Page 130 of Season of Gifts

“I’m not expecting anything.”Jay spoke with steady conviction, much as he had the night before.Confidence and purpose bolstered his delightful earnestness now.“Just so you know.”

Henry’s heart fluttered, a pang for how small Jay accounted his portions, that he should accept nothing as his due and be content with that.But pride won out.For Jay to share unprompted was a victory far greater, though teaching that lesson by something other than Henry’s own stubborn foolishness would have been preferable.“You have the right to expect everything, my brave boy.Just soyouknow.”

Their shower began innocently enough.Jay moved his hands over Henry, slick with soap, soothing and grasping muscles whose aches had gone too long ignored.Contentment, that named this bliss.Arousal lay somewhere beyond, flickering barely into life, secondary to the joy of contact.Had he known his shoulders to be so sore?Not before Jay dug his thumbs in and released the knots holding them up.

Jay kneaded him with unceasing attention, finishing with featherlight finger swipes across his cheeks and forehead.The water sluiced him clean.Under Jay’s care, he’d been reborn.

Soaping his hands slowly, Henry hummed low approval, allowing a bassy rumble to fill his chest.“I’ve missed you.So much so I could scarcely allow myself to feel it.”

He rubbed circles into Jay’s chest, a tad roughly, briskly, letting Jay feel the force of his hands.Feet planted, head bowed, Jay tracked his movements with a heavily lidded stare.Massaging his master had hardened his cock, though not Henry’s.The pulsing heat lay buried, though.Accessible, were Henry to push his thoughts toward it.Soon, perhaps.

“I gave myself over to obligations and logistics.”Working each arm, Henry moved with the flow of musculature, his husband’s form the perfection of classical sculpture.He worshipped with his fingertips, marveling at Jay’s angular strength.Sleek shoulders gave way to a powerful core, to firm abdominals that fluttered as Henry ran his hands across them.

“I pushed aside emotion, pushed aside my own feelings and yours, and Alice’s.”And his mother’s, though this was not an opportune moment to say so.Not when he stepped close to Jay’s back, the soap a slick layer between them, and grasped Jay’s hips.“I was wrong.I couldn’t see it then, but I do now.You’ve told me.You’ve shown me.”

He rested his hand against the base of Jay’s cock.Not taking hold, not yet; the web of his thumb and forefinger formed a curving arc grazing his husband.Jay flexed with each breath; his heat mingled with the steam of the shower.“Thank you for sharing what you needed from me, Jay.Thank you for serving me this morning with your excellent massage.I am more wholly myself than I have been in weeks.May I show you, dear boy?”

Jay’s cock jumped.“Yes, please.”His whisper rose barely above the drumming of the water.“I’ve missed you, too.”

Henry closed his fist and pressed his face to Jay’s neck.His low moan offered harmony to Jay’s tenor whimper.Their bodies aligned from shoulders to feet, Jay nestled in front of him with the water beating against Jay’s stomach, running past Henry’s wrists, and flowing in steady rivers down Jay’s thick, powerful thighs.

Today was neither a day for extended teasing nor one for an efficient, unemotional quick release.He watched openly, humming his pleasure for the firm cock in his hand.His own cock twitched between his thighs and the solid wall of Jay’s ass.

Thready whines built before him, echoing off the tile.Jay rocked with Henry’s hold, thrusting lightly.He might climax at any moment, and the shower would instantly erase the evidence of the morning’s pleasure.Of Jay’s trust and belief in him.

“Turn.”Henry released his grip and urged Jay to spin at the hips.“Face me.”

Jay swung about, his face flushed and his pupils wide.“Are we stopping?”

“Not unless you tell me to, beloved boy.”

Jay’s vehement headshake sprayed water from his dark hair, strands flying wildly.

Henry nuzzled into the soft scratch of Jay’s morning stubble and pressed kisses to his cheek.“I find myself greedy for all that I’ve missed.Will you permit me to taste you?To reclaim what I’ve unconscionably neglected and reward you for your service?”

Shuddering, Jay hissed air through his teeth.“I’ll be real quick.I’m awful close.”

“You will be mine.”The banked fire within stirred, fascination flaring as he sought a satisfying conclusion for his submissive.That was the joy of creating this art together.“The moment shall come as it will.Asyouwill.”

Jay’s shudders intensified.He braced a hand against the shower wall.“Better do it before your voice makes this moment happen before you get there, then.”

Henry laughed his delight and sank to his knees.The prize bobbed before him.He steadied Jay with his hand, squeezed hard enough to earn a gasp, and swallowed the rest of him in a smooth pull.

A glorious symphony erupted, Jay’s eager whimpers merging with half-formed words and pleas.His prediction proved true; release arrived in seconds, flooding Henry with the rich flavor his mouth had all but forgotten.He gulped greedily, swiping with his tongue to capture every drop, burying his nose to fix Jay’s earthy scent in his memory and carry their love through the day.

He relented only when wobbly legs brought Jay down to the bathtub with him.A bit of shuffling and twisting granted them room to cease the shower spray and embrace.Henry combed Jay’s hair back with his fingers, then rested their heads together.“Your trust humbles me, my dear boy.”

Jay draped his arms around Henry and squeezed.“Sometimes you reach out and get bit.But if you don’t reach, you’ll never ever connect with anyone.That hurts worse than a bite once in a while.And you and Alice don’t bite on purpose.”He cocked his head, a crooked quirk in his lips and a spark of joy in his eyes.“Except when you do.”

Henry puffed air and issued a quiet growl.The motion came naturally.Respite with his spouses had indeed blown away more of the fog shrouding his center.“Yes, except when we do.”

Jay curled up tighter against him.“We should go make breakfast for Alice.She needs time with you, too.Not gonna let her martyr herself just ’cause she thinks I need you more.”

“No, we will not.”Their pretzeled legs would require judicious untangling.“However, you will first need to assist your aging dominant in escaping this confinement.”

“Aging, huh?”Laughing, Jay laid his hands on the sides of the bathtub and lifted himself free, tucking his legs up and clear.“You didn’t seem so old a few minutes ago when you were hollowing out your cheeks on my cock.”

“We politely call that ageexperience.”Accepting Jay’s forearm grip, he heaved himself upward.“And I had an urgent hunger to sate.”

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