Chapter Twenty-Three
The pop of the cork coming out of the champagne bottle made Wyatt jump, even though he could see that Kai had it under control. Well under control, even.
“You know what you’re doing with one of those, huh?” he asked, sorting out takeout containers on the coffee table. Kai hadn’t let the cork go flying, or had a single drop overflow.
Champagne and takeout was definitely a chef’s celebratory meal. It saved either of them cooking.
“If you’d had a sommelier hit you with a towel every time you screwed it up, you’d get good at it, too,” Kai smiled wryly. “Not that I’m ungrateful for being taught, just…”
“Yeah, my uncle used to stand on my foot if I let my fingers get too close to the dough roller or tried to reach under the guard without totally unplugging it first. He was trying to stop me hurting myself, but…”
“Well, you’ve still got all your fingers.” Kai shrugged, pouring two glasses and then sitting down beside Wyatt. “But yeah, what is it with hitting juniors in the kitchen?”
“Stress, I think,” Wyatt said. “I dunno. I always promised myself I wouldn’t do it if I was ever running a kitchen.”
“Of course you did,” Kai said warmly. “You’re probably the sweetest man I’ve ever known.”
Wyatt chuckled, sipping his champagne and making a happy sound at the crisp, tart taste of it. He’d let Kai pick the bottle, since he figured he knew what he was doing, and it had paid off as far as he was concerned.
“I never wanted to run one,” Kai said. “I just wanted to… do what I do, because I was good at it. When you’re in charge, you’re just barking orders. Which is why I like this job. Thank you for helping me keep it.”
“Yeah, I love this job,” Wyatt agreed.
They passed takeout containers between them, and drank their champagne, and Wyatt could feel the comfort he’d wanted with Kai filling up the room, making the whole place warm close and wonderful.
His heart had almost leapt into his throat earlier, when they were filming, at the way Kai looked at him. He wasn’t sure he remembered ever being looked at like that before, like for just a second, he was the center of someone’s whole world.
He’d been carrying that feeling since, turning it over where he’d tucked it away in his chest and examining it from all possible angles.
It was starting to look like something bigger and more precious than he’d expected to have, but now that he’d gotten his first glimpse of it, he wanted it.
He wanted Kai to be in love with him, and he wanted to be in love with Kai, too. Hell, he was pretty sure he was in love with Kai.
Which was unexpected, and if he’d been told he was going to fall for him two months ago, he would have laughed. But now…
Now, the thought made him smile, as he finished off his glass and watched Kai sit back, eyes closed, cheeks flushed, and a hand resting lightly on his stomach.
Wyatt couldn’t resist leaning over, his stomach swooping, and kissing Kai softly. It still felt like the first time, that rush of excitement and unsureness that tied his stomach up in knots.
Kai made a soft, needy noise and kissed back, sitting up and curling his hand around the back of Wyatt’s neck, holding him in place to kiss him, his tongue tart and sweet as it brushed against Wyatt’s, a subtle hint at what he was in for later.
Tension flooded Wyatt’s belly as Kai pushed him back, straddling his hips and pinning him to the couch.
Their habit of doing this once a week meant that Wyatt was more than ready for it now, having spent the last seven days thinking about Kai more or less non-stop.
That should have been the first clue, really. He should have realized how he felt before now.
“You’re so hot,” Kai murmured against his lips.
“And you’re so sweet,” Wyatt responded, grinning.
“Was that a pun?” Kai asked, backing off just a little to stare at him.
Wyatt shrugged, completely unable to wipe the grin off his face. “Might’ve been. Whatcha gonna do about it?” he asked, his eyes travelling to Kai’s lips automatically.
Kai was beautiful. He was probably never going to stop thinking that.
“Hmm.” Kai looked him up and down, then climbed off his lap and grabbed the champagne bottle, swishing it just enough to determine that there was still some in there. “Something I’ve always wanted to do, I think. Come on.”
Wyatt watched him head toward the bedroom for a few seconds before his brain entirely caught up to the fact that Kai was moving away from him, and he should follow.
When he got to the bedroom, Kai had already set the champagne bottle down on the nightstand and opened the rest of his shirt buttons. The fact that he always wore a black t-shirt underneath suddenly seemed really unfair.
“You gonna tell me what you’re planning?” Wyatt asked, watching as Kai unbuttoned his cuffs and shrugged his shirt off, letting it flutter to the floor.
Kai shook his head. “Nope. But I am gonna undress you,” he said, closing the gap between them and putting his hands on Wyatt’s chest, his fingers curling into the soft fabric of Wyatt’s well-loved Henley.
“Should I be undressing you, too?” Wyatt asked, reaching out to curl a hand around Kai’s waist, stroking with his thumb.
“Depends on how much you like looking at me naked,” Kai said, not even pausing before he grabbed Wyatt’s belt, working it open deftly.
“A lot,” Wyatt responded, just barely sliding his thumb under the fabric of Kai’s t-shirt, rubbing the pad over what he knew was a sensitive spot.
He wanted to know where all Kai’s sensitive spots were. The low throb of arousal in the pit of his stomach was nice, and he definitely liked where this was going, but now there was something else with it, something that had crept up on him.
Warmth. Affection.
Love?
Wyatt swallowed.
Yeah, probably. No, definitely. Somewhere along the line, he’d fallen in love with Kai.
He laughed at the thought, joy welling up in his chest.
Kai looked up, raising an eyebrow at the same moment as he pushed Wyatt’s jeans and underwear down, shoving them hard enough for them to pool at his ankles. Wyatt wriggled his bare toes against the floor, basking in how nice this felt.
“You wanna share with the class?”
Not now, Wyatt thought. Not when he was high on having gotten through the series, and he’d had almost half a bottle of champagne, and the world was fuzzy at the edges and he was so damned happy.
Kai wouldn’t believe him, and he’d ruin his chance to say it right the first time.
“We hated each other two months ago,” he said, which was half of what he’d been laughing about at least.
“I didn’t hate you, exactly.”
“No, you thought I was an idiot who had no business with his own show.”
Kai shrugged. “I’m wrong sometimes,” he said, gripping the hem of Wyatt’s Henley. Wyatt raised his arms to help, gasping as Kai’s fingers brushed against the sensitive skin of his stomach, and again as his thumbs ghosted over his nipples on the way to pulling it off.
“Now, I think I want you to get on the bed,” Kai said, nodding to it. “Which I’m sure I’m right about.”
Wyatt didn’t even think about arguing, scrambling over to the bed eagerly, a hot rush of excitement sweeping down to his belly.
“On your back,” Kai said as he stripped himself off the rest of the way.
Wyatt figured out what he was planning around the time he watched Kai grab the champagne bottle. He curled his hands around the bars of the headboard in anticipation, suspecting he’d want to have something to hold onto.
The mattress dipped as Kai climbed onto the bed beside him, and Wyatt bit his lip. This seemed like exactly the kind of thing Kai would have always wanted to do, and he loved the idea that he got to be here for it.
He liked that Kai was comfortable enough with him to experiment. Especially when his experiments had proved to be really fun, so far.
Wyatt hissed at the first drop of still-cool champagne against his stomach, the sensation of his belly button being suddenly filled with liquid sending a surprising jolt of pleasure through him.
He couldn’t stop himself from craning his neck to look as Kai lowered his mouth, long, clever tongue lapping up a spilled rivulet that ran down his side.
The noise Kai made sucking the champagne from Wyatt’s navel was outright obscene, but that was nothing compared to how it felt when he pushed the tip of his tongue into it. Wyatt’s hips jerked off the bed, his hands tightening around the headboard and his toes curling.
He hadn’t even been touched yet, and he was already leaking precome.
He wasn’t kidding when he said Kai was hot. Not just to look at—though he was a lot of fun to look at—but in the sense that he was really good in bed, and had been since that first frantic blowjob.
“Everything tastes better when I’m licking it off your skin,” Kai murmured, awe in his voice.
Wyatt’s head fell back as Kai poured again, his stomach tense as he forced himself to stay still, his hands gripping the headboard so tightly it hurt. But the touch of Kai’s tongue against him, lapping at this newly-found sweet spot, was worth it.
The sounds Kai made were incredible, too, and half the reason this was as hot as it was. The throaty moans that vibrated against Wyatt’s skin, the way he paused to breathe in the scent of him, his breath catching at the end. The desperate, needy whimpers he made as he licked up whatever he’d spilled, his tongue tracing them back and leaving trails of fire in its wake.
And Kai was just licking him, and not even close enough to his cock to be remotely satisfying, and Wyatt was still getting off on it.
As if he’d read Wyatt’s mind, Kai’s mouth finally trailed lower, his breath ghosting over Wyatt’s hard, needy cock in an agonizing taste of what he really wanted. Wyatt squirmed, hoping Kai would get the hint.
He gasped at the first soft touch of Kai’s tongue, his toes curling all over again, the low throb of anticipation in his gut flaring up into need and want and lust.
“I want yours too,” Wyatt said before the thought was entirely finished forming in his mind. He hadn’t sucked Kai’s cock yet, and he wanted to. It was gorgeous.
More to the point, it was Kai’s, and they were celebrating, and Wyatt wanted him to get off, too.
And he’d always wanted to do this, and if Kai got his wish…
Kai looked up at him, brows knitted together in a confused frown.
“Knees either side of my head,” Wyatt explained, already picturing it in his mind. “Come on. I know how to suck cock, too.”
Kai’s tongue darted out to wet his lips, his already blown pupils widening just a little more, only the thinnest ring of ice-blue around them now. He nodded, and then without another moment’s hesitation, scrambled into position, stretching his body along Wyatt’s and positioning his hips right above his head.
Wyatt licked his lips at the sight of Kai’s cock above him, the head dark, precome just beginning to bead at the tip. His tongue darted out to catch it, the salt-tang of it coating his tongue and making his own cock twitch.
He could feel Kai’s breath on his cock again, but from a completely different angle, and this was weird, and new, but he could definitely get into it.
Wyatt moved his hands from the headboard, flexing them a few times to get the feeling back, and then curling them around Kai’s hips instead, pulling him closer. He parted his lips to take the head of Kai’s cock into his mouth, moaning around it as Kai licked a stripe up his own.
This was going to be good.
The position turned out to be perfect, the angle just right to suck Kai’s cock deep into his throat, hollowing his cheeks to increase the pressure. Wyatt let his eyes fall closed, focusing on the heat and weight of Kai, of the jolts of pleasure that ran down his spine as the head of his cock nudged the back of his throat.
His own cock throbbed in Kai’s mouth, clever tongue licking its way around the head. Wyatt spread his legs in an effort to stop himself from thrusting up into it, bending one at the knee to limit his leverage and give Kai more room to explore if he wanted to.
Wyatt stroked his hand up and down one of Kai’s thighs, feeling how tense they already were. Kai was always tense, the kind of person he’d heard described as highly strung, and that was one of the things Wyatt loved most about doing this with him.
He loved the few minutes after where Kai was too exhausted to be stressed out, where he softened and relaxed and let Wyatt have all of him, just for that little while.
Except it was happening other times now, and that was an honor Wyatt hadn’t been expecting, and he wasn’t sure what to do with it. Other than the part where he’d already fallen in love.
Wyatt hummed at the thought, sealing his lips so Kai could feel it in his cock, and got a moan around his own cock in return. Which made him laugh, which made Kai laugh, and then everything was suddenly urgent, Kai’s tongue catching a sensitive spot that made Wyatt keen around his cock.
He tilted his head a little to let Kai’s cock slip further into his throat, suddenly wanting all of him, wanting Kai to know how desperately he wanted him. This wasn’t just about sex anymore. Wyatt liked getting off—always had, always would—but he wanted to get Kai off, now, too, not just because it was good manners or because it made for better sex, but because…
Because it would make Kai happy, and relaxed, and give him those few moments of peace Wyatt loved seeing so much.
Because he loved him, and wanted him to know it, and feel it, and to keep coming back for more.
Wyatt laughed again at the thought. He was totally screwed, and he couldn’t have been happier with Kai’s cock stretching his throat, making his jaw ache, arousal burning hot and fast in the pit of his stomach, a low, throbbing tension warning him that he was thisclose to coming.
Kai was close, too. Wyatt could feel it in the way his thighs were trembling, in the soft little whimpers that felt incredible around his cock, and Kai was leaking precome into his mouth, and he could feel himself doing that, too, and the whole thing was making Wyatt’s head spin.
He screwed his eyes shut tight, swallowing Kai down as far as he could take him and sucking as hard as he could, eager to get him to come, to hear him moan and feel his hips jerk and taste him.
A sudden, all-over tension was all the warning Wyatt got before Kai came down his throat, a low moan vibrating around Wyatt’s cock as he finished, coating Wyatt’s tongue and forcing him to either swallow or choke, which he really didn’t mind nearly as much as he should have.
It made him feel much less guilty when he came in Kai’s mouth a moment later, searing, tight tension building, making him feel too hot for just a few seconds before he was coming, too, sucking hard on Kai’s cock as he rode it out, lungs burning for air as he came so hard he felt hollow after, as though nothing was left in him.
Oh, that was good. Damn. He should have thought of doing this before, of having the satisfying weight of Kai’s cock in his mouth when he came, the whole experience a thousand times better because he could still taste Kai, still lick and suck at his cock as the aftershocks made him gasp and moan.
He panted for breath as Kai finally raised his hips, taking his softening cock away even while he licked Wyatt’s clean, making happy little sounds in his chest that were about as close as a human could get to purring.
As if he didn’t already like Kai enough, it was worth remembering that he was also really into sucking cock.
Wyatt chuckled at the thought. The perfect man, basically. He cooked, he loved giving oral, and he was neat and tidy.
Panting, Kai turned around and crawled back up the bed, pressing himself tight against Wyatt’s body while he lay down to catch his breath.
The closeness was new, but Wyatt loved it. They could be like this all the time, if they wanted to be. He could feel it deep down, feel how right it was to have Kai next to him like this.
Wyatt opened his mouth, planning to whisper I love you into the air around them, but stopped himself before he actually got the words out.
There had to be a better moment than right after they’d just sucked each other’s cocks, and Kai deserved that better moment. He deserved the world, as far as Wyatt was concerned, and yeah—that was his heart talking.
But once someone worked their way in, he had a hard time letting go of them. Kai was his now, for as long as he wanted to be, and he was so happy at the thought that he felt like he might burst with it.
Beside him, Kai sighed a huge, satisfied sigh and rested his head against Wyatt’s shoulder, taking hold of Wyatt’s hand to wrap it around him.
Wyatt chuckled. Kai really wasn’t afraid to ask for what he wanted.
“I’d like to do this more often,” he said, almost as if he’d read Wyatt’s mind. “About three times more often than we do it now, I think.”
Yeah, that was… extremely Kai-like. And it was adorable.
Wyatt snorted. “You wanna pick your days, too?”
“Well, I wash my hair Mondays and Thursdays, so…”
“I can wash your hair,” Wyatt offered. “If you want.”
Kai laughed delightedly, the sound making the whole world seem brighter for a moment. “We’ll talk about your hair fetish some other time.”
“Oh, like we’ll talk about your fetish for licking stuff off me some other time?” Wyatt asked.
Kai laughed again, and he was so obviously happy that Wyatt’s heart swelled with it, too. He doubted many people got to see Kai like this, and he was really glad he was one of them.
“Yeah, exactly like that,” Kai said. “Still want you to fuck me later, but you can take a nap now.”
“Thanks for your permission,” Wyatt teased.
“You’re welcome,” Kai said, as though he was granting a favor. He snuggled closer, sighing again, and Wyatt didn’t need to look at him to know he’d closed his eyes.
Three times as often sounded good. For a start.