Page 22 of The Lost Art of Woodworking and Taking Risks
Hefound himself unfastening his trousers as he thought about Bennan and what they’d done, what he wouldliketo do with him, eventually. When he thought about actually having sex, he was both elated and scared—and he was pretty sure one of those emotions was a problem. Yes, he was glad he’d admitted he wasn’t ready yet, and he was doubly glad Bennan had been all right with it.
But he definitely needed to do something about the state Bennan had left him in.
He slid his hand into his underclothes and wrapped it around his cock, not needing more than a couple of strokes to bring it to full hardness. All he had to do was think about Bennan, about the feel of his lips or that moment when he decided he was too hot—or, apparently, that he wanted Chamis to look at him?—and slowly pulled his tunic up over his chest, revealed each bit of skin inch by tantalizing inch until he was pulling it up and over, and there was that moment where his arms were stretched, and the sun was glinting off his skin… It was no wonder everyone wanted him.
Chamis smeared the precome so the slide was easier, imagining that it was Bennan’s hand on his skin, Bennan touching him, pumping up and down. He wondered what it might feel like if Bennan were to lean down and wrap his lips—
With a deep groan, he came, spurting all over his hand and chest, making a total mess of his clothing, and now he was going to have to change before dinner. But he couldn’t quite bring himself to regret it. He’d jerked off to the thought of Bennan before—all right, if he was being perfectly honest, he’d jerked off to the thought of Bennana lotbefore—but he’d always felt a little bit guilty about it, like he was doing something behind the man’s back.
But now, he knew full well Bennan wouldn’t mind. He knew that had he asked, Bennan would have used his actual hand, which would surely have felt even better.
But it just… He needed processing time. Bennan knew that, and he’d made up a way for Chamis to be able to communicate that without saying a word if he didn’t want to or wasn’t able to. Bennan hadn’t sounded impatient or upset. He wanted Chamis to be happy and ready.
He got cleaned up, got ready for dinner, and then sat down to do some carving because it wasn’t dinner time yet, and he needed to do something with his hands, focus on something else. He couldn’t dwell on his new relationship every minute of the day.
He decided to start work on the beads for Bennan, because no matter what the man said, Chamis was definitely going to prioritize them. Chamis’s were always simple, just smooth, round beads with the grain of the wood brought out with the burnishing and beeswax. He’d make some like that for Bennan, but he wanted to make him something more detailed too. A spiral pattern, maybe. Or could he carve the crossed swords of the Warriors into a round bead? He’d need to experiment.
By the time he needed to leave for dinner, he wasn’t sure if he was excited or terrified. This was the first time they were going to be out in public doing something together officially, but they’d been out together all morning, and that had been fine. This was probably going to be fine, too—even if it was going to be in front of a lot of their colleagues and therefore was much more likely to cause comment than anything they did in town.
Chamis wiped suddenly sweaty palms against his trousers and decided that wasn’t a productive way to think about this.
There was a knock at his door, and he opened it to find Bennan. He blinked in surprise.
Bennan flashed him a smile, his hazel eyes warm and bright. “I realized after I left that maybe meeting you at the dining hall was not the way to go about this. Would you like to walk down to dinner with me? You can totally tell me you’d rather come in on your own, but I thought I’d offer an alternative.”
Chamis blew out a breath, almost weak with relief.
“I would definitely rather walk in with you. Thank you.”
Maybe it meant that more eyes would be on them, but Chamis wouldn’t be doing it alone. This way, whatever they were doing, at least they were doing it together.
Dinner had gone remarkably well. There had been some staring, but Summus and Perian had helped divide a lot of the attention thanks to Summus’s return, which Chamis had appreciated very much. He’d been impressed that Bennan had been so willing to go up against Summus to thank Perian. There was no way Chamis could have done the same, but he still really wanted to express his gratitude as well.
Since words were not his best skill—nor hugs or showy gestures—Chamis thought about what hecoulddo and about what Perian liked. Then the answer seemed obvious. He wasn’ttotallysure it was good enough for that, but Bennan had seemed to think it looked all right,and even if it wasn’t the best carving ever made, Perian would probably understand the gesture, right?
It turned out that Periandefinitelyunderstood the gesture, because he practically skipped over to Chamis the next day and flung his arms around him and hugged him in front of everyone and told him how much he loved the carving—and how much it looked like Summus and how it was the most amazing thing ever, and he was so talented and how did everyone not know that he could do this amazing thing, and it was the most wonderful thing that Perian had ever received, and he was going to love it forever, thank you so much.
Chamis weathered this storm because he was almost used to the idea that this was just how Perian was, but if everyone hadn’t known he did carvings before then, they certainly knew afterwards. Especially because Perian wasn’t the only one to stop by.
Yes, Summus actually came to talk specifically to Chamis.
“It’s a very flattering likeness, thank you.”
Chamis was red as a tomato again, he just knew it. But he managed to make himself speak because he was pretty sure you weren’t allowed to run away from the head of the Mage Warriors.
“You’re very welcome.”
He felt a presence at his back, and a moment later, a body draped against his side, and he sagged gratefully into Bennan’s support.
Encouraged, Chamis swallowed and admitted, “I still remember the speech you made to us when I was a novice, about all of us being necessary and having a part to play. It meant a lot to me. So, thank you.”
Summus looked surprised for a moment, and then he smiled, the expression surprisinglyopen.
“I’m so glad to hear that. Keep up the good work.”
He clapped Chamis on the shoulder and strode off, and Chamis stood there in shock.
“He liked my carving.”
