“It means, I’m open to whatever you are open to. I don’t know much about your love life except that it’s been a bit of a drought. What are your plans, your dreams?”
Jon did feel a tear forming in his left eye at these words. It was true that they had never spoken much about their love lives, mostly due to them being busy with Demon Wars most of the time, but also because Jon had known Barion was looking for his mate. He had also been too preoccupied with his newfound libido and the joy of jerking off together to feel the need for an in-depth discussion. Thanks to Sammy, things had changed.
“I’m not even sure I have plans and dreams. You know, when I was still alive, being gay was something you hid in order not to die. I never got along well with my family and always had more pressing matters to think about than who I might want to hook up with—like staying away from my father’s belt.” Jon shuddered at the memory. Barion squeezed his fingers in silent support, causing more tears to follow their scout down his cheeks. “When I was woken from the dead, it took me a long time to come to terms with everything, and again I wasn’t ready to give my sexuality or the finding of a partner much thought. After I came out to my new family, the Honorés, they showed their support by trying to find me somebody, which meant I was busy refusing whoever they wanted to talk me into.” Jon chuckled. “Grann even offered to raise a partner for me.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. Oh. I talked her out of it. Funnily enough, my family’s meddling in my private life—aka my nonexistent love life—is the reason I came to Beaconville in the first place.”
“You were fleeing from them?”
“Kind of. I love them, don’t get me wrong. But how was I supposed to find somebody if I didn’t have any stirrings and was too busy dodging the good-willed matchmaker attempts from my family? I figured coming here would provide me the distance I needed to get some clarity.” Jon sighed. “To be honest, before I met you, I was in danger of becoming a total recluse. Sammy didn’t let me slip completely, but I wasn’t living either and ergo not coming closer to a solution regarding my love life. Everything the two of us are doing is new and wonderful and a lot more than I’ve ever done before in my life.”
“Hmm.” Barion was still holding Jon’s hand, stroking it gently. “The way I see it, we have a demon who has realized the importance of relaxing and a zombie who is curious for everything that might happen. The two are also friends—very close ones, I might add—who already know how nice it is to share intimacy with the other. Am I correct so far?”
“Very correct.” Jon’s breath hitched. He always liked it when Barion took charge and sounded like he knew what he was doing.
“So what’s keeping us from exploring whatever there is between us? From having fun as friends?” Barion’s tone was telling Jon how out of his depth the demon was. And he was insanely grateful that his friend was taking the lead in this difficult and potentially dangerous conversation, making it possible for Jon to react where he would have dreaded to act. He put his other hand in Barion’s palm while looking up at him.
“Nothing. Nothing’s keeping us from exploring whatever we want. I mean, we went to a hell dimension together. There are no limits for us!” He winked before he got serious again. “Thank you, Barion.”
“What for?”
“For being brave enough to talk to me. You gave me the courage to answer.”
“Always, Jon. Always.”
Barion lifted Jon’s hands and kissed his knuckles. The touch of his lips sent shivers down Jon’s spine.
“I think I want to do this very much. Explore.” Jon closed his fingers around Barion’s hand to drag it down to his lips. The heat emanating from Barion engulfed him like a blanket, made him bold and willing to dive into this new adventure.
Chapter Thirteen
“Are we really going to do this?” Barion looked at Jon, barely able to control himself. His heart was still hammering from the leap of faith he had just taken. Barion had known Jon would have never been cruel to him, but exposing himself hadn’t come easy. That his wonderful friend had thanked him for his bravery made Barion feel like the king of the world. For Jon, he would always charge into battle headfirst, which made it even more important to keep a level head now. Barion knew what they had just decided was big for both of them, even if it was for different reasons. He wanted Jon to be absolutely sure.
If Jon changed his mind and said he didn’t want to make that final step, that he had reconsidered, Barion would respect his wishes, but he would be very disappointed. The zombie was an attractive man, inside and out, one Barion could easily picture himself in bed with. Jon pulled his lips from Barion’s hand and lowered his gaze to the floor, then back up to him, the heat in his dark brown eyes burning Barion.
“Yes, I am sure. We’ve been jerking off together for months, and after what you just said, I assume you feel it as well—the connection we share? I want to deepen it even more.” There was a hint of vulnerability in Jon’s tone when he admitted to the pull between them.
Barion’s breath hitched in sheer excitement. “I do feel it, too. And I’d like nothing more than to act on it.”
“Then what are we waiting for?” Jon tightened the grip on Barion’s hand, led him toward the bedroom. Barion followed willingly, but was hardly able to control himself. He still didn’t understand what it was about Jon that pushed his sexual buttons when he should be looking for his mate instead, but he was also way past caring. Jon was there, he was fun, a good man, a perfect friend, a wonderful business partner and somebody Barion loved spending his time with. Hell, Jon had accompanied him on a trip to a hell dimension without batting an eyelash, putting absolute trust in him. It felt only logical to add skin-on-skin time to their list of activities.
He closed the bedroom door without looking away from Jon, who had let go of his hand and was taking off his T-shirt. Barion gulped audibly when he saw the by-now-familiar skin on display, this time in yet another context they hadn’t explored. Barion’s cock was already fully up, keenly interested in what was going on. Jon made a step toward him, his hands outstretched.
Barion reacted without thinking, letting his instincts take over. He grabbed Jon and yanked him against his chest, stroking his back in long, slow motions. Jon made a mewling sound at the back of his throat, and he tugged at Barion’s shirt.
He helped his lover to get it over his head, then dragged him against his now-naked body again. His scales were coming out, the feel of Jon’s skin on them almost pushing Barion over the edge because it was so good. Jon groaned, ghosting his hands over the scales.
“Feels so good. You’re so hot.”
Barion grinned. He knew Jon meant it as a compliment, though not in regard to his looks but his actual temperature, which was hilarious and so typical for the zombie and the relationship they had. He leaned back a bit to get a good look at Jon’s face. His dark curls were tucked behind his ears, his eyes glittering with hunger. Barion couldn’t hold back any longer. He lowered his head and found Jon’s lips in a first, tentative kiss that turned to lava almost instantly. Jon’s taste was like an explosion on Barion’s tongue, ripe blackberries and cream, and sun, everything good in the world wrapped up in his zombie—and wasn’t Jon supposed to not have a scent or taste? Barion felt the thought flaring up before it winked out under the barrage of feelings he was getting. Who needed to think about technicalities when there were more important things to do?
The kiss deepened even more and Barion felt Jon’s hands on the button of his trouser, trying to free his cock. Jon was having problems because Barion was so aroused that the material of his jeans was stretched to capacity. Not wanting to waste time, Barion let one of his claws slide out to take care of the problem. After his jeans slid to the ground in two cleanly cut halves, he did the same to Jon’s trousers. His lover didn’t protest the destructive way Barion treated his clothing, because he was too busy kissing and stroking and touching every inch he could reach. He seemed to be particularly fond of the patches where Barion’s scales were already fully out, and because Barion was an attentive lover, he let his natural body armor come forth in full, which earned him a happy moan and even more frantic touching.
Their underwear was gone in an instant as well, the much softer cloth not offering any resistance to the brutal yank Barion gave it. The tearing sound turned him on even more and he wasted no time laying Jon on his back on the mattress.
For a moment Barion was distracted by the slightly reproachful look of the eleventh doctor staring at him from the pillow next to Jon’s head. A quick flick of his wrist took care of that problem, the dark blue of the backside contrasting nicely with Jon’s light skin tone.
