Gray's Shadow (Kings of Hell MC 4)

The heat of his touch made Gray’s toes curl as he floated in the warm water, able to only hear and feel. “What other ways are there?” he asked, his voice echoing slightly off the tiled walls.

“I would like to cover you completely. Especially like this, in the water. If you let me, I would cover you the way I had when we were on the job. But this would be different, relaxed, skin to skin.”

Something inside Gray twisted in anticipation, and he inhaled the vapor, sliding his fingers down Shadow’s bare thighs. “I want it. You tight around me.”

“Don’t be scared. I will let you breathe,” Shadow’s voice got that edge of excitement Gray lived for.

Shadow removed his hands, and from the sound of it—put them on the edges of the tub. Gray already missed the hug, but then the warm embrace was back, slightly hotter and much smoother than human skin could ever be. Shadow ran his fingers over Gray’s chest like before, but even without seeing them, Gray knew they were black as coal.

A part of him was on the verge of panic when the smooth heat slid up his neck and teased the rim of his lips, remaining tight against him instead of just creating a barrier around his form like it had every time before. But another part of him itched for more and had him lick the smoky and sweet substance that made up Shadow’s material soul. The sex they’d had so far had been like nothing else he’d experienced, but this? This was something else altogether.

His lover’s form consumed him, making him weightless in the water, and it felt like being held and having every inch of skin caressed all at once.

Gray was transcending his own body and allowing Shadow to make them one.

He could smell Shadow all over, a gentle, soothing scent that rubbed into his skin from all directions at once as the smooth warm substance shifted, remaining in a subtle yet constant movement. His breathing went shallow, and his insides throbbed in anticipation as Shadow’s blackness covered his cock, his eyelids, filled his lips and made his tongue tingle with unknown sensations.

When they inhaled next, they did so as one body. “Are you inside too?” Gray whispered.

“I am everywhere,” came in that raspy tone Shadow produced when out of his human skin. “I can feel every single bit of you.”

It was true for Gray as well. There was even pleasure in the way the shadow form poured into his ears, teasing them with every breath Gray took, yet pushing away even more of the world around them by muffling sound.

If anyone had tried to tie him up when he was so vulnerable, naked, Gray would have gone mad with anxiety, but with Shadow he relaxed. He let go in the comfort of knowing that Shadow would never let anything bad happen to him.

He was beyond time, beyond place, floating in the heat of his lover’s embrace—perfectly safe and so happy his heart might have stopped a few times from emotional overload. His mind became muddled, all problems and worries of the world forgotten. He wouldn’t have to deal with them for as long as Shadow held him like this.

He didn’t know how long it all lasted, but at some point Shadow’s embrace receded until it was only a cellophane-thin coating. When even that broke, the assault of cold water on Gray’s skin was a shock to his system so violent he twitched against Shadow and quickly turned around to hug him.

“Oh, shit! What... why is it so cold?” he asked, trying to keep his teeth from clattering. Shadow’s body was also cooler than usual, but as soon as their limbs slotted together, Gray felt the usual sense of peace.

Shadow was shivering too, but he laughed and rubbed Gray’s cool arms. “You were so comfortable, I didn’t have the heart to pull you out.”

“Oh? How long did it last?” Gray asked, pulling Shadow up, into the cold air.

“A few hours?” Shadow guided Gray out of the tub, but turned on the light.

Gray sighed at the sight of his lover’s pale, shivering body. “Let’s get you into bed. How did this work? You can’t be out for more than a couple of minutes without risk.”

“We were on top of my body, so I kept dipping in and out.” Shadow did stumble slightly when he rushed into the bedroom, but Gray held him up, still dizzy from the pleasure of floating as one with Shadow.

“It was… incredible. It’s like you’ve reset my mind,” Gray said, uncovering the bed and letting Shadow in. Fortunately, the heating was back on, so the temperature was way more bearable than a few hours back.

Gray couldn’t comprehend how the time had gone by. It had been like the blink of an eye, yet he could still remember it feeling like days on end. Another glorious thing his lover could do.