“Is this how you want me?”Conrad asked when he got the opportunity.
Sage hummed his agreement against Conrad’s lips and felt him smile.
When he could not take the anticipation any longer, Sage sat up and let his hands slide over Conrad’s shoulders and chest to his stomach, just as he had been wanting to do.It was everything he’d imagined it to be.He lifted himself up slightly on his knees and reached behind to take Conrad in his hand, giving him a few strokes.
“Are you ready?”
Conrad nodded, his head moving against the pillow in a way that reminded Sage so much of their sweet mornings together that he nearly lost his breath.With his free hand on Conrad’s shoulder, he set them into alignment and pushed back against his length, going as slowly as he had not always been allowed to do.His companion remained perfectly still while he became comfortable, giving Sage the lead.It meant more than he could possibly say.
Tentative movements melted into a rhythm as Sage began to rock his hips, one hand still behind him to help keep them together and also to explore delicately into what else Conrad might enjoy.Sage found that it was surprisingly easy to clear his mind of all the techniques he’d saved up for wanting to please the man beneath him.
“Where do you like to be touched?”he asked, silently cursing himself when he realized how far away on the bed he’d left the oil.Fortunately, his fingers were still able to glide smoothly over the base of Conrad’s erection and bollocks.
“Sage,” Conrad cautioned.He pulled his hand away immediately.“I want you to focus on yourself, not on me.”
“But—”
“I am happy simply to be close to you,” he went on.“Please trust me.”
“I trust you.”
Sage pushed his thoughts aside.This was what he wanted—what he’d been craving since their night at the lake when his magic found Conrad’s and set his entire world out of balance.Although, it had likely started long before then.The memory of seeing Conrad for the first time, hair damp and skin flushed from his bath, bloomed in his chest.Had he known from that very moment that something was different about him?That this strange creature would warm his bed, his magic, his heart, with little more than his bright smile and endless encouragement?That he would no longer be able to imagine returning to the life he had before without him?
“I trust you,” he promised again, leaning forward to kiss Conrad deeply, a moan escaping the back of his throat as he moved his hips with more purpose, taking what he needed from the man who was so willing to give it.
He felt when Conrad pulled his legs up, bending his knees to provide them both more support against the give of the mattress.His hands had not moved from Sage’s thighs.
“Touch me,” Sage breathed.“I want you to touch me.”
“Where?”Conrad asked.
“Anywhere,” Sage answered between kisses.
Conrad obliged, one hand cradling his neck as the other found the curve of his lower back.There was no pulling of his hair, no nails scratching across his skin, no roughness of any kind, other than the callouses on Conrad’s hands from his years of working with them.
A small voice in the back of Sage’s mind cried out at the thought of him ever being forced to return to such a life.He imagined them together in London instead, sharing a bedroom that really did belong to both of them, sitting up in bed and talking for hours about everything and nothing as Sage rubbed oil into Conrad’s hands every night until the rough patches were nothing but a memory.
On the next thrust of his hips, Sage caught himself at exactly the right angle and huffed out a mixture of surprise and pleasure.The sensation set off the beginning of something familiar within him.Rather than trying to forestall it, he went after it with abandon, setting his magic free.
Sage pressed his face against Conrad’s neck as he slipped his hand between them, gripping himself tightly as he chased after what he now knew only Conrad could give him.One of the candles snuffed out as Sage’s heart raced.
“Oh, Con,” he whimpered, “I-I’m?—”
His next words went nonsensical and shaky when he came, coating his hand and Conrad’s stomach and chest as pleasure cleaved through him, filling him just the same as Conrad’s compatible magic had.
Familiar fingers tucked sweat-dampened strands behind the tip of his ear.There was a kiss on his shoulder.Sage swallowed and opened his eyes.
“Give me just a moment,” he said, still breathless.“I will help you.”
“I do not require it,” Conrad replied, his voice just above a whisper to match.“Let us get cleaned up so I can hold you.You’re shivering.”
