Page 25 of Tender
Well…fuck. He’d had one very shitty past relationship, but that was as far as he could understand Miles. His own parents had loved him. His extended family loved him like he was their own child.
There had been no shortage of support as he grew up.
“I should talk to him.”
Emmett sighed and grabbed Cosimo again, wrapping his arms around him and going up on his toes to rest his chin on his shoulder. He was clearly looking out the window, so Cosimo bent his knees a bit to give his husband a better view. “I don’t want this to break him. I think he’s staying because he feels guilty and thinks we’ll be angry if he says he wants to leave.”
Cosimo felt an odd sense of panic at the thought of him leaving. “I don’t want him to leave. Do you?”
Emmett was quiet for a long time, and Cosimo knew why. They hadn’t talked about the other night, but it was a heavy, unspoken topic between them. And he had a feeling when Emmett was touching himself in the shower, or late at night when he couldn’t sleep, Cosimo wasn’t the only figure behind his closed eyelids.
And it was the first time Cosimo wanted his husband to be thinking about someone else. He hadn’t even spoken to the man much, but he could still feel it. Something about Miles fit.
Something about him was perfect.
He didn’t want anything he did—or the way he looked—to ruin it.
“I’m going to talk to him.” He started to move away, but Emmett caught his arm and met his gaze.
“Give him another day. I’ll invite him to dinner again.”
Deflating, Cosimo nodded. “Alright. But if he doesn’t show, I’m going to have a conversation with him. I’ll be nice,” he added when Emmett gave him a look. “As I can be.”
Snorting, Emmett pulled Cosimo back in and kissed him hard. A little teeth, a lot of tongue. “I love you so much.”
Cosimo knew that. That was as certain as death and taxes. But unspoken words hovered between them: if only it was enough.
Letting Emmett go, he stepped back to the sink and listened as Emmett’s bare feet padded along the tiles. The sound disappeared with the noise of the sliding door, and then Cosimo watched as Emmett stepped outside.
Miles looked panicked, freezing like a deer caught by a hunter. The metaphor seemed a little appropriate, if he was being honest. Whether Emmett wanted to admit it right now or not, they were hunting him. Testing him.
Wanting to consume him.
He felt a warmth creeping up his spine, and his dick thickened just a little as he watched his husband handle the younger man. He watched as Miles seemed to unconsciously relax around him. Emmett pointed to a bench, and Miles walked over and sat, obedient without even a hint of resistance.
That would never be him.
Not ever.
He squinted and thought about what it would be like to see the word Daddy on Miles’s lips. He got even harder. Almost unconsciously, he slipped his hand beneath the waistband of his shorts and gripped himself. He didn’t have room to jerk himself off—not that he would without Emmett’s say so. They weren’t fully engaged in their power exchange in the moment, but that still held fast.
He needed that like a ballast—to give Emmett that control.
Still stroking himself, he watched as Emmett started making his way back to the house, and after a beat, Miles got up and went the opposite direction. His heart sank a little, but the feeling was eclipsed when Emmett appeared and realized what he was doing.
“Really?” His voice was a low rumble as he approached. He pinned Cosimo to the counter with his hips, then unbuttoned Cosimo’s shorts and pulled the zipper down. His dick wasstraining against the inside of his briefs. “Is that how you planned to greet me, you little whore.”
Cosimo groaned softly, the sound getting louder when Emmett’s hand joined his own, knocking his out of the way. His grip was tight—almost painful, but not quite. Not yet. “Is—is he…ah.”
“Is who what?” Emmett shoved Cosimo’s clothes to his knees, then began to jack him hard and furious. “Answer me.”
He was struggling to find words. “I—ah. Um…”
“Little come slut can’t even keep his words straight. It’s a wonder you can function at work.”
Fuck, he needed this. Heneededit. Wanted it. Had to feel small. Feel pathetic. Feel useless without Emmett’s hands on him.
“Please.”
