Chapter 102: Changed Expectations

Chapter 102: Chapter 102: Changed Expectations

"Are you going to take charge of the moment too?" Nero asked, the grin on his face making Sebastian reconsider several of his decisions for the evening.

"I can change my mind." Sebastian’s green eyes glinted with mischief.

"Yes, we established that." Nero’s hands settled more securely around his waist. "Please do not."

Sebastian laughed, and the sound seemed to affect Nero more than the threat itself, because the grin softened while his thumbs moved slowly against Sebastian’s sides beneath the thin fabric of his shirt.

There was something almost surreal about sitting in Nero’s lap comfortably.

Months earlier, Sebastian would have found an excuse to move before the position could become familiar, and seven years earlier, he would have avoided being alone with Nero long enough for the possibility to exist at all. Now the arms around him felt natural, the heat of Nero’s body familiar enough to relax against, and even the possessive grip at his waist registered as something Sebastian had willingly made room for.

He adjusted his weight, settling closer.

Nero’s breathing changed.

Sebastian found that deeply satisfying.

"You’re very quiet suddenly."

"I am appreciating my birthday."

"You haven’t received the entire gift yet."

Nero’s violet eyes darkened, and Sebastian had the distinct impression that teasing an enigma who had spent years exercising restraint might eventually become a dangerous hobby.

"You know," Sebastian murmured, allowing one hand to travel over Nero’s shoulder, "for someone with absolutely no experience, you have always been remarkably confident."

"I know how bodies work."

"That is not the same thing."

"No." Nero’s fingers slipped beneath the hem of Sebastian’s shirt and settled against the warmth of his lower back. "But I was never concerned about learning."

Sebastian’s mouth curved.

"Arrogant."

"Realistic."

There was the man Sebastian knew.

Nero might be physically inexperienced, but there was nothing innocent about him. He understood desire perfectly well, had spent his entire adult life surrounded by people discussing heats, ruts, bonds, pheromones, compatibility, and sex with the clinical openness required by their secondary genders, and had enough confidence in his ability to learn that the absence of previous partners apparently troubled him very little.

Nero’s fingers tightened against Sebastian’s lower back when their mouths met again, his confidence growing with every response Sebastian gave him. Smoke and burning wood gathered around them, warming the bedroom as Sebastian’s own developing pheromonal presence rose faintly beneath it, still incomplete but no longer absent.

"I’ve been waiting for this," Nero murmured against his mouth, his voice rougher now. "Seven years of imagining exactly how you would taste when you finally let me have you."

Sebastian pulled back enough to look at him.

"You imagined this for seven years and still managed to be surprised when I said yes?"

"I imagined you saying yes." Nero’s hands slid lower to Sebastian’s ass, holding him firmly against him. "I did not imagine you sitting in my lap looking at me like you want to be devoured."

Sebastian stared at him for half a second.

Then he laughed.

Nero’s expression sharpened.

"What?"

"That."

"What about it?"

"You finally sound like yourself again."

The amusement in Nero’s face faded into something more intent.

Sebastian had spent the last months watching him alternate between unbearable possessiveness and the carefully controlled fear that had followed Sebastian’s collapse. Even after the immediate danger passed, part of Nero had remained watchful, measuring every fluctuation and treating every new development in Sebastian’s body as something that might be taken from him without warning.

Tonight there was still fear somewhere underneath.

Sebastian knew Nero well enough now to recognize it.

But hunger had finally overwhelmed it.

Nero leaned closer until their noses nearly touched.

"You expected something else?"

"I wondered whether discovering you were a virgin would make you shy."

The look Nero gave him was magnificent.

Sebastian smiled.

"I see my mistake."

"My lack of practical experience has never affected my personality."

"Unfortunately."

Nero kissed his jaw.

Sebastian tilted his head as Nero moved lower, mouth brushing along his throat with a confidence built less from experience than from six months of learning exactly where Sebastian liked to be touched.

That was the strange part.

They had already developed intimacy.

Nero knew how Sebastian slept, which side he preferred when his joints hurt, how he liked his coffee, where to touch his neck when he was tense, and exactly how much pressure Sebastian tolerated when Nero wrapped himself around him at night.

Sex was new.

Sebastian was not.

The distinction eased something inside him.

His fingers slid through Nero’s long hair, gathering the white-blond strands at his nape before pulling gently enough to bring Nero’s face back to his.

Nero followed without resistance, although the satisfaction in his eyes suggested he enjoyed being directed far too much.

Sebastian studied him.

"Seven years."

"Yes."

"You really thought about this for seven years?"

Nero gave him a look that suggested the answer should have been obvious.

"Sebastian, I was obsessed with you, not celibate by religious conviction."

A laugh escaped him.

"That is a disturbing way to phrase it."

"My moon, are we going to do it, or do you plan to torture me?"

"Torture implies I don’t want the outcome," Sebastian murmured, his fingers still tangled in Nero’s hair. "And I very much want this outcome."

Nero’s eyes darkened with hunger. "Then show me."

Sebastian felt a slow smile curve his mouth as he shifted in Nero’s lap, deliberately pressing closer to the growing hardness beneath him. Nero’s breath hitched, his hands tightening on Sebastian’s hips.

"Patience," Sebastian chided softly, though he made no move to pull away. "You’ve waited seven years. A few more minutes won’t kill you."

"They might," Nero countered, his thumbs stroking circles against Sebastian’s sides. "I’m not as young as I once was."

Sebastian laughed. "You’re twenty-six."

"And I’ve spent seven of those years wanting you." Nero leaned in, his mouth brushing against Sebastian’s ear. "That’s aging in its own way."

The warm puff of breath against his ear sent shivers down Sebastian’s spine. He tilted his head, giving Nero better access as his mouth moved along his throat. The kisses were slow, deliberate, as though Nero were memorizing every inch of skin with his lips.

"You’re thinking too much," Nero murmured against his neck.

"I’m always thinking too much."

"Not about this." Nero pulled back just enough to meet his eyes. "Let me have you, Sebastian. All of you."

The raw need in his voice stripped away Sebastian’s last reservations. With deliberate slowness, he reached for the hem of his shirt, pulling it over his head. Nero’s eyes followed every movement, his hands hovering just above Sebastian’s skin as though afraid to touch without permission.

"You can touch me," Sebastian said softly.

Nero’s hands were on him instantly, palms flat against his chest, thumbs brushing over his nipples. Sebastian gasped at the contact, his back arching instinctively. Nero’s expression was one of pure delight, as though he’d just discovered something extraordinary.

"Sensitive," Nero noted, repeating the motion and watching as Sebastian’s breath hitched. "I like that."

"Of course you do," Sebastian managed, though his voice was strained as Nero’s mouth replaced his hands, tongue swirling around one peaked nipple while his fingers continued to tease the other.

Sebastian’s fingers tightened in Nero’s hair, holding him in place as pleasure shot through him. He could feel Nero’s smile against his skin, the bastard enjoying every reaction he drew from him.

"Nero," he breathed, not sure whether he was encouraging him or begging for mercy.

Nero lifted his head, his eyes dark with desire. "Yes?"

"Shut up and keep going."

The grin that spread across Nero’s face was devastating. "As you wish."

His mouth continued its downward journey, leaving a trail of fire across Sebastian’s stomach. When Nero reached the waistband of his trousers, he paused, looking up through his lashes.

"May I?"

Sebastian’s answer was to lift his hips, allowing Nero to unfasten the button and slide the fabric down his legs. When Nero’s fingers brushed against his erection through his underwear, Sebastian bit back a moan.

"So responsive," Nero murmured, his expression one of pure satisfaction. "And all mine.