbled from the warm interior of the tavern. Ga?l took his arm to steady both of them on the wet cobblestones. Fox looked up at him, the alcohol in his blood softening the severe lines of Ga?l’s beloved face.

This was the first time he’d been back in Wave Harbor since the night Ga?l had abandoned him. And while Rowan had been apologetic about coming back here, it was their only option, and they all knew it.

The two of them had started out the night drinking with a group of the Siren ’s crew, but now they were alone together, their breath clouding before them as they made their way through the thin streets.

“I can’t wait to get you back to the Siren ,” Ga?l murmured in Fox’s ear. The closeness of his body was the only warmth in Fox’s world tonight. They’d both been a bit on edge since arriving in Wave Harbor. Neither of them knew quite what to say to the other. Ga?l had apologized over and over for that night, and Fox had truly forgiven him, but that didn’t mean they could forget all about it. So they’d both been covering their unease with endless flirting.

Fox giggled, drawing Ga?l closer so his body heat bled through Fox’s damp coat. “You think you’re topping tonight? That’s cute.” He felt a shiver run through Ga?l’s body .

They walked a bit further, making their way back toward the docks where the Siren lay waiting. The streets were relatively deserted in this cold, but every public house and inn they passed was bursting with light and the chatter of the pirates and sailors within. There wasn’t much else for them to do but drink in the winter. It was too dangerous to sail, and there wouldn’t be any prizes worth capturing anyway.

“Should we go back now?” Ga?l asked. Fox didn’t miss the eagerness in his voice. The man was an open book, and Fox loved that he could read him so easily. Not that he could read actual books, but that wasn’t the point.

“Just one more drink.” He took Ga?l’s hand and drew it into his coat pocket to warm it. Ga?l smiled at him and followed him on his winding way through the streets of Pirate Alley. Fox was much more familiar with this port than Ga?l was. Neither of them wanted to think about why. Being trapped here alone was the lowest point in Fox’s life, lower even than his shitty childhood, because at least back then he’d had Ga?l by his side. At least he hadn’t been alone.

But he wasn’t alone now. Ga?l’s hand was in his, and the rest of their friends were either safely on the Siren or up to their own mischief in Pirate Alley’s taverns. Despite the underlying unease, Fox was content.

Until they rounded the corner and came face-to-face with the one place in this town that neither of them wanted to set foot in again.

The Salted Snail Inn.

Fox stopped dead in his tracks, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw all the blood drain out of Ga?l’s face.

The front of the building was salt-weathered timber, cracked and warped. The unpainted shutters were pulled tightly closed against the cold, but laughter and the faint strains of a bawdy song drifted through them into the dark street. Orange firelight flickered through the cracks and reflected on the wet cobbles where Fox and Ga?l stood.

This was the place where they’d shared their first kiss. Confessed the feelings they’d kept hidden for so long. The place where they’d lost their virginity to each other.

The place Ga?l had fled from him as he slept.

Fox inhaled a shuddering breath. He let it sting his lungs and ice his blood. Ga?l’s fingers clutched his hand tighter in the depths of his coat pocket.

For a moment they just stood there, staring at the inn like they’d seen a ghost. Their collective breath fogged in the chilly air. Fox tried to fight it, but a bit of that old panic was gnawing at his stomach. He couldn’t seem to take his eyes off the building with its blue-painted snail above the door that used to be orange.

“Fox?” Ga?l tugged his hand. “Let’s go. Let’s just call it a night.” His voice sounded anxious.

“Wait.”

Fox didn’t know why he said it. He wanted to leave. Wanted nothing more than to turn his back on this place and go home. But somehow that felt like defeat. And a strange idea was worming its way through the folds of his mind.

Back then, when he was all alone, he’d had nothing to do but wallow in his misery. Wallow and survive. That was it. But now he didn’t have to do that. Now he’d made a life for himself. A life where he was happy, and he didn’t want these old hurts to fester anymore. The memory would always be there, but the hurt didn’t have to be.

Just like with Cyrus, Fox would rewrite that hurt into something new.

“Let’s stay here tonight.”

Ga?l said nothing, and Fox turned to look at him. Their hands were still clasped together in Fox’s pocket.

“Don’t you hate it here? I know I do.” Ga?l’s expression was stricken. Confused.

“I know, but we don’t have to.”

Ga?l’s brow furrowed. “How can I not hate the place where I made the biggest mistake of my life?”

Fox knew he meant leaving, but that deep down panic made the words cut all the same. He plastered on a smile.

“I know I said I wouldn’t push you again, so I’ll only ask once. What if we rewrote this too?”

Ga?l’s brow smoothed slightly in understanding. The icy wind blew his hair in front of his eyes.

“You can’t just gloss over every bad memory with good sex, Foxy.”

Fox stepped in close, pressing a light kiss to Ga?l’s lips and inhaling the steam of his breath. Then he pulled back to look Ga?l in the eyes.

“With this I think I can. It still hurts both of us. But I don’t want to live in the past anymore.” He touched the spot on Ga?l’s chest where he’d been flayed open by Admiral Batteux’s sword. “The present is all we have. And besides…” He leaned forward, letting his lips brush Ga?l’s cold nipped ear. “I want to fuck you in the same bed you left me in.”

The door of the Salted Snail burst open, issuing forth a wave of sound and light and a spill of drunken pirates who hooted and hollered at the sight of the two of them embracing in the cold. Ga?l’s breath huffed against the side of Fox’s neck as the tide of pirates passed them by. Then, seeming to make his mind up, Ga?l tugged him toward the still open door.

The interior was awash with noise, and Fox was instantly warmed by the jovial mood and press of the crowd. It looked cleaner and nicer than he remembered, despite its rough exterior. Ga?l dragged him to the bar and ordered them two mugs of ale, then leaned over and whispered something to the barmaid that Fox couldn’t hear over a sudden roar of cheers as the song ended.

Fox sipped his ale and watched the crowd, all of whom were much drunker than he and Ga?l. A jittery feeling had almost replaced the panic in his stomach. Ga?l turned away from his conversation with the barmaid and wrapped one muscled arm around Fox’s waist, pulling him tight to his side. He slipped something small and heavy into Fox’s coat pocket.

Fox watched him out of the corner of his eye. Ga?l’s dark hair was wind tousled, his profile starkly beautiful against the warm firelight. This was how he’d always seen Ga?l back then, before he even knew his own feelings. He’d always been at Ga?l’s side, stealing glances at his gorgeous face and wondering what it would be like to kiss those pouty lips.

Ga?l took a drink from his mug, still watching the crowd. But Fox watched how his throat bobbed as he swallowed, how his cheek dimpled slightly in amusement at the suggestive lyrics of the next song. He felt so small in Ga?l’s arms. So protected and wanted. The rest of the world fell away from his perception, and there was only Ga?l .

Someone jostled Fox, causing some of his ale to slosh over the rim of his mug onto the floor.

“Watch it,” Ga?l growled at them, his arm tightening around Fox’s waist protectively. But Fox didn’t mind the intrusion. He set his mug back on the bar with a soft thump. Ga?l turned to check if he was alright.

He was so close, his body heat radiating through the layers of clothing between them. Despite himself, Fox’s breath hitched at their proximity. This was just how it had gone that night. The memory was still painfully fresh, Ga?l drawing him close out of the way of some drunkard. But his arm hadn’t left Fox’s waist when the danger passed. Their bodies, their lips, were so close. And then…

Fox saw the moment Ga?l realized it too. His gray eyes met Fox’s green ones. The jittery feeling in Fox’s stomach stoked itself into full on butterflies. What was wrong with him? He was no longer that inexperienced boy, secretly in love with his best friend. But he felt just the same as he had back then.

Ga?l slowly set his mug down as well, never taking his eyes from Fox’s flushed face. His free hand came up to cup the back of Fox’s neck, their shared memory guiding their bodies almost in pantomime of that night. His gaze flicked across Fox’s face, trying to read his innermost thoughts. Then he drew Fox to him, and their lips met.

It was the same. So the same that for a moment Fox felt as if he really were reliving it.

Yet it was also different. Ga?l’s mouth moved slow and sensual against his, none of the sweet hesitation of inexperience. And when Fox’s hands came to rest on his chest just as they had before, they found hard muscle instead of scrawny youth. The butterflies in his stomach fluttered quicker, becoming leaping flames of desire.

Ga?l reluctantly broke the kiss, his forehead resting against Fox’s.

“I love you, Foxy. I always have, and I always will.”

The same words. The same place. Somewhere in the distance, the city bells chimed midnight. And Fox realized with a jolt, it was even the same day. But this time those words rang true, echoing in Fox’s heart like the tolling of the midnight bells.

I always will.

Fox felt some fractured part deep down begin to knit itself back together with a thread of gold. The glow of Ga?l’s love shining over every fissure and flaw and scouring away the shadows within them so that only the fissures themselves remained. It was not that Ga?l’s love could heal all the damage Fox had sustained. But he knew that if he faltered, Ga?l would be there to catch him.

Fox almost couldn’t remember what he was meant to say. He balled his fists in the front of Ga?l’s shirt and kissed him again, this time with all the heat of the butterfly flames inside of him. Ga?l returned his enthusiasm and didn’t seem to mind that Fox had gone off script, or that he hadn’t said ‘I love you’ back. He knew.

I always have and I always will.

The little weight in his pocket turned out to be a key to the exact room from before. Fox didn’t have time to think much on that as he struggled to fit the key into the lock and turn it while Ga?l was busy sucking a mark onto the skin at his neck from behind. With a bit of struggle, he got the door open, and they stumbled into the room and locked it behind them. As with everything tonight, the room was different and the same all at once. The simple wooden bedframe and the purple and blue patchwork quilt were familiar, but the entire room was decidedly cleaner, and there was a freshly laid fire in the hearth that was just beginning to warm the room.

Ga?l spun Fox around and pinned him against the door. His gray eyes were stormy as he took Fox’s face between his hands, much gentler than Fox was expecting, and Fox could tell that Ga?l was controlling himself carefully.

“Do you still want to do this?” His deep voice was raw, and Fox couldn’t tell whether it was due to lust or the past emotions bubbling up. Maybe both.

“Of course,” he answered.

“Good.”

The kiss left Fox breathless, and the fire in his core flared and reached toward Ga?l’s light. Ga?l’s fingers dug into the sides of his face, deepening the kiss. His tongue invaded Fox’s mouth, and Fox’s knees went weak. A wounded whimper escaped his lips. His hands fisted in the front of Ga?l’s shirt. He wanted to be closer. Wanted to devour and be devoured in turn, to be absorbed into Ga?l’s strong body and become inseparable from him.

Fox’s hips bucked forward, brushing their clothed erections together. He caught Ga?l’s lower lip between his teeth, and Ga?l’s fingers threaded up through his brown hair, loosening the tie that held it off of his brow. The damp strands fell to brush his chin, and a shiver ran down his spine as Ga?l’s fingertips worked over his scalp.

They stumbled further into the room, barely breaking their kiss to shed their damp clothes until they were standing bare chested in just their trousers with a trail of clothing and boots behind them. Fox bent to kiss Ga?l’s collarbone. His fingers ran tentatively over the long diagonal scar that ran across Ga?l’s broad chest from right shoulder to the lower left ribs. It had only been a month, and the scar tissue was still new and fragile. Fox’s fingertips tripped over the even marks where the stitches had been embedded in his tan flesh.

“Does it hurt?” he whispered, his mood suddenly sobering at the reminder that both Ga?l and Rowan had almost been taken from him. His lips roamed over Ga?l’s hot skin.

“Not really.” Ga?l’s cheek brushed Fox’s hair. “Don’t worry about me.”

Fox’s head snapped up. “How can I not? I…I almost lost you again…” He was suddenly choked up. Even when they were children and Ga?l was a lot scrawnier than he was now, he’d always been the protector, the one who got hurt in the place of others.

Ga?l took Fox’s hand in his and moved it away from the wound. He waited till he caught Fox’s eye.

“You won’t lose me. Isn’t that what all this is about?” He raised Fox’s hand to his mouth and kissed it, not taking his eyes off Fox’s face.

Fox gulped down the uneasy emotion that had risen in his throat, and it burned away in the flames of his desire as Ga?l’s tongue flicked between his fingers.

“Let’s not think of anything but now,” Ga?l murmured. He licked Fox’s index finger.

“Don’t think this means I’ll go easy on you.”

“Never.”

Fox pushed Ga?l onto the bed and climbed on top of him. He ran a line of light kisses down the tender pink ridge of scar tissue, listening to the way Ga?l’s breath hitched when his lips met new skin. As he reached the end of the scar and continued down over Ga?l’s hard stomach, he pulled Ga?l’s trousers down his hips, allowing his eager cock to spring free. Fox glanced up to his face and found him watching with half-lidded eyes. Fox graced him with a mischievous smile, then flattened his tongue at the base of Ga?l’s shaft and licked a slow stripe up the smooth underside. Ga?l bit his lip to stifle a moan. Fox’s tongue reached the wet tip and circled teasingly around the head. He reached into this own trouser pocket and withdrew the vial of lube he’d thankfully had the foresight to bring along. He pressed the glass, still cold from the wintery weather, against the inside of Ga?l’s thigh and giggled when Ga?l flinched at the chill.

Fox tucked it into his palm to warm it and continued teasing Ga?l with his tongue. Ga?l’s breath quickened as Fox’s lips met the tip of his cock, and he pressed his tongue to the underside of the shaft as he took in Ga?l’s cock. When he got as far as he could go, his nose nestled against the dark curls, he curled the edge of his tongue around the shaft. The prominent veins along the hard length throbbed against Fox’s lips.

Fox wiggled his hips. He loved being filled with Ga?l. The taste of him. The feel of him. It was almost a shame that this was the only way he was going to be full of Ga?l tonight. So he had to make it count. He hummed and swallowed around Ga?l’s cock, wiggling his hips again. His eyes flicked up to make sure Ga?l was watching. He was. His storm cloud eyes smoldered with lust.

“If you’re gonna—ah—tease me like that you should take your pants off.” Ga?l groaned as Fox bobbed his head slowly. Ga?l’s hands fisted in the quilt, small gasps and moans escaping from his parted lips. Fox shimmied out of his trousers as he continued pleasuring Ga?l with his mouth.

“That’s better,” Ga?l sighed. He brushed a lock of hair out of Fox’s face. “You know I like to see you.”

Fox released his cock with a lewd slurp. “You just like my ass.”

“It can be both.” Ga?l smirked. Fox giggled and smacked him on the thigh. Then, still grinning, he crawled up the bed to plant a kiss below Ga?l’s jaw. He rolled the now warmed vial of lube up Ga?l’s stomach.

Ga?l spread his legs a bit wider in invitation. Fox’s lips traveled down his neck, over the smattering of powder burns. He tried not to think of their source and was quickly distracted by the warmth of Ga?l’s body, the softness of his skin, and the pulse of his heartbeat under Fox’s lips .

Fox uncorked the vial one-handed and slathered the lube onto his fingers.

“It might be a bit cold still,” he murmured.

Ga?l inhaled sharply but quickly relaxed as Fox’s hand slipped between his thighs and began teasing his entrance.

“Foxy…ah…” Whatever he was about to say was interrupted by Fox pushing one finger inside him. Ga?l’s back arched off the bed.

Fox paused for a moment to let Ga?l adjust to the slight stretch, watching Ga?l’s face. Though their sex life was robust and they switched, Fox liked to bottom more often. Despite Ga?l’s relative inexperience, being topped by him was an otherworldly experience. The man was practically a god.

But that didn’t mean Fox couldn’t take him apart piece by piece if he set his mind to it.

He pushed in deeper, the warm wet walls constricting around his finger.

“Relax.” Fox nipped at Ga?l’s collarbone and planted several open-mouthed kisses over his neck and chest as he pumped his finger lazily, stretching him out. When he deemed Ga?l ready, he added a second finger and began to scissor them to stretch Ga?l further. He groaned against Ga?l’s skin, imagining these slick walls sucking him in, clenching around his dick. The thought had him rutting his hips against Ga?l’s side.

Maybe it was just the memory of last time they were in this room, but the slide of his cock against Ga?l’s skin and the noises falling from Ga?l’s lips as Fox fucked him with his fingers were driving Fox crazy. His cock was already red and weeping, and like the hopeless virgin he’d been back then, he wouldn’t last long in this condition.

Judging by Ga?l’s expression, neither would he.

“Please…” Ga?l moaned as Fox curled his fingers to hit the sensitive bundle of nerves inside him. Ga?l’s fingernails dug into Fox’s shoulder.

Fox leaned down to nip his earlobe. “Please what?” He massaged Ga?l’s prostate again causing him to gasp.

“P-please fuck me. I need you.” He looked at Fox with desperation. “I’m ready, just please?—”

Fox didn’t think he was quite opened up enough, but he couldn’t resist his lover’s begging. He withdrew his fingers and pushed Ga?l onto his side with his back to Fox. Fox trailed kisses down the side of his neck as he lubed up his own cock. He gripped Ga?l’s thigh to open up his legs, and he guided the tip of his cock to Ga?l’s entrance between muscled cheeks. Ga?l rutted his ass back, desperate to be filled, but Fox held him in place.

“Do you remember?” Fox asked, his face pressed to the side of Ga?l’s head. “You hesitated just like this…” His words trailed off when Ga?l’s body tensed. It truly wasn’t his intention to make Ga?l feel guilty again, or to ruin the mood, but he just couldn’t shake the sense of twisted déjà vu that had overtaken him, a strange nostalgia for the way they had been and the pain that came after…

Ga?l turned to look at him. “I wish we had never parted. I wish…” He gasped as Fox’s dick rubbed at his hole. His eyes slid closed for a moment, long lashes resting on his high sculpted cheekbones. He swallowed. “Fox, if this is your way of punishing me, I?—”

Fox silenced him with a kiss. He took his time, letting his tongue explore the hot interior of Ga?l’s mouth, willing his lips to memorize Ga?l’s pouty pink curves. If they were ever separated again, he wanted the feel of Ga?l to be imprinted upon his skin.

“I’m not,” he whispered when the kiss broke. “I promise I’m not punishing you. I’m just trying to remember what it felt like that night.” He wanted to remember what it felt like to be in Ga?l’s arms for the first time. To lose his virginity to the man he loved. A deep well of nostalgia had opened up in the chambers of his heart, only stoking the flames of desire higher. He planted a kiss on Ga?l’s cheek and ran his hand up his inner thigh. Ga?l bit his lip, head tilted back to bare his throat.

“You remember how you hesitated?” Fox murmured in his ear. “You were so afraid of hurting me. You wanted me to be sure. And I begged you to fill me up. I’ve never regretted that, you know. Even with all that happened after. I’m glad my first time was with you.”

“Fox—” Ga?l’s words were cut off by a gasp as Fox finally pushed into his tight, wet heat. The head of Fox’s cock caught slightly on the rim of Ga?l’s hole before he pushed past it. “Fuck, Fox. Fuck, you feel so good.” Ga?l whimpered. His back arched, and Fox’s lube-slick fingers tightened on his thick thigh. Fox’s lips trailed over his neck again, lavishing his skin with fervent kisses. The fires in his gut were already turning his blood molten. He was only halfway in, trying to give Ga?l a chance to adjust, but damn, it felt good. His teeth latched onto Ga?l’s shoulder as his hips rutted forward involuntarily, burying himself up to the hilt. Ga?l’s tight walls clenched around him. Fuck. He really wasn’t going to last if it already felt this good.

“So tight,” he hissed between his teeth. He tried not to move for a moment. He knew he hadn’t prepped Ga?l enough. But Ga?l’s ass twitched back, trying to take him in more. Fox obliged. He pulled out to the tip, angling to where he knew he would hit the sweet spot dead on.

He snapped his hips forward and was gratified by the agonized moan that ripped itself from Ga?l’s throat.

His teeth sank harder into Ga?l’s skin as he thrust into him again and again, hitting that delicious bundle of nerves every other stroke. Ga?l reached back to grip his damp hair. His breath was already ragged, the sweet music of his moans loud in Fox’s ear. Fox’s hand trailed up his thigh to wrap around his throbbing dick. He pumped it in time with his strokes, relishing the new sounds of ecstasy it pulled from Ga?l’s lips. He sucked dark marks onto Ga?l’s perfect, fevered skin and soothed them with his tongue.

“Foxy, please…I’m so close. Please…ngh…fuck. I love you…more…please, more.” Ga?l was babbling. His hips stuttered, as if his body couldn’t decide whether to fuck himself back onto Fox’s cock or thrust forward into Fox’s hand.

Fox brought him to the edge, his strokes deepening until he could tell that Ga?l was right on the precipice of orgasm.

He pulled out and released Ga?l’s weeping cock. A whine escaped Ga?l’s lips, and Fox pushed him onto his back, capturing his needy lips in a hard kiss. When they broke apart, Ga?l gazed at him with a look of utter fucked-out devotion. He reached up to cup Fox’s face with both hands and wrapped his legs around Fox’s slim waist, drawing him back in. Fox lined himself up again and bucked his hips forward, watching the way Ga?l’s eyes rolled back in his head.

Fox couldn’t take his eyes from Ga?l’s gorgeous face as he thrust into him. He hitched Ga?l’s hips higher, tucking his own folded legs beneath Ga?l’s ass to achieve a deeper angle he knew would hit all the right spots and drive Ga?l mad.

Fox’s gaze lowered to the scar again, his fingertips gently grazing it.

“F-Fox,” Ga?l gasped.

He looked back up to Ga?l’s stormy eyes.

“I’m not going anywhere. ”

Fox grinned, the momentary melancholy falling away. “I should hope so, considering I’m inside you right now.”

Ga?l’s thumbs brushed over Fox’s cheeks and across his lower lip, almost reverent, worshipful, as Fox took him apart stroke by stroke. Fox caught one of his hands, pressing a kiss into his palm and trailing his lips down the inside of Ga?l’s wrist.

Fire licked through his veins. The inevitable orgasm coiled in his gut, ready to snap and undo him too. Ga?l’s moans were almost choked, and Fox knew that he would soon plunge over the edge.

Ga?l’s gray eyes opened, heavy with bliss, and he moaned Fox’s name so sweetly.

Fuck. Fox’s ass clenched, yearning to be filled with Ga?l’s cock. He hitched one of Ga?l’s legs over his shoulder, then reached back to finger his own twitching rim. His fingers were still slick with lube and Ga?l’s precum, and an almost hysterical laugh clawed out of his throat as he breached himself with two fingers.

The sting and stretch went straight to his dick. Ga?l clutched the blue and purple quilt on either side of his head, half-lidded eyes watching as Fox fucked himself back onto his own fingers then forward into Ga?l’s swollen hole.

“F-fuck, Foxy, you couldn’t stand not being filled up could you?” Ga?l teased, even as his voice was weak and raspy from screaming Fox’s name. Fox could only moan in response. He snapped his hips forward harshly. He was so close, and he needed to make Ga?l come before him.

Ga?l’s fingers twisted in the quilt, his back arching off the bed. Fox chased down his lover’s orgasm, stroking into him with a reckless abandon and hitting just the right spot over and over until Ga?l seemed almost delirious and fucked out of his mind.

“Let go, sweetie. Come for me like a good boy,” Fox panted.

Ga?l whimpered. Then with one particularly deep stroke, his mouth went wide and silent, and hot cum spurted across his belly. Fox rode him through it, his movements erratic as fire crackled through him. Ga?l’s insides clenched and fluttered around his cock, sucking him in.

The edges of his vision went dark as his fingers found his prostate and his hips stuttered, burying himself deep as everything finally snapped, and he spilled his orgasm into Ga?l’s tight heat.

Fox collapsed against Ga?l’s heaving chest. Breathless, tasting the salt of Ga?l’s sweat on his lips. He withdrew his fingers from himself, moaning at the loss and slightly wishing he’d bottomed after all.

He kissed Ga?l’s chest, the ridges of scar tissue rough on his lips. Ga?l’s arms settled heavily around his shoulders. They stayed like that for a few moments, basking in the afterglow and each other. Finally, Fox’s legs began to quiver. He unsheathed himself and rolled onto the mattress beside Ga?l. Ga?l turned onto his side so they were chest-to-chest. He wrapped an arm around Fox’s waist and pulled him into his arms, sleepily kissing him on the tip of his nose. Fox looked him over. He was gorgeous. His body slicked with a light sheen of sweat, chest heaving. His lips were parted to catch his breath. He looked at Fox as if he were the most wondrous thing in the entire world.

“You’re amazing, Foxy,” he sighed, his breath still a little bit shaky. “Maybe I should bottom more often.”

“Oh, really?” Fox wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He loved fucking Ga?l into breathless oblivion, but equally—or even more—he loved being at the mercy of the man beside him, being stretched out by his deliciously thick cock. Being absolutely wrecked and worshiped, barely even able to walk the next day and…

Fox felt the stirrings of arousal in the pit of his stomach again. His asshole and cock twitched back to life at the same time.

“Ga?l?” Fox drew his fingertips lightly down the center of Ga?l’s heaving chest and hard stomach until they almost touched his spent cock.

“Hmm?” Ga?l’s stormy gray eyes opened a crack.

“I’m actually not done. Are you?” He pressed their bodies tighter together so Ga?l could feel his half-hard length. Ga?l’s beautiful lips widened into a mischievous grin, cheeks dimpling.

“Gods, you’re insatiable.”

“But you love me.” Fox planted a playful kiss on his shoulder. He locked onto Ga?l’s gaze, letting his eyelids lower slightly to look up through his lashes.

“Of course.” Ga?l leaned their foreheads together.

“I just need you inside me,” Fox groaned, rutting his hips so his cock chafed against Ga?l’s thigh.

“Give me a minute, you animal.”

“Animal?!” Fox drew back in mock offense. “Me?”

“Yes, you, you crafty bastard. ”

Ga?l kissed him, slow and sweet, his hand drifting down to cup Fox’s ass.

“I saw you fingering yourself while you were balls deep in me. How did it feel? Was it good enough or do you want to be filled up with something better?”

Fox whimpered, feeling his cock hardening further at Ga?l’s words.

“I’m just making up for lost time,” he breathed.

“We have all the time in the world.” With another kiss Ga?l pulled away to search the rumpled blankets for the half-empty vial of lube. He found it and uncorked it with his teeth. Then slathered his fingers with the sweet-smelling oil.

He pulled Fox close again, wasting no time breaching Fox’s hole with one finger. Then, realizing that he was already partly loosened, added a second. Fox nuzzled against Ga?l’s broad chest, letting out small moans and kissing his salty skin as Ga?l fingered him.

Ga?l took his time with it. His fingers were slow and sure, loosening Fox up to take his cock. Unhurried. But every press of his fingers against Fox’s sensitive walls had him gasping. Even the brush of Ga?l’s breath in his hair heightened Fox’s post-orgasmic sensation.

“Don’t come before I even get to fuck you,” Ga?l murmured against his hair.

“Not helping,” Fox moaned. His dick was almost painfully hard, pink and straining to be touched. Ga?l just chuckled, adding a third finger and pressing the rough pads of his fingers deliberately to Fox’s prostate.

“Ah!” Fox’s body jerked, arching into Ga?l’s touch. Ga?l’s fingertips massaged little circles into the bundle of nerves, sending stars shooting across Fox’s vision.

“Fuck, I’m gonna come if you do that again,” Fox panted when Ga?l’s fingers finally withdrew.

Ga?l flipped him onto his back, caging him between muscled arms and kissing him deeply. Fox realized suddenly that Ga?l was hard again, Fox’s cum dribbling down his thighs.

There was no hesitation this time. Without breaking eye contact, Ga?l penetrated up to the base, his hips smacking against Fox’s ass.

“Fuck, yes!” Fox cried. Ga?l gave him no time to adjust, and he didn’t need it. He only needed Ga?l’s length inside him. Ga?l pulled back and slammed in again, setting a brutal pace that quickly brought Fox to the edge of overstimulation. But gods, it was good. More than good. Heavenly. Every tired muscle in his body tingled with sensational bliss. He was engulfed in it, drowning in Ga?l’s breath. His kiss.

Fox arched off the bed, wanting more. Needing more. His fingernails dug into Ga?l’s arms.

“Ga?l. Oh god…” His own voice sounded foreign to his ears, desperate and completely gone from sanity. He realized there were tears leaking from the corners of his eyes. But he didn’t care. As long as Ga?l loved him, that was all that mattered.

“Tell me you love me,” he gasped.

“I love you,” Ga?l moaned. “Gods, Foxy I love you more than life itself.” He wrapped one arm beneath the small of Fox’s back, bringing them even closer. Fox could feel every frantic beat of his heart through the throbbing of his dick. He threw his arms around Ga?l’s neck and pulled him into a kiss. Tingles spread throughout his body like a thousand stars crashing into him. Ga?l’s tongue licked into his mouth and swallowed a guttural moan as Ga?l’s cock hit his prostate.

“I’m gonna come,” he moaned into Ga?l’s mouth. Ga?l only picked up the pace.

Ga?l had said that they couldn’t rewrite every bad memory with good sex. But so far, Fox found that to be untrue. With every mind-bending stroke he could feel the last of the hurt melting away, the last of the cracks healing, glued together with the devotion in Ga?l’s eyes. The empty well of memory in the chambers of Fox’s heart flooded full of new experience, old love rekindled and transformed. And in the morning when he woke and Ga?l was still there in his arms, he would be healed.

Tonight had never been about the sex. It was about staying.

He blinked tears and stars both away from his vision and saw Ga?l’s eyes glassy with tears as well.

Fox’s breath caught. Suddenly it was all too much. The love and ecstasy mingled and overflowed, and he came across his stomach with Ga?l’s name on his lips, pleasure beyond comprehension bursting across every raw nerve. After a few more strokes he felt Ga?l shudder and spill hot and hard into Fox’s clenching hole.

Ga?l leaned down to kiss the tears from Fox’s temples, gentle now that they were both spent. Fox’s whole body trembled with aftershocks, and he clutched Ga?l to him as if he would disappear. Ga?l peppered kisses across his face waiting for Fox to come down.

Fox’s arms and legs remained locked around him, keeping them connected as their cocks softened and sweat cooled.

“Fox?” Ga?l ventured after a while.

“Mmm?” Fox had moved past the aftershocks and was now basking in a sort of heavenly golden warmth that he was half afraid meant he’d died and was in heaven.

“My arms are getting tired.”

Fox huffed a laugh and released him. Ga?l pulled out of him and climbed off the bed. He retrieved a water jug and cloth from the side table and wiped them both down. Fox was still floating in the warm sea of bliss. He barely even noticed when Ga?l picked up his limp body and tucked them both under the familiar quilt. He nuzzled into Ga?l’s neck, warm and content and drifting. Eager for the morning to shine on their love.