He doesn’t let up now. He’s pounding me deep and hard, relentlessly, reducing my vocabulary to helpless near-sobs. I manage to grip the back of his neck with one hand, pump my dick with the other, and I’m in heaven. He’s kissing me, he’s fucking me, and everything’s…everything’s perfect.
A tremor ripples through my whole body. I break the kiss with a gasp, and arch off the bed. Whatever rhythm my hand had, it’s gone now, but I don’t care.
And suddenly Michael pulls out.
And he pushes my hand away.
What the—
His mouth closes around my cock. He slides his fingers inside me and crooks them, and he’s fucking me with them, and…and…
“Oh my God,” I whimper. “Michael, I’m—”
Gone.
Just…gone.
The whole world explodes. He keeps going, keeps sucking my cock and finger-fucking me, and I just keep coming, and coming, and coming.
“S-stop.” I gasp for breath. “Fuck. Stop…”
Michael stops. Gives me a moment to breathe. Then he slips his fingers free. He comes back up, and even more than the very first time, I have to kiss him. I have to taste this and convince myself it’s real. That Michael really did knock down that last obstacle.
God, yes. It is real. The salt in his mouth is as real as the fading shockwaves of my orgasm. He really did it.
“I thought…” I gulp, trying not to kill the mood. “I thought you wanted to be fucking me when I came.”
“I did.” He kisses me again, lightly this time. “I changed my mind.”
“Jesus.” I blink a few times. “You haven’t come yet, though.” I reach for the bottle of lube. “Let me do something about that.”
“Don’t have to tell me twice.” He rolls onto his back. I lie beside him, pour a little lube on my hand and then close my fingers around his cock.
Michael kisses me, but before long, he’s too out of breath to keep kissing me. Instead, he gazes down, watching me pump his dick, and then he closes his eyes and lets his head fall back. “Oh yeah… Oh…” He groans and bites his lip.
I stroke him faster, adding a slight twist to my strokes.
Michael grabs on to my shoulder and thrusts into my fist. “Fuck, Josh. Keep…” He trails off into a choked whimper, and a split second later, he comes, fucking my hand erratically until he shivers and sinks back onto the bed.
I kiss him lightly. “Have I ever mentioned how hot it is to watch you come?”
He grins even as he’s catching his breath. “Any time you wanna watch, I’m more than happy to oblige.”
“Of course you are. Dork.”
He just chuckles, and I turn away to grab the tissues off the nightstand.
After the dust settles and we’re tangled up under the sheets, I meet his gaze. “You went down on me.”
He laughs. “You noticed.”
I roll my eyes and tousle his hair. “You know what I mean.”
“Yeah, I do.” He kisses me softly. “I’ve been trying to work up the nerve for a while, and part of me just realized how stupid it was to be afraid to do anything with you.” He caresses my cheek. “Because you’ve proven time after time after time what I’ve known without a doubt since we were kids—that there’s no one I trust more than you.”
“Of course you can trust me,” I whisper. “Always.”
“I know.” He smiles tightly. “The thing is, I kind of feel stupid for not coming to you about this years ago. Or even telling you what happened.”
“You didn’t have to.”
“No, but it would’ve done me some good. I didn’t know how badly I needed my sexuality back until I started getting it back. For the first time in years, I actually feel like me again. Completely. I didn’t even realize how important it was to me, and how much I missed it until…until you…” He exhales, and then he kisses me, letting the soft contact linger for a moment. “Josh, you and Ian gave me back the last thing Steve took away from me.”
I’m…speechless.
Michael sweeps his tongue across his lips. “What he did, it’ll always be there. What’s done is done. But now it’s like when I fucked up my knee in high school. There’s still some damage, and it still gives me trouble once in a while, but it’s healed. And that’s how this feels too. Like it’s less of an open wound now and more of a scar.” He clasps both his hands around one of mine, and the intensity in his eyes damn near drives me to tears even before he whispers, “Which means I can finally move on.”
I still can’t speak, so I just free my hand and wrap my arms around him, and that doesn’t really help me get my emotions under control.
After a moment, I clear my throat. “He didn’t deserve a single piece of you. I’m so glad Ian and I helped you get this one back.”
“Me too.” He holds me tighter. “Thank you, Josh. This means the world to me.”
I kiss the top of his head. “You’re welcome.”
Because you mean the world to me, Michael.
Chapter Twenty A few days after Ian and I reconnect, I’m meeting Michael for lunch. That’s not unusual; we’ve been having lunch together a couple of times a week ever since I started working on the same side of town as the vet clinic.
But when he walks through the door of our usual restaurant, I do a double take. There’s a grin on Michael’s face that he can’t quite suppress, and he’s definitely trying. When he takes his seat across from me, he’s practically bouncing.