“Do you want a divorce?”Xi scoffed.“I’ve been married under five minutes and I’ve already driven my husband to ask for a separation.”His lips twisted in a mockery of a smile.
“I don’t want to separate,” Leander said, “but you didn’t have a choice in this.You have a right to walk away.”
For a long time, Xi was silent, and Leander’s fears multiplied.“I’ve avoided dating my whole life because relationships are what handlers use to trap us,” Xi said.“It’s worse when children get involved.The government can take them away any time because people with magic don’t have rights.I always wanted a relationship, but when I was back there, I couldn’t have one.Now I’m terrified I’m going to fuck up what we have because I never got to practice.Everyone else spent high school ruining their reputations with a series of bad choices, and I’ve never been brave enough to choose anyone.”He tightened his arms around Leander.
“I drove away the only person I ever chose,” Leander admitted.Looking back, he could see that now.He’d been so afraid of being hurt, of coming in second to Tecca, that he had shoved Finn out of his life, but maybe it had been for the best.Finn had never loved as deeply or as obsessively as Leander.
“So we can’t make each other promises, even if we are married.”Humor colored Xi’s voice.
Leander pulled back enough to study Xi’s face.“I promise that even if we don’t work out, you’ll still be my friend.I could have had that with Finn, but teenagers are so fucking dramatic.”
Xi laughed.“You talk like you’re a hundred and sixty and fed up with anyone who hasn’t reached retirement age.”
“Sometimes I feel that way.”
“We’re both screwed up and a little pathetic,” Xi said, and Leander didn’t argue.“I have no idea how we’re going to make this work, and I’m terrified, but I’m more afraid of losing you.”
“You’re my only friend,” Leander said.“I just don’t know the rules for being a husband, and so far, I think I’ve been a terrible one, even if Heng said that leaving in order to have a child is normal.”Leander traced circles on Xi’s neck, just below his ear.
Xi shivered violently before bringing his hands up to cover Leander’s.He stroked the knuckles and stared into Leander’s eyes.The gentle touch sent tingles down Leander’s arms.Despite the fact that the touch was almost innocent, Leander’s cock started to harden.
Leander had never been good with words.He’d never known the right ones to reassure his mother when she was having delusions.He’d never been able to explain to Finn why he was lashing out, so he didn’t rely on words now.He rested his palm against Xi’s cheek.
Xi curled his fingers around Leander’s hand, his dark eyes never leaving him.Leander caressed Xi’s neck and then slid his long fingers under Xi’s shirt.
Xi smiled honey-slow .
Leander curled one hand behind Xi’s neck, pulling his head closer so he could press his lips to Xi’s.He started gentle and careful, but Xi’s mouth opened, and he fisted Leander’s shirt.A half second later, Xi pulled Leander’s shirt out of his pants, yanking at it hard enough that buttons pinged against the walls as they were torn free and flung away.
Leander caught Xi’s lower lip between his teeth, nipping playfully before he kissed a trail down Xi’s chest, opening his shirt with far more care than Xi had shown.Xi squirmed, and Leander lifted him enough to push him farther back onto their bed.He crawled on top of Xi, kissing a trail over his exposed chest before he abandoned his own torn shirt.
“Husband,” Xi whispered.
Lust rolled through Leander.He’d never thought he had a kink for marriage, but he did.Leander tasted the salt from Xi’s skin until Xi’s clever fingers found his exposed nipples and pulled at one.
Leander cursed and arched his back, which gave Xi the perfect opportunity to roll Leander to one side so they lay next to one another.Xi rolled Leander’s nipple for a moment before he leaned in to suck at the pebbled skin.
Leander threw his head back and cursed...or he tried to curse.The sounds that escaped were more a jumble of noises that had no meaning in either English or Chinese.Xi paused to fumble at his belt.
“You are evil,” Leander said.“Stop distracting me.”
“I thought this was the point, not the distraction,” Xi said.His cock was pressed against the crotch of his pants, straining the seams.
Leander smiled at the evidence of Xi’s desire.He ran his finger across the fabric, and Xi’s chest heaved.“Fuck,” he whispered.
“Getting there,” Leander promised.He kneaded the muscles of Xi’s thigh while Xi fumbled to get his pants open.Leander captured both his wrists, and Xi twisted helplessly for a moment before his gaze focused on Leander.Leander slipped one hand inside Xi’s pants before he unzipped the fly.Xi hissed and leaned back to give Leander room.A second later, Xi’s cock pressed out, stretching the fabric of his underwear.
Leander’s own cock was still trapped inside his pants, and the trapped feeling made Leander moan in lust.He wanted this slow.Painfully slow.
Xi reached for him, his fingers brushing across Leander’s nipples before one hand pressed on Leander’s hard cock.All coherent thought abandoned him.Xi gave a wicked smile and untied the crossed waist of his traditional pants.Leander found himself gasping and helpless, his legs tangling with Xi’s and the silk sheets.
Xi slid down Leander’s body, peppering his exposed skin with kisses until he reached Leander’s hard, weeping cock.He took it into his mouth with an obscene slurp, and Leander bit down on a scream.Xi sucked hard and then gave the tip a kiss before he came back up to kiss Leander’s lips.
“I’ve dreamed of lying in a bed and holding someone, loving someone, knowing that we could hold each other with handlers setting rules and using time together as a motivational tool.”
“Leave the government out of our bed.It’s bad for my libido,” Leander told him.He bent down and took Xi’s cock in his mouth until the head knudged the back of his throat.The cock twitched, and Leander felt a perverse pride in being able to please him.When it thickened, Leander’s balls drew up as he slid toward his own climax.
Xi fisted Leander’s cock, and Leander bucked into that tightness, forgetting his own task for a moment.Xi’s cock slipped free, and Leander had to bend awkwardly to reclaim his prize, sucking and bobbing as his own body tensed.The tightness in his balls sent warning shocks out to his thighs, and Leander knew he wouldn’t be able to hold back his orgasm for long.He curled his fingers around the base of it and sucked harder, running his tongue along the vein on the underside.
