Page 46

Chapter twenty-one

Leaving Marks

Rusty

Rusty’s brain was still fuzzy from his orgasm as he licked into Gem’s mouth, tasting himself on the Araknis’s smooth tongue.

He groaned and kissed him deeper, and Gem sighed happily, hands petting him all over.

It was a little overwhelming, so many hands on him at once, but Rusty had been touch-starved for too long to fight it.

He reveled in the kind, comforting touches as his heart rate calmed.

They kissed lazily for several minutes, Gem nestled tightly between Rusty’s spread knees, and Rusty finally understood why people enjoyed this so much.

Kissing Gem had quickly become his new favorite pastime.

Those gray lips were full and pillowy soft, but his kisses were confident and sure, no hesitation or questioning.

The blowjob had been amazing, the best sexual experience Rusty had ever had by far, but even that paled in comparison to the kissing. He could have spent the whole night like this, learning the dance steps Gem seemed willing to teach him, mouths meeting, communicating without words .

There was a tenderness to this, a sweet intimacy that Rusty’s heart craved more than the high of orgasm. It may have taken him a long time to get here, to accept his feelings and brave the risk, but now that he’d arrived, there was no going back. Not for him.

He finally had Gem in his hold, and he wasn’t letting go. He would fight canine and claw to keep Gem for as long as the Araknis wanted him. Because he never felt safer and more content than in Gem’s many arms, his taste on his lips and his scent in his nose.

Gem smelled like Rusty now, and the animalistic part of him wanted to roar in satisfaction.

He wanted to sink his teeth into Gem’s flesh until it split and scarred.

He wanted to leave marks, so everyone would know exactly who Gem was to him.

He was Rusty’s gaiz, yes, but it ran deeper now.

Gem was Rusty’s caryd, his anymkara, and Rusty was in awe of him.

“Rusty,” Gem breathed his name, and he swallowed it, angling Gem’s head so he could kiss him deeper. He wanted to consume him, or maybe he was the one who wanted to be consumed. All he knew was that they weren’t close enough.

Using his grip on Gem’s hair, he sat back on the couch, encouraging Gem to follow, and the Araknis came, one knee sinking between Rusty’s legs, the other coming to rest near his hip. He didn’t settle his full weight on Rusty’s thigh, but it was enough to ground Rusty to the moment.

Normally, he would have felt trapped like this, pinned against the couch by Gem’s weight and many limbs.

But Gem’s scent was everywhere, reminding Rusty he was safe, and the way Gem touched him wasn’t grasping or pulling.

He was so gentle, even in his confidence and surety.

He touched Rusty coaxingly, encouragingly, an invitation rather than a demand.

So when Gem rubbed his clothed erection against Rusty’s leg, it didn’t scare him.

If anything, another wave of desire washed over him, and even though his dick needed longer to recover, his belly tightened in anticipation.

Because for the first time in his life, he wanted to be wanted by another.

He wanted Gem to desire him, to find pleasure in him. He wanted to make Gem feel good.

His hand only shook a little as he slid it down Gem’s fuzzy chest, fingering the thicker hairs of his lower belly.

He slipped the tip of one claw under the waistband of Gem’s sweats, and the Araknis hummed into his mouth.

He didn’t want to assume permission, so he broke the kiss, breath choppy and pathetically weak.

“Is this okay? Can I—”

“My barbs,” Gem interrupted, gripping Rusty’s wrist to stop him. “They’re sharp and—”

“I know,” Rusty said, because Gem wouldn’t be the first Araknis he’d fucked. “You’re not the only one here with sharp anatomy.”

Gem snickered, crests of his gray cheeks darkening. “My barbs are a lot sharper than your spines.”

“I know,” Rusty repeated as he wiggled his fingers, showing off the thick hide of his palm. “But I have tough skin too.”

“Right.” A small fang dimpled his bottom lip as his many eyes scrutinized Rusty’s face. “You don’t have to, though. I don’t want you to feel obligated or—”

For the third time, Rusty huffed out, “I know , Gem. I don’t—I’m not—I know the wires in my brain are a bit tangled when it comes to this, but I wouldn’t be here with you if I didn’t want to be. Okay?”

Gem’s expression softened, and he cupped Rusty’s face in his hands. “It’s okay if your wires are tangled. As shocking as it sounds, I may know a thing or two about tangled brains.” They both chuckled as Gem’s forehead met his. “I like you, tangled wires and all.”

“I, uh, like you too,” Rusty mumbled, too embarrassed to meet Gem’s gaze, and the Araknis’s fur hummed in satisfaction.

“Good,” Gem said simply before he kissed Rusty again. “Then how about you take off my pants. If you want.”

Rusty wanted.

Getting Gem’s pants off proved more difficult given their position, and Gem ended up falling back on the couch with a shriek of laughter as Rusty tugged on the sweats. The elastic was stuck on Gem’s thick calf fur, and Rusty chittered in annoyance as he yanked to free it.

“If I thought you’d need a manual, I would have done it myself,” Gem said through his laughter as Rusty finally freed Gem’s ankles.

He chucked the pants aside with a growl before he kicked off his own jeans that had pooled around his feet.

He turned toward Gem who was laid out on the couch like a feast and nearly swallowed his tongue.

The swirls did go all the way up, and Rusty followed the spiral color that seemed to circle Gem’s cock like a bulls-eye.

His barbed prehensiles had already emerged to encase the core of his dick, hiding it from view. As Gem had claimed all those weeks ago, his cock wasn’t big. It was incredibly slender and almost delicate-looking. Even the black barbs flaring at even intervals didn’t detract from how… pretty it was.

Everything about Gem was pretty, even his cock it would seem. And here Rusty was, sharp-clawed and feral. He didn’t want to sully Gem’s perfection with his touch, but the moment his palm smoothed over Gem’s lovely kneecap, the Araknis’s many eyes closed as he smiled.

Setting one foot on the floor, Gem pressed the other into the couch, resting his raised knee on the back cushions. Spread and vulnerable, he leaned against the arm rest and smirked smugly, fingers dragging teasingly up his length .

“Like what you see?” he purred, and Rusty nodded. Gem’s lower hand slid between his legs, two fingers rubbing over the fuzzy, wrinkled skin of his asshole. “I touched myself here, thinking of you.”

With a pathetic whine, Rusty pressed his face into the crux of Gem’s knee, nipping at the tender skin there, and Gem chuckled.

“I imagined it was your fingers. Or your cock,” Gem crooned, numerous hands caressing himself. “I came so hard I screamed your name and woke the neighbor.”

“Gem,” Rusty warned, but Gem just continued to smile, more thrilled than reprimanded.

“Did you touch yourself and think of me?” Gem asked, shivering in delight at Rusty’s glare. “Come on, Cheer Bear. Tell me.”

“Yes,” he admitted grudgingly, and Gem beamed at him.

“Did you say my name?”

“Yes,” he muttered again, dragging his nose down the inside of Gem’s thigh, breathing him in.

“That’s real good, Rus.”

Another wave of embarrassment washed over Rusty, and he was so thankful he had fur to mask it. He latched on to the inside of Gem’s thigh and sucked hard in retaliation for that smartass comment, and Gem laughed.

“Don’t be a tease,” Gem chided, a hand pressing to the back of Rusty’s head, adding pressure. “Bite me, and leave a fucking mark.”

Something primal and ferocious rose within him, and Rusty snarled as he obeyed, sinking his teeth into Gem’s fleshy thigh. Gem threw his head back with a warbling cry, fingers fisting in Rusty’s fur. But he didn’t tug Rusty away; in fact, he pushed Rusty in, like he wanted him to bite harder .

He didn’t. As much as he wanted to leave Gem riddled with his marks, he didn’t want to hurt him. He wasn’t a pito.

So he unlocked his jaw before his canines broke Gem’s thick skin, licking at the indents he’d left behind. It would probably bruise, and a terrible, dark part of him wanted it to.

Two fingers drifted over Rusty cheek, tapping on his bottom lip. “Suck,” Gem ordered, and Rusty was all too willing to comply.

Parting his lips, he sucked Gem’s fingers into his mouth, throat barely reacting when one slid to the back of his tongue. It had been a while, but Rusty still knew how to deep-throat. He curled his tongue around Gem’s fingers, getting them nice and wet, never breaking eye contact.

Gem’s breathing stuttered as he stroked himself, several eyes watching the fingers in Rusty’s mouth, several admiring the mark Rusty had bitten into his thigh. His two largest eyes, though, were locked with Rusty’s.

“Do you want me to show you?” Gem asked as he removed his messy fingers from Rusty’s mouth. “How I touched myself. The way I said your name. Do you want to see?”

Yes, but Rusty wanted to touch too. He wanted his mouth between Gem’s asscheeks and his hand on Gem’s dick. He wanted to be the reason Gem moaned in pleasure.

But Gem was also a sight to behold, lean body undulating, hands moving, dick hard but still hiding.

Then Gem rubbed his spit-slicked fingers over his ass, and Rusty growled, dragging several claws down the length of Gem’s thigh.

They left raised skin behind but didn’t break through, and Gem moaned, deep and throaty.

“I rode my fingers, then one of my dildos,” he gasped out as he pressed spit-slicked fingers into himself. “But it wasn’t you. I wanted it to be you. ”

Resting his head on Gem’s knee, Rusty watched those fingers sink in. “Show me,” he demanded, and Gem smiled.