Discovery upon discovery upon discovery. He liked this. Helikedbeing hit. Liked the sting of it, the heat of it, the way it made everything inside him clench and tighten and demand more. He had never known this about himself. Never imagined it. And now it was here, undeniable, as much a part of him as his own heartbeat.
Underneath it, shame flickered.
But the pleasure was stronger.
Every sting drowned the shame before it could take root. Every thrust pushed it further away. Every word from Landen burned through it like sunlight through fog.
Adriel was climbing toward something. He could feel it building. Each slap wound him tighter. Each thrust drove him higher. His moans had become continuous, a stream of sound he couldn't stop and didn't want to.
Landen's hand came down one final time.
Crack.
The orgasm tore through him like nothing he'd ever experienced. His whole body seized, his back arching, his arms giving out completely, his face pressed into the pillow as wave after wave of pleasure crashed through him. He was coming untouched, his cock pulsing against his stomach, painting the sheets beneath him with hot stripes of release. The sound he made was barely human; a long, broken cry that seemed to go on and on.
Behind him, Landen followed. Buried deep. Groaning against his spine. His hips stuttered through it, thrust after thrust, each one sending fresh sparks through Adriel's oversensitive body. His grip on Adriel's hip was bruising. His whole body shook with the force of it.
Then stillness.
They stayed like that for a long moment. The sting on his ass was blooming hot, a reminder of what had just happened, what he'd discovered, what he'd asked for.
He had no words.
None.
Landen moved eventually. He pulled out slowly, and Adriel made a small sound at the loss. Landen's hand came to rest on his lower back, warm and steady.
"Adriel." His voice was rough. Quiet. "Hey. You with me?"
Adriel turned his head. Managed a nod.
Landen's eyes searched his face. Looking for something. Adriel didn't know what he found there. But after a moment, his expression softened. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to Adriel's shoulder.
"Okay," he murmured. "Okay."
Adriel closed his eyes.
He was still trembling. Still reeling. Still trying to understand what had just happened to him, what door had opened, what part of himself he'd just met for the first time.
But underneath all of it, underneath the shock and the discovery and the overwhelming intensity, was something else.
Safety.
He had never felt safer in his life.
∞∞∞
Adriel stood naked in front of the mirror.
He'd meant to shower. Had stepped in here with that intention, still loose-limbed and buzzing from Landen's hands and mouth and the things he'd said in the dark. But he'd caught his reflection as he passed the mirror and stopped.
Now he stood in front of it and turned slightly, craning to see himself from behind.
His ass was marked.
Pink shading toward red in the shape of Landen's palm, the imprint of it clear across both cheeks. The color was darker in some places than others, the places where Landen's hand had landed hardest, and already it was promising to deepen into bruises by morning. He could see the edges of them, the way the skin was already shifting, becoming something that would last.
There were other marks too.