Page 35 of Forged

Bax’s grin widened, and he stood, trousers bulging, and offered his hand to Nick.

Nick took his hand and let Bax pull him to standing. His cock bobbed enthusiastically in front of him as he searched for the remote to turn off the telly, then as they headed down the shorthall to the bedroom. He didn’t bother tucking himself away, because as soon as they were in the bedroom, they both stripped naked as fast as they could.

Nick’s brain was shot and he didn’t question himself for being hesitant ten minutes before, then suddenly rushing to get out of his clothes as fast as he could. He was usually tidy with his things, but he left his clothes on the floor where they dropped before racing to the bed. He couldn’t take his eyes off Bax as he stretched to take his shirt off, revealing a trim, strong torso with just a bit of hair, then as he bent to push off his trousers and underwear.

It was the first time Nick had ever seen another man naked and aroused with the intent to have sex with him. As an artist, he’d seen plenty of naked bodies, but this was absolutely, one hundred percent different. Bax was gorgeous. His thighs were strong and his legs were long. His balls were already drawn up, and as he stood once his trousers were gone, his cock bounced proudly in front of him, as ready as Nick’s was to get right to it.

“You’re beautiful,” Nick managed to gasp out, unable to tear his eyes away from Bax’s body.

“You’re amazing,” Bax said, smile broad. “Let’s fuck.”

Again, Nick was sure he’d said something outrageous to shock him out of his head. He was grateful for it and had just enough presence of mind to stride forward and take Bax into his arms. Their naked bodies pressed together. The crush of their cocks between the walls of their bodies felt so good that Nick doubted he was going to last long.

They kissed and groped each other. Nick forced himself not to think, just to feel and act. He still didn’t know what he was doing, but he knew what he wanted now. He wanted as much of Bax rubbing against as much of him as possible.

“Bed,” Bax managed between their fevered kisses.

Nick nodded and stepped to the side to throw a few pillows and stuffed animals onto the floor. He pulled back the sheets, and as soon as he was halfway horizontal, Bax threw himself into the bed with him.

Each time their bodies came together, Nick felt like he understood how things should be a little more. He wanted to touch and caress every part of Bax. His back felt particularly good, but not as good as his arse. As soon as Bax pushed him to his back and straddled his thighs, Nick couldn’t get enough of squeezing and fondling Bax’s arse as it spread over him.

“Still don’t know what I’m doing,” he panted between kisses as Bax braced himself on top and devoured his mouth.

“Don’t care,” Bax replied, panting. “I just want you.”

It was frantic and artless. Their hands were all over, grasping, feeling, and stroking. They kissed each other’s mouths like they could find the secrets of the universe there. Nick was certain he should be doing something more. Guys fucked each other’s arses, right? He could definitely get on board with finding Bax’s hole and pushing in.

There wasn’t going to be time for that, though. He knew as soon as Bax started jerking against him, rubbing their bodies together in a way that brought delicious friction to Nick’s cock. Nick didn’t stop to question whether he was doing it right or wrong. Whatever it was, it felt good. And when Bax reached a hand between them to hold their cocks together while he thrust, Nick lost it.

His orgasm rolled over him like a wave crashing. He cried out into Bax’s mouth as jet after jet of cum spilled from him, making Bax’s hand and their bellies messy. He would have been embarrassed about how fast his orgasm had hit and how he hadn’t even put his dick where it was supposed to go, but a minute after him, Bax sped up his thrusts then pulled his mouthaway from Nick’s to cry out as he came hard over Nick’s already wet belly.

Right way or wrong way, they’d both climaxed. From there, Bax flopped to his side and pulled him over so he could wrap his entire body around Nick’s. Nick was exhausted and the post-orgasmic glow was going to make him fall asleep in seconds, he was sure, but they continued to kiss and pant and touch each other as much as possible.

“Alright?” Bax asked at one point in a breathless pant.

Nick could only nod and smile. He was more than alright. He’d enjoyed the fuck out of that, even though he felt like it had just been entry-level gay sex. It didn’t matter what their bodies had done, though. His heart felt light and his soul pulsed with warmth and affection. There would be so much more to come between them, but what really mattered in that moment was that he had Bax in his arms and in his bed, his most private space. He’d found something precious, and there was no way he was going to let it go.

ELEVEN

All the candlesBax had lit, incantations he had spoken, and intentions he had put out into the universe to find a new spiritual home, which a lot of other people would have called prayers, the gods had definitely delivered. All through February, he was happy. He and Nick were happy. They were together, and within days of the winter festival, everybody knew it.

“I think the two of you make an outstanding couple,” Rafe commented as he sat at one of the other desks in Hawthorne House’s office, poring through a catalog of glass-blowing supplies. Now that he was back, and with the spring session of classes starting in early March, he had been throwing himself at the task of updating and stocking the glass shop, which had been built in one of the outbuildings that had once been a stable. “I always thought Nick was as bent as the rest of the Hawthornes, even though he’s not one of us by blood.”

“Every person on this planet is a little bent,” Robert said from where he was trying to do something on Rebecca’s computer on the other side of the office, though he was about as comfortable with computers as he was with bramble patches. “There is no such thing as completely straight.”

“My parents would argue with you on that one,” Early laughed as they stepped into the back part of the office to fetch a stack of photocopied papers. “Then again, they also think people are rigidly binary.”

“We all know how wrong they are,” Robert said, glancing up from the computer and winking at Early.

Bax felt so warm at the exchange. He was ridiculously proud of his family, of how open their minds were and how accepting they were of everyone. All the reasons that people with so-called traditional morality despised them—like Nick’s mum, in all likelihood, though Bax still hadn’t figured the woman out—were the very values that he prized the most. The world might not have shared the Hawthorne family’s outlook yet, but Bax hoped it would someday.

“I think you and Nick make a wonderful couple, too, by the way,” Early said before heading back to the front part of the office.

“I’m almost sad we didn’t have some sort of a pool about when the two of you would get together,” Rafe joked as he finished typing his order into the computer, then leaned back in his chair. “If I’d been home last fall, when the two of you first made eyes at each other, or so I’m told, I would have organized the most epic betting pool this family has ever seen.”

“Yes,” Robert fired back at him with a cheeky grin, “and we would have started a pool for when you’re going to run off to some foreign country and abandon your family again.”

Rafe straightened with a look of mock surprise. “I’ve never abandoned my family,” he said. “I just have a fine appreciation for travel and absorbing the culture of foreign countries by living in them for a while.”

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