With a smile, Travis leaned in for more. If he hadn’t been responsible for Micah lying on the kitchen floor for the past two hours, he’d never stop. But Micah needed care.
He placed a gentle peck on Micah’s parted lips and lost himself for a moment in those wide, turquoise eyes.
“Are you sleepy?” he murmured.
“No. Not this time.”
He traced the curve of Micah’s upper lip with his fingertip. The skin around Micah’s mouth was reddened from Travis’s beard.
“The floor must be uncomfortable.”
“Travis, you’re inside me. I’m perfectly comfortable.”
Chuckling, Travis kissed his forehead. “I can do better than this. Hang on.”
It was trivial, but Travis felt a little proud of himself when he managed to gather Micah from the kitchen floor, lift him up, and carry him to the downstairs guest bathroom, knotted.
Micah gave little moans of appreciation when the rhythm of Travis’s steps stirred their joining. So Travis pushed him against the wall in the shower stall and made him come one last time, rocking him on his swollen dick and kissing him deeply. Then he sat down on the tiles in the shower and washed Micah in his lap while they were still tied together. He lathered Micah’s lithe body, washed his hair, and massaged his shoulders and arms. Sated and knotted, Micah looked radiant. He stared at Travis with such trust and adoration Travis’s chest ached. When Travis pulled out of him, it felt wrong to be physically separated at all.
“You’re spoiling me,” Micah said, wrapped in Travis’s bathrobe while Travis dried his hair.
Instead of replying, Travis kissed him. He was still giddy from the mere fact that he could and that Micah responded eagerly every single time.
“What’s the time?”
“I have no idea,” Travis said. “But you need food.”
“I’m not sure I can eat anything.”
“Why?”
“I feel weird. Not bad weird. Just stretched thin.”
“Then a protein shake.”
“Okay.”
The most intense phase of the heat was approaching. Travis had noticed the signs in Micah. He moved more slowly, languidly, his voice was deeper, and he squinted as if he were still sleepy, shying away from bright light. His pupils were dilated, his scent now potent, even between heat waves, and the lack of appetite was a big clue as well. Travis was both apprehensive and excited about the next couple of days. As passionate and sensitive as Micah was, witnessing him at the peak of his heat would be glorious.
Micah never left Travis’s side, subtly touching him while Travis made the shake. Travis didn’t think Micah was even aware of it. He gravitated toward Travis, his body clinging to its mate. It made Travis dangerously happy.
They sat in the living room, and Micah cuddled under Travis’s arm while he drank his shake. Travis inhaled the perfume coming from Micah’s skin and idly played with the soft hair on Micah’s forearm.
“You like staying here alone for weeks?” Micah asked.
“Sometimes. My brothers often visit, my parents too. Almost every week, I go down to Birdsview and have a beer or two with Blake. He’s the sheriff down there and a good friend of mine. I don’t feel alone when I’m here.”
“How do you feel, then?”
“Calm. Content. I like the quiet of the forest.”
“I like it too.”
“That’s why you chose this place?” Travis wouldn’t pressure Micah about the circumstances that had led him to the banks of Shatter River, but he wanted to get to know him. Learn about his likes and dislikes, his thoughts and values.
Micah swallowed a gulp of his shake and shrugged. “It’s what I do. I run long distance and hike. You could say I like the quiet and being alone. But mostly, I like the freedom. I think I wouldn’t mind having company as long as I could be free to go wherever I wanted. Run how fast I wanted.”
Freedom. Did that mean Micah wasn’t free unless he was outside running?
“Can we go outside?” Micah asked. “I feel like I haven’t seen the sky in days.”
“Sure. C’mon.”
Travis took Micah’s hand and led him through the double door from the living room onto the patio. It was late afternoon, and the pines cast long shadows on the grassy field behind the chalet.
Large, fluffy clouds moved lazily across the sky, their bottoms dark blue, foreshadowing a rainy night. Streams of sunlight made it through, creating flecks of bright green on the forest in the valley between the steep walls of the mountains. Glued to Travis’s side, Micah looked around, squinting.
“Feels like we’re the last people on earth,” he said.
“I love this