Sweaters & Cigarettes (26 page)

He doesn't have to keep it
together, though, not for long. He doesn't have to, because suddenly, he's
tumbling over the edge, skin burning and body tensing up, and Max's mouth is on
his, hungry and yearning and wonderful, and Theo just lets it happen, a
strangled moan escaping him, as he feels that blissful, white-hot release. And
Max thrusts a few more times, eagerly, before going rigid, groaning against
Theo's lips, and Theo tightens his grip on him, as if by reflex. Max's groan
turns into one that sounds almost pained, then, but it's over in a matter of
seconds, and they both slowly, gradually, come back down from their climax.

Theo is panting, head spinning and
ears ringing, and he feels somehow disoriented from the onslaught of sensation;
he swears his hands felt like they went numb, at some point.

Max moves his hand back up, and
places it against the mattress, next to Theo, before burrowing his face back
into the crook of Theo's shoulder, breathing heavily. And Theo just stares at
the ceiling for several seconds, swallowing dryly. He feels like he might pass
out, and he's slowly becoming more aware of the uncomfortable stickiness on his
stomach. He doesn't even feel grossed out, though; he's too blissed out to,
anyway.

It's a while before either of them
speaks, and it's Max who does.

"Shit," he pants against
Theo's neck and into the fluffy softness of the pillow. He sounds completely
exhausted and somehow confused. "You're stronger than you look."

Theo frowns.

"What?" he says,
breathlessly, and Max lifts his head to look at him. He raises his eyebrows
tiredly.

"What," he says,
practically panting. "You didn't notice grabbing me like you were trying
to snap my arm in half? Or apparently trying to break my spine?"

Theo just looks at him, surprised.
He knows Max is exaggerating, but still. It suddenly hits him that Max actually
was
flinching and groaning slightly in pain, before.

"Not really," Theo
finally musters, hesitantly, with a tiny hint of guilt, and Max rolls his eyes.
Then he smiles, though, and actually huffs a laugh.

"Yeah, well," he says,
moving one hand up to pull his fingers through Theo's sweat-damp hair. "I
think this was worth a few bruises."

He plants a quick kiss on Theo's
mouth.

"Actually," he adds
breathlessly, cocking his head. "I'm completely sure it was."

Theo smiles softly, and lets out a
heavy, deep sigh, trying to slow down his frantic heartbeat.

"Well," he says.
"I'm sorry. Didn't mean to."

Max groans and kisses him again.

"Don't be sorry," he says
against his lips. "Ever."

Theo kisses him back, smoothes his
hands up along that tattooed back, with deliberate softness, this time. He
supposes he is rather strong; he just never really uses it outside a gym, and
he's sorry to apparently have used it on Max.

He couldn't help it, though. The
pleasure was simply incomprehensible, and he didn't know what else to do, than
to just cling to Max and never let him go.

They lie like that for a another
minute or so, before eventually going to get cleaned up, and then crawling back
into bed, still somewhat exhausted. Theo lies down on his back, spread out
across the sheets, and Max lies down next to him. They both just stare up at
the ceiling for several seconds, neither of them speaking. The only source of
light is the small lamp they just lit, on a bedside table, since it's still
pitch black, outside. It's just past three a.m.; Theo checked.

"Well, that was awesome,"
Max eventually says, sounding slightly breathless, and Theo lets out a heavy,
very content sigh.

"Yeah," he says, and Max
looks down and takes Theo's hand in his own.

"You know," he says, lacing
their fingers together and then unlacing them, smoothing his fingertips along
Theo's knuckles and joints, mapping out his skin. "This probably makes me
sound like a total douchebag... But
man
, I've wanted to do that since
the first time I kissed you."

Theo hums in acknowledgement.

"Yeah, I remember," he
says, a lazy, satisfied edge to his voice, as Max lightly entwines their
fingers again. "You wanted to
fuck me senseless
."

Max actually snorts in surprise.

"Whoa," he says,
chuckling, and Theo turns his head to look at him. Those blue eyes are slightly
widened, and there's a blatantly amused and impressed look on his face. He
smiles. "The f-bomb, Davis? Really?"

Theo smiles back, feeling oddly
satisfied at Max's reaction.

"Yeah, well," he says,
"after all the time I've spent with you, can you blame me?"

Max makes a non-judgmental face.

"Fuck, no," he says,
before cocking his eyebrows. "Out of curiosity, though. Did I
succeed?"

Theo gives him a small,
half-teasing smile.

"I'd say that you definitely
did," he says, and Max looks at him smugly.

"Awesome," he says, eyes
on Theo. Then he shakes his head with a sigh and looks up at the ceiling.
"Jesus, I feel like I'm just stripping away your innocence."

Theo narrows his eyes at him, even
though Max can't see it, and he keeps Max's hand in his own as he moves up so
that he's sitting on top of his boyfriend, instead. He leans down and takes
both of Max's hands, gently pressing them into the mattress, on either side of
Max's head, lacing their fingers together. Max doesn't even look surprised; he
just smirks mischievously.

"Yes, you are," Theo
says, leaning in so that their faces are only inches apart. "But only
because I let you."

He gives Max a quick kiss, one
which Max chases after, in a futile attempt to reclaim Theo's mouth.

"And I only let you,"
Theo continues, "because I
want
you to."

Max raises his eyebrows, smiling
slyly.

"Is that so?" he says,
and Theo hums in confirmation.

"Yup," he says. "I'm
simply using you for my own, nefarious purposes."

Max narrows his eyes, then.

"Well, damn," he says.
"And here I thought
I
was the one corrupting
you
."

"Sorry to disappoint,"
Theo says, leaning down again to kiss him, and Max tightens his grip on Theo's
hands slightly.

"Well, I'm not entirely
disappointed," he murmurs as they pull apart a fraction of an inch, and
Theo hums against his mouth.

"Yeah?" he says, voice
low. "How's that?"

"I got you to say a bad
word," Max nearly whispers, a conspiring edge to his voice, one made all the
more amusing by the sly smile he wears, as he says it. And Theo smiles, as
well.

"Which one?" he asks, his
mouth just barely brushing against the metal ring in Max's bottom lip.
"Fuck?"

Max makes a satisfied sound in the
back of his throat.

"Yes," he purrs, giving
Theo a light kiss. "That's the one."

Theo chuckles.

"Fuck," he repeats in a
low voice, and Max shudders theatrically, letting out a low groan.

"You don't know what you do to
me, babe," he says, and Theo grins.

"Well, that's hardly the worst
thing you've made me do," he says. "At least, not after what we just
did."

"Nah, that was awesome,"
Max says lightly, and Theo just looks at him for a moment, completely dazed,
wondering how you can be this full of love and affection for another person,
and still somehow remain intact. He smiles.

"It was," he says,
leaning down and kissing Max, slowly, deeply, but when Max suddenly chuckles,
he pulls away the slightest bit.

"What?" he asks, and Max
sighs.

"We're gonna be in so much
trouble," he says, and Theo smiles, deciding to completely disregard that
truth, just for a little while. He kisses Max, instead, breathing him in and
savoring this moment, this night, wishing he could just hold onto it, forever.

Because whatever happens after this, it will have been
worth it.

Chapter 18

New

It's the feeling of being poked repeatedly in the arm
that wakes Theo up the next morning.

He groans and shies away from the
annoying touch, only to have the poking move up along his arm and gently start assaulting
his face. He groans again, louder this time, and burrows his face into the
pillow, but he poking is relentless, and he finally opens his eyes.

"Oh, good," Max says.
"You're awake."

He's lying on his side, next to
Theo, head resting on his arm, slightly propped up against the pillows. He's
not wearing any eyeliner, and Theo absently remembers him cleaning it off last
night, before they went back to sleep. His blue eyes are still intense, though,
gorgeous and stunning, in the early morning light.

He stops poking Theo's face with
his finger and pulls back his hand, and Theo narrows his eyes at him. But Max
just raises his eyebrows innocently.

"Don't give me that," he
says lightly. "I had to do something, you were just lying there."

"I was," Theo confirms,
voice cracked, and muffled against the pillow. "Because I was
sleeping."

"And now, you're not,"
Max says gleefully, earning another groan from Theo, in response.

Max seems to decide on a different
tactic, then, and he shuffles closer to plant a light kiss on Theo's cheek. He
doesn't say anything, and when he goes for Theo's mouth, Theo automatically
kisses him back, very lazily, encouraging Max to move even closer and put his
hand by Theo's waist. His hand is slightly cooler than Theo's skin, under the
cover, but not by much, and Theo exhales slowly, feeling himself relax. He
picks up on just the slightest scent of cigarette smoke, telling him that Max
has been awake for at least a few minutes, already, and he finds the smell
oddly comforting, mixed up with Max's own.

Theo surrenders then, and he pulls
Max to him, half-rolling onto his back, so he can wrap both his arms around his
boyfriend and press his bare skin against his own.

"That's more like it,"
Max murmurs, planting a kiss against Theo's throat. He settles against Theo's
body and puts his arm around him, hitching one leg up to half-wedge it between
Theo's, and for what feels like a rather long time, neither of them moves. At
least, as far as Theo is concerned; he falls asleep again after only a few
seconds, savoring the feel of having Max so close, wrapped up in his arms.

It's the sound of Max's voice that
wakes him up again.

"I'm gonna take a
shower," Max murmurs, and Theo groans as he pulls away and squirms out of
his arms. He doesn't open his eyes, as he reaches lazily for Max's warm body,
and he feels the shift in the mattress, as Max sits up in the bed.

Then, Theo is stunned awake again,
when a soft pillow hits him in the head.

"That means you too,
sleepyhead," Max says, and Theo groans indignantly, opening his eyes. Max
pulls away the pillow he just used to attack his boyfriend, raising his
eyebrows pointedly, and Theo blinks at him sleepily.

"But I'm tired," he says,
voice cracked with sleep, and Max shrugs.

"Suit yourself," he says,
dropping the pillow and getting up from the bed. Theo watches as Max makes his
way over to the small bathroom, can't take his eyes off of him. He's naked, in
all his toned, gorgeous and tattooed glory, and he reaches the bathroom door
and steps inside.

"I guess I'll just entertain
myself," he says casually over his shoulder, before closing the bathroom
door behind him. It's only a second or so, before Theo hears the shower come
on, and he watches the door, absently holding the pillow Max left behind. He
narrows his eyes.

That son of a bitch.

He's still tired, and he yawns as
he gets out of bed, but he's not tired enough to go back to sleep. Not when the
alternative is taking a nice, hot shower with his boyfriend.

Theo winces slightly as he walks,
surprised, but then remembers exactly what they did last night. Or, this
morning, he's not sure which it is. Either way, it seems to have left him just
a little bit sore, but less so than he somehow expected. It's not that bad,
though; by the time he reaches the bathroom door, he barely notices it.

He's just as naked as Max, and
therefore has nothing to take off, before stepping into the shower, but he
pauses when he catches his reflection in the bathroom mirror. There's a hickey
on his neck, and another on his chest, somewhere below his collarbone, and Theo
touches them absently.
Hickeys
. He has never actually had that, before.
It's not exactly aesthetically appealing, but the fact that they were made by
Max somehow makes them so. It's like a mark, like Max branding him as his own,
and he likes that, for some reason.

Max doesn't seem the least bit
surprised when Theo steps into the shower. Instead, he barely gives him a
second to adjust, before grabbing his wrist and pulling him in, so that they
both end up underneath the showerhead. Max leans in and kisses him, slowly, and
he chuckles as he pulls away.

"What's so funny?" Theo
asks sleepily, smiling against his lips, and Max gives him another, quick kiss.

"So predictable," he
says, and Theo makes an indignant sound.

"What?" he says.
"How do you know I wasn't planning on taking a shower, anyway?"

"Because that doesn't sit well
with my ego," Max replies, sliding his hands down Theo's sides. His skin
is already slick and wet. "It prefers to think that it's all about me."

Theo groans, smoothing one hand
down to the small of Max's back, while the other moves up to cradle his face.

"I hate it when your ego is
right," he grumbles, and Max's mouth shapes into a smirk, which disappears
as Theo covers those lips with his own.

They haven't showered together
before, and Theo finds that it's somehow more intimate than he expected. The
hot water, the bare touches, hands moving effortlessly over slick, warm bodies.
It's enough to make him close his eyes and pull Max closer, pressing the two of
them together, with nothing but wet, hot skin between them, and he lets out a
soft moan as he notices the effect it's having. Max is hard, and Theo finds his
own body quickly responding in the exact same way.

The soft kisses slowly start escalating,
then. Before Theo knows it, Max is pulling him along, as he moves to lean with
his back against the wall of the shower. And Theo doesn't object, doesn't say a
word, as Max places his hands on his hips and pulls him in, pressing the two of
them together, hands suddenly more eager than before. Instead, Theo moans,
louder this time, and when he feels Max's wet hardness pressing against his
own, he exhales sharply, and moves up his hands to place them against the wall,
on either side of Max's head.

He will never get enough of Max. He
is his drug, his oxygen, and Theo has simply come to accept that.

Theo is vaguely aware of how brave
Max makes him. He has thought about it before, but not like this. Max makes him
bold, makes him dare to make a move, to take what he wants, to stand up and
talk back, and most of all, he makes Theo dare to touch him like this,
everywhere, as much as he likes. He makes Theo dare to put his hands against
Max's tattooed back and move them downward, feeling the outline of those muscles
underneath his fingers, moving down to that perfect ass, where he simply grabs,
and presses their bodies together.

Theo can barely even believe that
once upon a time, he was afraid to even touch Max, at all. That first time,
that first kiss, when Max pulled his fingers through Theo's hair and slipped
his hand into his back pocket, while Theo wanted nothing more than to slide his
hands underneath that black, long-sleeved t-shirt and touch Max's skin.

But he didn't. He was too afraid to.
And now, here he is, rutting against him, with nothing but soft skin and hot
water between them, mouths fused together, that metal ring hard against his
lips, and that pierced tongue plundering his mouth and making him see stars.

It's amazing, so perfect, and
somehow, it makes Theo feel unstoppable.

It's that feeling that makes him
move his hand down over Max's thigh, smoothing over his wet skin, before
trailing up along the inside of his leg. Max notices, and moans into Theo's
mouth.

"What are you doing?" he
asks, but he doesn't sound the least bit objecting or surprised.

"Last night was amazing,"
Theo replies absently, kissing Max again. "
You
were amazing."

He hears Max groan against his
lips, as he moves his hand up to touch him, caressing and stroking, so very
slowly. Max is so hard, and feeling it against his fingers feels so good.

"Just returning the
favor," Theo continues, and Max chuckles breathlessly.

"I think we've covered
that," he says hoarsely, smiling slyly. "I mean, I've literally been
inside
you."

Theo ignores him, and moves down to
kiss his neck, using his tongue to smooth over the marks that have appeared
there since last night, courtesy of Theo's mouth. Max groans.

"Seriously," he murmurs,
moving one hand up to the back of Theo's neck. "What's gotten into
you?"

"You," Theo replies, and
Max chuckles darkly.

"Oh, that is clever," he
says, sounding amusedly impressed, and Theo smiles against his skin, as he
hears a smile in Max's voice. "Clever boy."

Theo hums in agreement, before
suddenly getting an idea. It's not like it hasn't occurred to him before, but
this time, it's different. This time, he really wants to. He
really
wants
to, and for once, he's actually going to do it.

Theo has a feeling that Max somehow
knows exactly what he's planning, as soon as he kisses him again. Theo makes
the kiss deep and slow, stifling Max's moan, as he pushes his tongue into his
mouth, more possessively than usual. When he pulls away, he moves his hands up
along Max's waist, purposefully, before slowly sliding them down again,
settling on Max's hips.

Max doesn't say anything. Instead,
he just locks his eyes on Theo, and watches him move downward and plant a slow,
searing kiss against his collarbone, making Max hiss a breath through his
teeth. And Theo savors that sound, keeps it, moving further down to trail his
tongue across Max's wet skin, over his chest, his nipples, and down toward his
hard stomach.

Max keeps watching Theo as he moves
downward, blue eyes suddenly dazed.

"You're killing me," he
says languidly, his hand absently moving along Theo's upper arm, as Theo keeps
planting slow, open-mouthed kisses against his stomach. His breathing gets just
a bit heavier, and he swallows hard as Theo gets down on his knees.

Max's eyes are burning now,
expectant and somehow stunned, and when Theo looks up at him, the two of them
don't look away from each other for several moments, somehow caught up in the
intense intimacy of the whole situation. Because it somehow feels more intimate
than either of them probably expected, and it takes Theo slightly by surprise.

Theo slowly looks down again, as
his hand wraps its fingers around Max. And Max lets out a heavy breath, just as
Theo parts his lips and takes him into his mouth.

He does it slowly, but the reaction
from Max is immediate, and he emits a deep, heavy moan.

"Oh, you are definitely
killing me," he says, his voice already completely wrecked, and Theo feels
Max's hand find its way to the back of his head. He doesn't push, barely does
anything; he just keeps his hand there, absently stroking Theo's shower-wet
hair, slowly, almost affectionately, as Theo works him over with his mouth.

It's not that difficult, Theo
finds. He has never done this before, and he somehow thought it would be more
technical, less spontaneous. But it's not. He barely even has to think about
it, simply moves his tongue and lips along Max's length, his hand working over
what his mouth can't take, and he closes his eyes at the sounds Max makes, as
he does.

He has never heard Max make sounds
like that, before. Other occasions have come pretty close, but Theo realizes
that this is the first time Max is simply
receiving
, in lack of a better
word, the first time with Theo where he hasn't had to focus on anything other
than simply the way it
feels
. And, apparently, it makes him moan and
pant and utter sounds so obscene and pleased, that it makes Theo so hard, just
hearing them.

It's after a little while longer
that Max's hand starts pulling through Theo's wet hair, rather than stroking
it, gently holding onto it, but not pushing or pressing, which Theo somehow
appreciates. He likes this, though, and absently feels like moving his hand
down to touch himself. Hearing and feeling Max's reactions to what he's doing
is so much hotter than he thought it would be, and he's not quite sure how do
deal with that.

Then Max's breathing speeds up a
bit, though, and Theo hears him groan.

"I'm gonna―" he
breathes, panting, trying to articulate. "Theo. Oh god―"

Theo almost pauses at that. He
loves the reaction he's getting from Max, loves hearing him say that, and he
loves the thought of making him come. But at the same time, he's not entirely
sure he's ready for that. Going down on him is one thing, but taking it?
Somehow, that feels like a bit much for his first time, and for a few moments,
he wonders if maybe he should stop. He wants to, but at the same time, he
really wants to keep going, and he's not sure if―