Page 89 of Guiding Desire

Orrey craned his neck to look up at Senlas. It was getting easier and easier to relax against him, and the warmth his touch brought was comforting, even in summer.

“Then the insurrectionist would have told me nothing new. And yet, my request upset you.”

He sighed. “Kitten, I don’t like the thought of the Op-AI thinking you’re having doubts about the way we live.”

“Ah. Col said something like that.”

“Yeah. Col’s always worrying, but you’re easy to worry about. Also, kitten, do you realize you have been channeling for a while now?”

Orrey’s eyes went wide. “That warmth. I didn’t mean to.”

“I wasn’t complaining.”

They fell silent, and Orrey, instead of looking outside, focused on where they touched, the heat from Senlas’s fingertips seeping into his abdomen and hand.

He tried relaxing, found that it was easier than he thought, that the Guardian’s solid presence worked like a bulwark against some of his mental troubles.

The more he let go, the easier it was to tell apart the channeling from the rest of him. There was something solid to it, almost like Orrey could’ve touched it, seen it against his skin like molten sugar.

Paying attention to the energy had Orrey wonder if he could take in more of it. It felt good, like quiet background music. He imagined opening up, sucking the warmth into him instead of just letting it come. It wasn’t hard, but a lot like squinting or whistling, not instinctive at first, very easy to do once you’d gotten the hang of it.

At first, the energy fluctuated, stalled, stopped. If Senlas had flinched or said anything, it would have totally shaken Orrey out of the moment, but the Guardian seemed to know not to do that. He simply stayed still, kept giving the physical contact, and so Orrey could go back to being relaxed and open.

The energy eventually turned into a steady flow. It wasn’t even hard. Orrey wanted it, and then it was just there.

This time, instead of sucking, he tried imagining himself as being more open. It required that thoughtless concentration squinting at the tip of his nose or pursing his lips right to make a sound come out did.

When the warmth he took in from Senlas increased, Orrey smiled. He let it come, let it come, until the touch was nearly painful.

Orrey was about to shift away from the heat, but it shifted by itself. As if a switch had been flipped, the feeling of heat was gone, replaced by rapid arousal, which surprised Orrey so much that he cried out and jumped away from Senlas.

Given the size of the vehicle, it put him into a sprawl on its floor.

“Shh, kitten. That was amazing, you did so well. Come back up here.” He patted the seat next to him, reached for Orrey’s arm to help him back up.

“What was that?”

“You channeled. In a massive way. You’d be a good emergency Conduit. If you didn’t have an S-classer at home who’s considering becoming very possessive.”

Orrey scrambled back into the seat next to Senlas. Senlas glanced at Orrey’s crotch, but thankfully looked right back into his eyes.

“I don’t know how, erm. It just…”

“That’s normal. When you’re really good at taking in so much all at once, it can happen.”

“You—you just said sex is better. For the channeling. Not this…”

Orrey turned his lap away from Senlas, but Senlas smiled, reached for Orrey’s hand.

“Channeling can be pleasurable. Every person is different, and it’s not always like this for everyone. Either way, we Guardians make sure to care for our Conduit bedroom partners. But you’re clearly on the sensitive side as a Conduit. Instructors would tell you to pick your partners with care so you don’t end up agreeing to things in the moment you didn’t beforehand. I’m glad I know.”

“School never mentioned anything about how weird being a Conduit was,” Orrey said, then looked out the window. “Shit. We’re almost there.” He took an uneasy look at his crotch. The erection was still there, firmly set on not going down.

Senlas smiled. “I can help with that if you’ll let me.”

“Let you what?”

His black eyebrows quirked up. “Suck you off.”