Valac turned to carry him to the bedroom, and one hand slipped inside the back of his joggers, dragging down his crack. Julian jolted like he’d been electrocuted, and he remembered belatedly that he was wearing a jockstrap. Valac’s mouth parted from his, but his steps didn’t falter. Their eyes met as Valac’s fingers plucked at the jockstrap’s waistband.
“What is this?” he asked.
“Um. It’s a type of underwear. Not something I typically wear, really, but I accidentally grabbed it earlier when I went to shower and decided to just wear it anyway.”
“I want to see.” Valac dumped Julian on the bed and grabbed the waistband of his joggers.
Julian squirmed up the bed as the fabric cleared his ankles, his face flaming. He was almost to the pillow when something stopped him. Panting for breath, he looked down to see dark tendrils of shadow winding up his legs, pressing his knees apart and up. Julian gripped the blanket under him, his fingers twisting in the fabric as tangible shadows exposed him to the air.
At the foot of the bed, Valac stripped out of his shirt. Modern clothing barely contained him, and he looked more natural likethis, the black lines curving, swooping, and swirling along his marble skin in thick stripes. Julian’s mouth went dry as he reached for his jeans, loosening them and pushing them down along with his boxers. His glowing eyes didn’t leave Julian’s half-naked body as he stepped out of them, but Julian’s gaze fell.
Dammit, Talon was right. But he wouldneveradmit that out loud.
Valac’s cock was long and thick. Julian wasn’t sure his fingers would meet if he gripped it—and he intended to find out tonight. It was uncut and striped with black lines like the rest of his body.
Julian opened his mouth to speak, but shadows slipped around him and flipped him. He landed on his stomach with a squeak and pushed up on his elbows, looking over his shoulder. The mattress dipped under Valac’s weight. He straddled Julian’s legs, pinning him against the bed. His eyes were on Julian’s ass.
Julian cleared his throat. “T-Tell me what you’re thinking, Valac.” It sounded like a plea to his own ears.
“I want to touch you,” Valac said. His fingers slipped under Julian’s shirt, dragging it up to bunch under his arms. “Can I touch you, my jewel? Can I explore your body and make you feel good?” He plucked at the thick waistband of the jockstrap again, letting it snap against Julian’s lower back.
“God,” Julian breathed, letting his head fall to the bed. “Yes, Valac,yes.”
Valac’s hands dug into the muscles of his upper back, and Julian groaned. It wasn’t what he was expecting, but he certainly wouldn’t complain about it. Valac’s big hands worked their way down his spine, and his weight shifted back to make room. He traced the lines of the jockstrap gently, first the waistband and then the elastic at the bottom, moving from his hips inward. Julian’s breath caught as he reached his inner thighs, but Valac didn’t go any further. Instead, he grabbed two handfuls of Julian’s cheeks, squeezing and kneading. The pressure of hishands drove Julian’s hips into the mattress, providing some much needed friction against his cock.
Julian grabbed the pillow and buried his face in it, muffling his moans. He was burning with need, but Valac seemed to be in no hurry, leaning into mouth wet kisses across his shoulder blades and down his spine.
“I’ve wanted you for so long, my jewel,” he murmured against Julian’s skin. He wrenched the pillow away from Julian, throwing it across the room. “Let me hear you.”
“Valac,God,” he whined. “Touch me, please.”
Shadows squeezed around his wrists, drawing them above his head, like Valac wanted to make sure Julian wasn’t going anywhere. His thumbs dipped into Julian’s crack, prying his cheeks apart, and he hummed.
“He told me you might have trouble taking me.”
It took Julian a moment to realize the ‘he’ had to be Talon, and he huffed. They were all weirdly invested in Julian and Valac’s sex life. He wasn’t willing to admit that Talon might be right.
“I want to be inside you, my jewel. Do you want that, too?” The pad of one finger pressed against his hole.
Julian wriggled. He tried to look over his shoulder, but the shadows held fast. “Yes. There’s—lubricant in the living room. The big bottle that came with all the sex stuff.” As embarrassing as it was for a relative stranger to buy that kind of thing for them, he was glad they had so much of it. They were going to need it.
“Good. I’ll get it—but first.”
Something pressed inside Julian’s hole, solid but strangely cool. He groaned as the pressure increased, stretching him just enough for a mild burn. He tried to rock back on it, but the shadows around his wrists and legs held him still.
“What—What is that?” he asked, his spine bowing.
“My shadows will stretch you while I get the bottle.”
A bolt of heat went down his spine. Valac’s shadow powers were stretching him open. Just like a plug.
He’d done this only once, a few years ago. He’d liked it an incredible amount, but dating was too hard as a paladin, and he didn’t like one night stands. Letting someoneinsidehim was an intimate thing, and he’d never found someone he wanted to be this vulnerable with. But Valac? He’d already seen Julian at his absolute worst. He’d stuck by him through horrors and tragedies. The shadows that wrapped around his limbs weren’t confining; they were sheltering. Knowing it wasn’t a toy inside him now but a piece of Valac made it even hotter.
Valac’s weight disappeared from the bed, and he was left alone, hard as a rock, exposed and vulnerable. He whimpered, his cock leaking and his hips hitching uselessly. The pressure in his ass expanded and contracted, teasing him with ruthless efficiency. He moaned loudly.
“Valac, get your ass back in here!” he hollered, trying pointlessly to kick one leg free.
The heat of Valac’s body blanketed him suddenly, like he’d teleported from the living room to the bedroom to get there as quickly as possible. “I’m here, my jewel.”
