Page 52
Horribly uncomfortable now, Gem turned his attention back to his perusing. He picked up a small picture frame with an aged photo inside, recognizing Rusty immediately, though he was so little. He was smiling shyly at the camera, face half-hidden in the female Pyclon’s neck.
His mother was a darker shade of pink than he was, and her smile was weary, like she’d lived a hard life. But her eyes were kind and full of love as she hugged Rusty tightly. They were so happy, and Gem’s eyes burned with tears as he returned the frame reverently to its spot.
“She’s beautiful,” Gem said, meeting Rusty’s gaze over his shoulder, and Rusty nodded.
“Yeah, she was. ”
“Sorry again.” Gem motioned to the box of ashes. “About desecrating your mother’s remains.”
Another amused chuff. “Saves me making introductions, I suppose.”
An inappropriate laugh bubbled out his mouth, and Gem slapped a hand across his lips to smother it. Rusty smirked, tail swaying in amusement, and Gem relaxed as he finished his self-guided tour at Rusty’s desk. It was strewn with pencils and paper, half-sketched drawings of hands and eyes and—
“Is that Glyma?” Gem picked up a stack of papers, a sketch of Glyma wiping flour from her cheek on the top.
“Oh, that’s, uh… I was just doodling,” Rusty said, tail flicking anxiously.
“Aw, and Ollie.” Gem simpered at the drawing of Oliver’s profile as he laughed, hand poised like he was about to type in someone’s order at the register.
There was one of Tad on Zef’s shoulders and Quin glaring up from her desk, like she’d just been interrupted.
Then Toni, arm hooked around Willow’s neck as the Dryad laughed.
And finally, Gem himself. His profile, one hand tucking a curl behind his ear as his other hands worked at the espresso machine.
One eye was turned toward the observer, like he was secretly peeking out of his graphite world into the real one.
It was mundane and simple, a slice of life, yet Gem had never seen himself look so beautiful.
“Is this how you see me?” he asked, voice catching as he turned the page to Rusty.
“Sometimes,” Rusty said, and Gem sniffled.
“I didn’t even know you could draw, but these are really good.” He admired them each in turn again, then scoured the desk for more. He found numerous pictures of hands, and they looked familiar too. “Are these my hands?”
“Hands are hard to draw,” Rusty justified, ears flattening in embarrassment. “I was practicing, and you have a lot of them, so…”
Gem laughed wetly as he admired the graceful way Rusty had captured his fingers, like just his hands were a work of art. “Rusty, you’re an incredible artist. You know that, right?”
“Just doodles,” Rusty repeated with a dismissive wave, but Gem shook his head.
“No, they’re amazing, and I’m so mad at you for not showing me sooner.” Wiping his nose on his wrist, Gem sniffed and picked up another sketch. “Um, hello. Who is this bodacious babe?”
The woman was tall and curvy, decked out in leather with a sword and a wand. Her curly hair was blowing in an invisible wind, her eyes fierce. She had ass for days, four arms, and leg warmers over heeled boots. She looked like a badass.
“That’s, uh, Jewyl. She’s the main character of my graphic novel,” Rusty said in a rush, like he feared he wouldn’t say it at all if he didn’t get all the words out at once.
“Your graphic novel?” Gem asked, and Rusty nodded. “You’re writing a graphic novel about a badass queen with a pet cow”—Gem pointed at the adorable tiny, flying cow hovering next to her—“and you didn’t tell me?”
Rusty flinched at Gem’s sudden volume. “Um… yes?”
“I’ve never been more furious with you!” Gem cried, stamping his foot like a child. “It’s like I don’t even know you. Is your name even Rusty? Are you actually twenty-four? Are you really a Pyclon, or are you lying about that too? ”
With a chuckle, Rusty sank down onto his bed. “Yes, my name is Rusty, and I’m a Pyclon. I’m twenty-five, though.”
Gem’s fur vibrated furiously. “You had a birthday and didn’t say anything?”
“Gem—”
“How could you not tell me?” he shrieked, smacking Rusty with his drawings.
“Hey, watch it!” Rusty growled, but Gem tackled him to the bed with a battle cry.
“I sucked your dick last night, and you have the audacity to not tell me about your birthday?” Gem settled his weight on Rusty’s stomach, pinning his hands above his head as he laughed. “Stop laughing. I’m genuinely angry with you.”
“Why? It’s just a birthday.”
“Birthdays are important. You are important.” Gem rubbed their foreheads together. “Why do you keep so many secrets? Do you not trust me?”
At that, Rusty’s laughter faded, and he frowned.
“You’re the first person I’ve ever brought into this room.
You’re the only person I’ve taken to The Point or told about my mom.
You’re the first person I’ve ever kissed because I wanted to, not because someone paid me to.
” He set his jaw and swallowed thickly. “Do you really think I don’t trust you? ”
“Stop being sweet when I’m trying to be mad at you,” Gem whined as he leaned in and kissed Rusty firmly. “When’s your birthday?”
“August eighteenth,” Rusty said, tracing Gem’s lips with his own. “We went to the beach, and you taught me to swim, and it was the best birthday I’ve had in a really long time.”
“You bastard,” Gem murmured before kissing him again. “I’m going to get you a present,” he said between kisses, “and you’re not gonna say shit about it. You’re gonna love it and say, ‘Thank you, Gem, for being the most amazing person I know,’ and then you’ll fuck my face or something.”
“You have it all planned out, huh?” Rusty gasped as Gem settled his ass on his hardening dick and ground down.
“Oh, you have no idea.”
Flipping them over, Gem hitched his legs around Rusty’s hips as he tangled their tongues together.
They kissed until Gem was breathless, and Rusty vibrated with a constant purr.
He kissed and licked his way down Gem’s neck, then lower still.
He circled Gem’s belly button with his tongue, tugging on his piercing with his teeth.
“I like this,” he rasped, and Gem shivered.
“I’ve been thinking about getting a dick piercing.” He rubbed the notch in Rusty’s ear as the Pyclon licked a stripe across his lower belly above the band of his shorts.
“You’re afraid of needles, but you’re willing to let one near your dick?” Sitting back on his heels, Rusty teased the tips of his claws under Gem’s shorts, dancing them over his thighs.
“Piercings are different,” Gem said, parting his legs wider to give Rusty access. “I make sure I never see the needle, and then it’s over really fast. And then I look hot and badass with a new piercing. It’s not like sitting for hours, getting stabbed over and over for a tattoo.”
“Yeah, I know,” Rusty grumbled, claws dragging up his thighs to his raised knees.
“You still have it, don’t you?” Gem sat up, sliding a hand around Rusty’s waist to rub the spot above his tail. “The tattoo?”
Grudgingly, Rusty nodded. “Removing a tattoo is fucking expensive.”
“I’m sorry.” Gem rubbed his back, and Rusty shrugged.
“It’s not like anyone can see it. I forget it’s there most of the time. ”
Gem thought of the game night that past summer when he’d accidentally told everyone about the tattoo. He’d felt awful that he’d blurted out one of Rusty’s biggest secrets, though he’d thankfully not revealed the exact nature of the tattoo. No one knew Rusty had Gem’s name engraved above his ass.
Given how their relationship had changed and deepened, Gem kind of liked that Rusty bore his mark. It fed some primal, possessive part of himself that he never even knew existed.
“Can I see it?” Gem asked, and Rusty huffed in exasperation but stood from the bed and turned around, tugging his shirt over his head. Gem parted the fur above his tail, smiling smugly when he found the dark ink calligraphy spelling out his name. “It healed really well.”
“Get so fucked,” Rusty growled, pushing Gem’s hands away as he faced him once more. “I still blame you for that.”
“But you’ve clearly forgiven me,” Gem said, tugging Rusty back by a belt loop to stand between his parted legs.
“Clearly,” Rusty deadpanned.
“Don’t be grouchy,” Gem chided, looping his top arms around Rusty’s neck. “Be like Cheer Bear, remember?”
“Kiss my ass,” Rusty said with a plastically cheery smile, and Gem laughed.
“Oh, baby, that is not a threat. That is an invitation.”
When Gem added pressure to Rusty’s neck, the Pyclon dipped his chin enough to kiss him, mumbling, “I’m not prepped for that.”
With a shriek of laughter, Gem shoved the Pyclon away, and Rusty laughed too, tail dancing. He seemed so much lighter, his smiles and laughter coming easier and more frequent. It filled Gem with joy and affection and something that tasted like love.
Gem had never been in love before. He’d fucked a lot of people, and he’d liked quite a few of them. He’d even dated every now and then, but he’d never felt this before. This all-consuming desire. For everything. For all of it.
He wanted Rusty’s body and his pleasure, his moans and dirty words.
But it was deeper than that too. He wanted Rusty’s smiles and his laughter, his quiet focus and lazy exhales of spicy smoke.
He wanted Rusty’s dreams and his fears, his painful past and his bright future.
He wanted his secrets, and his gentle, soft heart.
Gem wanted it all, and he wanted to give everything of himself in return. He’d given pieces before, tiny offerings of his most palatable self, but never his all. Because he knew his everything would be far too much for any one person to accept.
Except Rusty didn’t think he was too much.
Never once had he told Gem to be quiet, to calm down, to be less.
He’d accepted Gem with his crazy cow closet and his overly active brain and his silly quirks and his loose tongue.
And he’d stayed. Even after Rusty had gotten the one thing most men wanted from Gem, he’d stayed. And that had to count for something.
“Okay, so don’t laugh,” Rusty said as he sat down beside Gem, entirely unaware of the calamity of thought and emotion crashing through Gem’s psyche. “It’s about alien warlocks in space. Which sounds really stupid when I say it out loud.”
He handed Gem a tablet, and Gem took it on instinct, mind still reeling. “You made it, so it won’t be stupid.”
Another one of his shy smiles made an appearance, and Gem couldn’t stop himself from kissing it from his lips.
Rusty oomphed in surprise, but after a moment, kissed him back enthusiastically.
Framing his face with two hands, Gem kissed him with all the unexplainable emotion inside him, and Rusty was breathless by the time they parted.
“What—” Rusty cleared his throat, blinking heavily. “What was that for?”
“I just think you’re wonderful,” Gem said, because it was true.
Rusty’s tail puffed up, but he ducked his head and chittered uncomfortably. “I don’t know about that.”
“I do,” Gem said confidently, dragging his knuckles down Rusty’s throat, mirroring the way Rusty scent-marked him. Rusty gasped, eyes widening as he stared at Gem.
For a moment, Gem hesitated, thinking he’d done something wrong. But then Rusty slowly, cautiously, tilted his head, baring his throat. It was vulnerable, the ultimate show of trust in many Mammylion cultures, and Gem understood the weight of it.
He rubbed his knuckles into Rusty’s neck, and Rusty’s eyes drifted shut, a rumbling purr vibrating in his chest. His body went slack, tail wrapping around Gem’s hips, and Gem smiled, continuing to massage his scent into Rusty’s pulse point.
Rusty had always been the one to mark Gem, but Gem had never thought to mark him as well.
Judging from the slight hitch in Rusty’s breathing, this meant something, something important.
Gem should have done it sooner. Rusty had claimed him as gaiz a long time ago, but Gem hadn’t claimed him back. He would remedy that now.
Leaning in, Gem rubbed his cheek against Rusty’s, then buried his face in the fur of his neck and sighed. They stayed that way for a long time.
Table of Contents
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- Page 52 (Reading here)
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