Page 105 of Beau and the Beast

Beau hitched an eyebrow. "A problem? How? It's worked out fine for me so far."

Wolfram shook his head.

"What if I hurt you? Last night showed that I'm not as in control as we're both pretending that I am."

He pulled on a nice pair of breeches and shrugged into a vest. Wolfram felt instantly more comfortable than he had just a minute ago—as if the clothes were tangible proof that he was a man and not a monster.

"You mean with the biting thing?" Beau asked. "It's not a big deal—you're just not used to how strong you are."

"With the biting thing and everything else. Sleepwalking, wrecking that apartment again. Do you know why I was in there last night, Beau? Or at least, why I think I ended up sleepwalking there?"

Beau fanned out a hand, waiting for the explanation.

"I decided yesterday that I was going to send you home. I decided after what I did yesterday morning that you weren't safe here anymore."

"Damn it, Wolf—"

"Because I wasn't in control. I hit you and I hurt you and I didn't even know what I was doing," Wolfram said, pleading with Beau to understand. "What if I had stumbled intoyourroom last night instead of the empty one? I was out of my mind—I wasn't me."

"If you would've come into my room, the same thing would've happened. I would have calmed you down."

"You can't be sure of that. I was going to send you away because it was the right thing to do—but I feel for you too much to be selfless. My head was a wreck and so it came out that way. Evenmorereason why I was right to think about you leaving.”

"I'm not afraid of you," Beau said, stepping forward firmly. Wolfram was reminded of a child who stomps his foot to make a point—but Beau was more than that, despite his baby face. He was fierce and convincing when he got angry.

Wolfram put two heavy hands on his shoulders, wanting to soothe Beau's anger in that moment but still not ready to give up his point.

"I’m sleepwalking, I’m confused—It's been ten years since anyone has touched me," Wolfram said gently. "It's bringing things out of me that I didn't know were there."

"And so, what, you want me to pretend like last night didn't happen?" Beau asked, the frustration clear in his voice.

"Not at all, Beau. You're a wonder. I've never cared about someone the way I find myself caring about you—no one has ever been so... tender with me," Wolfram said dropping his eyes.

Beau softened with the admission and though Wolfram rued letting the secret slip, he knew that Beau deserved to hear the words. What they had wasn't the type of thing that he wanted to play games with. There was no end to be achieved by holding the knowledge from Beau that he was the most important person Wolfram had encountered in a decade—in his whole life.

"I need you to go slow with me," Wolfram said, "because I've hated myself for so long that I managed to spend a decade refusing to sit with what I am."

Beau nodded. "That's fair."

"I'm learning more about myself every day that I'm with you, and there are things I don't understand yet. Things that frighten me," Wolfram said. "But I don't want to pretend like last night didn't happen. I want you to be happy and taken care of in every way."

Wolfram held Beau by the chin and kissed him again, this time willing himself not to lose control of the moment, holding back his base instincts from taking over.

* * *

Maybe Beau should've been satedby the night he'd spent with Wolfram, but as the man kissed him there in the bedroom that morning, he found himself still hungry for more. He pressed up into the kiss, hands lacing under Wolfram's vest and stroking through the fur there.

He could've done this all day and it still wouldn’t have been enough.

Wolfram must have had a clear trajectory in mind, though, because as he kissed Beau, his hands roamed lower, stroking his thighs through his trousers and then dragging over his groin. He'd already been hard from being teased so much in the other room, even after the serious conversation, and he bucked into Wolfram's touch.

Wolfram kissed him deep and then pulled away, struggling with Beau’s belt buckle.

Beau reached to help him, unhooking his belt and then the button underneath, the zipper. Wolfram hummed his thanks and dragged the garment down, leaving his boxer briefs in place. Beau stood for a moment, stepping out of his pants, before Wolfram hipped into him. The bump was gentle but still enough to send Beau falling back to the bed.

Wolfram spread Beau's thighs with his knee and then slowly and with great care lowered himself in between Beau's legs. Even kneeling, he had to crouch because of his size. As Beau drew a deep breath of anticipation, Wolfram leaned forward, nuzzling Beau's hardness where he strained against his underwear. Wolfram moved to his thighs, pressing hot kisses into them that made Beau's toes curl, made him want to wrap his thighs around Wolfram's head.

He laughed and squirmed and Wolfram looked up with a question in his eyes.

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