Before this chapter starts I just want to thank you all for reading my first ever Lashton story again! I was a bit apprehensive to write for this ship but now I'm always excited to write for this one and I've had the chance to find awesome Lashton shippers! Even if you don't ship Lashton and read this, thank you to you all as well. This story broke the #100 ranking at a #91 in Fan Fiction :)
Okay, enough happy rambling! You're not here for that haha.
Once Luke actually left the room, it took a little while for Ashton to sit up again. When he did all he could do is sit there and take in what had happened just moments ago with Luke. Ashton couldn't even bring himself to cross his arms over his bare chest or to even move at all.
In his standstill, Ashton was still able to feel Luke's presence surrounding him. His entire body had that tingling sensation after someone lightly strokes another's skin. Luke had only traced along his chest and torso but it made his entire body feel like his fingertips did much more travel.
He didn't feel weird. He felt accomplished. His hand gently wrapped around his arm so he could look down at his new prized possession: the bracelet that let everyone know that he was now apart of it. His teeth sunk into is bottom lip as he tried his best not to grin about it. He didn't want people to see him smiling like a fool because this wasn't a fool's game.
Ashton still didn't want to let on that he was very inexperienced with the things each bracelet represented. He glanced over to the small plastic bag of bracelets Luke had given to him before he left. As much as he wanted to put them on right away, he couldn't because he didn't know what any of them meant. He probably wouldn't go to bed that night until he knew what they were and made a home for each of them on either of his wrists.
He let out a small breath as he gathered his composure to leave the room. After searching around for his shirt, he slipped his arms through the sleeves and then his head through the collar, pulling the material over where the lively lines from Luke's fingers had made an invisible and permanent mark on his skin.
When he closed his eyes, he could still see Luke's face looking down at him. The blond's striking blue eyes had studied him closely, where Ashton's own eyes didn't see anything special about the way he looked. He believed he could use a little more build but it seemed like Luke's eyes thought his body was enough.
Ashton hadn't shied away when Luke told him what to do. Even though he was eager to get initiated, there still had been nerves when he was led up the stairs. He thought he would flinch at the intimate touches that Luke's fingers played on his skin. That wasn't what really happened. His body let all of his tension go and let Luke do whatever he was going to. It was for the bracelet after all.
He slipped the small bag of bracelets into the pocket of his jeans and stood up. As he walked over to open the door again, he remembered that he was going to have another opportunity to get another bracelet. Sure, it was going to be from Luke but his body seemed to trust his touch. Plus, he didn't mind learning a few things from his mentor in the beginning. He wanted to know everything.
It would also be his first time doing body shots. He thought that was something that college students only did but apparently he was wrong. He couldn't help but nervously joke to himself that he didn't need to put his short back on because he would be taking it off again to play a game within the game.
That would also make Ashton ahead of Matt for the number of bracelets he had, from what he only knew about Matt's collecting habits. He couldn't help the proud smile he wore on his face as he walked down the stares with that thought. He was going to be better than Matt.
Once he was back on the house's main floor he could hear shouting from the basement about the body shots, which made him walk down the second staircase quicker because he didn't want to miss it. He couldn't believe that he was already acting so much more confident.
His eyes found Luke right away. For some reason that confidence he just had went away as soon as his eyes locked with Luke's, the owner of those blue eyes was now nodding him over to come and join him.
Ashton's hands slowly curled into half-open fists at his sides. His own eyes narrowed their focus onto one single path, not raising to meet with anyone else. He wasn't quite ready for all of the trading like he really wanted to be. Just like at school, he wasn't ready for all other pairs of eyes to be on him. He needed more bracelets first. Luke had put out there that he was quite giving so Ashton could rely on his mentor for more.
Luke smiled at him when he stopped next to him, his arm draping over his shoulders and a small chuckle leaving his lips when Ashton's body had to stiffen underneath him before relaxing.
"You're just in time." Luke told him, his tongue licking over his lips. "I'm guessing since you're here that you're ready to play some more?"
Ashton nodded his head as Luke's arm dropped from being around his shoulders. He couldn't help but glance over at one of his empty shoulders as his body was feeling overwhelmed with that feeling of absence that seemed to haunt him still.
"Great. Have you ever done one of these before?" Luke asked him, turning his head to look over at Ashton.
"N-no." Ashton said, ready to let his head look down to the floor in shame with flushed cheeks.
"Hey," Luke gently nudged at Ashton's side with his arm, "it's okay. You're learning and I promised you I would help you along the way. We'll stand back and watch the first few then."
He nodded again in agreement with Luke and let his eyes look over to the paddle ball table, where a girl was laying on top of it, propping her upper body up by her elbows while she grinned at the boy who was getting cheers from his friends as he stepped up to the table. He was rubbing his hands together as a third person was explaining how he was going to take the shot, pouring liquor into the girl's navel.
Ashton noticed that neither of them traded off bracelets with one another.
"Ash!" Michael had joined him and Luke, placing his chin on Ashton's shoulder, his face appearing between Luke and Ashton's. "You gonna do a few?" He smiled, looking at Ashton and then over to Luke.
Ashton started his reply off with a silent nod before saying the actual words quietly to Michael.
"Thank God!" Michael said loudly with a matching sigh of relief. Then he turned his head to place a kiss onto Luke's cheek. "You've got one with a lot of potential this time, mate. We might have to celebrate later on." He chuckled lightly.
Luke motioned over to where the paddle ball table was. "Isn't this all celebration enough?"
Michael shook his head. "Nonsense. You've done a good deed and good deeds get rewarded. How does a little orange time sound?"
Ashton couldn't help but to hear the conversation between the two and he wanted to know which one the orange one was. Michael made it easy to listen because he talked about the bracelets so freely and cheerfully.
Luke just shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe. I'm gonna be with Ashton for the remainder of the trading." Luke nodded over to Ashton and Ashton suddenly felt a heated sweat wash over him.
Michael gave Luke a fake pout. "Fine. We have all the time in the world to go orange." His hand then ruffled through Ashton's hair. "Lucky for you, I don't mind sharing Luke."
Ashton didn't say anything still because he just didn't know what to say.
"You're taking this seriously. I like that. After you figure out what you're into we definitely need to do some trading." Michael said as he gave Ashton's shoulder a firm pat and then looked over at Luke again and winked at him. "I think I'll go first. I was gonna pick you, Hemmings, but I really do want to see you and your newest recruit in action. You should go up next."
He was unsure about trading with Michael just yet but he was probably going to have to at some point. He couldn't just stick to Luke or else there wouldn't be much of a point to the bracelets. Ashton was happy that Michael noticed how much Ashton wanted to be apart of his circle. That was another reason to feel proud: he was going to get on the good side with their circle leader.
Michael then stepped back from them after that. Ashton reminded himself again that he was just going to have to get used to Michael, especially since he was their leader and Luke's best friend.
None of that mattered to Ashton anymore when he heard the cheering around them become louder, as well as Luke whispering to him to pay attention.
There wasn't too much to really see. The boy had his head ducked down near the girl's belly and then he moved up until his mouth met up with hers. Was that really it? It looked simple enough.
When the boy, who seemed to enjoy running this, called out for the next "victims" Michael was quick to raise his hand and point over to Luke, shouting his name. Ashton noticed how Luke laughed and waved Michael off before walking over to the boy.
"Luke Hemmings is up and who wants to take a shot off of Mr. Collector himself?" the boy asked as he raised the bottle of liquor up.
Ashton couldn't help but shake his head and laugh a little bit at the nickname that Luke apparently had. It was easy to figure out the reason behind it because Luke did have quite the number of bracelets on both of his arms.
"Ashton, go on." Michael urged Ashton on, placing his hand onto his back to give him that little push, making him stumble up to the front of the small crowd in the basement.
"Looks like we have someone and it appears that he's new here." This boy decided to also be some sort of announcer tonight as well, which embarrassed Ashton because now everybody knew that about him. Now, he just hoped that he could keep it together and not choke as he took his first ever body shot off of another boy.
As Ashton walked up to the table, those same blue eyes seemed to be watching his every move carefully. He didn't know why Luke stared at him like that. Maybe he was just looking out for the new kid to the group, not that he's ever caught Luke looking at Matt in the same manner.
Luke slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out a few bracelets. In his palm were a pink, yellow, green, and clear bracelet. He picked up the clear one and put the other colors away before reaching over to the same wrist he put the first bracelet on to slip this once over Ashton's hand.
"This one is similar to the other one I gave you. It means that whoever snaps it can do whatever they want to the wearer." Just as he did before in the bedroom, Luke's fingers picked the bracelet off of Ashton's wrist, pulled back, and then let it go so the rubber sharply struck Ashton's skin, making his nerves come to life.
Ashton wore a slight frown on his face from the lack of color he was looking at in comparison to everyone else.
"Something wrong?" Luke asked Ashton, his mouth close to his ear as he spoke.
Ashton shook his head. "It's nothing. I just was expecting something else other than these clear ones." Ashton told him as he lazily moved his arm, lamely showing off his new clear bracelet and his other clear one with glitter off. Matt got a pink one and he was barely playing the game.
"Sorry about that. I can't control it. I don't make up the meanings. I just do what they say." Luke told him. "I'll do a shot off of you first and then we can switch. You ready?"
All Ashton could do was comply because he was already wearing the bracelet and Luke had snapped it. They were also in front of a bunch of witnesses so it wasn't like he could say no and then try and disappear into the boy nobody noticed again.
Luke stepped aside, standing next to the other boy who was more than ready to get this going again with the liquor.
He got himself onto the table and shyly removed his shirt. It was different for when he had just done it in front of Luke. He only had one pair of eyes to worry about then. His teeth nervously touched at his lip as he sat on the paddle ball table without his shirt on.
"So, I'll pour a bit of this onto you." The boy explained as he gave the bottle a small shake. Then he turned and grabbed a lime wedge, showing it to Ashton. "Then you'll pop this into your mouth when this one here is ready." He sent them both a sly smile as he nodded over to Luke, who was getting some salt poured into his palm. "It's pretty self explanatory. Don't worry, kid, you're dealing with a pro here."
Luke rolled his eyes. "You really enjoy chatting me up to others don't you, Craig?"
"Course I do. Now, get ready for your shot." The boy moved Luke aside to pour the liquor into Ashton's belly button.
Ashton couldn't help but suck in at first, his muscles tightening at the sensation he was getting from the liquid on his skin. He licked at his lips to get ready for the sour and tart lime that he was about to place into his mouth. He was actually glad he was going to have something to bite onto when Luke's mouth and tongue were going to take some of the same paths over his skin as his fingers had.
That was the first time that Ashton realized that Luke's mouth was going to be on him. His ears and face were probably turning a deep red as the thought suddenly gave him plenty of anxiety.
His teeth sunk into the peel of the lime, his eyes beginning to water over from the unpleasant taste in his mouth.
Luke stood in front of Ashton, giving Craig a look to let him know that he would gladly be taking over from there. "Okay, Ash, just relax for me." Luke told him, his eyes moving back and forth steadily at him.
Ashton nodded his head and felt like squeezing his eyes shut tightly. He wished that his fingers could grip at something like he wanted to grab the duvet that was underneath him on the bed. He didn't have anything now and that sort of worried him.
He wanted to let out a loud gasp and let the lime wedge fall from his mouth when he felt Luke's own warm lips being placed on him, surrounding his belly button. When he felt the tip of Luke's tongue barely touch at his belly button, Ashton was sure his reflexes were going to get the best of him. As much as he knew he should be able to just relax and not struggle for Luke,he couldn't believe just how alive his body was able to feel. The warm flat of Luke's tongue licked over the surface of his belly before Luke's mouth sucked at him, getting the liquor out of his belly button. the tight pull of Ashton's skin was released and then left feeling cool as Luke's mouth left him. He tried not to let a whine escape from his throat.
He couldn't bring himself to watch Luke and Ashton knew that his belly and chest were moving up and down quickly from his labored breathing, which didn't have any time to become normal and even again. Luke's tongue was soon licking a stripe up from Ashton's navel to his chest. His fingers tapped at the table wildly, wanting to tug at something from the heat against his skin. That cooling sensation hit him again once Luke sprinkled the salt over the line he mapped out on Ashton's torso, which was then licked up again.
It was the final part. Luke was going to be taking the lime wedge out from Ashton's mouth. That was the part that worried Ashton the most. He's never been kissed before, not that he was expecting Luke to kiss him but he was sure that their lips would have to touch in order for Luke to get the lime. What if he was now biting too hard down onto it that Luke would have to also use his tongue to get the wedge free?
Ashton was surprised he even had that much time to think about being fearful by the time Luke turned his head a little bit to the side to sink his teeth into the sour flesh of the lime, Ashton's mouth giving up and letting Luke have it. Luke pulled away and pulled the lime out of his mouth once he was done sucking on it.
Ashton couldn't help but stare at Luke as he pulled the lime wedge from his mouth and then raised it in the air like he had just won a contest. The other people at the party were rowdy as they cheered him on. Then he chuckled as he tossed it into the crowd.
"Nicely done, not that I didn't expect anything else from you." Craig said, giving Luke a pat between his shoulders before pointing to Ashton. "You doing one next?"
Luke nodded, answering for him as he walked back over to Asthon, helping him slip off the table and handed him his shirt. "Yeah, he is."
"Exactly like I did, yeah?" Luke told him with an encouraging grin as he scooted himself back onto the paddle table, removing his shirt, and then propping himself up on his arms, waiting for Ashton to stop being so nervous and take the charge for once.
"Y-yeah." Ashton agreed even though it was going to be nowhere near the same as Luke's turn. Ashton had no idea what he was doing. He has never put his mouth on anyone like this and his mind was still wheeling out of control from getting to feel Luke like that.
While Craig was pouring the liquor onto Luke next, Ashton put his shirt back on. When his head popped out from the collar he froze as he looked down at Luke on the table, his own lime wedge being placed into his mouth. In comparison, Luke was more fit than he was, which Ashton couldn't believe he was actually thinking. Sure, Luke was attractive and Ashton found nothing wrong with admitting that to himself. before he never cared to image what Luke would look like under his clothes but now that he's seeing him in the flesh, he might not mind having this image embedded into his brain forever.
"He's all yours when you want him." Craig told Ashton, putting some salt into his palm before he turned to the people who were still watching people taking shots off of one another, getting them to cheer Ashton on like he was going to be needing their support.
Ashton didn't know what to do with his hands but he felt like he should have a planned place for them to be. He looked down at the small pool of liquor sitting in Luke's belly button, sitting there just for Ashton to take. He traced the tip of his tongue around his lips, thinking that he also needed to do that before going for it. Ashton hoped that he wouldn't duck down too fast and hit his face against Luke's torso. That would be rather embarrasing and he didn't want to be embarrassing, not to these people.
When he finally talked himself into doing this already, he was already leaning down, his nose lightly pressing against Luke's skin and as he took in a small breath he took in Luke's scent, which made him close his eyes as his lips parted to cover over Luke's belly button. Ashton closed his eyes, a bit in disgust, as his tongue dipped to get his first taste of the bitter and strong liquor. He wasn't a fan of it and he was glad nobody could see the way his face was slightly twisted.
He had to continue on with the shot for his own good, for his own perception to everyone else.
Then he let his lips latch onto Luke's skin before he took a harsh breath in through his lips to get the rest of the liquor out. He was sure his teeth scraped at Luke's skin but he didn't let that terrify him because he could hear a faint moan and it could have only came from Luke. Another heated sweat washed over Ashton in a wave as he relaxed his lips and pulled away.
His eyes immediately went to Luke, searching for approval from the blond. Luke gave him a short nod before he played with the lime that was in his mouth, muffling that moan that he had heard moments ago. He couldn't help but wonder what it would sound without it acting as a barrier.
He didn't need the salt, he thought, because as he licked his uneven line up Luke's torso he thought Luke's skin already tasted a bit like it, which was nothing like the scent he got from Luke before he started this. He wised that he tasted that way. The strong taste of the alcohol definitely wasn't helping Ashton try to enjoy this. He hoped that his tongue wasn't dry because he did slip up and skip small patches of skin with his tongue.
His hand was squeezing the salt in his hand the entire time so it stuck to his hand as he tried to sprinkle it over the line that he terrible traced onto Luke. Even though he didn't want to lick it up again, Ashton did. He was quicker this time and figured out that he needed to use more of his tongue to get an accurate and full line.
Pulling away again, his tongue slipped back into his mouth as Ashton focused on the lime and how he was going to successfully take the lime wedge from Luke's mouth. He couldn't really remember how Luke did it with him because it all happened too fast and Luke was much more skillful than he was. he was just going to have to go at it and solve this in his own way.
He did remember that Luke's head was turned so he could at least copy that. As he leaned in, he tried his best not to slightly pucker his lips like he was going to terribly kiss Luke. Luke was probably laughing in his mind at how Ashton probably looked to him right now.
The lime wedge hit his upper lip and that was when it was all over.
His lips had touched Luke's and he hadn't meant to let that happen. He felt like he needed to pull away quickly, the lime falling out of Luke's mouth before it rolled off of Luke's neck and onto the table.
This was it. He failed. He failed in front of Luke, Michael, and the rest of the people in different circles. Nobody was going to want a fumbling quiet boy in their group.
Luke sat up and grinned at Ashton, reaching over with his hands to place them on Ashton's shoulders. Then he leaned in and rested his forehead against Ashton's. "You did just fine, okay? Don't worry about the lime. It's not about that." He whispered.
It sent a shiver up Ashton's spine at the close contact and the secret whisper meant just for him to hear. He nodded, his forehead moving against Luke's. When his eyes glanced up to meet Luke's a small smile spread across his lips, feeling a little more secure.
"I think you owe me a bracelet." Luke told him before sitting back and offering his submissive wrist to Ashton.
"Oh, yeah." Ashton breathed out before he stepped back and slipped his hand into his pocket to get his bag of bracelets out, his fingers frantically looking for the right one among the rest.
He couldn't bring his hand to reach out and hold onto Luke's wrist, knowing that he wouldn't be able to keep Luke's arm steady with his shaky hands. He had to use two hands to pull the bracelet to the width of Luke's hand so he could fit it over his fingers and then his palm. He let go of the rubber bracelet and looked down at it as it rested in its place around Luke's wrist.
"How does it feel to do that?" Luke asked him, his smile shining with amusement and maybe just a little bit of pride.
Ashton nodded. "Good. Really good." He told him, really believing his words. He had no idea that it would feel that powerful and satisfying to slip a bracelet onto Luke's wrist. He couldn't wait to do it again and again.
Luke's smile then turned into a smirk. "You're gonna be a fun one to have with us."
I may have had a little too much fun with the body shots part but it was well worth it to me! :) I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!
I also posted a new Lashton story that I will be updating in a few days titled Project Love. Feel free to check the summary out for that one if you're interested!