Chapter 53: Lake House Dawn
Taichi woke to the strange, profound quiet of a world without customers, deliveries, or a pub to open. Grey dawn light softened the edges of the room, revealing the deep grain of the oak beams overhead. He was warm, cocooned in a nest of quilts and the solid heat of Yamato’s body behind him. The bond was a low, steady thrum in his chest, a second heartbeat that was both foreign and entirely his own.
He turned carefully. Yamato slept on his back, one arm thrown above his head on the pillow. The pale light traced the landscape of his body—the strong line of his throat, the dip of his collarbones, the powerful sweep of his chest, marred here and there by the silvered history of violence. His breathing was deep and even.
Taichi propped himself up on an elbow. He let his gaze wander, then his hand. He touched the skin over Yamato’s heart, feeling the beat. His fingers drifted lower, tracing the ridge of an old sword cut that arced across his ribs. Each scar was a question Taichi hadn’t yet asked, a story of a life lived in danger before he’d walked into the Ember & Stein. He leaned down and pressed his lips to the toughest knot of tissue on Yamato’s shoulder, a silent acknowledgement.
A low, possessive growl vibrated through the alpha’s chest. Yamato’s eyes didn’t open, but a rough hand came up to cradle the back of Taichi’s head, holding him there. “Exploring without permission?” His voice was sleep-thick and edged with gravel.
“You’re mine to explore,” Taichi murmured against his skin, the truth of it bold on his tongue.
That got Yamato’s eyes open. The blue was dark, hungry, instantly awake. The hand on Taichi’s head guided him up for a searing, morning-bitter kiss. Taichi met it, poured himself into it, the embers of the bond flaring into heat. He could feel Yamato hardening against his thigh, the thick length of him already demanding.
Without breaking the kiss, Taichi pushed himself up and swung a leg over Yamato’s hips, straddling him. The quilts pooled around them. The cool morning air hit his skin, followed by the much hotter gaze of his alpha. Yamato’s hands settled on his thighs, big and warm, thumbs stroking the sensitive skin on the inside.
“Eager,” Yamato said, a smirk playing on his lips.
“You’re in my bed,” Taichi retorted, rocking his hips slightly, feeling Yamato’s cock jump against his ass. “Seems like you’re the eager one.”
His own body was already responding, warmth pooling low in his gut, that familiar, wet slickness beginning to ease his passage. He reached between them, wrapping his fingers around Yamato’s girth. He gave him a few slow, tight strokes, watching the alpha’s jaw tighten, his eyes hood with lust.
“Fuck, Taichi…”
“That’s the idea.”
Taichi lifted himself up, positioned the blunt head at his entrance, and sank down in one slow, deliberate motion.
The stretch was exquisite, a burning fullness that stole his breath. He was still loose and sensitive from the night before, his body welcoming Yamato back with a helpless, wet clench. He paused once he was fully seated, balls-deep, letting them both feel the incredible tightness, the perfect fit.
Yamato’s hands flew to his hips, fingers digging in. His head tipped back against the pillow, a tendon standing out in his neck. “Gods. You feel… you’re so fucking tight. Even now.”
Taichi began to move. Slowly at first, a gentle rocking of his hips, rising until just the tip remained inside before sinking back down. He set a lazy, decadent pace, his own cock leaking onto Yamato’s stomach. He let his head fall back, eyes closed, savoring the deep, internal drag, the way every nerve ending lit up. This was control. This was taking what he wanted from his alpha, and it was fucking intoxicating.
“Look at you,” Yamato gritted out, his voice strained. “Riding my cock like you were made for it. Because you were.” His hands guided Taichi now, urging him faster. “Come on, omega. Show me what you need.”
The term, usually a provocation, was now a filthy endearment that went straight to Taichi’s core. He obeyed, his rhythm breaking into something more desperate. He slammed down harder, faster, the wet slap of skin filling the quiet room. His own breaths became ragged pleas. The knot at the base of Yamato’s cock began to swell with each thrust, a tantalizing promise of being locked together, utterly claimed.
“Yamato… I’m… your knot…”
“Take it,” Yamato commanded, bucking his hips up to meet Taichi’s downward drives. “Come all over me and take my fucking knot.”
The order unraveled him. Taichi’s orgasm ripped through him with violent suddenness, a white-hot wire of pleasure tightening and snapping. He cried out, a broken, ragged sound as his cock jerked, spilling stripes of cum across Yamato’s chest and stomach. His body clamped down viscously around Yamato’s shaft, milking him, demanding his release.
That was all the alpha could take. With a guttural roar, Yamato seized his hips and flipped him over in one powerful motion. The world spun. Taichi found himself on his stomach, face pressed into the pillow that smelled of them. Yamato’s weight settled over him, crushing him into the mattress. He didn’t re-enter gently. He shoved back in, one brutal, complete thrust that buried his swelling knot inside Taichi’s clutching heat.
Taichi screamed, oversensitive and ecstatic.
Yamato set a punishing pace, fucking into him with deep, animalistic drives. Each slam pushed Taichi up the bed. The alpha’s balls slapped wetly against his skin. One hand fisted in Taichi’s messy brown hair, holding him in place, while the other anchored on his hip, surely leaving bruises.
“Mine,” Yamato snarled, each thrust punctuating the word. “This tight, perfect ass is mine. This cunt is mine. All of you.”
Taichi could only moan, shattered, his body alight with a second, surprising wave of pleasure coiling tight. He was so full, so impossibly full, stretched around the thick knot that was locking them together. Yamato’s rhythm grew erratic, frantic. He stilled, buried to the hilt, and Taichi felt the hot, sudden pulse of his release flooding his insides. Yamato bit down on the juncture of his neck, not breaking the skin, but pressing fiercely against his claiming scar, as his cock throbbed and emptied itself.
They collapsed together, a mess of sweat and spend and locked bodies. Yamato rolled them to their sides, his arms vise-like around Taichi, his face buried in his neck. Their harsh breaths slowly evened out. The knot held them, an intimate, unbreakable tether. Taichi felt utterly claimed, thoroughly used, and more at peace than he could ever remember.
Outside, a bird began to sing. The lake water lapped softly at the shore. The room grew brighter.
After a long while, Yamato nuzzled his mark. “Still think you’re the one in charge here?”
Taichi managed a weak, breathless laugh. “I got what I wanted, didn’t I?” He trailed his fingers over the arm wrapped around him. “You’re stuck with me now. Literally.”
Yamato’s chuckle was a warm rumble against his back. “Best damned trap I ever walked into.”
They lay in silence, waiting for the knot to subside, wrapped in the profound simplicity of the morning. The week stretched before them, not long enough, an island in time. Taichi closed his eyes, listening to Yamato’s heart slow against his spine, and thought of nothing at all.