Mal bit into a mouthful of sheets, doing his best to stay quiet, but it was nearly impossible. All he wanted to do was scream with pleasure, caught between the thickness of Vincent’s cock and the way the vibrator sent waves of crushing euphoria through his lower body.
He couldn’t hold on any longer.
With a choked cry, he bucked his hips and came.
“Baby,” Mal gasped, releasing the sheets and rearing his head back as orgasm exploded in his groin. “Oh,fuck…”
Vincent groaned. He slumped down over Mal, struggling to catch his breath. He hadn’t knotted. Was he holding it back?
“Did you come, baby?” Mal asked. He turned his head to the side, exhausted, but satisfied. “You didn’t knot…”
“I came.” Vincent kissed the back of his neck and slowly withdrew. The vibrator parted from Mal’s body, and Vincent shifted his hips to the side. The buzz stopped. Mal assumed he’d taken the condom off. “You were wonderful.”
A glow set in. Its warmth spread across Mal’s cheeks like a blush. He lay on his stomach and enjoyed Vincent’s weight on top of him.
Sex wasn’t supposed to feel so good. It wasn’t supposed to leave him this satisfied. But then again, Mal had never found a partner who was interested in respecting his wants and providing for him in the ways he needed. Was this what it was like, to find someone who cared?
He smiled.
“Stay with me tonight,” Vincent urged. He moved from behind Mal to settle at his side, drawing Mal into his arms. Mal’s limbs were loose, and he was too comfortable to want to leave. It had been a long, long time since he’d slept anywhere that wasn’t his own bed, but he didn’t think it would matter. The problems he used to have wouldn’t be an issue anymore—he’d worked through them and come out stronger.
He could stay with Vincent.
“I’ll stay,” Mal murmured in reply. The words had barely left his mouth before Vincent’s lips were on his, starting a slow but passionate kiss that turned the glow in Mal’s cheeks to a shimmer.
Maybe his time with Vincent was only for now, but the way Vincent made him feel would stick with him for a lifetime. It was the courage he needed in an otherwise bleak time.
It wasn’t too late to get a fresh start. He’d see the IVF through until it stuck. There was still hope out there that his dreams could come true—Vincent was proof of it.
That night, he fell asleep in Vincent’s arms, listening to the sound of a heartbeat other than his own, happier than he could remember being in a long, long time.
11
Mal
Cold soaked into the soles of Mal’s feet and disseminated, traveled through the tendons of his heels, then up the muscles of his calves. It seeped into his bones and shot upward, continuing its cruel climb until Mal’s thighs were chilled. His hamstrings stiffened. His buttocks clenched, and as they did, Mal felt it—slick.
Terrifying. Unwanted.
Heat.
Not now. Not when his feet were cold.
The world materialized before his eyes. Wide windows overlooking the twinkling lights of the city at night. Men in tuxedos, some who showed no interest in him, and some who leered. Their faces blurred, featureless, yet frighteningly cruel and inhuman. Inhuman, or inhumane? Mal’s heart pounded.
He couldn’t tell.
Even now, he couldn’t tell.
“Mal,” a familiar voice told him in gentle tones meant to injure. “Go see to our gentleman guest. Make sure he has a good time this evening. I know you’ll make me proud.”
Mal didn’t want to. He knew that he had to be good, but the thought of listening to one more word made him sick.
“Go on,” the voice told him.
Baylor.
Mal’s mouth dried, and his tongue shriveled into a desiccated husk.
