Landon blinked at him, then looked away.
Gregory stroked his thumb over Landon’s chin until he looked back.
“Don’t let it happen again,” Gregory told him.
Landon’s body shuddered with the weight of his exhale, then he quirked his lip into a grin.
“Are you going soft on me?”
Gregory wanted to ask him if he’d meant it when he said he still loved him.
“I’m anything but soft when it comes to you,” he said instead.
Landon hummed a happy noise and burrowed into the sheets, inhaling Gregory’s pillow.
“Is it work time?” Landon asked him.
Gregory rested his head against Landon’s thigh, manipulating Landon’s balls in his hand. They were heavy. He closed his fist around Landon’s sac and squeezed, eliciting a pained gasp from above him.
“It is work time,” Gregory confirmed. “Come and wash me.”
He stood from the bed and walked into the bathroom, turning the taps on warm while he waited for Landon to join him. Once Landon was there, Gregory stepped into the shower, and he followed, wrapping his arms around Gregory from behind. He held Gregory’s cock in his hands and rested his cheek against his back.
It was a moment of spectacular intimacy in a relationship that was already more intimate than he’d ever had before. Gregory closed his hands around Landon’s and tipped his head backward. Landon kissed his neck gently then left his lips against Gregory’s wet skin; he knew in that exact moment Landon had meant what he’d said earlier.
Gregory turned and dropped his arms over Landon’s shoulders and used his nose to nudge Landon’s face into his line of sight. The water poured off Gregory’s head and down their chests.
“Did you mean what you said?” he finally asked.
Landon blinked and water beaded on his eyelashes.
“I didn’t know if you heard me.”
“I heard you,” Gregory confirmed.
The water continued to run down their bodies, beating into Gregory’s back while they stood there silently.
“I don’t know if it matters, but even when I hated you, I loved you,” Gregory told him. “I know that I still love you.”
Landon looked up at him and his eyes were wet, glassy, from more than the heat of the shower. Gregory tipped his head down and grazed his lips across Landon’s mouth, then did it again, darting his tongue out. Landon sighed and parted his lips, letting Gregory deepen the kiss.
And Gregory did. Gregory kissed him like they had been lovers their entire lives, and in a way, they had been. He used his mouth to make promises he’d never be able to put into words until Landon tore his mouth away, panting.
“You know I love you,” he whispered.
Gregory kissed along Landon’s jaw to his ear and neck. Landon sighed and angled his head to allow Gregory the access he desired.
“You’re mine,” Gregory told him.
“Yours.”
“Mine to command and own. Mine to fuck…or not.” Gregory sank his teeth into the shell of Landon’s ear.
“Yours,” Landon repeated.
“Now wash me, like you were already told.”
Gregory tried to school his features, to remain cool and calm, even though his heart was slamming against his ribs. He knew Landon had felt it, but he did as ordered, lathering up a loofah and taking Gregory’s hand into his and soaping his skin. Landon made his way over Gregory’s body, washing and worshipping as he went.
