I shiver.
“But something tells me we’d need safewords, even if all I did were praise you.”
Does that mean he’s interested in doing it?
“Maybe you wouldn’t want me to tell you how pretty you are when we’re waiting at the checkout in the supermarket.”
I laugh. “Well, I would, but if you laid it on too thick, I’d be a quivering wreck in public.”
“So you’d need a way to tell me to stop.”
“Kyle—”
He trails his fingertip along my collarbones. “Yes?”
“You don’t have to praise me.”
“What if I want to?” He presses his cheek against my shoulder. His skin is hot. Is he blushing? “I can’t promise to be any good at it, but I adored how you reacted to praise last night. The way you’re reacting right now. It-it—”
“What?”
“Makes me feel powerful. Is that wrong?”
“No.”
“But I feel like, without safewords, it would be too easy for me to use praise to manipulate you, and I’d never want to do that, Haru. You’re my friend.”
“You take care of your friends.”
He sucks in a breath. “You remember?”
What he said eleven years ago after rescuing me from those bullies? “Yes.”
“Fuck, Haru. You must have a good memory.”
“It meant a lot to me then. It means even more now, especially after last night. You’re turning into my knight in shining armour.”
“Is that something you want?”
“To be protected and taken care of? Yes. More than anything. I don’t know why. I also don’t know why praise makes me react the way I do.”
He cups my cheek and turns my face towards him. “It’s who you are.”
“Yes.”
The moment he kisses me, I part my lips, needing him to use my mouth with his tongue. He doesn’t disappoint. The kiss is hot, desperate, and commanding.
“What happened with the guy at uni? The one who got you into kink.”
“Tam? Oh, he graduated and moved away.”
“Safewords.”
I swallow. “You want to keep praising me?”
“Yes.” He sucks my earlobe into his mouth. “Damn, even your sweat is delicious.”
I doubt that’s true, but I appreciate the sentiment.
