Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 7

nearly as dreadful and they looked back at Ty with all the same secrets. "I'm glad too."
    No blindfolds now. No shackles. No rules, not Ty's or Chase's and no safewords or points of authority. Just the two of them and Ty wasn't sure which one had given more. But he was sure he could give and he could take, and he wanted to be given. And to be taken too. And his hands, the ones that had been cold and a little feeble a while ago, moved higher until it was him who was touching the other man. And eventually it was him who moved and not Chase.
    Just a breath, one and then another, and the distance was gone and the softness of those lips was only barely sweeter than the softness of that hair.
    ****
    Chase had told him to stay away from hot water, but of course Ty didn't believe him. And while he was getting comfortable with a huge towel after his shower, he silently regretted ignoring the advice, because hot was bad. Very, very , bad. His skin didn't like anything even resembling hot, though his skin was in a better condition than Ty had thought. No swelling and only faint bruising, and he realized Chase hadn't been nearly as hard as he had thought.
    The morning after wasn't really a morning after because it had been four in the afternoon when Ty had woken up. After he had remembered everything and then gone through it all and then convinced Chase he was okay and intact and his mind wasn't all that fucked up either, Ty's first conclusion of the previous night had been a little less rational. Chase had stared at him like he was someone with no brain function when Ty had asked if he still had sperm in his hair. But luckily the guy hadn't been offended when Ty had said he wanted it gone if any of it was still there. And that was why he had rushed to the shower. And because he wanted to test out whether or not his body was working like it had worked before, he had gone against the advice and was now cursing because hot was very, very , bad.
    Ty had discovered Chase's chivalrous tendencies somewhere in the middle of the night when they had moved from the couch to the bed and Ty had been the only one crawling under the blankets while Chase had stayed clothed and on top of the covers. No touching either and at the time Ty had been content with Chase there with him. Touching wasn't really needed in order for him to feel whole again and feeling whole felt a lot different now. No more of that empty humming inside him or the ache that had carved his bones for months. All gone. And Ty knew it wasn't just the scene that had swept it away, but the man as well.
    Ty got dressed, pondering whether or not he could keep the shirt on but decided to take it off after all because the skin on his back was still sore. His buttocks weren't any better but Ty wasn't about to walk around naked, so pants would have to do. Slacks, loose enough so that Ty's skin wouldn't be crying out of misery and he managed to get out of the bathroom and back into the bedroom kind of space before the length of his absence grew too long. Chase only glanced at Ty and grinned while gesturing towards the table he stood next to. "Let me rub your back some more."
    Ty almost told Chase he didn't need any rubbing and neither did he need any moisturizer but since his skin was probably red all over again and sore, he tossed the bag he had taken to the bathroom with him on the floor and walked up to Chase.
    "You need me to rub your bum too?" Chase asked and stepped behind Ty. Ty rolled his eyes until he realized it wasn't a pathetic attempt to form a pick-up line. Chase just wanted his skin to get better. "No…I got that one done myself." Sure the lotion he had wasn't nearly as good as was the cooling substance Chase spread over Ty's shoulders, but perhaps it got the job done.
    "So…I was thinking…" Chase said, his hand moving from Ty's right shoulder to his left one. "If you don't have anything planned, you could stay till tomorrow. Just precautions, you know. More recovery time."
    Ty stared at the table, at the papers spread on it and pens and pictures drawn with those pens. He didn't really need any more recovery time. Sure he was tired but other than that he was okay. Thinking straight too and mind as clear as crystal. And he was sure Chase knew that. If he didn't, he wouldn't have offered the chance to stay. He would've told Ty he wasn't letting Ty leave until he was okay.
    Yeah…the same exact secrets.
    "Um…sure..I could stay." Ty felt the small, silly smile creep