Chess

by Sean Michael

  Luke’s body stilled, the tight muscles gripping his erection.

  “Easy, darling.” He grabbed one of Luke’s nipple rings, twisting it to give his lover something else to focus on.

  Luke arched, his entire soul moving for him. Temple sank in a little deeper, moaning at the tight heat around him.

  “You’re in me.” Luke’s eyes were huge.

  “I’m in you, darling. As close as I can be.”

  Luke licked his lips, eyes full of heat.

  Temple dropped another kiss on Luke’s lips and hoped hard that Luke was ready for him to move, because he was pretty sure he had to. Groaning, he pulled partway out before pushing in a little deeper. He kept doing that, continued moving.

  His entire body felt like it was on fire, and he moaned, loving it when Luke began to meet his thrusts. He moved in deeper with each push until he was all the way in, his hips pressing hard against Luke’s ass. He held Luke’s hips, supporting his lover. Their gazes were locked, their bodies moving in sync.

  “Please. Touch me. I need it,” Luke begged.

  Wrapping one hand around Luke’s cock, Temple used the other to pull on those nipple rings. Luke tugged the ropes, hands twisting in the bonds. It made Temple’s balls ache to watch.

  Luke moaned for him. “Need you…”

  “Got me, darling. All of me.” Temple moved faster, hips and hands working together.

  Release, darling. Let go and trust in me. He willed his Luke to soar, to fly for him. Pushing the metal in Luke’s cock back and forth, Temple also tugged harder on Luke’s nipple rings. Luke’s body flushed a sweet, deep pink, the color climbing up the flat belly.

  That was it and Temple nodded, encouraged Luke to feel. “Yeah. Yeah, come for me. Wanna feel you around my cock.”

  His words had obviously done it, pushed Luke over the edge.

  “Temple!”

  He watched Luke’s face, eyes glued there as his lover came. He’d done it, made Luke come from penetration, made love to this amazing man and it had been good.

  He let Luke’s body pull his own orgasm out of him, the rhythmic squeezing just right. Luke never looked away from him, never hid.

  Temple panted, still buried deep. “I love you, darling. You’re the best of me.”

  “Please. Please, untie me so I can hold you.”

  Nodding, Temple pulled out of Luke’s body and got rid of the condom. Then he released Luke’s bonds. Luke reached for him, and he went immediately, Luke’s arms and legs wrapping around him. He brought their mouths together, breathing his lover in as they kissed.

  Luke held him tight, then smiled against his lips. “I can feel you inside me, still.”

  “Yeah? It feels good, right?” Because if it hadn’t been good for Luke, he’d done it wrong.

  “Yeah. Yeah, like… Like I’ve been pierced, sort of.”

  “And you say I’m the poetic one.”

  Luke pinked for him, squeezed tighter.

  “You make me happy, darling.” Like, deep down in his soul happy.

  “Good. Maybe you’ll decide to stay.”

  “I was hoping you’d feel that way because I’m not feeling the urge to move on.” The universe had brought him here and here was where he wanted to stay. With his darling Luke.

  “You know that this could be your home, too.”

  “I could help with the bills.” He had more than just his bike to offer.

  “You could be in charge of groceries,” Luke suggested.

  “You’d eat my way? I’d love that.” He could get that juicer, make Luke all sorts of combinations.

  “I could probably live without freezer meals for a day or two.” Luke suggested, clearly teasing him.

  Laughing, he kissed Luke, sharing the sound between their mouths. “You can think of me as your private chef.”

  “Ooh la la.”

  That got him laughing again. God, Luke made him so happy, it bore repeating.

  “I have a live-in chef. A live. In. Chef.” Luke beamed.

  “And a live-in Dom who ties you up and makes you fly.”

  Luke’s cheeks went almost purple. “A Dom? Is that where we’re heading? I… I never thought that I would be thinking about that.”

  “Dom in the bedroom. I mean, you liked the tying up, didn’t you? The ropes turned you on.”

  “Yes. The whole thing made it… Like a ritual, maybe?”

  “I like that.” Temple liked it a lot. “Sex can be a ritual, a meditation. It can fill us with peace and joy and pleasure.”

  “See? My Zen lover.”

  Temple wouldn’t deny that. “That’s me. Your Zen Dom chef lover. The last word there is the most important one. I love you.”

  “Good. It would suck otherwise.”

  “It would. But it doesn’t. It’s the opposite of sucking. Well, except when we suck, I guess. Because that’s good.”

  Luke started to laugh, the sound ringing out, so happy. The sounds of their happiness joined together and Temple knew he was the luckiest man on earth.

  Chapter Eight

  Luke bounced up the steps of the condo, waving at Donny and the guys through the window. Man, they were eating something off each other’s fingers. Could be chocolate, could be gravy. Hopefully chocolate.

  He opened the front door, stomach snarling. “Hey, lover. I’m home.” Tell me there’s food.

  “Darling.” Temple came out of the kitchen with a glass of juice in his hands. “I think you’re going to like this one.”

  “Yeah? I’m starving.” He was in the best shape of his life, his belly was ripped, and he was running the best times. He had to munch a lot to keep his stomach from snarling all the time, but there were always nuts at work, always. Temple made sure he had them.

  There was always food in the house, too, though it was mostly raw vegetables and fruit, tons of juices, but supplemented now and then with lentils and beans. No more frozen dinners, though, and not nearly as much eating out. Temple usually packed him a lunch or, even better, brought it in and shared it with him in the back office.

  “I put protein powder in it for you. I know you went running this morning.”

  “Uh-huh.” He drank deep, getting half through before he tasted anything at all. It was good, though. More melon and citrus than anything else, though he could tell from the color there was kale or something in it. Maybe spinach. Oh God, he was beginning to be able to tell. He thought that was maybe more a good thing than a bad one.

  Chuckling, Temple let him finish the whole glass before coming in for a kiss. He wrapped one arm around Temple’s waist, opening up and letting Temple in. He could feel Temple’s cock rise to press against him and one hand slid along his back, down to cup his ass.

  After his piercing party with his favorite clients, he was feeling more than willing. He was ready. Bishop was a stud, and Jason and Rook were delicious together, but Knight… Knight’s submission made him ache, made him want things. Things he knew Temple could give him.

  “Mmm. You’re all ready to go tonight,” Temple noted.

  “Good party. Good guys. Hot.”

  “Oh yeah?” Temple sounded far more curious than jealous.

  “Mmm-hmm. One of the guys had four piercings, just because his Dom wanted it. It was hot as hell.”

  “That does sound hot. You’d do that for me, though.”

  Luke’s cock throbbed, and he couldn’t disagree. It was totally true and Temple knew it. Luke had done a ladder on his sac while Temple had watched. Right now, he had a plug in his ass, because Temple had asked. He’d not only gone to work like that, he’d gone to a piercing party like that. Luke imagined he would do pretty much anything, simply because Temple asked.

  “I found new rope. It’s covered in this super soft material.” Temple found all sorts of new things for them to explore in the bedroom.

  “Yeah?” Luke’s cock was hard as nails, his ass working the dildo in him.

  “Yeah. And seeing how you’re already worked up, I th
ink it’s a great time to try it out.” Temple had his hands and began backing up, leading him to the stairs to get to the bedroom.

  “Love you. Want you. Bad.” Luke saw no point in pretending.

  “Perfect. That’s how I want you.” Temple smiled and turned when they got to the stairs. “I have a whole evening of fun planned for you.”

  “Yeah? I can’t wait. I’m revved and ready to play.” He always seemed to be ready to play with Temple. The man just did it for him.

  Tall, lanky, bald and beautiful.

  God, he was glad to be home.

  Epilogue

  Christ on a crutch, Luke had had the longest day in history. A whole clutch of screaming, squealing, crying sorority girls reserving five whole hours for navel piercings. He’d had his hair pulled, his face punched, two girls had thrown up, and if he never saw another belly button as long as he lived, it would be okay.

  Right now, he wanted a bath, a beer and a blow job, not necessarily in that order.

  He could hear Temple whistling when he got in, something that sounded like it was an old sea ditty, with that Celtic rolling rhythm to it. Something smelled good, too. Lentils maybe. It was dark enough that the fall of light from the kitchen looked warm and inviting, welcoming him into his sanctuary where he lived with the love of his life.

  “Hey there. I’m home.” Luke put his bag away and took off his shoes.

  “Luke?” Temple came out of the kitchen right away, his tall, bald form backlit and thrown into silhouette. He could hear the smile in Temple’s voice, though, even if he couldn’t see it. “Welcome home, babe.”

  “Yes. Thank goodness. Longest Saturday ever, you know?”

  Coming to him, Temple wrapped him in those long arms and hugged him close. “Yeah? Let me give you a proper hello then you can come into the kitchen and tell me all about it.”

  Tilting his face up, Temple gave Luke his version of a proper hello—a long, slow kiss. Luke felt all the stress of the day begin to melt away, to ease. When their mouths parted, Temple rubbed their noses together then took a moment to simply lock gazes with him. It was quiet and warm and he felt Temple’s love wrap around him like a favorite blanket. Then Temple took his hand and linked their fingers, leading him into the kitchen. The smell was even better up close and the little table was already set—with the good dishes and wine glasses and there were even candles lit.

  “Oh wow.” He stopped to admire, to appreciate a little. That was something Temple had given him—he reminded Luke how to see and be grateful.

  Colors swirled through a short glass bowl full of water with petals floating on it in the middle of the table, and there was a small gift wrapped in tissue paper next to it.

  “Dinner will be ready in a moment. I’ve done creamy balsamic lentils and a garden salad with a white balsamic vinaigrette. There were some beautiful dragon fruit at the store today. I picked some up for dessert.”

  “Did I miss something, lover? Is it a special occasion?” Fuck, had he messed up? That would be the perfect capper to the day if he had.

  “It is. It’s the occasion of I love you.” Temple stirred the lentils.

  “Oh. Well okay then.” Just so long as he wasn’t in trouble. “I love you too.”

  Temple blew him a kiss then pulled the lentils off the stove. In moments the food was on the table, Temple sitting close. “You were going to tell me about your long day.”

  Yeah he was, though it seemed farther away now, like Temple had banished it from the condo or something. “Sorority sisters. Twenty-eight of them in the shop.”

  “Twenty-eight? Wow. They all get their belly buttons pierced?” Temple dished food onto his plate for him.

  “About three-quarters did. There was screaming and puking.” He was going to have to start charging extra for that.

  “Oh wow, that sounds awful.” Temple dished himself up a plate next. “Why would you get it done if it was going to make you scream and puke?”

  “Because everyone else was, I guess. It was a bonding thing.” Oh, that smelled so good. Temple’s food had become an addiction.

  Temple pursed his lips, then nodded. “I guess I can see that. Puking together is definitely a bonding experience. Of course so is having cancer in the first place and I wouldn’t recommend that.” Temple touched his hand. “I’m sorry it was a bad day. You’re home now, though and I promise there won’t be any puking. Screaming on the other hand…well, if I do it right, there might be some of that.”

  Luck chuckled, grabbed Temple’s fingers and squeezed. “No talk of puking or cancer, huh?”

  “No, sorry. Not romantic and I was going for romantic this evening.” Temple brought Luke’s hand up and kissed his fingers. “I want you to feel special.”

  “Oh, you’re pretty damn good at that.” Luke always knew he had Temple’s love and care.

  “Yeah?” Temple beamed at him. “Good. Eat your dinner.”

  The food was delicious, the lentils soft and creamy and the acid of the vinegar made everything tart and bright in his mouth. The salad was the perfect accompaniment. They talked about what they could do with their Sunday while they ate, Temple making all sorts of outlandish over-the-top suggestions that had him laughing so hard at one point that he almost choked on his dinner. They tended to run errands on Monday, when everyone else was at their nine-to-five, but Sundays were theirs, free and easy. Planning for it was half the fun.

  “Well, whatever we do, it won’t be on the bike,” Temple said, voice casual. Almost too casual.

  “Oh, God. Did someone steal your bike, honey? Do I need to call the police?”

  Temple loved that bike, adored it.

  “Oh, man, do you know how much I love you for that concern?” Temple smiled and shook his head. “No, nobody stole it. You know, I bought that bike to see the world, to help me get in the right headspace to help me heal myself. I needed it to survive. Well, I don’t need it anymore—I have you. I’m not going to be jumping on it and heading off to the next destination, because I’m already here. So I sold the bike.”

  Luke stared for a second, then his eyes prickled with unexpected tears. He knew that Temple was here, loved him, but it was good to know that Temple knew that too. He knew how big this gesture was, what it meant to Temple to sell his motorcycle.

  Temple reached for his hands, squeezing them. “Luke? Babe? This is a good thing.”

  “I love you. God, I love you so damn much.” He left his plate behind and moved to straddle Temple’s lap. Some things were more important than food. Lots of things, actually, but Temple topped the list. “Hey.”

  “Hey.” Temple laughed softly, looking so pleased by his reaction. They shared a kiss, and it almost felt like they’d made each other a vow and were sealing it. It wasn’t hard and quick, it was long and lazy, the connection going on and on. Every time their lips parted one of them would press them back together again, extending the kisses.

  “You haven’t seen the best part yet,” Temple told him after a long while of kissing, as both of them began to ramp up from the contact, getting hot and bothered.

  Temple leaned past him and picked up the gift box from the table, handed it to him. It was light and looked like a jewelry box.

  “What is it?”

  “Open it and see.” Temple chuckled. “I bought it with the money I got from the bike sale.”

  Luke unwrapped the gift, pulling apart the tissue, then opened the little ring box, bringing his hand to his lips. “Oh, love.”

  “I had it custom made.”

  The ring was silver twisted together to form the trunk and branches of a tree. Like his tattoo. It was abstract and concrete at the same time. Utterly gorgeous and unique.

  “It’s beautiful.” The most beautiful thing anyone had ever given him, honestly.

  Temple took the ring out of the box. Then he took Luke’s hand and slipped the ring on his second to last finger on his left hand. It was a perfect fit.

  “I’ve never seen anything so per
fect.” Luke leaned in, kissed Temple softly. “Thank you for coming home to me. I need you.”

  “Thank you for being my home.” Temple gazed at him, looked at him like he’d hung the moon, like he was the center of the universe.

  He knew how Temple felt, and they rested their foreheads together, lost in each other.

  Tomorrow didn’t matter, neither did work today. All that mattered was right now. That gift from Temple—gift of knowing that—rivaled any other.

  Want to see more from this author? Here’s a taster for you to enjoy!

  Love in G Minor

  Sean Michael

  Excerpt

  Jack let himself in and threw his briefcase at the table in his office, grinning without humor as it thumped loudly. What a fucking shitty day.

  He’d managed to lose a sizeable chunk of someone else’s money and, damn it, that made him cranky. It didn’t matter if the client had insisted on buying the damned stock—if he’d done his job right, he could have made lemonade somehow, at least controlled the damage, but no. Several million down the tubes.

  He headed on down the hall and tossed his jacket at the bed, yanking on his tie. “Stevie? Where are you?” he bellowed.

  “Trying to read in the library, but someone was being a noisy bastard.” Stephen leaned against the bedroom doorframe, long, platinum hair artfully disheveled, glasses perched on that pointed nose.

  “You did hear me come in, then—took you long enough to show up.” He glowered for a moment before crowing in triumph when the damned tie finally gave way.

  “A dead man in Toledo could have heard you.” He got a half-smile, Stephen’s slender fingers helping him with the tie.

  He hummed, moving to settle his hands on Stephen’s waist. It was hard to stay in a bad mood when the scent of your lover filled your nose. He made a show of it, raising his head a little, sniffing the air.

  Stephen stepped a little closer, rubbing them together. “Sensual bastard.”

  “You love it,” he shot back, stroking Stephen’s hips through soft woolen pants with his thumbs.

  “You keep telling yourself that.” Those blue eyes were sharp, shining, wanting him. Loving him.