Mal complies immediately, no fight in him at this point, only eagerness. He strips off his shirt first, pulls it over his head in a swift motion before he chucks it over to the supply table where his bag sits. His shoes and socks come next, kicked off in a somehow attractive, flawless manner that Mal always seems to be able to pull off. Finally he gets to his jeans, shucking them down without preamble, revealing what’s underneath.

Tonight, he’d wanted to wear the jockstrap that Rowan bought him for his birthday. The gold threads shimmer in the overhead lights, accentuating the bulge between his thighs. The straps frame his ass perfectly, digging in tight enough for the soft fat on the sides of his hips to bulge out a bit over the sides.

Rowan grabs him by his hips, tugging him forward flush against his chest. Someone in the crowd whistles, a high-pitched wolf call that makes Rowan surge forward into Mal, grinding his hard cock against his thigh. The attention feels good. Whether it’s more for Mal or for himself or for the both of them combined, it doesn’t matter to Rowan.

Pressed hard against Mal’s body, he stares down into Mal’s gold eyes, slowly but surely being encompassed by black and blinking up at him. He sees the love there, reflected back at him, and it makes his knees weak. He manages to keep them both upright despite threatening to buckle and guides Mal back to the cross. He cuffs first his wrists, then his ankles, kissing the inside of his thigh as he dips down to each leg.

With Mal all trussed up, Rowan steps back to inspect his sub. He’s gorgeous, the hard planes of his body taut and begging to be touched. So Rowan does, running his hands over every inch of exposed skin that he can reach. The heat of Mal’s body fuels him, as do the dozens of pairs of eyes that he can feel boring into him from behind. But this worship of his boyfriend’s body isn’t for show by any stretch—it’s something he’ll gladly do for the rest of time if Mal will let him.

He doesn’t interact with the crowd at all. This may be a performance, a show, but it’s mostly for them. For him and Mal. While they both love being watched, Mal admittedly more of an exhibitionist than Rowan, they could easily go without. Could easily focus on each other and forget the rest of the outside world ever existed.