The collar was hidden under a bowtie and high lapels, but they both knew it was there. The solid weight of it around Benji’s neck was comforting every time he dragged in a breath.
“You look like a dork,” Max whispered from beside him.
Benji pretended like he was going to swat the pillow that held their rings. Max squawked and held it safely out of the way.
Tia cleared her throat loudly. She was practically bouncing from foot to foot with excitement. She had become an officiant as a joke in college, but she’d never had the chance to marry anyone before.
“Friends,” she began. “Romans. Countrymen. We gather here today to celebrate the union of our dear friends Benjamin Caulfield and Noah Stern. I’ve been asked to keep this short, and I one hundred percent will, but I think we can all say that we’re super proud of both of them and we can’t wait for them to start their new lives together.”
Daphne whooped. Max moved like he was going to pump his fist in the air, only for the ring-laden pillow to tip violently, making him grab it again.
“Hell yeah,” Tia said, her voice clogged. She sniffed and motioned to Noah. “Would the first groom like to say his vows?”
Noah took Benji’s hands. They were warm and smooth, and they sent a fissure of pleasure right into Benji’s heart.
“Benjamin,” Noah began, looking at him with an unwavering intensity that Benji would never get used to. “I’ve spent my whole life trying to love moderately. Sometimes I evensucceeded. Then you came into my life, and it became impossible. Your beauty, your sweetness, your snarkiness, your big heart—I fell immediately. People ask me if I’m worried I’m moving too fast. With anyone else, I would say yes. But not with you. I’ve been looking for you everywhere. And now that I’ve found you, I’m not letting go.”
Benji’s eyeliner was thoroughly ruined now. He wiped at his eyes, unable to stop himself from grinning through his tears as Tia passed the vows to him.
“I can’t believe I’m here,” Benji blurted. “I’ve been looking for you, too. I’d never admit it, but god, you’re all I’ve ever wanted. And that terrified me, how much I wanted you. But not anymore. You helped me see that I—I don’t have to be scared anymore. Because you’ve got me.”
Max stepped up with the rings. He didn’t look uncomfortable at all the emotion, like Benji had expected. He looked downright gleeful, all but shoving the rings in their hands.
The rest of the ceremony passed in a blur. It was short, like Tia had mentioned, mostly because neither man could wait to make Benji come for the first time in a month, although they kept this fact from most of their guests. Their wedding rings settled onto their fingers, everyone clapped, and Noah pulled Benji into their first and only dance of the night.
Benji let Noah hold him tight. The others were half-watching, half-crowding around the towering table of cake: a beautiful six-layer cake decorated with golden candied roses that glided down the cake in a waterfall. It was very impressive, and Benji tried to be hungry for it. But Noah was gliding his finger over the small of Benji’s back, only a few inches away from where Benji wanted him most.
His cock jerked pitifully in his chastity cage. Benji ignored it, trying to focus on Noah twirling him around the dance floor. Heshouldluxuriate in his wedding. It was small and intimate,just like he wanted. It was short, also like he wanted: in and out, no fuss, no paparazzi, not even any small talk. It was practically perfect, so he should at least finish the dance and have some cake before he ran away with Noah to end his full month of no orgasms.
Noah nosed at his cheek. “Do you want cake after this?”
“No,” Benji said before he could stop himself.
Noah hummed, a smile growing on his face as he twirled them in a lazy circle on the polished dance floor, which was big enough for a hundred people but tonight hosted only two.
“Do you want to finish this song?” Noah asked. “Or do you want me to take you away and make you come so many times you can’t form words?”
“Second option,” Benji said instantly.
Noah’s sly smile turned into a grin so fond that Benji had to fight the urge to look away from it. He had spent so much time being afraid of the force of Noah’s love. But he had no reason for that now. Even if some small part of him still whispered that it would go away, that Noah deserved better, he knew those voices were full of shit. Noah hadn’t lied during those vows. He wasn’t letting Benji go.
Twenty minutes later, they tumbled into their apartment with their shirts already hanging open. Benji had started pawing at Noah in the elevator, too pent-up to do anything else after Noah spent the whole ride home stroking Benji’s inner thigh.
Noah nodded distractedly at the clothes they were shedding in the front hall. “We need to pick those up before Max gets back from the sleepover tomorrow.”
Benji ignored him, fumbling for Noah’s belt.
“And hang up your cape,” Noah said. “I want to keep that.”
“You can tie me up with it later,” Benji promised. He felt drunk, even though he hadn’t touched the champagne flutes that had only just been carried out when they left.
“I told—” Noah paused to kiss Benji’s chin, then panted into his neck. “I told Daphne to save us some cake.”
“Fuck the cake,” Benji said. “Make me come.”
Noah laughed, bright and loose and so full of delight that it made Benji focus on something other than his blinding horniness. He paused in the middle of undoing Noah’s belt to look into his face, basking in the wonderful glow of Noah’s happiness, all of it aimed directly at him.
Noah’s eyes went soft. He could tell why Benji had stopped. He stroked Benji’s face, and Benji suddenly felt like the most treasured thing in existence.
