“You won’t, but what about me?” Nico countered.
Mal shrugged. “What do you need to remember when you have me? I thought you said you didn’t want to have to think about things?”
“It’s just that easy, huh?” Nico asked, looking a little dazed.
“Yes. Forget this or that. Tell me your hard limits. What are your definite nos?” Once more, that pinched expression returned. Mal could feel Nico’s anxiety like an itch under hisskin. “It’s not a quiz. There’s no wrong answer. You can say no to anything.”
Nico gnawed on his bottom lip until it was red and swollen before finally saying, “I mean, no bathroom stuff…no illegal things…no weird porn, unless it’s, like, cartoon stuff. Hentai is okay as long as it’s not super degrading. I…kind of like the idea of being permanently marked by you, but not like how Felix carved up Avi. No knives. And no, like…branding or anything. Burns hurt too much.”
Mal’s breath left him in a rush, his hand coming up to circle Nico’s throat loosely, pulling him closer. “You want to be marked by me, Fidget?”
Nico gave a stilted nod, cheeks flushing. “Is—Is that weird?”
Mal huffed out a breath through his nose at the absurdity of Nico’s question. “No. It’s hot. What kind of mark? A tattoo?”
The stain on his cheeks grew darker. “You know how Zane has that scar on his shoulder?”
“The bite mark?” Mal asked.
Nico nodded. “I think it’s sexy.”
So did Mal. The placement, the ownership, all of it was hot as fuck. “Asa had to bite Zane in the same place again and again—for years—for that scar to become permanent. You know that, right?”
“I know,” Nico said softly. “That’s why it’s so hot.”
Mal closed his eyes, trying not to lose it at the thought of biting Nico’s shoulder every time he was inside him.
“I’d have to draw blood,” Mal said, trying to hold back his excitement, even as saliva pooled in his mouth.
Nico gave another jerky nod. “I know,” he said, breathless.
Mal shifted beneath him. “Repeatedly.”
Nico choked on a needy little noise at the back of his throat. “I know.”
“Fuck,” Mal muttered, trying to get himself under control.
“You think it's weird?” Nico asked, voice small.
Mal snorted. “No, Fidget. I think it’s fucking hot. I think you’re so fucking hot. You know that.”
He dragged him in for another kiss, this one far filthier than the last. By the time he pulled back, they were both panting and a little dazed.
“Is that it for hard limits?” Mal finally asked.
“I’m not sure. Can’t we just talk about it as things come up? I’m not a walking encyclopedia of kinks,” Nico said. “My mind keeps going blank whenever you ask me an open-ended question.”
That was fair. It was hard for Nico’s mind to focus when he wasn’t given very specific parameters. He always did better with multiple choice versus essay style. But there was something Mal had been thinking about for a long time. Probably longer than was healthy. Something he thought both he and Nico might really enjoy. But he didn’t want to spook him.
“Almost done, I promise.”
“Okay,” Nico said hesitantly.
“Did you like being spanked?”
Once more, Nico’s head dropped like he couldn’t look at Mal as he answered. “Yes,” he whispered softly.
“You sure? You cried really hard.”
