It was a goodbye to the past and a hello to thefuture.
Lucian was readyforit.
33
Marcus
It was the shrill,frantic buzzing of Marcus’ alarm that woke him on a Saturday morning six months following his last night at The Shepherd, and Marcus groaned as he reached for the bedside table and smacked the off button with his palm. He rolled back into bed, eyes still shut, and nestled into the pillows. Mornings should have been outlawed on weekends. Whoever had come up with them deserved to belockedaway.
Beside Marcus, the mattress moved. An arm looped around his waist, and Marcus opened a single eye to find an eager onlooker watching himwakeup.
As it turned out, Lucian coped with morningsmucheasier thanMarcusdid.
“It’s too early to be awake,” Marcus grumbled. He pushed his head back into the pillows, but Lucian didn’t budge. “I’m going back tosleep.”
“You can’t go back to sleep.” The bed shifted again as Lucian scooted closer. “It’s the wedding today. We can’tbelate.”
Lucian was right, of course. Crawford and Owen’s wedding was to be held at noon, and that meant Marcus and Lucian had to be out of the housebyten.
On aSaturday.
Marcus was convinced Crawford had done it to him onpurpose.
“We need to shower and get dressed,” Lucian continued. “We didn’t even stay up late last night. You have no reason to betired.”
“Says the twenty-one-year-old.” Marcus rolled onto his back, taking Lucian with him. As Lucian gasped in delight, Marcus rubbed his eyes and then blinked them open until he was comfortable with the light. “When you’re pushing forty with an incredibly demanding job, let me know if you still feel thesameway.”
“Let’s see if you say the same thing after coffee.” Lucian’s lips met his in what Marcus figured was supposed to be a short kiss, but Marcus didn’t care for brevity. He wove his fingers through Lucian’s hair and held him there. The kiss intensified, growing passionate, until Lucian shoved away from him. His cheeks were red. “Coffee.”
“Not sex?” Marcus grinned. He watched as Lucian climbed from the bed, nude, and made his way to the closet. A robe hung on the back of the door, a pale blue that contrasted the color of Lucian’s eyes. He slipped into it, tightening the cloth belt around hiswaist.
“No, no sex.” Lucian rolled his eyes playfully. “I’m going to put on some coffee. You want to meet me in the shower, where we can continue the whole no-sexthing?”
“That soundsawful.”
“Like you didn’t get enough of it last night.” Lucian crossed his arms over his chest, but he smiled while he did it. “One morning of celibacy isn’t going to kill you… especially when we have the whole evening to look forward to. You know what they say about after-weddingsex.”
Marcus furrowed his brow. “No. What dotheysay?”
“I was hoping you knew.” Lucian scratched the back of his head. His hair was mussed from sleep. “I’ve never been to a weddingbefore.”
Marcus covered his eyes and shook his head as Lucianlaughed.
“I’m going to go start the coffee now, for real this time.” Lucian paused in the door. When Marcus uncovered his eyes, he found Lucian studying him. A spark passed between them, gentler than it had been during their first few months together, but no less satisfying. “If you don’t make it to the shower, therewillbeconsequences.”
“Oh, really?” Marcus propped himself up on his elbows, arching a single brow. “You’re the one handing out theconsequencesnow?”
Lucian bit down on his lip, but the corners of his lips curled regardless. “I’m not above putting you in your place, you know. This is my very first wedding and I don’t want to miss it. Who did you say was gettingmarried?”
“My friend Crawford and his fiancé, Owen,” Marcus replied. He stretched, then climbed out of bed. “Now get going. At this rate, I’m going to beat you to theshower.”
“Not by a long shot.” Lucian darted down the hallway, and Marcus heard his footfalls as he sprinted for the kitchen. “Get it warmed up for me. You know how Ilikeit.”
Marcus did. They’d been living together for the last six months, and domestic life proved just as exciting and fulfilling as their forbidden, heated nights in the alley behind the club. Only now they didn’t have to worry so much about being tornapart.
Nothing could part them anymore. Marcus had staked his claim, but Lucian had also established his own. As much as Lucian belonged to him, he belonged to Lucian, and today at the wedding, Marcus would let it beknown.
Their relationship wasn’t the full-time Dom/sub dynamic that Marcus once envisioned for his future, but it was satisfying in ways he never could have predicted. The middle ground between kink and vanilla suited him better than he cared to admit, and it seemed to suit Lucian just as well. Marcus understood what Crawford had been talkingabout.
