Page 174 of Season of Gifts

My Jay my Jay my Jay mine.

Henry washed over the back of his throat.Jay swallowed over and over, gulping down his reward as his own spent cock bounced in Alice’s mouth.

He would never move again.

Blinking and breathing might be enough for a good long while.The rest of his body could stay sprawled beneath his spouse-doms, so joyous and sleepy his fried brain cells sang a lullaby.A nice one, filled with Henry’s pleased humming and Alice’s low giggles.

Shadows shifted above him.

Henry smoothed Jay’s hair as he settled back on his heels.His cock rested across Jay’s chin, the tip folding Jay’s bottom lip beneath.Henry smoothed that, too, his finger firm and heavy, his laugh soft and warm.“You are a delicious mess, my blissful boy.”He leaned over, his rib cage a curving fender, sturdy and protective.Prodding nudged Jay’s hand open; silk spilled out, slippery and heated by his skin.“It’s all right to let go now, dearest.You’ve given unsurpassed service this morning.”

He drummed his feet lightly against the sheet.Alice slumped to the bed beside him and wriggled forward.Resting her chin on Henry’s thigh, she gazed at Jay.Her eyes sparkled, shiny as the rings on their fingers.

“A gorgeous mess, mm-hmm.”She swiped the corner of his mouth, rubbing wetness into his cheek.“Stunning.”

Henry pushed back off the headboard.His softening cock slipped away.

The world moved in slow motion, a little not-real.Maybe what being hypnotized felt like.Maybe Henry would leave him tied and paint him like this and title it come-drunk at both ends.

“And such a beautiful smile.”Henry swam through the slowed time, green eyes closer, brighter, then closing as he kissed Jay’s mouth.Drawing back, he peered into Jay’s face.“We may have reached a new record for leaving you speechless.Have I erred by leaving breakfast so late this morning?You’ve expended a fair few calories in your exceptional work.”

If his stomach was hungry, it hadn’t said so to him yet.He had more important activities, like falling so far into Henry’s eyes that the way out never showed itself.Good.He wouldn’t need it.

“Alice.”Henry tipped his head and gestured to his left.“Help me untie him, will you?I’d like to be sure—”

“No, please?”He croaked out the request and forced his fingers to waggle like a magician’s for extra proof.The cuffs moved with him, kept him drifting on the hypno-land’s floating sea, riding the current of Henry and Alice’s love.“All good, I swear.I just wanna stay here with you longer.”

Henry nodded to Alice, and the two of them rolled up against his sides.Arms and legs draped across him, his lovers holding him safe.Staying.

Henry traced the edge of Jay’s collar.“As long as you like, my love.”

As long as Jay liked pushed breakfast to nearly noon.That was only fair; they couldn’t shortchange time for snuggling or cleanup or redressing in the daytime outfits Henry had chosen for them.

Three weeks and two days since they’d all sat in their places at the table.Not that he’d been counting.Well.Maybe a little.He stabbed his waffles and dragged them through the syrup without looking, because nothing could beat the view of Henry across from him and Alice to his left.Mornings at Mom’s had been pretty sweet, but this was how meals should be.

Didn’t hurt that he could be nearly naked again, finally.All the important things clung to him: wedding band, collar, cuffs, and harness.Henry had even tethered the cuffs to the central ring on Jay’s harness.Not so much that he couldn’t set the table, but enough so the weight tugged at him when he moved and the metal attachments whispered and clinked.

“Shall I take your silence as a sign that the waffles are satisfactory?”Eyebrow raised, Henry cast a teasing smile at Jay and Alice.

“The waffles, reliving the morning…” Alice, shrugging, splashed syrup from fork to plate.“Oops.”Ducking her chin, she scanned the fancy nightgown dress Henry had draped her in.“Close call.But, you know, it’s probably a mix of yummy breakfast and blanked-out brains caught in a replay loop.Jay?”

“Sounds right to me.”His brain—his whole body—hadn’t moved on from how blissful he’d been with his head tucked between Henry’s thighs.Safeandprotectedcouldn’t be wants a guy spoke out loud, especially not a guy with strength and endurance built up from cycling.But inch-shorter, less-muscled Henry fucking Jay’s face with abandon had given him peace and comfort that had made it okay to ask, to be a little spoon in an Alice-and-Henry silverware stack.“I missed this a lot when you were both gone.Bed stuff, but other stuff, too.Just simple silly stuff, like helping in the kitchen.”

Henry crossed his knife and fork over his plate.He’d cuffed his dress shirt at his elbows while he was cooking and hadn’t unrolled the sleeves yet.The tendons in his forearms flexed as he steepled his hands, same as they had over Jay’s face when Henry clenched down on the headboard.“Your desires are neither simple nor silly, in the bedroom and out, Jay.”

“I know.”He did, because Henry told him so, and therapy was helping him tell himself so, too.He had years of his sister’s judgments to shove out of his head, though.“But you both had big, important things going on, and me being selfish—”

“Whoa, whoa.”Alice stretched across the corner of the table and fished for him, the blue-black drape of her gown giving him veiled flashes of her body.She clamped down on his fingers, rattling his hand and making his metal rings clatter.“In no fucking universe are you selfish, sweetheart.Not even the tiniest bit.”

He trusted her, he did, but the message was so different from the ones he’d grown up with.

“Alice is correct, Jay.”Henry softened his gaze, his eyes a carpet of pine needles inviting Jay to a sweet bed.“Your generous heart and unyielding faith in the goodness of others are qualities quite far from selfishness.Remember that your value is no less than those you serve.You deserve equal consideration from those who love you.”Dipping his head, he breathed out slowly.“My commitment as your dominant requires more of me than mere lip service.Ritual and devotion are central to the renewal of our bonds; they feed a well that never runs dry.”

Jay pushed back against the urge to apologize for making Henry apologize.He didn’t have to do that here.Those were the old instincts, the defensive ones Danny said he could thank for helping him grow up safe before he let go of them.A life of ritual and devotion sure sounded nice.And today was an awfully good start.“Like when people who’ve been married a long time go on dates to get their spark back.”

“Precisely.Allowing our bond to languish creates a distance—” Scanning the table, Henry frowned.

He stood and carried his chair to Jay’s end, his suit jacket hanging off the back.When he retook his seat, his knee brushed Jay’s bare thigh, and he rested his hand just above Jay’s knee.Now Henry and Alice both had ahold of him.Sparks, yup.Cozy little sparklers writing his name in the air like Alice tracing words on his skin.

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