Saul laughed. “Well, let’s see. For many of those same years I was completely celibate. Although, I was under fifteen…”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m an old fuck. At least I have good ink.”
“Your ink is the hottest. Seriously, I mean that. I love tracing it with my fingers, following the lines, trying to figure out Geoff’s patterns. Not everyone can pull off that much ink, but it suits you. It’s complicated and interesting.” Saul did just what he said, and started tracing the pattern on his forearm. “Major turn on.”
“Your illustrated man.” He could feel each touch, every centimeter of that caress.
“Mhm. This is cool. The arm of this triskelion is all tangled up with this one over here, and then that one is twisted into this purple one. So cool.” Saul did seem to into it, sharp eyes following curious fingers.
“Balance in all things, yes?” Troy leaned back, humming deep in his chest.
“Balance, moderation, patience… not things I have much of a grasp on, but I’m learning.” Saul laughed softly, fingers pushing his shirt up, tracing ink over his ribs. “I think.”
“Do you think he’ll be able to fix it? My ink?” He hated how the incision looked. It was still raw and puffy with stitches.
“Oh, yeah. I bet it heals up way smaller than you think it’s going to. Artists mask scars and stuff all the time, don’t they? Geoff totally has this.” Saul gingerly patted the skin around the incision. “Although this placement’s is going to hurt like hell. We’ll have to put all your piercings back in soon too.”
“Yeah. I know, but it will be worth it.” It was the most handsome thing about him.
“If you say so. You could also just be proud of your scar. It’s like a war wound, you know? It’s the thing that could have killed you but didn’t.” Saul kissed his chest, just to one side of the stitches, and then the other side too. “You beat it.”
“I hope so. I hope I come back stronger.” He would settle for coming back all the way, but stronger would be better.
“You will. I know you will. How could you not? You’re better now than you were. Get your teaching hours and everything, you’ll dump all that stress too. Win-win.” Saul was really into the yoga teacher idea.
“I don’t know. It’s a huge chance.” What if he fucked up? Lost the house? Hurt someone in class?
“It’s a lot, I know. You think about it. Maybe you could start out partnering with Solomon? Invest in his studio. Or teach for him. Anyway, sleep on it for a couple of weeks. You have time.” Saul was still exploring his ink, fingers moving lazily over his skin. “Remember I’m here now, I can pitch in, right? It’s not all on you anymore.”
He wasn’t sure how to think about that. He didn’t want to be that guy who took advantage, but he didn’t want to be the one that held his thoughts away from Saul, either.
Shit, did that even make sense?
“How are you feeling, boy?” The switch from lover to Dom was deliberate, he knew. “Do you hurt or was half enough? Do you want to lie down for a while? Or maybe just crash here?”
“Stoned, Master. I want to sit with you for a while. Please.” He didn’t want to sleep anymore. He was tired of sleeping.
Saul’s laugh was low and seemed knowing in a way that someone Saul’s age probably shouldn’t. Saul was part reckless twenty-something and part steady confidence. Or wisdom. Or maybe Saul just got him.
He didn’t care, one way or the other. He just wanted to be with his Dom. That suited him to the bone.
His Master let the room go quiet except for the TV, but warm fingers kept touching him, kept soothing, reminding him Saul was right there and paying attention. “So is it a good stoned? Like mellow? Or is it like whoa, pink rhinos, dude?”
“It’s more like being slowed down, backed off away from you. Everything is blue. Like literally. Blue.”
“That’s wild. Well, you’re not away from me. You’re right here where I can get my blue arms around you.” Saul grinned.
“You’re keeping me, are you?” God, he sure hoped so.
“Hell yeah. I’m going to take you home to Mom.”
“I would love that.” The words were out without a single hesitation, mainly because they were true.
“Yeah? Me too. I think she’ll like you. I think everybody will like you. I was thinking you’d like to do the holidays. Thanksgiving, Christmas? Geoff said they plan parties for the group around people’s travel schedules, so we won’t miss out.”
“Either way works for me. Are y’all slammed at Christmas at the bike shop?” Carter would give him time off, no matter what. He knew it.
“Nope. We’re sort of busy with snow bikes and stuff after Thanksgiving until the week before Christmas but then we close for a month, right through January. It’s winter. February is totally dead. We have short hours and a four-day week, and we spend a lot of time cleaning and restocking for the spring.”
“Let’s go for Christmas, then. Do y’all have a big to-do?” Troy had loved Christmas when he was a little boy, then he’d learned to love it again here.
“Huge. Family, extended family, family friends. Anyone who needs a home. We don’t get all my siblings at once, but there are always three or four of us and kids and dogs. Enough food for an army. It’s a nuthouse.” Saul sounded excited about it, those had to be good memories.
“I’ll be happy to help with anything. Honest. You just let me know.” He’d have to just see where he fit in.
“I will do that.” Saul kissed his temple. “Geoff said you’d want to go. I wasn’t sure. People are funny about family sometimes.”
“I miss having a bunch of family around. I haven’t had it for a long, long time.”
“Well, you get me, you get those jokers too. At least at Christmas. Otherwise, we just text mostly. Mom’s in Syracuse now, with Abner and his family, so we’ll go there. Hope you like snow. Like, a lot.”
“I live in the Rockies, man. I like snow.” He grinned, his nose wrinkling with how big it was. “Otherwise I’d be a masochist.”
Saul blinked at him. “Heaven forbid!” Saul lost it, giggling so hard he shook them both.
He cackled, just tickled as all get-out. Damn, he was funny.
“I’ll remember that the next time you’re tied up. Which isn’t aerobic and is still in my toolbox of things we can do until I can fuck you again.” Saul’s laugh grew softer and darker. “Just for the record.”
“I like your records, Sir. I like them a lot.” He reached up to touch Saul’s laugh, trace his lips.
Saul smiled for him. Touched his finger with the tip of a naughty tongue. “Good. And? I’m taking you out on a date Friday night, so decide where you’d like to eat for dinner.”
“You are?” How dear. Honestly. “I’d like that. I’ll even let you drive.”
Saul laughed. “You’re not allowed to drive, you nut. I was thinking dinner, and then depending on your energy level, a movie out, or here. We can have popcorn either way.”
A date, holidays with family, talk about teaching yoga… Saul seemed pretty serious about planning a future together despite… everything. Maybe Saul was right. Maybe six weeks wasn’t forever.