Page 58 of Merrick

“Maybe,” Merrick muttered.

“Don’t do that anymore.”

Merrick was crying fully at that point, tears cascading like tiny waterfalls from the corners of his eyes.

“Is that an order?”

“Very much,” he said. “The most important one you’ll ever get from me.”

“Okay, then. Yes, Sir.”

Wilder straightened up, pressed the heel of his palm into the base of his thickening cock.

“This punishment was for not telling me what was wrong on your own,” he said. “You have another one coming for not having coffee ready for me when I woke up.”

That brought Merrick’s dick to life, a valiant twitch against his thigh at Wilder’s words.

“I understand.”

“I don’t think you do yet, but you will soon.” He glanced at the clock on the stove. He was going to be late for work, but like everything had been so far with Merrick, it would be worth it.

CHAPTER 21

Merrick

It tooksix months to get everything organized for his first art show. Finding a location to host had been easy, coming up with the theme was the hard part. Taking time away from Wilder to paint in privacy was harder. Merrick believed Wilder truly enjoyed sitting on the couch behind him while he painted, and Merrick loved that too, but he wanted as many of these pieces to be a surprise to Wilder as he could manage.

In the end, his brother had been a big help keeping Wilder busy so Merrick could get his work done. They’d gotten closer since Bryce moved in with Holden, and Merrick had met Wilder’s friends too. It was a curious thing to be accepted by people with open arms from the drop. Merrick didn’t have to perform or be anything other than who he was. If he talked too much, Wilder’s friends listened. There was no judgment, no competition.

For the first time in his life, he felt comfortable in his skin.

Well, not specifically in that exact moment, because while he waited for the doors to open on his show, there was a leather band bound tightly around his dick, keeping him swollen and hard. Wilder had taken care to put the ring around his cockand balls before he left for the show, patting his thick erection through the fly of his pants once he was zipped in. He hoped his arousal wasn’t obvious, but Wilder promised him everyone would be looking at Merrick’s art, not his junk.

“It all looks so good,” Bryce said, coming to stand beside Merrick and knocking their elbows together.

“Do you think so?”

His brother nodded. “This one is gorgeous.”

“I was working on it when I met him,” he said. “I didn’t know how to finish it.”

“Then he made you come so hard you saw stars and suddenly understood the color patterns you needed to make it work?”

Merrick’s jaw went slack and he glanced down at his brother, who smirked up at him knowingly. “I can’t paint like you, but I’ve got Holden so…I get it.”

“Can we pretend we didn’t have this conversation?”

“This is the first time you haven’t had something to say,” Bryce teased. “I think we need to talk about sex more often.”

“I regret letting you in to help me set up.” He gave his brother the finger and shoved him, heading toward the small green room at the back of the art gallery. He met the owner, Roland, and his husband, Donny, on the way back.

“I’m going to go ahead and open the doors up,” Roland said after they shook hands. “That good for you?”

Merrick knew Wilder was outside, that he was the first in line. “Perfect.”

Donny patted him on the back and trailed his much taller husband to the front door. Merrick didn’t have it in himself to be alone in the gallery once the doors opened, so he closed himself in the green room, forehead pressed against the back of the door. The noise of the gallery grew louder in his ears, and Merrick’s palms started to sweat. Seconds turned into minutes turned into half an hour, and a knock on the door startled him backward.

“I’m coming!” he called out.