Page 35 of Tempest

Not being able to answer that question meant he’d be relaxing in front of the TV, not gallivanting through the woods.

A voice in the back of his head reminded him that as soon as Ore had his memories back, he’d be leaving anyway, but Cash ignored it, flipping on reruns of some old sitcom and settling deeper into the corner of the big couch.

If some mindless TV didn’t help, he’d shift and go lie on his pallet upstairs to catch some afternoon sunshine. The soft sounds of Ore moving around were even more soothing than the show, and Cash ended up focusing on that instead of whatever had the laugh track going off every ten seconds. Ore muttered to himself as he carried some books upstairs about how disorganized his shelves were, and he grinned, wondering how long it would take before he went up for a new batch of clean clothes and found everything rearranged.

His eyes were mostly closed, his panther content with Ore safe in their home, when Ore’s whisper-soft tread came into the living room. His lids were heavier than he expected, making him wonder if he’d actually dozed off for a minute.

Ore came around the other end of the couch, and Cash bit back a groan. Fuck, he’d changed back into one of Cash’s shirts when he was upstairs, his legs bare beneath it. His panther rumbled happily, and his dick took notice. He probably should have left his jeans on. If he started sporting a hard-on, there would be no way to hide it in his sweats.

The line he’d been straddling for days, reminding himself over and over again that Ore was only there temporarily and yet drawn to him in a way that grew harder to withstand with each passing minute, disappeared the second Ore climbed onto the couch right next to him, legs folded beneath him and the scent of arousal wafting off him. After their fight at Fern’s and then how fiercely he’d reacted to Billy’s threat had broken down the minuscule amount of resistance left inside him.

“What are you watching?” Ore asked, scooting forward a little more so his knees pressed against Cash’s hip.

“Nothing, really,” Cash said, mouth drier than it had been a minute ago. He offered him the remote. “You can change it if you want.”

Ore bit his bottom lip, looking uncertain. Goddess, it took everything in him not to lean over and sink his own teeth into that plump little lip. Clearing his throat, he sat up straighter. He should go and do something, anything. Sitting there with Ore right next to him—draped in his fucking scent and arousal—was pure torture.

“I wanted…” Ore hesitated, looking away.

Instead of scrambling away like he should, he snagged one of Ore’s hands from where it was twisting wrinkles into the fabric over his thighs. “Whatever it is, you can tell me.”

Clutching at him, Ore sucked in a breath and blurted out, “I want to suck your dick.”

A dull roar filled Cash’s ears as he blinked at him, clearly having misheard. There was no way he’d heard Ore say?—

“Please? I can’t stop thinking about it. I wanted to drop to the ground right there in the bookstore.”

“What?” Cash finally croaked out. What was happening? Had he fallen asleep? Was he dreaming about Ore begging to suck his cock?

In the bookstore?

“Before I even had the chance to really be afraid, you were justthere, protecting me from out of nowhere. And I just… Goddess, that really did it for me, you know?”

He didn’t know, but no matter how much his brain couldn’t seem to compute what was going on, his dick had zero problems getting on board. And Ore noticed immediately, his sharp eagle eyes darting to his growing erection and staring hungrily at it.

Then, he licked his fucking lips and squirmed in place.

“You’re asking to…”

“Suck your dick, yeah.” A smile started to grow on Ore’s face. “I feel like I might have broken your brain.”

“Maybe.” He scrubbed at his face and tried to actually focus on what Ore was saying beyond the dick-sucking part. “You know you don’t have to thank me like that, right?”

Ore’s eyes went wide. “What?”

“I don’t expect you to…”

“Suck your dick,” Ore supplied, giggling.

“Yeah, that. I don’t expect that for protecting you, little bit. You don’t have to thank me with sexual favors.” He didn’t think that was what this was, but he had to be sure. He wanted Ore, desperately, but not like that. Not in a gross, coercive way.

Running his teeth over his bottom lip, Ore huffed a softer laugh and climbed over Cash’s leg to settle between his knees.“No, I don’t think you expect this. Based on your reaction, I’m wondering if anyone’s ever offered you a blowjob before.”

Cash narrowed his eyes. “I’ve gotten blowjobs before.”

“Mhm, sure. It’s okay, baby. I’ll take good care of you.” Ore could barely hold a straight face as he crooned that at him, breaking into laughter right after.

Fuck, he was gorgeous when he was so happy.

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