Asher kissed him again, deeper, his tongue sliding against Levi’s while his bare chest pressed Levi into the carpet, skin on skin from sternum to stomach. Without breaking the kiss, Asher wrenched open Levi’s jeans, shoving the denim down his hips with an impatience that didn’t bother with finesse. Levi lifted his hips as Asher worked the jeans and underwear off of his legs without looking, and Levi was bare on the carpet. Asher’s pants felt rough against the insides of his bare thighs, his cock was pressed against the hot skin of Asher’s stomach, and every roll of Asher’s hips ground the fabric against him in a way that was probably going to chafe later.
Levi pulled at Asher’s waistband, because fabric was still between them and he needed it gone. Asher helped with one hand, the other fisted in Levi’s hair, his mouth never leaving Levi’s in a kiss that had devolved into saliva and teeth and the sounds of two people trying to consume each other. The jeans came off in a graceless tangle of legs, and then it was skin on skin everywhere, the heat of Asher’s length pressing against his.
“The bed,” Asher gasped as he tore his mouth away. “I need you on the bed.” He hauled Levi up off the carpet by his hair, and Levi stumbled to his feet with a hiss, his hands grabbing Asher’s wrist on reflex. Asher shoved him down onto the mattress hard enough that he bounced.
When Levi’s bare back hit the cotton, the softness registered like something his body had been starving for. The mattress gave instead of resisting, the sheets were cool against his heated skin, and for one disorienting second the softness almost made him cry again.
Then Asher was over him, his weight pressing Levi into the mattress, his mouth on Levi’s throat, and the softness didn’t matter anymore.
Levi pulled him closer, his legs wrapping around Asher’s waist, heels digging into the small of his back, and he lifted his chin, giving Asher more access to his throat instead of flinching.
Asher pulled back just enough to look at him. “You’re not fighting me,” he said, his voice rough with something close to disbelief. “You always fight me.”
“Not tonight.”
“Why?”
Levi looked at the face above him and the answer came out honest in a way he wouldn’t have been capable of when his composure was still intact. “Because I don’t have anything left to fight with.”
Whatever Asher’s face did in response was quiet and raw and nothing Levi expected. It wasn’t delight... maybe closer to the look he’d had on the floor while Levi was crying — and then it faded, replaced by hunger, and the hunger came back with teeth.
“Good,” Asher said, his lips on Levi’s collarbone. “Then I’m going to ruin you.”
His teeth closed on the ridge hard enough that Levi gasped, and the gasp was followed by a bloom of heat where the bruise was already forming. Asher stayed there — sucking, worrying the skin between his teeth, deliberate and sustained. He moved lower, dragging his tongue down Levi’s sternum, like he was savoring salt on his skin, pausing at a sensitive strip along Levi’s ribs where the skin was thinner and the suction there was hard enough that Levi hissed and his fingers dug into the sheets.
“I’ve wanted to do this since I first saw you in the forest,” Asher said against his ribs. “I want to cover you in my marks. I want to bite your fucking face so everyone sees you’re mine.” His teeth found the ridge of Levi’s hip, biting down and sucking, and Levi’s hips came off the mattress. He grabbed Asher’s hair with both hands and pulled, but the pulling just made Asher’s mouth work harder — his tongue tracing the line he’d justbruised, soothing it with a tenderness that sat right next to the roughness.
“You’re so fucking beautiful like this, Levi.” He looked up from between Levi’s hips. “You’ve finally turned off that big sexy brain of yours.”
“Shut up,” Levi panted.
“No.” Asher smiled, and even from this angle, Levi could see it was the dangerous version of his smile. “Your skin is warmer when your brain turns off. Your muscles stop bracing.” He bit the inside of Levi’s thigh and Levi’s moan filled the room. “You stop trying to control the sounds you make.”
He’s right.Every touch was landing at full volume because the part of him that usually sat between Asher and his nerve endings — the part that filtered, managed, controlled — had gone offline with the grief, and apparently Asher could feel the difference under his mouth and his hands and the knowing made Levi’s face burn because he couldn’t even pretend anymore.
Asher flipped him onto his stomach, yanked his hips up until he was on his knees, and before Levi could settle into the position Asher’s hand came down on his ass. Hard. The crack of it was loud, and the sting of it was louder, spreading across his skin and sinking deeper.
Levi’s moan was muffled by the comforter as he buried his face in it.
“There’s my good boy.” Asher rubbed his palm over the sting in slow circles, then brought his hand down again, harder. Levi’s whole body rocked forward as he let out a startled moan. He wanted to say something, but Asher’s hand came down again and again before he could even protest.
Levi clawed at the sheets, his face and ass burning as every strike sent a jolt straight through him that his cock registered asmoreand his hips registered asagainand his brain had no authority over either of them.
“Your body is the most honest thing about you,” Asher said, his palm soothing the area in slow circles. “Your mouth says stop. Your mind says manage this. Your body says —” His hand came down harder on the other cheek and Levi bit his own knuckles in an attempt to stifle his moan “— that.”
Asher’s mouth replaced his hand on the heated skin, lips pressing soft kisses to the stinging flesh at first. Then Asher gripped either side of his ass and spread him open with a firm, deliberate pull. The first swipe of Asher’s tongue directly against his hole made the transition from sting to devastating so sharp that Levi’s arms buckled and he dropped flat against the mattress, his eyes watering and unfocused because every nerve in his body redirected toward what Asher’s mouth was doing.
Asher took his time, his tongue flat and broad to lap over the sensitive rim, then pointed to tease the tight entrance, circling with teasing flicks that built the pressure until he pressed inside with a slow, insistent push that made Levi’s toes curl. Levi’s fingers white-knuckled in the sheet, and the sounds coming out of him were continuous, each exhale carrying a moan or a gasp or a word that didn’t have consonants.
“You should hear yourself,” Asher rumbled against his hole, his breath hot and teasing, the vibration of his voice making Levi’s whole body shudder. “The sounds you make when you stop managing them — fuck, Levi. I could listen to you fall apart all night.”
Levi pressed his hands under him, cupping his face, in a desperate attempt to stop the echoing of his own moans, because his body was making sounds he wasn’t sure his dignity could survive.
Asher stopped. “Hands down.”
“I can’t —” Levi shook his head, his words muffled against his palms.
“If you cover your mouth again,” Asher said, his breath warm against the back of Levi’s thigh, “I’m going to tie your hands to that headboard.”
