Tahlen smoothed his palm over Zelli’s shoulder. The color did not return, but Zelli thought he felt the touch beneath his skin, warming his chest in a manner unlike the intense heat of his fever. The feeling was not like a touch at all. More like the moments after a sip of wine, likewarmth. It sparkled and made Zelli want to smile and draw Tahlen closer so he wouldn’t worry.
Tahlenwouldworry if Zelli shut the door between them. He might even spend his night outside, fretting and listening, waiting for Zelli to ask for help.
Zellicouldask. Tahlen wanted him to. He’d said so, more than once.
The possibility of it stole his breath. Zelli clung harder to the door. “Tahlen,” Tahlen’s eyes fixed on his and Zelli’s knees knocked together, “would you help me? With this,” Zelli clarified in a rasp. “Please?”
Tahlen pulled in a breath so deep it straightened his already straight shoulders. He released it, gaze locked on Zelli’s face as though waiting for Zelli to speak again or take it back. When Zelli did neither, Tahlen nodded once, curtly. “Let me in, Zelli.”
Zelli had forgotten he was behind the door. He managed to take two steps back, his chest heaving with the effort, and then Tahlen was in his room and the door was closed. If Tahlen used the lock, he did so without taking his gaze from Zelli.
His attention stayed on Zelli’s face for another moment, then slowly moved down to Zelli’s neck and shoulders and chest, dropping further to Zelli’s stomach and Zelli’s plump prick, which Zelli held in one hand.
“I do have hair. Just not on my chin.” Zelli had no idea what he was saying. But delicate patches of hair in shades of sunset decorated his chest and his legs and between his legs as well. “I don’t know why I don’t need to shave. I hoped to, when I was younger. You don’t care about that, but I can’t seem to stop talking. Do you think you could…?”
Tahlen stepped closer. Zelli tripped backward until he bumped into the bed. Tahlen’s stare made him restless. Zelli was hurtling toward the depths of his fever but having Tahlen in front of him now made him feel like it was beginning all over again. This was what he’d been searching for years.
“Do you think you could come here?” Zelli finished his question at last, then quickly added to it. “Although if you wanted to leave, I wouldn’t blame you.”
He blinked and Tahlen was looming over him. Zelli tipped his head back and Tahlen’s gaze returned to his.
Zelli was very hot. So was Tahlen, although it could not be with the same fever. Zelli let go of his cock to bring both of his hands up, then stopped short of resting them on Tahlen’s chest.
Tahlen reached out to take hold of them both and placed them on his chest exactly where Zelli had wanted to. He swept a thumb over Zelli’s wrist. “What do you need?”
Zelli was barely aware of his low whine. “You know I don’t know.” That was not helpful and not befitting a Tialttyrin. If his antecedents let themselves be fucked by the fae, he could certainly manage to speak his desires to Tahlen. He spread his fingers out over Tahlen’s chest, thinking of walls again, and those moments before waking in Tahlen’s arms earlier. “To touch you,” he offered first, voice lifting in question. “If you’re sure.”
Tahlen’s eyes narrowed.
Zelli was, after all, still touching him and Tahlen was still standing there. But, after considering Zelli for another moment, Tahlen exhaled and gave another curt nod. He tugged Zelli’s hand lower, then released it, leaving Zelli the choice to trace the swelling length of Tahlen’s cock through his clothing or to continue to ask if Tahlen was sure.
Zelli’s stuttering sigh of Tahlen’s name was a little embarrassing, but almost nothing compared to everything else that day. Tahlen made sounds too when he was touched, a small grunt before he clenched his jaw.
Zelli’s gaze drifted down to watch the motions of his hand and the outline of Tahlen’s stiffening cock. Tahlen made that sound again but no move to stop him.
Zelli dragged his eyes back up. “Tahlen, I’m naked.”
“Yes.” Tahlen’s voice was markedly rougher. Zelliwasteasing his prick, after all, and could not seem to stop although he also wanted to see it, which was why he’d spoken. Tahlen’s brow was furrowed, but he seemed to finally understand. “You want me naked as well?”
Zelli’s spine melted like candlewax. His legs were water. He slipped forward, hiding his hot face in Tahlen’s shirt. Tahlen smoothed his hands over Zelli’s shoulders, which were damp with heat when the touch was gone.
“Then say so,” Tahlen requested quietly. “If I’m to help, if I’m to be good for you, you’ll have to tell me what you want.”
Tahlen’s shirt slid between Zelli’s teeth. Zelli left it there when he angled his head back to glower at Tahlen, red-faced. “Everything,” Zelli growled, weak as a kitten. “You’re beautiful and I want to see you.” And to touch him with his hands and mouth. To drag his tongue over Tahlen’s skin in some way. For Tahlen to feel him inside and out.
Tahlen frowned at him for another moment, then bent down, lifting Zelli’s chin at the same time so that their mouths met. The kiss was soft. Tahlen’s voice was as well. “You’ll see me,” he vowed against Zelli’s lips. “But do you want me to undress or did you want to undress me?”
Untold possibilities ran through Zelli’s mind. He nodded eagerly to answer the question and to show he understood what Tahlen was telling him. “I must be specific,” he murmured, going to his toes to press their mouths together again.
Tahlen smiled for it. “If I want to stop, I’ll stop, if that’s your worry.” The smile left his lips even as he cupped Zelli’s jaw and stroked his cheek. “You worry for me. Precious Zelli.”
“I never want to hurt you.” Zelli turned his cheek into Tahlen’s hand.
“Except to bite me,” Tahlen answered, motionless when Zelli’s eyes came up guiltily. Tahlen didn’t look like he shivered, but Zelli felt it travel through Tahlen’s chest. He frowned and Tahlen frowned back, before slowly standing straight. He tugged at the fastening for his belt, pulling that free and letting it fall.
“This?” Tahlen prompted, as though Zelli wasn’t staring and breathing heavily with his mouth open. Tahlen reached for the hem of his shirt to draw it over his head and Zelli was back against him in less than a heartbeat.
“Yes.” Zelli didn’t quite dare to put his mouth to Tahlen’s skin but skimmed his hands over Tahlen’s ribs. “Yes. Yes, this is it. This is what I want, Tahlen. You’re so good.” Heat ran beneath Tahlen’s skin. The hair trailing down below his navel was coarse and soft at the same time. Zelli inched away to stare at lean muscle and tiny marks, like old scars, and the flush of color descending from Tahlen’s collarbone, then pressed in again, shaking. “You’re too kind, Tahlen. I want you in my mouth. In myteeth. I want…”
