Kade’s fingers were digging into his thighs, and he made soft noises of pleasure each time Florian sank down on his length. But Florian wanted it to hurt—wanted to feel Kade as deep as he could take him—so he steadily sped up until they were both breathing in sharp, stuttering gasps, and trying to keep quiet despite the lewd sound of their skin smacking together with each thrust.
“Fuck me hard,” Florian grunted, grabbing Kade’s forearms to brace himself. The other man needed no more encouragement than that; he started thrusting his hips upward each time Florian sank down, meeting him with a punishing force that Florian felt all the way in his core, making him stifle a cry. He squeezed his eyes shut, tears threatening to spill over at the intensity of it.
“Fuck, Florian,” Kade groaned, his head tipping back against their pillows. Florian’s thighs were burning with exertion, his cunt sore with the force of their coupling, but he couldn’t bring himself to slow down, something desperate and primal taking over.
“Kade,” he exhaled, his name like a chant, a prayer. “Kade,Kade—”
“There, right there,” Kade gasped, and Florian could tell from his voice that he was close. He kept slamming his hips down at the same angle, and within moments Kade thrust up into him hard, then grabbed his hips to hold them in place—a long, low moan escaping him as he came. Florian whimpered, feeling Kade’s cock pulsing inside him, his insides growing hot with his come.
They remained motionless for a moment, then Kade’s body relaxed with a groan.
“You didn’t come,” Kade murmured, rubbing his fingers up and down Florian’s tense thighs. “I’m sorry. Let me—”
“No, it’s okay,” Florian panted, shaking his head. His insides were sore, stinging with how hard Kade had fucked him, and he didn’t want to lose the feeling.
“Are you sure?” Kade asked softly, now sounding confused. “I want to.”
Florian shook his head. “No, I—I’m okay. It felt good. But I’m tired.”
Kade was panting from exertion, but Florian could tell he was still unsure from the way he looked up at him, his eyes open and questioning.
“If you’re sure,” he finally said softly, and Florian nodded, lifting off of him gingerly.
He was still sore after they’d cleaned up and laid back down; Kade’s arms were still wrapped tightly around him, but his chest was now rising and falling in the slow rhythm of sleep. Florian didn’t really feel tired, but something in him felt a little better in spite of the ache between his legs.
Breakfast was a sober affair. Florian had no appetite, and Koji seemed able to sense the tension between them, so he remained silent. It was just the three of them this time. Bowen had made breakfast, but didn’t join them in eating, instead giving a quiet goodbye to each of them as they sat down before slipping out the door.
Finally, after forcing down a few bites of sausage and toast, Florian asked,
“Do you think we should go back through the curtain here, or through the Winter Court?”
Koji looked between the two of them as Kade seemed to consider the question.
“Probably the Winter Court,” he said quietly. “Nan might be able to give you a ride into town on our end, but it would be hard for you to get to anywhere with an airport from there. Going out through the Winter Court’s curtain will make it easier to get to where the kraken kingdom’s curtain is.”
Florian nodded; he had assumed that would be the case, too, so hearing it from Kade only confirmed his thoughts. “Then I guess we’ll teleport back after breakfast,” he sighed. Kade was quiet for a long moment before replying.
“Yeah,” was all he said. Florian took a long gulp of his coffee, but suddenly his meager appetite was completely gone.
Within an hour, they had gathered their things and said their goodbyes to everyone else in the house. Meriwa hugged Florian tightly when he said goodbye to her; and he thought she might say something to him about how Kallik would appreciate him or his father again, or maybe even something about Kade. But when she looked warmly at him, all she said was,
“Stay safe out there, King Florian.”
He forced himself to smile in return. “I will.”
Koji and Kade were waiting for him in the foyer when he was done saying goodbye to everyone. They had been talking in low voices, but fell silent as Florian approached. For a moment, the three of them stood awkwardly looking at each other in silence, then Koji cleared his voice and gestured toward the front door.
“I’ll give you both a few minutes,” he said, walking away. “I’ll be out here whenever you’re ready to go.”
Florian watched him leave, then looked back at Kade. His expression was small and sad, making Florian’s heart ache all over again. Without saying anything, he reached for Kade, and they embraced tightly.
“I’m really going to miss you,” Florian mumbled against his chest, the words making his eyes fill with tears almost instantly.
“I’m going to miss you too,” Kade replied, his voice rough, as if he, too, were fighting against tears. “I wish I didn’t have to do this. Any of this. I just want to stay with you.”
His words stoked the tiny spark of hope that had long since gone cold in Florian’s chest—that maybe they would make it through this okay after all—and for a moment Florian let himself bask in it. It was a nice thought. Maybe theywouldmake it.
“We’ll be okay,” he finally said, his voice tremulous. “Both of us.”
