Gabriel’s eyes closed and his lips parted, but he didn’t make asound.
“The piercing won’t be overly noticeable,” Cedric explained. He discarded the wipe and assessed the part of Gabriel’s ear he was about to pierce. All the while, he spoke to keep Gabriel’s mind occupied. “It’ll be subtle and gorgeous in anunexpectedway.”
He’d brought out Brittany’s fine-tip surgical marker, but it wasn’t going to be necessary. The piercing was Cedric’s choice, and he trusted his hand. His heart knew where it neededtogo.
“I need you to breathe with me,” Cedric instructed, his tone even. “We’re going to breathe in on a count of three, and then we’re going to breathe out slowly until all the air is out of our lungs. Can you do thatforme?”
“Yes,” Gabriel promised. He’d yet to open his eyes, but his body language read as relaxed. Not only were his shoulders slumped, but his hands were open and loosely capped his knees. He bore no doubt, and trust like that spoke more to Cedric thanwords.
“Then let’s breathe in together deeply. One. Two. Three.” Cedric readied the needle. Memories returned. The sunny studio that had once been his every day, and the way Brittany had led his hand, reassuring and sure of herself. What he’d learned from her, he now offered to Gabriel. “And exhale slowly all the way until you empty yourlungs…”
As Gabriel let go of his breath, Cedric pushed the needle through. The movement was seamless, and the positioning was exact. As Gabriel continued to exhale, no more bothered by the pain than the sound of Cedric’s voice, Cedric freed the jewelry from its packaging and threaded it through the hollow needle. In one smooth movement he pulled the needle all the way through, leaving the jewelry in Gabriel’s ear. He held it in place with a gloved finger and capped it, then sat back on his stool to examinehiswork.
The tasteful rook piercing, tucked near the fold of Gabriel’s ridge, was beautifully set. When it healed and Cedric swapped out the post for one a little shorter and the head for the pearl he imagined, it would blend in against Gabriel’s fair skin and only sometimes catch the light. It was feminine and uncomplicated, made more unique by the absence of any otherpiercing.
On Gabriel, it was magical—a single mark, rich withmeaning.
It was Cedric’s gift to him, and in it, Gabriel’s commitment to theirfuture.
“You’ll be away from me in the evening, so I’ll have to teach you about aftercare.” Cedric stripped the gloves from his hands and disposed of them. The piercing didn’t bleed, and for a moment, Cedric allowed himself to entertain the notion that it was because it was fated for Gabriel’s ear. He abandoned the stool to stand in front of Gabriel and slid his hands along the outsides of his thighs. Then, he leaned forward so that his lips were near Gabriel’s unpierced ear. “Will you learn it allforme?”
Excitement swirled in Cedric’s chest, starting between his lungs and racing downward like a tornado descending from the heavens. The chemistry between them ignited in the gale and rushed down Cedric’s arms, raising all the small hairs there alongtheway.
Aftercare.
What would he give to see Gabriel with that faraway look, his body so strung out and yet so relaxed as he released himself to subspace? His bare chest would rise and fall as he struggled to catch his breath, and Cedric would wrap him up tight in his arms and hold him close so he could whisper beautiful things inhisear.
“Please, Sir.” The arousal in Gabriel’s voice barely broke through the storm going on inside of Cedric. “Please, teach me. I’ll learn. Ipromise.”
For six months, he’d guided Gabriel through the hell Garrison had left him stranded in. For six months, they’d touched each other in small, increasingly bold ways that only ever titillated, and never amounted to anything more. Heated make-out sessions on the couch and clothed groping was as far as Gabriel would allow him to go before he made it clear that he wasn’t comfortable with more, and Cedric respected that. Simple pleasure would nurture Gabriel in the ways he needed. If he had to cast his own desires aside for Gabriel’s sake, he woulddoso.
Sex would come. Consent had been established. All Cedric was waiting for was a sign that Gabriel’s needs had evolved beyond theinnocent.
And as Gabriel wrapped his arms around Cedric’s neck loosely and let his eyes beg Cedric for more, he got the feeling he didn’t need to wait muchlonger.
Cedric’s hands trailed along Gabriel’s thighs to his ass, and he locked his arms around Gabriel’s frame. Gabriel’s arms tightened in anticipation, and when they did, Cedric lifted him from the stool and carried him from the storage room. His bedroom was right acrossthehall.
“Never,” Cedric uttered as he nudged the door open with his foot and carried Gabriel through the threshold, “try to clean your piercing with rubbing alcohol.Never.”
“Never,” Gabriel agreed, the breathy inflection of his reply making it anything butcasual.
Cedric lowered Gabriel to the bed and took hold of his shoulder, pushing Gabriel back as he lifted a knee and climbed up onto the bed over him. “Never touch your piercing during the day. No one is allowed to touch it. Only me. And only I will give you permission each day before you leave me to clean it. You will not lay a finger on what I’ve given you until I tell you thatyoucan.”
Gabriel’s back met the blankets, and Cedric moved him farther up onto the bed and kissed him, choking out Gabriel’s reply. Whatever words Gabriel had prepared for him manifested as a hum that Cedric swallowed. Their lips locked, and the tornado inside Cedricwentwild.
“Never,” Cedric said, barely separating his lips from Gabriel’s in order to speak. He kissed Gabriel again, long and hard, too attracted to him to hold back. When the kiss broke, he was breathless, and his cock ached for more. “Attempt to change the jewelry I put in. Only I will change it, and only when I see fit todoit.”
There was no audible response from Gabriel this time around, but his tongue knew how to say yes. They kissed deeply, and as they did, Gabriel traced his tongue along Cedric’s. Cedric accepted itgladly.
“Never,” Cedric uttered when the kiss broke. His lungs were starved for air, but the burning only fed into the storm and added to its magnificence. “Pick at any scabs that form, or scratch at your injury. Leave your earalone.”
“What if Adrian tries to make me take it out?” Gabriel’s eyes were glossed over with lust, different from any other time they’d made outlikethis.
Cedric smoothed a hand through his hair and looked down into the ocean-blue eyes that had stolen his heart from the very start. “You tell him that it isn’t his choice to make, and if he tries to argue, then you tell him to cometome.”
“I love you, Sir,” Gabriel whispered. “I’mready.”
“I know.” Cedric silenced him with a kiss, and the fire inside sparked and danced as it was set free on the winds of Cedric’s desire. “And I’mready,too.”
