Page 42 of Oz (Finding Home #1)

He nods calmly. “It’s like you’re on a seesaw.

It’s been somewhat battered by previous users, but you both balance it perfectly.

If one of you got off it would make the other fall.

He needed someone who would put him first. He hasn’t ever had that in a partner or a parent.

And you needed someone who would accept you for who you really are.

Accept you and love you.” He gives a very Gallic shrug. “Perfect balance.”

“Sometimes I forget how clever you are about people,” Henry says.

“Would that sometimes be when I’m disagreeing with you?” Ivo asks wryly, and Henry gives him an impish smirk.

“Probably.”

“Okay.” I straighten my jacket and run a hand through my hair.

“Where are you going?” Henry asks with a thread of nervousness running through his voice.

“To the kitchen to shut Chewwy in again and then out to the marquee. Dinner’s being served,” I say calmly. “And Silas will be looking for me.”

I go to open the door and he stays me with a hand on my arm. “Welcome to the family,” he whispers. “I’m so happy you’re here.”

I squeeze his hand. “Thank you.”

The sound of talking in the marquee is like a wall of noise after the quietness of the cupboard.

I look around, quickly noting the servers moving with dexterity and the happy faces.

Satisfied, I move over to the central table.

Olivia is there with a face like thunder sitting next to Martin who is drinking wine as if they’re going to outlaw it at any second.

Silas is looking around with a worried expression on his face that eases slightly as he sees me.

He stands up hurriedly and strides over.

“Are you alright?” he asks in a rushed voice. “I know my mother spoke to you.”

I grab his arm and rub it gently, watching his eyes close slightly in relief. “I’m so sorry I ran away. I’m okay now,” I whisper. “Don’t worry. Everything’s fine.”

“Where have you been?” he whispers. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

I shrug and smile at him. “I went looking for my courage and common sense.”

“Sounds like The Wizard of Oz ,” he says gently. “Did you find them?”

I lower my hand and take his. Then I raise it to my lips and kiss it gently and deliberately. His eyes flare at the simple gesture because he knows what this means.

He takes a deep breath and suddenly his face is illuminated with the widest smile I’ve ever seen. “Okay,” he breathes. “Are we doing this?”

I nod and smile tenderly. “Yes, we are.” I pause. “Together.”

He grins, and I gasp as he grabs my face and pulls me towards him, dropping a gentle kiss on my lips. He pulls back and walks us over to the table.

“Here he is,” he says happily. “Everyone, I’d like you to meet my boyfriend, Oz Gallagher.”

Later that night I strip my clothes off and step into the shower with a sigh of relief.

It had got hot and sticky later on in the marquee when the dancing had started.

I look at the shower and smile. Out of everywhere in the house, this is one of my favourite places.

It’s a huge cubicle tiled with pale blue subway tiles and with plenty of room for two.

“That’s a happy sigh.”

I look up and smile at the sight of Silas through the shower door leaning against the sink. He’s down to his trousers and shirt but the shirt is open and showing off that wonderful hairy chest.

“It’s lovely. It was so hot in the tent.”

“I was very proud of you tonight.” His quiet voice cuts through the noise of the water and I rub my hand down my wet face, staring at him through the glass.

“Why?”

“I was proud to have you by my side. You’re so funny and irreverent. You won so many people over.”

“Not everyone.”

He shrugs. “Of course not. But we can’t please them all. That’s not something I’m ever going to try to do. As long as the people I love are happy, nothing else matters.”

“Your mother won’t come round, will she?”

She’d vanished after the meal, taking a drunk Martin with her and returning back to their home. I can’t say I’ll miss her, but she is his mother.

He looks at me intently. “I can’t bring myself to be bothered. I think a tiny part of me will always care about her because she’s my mother, but I don’t like her, and her opinion doesn’t matter to me.” He pauses with a wild-looking expression on his face. “I won’t let her come between us.”

“She won’t,” I say loudly, cutting through. “I’ve learnt my lesson tonight. I know my priorities.” I shrug. “It’s quite a small list.”

“How many items?”

I smile tenderly at him. “Just one, really. It’s you, if you’re interested.”

He smiles and his tension melts away. “That’s one of the reasons I’m so proud of you. That fierceness of yours. It’s comforting and almost familiar.”

“Is the other reason my vanishing act tonight? Are you banking on me becoming a magician?”

He smiles. “That is an idea for sure. If the electricity bill is as big as I think it’s going to be, we might have to start sawing people in half and wearing top hats.”

I laugh but then sober. “And we’ll do that together.” He looks at me and gives a glorious smile. I look around the door and beckon him. “Come in here with me,” I say in a low voice.

He straightens, looking at me intently, and the atmosphere thickens.

I watch as he removes his clothing piece by slow piece and then step back so he can get into the shower enclosure.

He brushes past me, my wet skin sliding on his, and I groan as I feel the hairs on his chest rub against my sensitive nipples.

He stands under the spray, letting the water cascade down over him until his hair turns jet black and water beads on his eyelashes like tiny diamonds.

He opens his arms and I move instantly into them, lifting my head for the kiss he gives me, opening my mouth and sighing as his tongue rubs against mine.

We kiss for a long while as the water pours down on us, and when he pulls back his lips are swollen and red and his eyes at half-mast.

“I love you,” he whispers. “I’m sorry but I can’t stop it and I don’t want to. I know it’s not what you want to hear at the moment, but I can’t keep it in anymore.”

I put my hand over his mouth and the low impassioned words stop. For a second his eyes register apprehension, which I cannot stand to see there. Not about me.

“I love you too.”

The words seem to twine around us like the steam, and for a long second he’s silent apart from a gasp.

“Really?” he asks shyly.

I nod firmly. “ Really . In the interests of being completely honest I have to say that I’ve never loved anyone before, so I’m absolutely convinced that I’ll fuck it up.”

He shakes his head. “So what? We’ll just mend it again. Oh God, I love you so much.”

He bends his head and takes my mouth with a deep groan, and the tenderness is submerged under a flood of intense passion.

The water pours down over us, encasing us in heat and steam, and I drag my mouth away from his to pull in a breath before quickly going back to his lips. I groan in protest as he pulls his lips away but smile when he drops to his knees.

“Okay down there, old timer?” I say, and he grins up at me.

“I’m going to take my teeth out and blow your mind, you young whippersnapper.”

I laugh. “Promises, promises.”

My laughter dies away to a gasp as he licks a broad stripe up my dick. The rough rasp of his tongue makes my eyes cross and I groan.

“Look at me,” he mutters, and when I turn my eyes down he holds my gaze and takes me slowly inside his mouth.

“Oh shit,” I groan as he starts to suck.

The hot, wet tunnel my dick is enclosed in is like heaven.

Silas has many talents, but sucking dick should be right up there at the top.

He throws himself into it with all the enthusiasm that he shows in life, and the fact that it turns him on so much is an added bonus.

The other week he gave me a blow job and was so turned on that he came hands free, shooting all over the floor.

He sucks hard, the pulling motion seeming to want to tug the come from my balls. I look down at him through the steam of the shower and all my feelings seem to gather into a hot ball inside my chest.

“I love you,” I groan, and he looks up, droplets of water spangling on his eyelashes and clumping them together like little starfish.

His eyes soften from their lustful gaze and he releases my cock from its home in his throat and stands up.

“I love you too,” he whispers, kissing me and sharing the tang of my pre-come.

“Turn around, Pika,” he urges, and I steal another kiss before obeying his hands, moving out of the direct flow of the shower and turning to face the tiled wall.

I stick my arse out and I feel his hands come down to cup and caress my buttocks.

“Such a gorgeous arse,” he says in a low, guttural whisper.

He separates my cheeks and stands back to direct the shower stream to cascade over the inside.

I shout out as the hot water caresses my opening.

“And look at that pretty hole,” he murmurs.

He moves back behind me. “I’m going to put my cock in there and see it stretch around me.

But first I need a taste of it. I haven’t had the taste of your arse on my tongue since this morning. ”

I moan at the sound of his dirty words muttered in that pure, clear accent.

He chuckles and kisses between my shoulder blades. I screw my eyes closed and bend over, resting my head against the cool tiles as his kisses lead slowly down my spine before flaring out to scatter butterfly kisses over my buttocks.

I groan and, reaching back, I use my hands to spread my cheeks. “Silas, please.”

“What do you need, darling?” He kneads my backside. “You can have anything you want. I will do anything and be anything you need. Complete honesty.”

I twist my head to look down at him. “While that sounds incredibly deviant, all I really want you to do at the moment is stick your tongue in my arse.”