Salvage ~ V1: Nuts and Bolts (Steampunk/ Gaslamp Romantasy ~ F/M, M/M)

Chapter 41: Exquisite Mess ~ pt. 2 (NSFW)

Hours passed in a blur of lips and tongues, hands, soft words and coarse words, tears and laughter, sighs, sweat, entangled limbs, heavy breathing and heated moans, until at last Tamyn collapsed over Abrizhen's back, his very last scrap of energy surely now expired.

He lay his face down on his own damp hair that was plastered across Abrizhen's skin.

He had draped his hair over Abrizhen to deliberately hide that back from his view, but now he lifted his head and moved his hair aside to reveal what he'd been avoiding.

Abrizhen's back, from bottom to top, was a mess of scars.

Thin lines from whips, wide lines from straps, burns of various shapes.

There were more now than there had been in the past, and some of them were still pink, only just healed to the point that the wounds wouldn't reopen.

It made him so angry that he'd almost lost his resolve for the task at hand.

It made him so angry that there was any part of Abrizhen's body that was hard to look at, that anyone could do such a thing to this person he loved so completely, and that Abrizhen had willingly gone back for more of it.

But that same anger had always made him want to give Abrizhen as much pleasure as he possibly could, to wrap him in a bubble of love and bliss, to be an antidote to his suffering.

Abrizhen had never liked to be separated right away at this moment, so Tamyn lay there on him for a long while, still inside him, kept his hand under his hips although it was being crushed under the weight of two people now, and laid his cheek down on those scars, listening to Abrizhen's heartbeat through his back, pounding at first, then slowing and calming.

Finally, he slowly pulled himself up, smiling at Abrizhen's soft moan as they disconnected. He looked down over Abrizhen's shoulder, where he still lay face down in the pillows, and kissed the tip of his ear.

"Everything alright?" Tamyn asked with a light laugh.

"Mm hmm."

"Can you breath like that?"

"Mm mm."

Tamyn rolled off of him and sat up against the headboard.

"Come, get your face out of there," he admonished.

Abrizhen rolled over and nuzzled his face into the side of Tamyn's waist, throwing one arm over his lap. Tamyn pulled the quilt over to cover them both.

"I'm exhausted," Abrizhen complained. "I don't remember this being so exhausting."

"That's the release of all the stress you've been holding," Tamyn said gently. "What you've had to endure... that kind of stress can take a toll on a person. I could teach you some Contemplation techniques to manage it."

"You'd probably have to spend a lot of time with me then, to teach me?" Abrizhen grinned. "But I'd probably get easily distracted, by other activities."

He nibbled at Tamyn's waist and laughed.

"If you could stay focused, though, you'd be less exhausted after those other activities. Especially if you insist on packing eight years into a few hours. Are we all caught up now?"

"Mmm, not even close..." Abrizhen murmured against Tamyn's skin.

Tamyn lightly swatted his arm.

"We should get up," he said. "You need to get back as soon as possible."

"No!" Abrizhen said, sitting up in alarm. "I told you, I'm not going back."

Tamyn sighed and gave him a serious look.