When Felix trembles, Kade slows his pace, waiting as his bondmate’s strokes slow to the same rhythm. Felix circles Kade’s tip with his fingers; Kade mirrors that touch on him. Felix tips his head back, panting.
Felix’s cock grows thick in his hand, heavy and slippery, and he’s so damn close. So Kade takes his earlobe into his mouth, sucks on it, before he murmurs, “Come for me.”
His omega comes with a ragged cry, spine arching, pulsing hard in his hand, spurts of white streaking onto his sweater, dribbling wet and warm down Kade’s fingers. Kade strokes him slow, thumbing his head, milking him until the last drop oozes from his tip. Felix shudders. “S-stop,” he hisses, trembling, his breaths coming in broken gasps. “Too—too sensitive.”
But Kade knows that. He traces Felix’s tip again, so his body jerks and he tightens his fist around Kade’s cock, trying to hang on.
“Damn you, Kade.” Felix rears up in his seat, eyes flashing. This, too, is familiar, when Felix leans in and closes his mouth around Kade’s tip, sucking hard. A jolt sears through Kade’s body. Felix slides his fist down Kade’s cock, his lips dragging along his head, tongue working just under it. Pleasure spikes down Kade’s nerves. He sucks in a sharp breath, throbbing, pushing Felix’s head down. Felix yields, taking him deeper, his mouth hot, his other hand rubbing Kade’s balls through his pants.
Felix hollows his cheeks. Kade thinks, Can’t believe you’re sucking me off again and his release crashes through his body like a punch, forcing the air out of his lungs. He spills into Felix’s mouth, watches as Felix stays, swallowing his cum. He growls, dragging his wrist across Felix’s cheek, down his throat, marking Felix with his scent. Mine.
He slips his hand down the neckline of Felix’s sweater, rubbing his wrist along Felix’s collarbones, down his chest, over his nipples. Felix moans around him, his tongue lapping over Kade’s tip.
When he pulls off with a soft pop, Kade withdraws his hand and sets it on Felix’s shoulder, leaning him upright. Felix allowed him close, and this feels like a little bit like forgiveness.
He leans in and kisses Felix softly, slipping his tongue into his mouth. Felix tastes like bitter musk and mine. Felix trails his hand down Kade’s cock, a light, careful touch. The pressure in Kade’s knot swells. As Felix slips his fingers around it, he massages Kade lightly, swirling his fingers around him like he used to.
Felix jerks away the next instant. Cool air rushes between them; Kade stares as Felix fixes his eyes on the empty plates, cheeks reddening. “Um. That... that wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“No shit,” Kade says, reeling. Felix had been so receptive just a minute ago, and this feels like a slap, his bondmate refusing to even look at him. It feels like the night Kade picked him up, when Kade had knotted inside him. Felix had stared at the wall after. But maybe Kade had been wrong, coaxing him into sex. Felix had never contacted him when he was away. Why would he, when he’d all but told Kade that Kade wasn’t good enough? “Look, I’m sorry.”
“I should be the one sorry,” Felix says, springing to his feet. He gathers the plate and bowl from the table, his cock still hanging out of his jeans. Kade follows him to the sink. “I shouldn’t... I mean, I appreciate what you’ve done today. Thanks for coming over.”
It sounds like a cue to leave. Kade doesn’t want to, not so soon after sex. The first time had been bad enough. He still remembers Felix alone on his bed, back turned to him. “Look, there’s still more to do with the website,” he says. “I can set it up here, and you can decide which options you want.”
It’s a pitiful excuse to stay, and he’s certain that Felix can see through it. But Felix slows down, setting the dishes carefully in the sink. He fiddles with the front of his pants. Kade grimaces, fixing his own jeans. We’re bonded. This shouldn’t feel like a damn dirty secret.
When Felix turns around, his pants are buttoned, and the smears of cum on his sweater have been brushed off. “I... I guess you can stay,” he says, looking at his belly. “Just for that.”
Kade releases the breath he didn’t know he was holding. “Okay. We’ll get you set up, and then I’ll leave.”
Felix nods, looking back at the sink. While he washes the dishes, he tells Kade the details of his website—the hosting site, his username, his password.
“‘arts&brushes’?” Kade asks, surprised. “You’re still using the same password?”
“You’ve never tried logging into my accounts?” Felix says, and immediately ducks his head. “Well, no, I didn’t mean it that way. Sorry.”
Kade looks down at his laptop, stung. Felix had said he wasn’t good enough, so he’d let Felix leave, thinking he’d return if he really wanted Kade in his life. After years of waiting, he’d realized that Felix was never coming back. And Felix has made it plenty clear that he’s not staying permanently in Meadowfall. “Should I have logged in?”
“I don’t know.”
Kade doesn’t know, either. Even though so much of Felix has stayed the same—his mannerisms, his favorite food, his looks—there’s a new, cautious side to him, and it unnerves Kade. “Anyway, I’ve signed in.”
“Okay.” The faucet runs in the background, and the crockery clatters together.
Kade taps through the site settings, wincing at the HTML Felix used. Felix has never been good with computers, even back when they were sitting through the basic lessons in school. While Kade made circles spin on animation programs, Felix had spent those classes drawing pigs and houses. Kade had animated them for him, boosting Felix’s grades up to a B.
“Remember that group project?” Kade asks. “Back in middle school. The one where we had to make a website.”
At the sink, Felix chuckles weakly. “The one where I drew flowers for the background and
