CHAPTER 7
Samantha’s words were still on his mind as Harry got into Adam’s car after the end of his shift.
“Hey,” Adam said with a neutral smile. He looked tired and less immaculate than usual, his stubble so thick it could almost be called a beard. It would probably be rough to the touch.
Harry looked away, curling his fingers in his lap and resisting the urge to kiss Adam on the cheek. The longer he went without physical contact with Adam, the harder it became to suppress impulses like that.
“Hi!” Harry said, trying to sound cheerful. For Adam’s sake, he had been trying to act like the distance between them didn’t bother him. Harry hoped he was convincing, but he wasn’t sure.
“How was your day?” Adam said, pulling out of the parking lot.
Harry tried not to frown. It should have been “How was your day, love?” with Adam running his fingers through Harry’s hair or stroking his nape as Harry curled into him.
“Good,” Harry replied, rubbing his palms over his thighs. He hated that he couldn’t touch Adam. If Adam’s friendship with Jake was like that, no wonder Jake had been jealous. “How was yours?”
Adam hummed something noncommittal, his eyes on the traffic.
A slightly awkward silence settled between them for the rest of the drive. Harry hated every second of it.
“Can we talk?” Harry said when they arrived home.
Adam shrugged his jacket off and lifted his head. “What?” he said. His face gave nothing away.
Do you hate me now?
Harry opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He lost his nerve. He couldn’t ask it. He was afraid to ask. It was always at the back of his mind that he didn’t even need to ask if he truly wanted to know. He could find out easily enough. He’d never been more scared to use his telepathy in his life.
Harry wet his lips. “Do you want me to move out?” he said haltingly. “I can move out if that’s what you want.”
Adam shook his head stiffly, his shoulders tense as he unbuttoned the top buttons of his shirt without looking at Harry. “Don’t be silly, Haz.”
Harry stared at Adam’s half-bare chest. He wished he could bury his face there, breathe in Adam’s scent and stay like that forever.
A strong, unfamiliar feeling washed over him. It felt a little like dizziness but was almost pleasant. Perhaps he had caught some alien bug? Although he had received all the proper shots before leaving his planet, there was always a small chance. He should probably go lie down. Just in case.
Harry muttered that he wasn’t hungry and headed to his room. His stomach dropped when Adam didn’t even try to stop him. Maybe he really should move out.
It was his last thought as Harry fell into a strange, exhausted sleep as soon as his head touched the pillow.
He dreamed of silence, something stretching and breaking with a snap. Suddenly, he was burning from the inside out, feeling thirsty and hungry and oversensitive—
Harry woke up with a start, his breathing heavy and unsteady, his heart racing with agitation.
He sat up, unsure what he’d been dreaming about. He breathed in and out, trying to calm down.
But he couldn’t. There was something wrong. There was something wrong with him. He felt off, unstable, his control over his telepathy shattered to pieces. He could feel faint echoes of other people’s thoughts. One floor down, a woman was angry at her husband for watching football and not paying her attention, and her husband was wondering when she would fall asleep so that he could sneak out to meet another woman.
Harry took a deep breath, trying to take control of his telepathy. He supposed he should be grateful that it was night and there weren’t many people awake. Sleeping people didn’t give off clear thoughts, just a background buzz he could ignore more easily.
Harry pressed his hands to his temples and closed his eyes, concentrating on rebuilding his mental shields.
He went rigid when he realized that something was wrong in his mind. Something was missing. His bond. His bond to Leylen’shni’gul was gone, every faint remnant of it.
But that wasn’t all. His senses had never been so strong. He could hear better. He could hear even Adam’s steady breaths in the other room.
Adam.
A longing hit him so strongly Harry shuddered. He had to get to Adam. He needed Adam.
Harry rolled out of the bed and stumbled out of his room. He stopped a few times, taken aback by how acutely and vividly he could feel the cold floor under his bare feet. Everything seemed more vivid: the sensations, the smells, the sounds—the strange hunger inside him.
Shivering, Harry pushed Adam’s door open and walked to his bed. It should have been impossible to see so clearly in the dark, but, to Harry’s confusion, he could see pretty well.
Adam was sleeping on his back, his long, muscular chest rising and falling steadily.
He was half-naked.
Harry wasn’t sure why he was so fixated on that fact, but suddenly that was all he could think about as he stared at Adam. He needed—he needed something. He wanted something. He wanted to get naked, climb into Adam’s bed and rub his bare skin against Adam’s.
Harry swallowed, confused and scandalized by his thoughts but unable to stop them. He felt a strange pleasant sort of dizziness again, and then a heavy ache in his lower body.
“Harry?”
Adam’s sleepy, hoarse voice did weird things to him.
“Yeah, it’s me,” Harry managed. His own voice sounded odd, thick and breathless.
Adam sat up, squinting at him in the darkness. “What’s wrong? What are you doing here?”
“I...” Harry said. “I needed to see you.”
“In the middle of the night?” Adam said, reaching out to the bedside lamp. When the soft light illuminated the room, Adam kept his eyes on Harry’s face, carefully avoiding looking at his body.
Harry breathed in and breathed out deeply, trying and failing to make sense of the changes in his body. At least he had managed to get control over his telepathy, but it was small comfort when his entire body seemed to be put wrong.
“I think... I think I’m sick,” Harry croaked out. Maybe he had really caught some alien bug after all.
“What?” Adam was by his side immediately, his hand on Harry’s forehead. “You’re a little warm,” he said, frowning. His long fingers stroked Harry’s cheek.
Harry shivered, a strange sensation coursing through his body. The throbbing ache in his lower half intensified. Harry let out a small sound when Adam’s finger brushed his ear.
“You’re trembling,” Adam said. His other hand cupped Harry’s cheek.
Harry leaned into Adam’s touch. He missed Adam’s hands. He wanted Adam to touch him all the time.
“Babe?”
Harry whimpered, pressing his face into Adam’s chest and nuzzling into it. Babe. He was Adam’s babe. “Yeah,” he murmured, wrapping his arms tightly around Adam. It felt so good, but the ache in his lower body actually increased, becoming nearly unbearable. “I need you.”
“Fuck,” Adam said. “Haz—you’re hard.”
Harry opened his eyes and blinked. What?
Looking down, Harry stared.
His underwear was tented. His cock was erect.
That wasn’t all. His briefs felt a little sticky. Something—some sort of slick—was leaking out of his hole.
It... it had never happened to him before. Of course Harry knew what it meant, but it shouldn’t have happened. It shouldn’t have been possible.
But it was useless to deny it: this was sexual attraction. Arousal. His body wanted sex. His body wanted Adam. It should have been impossible. He wasn’t bonded to Adam.
No, he wasn’t bonded to anyone. He had forgotten about it. His bond was gone. With the bond broken, this was probably normal. Probably. He wasn’t sure.
“Harry,” Adam said roughly. His face was suddenly so close. His lips ghosted over the corner of Harry’s mouth, just the faintest, briefest, most maddening brush of lips—and his breath was sharp and hot, and his hands were trembling a little as they fluttered across Harry’s back, as if he wasn’t sure. Harry let out a sound, a helpless, desperate, choking sort of plea, because he needed him closer—and Adam was suddenly there, his hips pressed against Harry’s, and his body felt long and hard and perfect—right there.
Adam’s breathing was ragged. “Go now if you don’t want this.” Adam’s lips brushed against his earlobe, and Harry whined quietly, digging his nails into Adam’s shoulder blades. He wanted Adam closer, tighter, he wanted more. He was struck by a sudden need to know what Adam’s mouth would taste like.
Adam let out a pained, low sound and dragged his lips across Harry’s jawline. His mouth was so close. “Are you sure, babe?”
Harry wasn’t sure of anything, but he wanted this hungry ache to go away and he had a feeling only Adam could sate it.
He nodded dazedly, parting his lips just in time for Adam’s tongue. He moaned, enjoying the taste of Adam’s mouth, of his stubble scratching his chin. It felt so good. So very good. Adam’s fingers buried themselves in Harry’s hair, holding him still while Adam gave him one bruising kiss after another, kissing like he wanted to climb inside Harry and live there—and Harry wanted him to.
“Fuck, you’re so sweet,” Adam rasped out between the drugging kisses, tilting Harry’s head the way he wanted with strong but gentle hands.
Harry melted into him, his thoughts muddled with foggy pleasure mixed with need. No matter how hard Adam kissed him, it didn’t seem to relieve the needy ache in his lower body. If anything, it made it worse. He was aching terribly, wanting.
“I need,” Harry mumbled against Adam’s mouth, trying to kiss Adam harder. “Please.”
“Yeah,” Adam said, pushing Harry toward the bed.
Harry fell on the mattress gracelessly, making a frustrated noise when he lost physical contact with Adam. But before long, Adam was behind him, kissing his neck with parted lips, leaving wet trails, his large hands roaming all over Harry’s chest, his quivering stomach—
Harry keened when Adam’s hands kneaded his thighs. So close—
As if hearing his thoughts, Adam dragged his underwear off and wrapped a large hand around Harry’s throbbing cock. Harry gasped, his mouth falling open as Adam started stroking his cock slowly. It felt so good but so frustrating, and before long, Harry was whining, squirming constantly and trying to relieve the ache inside him. He didn’t understand what he needed, but this wasn’t enough. He wanted—he wanted…
He wanted to stop feeling empty. He wanted the hard thing pressed against his ass—Adam’s cock. Yes, that was what he wanted.
Harry reached back and grabbed it. It was thick, and long, and heavy in his hand. It felt perfect. He wanted it, wanted it inside, wanted it to fill him up.
He nudged it between his legs, but his aim was off, and Adam’s cock rubbed against his inner thigh.
Adam sucked a breath in. “Haz…” he said into Harry’s nape, grinding his cock against Harry’s ass for a moment before pushing Harry’s thighs together and feeding his leaking cock between them.
Harry gasped as Adam’s cock rubbed against the sensitive skin of his inner thighs and grazed over his hole. This wasn’t what he had wanted—he wanted Adam inside him—but his words died on his lips as Adam started thrusting, fucking his thighs.
Harry couldn’t decide if he hated it or loved it. He moaned weakly every time Adam’s cock grazed against his hole—so close, so good, not enough. He was nearly sobbing with frustration before Adam finally took Harry’s cock back into his hand and started pumping it hard in time with his thrusts. This was better, but it still wasn’t enough, he wanted to be filled up, he wanted the ache to go away, he wanted—
Adam’s cock nudged hard against his hole, almost catching on the rim. Harry cried out, his mouth going slack as pleasure washed over his body. His cock softened in Adam’s hand, the demanding throbbing in his hole finally lessening. He felt so good, like he was floating on a cloud.
“Good?” Adam said, his voice tight and barely recognizable. He turned Harry onto his back.
Harry nodded dreamily and watched through heavy-lidded eyes as Adam sat up, took his own cock into his hand and start pumping it hard and fast, his dark eyes roaming all over Harry’s body.
“Can I come on you, Haz?” Adam ground out.
Harry nodded, although he wasn’t entirely sure what exactly he was agreeing to. It didn’t matter; at the moment he would let Adam do anything he wanted. He would always let Adam do anything he wanted.
He watched Adam clench his jaw, watched his magnificent body tense up and go rigid, before a low groan ripped out of Adam’s throat and then Adam was coming, his ejaculate covering Harry’s chest and thighs.
“So fucking beautiful,” Adam muttered, sounding drunk and dazed as he looked at Harry’s body underneath him. “So beautiful, the sweetest, the prettiest—fucking adore you.”
Harry smiled, preening a little. Adam adored him. Adam thought he was beautiful and sweet.
“I adore you, too,” Harry said sleepily as Adam cleaned his chest and thighs with some tissues.
He yawned and buried his face on Adam’s chest when Adam finally stretched out next to him.
“Best birthday present ever,” Adam murmured, stroking his fingers through Harry’s hair.
It took a lot of effort for Harry to open his eyes. “Wait, today is your birthday?”
Adam smiled at him, kissed him on the nose, and nodded. “I’m officially twenty-seven as of two hours ago.”
“You should have told me. I didn’t get you a present.”
“I don’t need a better present,” Adam said, stroking his nape.
Harry smiled at him sleepily. “I’m still making you a birthday dinner and we’re celebrating at home after work.”
“All right,” Adam said. “Now sleep, love. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
Harry closed his eyes and let himself drift away, listening to the steady beat of Adam’s heart. He would worry about his bond and the consequences of his actions tomorrow. Right now he felt too good to worry about anything. He was in Adam’s arms, warm, safe, and cherished.
Nothing bad could happen.