River was out of his mind.

“Whipped cream? You gonna put it in your crappy instant coffee tomorrow?” Even if they were half a mile from the venue and about that far from their motel, Zeph wasn’t going to let River go into the little supermarket next to the discount liquor store on his own. Just in case they were being followed.

Maybe it was a touch paranoid, but better safe than sorry.

“You’ll see,” River smirked.

Zeph rolled his eyes. That was all he’d said to him five minutes ago when he’d told him to stop at a supermarket, and it had taken this long to even pry out of him what exactly they were going for.

If he was going to use it during sex, well, Zeph could eat him up all night long without any fancy toppings. If the goal was to keep Zeph achingly hard in his jeans, tailing after River, half a pace behind him, like an oversized shadow… well, River was succeeding at that.

“You’re just teasing now.”

“I might be,” River hummed.

Zeph eyed the back of River’s neck. He always had a nice, clean hairline, down to maybe number one or two clippers along the back of his neck. It was prickly, yet soft to touch. He wished he could reach out here in public and do it.

Wait, why couldn’t he?

This was Vegas, damn it, not Bumfuck, Illinois.

He caught up to River and fell into step beside him when River stopped at the dairy cooler, then raised his hand to caress the back of River’s neck, pushing his hand up through the hairs there until he reached the platinum blond section.

River eyed him sideways, then reached for the whipped cream canister. “Now who’s teasing?”

“I might be.” Zeph shot a heavy-lidded gaze in his direction.

It worked. River shoved the whipped cream canister under his arm like a baton and marched for the register.

Zeph kept up the banter all the way back to the motel. This motel was further away from most of their venues this trip, so they had to drive now. It would be easier if he couldn’t see River in his peripheral vision the whole time being so pretty.

He’d left on a sheer, light pink shade on his plump, kissable lips, and taken off his false lashes and extreme eyeshadow. Now, he just had foundation and blush or bronzer or whatever it was that made his skin fair, clear, and rosy, smooth and perfect like he’d just stepped out of a magazine. His cheekbones were sure sharp enough to cut. And if his eyes didn’t already draw Zeph’s attention, they certainly did when his lashes were darkened and thickened with mascara.

Jesus, Zeph had already learned a lot from hanging around the periphery and watching River at work. Maybe he was watching him a little more than the rest of the queens.

Though River came off as self-centered and aware of his own good looks, Zeph was certain he wasn’t fully aware of how gorgeous he was.

For the hundredth time, he dragged his attention off his lover and back to the road, turning the corner into the motel parking lot. “Thank God,” he mumbled. He’d made it back without an accident from staring too hard at River.

“A little on edge there?” River murmured, his voice sultry.

Oh, he had no idea. It was just as well he thought it was purely sexual tension, and not…

Whatever the hell he felt when he looked at River.

Zeph rolled his eyes at River and grabbed the car keys, leading the way to the motel room. “Cocktease.”

The clatter of metal on metal caught his attention, and he glanced over his shoulder. In answer, River was just shaking the whipped cream canister.

A rare blush burned Zeph’s cheeks as he pushed the motel room door open and held it for River, who brushed slowly and deliberately by him.

When the door swung closed, Zeph grabbed River around the waist and pulled him into his chest, tucking his nose into the crook of River’s neck and pushing his top aside to kiss slowly along one shoulder.

River weakened in his arms, so he tightened his grip as he licked slowly along bare skin back to his neck, then kissed behind his ear before letting him go so they could kick their shoes off.

They didn’t waste time with the rest of their clothes, either. Both of them fought each other’s clothes off all the way to the bed, leaving a telltale trail of fabric heaps until they hit the mattress, still kicking off their underwear.

God, Zeph ached to feel River around him, but River had other plans. The sexy blond manhandled him to the bed, then straddled him and shook the canister at him again.

“Stop wielding that like a weapon and I’ll be a little more enthusiastic,” Zeph grumbled as River peeled off the plastic strip.

River shot back, “Do you not want my mouth on you?” One razor-sharp brow was angled up.

Zeph swallowed hard and gave in, shaking his head. “No, I do.”

“Good. Shut up, then.” River tore the cap off with his teeth and spat it aside, then pressed the side of the nozzle and dragged it through the air above his breastbone, drawing a line down the center of his body all the way to the base of his cock.

The canister rolled into his side as River tossed it aside, too, and pounced like a wild animal. Their dicks pressed together at first as he lapped at his throat, but River kept himself held carefully up in the air so he didn’t smear it on himself.

Yet, Zeph thought with a wicked smile to himself that River couldn’t see, his open mouth too busy on Zeph’s collarbone.

Jesus, that hot, wet mouth did wonders. Zeph rolled his head back into the pillow and kneaded River’s shoulders as his cock begged for more of that heat on it, not the rest of him.

In time, he tried to remind himself and stay patient, but patience was hard to come by with that tongue flicking slowly at one of his nipples.

“Fucking… fuck,” Zeph gasped, arching clear off the bed as the jolt of electric need shot straight to the tip of his cock. He bumped River’s chest and strained upward toward him.

Before he could grind, River grabbed his hips and slammed him back to the bed with surprising strength. “No.”

Zeph stared, open-mouthed. He’d like to think that he could have resisted that move, but nobody had tried that with him before. He honestly didn’t know what to do.

River’s mouth was on his stomach now, every kiss slow and deliberate as he licked the spot thoroughly, then sucked a long, slow kiss against the spot before moving down again.

He was going to have Zeph completely fucking crazy by the time he got to his cock.

“Yeah!” Zeph managed as River sucked the last spot of whipped cream off, just above his pelvic bone.

And then he reached for the canister again.

“You asshole,” Zeph growled.

River’s voice was still light, musical with amusement. His voice suited him, but goddamn, did it drive Zeph crazy at this particular second. “That changed your tune awfully quick.”

“I’m gonna fuck you through the wall if you don’t knock it off,” Zeph growled.

River giggled, the noise breathless and high-pitched. “You seem to be under the impression that will discourage me.”

Zeph gritted his jaw as River squirted spirals of whipped cream around each nipple, then slid back up his body, grinding absolutely deliberately against his cock with his chest and stomach.

He was going to snap and fucking ravish River in the next five minutes—no, three… maybe two…

River’s hot tongue circled his chest in that slow, maddening spiral, until he was fucking begging River to suck his nipple. River just gave him a slow smirk and then lapped his tongue in a broad stroke across the nub before flicking it fast and hard, back and forth, up and down.

Zeph felt the whine of desperation escape his throat before he even heard it, and he couldn’t stop the noises. He was leaking precome already, his toes curling into the bed with how hard he wanted to grab River and fuck him until River mewled his name…

River’s mouth closed around his other nipple, sucking it hard into his mouth to give him a twinge of pain. That filthy tongue flicked across his nipple again, just like the other one. But this time, River kept licking, lapping, flicking, tweaking the nipple until the heat burned so hard under Zeph’s skin he felt like he was in the middle of a goddamn forest fire.

Zeph had had enough.

He grabbed River by the shoulders and grunted, flipping their bodies over like River was his opponent on the mat, only with much less pure intentions.

“Jesus, Zeph,” River whimpered, his eyes wide. “That… hot.”

He was losing the ability to speak? Good. That put them on even footing.

Zeph grabbed River’s hands and hauled them above his head, then pinned both slender wrists together with one hand. With the other, he grabbed the discarded canister and shook it, making direct eye contact to make it clear what he meant to do.

River sucked in a slow breath and spread his legs until they weren’t wrapped around Zeph’s thighs. Zeph brought the canister down to squirt a line along the inside of each of his thighs.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” River hissed, his breathing fast. His cock was swollen and red, so at least he was just as turned on and needy as Zeph.

Zeph scooted down River’s body, only letting go of his wrists slowly to make it clear he was to keep his hands there.

River whimpered but nodded slightly, clasping his hands above his head.

The almost religious gesture sent a shiver down Zeph’s spine, but he put it firmly in the fuck off thought box in his head and focused on the lines of glistening white cream waiting for him.

God, he was hungry for River.

Zeph slid down the bed and curled his thumbs around the insides of River’s knees to keep his legs apart, then dragged his tongue along the inside of one smooth thigh, slowly lapping at the line of cream.

It was just as fun, if not more, to be on this end of pleasure, making River squirm into the bed with wordless moans. He took his sweet time licking up further and further toward his nuts, but not taking them into his mouth. He let his hot breath graze over the shaft and balls before scooting back down to the other knee to work his way up all over again.

The whole time, River kept gasping his name and swearing, but he seemed to have forgotten every other word in his vocabulary.

By the time he pushed River’s knees up to his chest and held them there with one forearm under his knees, River could only manage a stuttered, desperate, “Yes! Zeph, f-fucking yes…!”

Zeph shook the can once more, and River’s long, low whimper of need made his dick throb once again with the need to have that tight little hole wrapped around his shaft, milking every drop from him.

But that would come in a minute. He wanted River to need him so bad he couldn’t breathe first.

Zeph squirted a circle of whipped cream around that tight little hole, then started lapping at the line, slowly working his way around the sensitive skin without touching the actual nerve bundle River wanted him to yet.

“Fuckfuckfuckfuck,” River was moaning, his thighs twitching against Zeph’s arm. His body strained and tightened, every muscle pulling tight and flexing as he managed—barely—to keep his hands where Zeph had put them.

Zeph licked across the hole, squirted a bit more cream, licked that off, and repeated a few more times.

“Pleasemotherfuckingplease,” River growled, thrashing against his hold. His arms were starting to shift like he was about to grab Zeph’s head.

Zeph tossed aside the can and ran his hand up to his shoulder to remind him who was in charge. Then, he ran his tongue around and across the opening to suck and lick the last bit of cream from that sweet, tight little hole that was clenching so tight for him before he was even inside.

“I need you, I need you, Zeph,” River panted like a mantra. “Please fuck me. Please… Jesus, please, please fuck me…”

Zeph’s head spun. Who the fuck could resist that? He needed it just as badly, and River was wet for him now. He considered letting River suck his cock first, but his nerves were so frayed he might not last more than a few minutes. He wanted every second to be buried deep in River’s sweet little ass.

So Zeph spat onto his palm and wet his cock, grunting with pleasure as the desperate skin finally got a hint of the pleasure he needed. He tightened his grip and stroked, then pushed his tongue against River’s hole once more just to make sure.

“If you don’t fuck me right the fuck now—” River growled, which was an adorable threat coming from someone as lithe and easy to keep pinned to the bed as him. His arms were even still obediently above his head.

Zeph nudged the head of his cock against River and slowly inside, taking his time to let the wet skin slide against and into the lubed-up hole.

River gasped his name, the most blissed-out expression softening his expression for a second. “Oh, yes…”

Zeph slid all the way in, then spat on his hand and stroked himself as he pulled out the first time to add a little more. Fuck, he’d be more worried if River weren’t so wet, and if he weren’t sure they were going to come in a minute or two, tops.

Apparently, River was thinking along the same lines. “Now.”

Zeph grabbed River’s knees to push them up by his ears, doubling him up and bracing himself on his knees. Pounding into River, slowly at first, and then harder and deeper, was pure animal instinct.

Passion, need, and a touch of something primally possessive.

River was his, and crying his name, and unable to keep his hands off him. River finally grabbed his back and pulled him close, his nails scratching thin lines down Zeph’s back.

Zeph’s balls were already tightening, his whole body taut, teeth bared. He usually pulled out and stroked over his partner, but not with River. He wanted to leave him dripping with his own kind of cream.

He drove his hips into River a couple more times before his whole world narrowed and focused on River, on the heat and wetness of him, the stickiness of their hot skin pressed on skin, the desperation of clinging to the edge, yet wanting so hard to let go…

And then he couldn’t stop himself. Orgasm hit him hard and he slammed into River, hips stuttering as he squirted his load deep inside, his balls slapping against River’s skin, his heart pounding Ri-ver, Ri-ver, Ri-ver until the name slipped from his lips.

His head spun, his whole world spun, when he slid out of River, sweat slicking his forehead and dripping down his chest. Or maybe that was the stickiness of the whipped cream and River’s mouth on him, it was hard to tell.

River’s cock was flushed deep red, almost pulsating with need, and Zeph intended to fulfil it.

He slid down the bed again, careful not to touch the cock this time so he didn’t hurt him with the intensity of it. Keeping River’s knees against his chest, he dragged his tongue along one inner thigh, lifted his head until he made eye contact with River, then leaned in to lick that tight little hole.

Tasting his own come was pretty damn easy. He thanked his own good diet for that. The look on River’s face as he swallowed the thick load, slightly sweet still with the taste of whipped cream, was absolutely fucking mindblown. River couldn’t keep his hips still as he squirmed under his tongue.

Zeph licked his palm, wrapped his hand gently around the aching dick right at eye level, and stroked at the same quick pace he pushed his tongue into River.

“Zeph!” River whimpered. Then, he thrashed up against him as he came, half-shouting Zeph’s name in the hoarsest, sexiest fucking whine he’d ever heard from River’s mouth.

River came hard, his thighs and dick and arms twitching—every goddamn part of him seizing up with pure, gorgeous, unrestrained pleasure as his own passion coated his stomach and chest in quick, hard squirts and every muscle in his body rippled.

The raw noise of ecstatic need spilling from River’s lips, the way his mouth fell open as he gasped—it was almost enough to get Zeph hard again on the spot. If he could have, he would have sprung another boner for him in a heartbeat.

Zeph relentlessly milked every drop out of him until River’s breathing softened, then caught with sensitivity. He loosened his grip for a few final strokes before letting go of the softening skin and running his hands down River’s thighs, pulling his mouth away from the still-twitching, raw hole.

River couldn’t even look at him. He brought both hands to cover his face.

“Did I just find your line?” Zeph’s grin was huge. “Did I embarrass you?”

River moaned. “No. Shut up.” He was slowly pulling his feet up the bed as if to curl up.

“I totally did. Jesus, you loved that.”

River wouldn’t say anything to that, but he also wouldn’t pull his hands away from his face. Coming from the most sexual being Zeph had ever met, it was the compliment of his life.

“Oh my God,” Zeph laughed richly, flopping by River’s side. “I love eating you out, you know that.”

“Shut uuuup.”

“I’ll do it way more often if you keep blushing like that.” Zeph pinched River’s cheek.

River pulled his hands away from his face to smack his hand away, so Zeph repeated it on his other cheek.

“You asshole.”

“What’s that about assholes?”

River looked away again, but he was laughing loudly.

Sure, he laughed a lot—with everyone, about everything—but for once, there was no posing, no sense that he was somehow guiding the interactions, no pretence.

Just the two of them tangled together, side by side, laughing about their bodies, and the pleasure that hummed through their very bones.

Zeph’s head spun. He loved this. He loved it so much it almost worried him.

“Jesus, we’re a mess,” River laughed.

“The whipped cream was your idea,” Zeph reminded him, winking. “So it’s your fault.”

“Blame me. Sure. I’m cool with that.”

Zeph snorted. “We should shower, though.” He patted River’s thigh. “Will you be able to stand?”

“You don’t have to carry me. But if you wanna throw me down again…” River teased, slowly pushing himself to sitting. He swayed, and Zeph kept an eye out as he sat to make sure he wouldn’t have to catch him after all.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

He’d learned a lot about River that night that would come in handy over the next week.

It was kind of a shame—he’d never felt like this, laughing and exhausted and thrilled and just deeply contented to his very bones—with any of his long-term lovers.

But a deal was a deal, and goddamn, he still had over a week to enjoy it. This was gonna be the best week of Zeph’s life.

In fact, he reflected as he went ahead to turn on the shower water, it already was.