“Christ, you feel good.” Wesley sounded as overcome as he felt.
“Wes.” Sebastian rolled off Wesley and tugged him over too, so they were on their sides again, facing each other, so Wesley had more room to work their cocks and Sebastian could kiss him without crushing him.
“Tonight was unacceptable,” Wesley whispered, against Sebastian’s lips, as his hand drove all the thoughts from Sebastian’s head. “We had this discussion weeks ago. You were already forbidden from coming so close to death ever again.”
Sebastian wanted to drink him in, weld them together so they could never be lost to each other. “You were the one who almost died.”
“Was I?” Wesley’s breath tickled his lips as his hand glided over them and Sebastian was losing his mind. “Oh wait, no, that wasyou,because you nearly traded your life to save mine. And that’s unacceptable, because regardless of whether you can knock me on my arse, there’s no magic in my life without you.”
Sebastian pushed him onto his back again, knocking Wesley’s hand away to take over stroking them. He kissed him again, because he couldn’t stop, because they felt so good together, because Wesley had gone pliant the way he only did when he was close to the edge and Sebastian wanted to drive him over it. The gentle motions of the boat on the river gave every movement just a little more sway, a little more depth that added a weightless, almost floating sensation.
It didn’t take very long before Sebastian was close too, for sweat to bead on his skin from the effort of holding back, the sweetest kind of torture. He tried to keep his eyes open enough to see Wesley. “You really are the best thing that’s ever happened to me. You know that, yes?”
Wesley groaned. “Haven’t I also told you that you’re not allowed to talk? It’s too much.” He always looked good, of course, but right now, unraveled and sweaty, breathing hard, his hair in disarray, his cheeks flushed and his eyes bright—Sebastian wanted to drink in the sight.
“I want to talk,” he said. “So I can tell you that you make everything better. That you make my demons disappear. That my life was so bad, but now I have you, and it’s so good, Wes, you’re so good.”
Wesley’s hips stuttered against him and Sebastian caught his breath. “You arsehole.” Wesley’s voice was unsteady. “I told you to make up for almost giving me a feeling, not give me more of them.”
“You have to get used to it,” Sebastian whispered. “Because we both made it tonight. And someday wewillbe eighty, and who knows where in the world we will be together—”
Wesley’s sharp inhale filled his ears, and then they were kissing again, the angle awkward and messy and perfect, Wesley overwhelming every one of his senses, and he was falling apart, feeling Wesley fall apart too.
Aftershocks danced through him as he lay panting on his side. He was still facing Wesley, and leaned in to brush their lips together, light as a butterfly. “Thank you,” he whispered, and it could have been for anything, for saving his life, for understanding what he’d struggled to say, for being everything Sebastian needed, because maybe he didn’t have magic and didn’t know if it was coming back, but he would be okay, because he could rely on Wesley to help him.
Wesley smiled, eyes a little dazed. “Don’t fall asleep just yet. You’ll never be warm enough without covers.”
Sebastian fumbled for the blankets. “Come here,” he said, trying to roll Wesley over onto his other side so he could spoon up behind him.
“Youcome here.”
A half-huff, half-laugh escaped Sebastian as he was the one pushed over onto his other side. “Wait, what are you doing?”
Wesley’s arm was curling around his waist, his chest warm against Sebastian’s back. “You’re a smart man, you’ll figure it out.”
“But Ilikeholding you.”
“Yes, and now I understand why. I’ve commandeered this position, and it’s your fault for showing me how nice it is.”
Sebastian couldn’t stop a quiet laugh. “So I only have myself to blame? What if I like this too?”
“You’re the one who taught me that, on occasion, reaping what you sowed might not be a terrible thing.” Wesley encircled Sebastian’s wrist in his hand, over the tattoo. More softly, he said, “Whatever happens next, you know I’m here, duck.”
Sebastian pressed impossibly closer into Wesley. “I know,” he said, and closed his eyes.
Epilogue
One week later
“Don’t give me that look,” Wesley said, to the sloth eying him as it dangled from a tree. “I am an unwilling participant in this particular expedition.”
Next to Wesley, Rory scoffed. “Funny, the way I remember it, Sebastian mentioned the zoo and you fell all over yourself to make him happy.”
“I’m sure that wasn’t how it happened,” Wesley lied.
“Really,” Rory said flatly. “Because Ace’s little niece Victoria somehow got herself a kitten. Rescued from Tarrytown, apparently. But I guess that doesn’t have anything to do with you wanting to make Sebastian happy either, does it?”
Wesley cleared his throat. “Where did Sebastian get to anyway?”
