Chapter 116: The Hardness Beneath The Zipper.

Bryce’s breath caught as Vincent guided his hand downward until it settled over the zipper of his pants.

The hardness beneath his palm made his eyes widen slightly. He had not expected Vincent to be aroused, and the realization left him momentarily caught off guard.

When had that happened?

"Am I that boring?" Vincent repeated in a low murmur as he leaned closer, his lips hovering just above Bryce’s. His warm breath brushed across Bryce’s face, raising goosebumps along his skin.

"Not at all," Bryce murmured in response.

The reassurance seemed to be all the encouragement Vincent needed.

He closed the remaining distance between them and captured Bryce’s lips in a kiss, pressing Bryce’s hand more firmly against the hardness beneath his pants.

"Mmhm," he moaned softly against Bryce’s lips as Bryce’s hand instinctively began moving against him through the fabric.

The kiss deepened almost immediately, erasing the conversation they had been having only moments earlier.

Vincent’s earlier questions and the discussion about Dave seemed to fall away as Bryce gave himself over to the moment.

Then, without warning, Vincent shifted his position and guided Bryce beneath him, settling over him as Bryce found himself lying against the couch.

"We’re in the office," Bryce murmured as Vincent leaned down, clearly intending to kiss him again.

"My office," Vincent replied. "Nothing to worry about."

"Didn’t you have some work to do?" Bryce asked. "You know, if we start like this, it’s going to be hard to stop."

"That’s precisely my point," Vincent said, a teasing note entering his voice, though there was a seriousness beneath it that Bryce could not ignore. "I want you so badly right now it feels like I haven’t touched you in years."

The words sent a deep flush across Bryce’s face. His expression turned shy almost immediately, and he tried to suppress it, only for the embarrassment to deepen the more he attempted to hide it.

Then, just as suddenly, his expression changed. The warmth in his face gave way to a faint frown.

"Did you use to do this with Leah on this couch? Saying this to her?"

Vincent stopped.

For a moment, even his breathing seemed to cease. The only sound Bryce could make out was the accelerated beating of Vincent’s heart, a clear indication that his question had affected him. Bryce simply could not tell exactly how.

"We spent some time on this couch, but I didn’t say what I just said to you to her. I’ll buy another couch. Move to another office."

"No need," Bryce replied, although the thought of Vincent having done things with Leah on this same couch, in the same way he now wanted to be with Bryce, had suddenly irritated him.

The feeling was difficult to ignore.

Then he remembered that their ’all three’ first time happened in the same bed Vincent had once shared with Leah. Compared with that, the couch seemed almost insignificant. If he could accept that, then he could ignore this as well.

"No, I’ll have another couch delivered in a few."

"Makes no difference. It’s just a couch and a bed. We already went too far in them," Bryce said, pulling Vincent back down toward him.

"It suddenly makes me sick thinking about it. Let me change them," Vincent insisted.

"Okay, then." Bryce did not argue any further. "But don’t change the office. I like this one more."

"Okay, as you wish, my prince," Vincent replied.

He leaned down, intending only to give Bryce a quick kiss before pulling away to arrange for the new furniture. But one kiss led to another, and then another, until the brief kiss became something far less restrained.

Their lips moved greedily against each other, each kiss drawing them further into the moment. Their mouths parted, their tongues meeting as their breathing gradually became uneven, until neither seemed particularly interested in breaking away.

Vincent unconsciously began moving against Bryce, the friction between them sending waves of heat through their bodies.

Bryce could feel how aroused Vincent had become, and within those few moments, his own body had responded as well.

Everything about Vincent’s touch was maddening. The closeness, the kisses, the movement between them, all of it stirred a pleasure that Bryce could not deny.

And still, beneath that pleasure, something remained unsettled.

Bryce knew exactly what that feeling was and where it came from.

It had started recently, becoming increasingly difficult for him to ignore. No matter how much he enjoyed being with Vincent, some part of him now seemed to need both of them before he could feel completely settled.

Being with one did not erase the desire for the other. Instead, the absence of either left behind a quiet sense that something was incomplete.

Vincent’s lips finally left Bryce’s and moved along his jaw before settling against the side of his neck, directly over the mark that was still there.

He kissed it.

His tongue brushed over the mark, and Bryce shivered beneath him.

"Please, let me mark you again," Vincent repeated, returning to the request he had made earlier before Bryce had changed the subject.

This time, however, there was no fright in his voice and none of the urgency that had accompanied the request before.

What came through now was something far more emotional. The plea and desperation in his voice were unmistakable, as though restoring that mark had become something he needed in order to breathe freely again.

"Can I mark you too?" Bryce asked breathlessly. "If I’m the one doing it, won’t it restore the bond?"

"I don’t know. I’ve never heard about that, but if you want to mark me, go ahead. Bite as deep as you want," Vincent replied.

He exposed his neck to Bryce.

"How do I do it?" Bryce asked.

"Mine happened instinctively, but you need to summon your half-wolf features. All your senses should be focused on the fact that you want to make me yours, like... you want to mark your territory.

Until all you can think about is me and how much I belong to you. When your consciousness becomes that deeply immersed in it, then you just bite. The mark will take root by itself. If you’re not that deeply immersed in it, the bond will not take root."

"Okay," Bryce murmured.

He was already immersed in the thought of Vincent belonging to him. He only needed to deepen that feeling until it reached the intensity Vincent had described.

His fangs had already emerged, grazing Vincent’s neck as he sank further into that territorial instinct. The sensation consumed his thoughts, narrowing his awareness until Vincent was all he could focus on.

He was almost there.

Then suddenly, a knock sounded against the door.

The interruption snapped both of them out of the deep daze they had been falling into.

Vincent groaned in irritation, the sound escaping before he could contain it. But the moment he caught Dave’s faint scent and sensed his presence nearby, the irritation vanished from his face almost as quickly as it had appeared.

"It’s Dave."

"It’s Dave."

Both Vincent and Bryce murmured the same words at the same time.

They sat up, and Vincent gave an okay to enter.