Sailor Proof by Annabeth Albert

Chapter Thirty-Three

Derrick

Not talking seemed like my best idea ever. There was a ton unsaid between us, but as we made our way to his apartment, holding hands and staying silent felt far better than the serious discussion we should have been having.

The apartment was blissfully empty, and it felt like a lifetime ago that he’d messaged about the roommates being gone. What had seemed like an opportunity for naughty fun now felt like a blessing because I was so not up for small talk. We didn’t even bother with the living room lights, heading right back to Arthur’s room, where he flipped on his low desk light rather than the harsh overhead. The soft glow was calming as he hugged me from behind, burying his face in my neck.

“Tighter,” I urged, pulling his arms snugger against me and leaning into the embrace. His hug in Oliver’s driveway had been so steadying, and that was exactly what I needed.

“Whatever you need.” He snaked a hand under my shirt to rest on my abs, and the warmth made me hum contentedly.

“Want to lie like this.” Shameless, I pulled up my shirt so his other hand could find skin too.

“Excellent idea.” Arthur tugged my shirt the rest of the way off before removing his own. Then by some wordless agreement, we both shed our pants. Naked, we curled up on his small bed, him behind me still.

“Good?” he asked as he held me close.

“Yeah.” Lying down like this, I could rest my head against his, our legs a happy tangle under his covers. Usually I felt taller and bigger and liked that contrast, but at that moment Arthur seemed stronger, and I was more than happy to wallow in that strength and let him squeeze me tighter. His arms flexed and his thighs tensed as he surrounded me with his warmth.

“It’s okay if this is what you need tonight,” he whispered after a while. Minutes or hours. I was no longer certain. “We don’t have to do anything else.”

I laughed then, a low rumble in the quiet room. The more his warmth seeped into my bones, the more other parts of me woke back up.

“I’m not ruling it out. Just taking our time.” I tipped my head back so we could kiss. It went without saying that we didn’t truly have time to take, but damn it, I was going to make time. I’d will the universe to give us this.

Our mouths met, a symphony better than anything Arthur’s genius brain could dream up. We kissed until my neck protested, and then he smoothly rolled us so he was on top and we could kiss even easier. He tasted sweet and familiar, and he knew exactly how to use his agile tongue to heat me up further.

I kissed him back with a desperation I hadn’t known I possessed, clinging to his shoulders and back as we kissed and kissed. Our hard cocks butted against each other, but that need wasn’t as urgent as the one to keep kissing, keep him close as possible. Eventually though, our bodies started moving on their own.

“Like this?” he asked, hand roaming down my side.

“Mmm.” I was tempted, but there was something I wanted more. “Would you want to fuck?”

“Sure.” Affable as ever, he rolled over to retrieve supplies from the nightstand.

“Do you want to top?” My pulse sped up. We hadn’t done it this way yet, but I craved it right then.

“Depends.” His face went serious. “Are you offering because you feel guilty about maybe leaving and think you should? Or because that’s what you need?”

“That’s what I need,” I whispered, admission not coming easily. It was always easier to focus on him than to articulate my own needs and wants. “I want it because it feels good and because nothing else gets me out of my head quite like being fucked. And because I want to be close to you, share that together.”

“I can’t guarantee I’m any good at it.” He gave a shaky laugh.

“I’ll talk you through it.” I pulled him close for another kiss. Being his first was another motivation, one that made sweet warmth spread throughout my torso. I liked being able to give him that first, to know that it was me, no matter what happened next.

But I wasn’t thinking about next, only this moment and this night with this guy. We kissed more hungrily now, hands more active, bodies surging.

“Tell me what to do,” he panted against my lips, stroking a hand down my torso. I was way too tightly wound for much of that, so I batted his hand away and reached for the lube.

“Let me.” I was good at efficient prep. Arthur’s heated gaze and hooded eyes as I touched myself ramped me up even more, and I softly moaned.

“I want to help.” He bit his lip as he reached a hand out.

“Yeah.” I dragged his hand next to mine, showing him what I liked. Directing him like this made my cock pulse, more so as I moved my hand aside so he could play on his own. Proving himself a fast study, he kept up the deep, insistent rhythm I loved.

“Fuck. You’re so tight. Hot.” The reverent look in his eyes was almost enough to get me off on the spot. Almost.

“More.” I rocked my hips up toward him.

“Like this?” He angled his fingers perfectly, and I could only answer him with a moan.

“Oh. You do like that.” Grinning slyly, he did it again. And again.

“Enough.” I groaned. “Now. Please.”

“Now?” Arthur didn’t sound in nearly enough of a hurry.

“Now,” I growled, shoving the spare pillow under my ass. I wanted to watch his face as he experienced this for the first time.

“So bossy,” he chided while reaching for a condom.

“And impatient.” Not wanting to wait for him to read directions, I rolled it on him and slicked him up. “Go slow at first.”

“I can do that.” Shifting to kneel between my legs, he lined us up and moved at the speed of an arthritic turtle.

“Not that slow.” I rocked my hips upward, trying to chase more contact.

“Complaints, complaints.” In addition to the tease though, he did put a little more force into pushing forward. I groaned as my body remembered how to yield, the stretch intense but not unwelcome.

“Doing okay?” His voice was breathy, and knowing I was having that effect on him made me even harder.

“More,” I demanded.

“Trying. Slow,” he gritted out. The cords of his neck muscles stood out and his mouth was a thin line of intense concentration. “Want it good for you.”

“It is. So good.” I bucked my hips, urging him deeper. “Tell me what you feel.”

“Feels so good. Tight. But smooth and slippery too. The way you grip me...” He trailed off on a gasp as I intentionally clenched harder. “And close. I feel so close to you.”

“Me too.” In fact, it felt like my heart couldn’t take much more, I was so full, the intensity of my feelings for him there in every thrust, every gaze, every brush of our hands. I’d never felt so deeply before or so in-tune with the other person. I couldn’t give voice to things in my heart, yet they were right there reflected back in Arthur’s eyes, which were soft and tender in contrast to the tension in the rest of his body.

“Derrick...”he panted, a world of meaning in the syllables of my name. He sounded so close to losing control. “So good.”

“Yeah it is.” I reached for my cock with my still-slick hand. “Go as hard as you need to. I can take it.”

“Don’t want you to take it.” He frowned, pausing his motions, still buried deep in me. “Want you to love it.”

“I do,” I assured him, painfully close to admitting I loved him even more than this act. And it meant a lot that he saw the distinction between taking and giving, enduring and loving. But I couldn’t burden him with my overwhelming emotions with everything else going on. It wouldn’t be fair to him, so instead I held his gaze, trying to memorize his face in this moment, the flashes of pleasure, the taut muscles from holding back, the flushed skin and shining eyes.

I let my body do the talking for me, moving with him, meeting every thrust, encouraging him deeper and faster, until we were nothing more than a chorus of moans, a concert of bodies striving together, urgent rhythm driving us onward.

“Oh.”His eyes widened, the exact instant his control snapped reflected there. His jaw went slack and his careful thrusts lost their finesse.

“Yeah, that’s it.” I reveled in his wild expression, stroking myself faster now, as done holding back as he was.

“Gonna come.” He made a desperate noise that went straight to my cock.

“Do it. Please.” My head fell back. This was what I’d wanted, my body hurtling away from me, no thinking, only doing and feeling. Even my moans sounded farther away now, the expansiveness of my climax pushing everything else out of my head.

“Yes.”One of us said it, the who no longer mattering, because I was coming, deep body-wracking shudders as I shot over and over. And so was he, hammering hard before grunting and going stiff as he made a low, guttural noise so full of pleasure it coaxed one last spurt out of me. My eyes stung, sweat or tears. I couldn’t be bothered to care which.

“Wow.” His voice was all wonder, shifting to concern as he stroked my face. “Oh fuck. Did I hurt you?”

“No. All good. Too good.” Keeping my eyes shut, I rode out the last of the sensations. Even the aftershocks were overwhelming in the best way possible.

“Damn, I had no idea...” He still sounded all dreamy as he gently untangled our bodies. His touch was feather-light on my skin as he flitted his fingers down my chest, over my stomach, through the streaks of come there, glancing across my still-sensitive, almost buzzing cock, and brushing lightly across where we’d been joined. The reverence in his touch was enough to make my eyes sting anew. He’d taken care of me in a way I wasn’t sure anyone ever had before. I’d been fucked, but this was something else, something more.

I wanted to say something profound, but words continued to fail me as he cleaned us both up. Curving his body around mine, he cuddled me close, like earlier but different now too. There was a peace between us, an inner calm that went beyond post-sex bliss.

I wasn’t about to ruin it with idle conversation, and he must have felt the same way because he simply lay there and held me and breathed with me.

“I don’t want to sleep,” he whispered at last.

“Me either.” I snuggled more securely, a yawn belying my words. “No tub here for a midnight bath, sadly.”

“Yeah. Guess we’ll just have to stay here in bed forever.” He kissed my temple.

“Sounds perfect.” I yawned again, but in the end, he was the one whose breathing evened out first, sleep claiming him in little huffs and soft snores. I watched him sleep until my eyes burned every bit as much as my heart. He looked younger and more vulnerable in his sleep, silky red hair tumbling across his forehead. I wanted to keep him like this forever, stay here like this for all eternity.

That was the thought I too faded away on and the one I came awake to, hours later when my phone buzzed and my heart sank. I knew.