“It does seem like we’ve skipped a few steps. We had a sleepover before having sex, and then when we do have sex, we skip straight to intercourse and knotting before doing anything else.”
“We did kiss and hold hands in bed on New Year’s,” Cameron said around a mouthful of Coke. He swallowed it with a quiet gulp and then gave Emory a cheeky grin.
An idea struck Emory, and he discarded his empty plate and mostly empty soda can. He shifted so he was standing between Cameron’s slightly spread legs. “Do you remember what I promised you before we ended up holding hands in bed?”
Cameron’s face pinched in thought before going slack in surprise. “You said you wanted to explore–”
Emory swooped down and kissed Cameron’s lips, his hands splaying out across his naked hips, running around to clutch at his back.
“As far as your parts go, honey, can I touch them? Stroke them? Suck on them?” Emory asked, as his muscles rippled with strain.
“Ye—yes, please,” Cameron whispered, his hands coming up to hover over Emory’s shoulders.
He didn’t actually touch Emory, and after a moment, he dropped both hands back down to his lap.
All Emory wanted was to make good on his promise and explore every inch of his fated mate, but it seemed like now might be as good a time as any to address whatever was holding Cameron back. “You can touch me wherever you’d like, honey. I don’t enjoy any form of anal play for myself, but aside from that, my body is yours to explore.”
Emory watched as those two freckles quivered and then disappeared behind a grateful smile. “Thank you. I…I wasn’t sure.”
“I also love every single noise you make. I love your little gasps and groans, but I also love hearing you scream and moan in pleasure. Please do not ever hold back on my account.”
Cameron’s lip quivered even harder, but he set his mouth in a straight line and nodded once. Emory was tempted to leave it at that, but he wasn’t sure if the opportunity would present itself again. If this was the last chance he got today to make sure Cameron heard him, he needed to say it now.
“You told me Thomas didn’t hurt you, sexually, but I think there are a lot of ways a person can hurt you, whether intentionally or unintentionally. If you discover old wounds while we’re together, please don’t be embarrassed or worry about what I might think. I can’t fix a problem if I don’t know it's there. I say that to my employees all the time.”
Cameron turned his face away, but not before Emory caught a flash of pain in his eyes.
“As I tried to say earlier, I know I have my own problems to fix as well,” Emory said. “Today has really illustrated that to me. I need to prioritize you and us the same way I’ve prioritized my job and my family for the past several years. It’s going to take some time, but I swear I won’t be this busy forever. It’s always been unsustainable, but now it is also unacceptable.”
Cameron glanced up and then away again. “I hope you know I really wasn’t trying to say anything bad about you or your job.”
“I know. I also know that you’d have every right to say something. It isn’t okay, and things are going to change.”
“Okay. Things are going to change for me, too. I really want to be all in on our relationship. You’ve been patient, even while being so busy, and while I appreciate it, I hope maybe it won’t be necessary anymore.”
They grinned at each other like a couple of fools, making broad promises he desperately hoped they could keep.
“I’m really glad we were able to have this talk, as well as all the talking we did earlier. But what do you say to a little less talking now?” Emory asked.
Cameron slowly brought his hands up to rest on Emory’s shoulders. He exerted the lightest pressure, barely enough to even register, but it made Emory and his lion smile.
He wasted no time in lowering his mouth to Cameron’s part, but right before he made contact, he paused. “Just making sure, is it okay for me to engage with all of your parts?“
Cameron shivered. “I think so?”
Emory cocked his head, and Cameron let out a shaky laugh. “Sorry, this is all kind of new to me. The”—Cameron gestured back and forth between them—“talking about gender and what that means for me and for sex. I really want your mouth on meright now. There might be times when I don’t, but right now, yes…yes, please.”
Emory kissed the tip, eliciting another shudder from his fated mate before he opened his mouth and swallowed Cameron all the way down. This had been a favorite party trick of his back in college. No one expected a big alpha to be good at deepthroating, but he loved bringing his bed partners pleasure. He hadn’t been able to do that—deep throating or just generally pleasuring a partner—in a long time.
It seemed the trick paid off, because Cameron cried out, collapsing backward onto his elbows. Emory paused just long enough to make sure he hadn’t hurt himself on the hard marble before he began humming around the weight in his mouth.
Cameron whimpered and desperately tried to still his twitching hips. Emory could see his abs quivering, and his thighs shook under Emory’s touch. He didn’t want to stop what he was doing to address this verbally, so he slid his hands higher and gripped Cameron’s hips, urging him to move.
Cameron hesitantly rocked his hips the tiniest bit, and Emory hummed in pleasure, urging him on with another nudge to his hips. Slowly, Cameron began rocking up into Emory’s mouth, and Emory met the movement, raising his head and sinking back down in time with Cameron’s movements.
Cameron was a lovely size, with a circumference that fit perfectly in Emory’s mouth and would probably fit perfectly in his hand. Emory chuckled, eliciting another round of whimpers and jerks from Cameron. He now had his lover in his mouth for the second time, and he had yet to touch him with his hands.
Recalling something Cameron had whispered to him through the door, he gently cupped his round parts, as he’d called them.
