Page 30 of Tender
“I guess you’d know,” Miles pointed out. “Being a scientist guy and all.”
“Scientist guy,” Emmett said, then chuckled. “I suppose so. My job is all chaos, but I do like coming home where things are more predictable and orderly.”
“Until I came along.”
“No,” Emmett said, leaning close to him. Their gazes met and Miles swore it meant something. It was a moment. It was profound and important, and if he didn’t breathe or speak, he wouldn’t lose it. “You make sense Miles. You make a lot of sense here. And I can’t tell you how glad I am that you didn’t run.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
EMMETT
Things were good.Better than good, and that was slightly terrifying because they were in the middle of cutting off their daughter and housing her ex-boyfriend. Things should have been painful and strange. But everything had been turned upside down when Miles confessed to not being straight.
Then they turned inside out when he obeyed even the most subtle commands that Emmett had given him. And had seemed to come alive when it happened.
He hadn’t said anything to Cosimo yet. His husband had cooked and the three of them ate outside. Selene’s name became a ghost in the room—not entirely gone but easy to ignore. Everyone seemed…happy.
Miles’s tiny grins and small laughs were genuine. He sat close to them when Cosimo turned off the lights and started a fire. Emmett knew the other man couldn’t hear the waves, but the brine on the breeze was enough.
It had been nice. Soothing.
Damn near perfect.
Tonight, he was going to take Cosimo down until he was almost nothing before building him back up. He was going to soften all the sharp edges that were digging into Cosimo’s soul.Then, the next morning, he was going to sit down and talk to Miles about making something at least semi-permanent. They had a guest room in the house, and if Miles was willing, he could stay with them.
Emmett and Cosimo had put their dynamic mostly on hold when Selene had been growing up. They could do it for a bit longer for Miles while he was healing.
And if something happened—if something could happen—then…well, at least he’d be close by.
Emmett wasn’t ready to get his hopes up yet, though.
He turned his attention back to his husband who was sitting under the shower spray with a blindfold over his eyes and a ring gag in his mouth. It was currently plugged with a fat dildo he knew touched the back of his throat.
Emmett hummed as he grabbed the shampoo and began to wash the kneeling man. Then he washed himself before rinsing off. He could hear the faint buzz of the vibrating plug that was nestled deep in Cosimo’s ass, and he thought about turning it up, but he was going to make him wear it all day while Emmett was out, so maybe he’d be a little kind.
His fingers touched the gag, then he twisted the little handle and gently drew the dildo out. Cosimo gagged a little, turning his head from side to side like he was trying to see what was going on through the soaked blindfold.
Emmett just laughed softly, watching Cosimo shudder at the sound. “Are you ready?”
The noise was something like an affirmation, though it was garbled, impossible to understand.
Emmett watched him a few more moments, then dug his fingers into the back of the strap and unhooked the gag first. Reaching over, he turned the water off, then knelt down beside his husband and stroked a touch over his swollen lips.
“Give me a color.”
“Green,” Cosimo rasped.
Emmett hummed, then took him roughly by the chin and kissed him. “Blindfold is coming off,” he said when he pulled back. He moved slowly, giving Cosimo a chance to come out of his head a little.
It always took him a few minutes to orient himself, so Emmett waited, watching as his husband’s eyes slowly fluttered open. When they were clear and focused, Emmett grabbed a hand towel and used the corner to wipe the moisture off his face.
“Hello.”
Cosimo snorted without smiling. “Hello.”
“What do you need?”
Emmett appreciated that Cosimo took his time doing an assessment. He shifted a little since the vibe was still inside him, rumbling away, but he was more present. “Help me stand up.”
