“If I can make that final moment a little easier for someone else so they don’t have to go through what I did, then I’m happy. I’ve done some good.” Tom was suddenly self-conscious of how long he’d been talking and promptly killed the rest of his wine. “Right, so. There you have it.”
Cypress was quiet for a long moment before finally reaching out to cup Tom’s flushed cheek, drawing him into a soft kiss.
The sweet affection was a balm to Tom’s nerves, washing over him as quickly as the wine he had chugged. “I’m sorry. That was a lot.”
“Thank you for sharing that with me, and don’t you dare apologize,” Cypress soothed. “You, Tom Hill, are so beautiful.”
“I’m…” Tom resisted the instinct to reject the compliment. “Thank you.”
“What you do is priceless, and I’m sure you don’t receive a fraction of the praise or gratitude you deserve,” Cypress went on. “I knew you really put yourself into your work, but I had no idea just how much.”
“I put everything,” Tom whispered, smiling sadly.
“And get nothing back,” Cypress pointed out, raising Tom’s hand to his lips and kissing his wrist. “Can’t go on like that forever, you know. Not without burning out.”
“I know. I don’t… I don’t know what else to do.”
“You have to find somewhere else to invest your time and emotions where you’ll get an even return.”
“Like being blackmailed by this hot guy into having kinky sex?” Tom said, trying to lighten the mood.
Cypress let out a small snort. “Well, I think you’re definitely getting a big return with me.”
“Mm.Verybig.” Tom grinned, and when Cypress grinned back, he started laughing. He couldn’t help it. The rush of emotions over the last few minutes had been so intense and laughing felt incredible.
Cypress tried to kiss all the laughter from Tom’s lips, but all too soon he was laughing right along with him. “Okay, for the record, I did not mean anything sexual when I said that.”
“Bullshit.” Tom snickered. “Oh, you’re definitely getting abigreturn.”
“God.” Cypress groaned, having to wipe tears from his eyes from laughing so hard. “You are ridiculous.”
“Thought I was beautiful?”
“You’re both.” Cypress kissed his cheek as he got up. “Whew! Hang on. Dinner should be about ready.”
Tom turned to prop his elbows on the bar, watching Cypress putting on a pair of oven mitts. “Do you mind if I ask how you got into the kinky stuff?”
“Not at all,” Cypress said, opening the oven and taking out a big casserole dish to set on the stove to cool. “Saw it in movies, porn, some magazines at a gay bookstore. Thought it looked sexy. Not too hard to find guys who like leather at a gay bar, and I started experimenting, figuring out what I liked.”
“That’s it?”
“Were you expecting that I just walked into an orgy one day and fell in love with spanking?” Cypress teased, pulling off the oven mitts with a little flourish.
“I don’t know.” Tom chuckled, running his fingers through his hair. “Something exciting, I guess.”
“Sometimes you only need one person to show you the way.”
“Did you have someone like that?”
“I had someone who taught whatnotto do, and after that, I met more responsible people who taught me better.”
“And you’re gonna teach me?”
“For as long as you want me to keep quiet about your little side business.” Cypress winked and began to plate the food, nodding for Tom to head over to the dining table. “Dinner is ready, Monsieur.”
“God, it smells so amazing.” Wine in hand, Tom eagerly followed Cypress to the table. He nearly orgasmed on the spot when he tasted the creamy spinach filling inside the chicken, and he couldn’t stop complimenting Cypress’s cooking.
Cypress humbly accepted the praise, paid tribute to his grandmother and mother for teaching him, and they continued talking with more lighthearted conversation.
