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Turning onto my side, I squinted at the clock on the bedside table. The red numbers glowed 3 a.m. Rubbing my hand down my face, I gingerly sat up, the pleasant ache running through my body reminding me of the few hours before. Planting my feet on the floor, I peered around the dark room, stopping on the body lying on the other side of the bed. Shaun lay peacefully on his front, long puffs of breath told me he was out for the count and he was sleeping deeply, tangled in the duvet. Seeing him so at ease made me happy. His almost boy like expression told lies about the man I knew him to be. Big, fat, huge lies I was choosing to ignore. I reached out and ran my knuckles down his side, closing my eyes when my skin connected with his.

A trickle of unease walked my spine when I withdrew my hand, remembering the apprehension that had woken me at the ungodly hour in the first place.

I didn’t bother to put anything on when I got up and sneaked from the room, Sophie and Jake would be in their own land of nod at this time in the morning. Padding through the Loft, I collected a bottle of water from the kitchen then made my way to the expanse of windows that lined the living room. City lights gave the room a tepid glow, enough to see my surroundings. The twinkling lights of Brighton never seemed to dim, many a night I found myself in front of these windows, mesmerised.

Hooking my foot under the bottom of the recliner, I dragged it over the few inches I was able to move it, then slumped wearily into the seat. I couldn’t push away the ominous feeling I had, like a calm before the almighty storm. Not being able to foretell what was coming next, Shaun’s story about his ten of swords tarot card made me uneasy, knocked me off kilter.

Content with my life as it was, confident I had no demons to run from, I was perplexed as to why I couldn’t settle. Shaun was still a relatively unknown figure to me but if what we’d experienced together earlier was anything to go by, we could get to where ever it was life would take us if we both wanted it enough. And I did. Maybe that was the problem? The magnitude of being with Shaun finally sinking in.

I gulped down some more water then settled the cold bottle at the side of the chair, my eyes constantly scanning the few bright lights spread out before me, searching...as if one of those twinkles held all the answers. I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t sleep it seemed.

A cool breeze wafted around me, the air shifting, drawing me from my solemn reverie. I surmised I’d been sitting a while when I noted the bumps across my arms. Time to go back to bed where there was heat and cuddles in the form of a sleeping man.

As if sensing my thoughts, warm arms wrapped around my shoulders and chest from behind, making me jump. Shaun’s breath skimmed my ear as he nuzzled into my neck, inhaling deeply, holding tight. It wasn’t an erotic mouth by any means, yet my arousal began stirring within.

God, what this man fucking did to me was crazy. Closing my eyes, I savoured the quiet between us until his hand snaked down my torso, soft fingers stroking the coarse hair at the bottom of my navel. It didn’t feel entirely sexual, more comforting yet the goose bumps returned with a vengeance. When Shaun sucked on my neck, the act changed the air and the constancy of my heart beat. The comfort went south, my dick north, as Shaun’s hand crept further downward and he fastened his fingers around my hardening length.

Tipping my head back, I stared into sleepy eyes as he stole a kiss. “You like that?” he whispered, pulling away a fraction.

“Mmmhhmm,” was all I had to say. I didn’t have words, not then, they were meaningless.

In the blink of an eye, Shaun was gone, the heat taken with him, disappointment fluttering through me on a sigh. I needn’t have worried, he returned less than a minute later to kneel on the floor, nudging my knees apart so he could fit between. Then he laid his head on my thigh, like it was the most natural thing in the world, like this was our norm. Laid out in nakedness for all the world to see. There was no hiding our flaws.

“You okay, baby?”

The sweetness of his concern washed over me. Shaun being Shaun was a marvel in itself, but when he was soft and pliant...hell, you’d fall for him in no time at all. I’d bet my last everything this was a side of him not many people saw. I was humbled, and I couldn’t dispel the quivering of butterflies in my stomach, nor the desperate thud of my heart as I looked down at him.

On his knees - I felt worshipped.

“I am now.” Running a hand through his hair, I gently massaged his scalp, circles across his head that would send him to sleep, if that’s what he wanted.  But, it wasn’t. Shaun appeared to have other ideas, ideas I could get on board with. I wanted my fill and then some because I didn’t know what daylight was going to bring, when I would get him like this again, if ever.

“I missed you in bed.”

“Yeah?” I had no real answer to give him as to why I was sitting in the dark in the middle of the night. He gazed up at me with those expressive eyes I’d come to love so much, and my heart melted a little more for him. “I’m okay, Shaun.” I reiterated.

Swiping my thumb across his bottom lip, I watched as his tongue poked out to lick at me, his hand gripping tighter around my ankle. My cock was standing proud, jutting up to my belly button, begging for some attention now that the moment of calm had been and gone. All I wanted was some of Shaun, in a dirty way, not wanting to think about anything except the slide of our bodies.

Taking my hand from his face, I fisted my erection, making it abundantly clear where I wanted him. Shaun licked his lips and angled his head, so he could tongue my balls. I tugged a lazy rhythm, in no hurry as Shaun suckled my sack. With my muscles becoming harder, his hands stroked my legs as he shifted from the floor, his own hard on brushing against me on the way up.

“You get me so fucking hard.”

He gave me a show I’d craved since the first day I’d set my eyes on him. Standing in front of me, he touched himself in a way that made him moan and me salivate. Bending forward I cupped his groin, never taking my eyes from his as I dipped my head and sank down, my mouth covering his length, sucking on the way back up. The taste of him would never get old. Never.

Jesus, yes!

That was so goddamned hot. I made a mental note to have him jack off for me to completion some other time.

“Fuck...stop, Ayden.” Shaun panted. I kept sucking and licking, loving the musky taste of him. Tingles raced with more fervour through my balls when I sucked the salty elixir seeping from the tip of his cock. He swatted me away, pushing me further into the recliner, the squeak of leather loud as I lunged back.

Letting go of myself, I waited with baited breath for his next move. From the look in his eyes, he wasn’t going to keep me waiting for long, he was as aroused as I was. Climbing over me, I grabbed at his hips as he swung his legs over the arms of the chair, opening right up, arse splayed tantalisingly above.

Oh fuck, yes. What a sight!

My heart rate picked up exponentially just thinking about teasing my cock inside him. Leaning down, Shaun sucked at a tight nipple, his hands roaming up the sides of my ribcage.

“I need you,” he gasped between breaths and heavenly nips to my torso. “Here.”

Reaching down, I took his length in my hand while stretching behind his neck with the other, enticing him to come closer so I could kiss him. Forcing his mouth open, I plundered him passionately, my tongue inside expressing without words his need was returned and how very fucking much I liked his idea.

Wrenching away from me, he ripped open the condom he’d plucked from somewhere, pinching at the end of the rubber, he rolled the thin latex down me. My breath hitched when he rubbed his hand over, a few strokes only. My fingers found his supple hole that was slick, his legs levered wider over the arms of the chair, and I grinned up at him.

“You came prepared?”

Letting out a cheeky laugh, he said, “did I ever?”

I could feel his slippery entrance as I circled my fingers around, teasing and stroking, watching his lustful eyes fluttering. I knew he liked things rougher, he got off on it, that hint of pain adding to the act. But, I wanted to show him another way. I’d had it once with Jake and I knew it didn’t always need to be so tempestuous, I wanted to show him the same, that gentle could be good too. That we could be soft together.

Shaun rocked up and down, he was slow, and my finger only slipped in a fraction with each motion of his rotating hips. His soft purrs had me losing patience quickly, wanting to stick my finger in full to the knuckle but I held back. I scissored another finger in though, Shaun letting out a gruff cry with the intrusion but that was all I did before pulling both out again. Our fucking before had been frenzied and fraught with tensions, not so intimate. This was far, far different.

Shaun gripped my shoulders, sinking his body down so my cock grazed through his cheeks. Bucking his hips, he created his own pleasure as I sat still and let him do his thing.

After a while he gritted out, “enough. Make me feel good, please?”

He didn’t need to ask twice, I was more than fucking ready. I was gonna make him fly, give him an ounce of freedom one last time before the day swallowed us both and our future became uncertain again.