Adrian gasped. The sound cut through the bedroom, and for a second, Sterling was afraid that it had come from Gabriel. But the lights stayed off, and the shadows in the room didn’t shift. They werealone.
“So be a good boy for me.” Sterling stroked his thumb over the head of Adrian’s cock as he thrust in deep. Precum smeared across his skin, and he used it to lubricate Adrian’s shaft. “Come. I want youtocome.”
The bond between them was so recently developed that Sterling knew it was a long shot. Asking for an untrained submissive to come on command was a fantasy seldom realized—but with Adrian, who’d been visiting The Shepherd for years, there was a chance, and Sterlingtookit.
He was rewarded forhisrisk.
Adrian’s body shook. Sterling felt his hips shift, and as he fisted Adrian’s cock he felt the first twitch. The muffled cries that marked Adrian’s pleasure were primal, but muted by necessity. The frantic sound of them brought Sterling right to the edge, and as Adrian’s body clenched around him, he lethimselffall.
Orgasm squeezed Sterling’s gut. With a rasped grunt, he buried himself in Adrian and let himself go. Cum pulsed through him. His knot swelled. Adrian’s body stretched to accommodate him as best it could, but there was no way it could stretch far enough to let Sterling slide out from insideofhim.
They werestuck.
Half of Adrian’s body collapsed onto the bed—Sterling heard the plop as his chest hit the mattress heavily. The other half was pressed closer to Sterling, fitting his knot as deeply as it could go to try to relieve some of the pressure from his overworked ring. Sterling held him there, allowing Adrian’s legs toslump.
“Good. So good.” Sterling didn’t allow himself to sound breathless. Right now, his needs came second to Adrian’s. “Do you have any idea how impressive that is? How perfectyouare?”
Adrian made a hitched noise in his throat. It was as much of a response as Sterling was going to get. With care, he collected Adrian in his arms and laid him down on the bed. They settled together beneath the sheets, their bodies stilljoined.
“As long as you want, this can be yours.” Sterling’s hands explored Adrian’s side, then traced over his stomach. It might have been his imagination, but he could have sworn he felt a bump there—a sign of pleasure already passed. Arousal swelled in Sterling anew, and he let his fingers trail over Adrian’s stomach to milk the feeling in full. “I won’t ever let yousuffer.”
No matter the sins of his past, no matter his hang-ups, and no matter hiswounds.
They spent that night in each other’s arms, even long after Sterling’s knot had gone down and their bodies had naturally separated. It wasn’t until the cadence of Adrian’s breathing slowed that Sterling allowed himself to settle, and from there, to slowly drift off tosleep.
There, he found the most satisfactionofall.
Brain foggy, thoughts spiderwebbing from consciousness to dreamscape, it was easy to imagine that this would be hiseveryday.
Adrian. The baby. A chance to make thingsright…
It was the sweetest dream Sterling could everentertain.
21
Adrian
Morning.There was no doubt that was what it was, regardless of the absence of twittering birds or the dreamy, basking light of the sun. Adrian drew in a deep breath and held it in his lungs, decoding its scents onebyone.
Flowery fabric softener. The light scent of lavender from the massage oil that still clung to hisskin.Musk.
AndSterling.
Adrian rolled over and grabbed a pillow to hug to his chest, only to find that Sterling’s arm was already wrapped around it. The skin-on-skin contact startled Adrian, and he drew his hand back quickly. It was too late. Sterling blinked his eyes open, then yawned and tugged Adrianclose.
“Good morning,” Sterling murmured, somewhere close to half-asleep.
“Morning.” Adrian squirmed, attempting to break free without meaning it. After what had happened last night, he had no idea how to act around Sterling. If Sterling thought he was going to act lovey-dovey just because he’d given in to whatfeltnice…
Well, maybe Sterling wouldn’t be so far offthemark.
Adrian scowled and did his best to put his walls back up, but the second Sterling’s hand traced along his stomach, he knew he was fighting a losing battle. Arousal and satisfaction swept through Adrian as one, and he felt the blush in his cheeks even as he contorted his lips tooffsetit.
“Are you still tired?” Sterling asked. “You can go back to sleep, if you want. I’ll take care of breakfast thismorning.”
“That won’t benecessary.”
“You’re nothungry?”
