Sun's Shadow (Dusk Series - Book 3.5 Standalone - MxM)

Chapter 24: Wren

"How do you like to be touched?" Tala finally asked, and Wren reddened before leaning away from him. Was that why he'd been ogling him? A frown crawled Tala's features, and Wren hissed in breath through his teeth.

"Touched how?" Wren asked, unsure of where this was going.

"Intimately. What else would I ask about?" Tala's frustration showed in his creased brow and how tightly he crossed his arms across his chest, as if he needed them locked up to have this conversation. "I don't know how to be... affectionate. With how I am, I've never had the desire to spend any time with women in ways that normal men might. I was just wondering if you might explain how that sort of thing works."

It sounded so practical coming from Tala's lips, like something that could be mapped out, and Wren wasn't even sure why Tala was considering such things.

"Why are you asking me?" Wren asked, trying to prod the intentions out of the question. Did the man want to touch him that way?

"You're the person I'm closest with. I don't trust anyone else with my... inadequacies. Is it not something you can answer?" Tala's frustration sank to a look of defeat, and Wren sighed. Tala hadn't been forthcoming at all, but it was just too much to see the proud man downtrodden.

"Tala, affection and intimacy aren't exactly something you explain. When you're intimate with someone for the first time, it's more about exploring your feelings. No one tells humans how to touch and feel. They learn from experience, by touching and seeing what the other person likes. Do you understand?"

"The words, yes. Application, not so much." Tala groaned as he flopped back on a pillow and dimmed the lights in the room.

Wren was hesitant to join him for sleep, but there wasn't really another option. In the course of explaining, he'd also failed to get a new under shirt. It left him bare on the bed as he covered himself with the thin sheet they used as a blanket in the warmer nights.

Sitting there with Tala an arms width away thinking about strange things was nerve racking. Wren would say it was almost more comfortable when Tala slid his arms around him from behind and snuggled up against his back in the dark. That was normal. Tala's cool skin warmed against Wren's until they were comfortable, and just as Wren was slipping off, Tala moved.

It was nothing more than his fingers, trailing a slow line down from Wren's shoulders to his elbow, and Wren's breath came quicker. Tala didn't stop, running his fingers down to the end of Wren's arm to match his fingers with his before sliding off and pressing his hand to Wren's chest. There, Tala tucked his hand into his abdomen like he usually did when they slept, but he stretched his grip to see how much space his hand took up on Wren's stomach before lifting it. The feel of Tala fingertips crawling over every scar that marred him hitched Wren's breath, and Tala stopped.

"Does this bother you?" Tala asked into his neck, the words breathing steam onto the skin of his shoulder.

"N-no," Wren said. "It's just... different."

Wren gripped the sheets more tightly as Tala kept going, lifting his hand up to graze his pectoral muscle, before his palm found Wren's throat. Wren choked out of nervousness as Tala's fingers wrapped it like they had so many times before in the dungeons, but he merely rubbed his finger down the dip in his throat and climbed back up to cradle Wren's chin.

They were so warm, Tala's hands on him, but also gentle, something Wren had never seen him display. As Tala ran his hand up Wren's face and smoothed his palm over his cheek, resting it there in comfort, tears gathered in Wren's eyes that had Tala freezing in an instant. A growl rolled out of Tala's lips, more steam escaping his lips in a haze like it did when Tala was frustrated, but Wren couldn't bring himself to look at him. Instead, he raised his hand and touched Tala's, calming him at least enough to silence the aggression.