Falling Bundle Read online

  “You’re… quite big.”

  Well, that was flattering. Max kept stroking his hair, bringing him down from his high. “Don’t be afraid. It might hurt if I was rough with you, but I know you’ve never been fucked before. I’ll get you nice and ready for me. Nice and slick. You’ll take me easily. Just like you took my fingers. You liked that, didn’t you?”

  “Yes.” Arjen turned his face into Max’s thigh.

  “I thought you would.” Max leaned down to whisper in his ear. “All you have to do is come to me. I’ll take good care of you.” He disentangled himself gently from his nice warm Arjen.

  Arjen’s hand half lifted from the covers of the bed as though to stop him, then fell back, fingers curling empty into his palm.

  Every time it was more painful to walk away.

  Arjen couldn’t even wait until nightfall. He showed up on Max’s doorstep only hours later, biting his lip and fidgeting, five foot eight of barely-suppressed delicious desperation. The dying sunlight filtered around him, haloing him in reddish gold, running its fingers through his dark hair.

  When Max opened the door he didn’t say anything, only smiled. Arjen went a brilliant red and looked away.

  “Say it,” Max purred, already hard. He wanted this so much it scared him. He’d never pursued anyone like this before; he’d always either fucked them or walked away long before now. Arjen was… Max didn’t want to think of him as special, because that was dangerous. Different. That was all. Max had been dreaming of this since the day they met, and now Max was finally, finally going to fuck him.

  Arjen said “I want,” and his voice cracked and he couldn’t say it: couldn’t beg Max to fuck him. He shut his eyes tight and managed a strangled, “Do whatever you want to me.”

  He was so fucking irresistible that Max’s jaw clenched as he fought for control. Max had to swallow to keep his voice level. “Come on in.” Max shifted only an inch, making Arjen squeeze past him. He had no fear of what Arjen might think of his low-rent flat with its tattered curtains, its barred windows, because Arjen only had eyes for him. Arjen lifted his face to his hopefully; Max pushed the door shut behind him and kissed him, letting Arjen grab him to steady himself. “Well done. You’re being very good. Now strip.”

  He hadn’t truly realised how scared Arjen was until Arjen started unbuttoning his shirt and his hands were shaking. Poor Arjen. He was really freaking out. Max took his chin in his fingers, forcing Arjen to look up at him. “You can relax, sweetheart. You’re safe with me. I’ll take care of you.”

  “Promise?” Arjen’s hands fisted uncertainly in the edges of his shirt.

  “Promise.” Max stroked his cheekbone with his thumb. “I’ll take it one step at a time. I’ll make it good for you. Just trust me.”

  “Okay,” Arjen said in a rush, and went back to his buttons. He slipped out of his jeans and underwear as well, and finally stood naked in front of Max, trembling and hard. Max circled him slowly, eyeing him up and down, holding down the fierce desire to mark every inch of his body as his.

  He was perfect. Max couldn’t wait to have him; the thought was hotter than fire.

  “I know you’ve fantasised about this,” Max said in a low voice, moving behind him to make his spine prickle. “Over and over. While you were jerking off. What did you think about?” He ran a hand down the curve of Arjen’s spine.

  Arjen leaned helplessly into his touch. “Max…”

  “When I fucked you, where were you? On the floor? Up against the wall? Over the table, I bet. You’d like that, wouldn’t you. Being under me.”

  “Everywhere,” Arjen croaked. “I thought about you everywhere.”

  Arjen was wound so tight that even Max was about to explode. “Bed. Now.” He pushed Arjen into his bedroom and stalked after him. That glorious ass riveted Max’s eyes, making him unbearably hard, his anticipation building with every pulse of heat. He couldn’t even think past pounding need. Had to drag his eyes away.

  It gave him a thrill to see Arjen hesitate in front of his dimly lit bed. Maybe seeing the bed drove it home to Arjen that this was really it: the moment he’d feared, wanted, fantasised about. He was going to spread his legs for Max. Right here.

  When Max shut the door behind them, deliberately loud, Arjen flinched.

  “Get on the bed,” Max said.

  Arjen sank onto the bed, looking at Max and then away. Just seeing him there was intense. Max wanted to take a picture and capture this moment forever, finally getting his prize in his bed.

  When Max stripped out of his shirt, Arjen admired him gratifyingly. Come to think of it, this must be the first time Arjen had ever seen him undress—he’d barely had to unzip before with Arjen so eager to taste him. “Like what you see?” Max put in his time in the gym; he had a lean, muscled body that was worth showing off.

  “Can I—can I help?”

  “Can’t wait to get your hands on me, can you. Come over here.”

  Arjen reached out to undo his belt with shaking hands, nuzzled the plane of his stomach as he worked. Max slid his fingers into his hair; Arjen fumbled his trousers open, shoved them down and went down on him with a desperate sound. That first slide into Arjen’s mouth brought Max straight to the edge with a gasp. It was so intense that it threatened to tip Max over early.

  “Enough,” Max growled, dragging him off before Max lost it. “Lie down. Spread your legs.”

  “Now?” Arjen squeaked.

  Max towered over him deliberately, stripping out of his last stitch of clothing. “Now.”

  Arjen tried to look away, but his eyes kept sliding back until finally he shut his eyes tight and got down in the covers. The longer Max dragged out the wait the more he tried to hide in the covers. He made an irresistible image, an open invitation. He was so vulnerable it was painful—when Max settled heavy between those spread legs Arjen flinched, and it made Max think fiercely about protecting him. Keeping him for his own.

  Max pinned him down in the covers, trapped him under his weight. “You like this?”

  “Please,” Arjen said in a choked voice, and Max had to grip his hip and grind hard against him.

  Breathe. Max gritted his teeth and got himself under control. This wasn’t just a quick fuck; he needed to be gentle with this one if he wanted him coming back. So gentle.

  He dipped his head and stole a kiss. He made it slow, so that Arjen quieted, calming beneath his hands. “You’re mine,” Max whispered against his mouth. “You’re safe with me.” He kissed his way down that delightfully taut body and took his cock into his mouth as he began teasing him with one fingertip. Arjen shuddered under him, his body tautening and relaxing by turns. “You want my finger?” Max eased off to ask him.

  “Yes.” Arjen sounded breathless.

  Max slipped him that finger and Arjen threw his head back with a groan, gripping the bedcovers. It was so fucking good Max was dangerously close to coming just from getting a finger into him. He got Arjen nice and slippery, squirming around on his finger. “Think you can take another?” Max pressed a kiss against his hot inner thigh.

  “Mmm.”

  A second finger. Arjen twitched, his body tightening up, his hands fisting in the covers. Max nipped his thigh to distract him. A third finger. Arjen clenched up with a gasp, squeezing Max’s fingers so hard. “Breathe, sweetling. You can take this. It’s only a little more than before.” Max coaxed him through that clenched moment, soothing and stroking, until Arjen relaxed under him with a helpless groan.

  This was what he wanted, Arjen slick and open for him. Max slid his fingers out, then in. Out, then in. Arjen clutched at the covers. “Good?” Max checked with him, and Arjen just shuddered.

  When he rubbed that sweet spot inside him Arjen started to beg, the pleading sounds spilling out of him. “Max, please take me, I need, I need—”

  “Wait until you’re ready.” Max played with him some more, pressing just right to make his voice go up a notch.

  “Max! Please!”


  It was absolutely irresistible having Arjen spread out under him begging for more. Nobody could say no. Max shifted on top of him, rubbing up against him until they were pressed deliciously tight together, until he would have to shift only a fraction to slide inside him. The thought made him groan aloud and his voice went rough with hunger. “You’re ready for me now, aren’t you. All slippery and needy. Just relax. I’ll make this nice and easy.” Max captured his wrists above his head, pinning him down with his full weight, his full muscle, and finally, thank God, it was time.

  He drove home with one fierce thrust.

  It was the single best moment of Max’s life.

  After so much hoping, so much fantasising, when he finally pushed into the sweet grip of Arjen’s body the surge of triumph nearly swept him straight over the edge. Arjen’s eyes screwed shut and he arched up with a sweet cry. “Max!” His voice cracked wonderfully and Max gave in to the urge to bite down on his throat as he slid deeper.

  So hot. So slick. So tight. Clenching deliciously around the invasion. Max shoved him down into the covers and pinned him harder, drawing the tiniest whimper. Arjen shuddered under him, his breathing quick and shallow, eyes still shut; his desperation was intoxicating.

  Max couldn’t catch his breath, could barely get out words. He was so deep in him, squeezed so tight. “All right?”

  Arjen was clearly beyond speech. Beyond everything. Max began to rock into him steadily, dragging more of those sweet little sounds out of him. The sheer perfection of this moment made Max possessive; he wanted to keep him like this forever, cover him with his body and shield him from the world. Max dipped his head to bite down on that vulnerable throat again, enjoying Arjen’s stifled gasp, the salt taste of his skin, the frantic pulse under his mouth. “Good?”

  “Oh.” Arjen strained against his grip.

  “Course it’s good,” Max growled in his ear, voice low and hot and rough, the words running away from him because he couldn’t think any more. “You like being held down. Stuffed. Filled.” He could have stayed here forever, just braced over his body, driving into him with slow remorseless strokes, but he wanted to feel Arjen come apart underneath him. Max fisted a hand in his hair and started pounding him harder, forcing desperate sounds out of him, pinning him hot and helpless under him. “You’re mine, you belong to me, you—”

  Arjen strangled off a scream as he came. His body clenched with delicious force around Max’s invasion. And Max finished in him with a rush of pure triumph, each thrust pumping deep into his body, claiming him as his own.

  Victory tasted like the salt on Arjen’s skin, sounded like his gasps, felt like the flutter of his pulse and the shudder of his body.

  Afterward Arjen trembled under him. Seeing him so utterly defenceless made a strange warm feeling uncurl in Max, something like protectiveness. Arjen was smaller, that was all, no match for Max’s size and strength. He must be very shaken. So it was okay to want to shelter him.

  Max slid down a little further into bed, curling around him, settled Arjen securely against him. Arjen did not resist. “There,” Max whispered against his cheek. “I’ve got you. You’re safe.”

  Silence ruled for a long time. Arjen hid his face in his shoulder, and Max let him, just stroking his hair. Finally Arjen snuggled deeper into the curve of his body. It felt good having him so warm, so trusting. So close.

  “How was that? Good?” Max held his breath.

  “Mm.” Arjen’s blissful smile told Max exactly how good it had been. Success.

  “You did well. Really well.” Max stroked his bare shoulder, the nape of his neck, the edge of his jaw. Max bent to steal a kiss from him. If he played his cards right, maybe he could keep this one. Just for a little while. “How do you feel?” Max wanted to know.

  “Happy.” Arjen just kept smiling.

  Max felt extremely smug. He kissed him again, lazily. “Tired?”

  “Exhausted.” Arjen stretched delightfully against him.

  Max slid a hand up his inner thigh; Arjen caught his breath. “Think you can come for me again tonight, sweetling?” He slipped him a finger; Arjen tightened around him with a groan. “Because I’m going to want you again… and again… and again.”

  It turned out that with plenty of persuasion, Max could wring another shattering climax out of him. Max thought this might be even sweeter than the last, not only because of the straining shuddering arch of Arjen’s body beneath his, the scrabble of Arjen’s fingers in the sheets, but because of the delicious sound Arjen made as he clenched tight and came, something like a sob.

  In the sweet panting afterglow Max let him rest while he could. He was pliant in Max’s arms, clearly too exhausted to stir an inch. Max dropped a kiss on the top of his head. He wanted to tell Arjen again how good he’d been, how obedient, how much Max liked him, but the words piled up and choked him. There was too much to say.

  He shifted against Arjen’s warm body, making himself comfortable, and Arjen whispered in a sleep-rough voice, “Don’t go.”

  Max froze. His throat tightened with a sudden surge of some nameless, inexplicable feeling. He was beginning to realise that this was the edge of danger; there was a long way to fall.

  He had never had somebody to come home to. He had been kicked out of home at a young age; he had fucked plenty of people, but never wanted to keep them around. So he could not understand this tightness in his throat that he couldn’t swallow away. This tender urge that made him stroke Arjen’s bare shoulder, trying to soothe him into sleep. And for a forbidden moment he dared to wonder what it would be like if Arjen was his.

  He wrapped himself tight around Arjen, giving in to every jealous possessive urge. Just for tonight, he could let himself believe that Arjen belonged to him.

  FEAR OF FALLING

  Max woke to a warm glow of contentment. The window above his head framed a square of bright sky. Sunlight spilled gold across the rumpled covers of his bed, and Arjen was fast asleep in his arms.

  He stayed perfectly still, afraid to move, afraid even to breathe. Because the strange feeling flooding him might be happiness. He could not remember the last time he had woken up happy, and if he moved an inch, surely it would wink out into nothing.

  Arjen stirred sleepily in his arms. Max froze, holding his breath. Arjen snuggled closer, a warm weight against him, and went back to sleep.

  In the hazy light of morning Arjen looked so peaceful, so sweet. His dark hair was finger-ruffled, his closed eyes in shadow. His lashes lay along his cheekbones. Max dared to kiss his cheek, and Arjen murmured something in his sleep. Lying here with him, running a hand up and down his bare arm, Max was filled with a tenderness so intense he had to swallow hard.

  It was so quiet in his flat at the weekends. Total silence reigned. Not even a bird sang on a branch outside the window. He had Arjen all to himself.

  Max leaned in and kissed him, slowly, gently, letting his eyes slide shut. Arjen stirred again. Max smoothed a hand down the lean planes of his body to take his cock in his hand, stroked him as he kissed him, feeling him harden. “Morning,” Max whispered.

  Arjen made a sleepy sound and reached up to tug him down into another kiss. He was so warm, so inviting. His fingers tangled in Max’s hair.

  Max reached for the lube, still kissing him, uncapped it and squeezed some onto his fingers. When he ran a slick finger down between Arjen’s thighs, Arjen caught his breath, arching slightly into Max. “Feel good?” Max murmured. “Or does it hurt?” He had pushed Arjen pretty hard last night; given his inexperience, Arjen might be feeling it this morning.

  “S’good.” Arjen’s voice was sleepy and rough. Arjen cupped his cheek with one warm hand as he kissed him again.

  Max slipped him that finger, loving the stifled sound he made, the twitch of his hardening cock in his hand. It still amazed him how fucking tight Arjen was. Max couldn’t wait to get inside him again. “Relax for me, sweetling.” He pushed another finger in; Arjen clutched at him. He was intoxicating. />
  Max pushed him onto his side and dragged him against him, his back against Max’s chest, tugged his knee up to open him so that Max could enter him from behind. Max pushed into him deliberately slowly, dragging it out so he could enjoy every moment.

  The slick grip of Arjen’s body felt every bit as fantastic as Max remembered. Arjen moaned, gripping handfuls of the bedcovers. Max kept pressing relentlessly in while Arjen shuddered against him, a gasp caught in his throat. Finally Max sheathed himself fully in him. Perfect.

  “That’s good. You’re so fucking hot.” Max slipped an arm around him to keep him there, where Max could rock into him in a steady rhythm. He kept it slow, because it was clearly driving Arjen crazy. “You’re so tight. So slippery. Mmm.” In and out, in and out.

  “Harder.” Arjen panted in his arms.

  “No.” Max nipped his earlobe, catching it in his teeth. “You can wait till I’m ready.”

  The sound Arjen made was pure need. He pulled uselessly against Max’s grip. “Now. Please. I need it now.”

  “Wait.” Max tightened his grip to hold him still. He loved having this power over Arjen, being able to drive him out of his mind with desperation. He slowed his pace, tormenting him ever more ruthlessly.

  “Please!” Arjen’s voice cracked.

  That undid the last of Max’s self-control. He could not hold back any longer. He got a rough grip on Arjen and started to pound him hard, slamming into him with each thrust. The impact jolted these sweet little cries out of Arjen until finally he came with a helpless gasp. Max pulled him tight against him, forcing deep as he came, spilling inside him. He shuddered out his pleasure into Arjen’s clenching body.

  Gah. Max was completely blissed out. The intensity of his climax had blanked everything else out of his mind.

  It was only with extreme reluctance that he eased out of Arjen. Arjen winced, and Max soothed him with gentle fingers in his hair. He settled Arjen back into the curve of his body, basking in warm satisfaction. He never wanted to move again.