Jack hadn't wanted to let go of Tiberius's waist, but Tiberius didn't want them both going to bed covered in blood. So when they'd gotten to Jack's room, the walk quiet except for Jack's sniffling and Tiberius shushing him softly as he ran a hand through his hair, Tiberius walked them into the bathroom and turned on the faucet, keeping an arm tight around Jack's shoulders.
"Clean up," he murmured into Jack's hair. "I'll be right outside."
"Don't," Jack pleaded, no longer able or willing to pretend he could be away from him. "Don't leave."
Tiberius cupped his jaw, caressing his cheek with his thumb. "You have to clean off the trolls' blood. We both do."
"So do it here," Jack pushed his face into Tiberius's shoulder. "Just stay."
Tiberius tensed in his arms. "You want me to bathe here?"
Jack looked up slowly, meeting his eyes. "I'm not . . . I'm not ready to be immortal. I'm not . . ."
Tiberius, understanding, nodded. "Then you won't be," he said, his eyes dark with the clear implication.
Jack licked his lips as his eyes drifted back down to Tiberius's chest, his blood-soaked shirt. Swallowing thickly, he brought his hands down Tiberius's side, his waist, down to the hem of his shirt. He hesitated a second before he started to tug it up.
Tiberius exhaled shakily. "Jack . . ."
"Take it off," Jack whispered, then faltered, "Er – unless you don't want to –"
"I want to," Tiberius said at once, breathless, and let Jack tug up his shirt until it was over his shoulders, revealing strong, hairy pecs, hardened brown nipples, and a wiry trail leading down hard abs and disappearing under his waistbelt. The stained blood should've made Jack sick, but he knew the heat pooling in his gut was anything but repulsion.
He wanted Tiberius, he wanted to run his hands down his body, especially now. Tiberius had saved him from death again. Seeing him there had woken him to the true fear that he'd felt at William's attack, the way that fear went unprocessed and misplaced as anger against Tiberius.
He couldn't be away from him now. He didn't want to be.
"Jack," Tiberius's eyes darkened, like he could hear Jack's thoughts. Maybe, just as he could sense Jack near him, he could also sense his desire. Tiberius showed no hesitation in unhooking Jack's satchel and setting it aside, pushing Jack's jacket off his shoulders, and tearing his now stained shirt down the middle. Jack gasped, but Tiberius's hands were already on his jeans.
He tore the zipper and buttons off, hooked his fingers around his waistbelt, and paused. "Do you . . . want me to . . .?"
The question was obvious, the gold of his eyes all but swallowed by the black pupils. Jack gripped his wrists and swallowed thickly.
"Just . . . don't put it in."
"Jack," Tiberius whispered, his naked chest rising and falling rapidly, then he was tugging down Jack's jeans and underwear. Jack gasped as he felt the cold hit his cock, but something about the sky outside still black, about knowing that everyone would be asleep right now and that they couldn't be interrupted, had Jack's heart stuttering.
He did what he'd been wanting to do and touched Tiberius's strong shoulders, letting his hands fall down Tiberius's chest, brushing his palm against Tiberius's nipples, lightly scratching down his toned abs. Tiberius's eyes fluttered and he groaned as his body arched into Jack's hands. He couldn't believe he had this effect on someone as grand and gorgeous as Tiberius.
"I want to be naked," Tiberius murmured, taking Jack's hands and placing them over his clothed bulge. "I want to feel every inch of you."
Jack leaned up to press their foreheads together. "Stay close to me," he whispered.
Tiberius could only nod, his hands running up and down Jack's own hairy pecs, his stomach, his back, his hips, his thighs. Jack undid the buttons on Tiberius's pants and pushed them down, lowering himself until he was nearly kneeling. Tiberius stepped out of his pants, but Jack stayed on his knees, nuzzling Tiberius's hairy thighs, moving higher, higher, higher. He could feel Tiberius hold his breath until he pressed his nose to Tiberius's pubic hair, inhaling deeply, and Tiberius gasped, sliding a hand into Jack's hair and holding him there. But Jack didn't want to move just yet anyway.
"That fucking smell," Jack moaned, clawing down Tiberius's thighs and making him buck his hips. "I'm fucking obsessed with it."
"Then you know how I always feel around you," Tiberius grunted, his nails digging a little into Jack's head. "With that fucking maple smell. I want to fucking bury myself in it."
Jack pulled back. Tiberius's cock had started to harden. It was huge and right in his face. He licked his lips, unable to help but wonder what it would taste like on his tongue, if it would suffocate him. He reached up and touched his fingers to the tip. Tiberius inhaled sharply, gripping fistfuls of his hair now and pulling, and Jack wanted to see how much more he could do to him.
He dragged his fingers up the length of Tiberius's cock, to the hilt, and back down again.
"Jack," Tiberius all but whined, and Jack wanted to hear more of it. He wanted rough pleads, voices drowned with lust. He had to remind himself what letting Tiberius fuck him would mean to keep from begging for it.
He wasn't ready for immortality, but he wanted sex. He couldn't ride Tiberius, but . . . they could still touch each other. Tiberius could fuck . . . other parts of him.
Jack gripped Tiberius's cock, squeezing firmly, making Tiberius grunt. Jack took his cock into his mouth. Tiberius groaned loudly, doubling over as Jack took as much of him as he could, squeezing the hilt with both fists and twisting.
"Jack," Tiberius grunted, "ah – Jack!"
Jack felt Tiberius's knees against his pecs as he tried to come closer, as he tried to push the rest of his cock into Jack's mouth. Jack gave a strangled moan, and the vibration had Tiberius pulling on his hair. Without word or warning, he thrusted his hips. Jack's nails carved into his thighs, but it only seemed to turn him on more.
"Jack, Jack," Tiberius panted, thrusting his hips into Jack's face and fucking his mouth. Jack felt his back hit the bathtub and he reached a hand around, clutching one of Tiberius's ass cheeks, pulling him in deeper.
"Suck my dick," Tiberius groaned, clutching the edge of the bathtub with his free hand as he thrusted faster. "Suck my cock. Fuck, Jack, you look so fucking sexy."
Jack's cock stuck up against his stomach as he felt Tiberius harden in his mouth. The dirty talk was fueling the fire in his gut, and he wanted more. He wanted Tiberius to cum on his fucking face, to push him against the wall and fuck his ass.
Immortal, he reminded himself in the back of his mind. I don't want it. I don't want to be immortal.
Fine. But he still wanted more of this. Tiberius seemed to read his thoughts because he suddenly gripped Jack's shoulders and pulled out.
"In the tub," he panted, his face flushed and his curls curtaining his face. "Get in the tub."
Jack pushed himself shakily to his feet, and got into the tub at the same time Tiberius did. Tiberius held his arms out for him and pulled Jack in, his back against Tiberius's chest, and spread his legs, bracketing Jack's hips.
He tilted Jack's head around with his fingers and slotted their mouths together. Jack reached an arm around, gripping Tiberius's curls and moaning into their kiss. It was an uncomfortable position, but when Tiberius reached down between their bodies, Jack understood what he wanted.
Tiberius pulled away with a growl, bit Jack's ear, and whispered, "I won't put it in. But I want to feel your ass on my cock."
"Tiberius," Jack moaned, grinding his hips back to feel Tiberius's hard dick between his cheeks. Tiberius thrusted forward as Jack simultaneously pushed his ass back, the hard length pinned between Jack and the tub.
Tiberius then reached forward and grabbed Jack's hard cock, and squeezed. Their jaws hung open, Tiberius grunting with hot breaths against Jack's ear, the bathroom echoing with their moans and choked off screams.
"Fuck I love you," Tiberius panted, stroking Jack roughly as he thrusted his dick.
"Tiberius," Jack breathed his name, turning his head just enough to press another bruising kiss to Tiberius's lips, but Tiberius held him across his chest, keeping his head turned and their mouths pressed together. They screamed against one another's lips as they climaxed, and kissed through the oversensitivity.
Jack pulled away to a line of spit connecting their mouths, both of them panting heavily. The bathtub water around them settled, and Jack slumped back into Tiberius, his arms coming around Jack almost instinctively.
"That was . . ."
"I know," Tiberius groaned. "Fuck, that was . . ."
Jack grinned, breathless. "I know."
They laid there, Jack's head turned enough that Tiberius's chin was against his forehead. Tiberius pressed a kiss to his hair, another further down between his eyes. He bent his head to cover Jack's mouth with his parted own, one hand around his chest, rubbing his thumb against Jack's nipple, the other cupping his jaw.
"When I realized you weren't in your room," he whispered, a fury to his voice despite the softness, "and your things were gone, I was ready to tear the castle apart to find you."
Jack looked up, brows pinched. "How did you find me anyway?"
"I heard you," Tiberius whispered, and swallowed thickly. "I heard you scream. And I was already on the floor. Wyatt had worried that you'd gone into the trolls' tunnel."
"Wyatt worried?" Jack blinked. "I think that's the most shocking thing I've heard all night."
Tiberius's lips twitched, but just for half a second, and then his expression was grim again. "I almost lost you. Please, Jack, please don't do that to me again."
Jack clenched his jaw, and sat up. He turned to face Tiberius, still bracketed by his legs, his knees pulled up to his chest and his chin resting on one of them.
"I can't stand being away from you," he confessed in a murmur. "The further away I got, the more miserable I got." He smiled sadly. "Guess I'm not as brave as you thought I was."
Tiberius shook his head, leaning in to take Jack's arms and keep him close. "Yes," he insisted, "you are."
"Yeah?" Jack demanded in a voice barely over a whisper. "What if I really do need you? What if I need you close all the time?" he took Tiberius's hands, pressing his palms to his lips and breathing him in. "Am I a coward then? Am I allowed to need you as much as I do?"
Tiberius shut his eyes tight, jaw clenched. He turned away. "You can't do this," he pleaded, choked. "You can't trick me like this again, Jack, it hurts too much –"
But Jack had already closed the distance between them, his hand in Tiberius's curls, crashing their mouths together. Jack pulled himself to his knees without ever pausing their kiss, and straddled Tiberius's lap.
"I won't leave you again, Tiberius," he promised against his mouth. "Because I don't want to. I'll figure out the rest, but . . . I just want to keep you. I want to stay."
Tiberius swallowed, but for the first time, instead of pain, it was hope that surged in his eyes. He wrapped his arms around him, hitching up his knees so that Jack's body slid right down against his.
"I love you."
Jack wrapped his arms around his shoulders, pressing their foreheads together. "Then stay close to me."