Chapter 44: Objection Overruled… by His Cock -8

The full heat hit in the dark hours before dawn. Julian woke with a broken sound already in his throat, body arched and shaking, skin slick with sweat. The need was no longer a spike. It was a continuous, grinding wave that left no room for thought. His cock was hard and leaking against his stomach. Slick ran freely down his thighs. The scent of his heat filled the entire master suite, sweet and desperate and impossible to ignore.

Gabriel was already awake beside him. The moment Julian moved, Gabriel’s arms closed around him and pulled him close.

"I have you," Gabriel said against his temple. "Tell me what you need."

Julian turned in his arms and shoved him onto his back. "Inside me. Now. Do not make me wait."

He straddled Gabriel’s hips, reached down, and guided the thick length of his cock to his entrance. There was no preparation needed. He sank down in one continuous motion until he was seated fully, the half-swollen knot pressing hard against his rim. Both of them groaned. Julian’s head tipped back. His hands braced on Gabriel’s chest as the first real wave of relief rolled through him.

"Move," he ordered, voice raw.

Gabriel’s hands gripped his hips and helped him rise and fall. The pace started hard and stayed that way. Julian fucked himself down onto Gabriel’s cock with single-minded need, every descent forcing the thick length deep enough to make his breath stutter. Slick poured out of him with every stroke, coating Gabriel’s thighs and the sheets. The wet sound of it filled the room.

Gabriel thrust up to meet him. "You feel so fucking perfect like this. Open and dripping and finally not holding anything back."

Julian leaned forward, hands on either side of Gabriel’s head, and rode him harder. "Talk less. Fill me more."

Gabriel rolled them without pulling out. He pinned Julian beneath him and drove in deep, the new angle dragging over the spot that made Julian’s vision blur. Julian’s legs wrapped tight around his waist. His heels dug into Gabriel’s lower back, urging him deeper. Gabriel gave him everything he asked for, long powerful thrusts that forced the headboard against the wall in a steady rhythm.

"Knot me," Julian demanded. "I need it locked. I need to feel you stay."

Gabriel’s control snapped. His thrusts turned short and deep. The knot swelled fast and locked tight on the next push. The pressure of it expanding inside Julian dragged a broken cry from his throat. Gabriel’s hand wrapped around Julian’s cock and stroked him through it. Julian came hard, spilling between their bodies in thick pulses while his ass clenched rhythmically around the knot.

Gabriel followed with a low, guttural sound, burying his face against the side of Julian’s neck as he flooded him in long hot waves. The knot kept every drop sealed inside. They stayed locked together while the first wave of heat eased, bodies pressed tight, breathing harsh.

It did not last long.

Barely an hour later the need surged again. Julian was already pushing back against the knot still inside him, hips rolling in small desperate circles.

"Again," he said. "It is not enough yet."

Gabriel’s mouth found his. The kiss was deep and open. When the knot softened enough to ease free, a thick rush of come and slick followed. Gabriel did not give him time to miss the fullness. He pushed two fingers inside, scooped the mess deeper, then replaced them with his cock in one smooth thrust. Julian’s back arched. A soft, grateful sound left him.

This round was slower only in the beginning. Once Julian’s body opened fully around him again Gabriel set a deep, relentless pace. He hooked Julian’s legs over his shoulders and folded him nearly in half, driving down into him with every stroke. The new depth pulled raw sounds from Julian’s throat that he no longer tried to swallow.

"Look at me," Gabriel said.

Julian’s eyes were dark and fever-bright. "I am looking. Do not stop."

Gabriel did not stop. He fucked him through the second peak until Julian came untouched, cock jerking and spilling across his own stomach while his body milked Gabriel’s cock with desperate clenches. Gabriel knotted him again a few strokes later, locking deep and pulsing hot inside him with a possessive growl against his mouth.

They drifted in and out of sleep still joined. Every time the heat rose Julian woke reaching for him. Gabriel never made him ask twice.

By the second day the sheets were ruined. The air in the suite was thick with the scent of sex and heat and the bond that was forming whether they named it or not. Julian’s voice had gone hoarse from the sounds he could no longer hold back. Gabriel’s shoulders and back carried the marks of Julian’s nails and teeth.

Late on the second afternoon Julian pushed Gabriel onto his back again and sank down onto him with a broken sigh of relief. This time he stayed seated fully, rolling his hips in slow, grinding circles that kept the thick length pressed against the spot that made his thighs shake.

"You feel that?" Julian asked, voice low and wrecked. "That is me choosing this. Choosing you. No more court. No more walls. Just this."

Gabriel’s hands stroked up his sides and settled on his waist. "I have been choosing you for years. I just did not know how to say it without turning it into a fight."

Julian leaned down and kissed him, slow and deep, while he continued to rock on his cock. "Then stop fighting and take what is yours."

Gabriel sat up, wrapped his arms around him, and thrust up into the heat of his body. They moved together like that for a long time, chests pressed close, mouths open against each other, the pace building from slow and deep to hard and desperate. When the knot locked this time Julian came with a long, shuddering cry, face buried against Gabriel’s neck. Gabriel followed, arms tight around him, flooding him once more while the bond between them settled heavier and more permanent with every pulse.

Night fell again. The heat still burned, but the sharpest edge had begun to dull. They lay tangled in the ruined sheets, Gabriel still half-hard inside him, neither of them willing to separate completely.

Julian’s fingers traced slow patterns over Gabriel’s chest. "Three days. That is what the peak usually lasts."

Gabriel’s hand stroked down his spine. "Then we stay for three days. The city can wait. The case can wait. Everything else can wait."

Julian turned his head and found Gabriel’s mouth in the dark. The kiss was slower now, lingering, the kind that no longer needed to prove anything. Outside the cabin the woods stayed quiet. Inside, the only sounds left were their breathing and the soft shift of bodies that still could not bear to be more than an inch apart.

The heat would rise again before morning. When it did, they would meet it the same way they had met every wave since the first: open, raw, and completely unwilling to let go.

---

The heat finally broke on the morning of the fourth day. Julian woke clear-headed for the first time since the spike began. His body still ached in deep, satisfied places, but the grinding need had eased into something quieter. The sheets were a lost cause. The air in the suite still carried the heavy scent of everything they had done. Gabriel lay beside him, awake and watching, one hand resting on the curve of Julian’s hip.

Julian turned onto his side to face him. "It is over."

Gabriel’s thumb stroked slow circles against his skin. "I know. I can smell the change."

They stayed quiet for a while. Rain had started again outside, soft against the windows. Julian reached up and traced the line of Gabriel’s collarbone with his fingertips.

"You have been holding back something," Julian said. "Even through the worst of it. I could feel it."

Gabriel’s eyes met his. "I want to mark you. Properly. A permanent claim on your scent gland. But only if you want it too. I will not do it without your clear yes."

Julian was silent for a few seconds. Then he shifted closer until their foreheads touched. "Yes. I want it. I want to walk back into that city carrying proof that I chose this. That I chose you."

Gabriel’s breath left him in a slow exhale. "Then come here."

He guided Julian onto his back and settled between his thighs. The kiss he gave him was unhurried and deep, mouths open, tongues sliding in a rhythm that had nothing left to prove. Julian’s hands rose to Gabriel’s shoulders and held on. Gabriel’s palm stroked down his side, over the curve of his hip, then between his legs. He found him already slick again, body still soft and open from days of use. Two fingers pressed inside and curled gently.

Julian’s head tipped back against the pillows. A soft sound left him. "I do not need much. I just need you."

Gabriel kissed the words from his mouth. He withdrew his fingers, lined up, and pushed in with one long, careful thrust. The slide was easy and complete. He buried himself to the hilt and stayed there, letting Julian feel every inch while their breathing synced.

"Look at me," Gabriel said quietly.

Julian did. His eyes were clear and steady. "I am looking. Mark me when you are ready. I am not going anywhere."

Gabriel started to move. The pace stayed deep and measured, every stroke rolling his hips so the thick base of his cock dragged against Julian’s rim. There was no rush. No frantic edge left from the heat. Only the slow build of something heavier. Julian’s legs wrapped around his waist. His heels pressed into the small of Gabriel’s back, keeping him close.

Gabriel’s mouth found the side of Julian’s throat. He kissed the skin over the scent gland, open and lingering, tasting the place he intended to claim. Julian’s fingers slid into his hair and held him there.

"Do it," Julian whispered. "I want to feel it."

Gabriel’s thrusts deepened. The knot at the base of his cock began to swell, catching a little more with every withdrawal. He kept the rhythm steady, one hand braced beside Julian’s head, the other stroking Julian’s cock in the same unhurried pace. The dual sensation pulled soft, broken sounds from Julian’s throat that he no longer tried to hide.

"I have wanted this for years," Gabriel murmured against his skin. "Every time you stood across from me in court I wanted to put my mouth right here and make sure everyone knew."

Julian’s breath hitched. "Then stop wanting and take it."

Gabriel pushed in one final time and locked deep. The pressure of the knot expanding inside Julian dragged a long, shuddering sound from him. At the same moment Gabriel’s mouth opened over the scent gland and bit down hard. The sharp pain bloomed into heat that raced down Julian’s spine. His body clenched hard around the knot as he came, spilling between them in thick pulses while the claim settled into his skin.

Gabriel followed a second later, a low possessive sound vibrating against Julian’s throat as he pulsed deep, flooding him while the bond locked into place. He kept his teeth in the mark until the last of the aftershocks faded, then licked the broken skin with careful strokes of his tongue. The copper taste of blood mixed with the scent of their release.

They stayed joined while their breathing slowed. Gabriel’s forehead rested against Julian’s. His hand stroked slow paths up and down Julian’s side. The fresh mark on Julian’s throat throbbed in time with his pulse, already beginning to seal under the claim.

Julian’s voice was quiet when he finally spoke. "It is done."

Gabriel lifted his head enough to look at the mark. Pride and something softer sat in his expression. "It is done. You are mine. I am yours. No more hiding it when we go back."

Julian’s fingers traced the line of Gabriel’s jaw. "Good. I am tired of pretending I do not want the entire city to know."

When the knot finally softened enough to ease free, Gabriel did not pull away at once. He stayed close, mouth returning to the fresh mark to soothe it with soft kisses and careful licks. Julian’s hands stroked through his hair, holding him there.

Outside the rain continued. Inside the cabin the air felt different, heavier with the settled weight of the bond. They had three more hours before they needed to think about packing the car and returning to the city. Neither of them was in a hurry to move.