“Strip.”
“Yes, sir,” Eric sassed. He began removing his clothes, neither rushing through nor delaying the process. “Will you join me?”
Wolfe considered. “After I bathe you.”
The bathing was nonnegotiable. Wolfe found himself…in need of it. In need of a ritual that allowed him to care for his mate in the way that came easiest. To remind himself exactly who possessed Eric and why.
After handing Wolfe his clothes to be folded, Eric lowered himself into the water, and Wolfe settled in behind him on the edge of the tub, his bare feet resting on the shallow lip that made their bathtub so convenient for their purposes. As Wolfe had, of course, designed it.
Eric leaned back, eyes closed. Wolfe used his preferred pitcher to wet his mate’s blond hair and began his ritual.
“This is nice,” Eric murmured after a time.
“Mm.”
“It wouldn’t be like this, you know, with the family you’re imagining.”
Wolfe frowned down at his mate but didn’t pause his ministrations.
“I’d have tried to take on the role I was raised with,” Eric continued, his eyes still shut, the picture of contentment. “Man of the house, or whatever. The provider. I would have hated it. Working long hours at a job that made me miserable, guilty I wasn’t around more.” He let out a long breath. “I wouldn’t have been cared for like this. And I need it.” Eric raised a hand, clasping Wolfe’s wrist. “I need you.”
Wolfe rinsed the shampoo from Eric’s hair, then began working in conditioner. He took his time before speaking. “You’ve learned how to soothe the savage beast, hm?”
Eric opened his eyes, tilting his head back to peer up at Wolfe. “You? Savage? You iron your underwear.”
“I steam my underclothes, as I do all my garments.”
Eric laughed, bright and easy. “I love you so much. I can’t wait to see you terrify the trick-or-treaters without even trying.” He let his eyes fall closed again. “They each get two handfuls of candy, by the way.”
“Indulgent,” Wolfe chastised.
“I learned from the best.”
And that seemed to be it for Eric’s regrets. All that fuss for nothing, hm? Wolfe rinsed Eric’s hair with care. He climbed out from behind his mate.
Eric sat up quickly, twisting to track Wolfe’s movements. “Where are you going?”
There it was. The familiar neediness. A soothing balm to any leftover irritation Wolfe might have held over imagined slights.
Still.
Wolfe gave Eric an arch look, then stripped off his undershirt and underwear—which he hadnotironed, no matter what his mate accused—sliding into the tub behind Eric afterward.
“You’re hard,” Eric told him, wiggling back so that Wolfe’s cock was pressed between his cheeks.
“You’re surprised?”
“I thought maybe you’d be taking me to bed.”
Wolfe could hear the pout in Eric’s voice, and he grinned into his mate’s wet hair. “I can fuck you most adequately right where we are.”
Wolfe felt the shiver run through Eric. He slid his arms around Eric’s waist, letting his hands wander to find exactly what he’d expected: Eric’s substantial erection.
“Poor, slutty creature,” Wolfe crooned, cupping the evidence of Eric’s arousal. “Even a simple bath leaves you aching for me.”
“Iamaching for you,” Eric sighed. “I need to be fucked.”
He was verging on manipulation, Wolfe’s perfect, needy mate, but Wolfe couldn’t be bothered by it, not when theirdesires aligned so perfectly. Eric needed to be fucked and filled, and Wolfe wished to fuck and fill him.
