Page 54 of Wildfire

That concern alone made Hermes whimper. “Uh huh.”

Eloquent as ever, he shoved Wilder’s shirt open and ran his hands down the planes of his warm chest. “Pretty, persnickety professor,” Hermes mumbled, dragging his lips across Wilder’s pec. Heat flushed below Wilder’s collarbones, staining his skin a rosy pink. “Want to be on top though. It’s still—disorienting, when you come at me too fast.”

With a rough swallow, Wilder nodded. He toed off his leather shoes, undid his belt, and slid his trousers down. He pulled the oversize shirt from the underworld over Hermes’s head. Hermes himself pushed the sweatpants down, then he stepped into Wilder’s space again, edging his knee between Wilder’s legs.

His hands snuck around and he grabbed two handfuls of Wilder’s firm ass, tugging him in and melding their bodies together. If he couldn’t say what he wanted, he should show Wilder with every move how much he needed him.

In an awkward shuffle, he backed the man onto the bed. Wilder’s lips tipped down at being handled, and awkwardly, but he was patient as Hermes climbed up after him and straddled him.

His cock pressed against Wilder’s and he ground down into the feeling, arching his neck to kiss Wilder as he moved. Unhurriedly, he swept his tongue past his lips, delighted to find the sweetness of dark chocolate there for him to pillage.

Wilder’s hands swept down his back soothingly, and Hermes was in danger of becoming too used to these sweet touches, this easy connection—far easier than talking about all he felt.

“I need—” He panted, but he didn’t have to find the words for it before Wilder had twisted to find the lube. Hermes inched a little higher on his torso, and Wilder’s arms were long enough to work one slick fingertip in him even while they kissed.

Then another.

Hermes keened, curling his toes, his breath catching. Normally, he wouldn’t struggle to find air, his arms wouldn’t shake, but he found he didn’t mind feeling vulnerable with Wilder. The professor wasn’t going to take advantage, no matter how annoying Hermes got.

His patience gave out before Wilder’s. He swatted Wilder’s chest and pushed himself back onto his heels. “Need you. Need you now.”

Wilder looked halfway ready to argue when Hermes whined and pushed his chest. “Now.”

He still took a second to slick his cock before holding it steady for Hermes to sink down on. He felt stretched and full and shaky, but wonderful. This wasn’t a rabid claiming before Wilder could skirt away from him. He wasn’t trying to force a few moments as a replacement for all he couldn’t have. For this once, he let himself think that there might be something there for him—that the store didn’t run out of brownie mix.

Rocking his hips back and forth, Hermes whimpered as he adjusted to Wilder inside him. When he was fully seated, every breath trembling, Wilder offered him something steady to hold onto.

He braced his elbows on the mattress and offered his hands as support. Hermes dragged his fingers across Wilder’s upturned palms and slipped their hands together. He used the strength of Wilder’s arms to hold himself up as he rode his cock in a languid roll of his hips.

It was a slow, pleasant sweep. The silken steel of Wilder’s cock slipped in and out of him as he moved, pressing occasionally at just the right angle to make his breath hitch. It felt wonderful, even if he wasn’t frantic. Comfortable, for all the heat and pulsing pleasure that made his muscles rigid.

Under him, Wilder’s lips parted. He was breathing hard, his toned chest rising and falling again right before his eyes, vital and so, so gorgeous. Hermes wanted to lean down and kiss him, but he was afraid if he fell forward again, he’d never get back up. Instead, he squeezed Wilder’s hand, thrilled to feel Wilder flex his fingers too, and bit his bottom lip.

He felt the shifting of legs behind him, then Wilder thrust up into him. He whined, pushing himself down, wiggling him deeper. Below him, Wilder’s lips twitched into something like a grin.

“I need a hand,” the man whispered.

Reluctantly, Hermes let his right one go, shifting his weight over to the other side. He reached back and gripped Wilder’s thigh instead, braced between that one firm arm and the rippling muscles in his thigh.

Wilder reached between them and curled his fingers loosely around Hermes’s cock, and Hermes was trapped, staring right into Wilder’s wide, dark eyes, breath hitching and body rocking as Wilder built him inexorably toward that peak.

He shattered, clenching around the cock deep inside him. Unable to catch his breath, the strength in his arms giving out, he toppled forward, nuzzling into Wilder’s chest as the man gripped his hips and rocked deep up into him. Hermes let it happen, a smile ghosting across his lips when Wilder went rigid under him. His moan filled Hermes’s ears, and Hermes decided there was no harm at all in staying right there all night long, wrapped up in him like an octopus.

Truth and a Lie

Falling asleep took longer than usual, thanks to the warm body atop his, but Wilder didn’t feel like asking Hermes to move. He wasn’t even lying to himself, trying to pretend he was willing to put up with a little discomfort because of the near-miss.

That was part of it, but it was more about Hermes’s feelings about what had happened. About Hermes, and about making him better.

For an incredibly old being, Wilder suspected Hermes hadn’t been made to feel important many times. As he got to know the man, this, instead of the snarky carelessness, was the thing about him that angered Wilder the most.

Was it any wonder that he acted like nothing mattered, when for millennia, he’d been told again and again that he himself didn’t matter?

Well, Wilder was done allowing that. As long as Hermes was around him, he would be the first concern. Everything else could wait in line.

The school, Dean Woods, even gods-damned Typhon—they could all come second to Hermes and his well-being.

The absolute certainty inside of Wilder was a novel feeling. He’d never felt so strongly about his ex. He’d wanted David, enjoyed his company sometimes, and found him beautiful to look at. But he’d never been so invested in filling the holes the world had left in David.

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