Page 46 of Resilience on Canvas

After pressing one soft kiss on the very tip of Henry’s cock, Robert took the whole head into his mouth and sucked, swirling his tongue over the foreskin, which had Henry making the loveliest little sound—a whispered sigh coupled with a breathy moan.

Robert’s flaccid cock twitched from the sudden small surge of hunger, though it was still too soon for Robert to become properly hard for a second time that evening.

Robert pulled off and looked up at Henry through his lashes.

“Did you like that, little wolf?”

Henry merely nodded, his eyes unfocused, seemingly in a trance.

Hesitantly, Robert took Henry’s shaft into his hand and pumped a few times. Henry let out a sweet-sounding whimper. Slowly, Robert lowered his lips back to Henry’s cock. He took more of it into his mouth this time as he lowered his head. Henry’s fingers became tangled in Robert’s hair.

When Robert then let out a hum, Henry bucked his hips and moaned. Encouraged by Henry’s reaction, Robert took more of Henry’s cock into his mouth. Henry shifted his hips, thrusting upward. Robert gagged in response, his eyes immediately watering.

“Sorry,” Henry whispered as Robert pulled off.

“Nah, I’m the one who should be sorry,” Robert said, his stomach tightening. “Dammit, that was embarrassing.”

Henry’s hand fell from Robert’s hair to cup his chin.

“Oh my God, Robert...” Henry paused, a look of what seemed to be reverence in his eyes.

“You look beautiful like this.” He wiped a bit of moisture from the corner of Robert’s slightly teary eyes.

“Can you take me like that again? All the way into yer mouth? I liked makin’ you gag like that.

And, oh, the way your eyes are waterin’. ..”

Robert huffed a barely-there laugh. “Yeah, sure.”

Emboldened by the praise, Robert wasted no time taking the entirety of Henry’s cock into his mouth this time, stopping only when his nose pressed on Henry’s pubic bone.

He lingered for a moment before pulling back and then immediately lowered back to the base again.

He repeated this motion a few times, enjoying the filthy moans tumbling from Henry’s mouth while he worked up the courage to make himself gag once more, and his own heart began to race as he noticed Henry’s breaths turn short and shallow, his fingers threading through Robert’s hair.

Finally, once Robert felt ready, he lowered himself to the base of Henry’s cock and held himself there. Sure enough, he triggered that same reflex. Afterward, Robert popped off and wiped the tears from his eyes.

“Christ in heaven.” Henry let out a long breath and shook his head like he had momentarily lost his words. “Thank you.”

Robert smiled through the warm rush of fondness.

“Anything for you, Hen.” He took Henry’s waiting cock in his hand, the skin still wet from his saliva, and the slickness sent another wave of want through Robert’s veins. “I want to make you come. Can I?”

Henry nodded. “I was close for a minute there. Maybe try yer hand too?”

“Alright, yeah, let me try that.”

Robert went back to pleasuring Henry, this time his mouth and hand moving up the length of Henry’s shaft in tandem, and every couple of repetitions, Robert circled the head of Henry’s cock with his tongue.

After only a minute or so, Henry clutched tight to Robert’s shoulder and let out a cry, one that was loud enough that Rose and Joe had to have heard it, too, and then his cock started to pulse.

Robert swallowed every bit of Henry’s warm release.

Afterward, he snuggled next to Henry, and they shared a kiss.

“I can kind of taste myself on you,” Henry said, nuzzling Robert’s nose.

Robert hummed and said, “I like that.”

“Me too,” Henry sighed. “I hope I can taste more of you next time. ”

“Yeah, well, hopefully I won’t finish so fast.”

“At least you weren’t ringin’ no church bells when it happened,” Henry remarked with a chuckle.

Robert snorted. “Yeah, that’s true.” He reached for his pants. “We better put these back on.”

Once they were both once again fully clothed, they snuggled together and looked up at the sky, which was no longer colorful from the last minutes of sunset but a blackish blue and filled with stars.

“Thank you for suggestin’ that,” Henry said.

“Thanks for bein’ willin’ to try it.”

“I’ll try whatever you want. I think. I mean, I can’t see myself sayin’ no to somethin’ that might bring either of us some pleasure.” Henry rolled over to face Robert and kissed his cheek. “I want to make you feel good. All the time. Any way I can.”

Robert turned onto his side. “Same to you, Hen.” He ran a hand through Henry’s hair, relishing the way Henry’s soft locks felt as they moved between his fingers. “I meant what I said before. Anything for you, little wolf. Anything.”

For the next few minutes, they kissed each other sweetly, touching their lips together over and over and over with tenderhearted softness.

Eventually, between kisses, Henry said, “Robert”—one more kiss—“can I”—another—“ask you somethin’?”

“Of course,” Robert replied. “What is it?”

After a moment, Henry whispered, “Do you love me?”

Robert’s eyebrows shot up, and he reeled back.

Even though he knew exactly how he felt, he still needed a moment to sit with Henry’s question.

Henry simply waited patiently, no trace either of worry or sorrow on his moonlit face.

It was like Henry wasn’t really concerned with how Robert would respond, but instead was only curious to know.

Finally, once the shock of Henry’s bluntness wore off, Robert laughed warmly and said, “Of course I love you, dummy. We’re movin’ to California together.”

Henry then laughed too. “Yeah, I-I thought so. But neither of us has ever said it, so I thought I might check to be sure.”

Robert pursed his lips. It was true that neither of them had said it.

But Robert hadn’t never said those three words out loud to anyone else before, either.

Not even to his own family. Hell, no one had even said those three words to him .

Or, well, maybe his ma must have, not that he could recall a specific instance.

It wasn’t that Robert had settled on not saying them to Henry.

Saying “I love you” simply hadn’t crossed his mind.

But now that Henry had brought it up, he found that he wanted to say it, especially if Henry wanted to hear it.

“Yeah, I love you, Hen.” Robert pulled Henry close. “I’m sorry I never told you before.”

“Nah, I mean, I never told you, neither,” Henry said, smiling. He hooked a leg over Robert’s torso, towing their hips together. “Gosh, I still haven’t, have I? I love you, Robert.”

Somehow, even though Robert had already known that Henry loved him, hearing those words still stirred something powerful within him. They felt real now, as though his heart had opened to their truth.

Henry’s “I love you” made a home in there in his heart, every letter seeming to settle in separately, the phrase taking root.

With his next inhale, Robert breathed life into those words, and their roots reached further into his heart, making it flutter.

The words then echoed in his mind, and he felt them blossom, his entire body tingling in turn.

Christ, he hadn’t realized how nice it would feel to hear Henry say it.

“Thanks, little wolf,” Robert said, his eyes blinking open, chest still tingling with a beautiful, comforting warmth. “Do you want me to say it to you more often? Because I think I kind of liked hearing it more than I thought I would.”

Henry’s sweet smile broadened. “Uhm, yeah, if you wouldn’t mind. Because I liked hearing you say it, too.” He leaned forward and touched their lips together. “Even though I kind of knew you loved me before, even without you saying so.”

Robert reached up to caress Henry’s cheek. “I love you, Henry Sherwood. I promise I’ll keep tellin’ you that. I’ll make sure to say it every day from now on.”

Henry took Robert’s hand and kissed every single one of his knuckles. “I love you, too, Robert Davis. And I promise to tell you that every day. Every day for the rest of our lives.”

Robert squeezed Henry’s hand in confirmation. “For the rest of our lives.”