Page 34 of Conflict Conclusion

“James—need…need…”

James tipped forward, crashing their mouths together as he thrust frantically, his rhythm faltering as he came with a desperate cry. With just a few more pumps of his dick, cum spurted out of Leon, and he wrapped his arms around James’ shoulders, even as his brain and body protested.

He needed…

“More?” James whispered, awe and love drenching that single word.

All Leon could manage was a nod. James reached down between them, presumably removing the dildo from inside himself. He shifted, so he was lying on his side, trapping one of Leon’s arms against the bed.

“I’ve got you, baby,” he whispered as he began pumping the dildo into Leon’s aching channel. “I’ll always have you.”

Leon curled his legs into his chest, giving James the perfect angle to wreck him. He wanted to be broken down so far, so completely, that they could rebuild him and all of this together.

“I love you,” James whispered, his voice raw and earnest. “I love you so much, Leon. You were so brave with Hailey’s mom yesterday, and again today, and as if that wasn’t enough, you opened your heart and your home to me and our new fur baby. You are everything I have ever wanted and more. This life—our life is something I never could have even wished for. You, our cats, our friends, my mom, Hailey, her mom…It’s everything.”

James grabbed Leon’s soft cock and rubbed his palm over the tip and pleasure, in its sharpest, purest form, whited out Leon’s vision. He came with a broken wail, a raw and disgustingly vulnerable sound, but the whole time James looked at him like he was the most beautiful person on the planet.

A few final drops of cum dribbled across James’ fingers, and Leon’s eyes fell shut on a broken exhale.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t force his eyes back open. He let James clean him up before going to check on Purrsephone.

“You’re okay now, sweet girl,” James whispered. “You’re safe here with us. Leon is going to take great care of you…because that’s all he knows how to do. Take care of every person, animal, and thing he loves.”

Leon snuggled deeper under the covers, foregoing food, responsibilities, and the world for just another few minutes as he listened to the love of his life whisper softly as Purrsephone purred away.

Chapter Nine

JAMES

“How did you manage to find the two cutest kitties on the planet?” Hailey asked, bouncing Yarmen and Purrsephone in each arm.

Yarmen yowled his happy yowl, and Purrsephone smacked him in the face with her tail. When Hailey gave her an extra few bounces, her motorboat purr started up, and she climbed up Hailey’s shoulder to rest in the crook of her neck.

It had taken almost two weeks for James to let anyone pick Purrsephone up. He was worried they wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between her being brave and her paw actually being healed. At the two-and-a-half-week mark, Hailey had come over for her first visit since going off to college, and she had lifted Purrsephone above her head, which made Purrsephone purr nonstop, and James had given up the fight.

It was now almost exactly a month and a half since they got Purrsephone, which meant she was well and truly healed, and also somewhat acclimated to living with Yarmen. James and Leon had followed all the instructions, keeping them separate for over a week before slowly introducing their smell to each other and eventually doing short, supervised visits. They were now allowed to roam the apartment together when Leon was home, but they were kept apart when he was out. Sometimes, they seemed to really like each other, curling up on the couch together, both of them purring and yowling away. Other times, Purrsephone would make it her mission to beat Yarmen with her tail until he eventually took a swipe at her.

Right now, they were behaving, which was all James could ask for as he and Leon moved in the final boxes from James’ car.

“Well, I’d say James and Leon are pretty cute, too, so maybe they just attract cuteness,” his mom said from where she was sitting on the couch with Linda, folding towels and organizing James’ books.

Howard had assigned himself the task of building James a desk in the office, and his grunts and occasional curses had served as a soundtrack for the past hour and a half of their move.

“They’re okay, I guess,” Hailey said, sticking her tongue out at Leon as he walked by carrying a heavy looking box.

James allowed himself just a moment to appreciate the view, as sweat glistened on Leon’s lower back and his muscles and tattoos flexed with every step. He was wearing one of his “It’s a good thing you love me because I have somehow yet again forgotten to do the fucking laundry” crop tops. James had been pleased when no one, not even Howard, batted an eye at him or his purple belly button piercing. Leon had worn a full-length shirt when they helped James’ mom move the previous weekend, and, right before everyone arrived today, Leon had asked James to help make sure he had at least one clean shirt available when they moved Linda next weekend.

“No need to give the old folks at Arbor Manor an eyeful,” Leon had said, glancing down at the scythe peeking out over the top of his joggers.

“I’m sure Mom would get a kick out of being the source of dining room gossip before they’ve even fully moved in,” James had joked, which had only made Leon sigh.

As Leon set the heavy box down on the kitchen island, Yarmen began to squirm in Hailey’s arms. He’d been a bit clingier than usual the past few weeks, either due to Purrsephone’s presence or the appearance of boxes and suitcases as James gradually moved in.

It looked like Leon had just brought in the heaviest box, leaving only a few duffel bags and piles of pillows still to be brought in. He and his mom had agreed that he would bring one pillow for each major holiday because they would look good on Leon’s dark couch. They were also easy to stuff in vacuum storage bags, which helped ease some of James’ anxiety over coming into Leon’s space and completely taking over. He’d done his best to keep most of his stuff on his side of the bedroom and closet, only adding a few things here and there to the kitchen, living room, and office.

His plan would have worked, except Leon had figured out what he was doing. He’d insisted on building James a desk in the office and had gone to James’ house and packed five more boxes of James’ stuff, including the heavy one he was currently unloading.

“Why did you bring scuffed-up glasses and chipped mugs?” Hailey asked, walking over to the counter, allowing Yarmen to clamber out of her arms and into Leon’s, effectively disrupting his efforts to unpack the box.