Noah’s jaw worked. He’d considered it a lot, but never more than last night. Benji had taken a long time to fall asleep. Even in sleep, he’d been rigid unless Noah was stroking his back. He’d stayed up for several hours, soothing Benji into an easy sleep and watching his chest rise and fall.
Noah cupped Benji’s face, sweeping his thumbs over his narrow cheekbones.
“I’ll do whatever I have to,” he said. “If it means keeping you.”
Benji’s lips parted. He stared up at Noah with such disbelieving hope it made Noah want to press him down on the nearest surface and worship him until he believed he was worth burning down the world for.
Then Benji cleared his throat, those long eyelashes fluttering.
“But you don’t want to,” he clarified. “Right? You want to handle it quietly.”
“Minimal press,” Noah agreed. “No criminal charges. We can make a few deals, make sure money goes where it’s supposed to go. If I really push him, maybe I can even make him step down instead of bringing the board into it.”
“Good luck,” Benji muttered.
Noah chuckled, letting his hands skate down to his shoulders. “How was class? You look inspired.”
Benji bit his lip. “I didn’t go. Lay around instead. Still recovering, y’know.”
“Sure,” Noah said dubiously. Benji had been well enough to ride him into the mattress this morning; he was pretty sure he could’ve gone to class. “Are you worried what people will say?”
“Nope,” Benji said, so fast and confident it had to be a lie. He was even avoiding Noah’s gaze, like that would actually help.
Noah took his chin and turned his face toward him. “I thought you were opening up.”
Benji swallowed. Noah fought the urge to lean down and bite his Adam’s apple, following it with his lips when it bobbed.
“Fine,” Benji admitted. “I’m… alittleworried. Daph said three people asked about me in class today. Sue me for not wanting to show up.”
“It’s going to be fine,” Noah assured him. “I’ll make everything okay.”
Benji gave him a droll look. But there was something behind it, bare and scared. He was gripping Noah’s elbows so tightly.
Noah rubbed his hands until the grip softened. “Okay, I can’t promise it’ll be smooth sailing. But I can make you feel better right now.”
The fear left Benji’s face. A shy grin replaced it, big and getting bigger.
“Promise?”
Noah nodded. He kissed Benji sweet and slow, not stopping until Benji was panting against his mouth, trying to pull him closer.
Noah broke away, sliding his hand into Benji’s hair. “On your knees, baby.”
Benji went. Slowly, because Noah told him to be careful of his knees after too many times of hitting the floor too fast.
Noah scratched his scalp. “Nice and slow. You gonna keep that up?”
Benji nodded. His pupils were already blown, hands clumsy as they fumbled at Noah’s zipper. But he was slow when he fed Noah’s cock into his mouth, just like he promised. He took his time getting it wet beforehand, running his tongue up and down the length, pressing kisses to the tip. He paid a lot of attention to the bulge in the middle of his cock, as he often did.
“Your favorite part,” Noah said. “Right?”
Benji hummed, tongue splayed over the bulge. Then he pulled back.
“Love all of it,” he said.
“But you don’t go crazy when I fuck you with the tip.” Noah guided Benji’s head, making him run his tongue over the bulge again. “You only start falling apart when I start popping this in and out.”
“Feels good,” Benji mumbled. He ducked down, sucking on Noah’s heavy balls before leaning back up and feeding Noah’s cock into his mouth. Just the head at first, slurping softly. Then,lowering his head, he bobbed further and further until his nose brushed Noah’s neatly trimmed pubes.
