Page 147 of The Menagerie

It’s solid black with golden threads woven through the back and thigh bands, the pocket in front outlined in the same golden thread in an intricate pattern. When Rowan found the site, he’d pulled out his credit card on the spot and selected a pattern that would both complement Mal’s complexion and—inevitably—remind him of the Gold Room. Of Rowan.

Mal’s stunned into silence, running his thumbs over the straps and holding it up in the dim yellow light provided by the streetlamps. Even in the low light, Rowan can see the thread glimmer.

“Figured I should finally pay you back for that one I shredded during our first scene,” he explains when Mal doesn’t respond further.

Rowan remembers the day fondly, though he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t harbored a twinge of guilt this whole time for having ruined Mal’s clothes. Even though hehadsaid he could ruin it.

“Thank you, Rowan,” Mal says finally.

It’s the sincerity and the breathiness in his voice that gets to Rowan as much as it is the fact that this might be the first time Mal has actually used his name outside of sex and not one of his many nicknames for him. It catches him so off guard that it takes him a long moment to realize that the warm feeling encompassing him isn’t just pleasure at the name, but rather Mal’s chest pressed against his own and his arms wrapped tightly around his back.

It’s far from the first time Mal’s hugged him of his own accord, but those other times had been fleeting, with barely any contact. This isintimate, if Rowan dares call it anything. Somehow, their bodies pressed flush together like this feels more meaningful than every time they’ve been connected sexually. But before Rowan can even properly enjoy the hug or fully respond back to it, there’s a sharp inhale, and Mal releases him.

“See you next weekend, yeah?” Mal says, backpedaling toward the other end of the lot where his black Charger is parked.

“Yeah. Happy birthday, Mal.”

THE WHOLEnight replays in Rowan’s mind like a film reel. Grainy and slightly out of focus but loaded with unforgettable images. Unforgettable feelings too. The way Mal felt pressed against him on the dance floor and in the bathroom stall and in the parking lot. The way he’d shared bits of himself with not only his closest friends and family, but with Rowan too. The way he hadn’t judged when Rowan had shared some of his own sordid past.

They’d said their goodbyes in the parking lot less than an hour ago, but Rowan hears his phone vibrate on his nightstand.

[MS]can still feel you

Fuck, Rowan wants to say.You can’t just say shit like that, Mal.

[MS]half of it fuckin leaked out on the way home

Or like that.

[RC]Can’t decide if that’s hot or gross

Really, Rowan knows which, but Mal changes the subject to something a little more heartfelt.

[MS]thanks btw

[MS]for the gift. and for comin. it was fun

[RC]I’m glad you like it. And I had fun too

[RC]Your friends are all crazy lmao

[MS]yeah but i’m stuck with em

Rowan hears the fondness in Mal’s words as if the man were speaking them aloud.

[RC]Gonna be hard to top tonight for your 30th though

[MS]i’m sure we’ll find a way red

Despite his exhaustion, it takes Rowan a full hour to fall asleep, eyelids flickering with threads of shimmering gold and white lace.

Chapter 9: Red and Green

ROWAN CAN’Tget last night out of his head: Mal’s birthday. The opening up and sharing, yeah. The grinding and the near-choking with Mal’s necklace, definitely. The risky fuck in the bathroom, most of all. He knows they crossed a line by fucking like that. Keeps telling himself that, but somehow itstilldoesn’t seem like it was a bad idea.

Only… he can’t get over how Mal reacted when Rowan had asked him for his safewords. He’d seemed… surprised? While everything else is becoming grainy and hazy, Rowan remembers that moment clear as crystal. Mal’s hands had fumbled on Rowan’s zipper, and his voice before he answered hadn’t been as steady as Rowan would normally require from a typical scene.

All that leads him to believe that Mal wasexpectinga normal hookup and not a Dom/sub scene. And while their fuckingwascloser to the former, they still had that aspect of power imbalance; the thing that they both crave and seek out from one another week after week. So Rowan didn’t do anything wrong, right?

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