“Did?” he asks, putting his hand on my knee.
I tell him about Conner, even the parts I usually leave out for other people. The sound of his head hitting the rock as he slipped into the rapids we’d been fishing. The coroner’s report telling us that we’d already lost him before he even hit the water. The fear that my dad wishes in the smallest place of his heart that it’d been me to slip away.
I even confess that this whole trip to California was Connor’s idea. That we were going to make the trip together. That it’s all we talked about from the moment I came out to him until the day he died.
“We’ll go west, Knox, just like the song. All the way to the Pacific Ocean.”
“Are you sure there’s people like me out there?”
“There’re people like you everywhere, Knox. Closer than you might even imagine. It’s just easier to be yourself out there.”
In the telling of things, Carter’s warm arm finds its way around my back. “That's awful what happened. I don't know your dad from Adam, but he loves you, I swear it. There's no way that anyone who spends time with you wouldn't just absolutely love you to death.”
The heavy emotion in his voice shakes me to my core, his words giving me more hope than I’ve had since I left home. And they stay with me as we sit together and sip our coffee.
* * *
Seeingthat I’m in a mood, Carter suggests joining him and Sally at the vocational school for their job fair presentation. I agree to go and help them set up the booth for the shop. Before we finish, several of the students come by to say hi to Sally, and it’s cool to see how many people she’s helped. And to realize that I’m one of them.
Carter mentions that I might want to walk around and see what kinds of jobs are available. I do as he suggests and visit all of the booths that catch my eye. There’s some stuff with the woodworking that seems interesting, and even the house painters seem to have a good time of it, but I don't see anything that looks like as much fun as working with Sally in the shop.
Where I grew up, there was a lot of just working hard and not getting much from it. This place makes me feel like I can find something that I enjoy and make a good living. It definitely gives me a lot to think about once I get to Pasadena.
* * *
Carter tightensthe belt he’s using to tie me to the bed, grunting in my ear, “Now you can't go anywhere.”
I swear, just a few short weeks ago, a line like that would've had me running for the hills, but I can’t think of any place better than in his bed. We’ve agreed to be exclusive while I’m in town, and we both got tested. So, in addition to being lashed to a bed, tonight we’ll be going without condoms.
Not sure if that’s the reason, but there’s a difference in the way he’s touching me. His grip is stronger somehow, his lips more possessive. He sucks bruises onto my hips and groin, little reminders that’ll rev my engine over the next several days.
He holds my cock in his mouth while slicking up an orange-glo vibrating butt plug.
“Harder.Please,” I beg, pushing into his mouth.
He pulls away from my cock, sending a raised brow in my direction.
I close my mouth and seal my eyelids shut when he returns to his gentle suckling.Bastard. I will my hips to stay still as he pushes my thighs apart and spreads my cheeks. I jump when he pushes the tapered end of the plug against my hole, pushing it in so fucking slowly that I feel every bit of stretch before he nestles it into place.
My eyes fly open when, in addition to the plug in my ass and the great and terrible suckling of my dick, he strokes a feather across my nipples. I would fucking give my left nut for some real friction, but I know that complaining will only make him stop entirely.
He turns on the vibration, keeping it at the lowest setting, and I wonder if I might age and die before he lets me come. I try my best to relax my body and milk the sensations, but God, he’s torturing me.
It’s the best kind of torture.
The delicate feather is replaced by a dewy, almost velvet sensation, and I open my eyes to find him swirling and pushing a red rose against the sensitive tip of my nipple, like petal kisses. It makes me ache in a weird place in my chest.
It’s that I know I can trust him. I have from the beginning. Implicitly. Hell, I’m tied, helpless, to his bed, and I know more than anything that I'm safe. And it stirs emotions I’ve never felt before.
He pulls away from my cock, kissing the head sweetly as he lays down the rose. He turns off the gentle vibrations and carefully removes the plug. We look into each other’s eyes and take a few deep breaths together. I damn near cry from the intensity of the emotion between us. His soft smile turns into a smirk, and just as quickly, he’s got my knees to my shoulders, exposing my hole and my nuts.
That’s my only warning as he shoves his thick length inside of me, violent and perfect. He thrusts without mercy over and over again, but I know that even in this, he's still caring for me. Giving me the roughness I’ve been craving. I arch up when he hammers that bundle of nerves he’s been careful to avoid all evening, and it sings out. Thrust after thrust, he pummels me with erotic pleasure and pressure so acute that my very molecules arrange themselves around his punishing rhythm.
“You are the most beautiful man I have ever been with,” he whisper-pants in my ear. “And I…”
His words are choked off by a powerful orgasm, and his eyes widen. It's the first time he's come before me, a fact that fills me with pride, like maybe fucking me bare was more than he could handle. Like maybe I’m not the only one barely holding on. I have no time to gloat because with one more vicious thrust through hot cum, he wrecks into the overwrought spot inside of me, obliterating conscious thought.
Cum rifles, spurt after spurt, from the tip of my untouched cock. My balls ache from the intensity of it.
