When Mal notices him, he doesn’t comment on the deer-in-headlights response. Instead, he wordlessly holds out his cigarette.

As Rowan gets his limbs to move and takes a deep drag, smoke filling and burning his lungs, he thinks he may have found a few more puzzle pieces too.

Chapter 5: The Loving Dom

ON SUNDAY morning, Rowan wakes to the warmth of the sun on his face and the faint chirping of birds from the nearby trees. Despite the exertion and excitement of last night, his body feels sated, relaxed in a way he hasn’t in a long time.

He has nothing planned today aside from laundry and meal prep for the week. And seeing how long he can go without jerking his dick raw at the memories of last night. As soon as he thinks about it, there’s a slow spreading heat in his belly and groin, his cock plumping up at the thought of Mal on his knees, mouth tight around him, eyes dark with arousal.

It’s enough to get him to reach beneath his comforter and grope himself through his briefs. He’s already half hard and well on his way to losing the bet he made with himself, but fuck it, he’s feeling good and in no hurry to end that any time soon. He keeps his touch light, teasing almost, and lets his thighs spread and his body sink further into his mattress as the memories of last night flit through his mind like an old film reel, slightly hazy but clear enough to remember the important details.

Like how Mal looked up at him with the coil of rope pulled taut between his hands. Like how he whined so beautifully nearly every time Rowan touched him. Like how he asked permission to come, then immediately came around Rowan’s cock.

God.

Rowan’s partial chub perks up as he palms himself, and all too quickly he’s achingly hard and the indirect touch isn’t enough. He slips his hand under the waistband of his briefs, breath catching when he finally circles his cock. With a firm grip, he gives himself two long pumps, and he’s so turned on but hasn’t even been hard long enough for there to be enough precome to ease his motions. He rolls to the side with a huff, hand still down his briefs, and pumps the bottle of lube he has laid on his nightstand.

He hadn’t intended on jerking off this early in the day, but now that his hand’s slick with lube, it’s become a thing, and he’s going to indulge. He shoves his briefs halfway down his thighs with his clean hand, the band catching on his cockhead and making it slap back against his belly. As soon as he gets his hand back on his cock, the heat of it makes the lube nearly melt off.