Page 26 of Soulmates

“Let’s hope not. But also, I really am. Why, I wonder?”

“Hmm. Running? You know, with your amazing cardio skills? Stress? Fear? A long car ride?”

“Because you’re right. I’ll let the comment about my physical fitness pass.”

“Hey, no complaints here about your physical fitness.”

Maddox laughed and curled into Jake a bit. “I thought for sure we’d have a repeat of last night once we got in bed, but I’m so tired.”

“I can see that.” Jake pulled him closer with his free arm wrapped around Maddox, trailing his fingers into Maddox’s hair.

“I feel like we’re doing everything backwards.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, it seems like the order is supposed to go: meet, express interest, date, get to know each other, sex, commitment…something like that.” Maddox leaned his head back, his damp curls brushing Jake’s biceps. “We met, got to know each other, accidentally took part in an ancient and obscure mating ritual, expressed interest, sex, road trip to a wizard.”

“Not a wizard.”

“I don’t see how that is the point.”

“Well, we may have done some things out of order, but we’re here now, and I believe it’s going to work out. I have to because you—” Jake used Maddox’s own hand to boop him on the nose. “—you mean everything to me, and I will not stop until we have this fixed or completed or whatever it is we do from here. Let’s worry about the rest later.”

Maddox yawned again. “The rest?”

“Dating, life, sex, commitment, though I think the commitment ship might have already sailed.”

“Mmm, okay, let’s do those things.”

Jake kissed the top of Maddox’s head and inhaled that gorgeous orange scent and closed his eyes, ready to sleep off the day of driving.

After about twenty minutes of listening to Maddox breathe, he heard a quiet “Jake?”

“Yeah?”

“About last night…the sex part…not the sword-wielding psychopath part.”

“Thanks for that.”

“You’re welcome. Anyway, I mean, is that what you like? Or, like, was it okay for you what happened? I feel like we didn’t communicate much, and we just…” Maddox trailed off.

“Well, first, we were going off the adrenaline crash from the challenge, so I don’t think our communication skills were at our best.” At feeling Maddox tense, Jake continued. “But if you are asking if I like blowjobs, you know I do. And if you mean do I like them from you or did I love what we did, I absolutely did. It was like a dream I never would have dared to have.”

Maddox’s body relaxed. “Okay, good. That’s so good.”

“Oh, no you don’t—you don’t get to ask and not reciprocate…um, poor choice of words…was it good for you?”

“You mean where I climbed your body and humped your stomach until I got come all over both of us?”

Jake made an involuntary strangled noise he wasn’t sure he’d ever made before. He cleared his throat while feeling Maddox shake with suppressed laughter. “Yes, that.”

“I love that. I love frotting of pretty much any kind.”

“Good to know.”

“Yeah, good to know.” Maddox paused. “And yes, I remembered that you like blowjobs. But that isn’t why I did it. It was because I wanted to so badly. I wanted to feel close to you, and I was desperate to get you in my mouth. I’ve never felt anything like it before, or at least not with anyone but you.”

“What do you mean, not with anyone but me? That was our first time.”

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