Hapless (6 page)

“Yes.”

Ty huffed a laugh. Lightheaded and heart pounding, his hands shook as he slid the ring on Micah’s finger.

“My turn,” Micah said, taking Ty’s hands and threading their fingers. “Tyler Patrick Thompson, you are annoying and perfect, and I’m so glad you asked me for my number that day in the student center. I can’t imagine my life without you and your perfectionism and your smile and your random-ass thoughts and your happiness. Please marry me.”

“Yes.”

The ring Micah slid on his finger was cool to the touch, and without realizing it, they had both picked wide silver bands, though with different designs.

Ty admired it, overcome with affection.

“Now,” he said, “we have to take one of those pictures where we show off our rings, but it looks like we’re flicking off the camera.”

Micah snorted. “Winnie would love that.”

“By the way, she’s going to be our maid of honor. I kind of promised.”

“Figures she would weasel her way into our wedding somehow.”

Ty laughed. He rubbed a hand over his face, the edge of the ring catching on his lip. He was engaged. Fuck, he was engaged. Finally. The relief of it washed over him, and he sank all the way to the floor. He starfished on the carpet, not caring about the cider or the afghan, and relaxed.

If it weren’t for Micah crawling over top of him, Ty was sure he could float away. But Micah’s knees bracketed Ty’s hips and his chest was pressed close, his elbows planted right by Ty’s shoulders.

“You are entirely too cute.”

“That’s my line.”

“No,” Micah said, lips a breath away from the skin of Ty’s jaw. “It’s my line today. I can’t believe you tried so many times because you wanted it to be perfect. Who does that?”

“A fucking asshole, apparently.”

“Nah, a guy who maybe put too much thought into the how and kind of forgot about the who and the why. But I’ll forgive him because he tried.”

“That’s why I’m marrying you.” And the words felt good in Ty’s mouth, the shape of them comforting and wonderful. “Because you put up with my bad logic.”

Humming, Micah leaned forward and caught Ty’s lips in a kiss. It warmed Ty down to his bones, and they kissed languidly, Ty lying spread out on the carpet, Micah kneeling above him.

After a long few minutes, Micah pulled away, his smile impish, his eyes twinkling.

“Want to have engaged Christmas Eve sex?”

Ty arched beneath Micah’s weight, the hard line of his cock pushing against Micah’s inner thigh. “You have to ask?”

As playful as their words were, the moment was intimate, fragile, weighted with the possibilities of their future, the commitment, and journey yet to come. And as they stumbled down the hall, pulling off clothes as they went, Ty kept his fingers in contact with Micah’s skin, his lips pressed to Micah’s mouth when possible. He craved the touch; he needed the reassurance, the comfort of Micah’s skin against his.

They fell to the bed, and Ty mouthed “I love yous” into the dips and planes of Micah’s body, pressing the words into him, hoping the sentiment would fill him up until he was as happy as Ty was, joyous and bursting like a firework. Micah tangled his fingers in Ty’s hair as he kissed his way down, licking and nipping the thin skin on Micah’s ribs and hips, Micah squirming beneath him.

Ty paused for a moment, panting wetly over the head of Micah’s hard dick.

“Yeah,” Micah said, spreading his legs. “That’s what I want.”

Ty didn’t hesitate. He licked the hard length, then swallowed Micah down. He loved the feeling of Micah in his mouth, the dichotomy of velvet skin and hard cock, the familiar taste of him on his tongue. And with years of experience of knowing what made Micah moan and thrust, fidget, and curse, Ty expertly wrung the orgasm out of him.

Slowly Ty pulled off and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Good?”

Micah nodded slowly.

Smirking, Ty kissed Micah’s stomach. “Who’s sex stupid now?”

“You will be soon,” Micah said, and Ty found the bottle of lube they kept in the nightstand thrust at him. Then Micah spread his legs wider, bent them at the knee, heels digging into the mattress.

Ty took the hint, knew what was being asked of him, given to him. He opened Micah with his fingers and tongue, played until Micah was writhing, pushing back on Ty’s hand, his dick hard again. When Ty pulled away, Micah flipped to his stomach.

“I want you like this,” he said, face in the pillow.

Cock aching and throat tight, Ty nodded. He pushed into the warm clutch of Micah’s body. Molded to Micah from shoulder to thigh, he knew why Micah wanted it this way. Ty could feel every tremor of Micah’s frame, could count his hitching breaths, could taste the salt of his skin. Ty filled him up, surrounded him, reveled in every inch of his body. Ty reached forward, threaded their fingers together, and pushed Micah’s arms outward into a sprawl, pinning him to the mattress under Ty’s full weight. Their rings clinked and Ty gasped at the sound, could’ve died with joy from it alone.

Ty didn’t feel the need to rush, and his thrusts were slow and steady, unrelenting in the unhurried speed even when Micah attempted to push back. Stammering a litany of filthy nothings, Micah came again, and Ty fucked him through it until Micah was sated, limp, and sweaty.

“Come on, babe,” he said, breathy and quiet, reaching back to grasp Ty’s slick thigh. “I can take it.”

It was all the permission Ty needed, and their sweet moment evaporated as Ty gave in to the need that had built within him since their first kiss on the carpet. His orgasm wrenched out of him as he spilled deep inside his fiancé and then collapsed, forehead pressed between Micah’s shoulder blades.

It took a long few minutes for Ty to regain any sense of functioning, and he rolled off Micah into the sheets, sweat cooling on his skin, heartbeat slowing. He stretched his hands above his head and sank into the mattress, languid and happy and
relieved
.

“If that’s engaged sex, married sex is going to be off the charts,” Micah said, staring at Ty with his face half-buried into the pillow. “Let me know when you’re ready to go again.”

Ty laughed and pushed his limp hair from his forehead. “I can’t wait to marry you.”

“Yeah?” Micah asked. His face lit up like the star at the top of the tree.

“Yeah,” Ty confirmed.

“Good. But how about you let me plan the ceremony? Since you utterly suck at this stuff.”

Ty grabbed the nearest pillow and smacked Micah over the head with it.

C
HRISTMAS
MORNING
dawned early with a text from Bronwyn in Michigan. Micah and Ty took the requisite picture of their rings and texted it back, and both promptly turned off their phones.

Ty didn’t want to be bothered for the rest of the day.

Especially since his fiancé decided to walk around their apartment wearing only his ring and his new pair of lucky socks.

Rainbow-colored, of course.

31 stories of holiday love!

www.dreamspinnerpress.com

T
HERESE
W
OODSON
is a wife, mother of two, and writer of stories who lives in the mountains of North Carolina. She is an avid reader of all literature. She holds two degrees—one in Psychology and one in English Literature—and hopes to pursue an MFA in Creative Writing in the near future. She is a fan of watching bad television shows, superhero movies, and anything sci-fi. She loves creating interesting characters, universes, and plots with happy endings.

Twitter: @writer_reese

Blog: theresewritesthings.wordpress.com

All in a Day’s Work (Dreamspinner Anthology)

Betrothed: A Faery Tale

Hapless

Sweat and Smoke

The Trouble with Elves

Twelve Tasks

A
ERIAL
C
ITY

Clockwork Horizon

Clockwork Bargain

Published by
D
REAMSPINNER
P
RESS

www.dreamspinnerpress.com

Faery royalty have always married for duty rather than love. Prince Chrysanths should be no different—except with a human for a father, the prince known as Puck already 
is
 different. When he is betrothed against his will to Prince Sky, Puck flees to his father in the human world, only to have Sky follow.

Prince Sky Song of the Clouds isn’t thrilled with the prospect of marriage either, but is bound by duty to follow through. If he can’t win Puck over, the faery realm might very well dissolve into utter chaos. Too busy arguing, Puck and Sky are unaware there are others with a vested interest in seeing the betrothal fail. In a bid for Puck’s crown, they’ll seek to keep them apart, even as Puck and Sky realize that duty and love don’t always have to be mutually exclusive.

www.dreamspinnerpress.com

Cal Martin loathes Christmas music, especially the clichéd carols pumped through the mall speakers on endless loop. Even worse is the holiday-themed hell of Santa's Village that looms right in front of the sports store he manages. It's yet another hurdle for Cal as he tries to survive the world of retail during the soul-sucking holiday season… until he catches a glimpse of one of Santa's elves and becomes infatuated with the cheery, gorgeous guy dressed in candy-cane tights.

Of course, just walking up to the guy and asking him out isn't easy, and a botched attempt at matchmaking ends up turning a simple courtship into a mess for the gossip page. What can Cal do to overcome his social ineptitude, correct erroneous assumptions, and maybe have a merry little Christmas of his own?

www.dreamspinnerpress.com

Routine makes Eliot Taylor happy. He thinks. He goes to work, goes to school, and lives with his two best friends. Except lately, something’s missing. While he’s hungover from New Year’s Eve, Eliot’s friend Jen coerces him into a New Year’s resolution. They agree to try one new activity per month for an entire year.