Page 31 of Piece Us Together

Hunter settles on the bed, his knee pressing against the opposite side of the basket from where it’s pressed against me. It doesn’t feel like nearly enough space.

He pulls Nolan’s head into his lap and tugs a throw blanket over him, starting to stroke his hair. My fingers twitch with the need to take my boyfriend from him, but I fight it—for now.

“I’ll wake him in a minute,” Hunter murmurs. “I want him to take a few bites and drinks before he fully passes out. I’ll put something on his welts, too.”

I swallow. It’s a little harder than it should be. “Okay.”

“What about you?” he asks, his hand still moving in Nolan’s hair. His other hand comes to rest on the lip of the basket. “Would you be willing to have a little snack for me? A drink?”

I roll my eyes. “I don’t need it. That basket is for him.”

“Would you anyway?” he asks. I realize he seems off again, like he was before leaving for the bathroom. Unsteady, almost. It’s even more obvious in the way his voice wavered like he was begging me. His eyes are full of emotion when they settle on me. Emotions I can’t—or maybe don’t want—to figure out. “Can you, for me?”

“You’re not my dom.”

“Would you anyway?” he asks again.

I take a breath. I guess I am a little hungry. And thirsty. And it’s not like it’s that big of a deal, anyway. Even though it comes from an aftercare basket doesn’t mean it’s aftercare. I don’t fuckingneedaftercare.

“Fine.” I grab a bag of trail mix and a drink, not wanting to give him the chance to grab them for me. I don’t need to be cared for by him. That’s not our relationship. He’s Nolan’s dom and I’m Nolan’s boyfriend. He and I are nothing to each other directly.

Hunter watches me with a surprising intensity. It’s mildly uncomfortable. I look away, setting my eyes on Nolan in his lap instead. Nolan is safe to focus on, like a barrier.

“Is it normal for him to sleep like this?” I ask, deciding I’d rather talk about my Nolan-related anxiety than about myself.

“Yes. Especially with it being his first time in a while. Sort of like when you haven’t drank in a long time and then a single glass of wine makes you tipsy.”

His eyebrows pull in, his gaze falling to Nolan. He traces a finger along Nolan’s cheek and over one of his ears, reverent. I think I shouldn’t like the way he touches him, but I actually don’t mind it. There’s something that makes me feel almost warm about it. Hunter isn’t taking care of my boyfriend, he’s helping me take care of my boyfriend. That’s a major difference.

It’s when Hunter turns his fucking attention to me that I have an issue.

“You did well, you know,” Hunter murmurs, not taking his eyes off of Nolan. “I saw your hesitation at the start. Your fear. But when you let go and focused on him, it was quite beautiful. You even let yourself get lost in it at the end. How did it feel?”

I fiddle with the cap on my bottle, trying to hide that my hands are trembling. “It was…good.”

“Is there anything you need to be different next time?”

Yeah, don’t fucking look at me like you look at Nolan, like you want me too, like I’m yours too. Don’t look right at me and say, “So fucking good for me,” like anything I did was for you.

“Maison?” he asks after letting me sit with the question for a while. “It’s okay if you don’t have anything. You have time to think, too.”

Nolan saves me from having to answer, stirring awake in Hunter’s lap before jolting into an upright position and scrambling back. I catch him before he can inch off the side ofthe damn bed. The moment he sees my face, he relaxes with a deep sigh, his fingers clinging to my forearms.

“You’re alright,” I promise him. “You’re here with me and Hunter. You did a scene with him, remember? You fell asleep for a few minutes.”

He clambers into my lap, tucking his head under my chin. He sucks in a deep breath. Then another. I feel his head turn so he can look at Hunter. “I’m sorry for falling asleep, sir.”

Hunter’s smile is soft. Pleased. “I take it as a compliment. How are you feeling?”

“Good. Really good.” He wiggles in my lap a little. “Sore, though.”

“Let’s take care of that, then. Maison, can you sit back against the headboard, your legs stretched out? You can pull on your underwear if you’d like, then place a pillow for him to rest his head on. Nolan, you’ll lie flat on your stomach, head in his lap. Can you both do that for me?”

Can you both do that for me?

The only reason I don’t snap at him is because of the happy, almost-dazed look on Nolan’s face. I do pause to grab my underwear though. It makes me feel just a little better about things, like there’s a barrier between Hunter and me. Like I’m a little less vulnerable.

Once we’re settled as he instructed, Hunter pulls the green tube from the basket along with the other sports drink and a few of the mini-chocolates. I’m handed the drink and chocolates, then—despite not having seen one earlier—he pulls out a damn bendy straw from the basket and hands it over as well. “Feed him and give him drinks for me. Slowly.”

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