Page 19 of Sugar

Once he was done with his little DNA kit, Piper carefully laid him out, stripped him down, sucked him until he was on the edge, then carefully played with his hole until he was a shaking mess.

Only when he was begging with his whole body did Piper allow him to finally come. Juno hadn’t thought he’d ever like being edged. The idea of it felt like it could be cruel—like it could be used to torment instead of tease—but Piper didn’t make him feel like that.

He didn’t make him feel like he had to earn the pleasure.

Instead, it felt like he was trying to draw each minute out for eternity so Juno would never stop feeling good.

He was still trembling when Piper soothed him with soft kisses, and Juno’s breathing was just starting to even out when Piper went to the bathroom and brought back a wet washcloth. He didn’t complain about how small Juno’s place was or how ragged his things were. He didn’t say anything about how the hand soap on the edge of his sink was mostly water at this point.

He just washed Juno off, then curled his larger body around him. Through his shirt, Juno could feel how hard his heart was beating, and he turned, a little afraid. He pressed his palm to the center of Piper’s chest.

“Tell me you’re okay.”

Piper kissed him softly. “I’m okay. My heart works a little harder now, and I was really into what we were doing.”

Juno’s eyes cut down to the crotch of his slacks. “Yeah?” He didn’t mean to sound so skeptical, but Piper didn’t take offense. He just laughed and kissed him again, making Juno’s toes curl.

“I told you I get off on making you feel good. It doesn’t show itself in the same ways as it used to. And I promise you, once I get a clean bill of health, I’m going to ask my doctor for some pills, and I’m going to show you exactly how good you make me feel.”

Juno’s face went white-hot, and his dick gave a feeble twitch. He rolled his hips forward, and Piper reached between them, squeezing his soft cock. It sent tendrils of warm pleasure rushing through him. Christ, he didn’t know he could feel this way.

Was this how it was between Oliver and Victor when they’d first met? Or Victor’s friend Emil when he fell for the hot professor Juno had met at the wedding?

He was tempted to get up and get his phone so he could ask, but staying in Piper’s arms was more appealing.

“Thank you for today,” Juno finally said. He hadn’t wanted to leave Piper that morning, and the fact that he’d called in and returned so quickly had meant everything. The gifts had been a bonus Juno still didn’t know how to process.

He’d never been loved on like this before. His past relationships—if he could call them that—had been with people who acted like he should be grateful they even looked his way. He’d taken what he could get, but they always left him in the end.

It was an echo of how it had been when he was a child. His own parents had cared about themselves more than him, and his biological family hadn’t wanted the reminder.

He’d been picked a couple of times for potential adoption, but Juno hadn’t been a good kid. He embraced how much he wanted affection now, but when he was a kid, he’d kept his cards close to his chest. The foster moms had wanted a pliant, loving boy whose personality matched his baby face and his little curls.

Instead, they’d gotten a bitter, angry brat who repeatedly bit the hand that fed him.

He wasn’t sorry for it. As a kid, he hadn’t wanted a new family. He’d wanted the miracle of his own family realizing their mistakes and coming back to get him. It hadn’t been until he was in his late teens that he realized that fantasy would never come true.

Maybe he had decent people out there who were related to him. Maybe he’d even find them in the test results.

But in that moment, he was pretty sure no matter what he found, it wouldn’t beat the feeling of curling into Piper’s chest and just existing there.

It made him wonder if he could give this up. If he would, when push came to shove and Piper asked for more than Juno was sure he could give. He wanted a happily ever after. He wanted a forever, the same way Miles had and the way Oliver had. But he wasn’t sure if he’d be any good at it, and Piper deserved someone who was.

“So,” Piper said, stroking his nails along Juno’s scalp, “the little DNA book thing says the results take four to six weeks.”

Juno knew that. He’d researched the hell out of the genetic kit. “Yeah.”

“Might want to mail it out soon.”

Juno pulled back and looked up, adjusting his gaze so his blind spot wasn’t making Piper’s face fuzzy. “Eager to pawn me off?”

Piper’s face fell, and Juno realized his joke had fallen flat. “I would never.”

“I was kidding.” Juno swung his legs over the bed as the realization hit him: they didn’t really know each other. And there was a heaviness between them that would probably break most people. He stood up and stretched, then turned to look back at Piper. “Sorry. I have a dark sense of humor.”

Piper shook his head. “Don’t be sorry. I’m sensitive. My brother has been viciously bullied for most of his life, so I can get a little defensive.”

Juno frowned. “Why were kids such dickheads to him?”

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