“I do not know what that means.” His thumb swiped over their cheek, and they nuzzled into his palm. “You are pleasing to me too. I hope you know that.”
Another thumb swipe, this lower near the corner of their mouth. “I’m glad. I want to make you feel good.”
“You do. I felt you everywhere.” They pressed a hand to their stomach and chest. “You filled me up, and I was enraptured.”
His breath stuttered as another wave of pheromones rolled over them. “Good tingles?”
“Very good tingles,” they whispered, and the gray in his eyes rolled like a thunderstorm.
The pad of his thumb traced their lower lip, and they swallowed thickly. “Do you think, one day, if you wanted, maybe I could kiss you?”
Their stomach jolted at that, and this time, they could not decide if it was good or bad. They shook their head to clear it, but Bryce must have taken it as an answer because he jerked his hand away.
“Okay, sorry.”
“No, I did not mean—” They took his hand before he could retreat too far and clutched it to their chest. “Forgive me, I was thinking, not answering.”
“It’s okay if kissing isn’t something you like,” he said, expression twisting like even the words were painful.
“I do not know if kissing is something I like,” they admitted. “I have never kissed anyone before.”
He did not appear surprised by the revelation. “Have you ever wanted to?”
Not wanting to dismiss the question, they did consider it. Don had only courted them a short time, and there had been no true development of feelings. Kissing them had never once crossed Zef’s mind. And when Denys had asked them if they wanted to kiss them, Zef had been taken aback, so thrown by the idea that they had never actually deciphered if they possessed the desire.
Thinking on it now, though, they found it easy to answer. “No, I have never cared for someone enough to want that level of physical intimacy.”
They studied Bryce’s mouth, thin lips surrounded by his full beard. Before they had consciously decided to do so, they were sketching the shape of his lips with their finger, following the soft curves. His mouth parted on a gasp, his exhales hot and moist, and they shivered.
“I am not ready for kissing yet,” they said, voice shaking. “But I think I will want to know what it feels like to kiss you. One day.”
With a broken sound, Bryce guided their hand to his cheek and nuzzled their palm. “That’s real good, Zef. One day, if you’re ready, I’ll kiss you.”
“I look forward to it,” they said shyly, and he smiled so brightly.
Holding eye contact, he tilted his head and pressed his lips against their palm, and a ripple of heat ricocheted down their spine with so much force they physically jolted. A series of shocked whirs and clicks vibrated in their chest, and his grin sharpened.
“Good tingles?” he asked, voice low and rumbling like the thunderclouds in his eyes.
“Yes,” they said breathlessly.
“Good,” he said, then he kissed their palm again, and Zef was utterly lost to him.
As May turned toJune, Zef continued their experimentation. It was almost a game now, one Bryce enjoyed playing with them. They would bound up to him, announcing, “Test,” and he would stop what he was doing—as long as it was safe to do so—and they would touch him. Handson his chest, his arms, his belly and neck. Then later, his back, the sharp bones of his shoulder blades and squishy flesh framing his spine.
And when they had finished touching and thinking, Bryce would ask, “Good or bad?”
And Zef almost always replied, “Good.”
The one time they had replied, “Bad,” had been the time in mid-June when they were gardening together. Zef had placed a hand on his back as leverage to push themself to standing, but his shirt had been sweaty, so their hand slipped. Right onto his squishy backside.
With a squawk, they had scrabbled away in horror as Bryce rounded on them with wide eyes. “Dang, warn a boy before you grab his ass, won’t’cha?”
“I am so sorry. It was an accident!” they had cried as the human burst into laughter.
“I know. Calm down. I don’t care if you want to touch my butt, Zef. Just maybe not when I’m sweaty.” He’d winked playfully before returning to this task, and Zef had been left speechless.
Did they want to touch his butt? They were unsure. It seemed a very intimate location, but they had been sharing more intimacies lately.
