Falling Bundle (14 page)

“Hey,” Max said. “I can be classy.”

Arjen made
coq au vin,
because he was fancy and knew dishes with French names. It tasted amazing, with crisp potatoes and tender chicken in a dark, rich sauce. Arjen claimed it was just practice that made his cooking so good, though Max suspected he used some kind of sorcery.

Max plied Arjen with the remainder of the red wine because Arjen was doubly adorable when he was tipsy. Max loved to hear him laugh like that, see him glowing with happiness. They clinked glasses and drank to a long and happy stay here in their new home.

“I got you something.” Arjen smiled up at him.

“Chocolate sauce?”

Arjen laughed. “Not that kind of something, although I’m filing that suggestion away for your birthday, but I hope you’ll like it anyway.” He pulled something out of his pocket and laid it on the table, keeping it hidden under his palm. “Please don’t panic, okay?”

“Panic?” Max furrowed his brow.

Arjen uncovered the gift. It was a small box, black velvet, the type that would hold a ring.

Max stared at it, frozen. He was suddenly and acutely aware of the candles on the table, the wine glasses, the man he loved now watching him anxiously. Max’s throat tightened as terror hit him and for a second he wanted to flee.

“Open it,” Arjen said, his voice a whisper.

Max couldn’t move. Couldn’t seem to breathe. Strange, impossible thoughts were beginning to occur to him, possibilities he had never dared even dream about before. Surely Arjen would never suggest that… It had never even occurred to Max that some day…

In a daze, he reached out for the little velvet box.

He opened it with numb fingers.

A key shone inside, silver and new. It glimmered in the candlelight.

Max’s chest tightened and he had to swallow hard. It was his key to Arjen’s house. Their house. He took it out, a tiny sliver of cool metal that warmed at his touch. His future with Arjen, small enough to fit in his hand.

“Max?” Arjen was on the edge of his seat, his face full of hope.

“Thanks,” Max said, his voice rough. “For everything.” For allowing Max into his bed, his home, his life.

“Well.” Arjen’s smile turned shy. “You needed a key, really. Now that you’ve moved in.”

Even after all the time they’d known each other, Arjen still had the capacity to amaze him. Arjen could melt his heart with a single gift. God, Max loved him.

Max cleared his throat, trying not to let his voice break. “I got you something too.” Jewellery, in fact.

He made Arjen hold out his cupped hands. Arjen was smiling, his face aglow in the candlelight. Max poured the jewellery into his hands like liquid, pooling in the dip of his palms. It was a silver chain.

Max had wanted to give some big speech, but now that it came to it, he could barely get out words. “I got this for you. I’d—I’d like you to wear it. To say that you belong to me.” He wanted to be able to wind his fingers in the chain and know that it was as strong and unbreakable as Arjen’s feelings for him.

“Thank you.” It was Arjen’s turn to swallow hard. Maybe he’d never been bought a gift by a partner before. He smiled up at Max with so much love and affection in his face that Max could barely keep from kissing him.

Max came around behind him and slipped the chain around his throat, kissing the top of his head as he did so. Arjen bent his dark head so that Max could fasten the little catch at the nape of his neck. He was so inviting that Max nuzzled him there, his nice warm Arjen, all for him. “I love you,” Max whispered.

“I know.” Arjen leaned into him, hands coming up to tug Max down to kiss him.

Max kissed him for a long time, enjoying Arjen cupping his face. He wanted every kiss to express that Arjen was his absolute favourite person in the world. The first person he wanted to see in the morning and the last at night.

With each slow kiss the heat built between them, until Max tugged Arjen into his lap to kiss him deeper, one hand cupping his ass, the other buried in his hair. He was so hungry for this man he felt like he would never get enough. And every little sound from Arjen only made Max crave him more. He tugged Arjen tighter against him, wanting fiercely to be pressed together so close they were like one person.

Then Max took his beloved to bed. They undressed each other between kisses. Max worked on the fiddly buttons of Arjen’s shirt while Arjen pulled Max’s simple black t-shirt over his head. Finally he could lay Arjen down in the soft covers of their bed. He drew Arjen’s hands above his head and bound them there, wanting Arjen helpless beneath him.

For a long second Max just leaned back and stared. The dim light of a lamp painted the scene in shades of warm gold. He loved the sight of Arjen spread out in his bed wearing only Max’s chain. It looked extraordinary on him, the silver links against his pale skin, against the ink darkness of his hair, against his beautiful eyes. The chain pooled in a bright gleam at the hollow of his throat. Perfect.

Max took his time with him, kissing him, worshipping every inch of his body, licking, teasing and tantalising before he finally slid down between his legs and took Arjen in his mouth. Arjen arched under his hands, trying to push up into Max’s mouth, but bound down he was at Max’s mercy. Max loved how intense this obviously was for Arjen, the little hitch in his breathing as Max sucked him just a bit harder.

Max dragged it out mercilessly before he finally slipped him a finger, then another, sliding them deep into his hot body. Arjen shuddered under his hands, open and vulnerable. “Max,” he begged. “Please. Now.”

Max slid up his body and eased into him. His entry dragged a sweet moan from Arjen, and Max paused there, buried deep inside him, giving Arjen time to adjust to being stretched and filled. Arjen was panting, straining against Max’s pinning weight. A complete delight.

Max drew out of him, then pushed back in, rocking his body with lazy thrusts. “Tell me who you belong to.”

“I… I belong…” Arjen bit his lip, his face flushed, his eyes shut, hazy with pleasure.

Max dipped his head to bite down on his exposed throat. He stilled his thrusts; Arjen gave the most delightful whimper of frustration. “Tell me now.”

Arjen tried to stretch up to catch Max’s mouth in a kiss. Max nipped his lower lip as well. “Tell me, sweetling.”

Those heavy eyes fluttered open, dark and glazed, barely focusing on him. “You,” Arjen whispered, his voice rough and decadent, hoarse from crying out. “I belong to you.”

Max’s smile slowly spread, and he wrapped the warm chain around his fingers as he resumed rocking into him.

He stayed deep inside Arjen for what felt like endless hours. He lost count of the number of times Arjen pleaded with him for relief. It was just as well Max had tied his hands, because he knew Arjen would have clutched at him in desperation, his nails digging in. Finally Arjen arched up into him with a sweet little sound of surrender, squeezing so tight around him as he came helplessly. Max growled his hunger and braced himself over him, the chain still wrapped around his fingers, driving home relentlessly until he came too.

The sheer rush of pleasure he got from coming inside Arjen was unbelievable. Every time they were together it seemed to get better. So good that it washed away the memory of every time he’d ever been sad. Until all that was left was the knowledge that Arjen loved him.

In the aftermath they lay twined together, hot and breathless, basking in satisfaction. Arjen rubbed his cheek against his, simple and sweet. Utterly trusting.

Max untied him and let Arjen snuggle into him. “You have strict instructions to never take that chain off.”

Arjen laughed. “Even in the shower?”

Max pictured him all slippery and wet in the steamy shower, getting himself all soapy, maybe playing with himself. Mmm. He was going to hold onto that thought. “Especially then.”

Arjen smiled. “I won’t take it off.”

“Good.” Max squeezed him tight. Because at the risk of turning this into a chick flick, he wanted Arjen to take equally good care with Max’s heart.

Next morning they had breakfast at a local café before work. Dying leaves drifted down out of a leaden sky as the wind picked up, whistling between parked cars, ruffling the pages of Arjen’s newspaper where they sat opposite each other at a metal table outside on the pavement. Max loved the sight of Arjen in his smart suit, crisp and professional, the chain gleaming at his throat. It was discreet enough to wear to work and only the two of them knew what it meant.

Max reached over and played with it, running the silver links between his fingers. “This was an excellent idea, if I do say so myself.”

“You can go blind praising yourself,” said Arjen with a mischievous smile.

Max chuckled, and tugged Arjen closer by the chain to kiss him. It was utterly satisfying having Arjen wear his proof of possession for everyone to see. Max rewarded him by kissing him very thoroughly.

When they parted for air Arjen was delightfully flushed. “You like wearing this?” Max tugged gently on the chain.

Arjen’s eyes darkened and he bit his lip, which was all the answer Max needed. “Yes. I like it. Knowing that it’s yours and nobody else knows what it means. It’s a secret.”

“I should buy you more things to wear.” Max grinned, picturing all the trouble he could get Arjen into.

Arjen sipped his coffee with that playful gleam in his eyes that gave Max a delightful shiver. “Maybe when we’re feeling braver, we should try a symbol everybody will recognise.”

“Like what?”

“Oh, nothing in particular.” Arjen smiled behind his coffee.

Max’s eyes narrowed. He was beginning to suspect that Arjen was plotting something in his sneaky lawyer way. In fact, if Max were the suspicious type, he might think that Arjen had given him a jewellery box during a candlelit dinner to test his reaction.

And after some thought, Max decided he kind of liked it that way. Because the day might come when Max might want some more permanent, more public symbol. Something that signalled how deeply and irrevocably Arjen belonged to him. Something that might come in a little velvet box.

Maybe. Some day.

“We’ll see,” Max said, but he caught himself starting to smile. 

Max wolf-whistled. “Nice view.”

“Stop objectifying me,” said Arjen without looking up. Max grinned.

He stretched out on the leather recliner and put his feet up on the coffee table with a contented sigh. There was still half an hour to relax before work and he was finishing his morning coffee while enjoying watching his totally adorable partner get ready. Arjen was leaning against the kitchen counter sleepily buttoning up his shirt, the autumn light running its fingers through his ruffled dark hair. Max began idly thinking about unbuttoning him again.

Max’s gaze dragged slowly down his body as he imagined it. Undoing button after button until he could pull that white shirt off him, exposing lean muscles that just begged to be touched, hot skin that ought to be tasted, the little dip of his navel. Then opening his belt, slipping his hand in there…

His stomach contracted with a sudden surge of hunger that stole his breath. Max knocked back the last gulp of coffee, jumped up and closed in. He lifted Arjen’s face to his with a finger under his chin; Arjen looked up at him already melting into a smile. He had the most beautiful dark eyes. The effect was mesmerising. “You,” Max told him, “are distracting me.”

“Good morning to you too.” Arjen just kept smiling up at him. He really was smoking hot. His cheekbones alone were spectacular.

“How are we feeling after last night? Well fucked?” Max had seen to him quite thoroughly. He’d discovered fingernail marks on his upper arms in the shower this morning.

“Hmm. It was tolerable.” Arjen’s smile turned playful.

The cheek of him. Max captured his hands so that he couldn’t do up the last buttons. He liked the view better this way: Arjen in a crisp white shirt, invitingly half-buttoned, just waiting for someone to waylay him and mess him up. “I should put you on top of the counter right now,” Max dipped his head to whisper in his ear. Arjen caught his breath, a hitch in his chest. “Spread wide open for me to slide into. Nice and easy.” He nuzzled down the plane of his throat, where the silver chain that Max had given him lay against Arjen’s pale skin, as he thought about doing just that.

Alas, as much as he would have preferred to keep Arjen under him on the counter all morning, in twenty minutes he needed to let Arjen slip out to work. So he should probably behave.

Max let his hand slide downward, exploring his taut stomach through the warm fabric of his shirt, then further still until he cupped the front of his trousers and squeezed. Arjen groaned aloud; Max smiled against his throat. It was always gratifying to be wanted. And Arjen had wanted him with a single-minded intensity ever since they first met, when Max had torn his closeted life apart with that first searing kiss.

Max squeezed him again, rubbing his palm over the bulge there. He loved the way Arjen shuddered against him. “Hmm. I wonder if there’s time to fuck you after all.”

“You’re going to make me late for work.” Arjen was biting his lip, the colour rising in his face.

Max chuckled. “You’d let me. You always do.” He could remember a delightful range of situations in which Arjen had proved very easily persuaded to let Max do whatever he wanted to him. “Because you just can’t resist me.” He began to undo the buckle of Arjen’s belt.

“I can resist you,” Arjen said as if it was obvious.

Max snickered. “Since when?” He couldn’t remember Arjen ever passing up on the opportunity to have sex with him. He opened Arjen’s belt and began working on the button of his trousers.

“You’d crack long before I did if you couldn’t touch me.”

Max gave up and just outright laughed. “You’re so wrong. You’re crazy for me.” He opened Arjen’s trousers, wanting to finally take that hot length into his hand, picturing the wonderful sound Arjen would make as he wrapped his fingers around—

“Stop.” Arjen threw down the words as a challenge.

Damn it. Max hadn’t even gotten to touch him. “You don’t want to be fucked?”

“I’d
like
to be fucked, but I can manage without it.” Arjen gave him a stare that dared him to prove otherwise.

“Fine. You know what, I’ll take that bet, because I guarantee you want me so bad you’ll crack way before me. But no touching yourself. You don’t get any satisfaction until you come crawling back to me begging me to fuck you.” Ha! Arjen wouldn’t even last a day.

“All right,” said Arjen with a glimmer of that wicked smile that Max loved. “You’re on. No touching. The one who holds out the longest wins.” He stepped away and began rebuttoning his shirt.

Not so fast. Max immediately cornered him. He put a hand against the wall either side of his head, trapping him, and leaned right in. He was barely a heartbeat away from just pressing his whole body hot against Arjen, rubbing himself against him the way he wanted. Grinding into him.

Arjen froze. “No touching!” It came out a squeak.

“I’m not touching you,” Max said, his voice dipping into a growl. But his eyes roamed hungrily up and down and he leaned in still further so that his lips were just a fraction from that cute earlobe he could just nibble on. “I’m going to have you very soon, Arjen. When you crack and beg me. I’m going to push up inside you. Get you hot and slippery squirming around on my cock. And even when you’re crying out for me to finish you off I’ll make you wait and wait and wait. Until you’re so crazy for me that you’ll let me do absolutely anything to you just to be allowed to come.”

Arjen’s head tipped back against the wall, his eyes fluttering nearly shut. The low sound he made had Max clenching his fists to hold himself back. But when he lifted his eyes to Max’s face it was with that sexy defiance that only got Max even hotter for him. “Sounds nice, Max. What a pity that you can’t deliver.”

Max stifled another growl, suddenly riveted to his mouth, that tempting lower lip he could bite down on and then deepen that kiss and claim his mouth completely. Arjen would be helpless for him then; he always melted as soon as Max kissed him. “I can manage without touching you. I’m tough.” He hoped.

“Good. Because you’re missing out on a lot. I’d go down on you right now, Max. I’d slide down onto my knees and take my time getting you ready. Getting your cock out, teasing you. But I wouldn’t tease too long because I’d know once you lost patience you’d just grab me and fuck my mouth. So I’d slowly, slowly take your big, thick cock into my mouth.” Arjen licked his lips, giving Max a quick shiver of heat. “I’d like that. You know it makes me crazy when you’re in my mouth. And I’d please you until you’re so hot for me you start to get rough. Pulling on my hair and pushing deep. Mmm. Until finally you come in my mouth and I have to swallow.”

Good God, that man was pure sin. Max couldn’t think about anything else now. Just that image of Arjen going down on him. It was something Arjen was especially, wickedly good at and that Max liked to make him practise. A lot.

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you,” Arjen whispered in his ear. “Just as much as I would. But alas… I won’t be touching you.” He sneaked under Max’s arm, picked up his keys and sauntered out still buttoning his shirt, leaving Max hard and throbbing behind him.

What a tease. Max should drag him back and teach him a sound lesson. Max stifled a groan at the thought of starting a ten-hour shift at work while painfully hard. He couldn’t even take a quick shower and jerk off because he wasn’t supposed to touch himself.

Gah. Max was beginning to realise that this might be more challenging than he’d thought.

He was working eight through to six at the coffee shop that day, and he dealt on autopilot with wave after wave of customers, only half paying attention. He still hated his job with a passion—the long hours, the minimum wage, the stupid uniform, the managers, the customers, everything. His only consolation was that tonight he was going to go home and make a scorchingly hot man beg him to fuck him.

As yet another iPhone-carrying student asked for a latte, Max began idly fantasising about scandalising everyone by fucking Arjen right here in front of them. He planned out his fantasy down to the tiniest detail. Arjen would show up for coffee during his lunch break, every inch the young urban professional, from his smart suit to his briefcase. Their eyes would meet as Max handed him his coffee and called him “sir”, and Max would get that sudden punch of lust and he’d decide there and then to put Arjen in his place.

He’d round the counter and make Arjen drop to his knees in front of everybody. Fuck his mouth and make him swallow. And afterward, when Max slammed him down on a table and spread his thighs wide and plunged into him, all the managers and rules and disciplinaries wouldn’t matter a bit. Because Max would be claiming Arjen in the most primal, most ruthless, most public way. And nothing else would matter.

The vivid image nearly made Max groan aloud as he fought down his hunger. It was just as well he was behind a counter, because he was getting uncomfortably hard. Thinking of that moment when he’d push into him. How Arjen would claw at him in his desperation.

Fuck it. Max called him at work during his lunch break. “I know what you want, Arjen.”

The little catch in Arjen’s breathing told him he was right. “You do?” Arjen said, his voice uneven.

“Of course I do. You want what you always want. Something nice and big inside you to stretch you open. And you didn’t get it this morning, did you. I could have fucked you on the counter the way you were dying for, but no, you had to challenge me.”

“I don’t…”

“Imagine me in your office with you, Arjen. Right now. You’re in my lap. Sheathed on me. Stuffed full of my cock. You’re squirming around because it drives you crazy to be so full of me and yet not get pounded. You’re all slippery on my cock, sliding up and down. Starting to plead with me to grab you and throw you down and take you.”

Arjen’s breathing got quick and unsteady. “You’re not going to beat me, Max.”

“Oh, I’m going to beat you all right.” Max’s voice went dark. “I’m going to have you in my lap like that. Crazy with wanting me. I’m going to make you be still so I can do what I like to you. Kiss you, maybe bite you. But I’m not going to spread you open and pound your tight little ass until I’m good and ready. So you’ll have to wait. And think yourself lucky I let you get on my cock at all.”

Arjen made a sweet little sound of hunger. Max had him exactly where he wanted him. “Getting hard, sweetling?” Max purred in his ear.

“Yes.” Just a whisper.

“Thinking about letting me throw you down and fuck you?”

“Yes.” More like a plea.

“Good.” Max hung up with great satisfaction. He was totally going to win this challenge. Arjen would be all over him.

He lay in wait for Arjen after work that evening. The house lay silent around him, the last touch of pale light slanting through frost-edged windows, and each tick of the clock cranked his anticipation up another notch. He couldn’t wait to make Arjen crack and beg for him so Max could take what he wanted.

As soon as the front door opened and shut, Max pounced. He let Arjen slip past him with a startled squeak, but only so Max could pursue him with single-minded intent, stalking him through the house like a predator. “I’m going to fuck you senseless, Arjen. Make you scream. Nice and loud.”

Arjen fled to the other side of the kitchen table, already delightfully flustered. “No, you’re not.”

“Oh yes, I am.” Max could not wait. “I’m going to fuck you against every wall in this house. You’re going to be pleading for mercy. And I won’t give you any.”

Arjen went scarlet, probably picturing it. Max buried deep inside him. Tormenting him with every plunge into his body. “You can’t—”

“I can.” Max circled the table, eyes locked on him.

Arjen took a step back, then caught himself. He was breathing quick and fast, his hands clenched into fists at his side, but he held his ground, even lifting his chin as Max loomed over him. “You can’t touch me.” He threw the words down like a gauntlet.

Max leaned in to whisper directly into his ear. Arjen quivered. “I can fuck you any time I want. Any way I like.” Max eyed him up and down hungrily. It would take only seconds to slam Arjen down on the table and drive into him.

“Go ahead,” said Arjen, meeting his eyes. “But you’ll lose.”

He was absolutely delightful. As defiant as he was sexy. Max let his eyes drop to his mouth, thinking so intently about kissing him that his pulse picked up and Arjen shivered under his hot gaze… but Max reluctantly stepped away. Nobody challenged him and won.

After taking some time to calm down, which for Max required a cold shower, they had dinner and watched a movie together. At first they left a gap between them on the couch, but Max did not like that; he missed his nice warm Arjen cuddled into his side with his head on his shoulder. “Can we still snuggle?” Max asked plaintively.

“Sure.” Arjen gave him that smile that lit him to glowing. Arjen sneaked under his arm and tucked himself into his side where he belonged. Max wrapped his arms around him and kissed the top of his head. There. Much better.

When midnight rolled around, Max grinned. “Bedtime.” Arjen hid his face in Max’s shoulder. Max chuckled. “Nice try, gorgeous. I know this will be difficult for you. You and me. In bed. Together. That’s how all your fantasies start.”

This was a perfect opportunity to prove that Arjen was irresistibly attracted to him. In the warmth of their room Max stripped confidently, pulling his t-shirt over his head, letting his jeans hit the floor. Arjen drew in a sharp breath; he couldn’t seem to stop staring. Max smiled smugly. He slid into bed, deliberately leaving the covers thrown back. “All you have to do is ask, baby. I can give you what you need. Just like I did last night.”