Patrick pulled back, breathing a little faster. Jono had to push down the desire to upend Patrick onto his back and ravish him.
“That all you want for Christmas?” Patrick asked, sitting back up again.
Jono dragged the heel of his palm over Patrick’s cock before he got too far away. Then he propped himself up on his elbows once more. “Just you, every day of the year.”
Patrick lifted a hand and ran his fingers through Jono’s hair, stroking it out of his eyes. Patrick’s gaze searched his, teeth biting at his bottom lip until the skin there went white from the pressure. Jono reached up to gently pry it free, skimming his thumb over the seam of Patrick’s lips.
Patrick turned his head a little to press a kiss to his thumb. When he looked at Jono again, there was a weight to his gaze that made Jono go still, the rush of blood in his ears loud like thunder.
“If the gods had given us a choice on who they bound me to, I would have chosen you,” Patrick said, the honesty in his words like honey that Jono could almost taste.
The confession made his heart skip a beat, and he stared at Patrick in wonder, thinking about how he wouldn’t have any of this if he had walked away from Marek’s offer all those years ago.
Jono thought of the accidents and decisions that had led them to each other, and the way nothing in their lives seemed to happen by chance, but by what the Fates decreed. Maybe they could’ve fought going down this twisted path, but Jono knew they couldn’t win against gods. What was important was they were each other’s in all the ways that mattered—lover, partner, weapon. It was enough.
Patrick would always be enough.
Jono curled one hand around the back of Patrick’s head and pulled him in for a kiss that stole the breath from both their lungs. They didn’t stop until it hurt to breathe—then Patrick dug his fingers into the ticklish spot high on Jono’s ribs. Jono jerked backward, swearing, his elbows sliding out beneath him as he landed on his back with a gasp.
“Bloody cheat,” he said with a laugh, even as he helpfully lifted his hips so Patrick could divest him of his jeans and underwear until he was lying naked in front of the Christmas tree.
Patrick smiled at him, a hungry look in his gaze that went straight to Jono’s cock. “If cheating gets me what I want, then I’m all for it.”
Jono reached down and stroked his cock, the dry friction making his nipples harden. “This what you want?”
“Like you have to ask? Now lie back and think of England.”
Jono laughed, body shaking with it. Patrick laughed with him, grinning in a carefree way that Jono rarely saw. He tucked one hand behind his head and helpfully spread his legs. Patrick took the invitation for what it was and slid down until his mouth hovered over Jono’s rapidly hardening cock.
Patrick’s fingers were warm when they wrapped around his cock, and Jono hissed at the touch. Nothing compared to Patrick’s mouth, and Jono didn’t blink as Patrick wrapped his lips around the crown to suck at it. Jono shivered at the first flick of Patrick’s tongue against the head, teasing him.
Then Patrick swallowed his cock down in a messy, wet, and absolutelyfilthyslide, until he was choking on it. Jono groaned, the constricting tightness of Patrick’s throat making Jono want to push deeper into his mouth.
“Fuck,” Jono bit out, reaching for Patrick to get a grip on his hair.
Patrick hummed at the touch, the vibration making Jono bite the inside of his cheek. He pulled at Patrick’s hair, guiding him all the way down until he could feel Patrick’s lips and nose against his groin. Jono closed his eyes, cock throbbing deep in Patrick’s throat, and he swallowed reflexively at the feeling.
Jono let his hair go, fingers stroking over Patrick’s face. Patrick pulled back, using his hand to stroke up Jono’s cock after his mouth. Then he swallowed Jono back down, head bobbing, eyes glimmering through his lashes. His face and Jono’s body were bathed in colorful Christmas lights as he sucked Jono off, lips reddened and spit-slick where they were wrapped around his cock.
They hadn’t had sex in what seemed like weeks, but Jono blamed that on the constant travel through the veil and the toll it had taken on their bodies. Lying here, with Patrick’s mouth on his cock, was something Jono would always want.
Jono cupped Patrick’s jaw, and pressed his thumb into the hollow of his cheek, feeling out the line of his own cock. “You look good like this.”
Patrick’s gaze flicked up to meet his, and Jono didn’t look away. He hitched his hips up a little, thrusting shallowly into Patrick’s mouth. When Patrick didn’t stop him, he did it again, and again, a slow slide into heat that left him wanting more.
Then Patrick moaned, and Jono couldn’t stop the jerk of his hips, pushing against Patrick’s face. He would’ve apologized, but his tongue was stuck to the back of his teeth. Patrick only pulled back far enough to breathe before sucking Jono’s cock back down his throat, working him to a hardness that hurt. It left Jono almost too warm, skin prickling at the scrape of the rug against his back and the scratch of Patrick’s nails on his thighs.
Everything narrowed down to Patrick and his mouth—the slide of his tongue and the heat of his throat. Jono’s cock throbbed between Patrick’s lips, balls going high and tight with every second that passed, and he moaned.
When Jono came, his brain lit up like the Christmas tree, bright lights bursting across his vision. Patrick drew every last drop of cum out of him and swallowed it all. Jono blinked sweat out of his eyes as Patrick finally lifted his head, lips swollen and wet with spit and cum.
Jono pressed his palms against the floor and sat up, reaching for Patrick. Jono dragged him back onto his lap, deftly undoing Patrick’s belt and zipper, palming at the hard bulge of his cock and the damp fabric of his underwear. Patrick bit back a whimper, arching into the touch, before kissing him. Jono could taste himself on Patrick’s tongue, the hint of whiskey long since faded.
Jono pulled Patrick’s hard cock free of his underwear, stroking him with dry, firm fingers. Patrick hissed at the touch, jerking his hips through the circle of Jono’s fingers, but he never pulled away.
“I’ll always want you,” Jono muttered, dragging his mouth down Patrick’s throat to bite at his collarbone through his shirt. He never stopped moving his hand, the sheer amount ofwantpouring off Patrick filling his nose and urging him on.
“Jono,” Patrick said, voice a little rough, coming out a little desperately as he dragged his hands across Jono’s shoulders.
