The night belonged to Vincent.
And Vincent belonged to Mal.
* * *
The stairsto Mal’s apartment were familiar to Vincent by now, and he counted his way up the carefully polished vinyl until his last step brought him to Mal’s landing. Down the hall, past the scuff on the wall that looked like a soot mark, Vincent came to Mal’s door. He shifted the handles of the plastic bag in his hand, making sure that its contents stayed level, then knocked politely.
The knob turned. The door opened. Mal stood on the other side, stripped down to comfortable sweatpants and a fitted t-shirt, a timid smile on his face that made Vincent’s heart ache with want.
“Hi,” Mal said.
Vincent didn’t waste words. He stepped into the apartment, closed the door with a push of his heel, and pulled Mal to him with his free hand, kissing him deeply. Mal moaned into his mouth, his fingers curling in Vincent’s shirt. It was the best hello Vincent could manage—one not bound by the limitations of sound or language.
“Hi,” Vincent whispered into the space between their lips as the kiss broke.
“Come with me,” Mal murmured. His hand went to take Vincent’s, but found the handles of the bag in the way. Startled, Mal took a step back and glanced down. Realization dawned on his face. “Dinner?”
“Only the best.”
“What is it?” Mal looked at Vincent expectantly.
Vincent resisted a chuckle. “Salad.”
Mal pinched the bridge of his nose. “You’re really taking the whole ‘healthy eating’ thing to heart, aren’t you?”
“I’m your doctor. Of course I am.” With the hand once anchored behind Mal’s head liberated, Vincent wove his fingers with Mal’s and directed him to the kitchen so he could set the bag down. “If it makes you feel any better, I got a salad for myself as well. I’m not going to chow down on a burger while you’re toughing it out with greens.”
“What about eating for two?” Mal asked as Vincent set the bag down on the counter.
“A dangerous generalization.” Vincent freed the first of two to-go bowls from inside the bag and laid it on the counter. “Most expectant individuals take it as a free pass to eat whatever they want. That couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, you should only add an extra three-hundred-and-fifty calories to your diet per day, which is the equivalent of a handful of sunflower seeds. Your body becomes more efficient at absorbing nutrients during pregnancy, so eating more means you’ll only gain weight more quickly. If anything—”
He stopped speaking when Mal tugged at his arm and turned him around. Their lips met before Vincent knew to prepare himself for a kiss, and this time, it was him who moaned into Mal’s mouth as he gave in to pleasure. The kiss lasted, tugging Vincent’s mind from the clinical to the passionate.
“I love it when you talk doctor,” Mal murmured when they broke to breathe. “But right now, you’re home. You’re here with me. Let’s… let’s talk something else instead.”
“I won’t argue with that.” Vincent let his hands map Mal’s sides, following the lines of his body and sampling the softness of his t-shirt. When his hands arrived at Mal’s hips, one stayed where it was, while the other caressed its way down to toy with the cage that lay behind Mal’s sweatpants. “We do have other business to attend to, don’t we?”
A greedy inward gasp, barely audible, was his reward.
“I think you’ve been good, Daddy.” Vincent grasped the cage through Mal’s sweats. His fingers ran along each ridge, delighted in the feel of it. “You got pregnant, just like I hoped you would. You’ve done such a good job since I put that baby in you…”
“Oh, god,” Mal uttered. His voice was soft, but loaded with need long accumulated and ignored. The thrill of hearing it—of knowing thathewas the one who’d made Mal with child, and thathe’dlocked away Mal’s pleasure—stiffened him. “Baby…”
“It’s time to let you out of your cage, Daddy.” Vincent’s fingers crept upward, tugged at the elastic band around Mal’s waist only enough to slip behind them, then plunged beneath his briefs and traveled down to palm the steel over his lover’s shaft. Every now and then, his fingertips brushed Mal’s exposed balls. They were already tight. “Are you ready to be set free? Are you ready to come again?”
“Yes.” Mal was almost hoarse with desire. “Yes, please.”
“Then let’s go to bed,” Vincent said. “And I’ll set you free.”
40
Vincent
Cushioned by soft sheets, Mal lifted his hips, and Vincent guided his sweatpants down his legs. What should have been a simple process arrested Vincent, and he came to a stop as Mal’s sweatpants bunched around his ankles. Most days, Mal wore simple boxer-briefs—utilitarian and comfortable. Vincent had become used to the simple colors and standard fit.
What Mal wore today didn’t match his expectations.
A pair of sheer white panties pinned Mal’s cock cage to his thigh. The cage tented the fabric, its gleaming metal visible through the translucent material. Vincent stared, stunned. Saliva pooled in his mouth, which he swallowed, and he looked up to find Mal watching him, his eyelids weighed down with lust. The fitted t-shirt he wore hid the details of his body, but Vincent’s mind recalled each freckle and creamy stretch of skin. The dip of his navel. Small, pink nipples. Dark hair beneath Mal’s arms.
