Page 12 of Those That Defy the Realm

“Sorry,” he says again. He takes a deep inhale and then exhales in a rush through his mouth before lifting his head once more to give me some eye contact. “I’ve never done this before.”

My head tilts in confusion. “You mean⁠—”

“With a guy,” he blurts out, cutting me off. “I’ve never had sex with a guy.”

I can’t help the heat which coils in my belly with his admission that he thinks this was leading to sex. I definitely was absolutely hoping for sex, but I’d have settled for a lot of making out and maybe some heavy petting as well.

“Have you done anything with a male before?” Despite my body being raring to go, my mind is still functioning. And I wouldn’t want to make Henry do anything he doesn’t want. His lack of opportunity is surprising however. I know vampires have to live in hiding and all that but it's the males of the species that still exist in larger numbers. Even if he didn’t want to risk sex with a human or a fae, surely he could’ve hooked up with a queer male of his own species.

“I’m straight.”

And those two words make me feel like a total jackass. Shit. Was he just being polite? Did he let me kiss him just now to be nice? He does seem like that kind of guy. And I just leapt on him without asking first.

Removing my hands from his chest, I push against the sofa cushions on either side of his head to try and extricate myself from his lap more forcefully this time, spewing more apologies as I wish for the ground to swallow me whole.

It takes me several seconds of forceful wiggling to realise I’ve not moved. Henry’s legs are still between mine and whilst I’m leaning as far back as he’s allowing, I am still sitting on his thighs. His hands are like iron bars across my back.

“Please let me go so I can scrub the last few minutes from my mind. I’m aware I’ve fully fucked up and I understand if you can’t forget it and just wish to leave,” I whine.

“Hey,” Henry’s tone is much more soothing than I anticipate. I don’t relax fully, but I do drop my arms from where I’d been pushing hard in my attempt to run away. “You didn’t fuck up. I let you kiss me,” he says.

“No, no. I should’ve asked first. This isn’t justification, but I thought I’d read the signs and I made the assumption. I’m sorry.”

“Will you stop apologising? I’m fine. It was a surprise, but I wouldn’t have let you move past the initial kiss if I didn’t like it.”

My eyes narrow slightly as I try to put his words together. I still feel uncomfortable in his lap, but I shuffle slightly forward again so I’m not in danger of falling backwards onto the coffee table. Henry’s arms soften their grip slightly but he doesn’t remove them from my back.

“What is going on here?” I’ve learned my lesson tonight about making assumptions and will be asking all of the questions going forward.

“I’m not sure I understand myself…” Henry chuckles softly. “Sorry, that’s not helpful.”

“If I can’t apologise, neither can you,” I tell him. “But please, tell me what’s going on in your head right now.”

A look of intense concentration etches onto his face and it makes a few tendrils of his chocolate coloured hair flop onto his forehead. “I’m straight. I’ve never felt anything akin to sexual attraction to another male before. At least I don’t think I have.

“But when you kissed me, I didn’t dislike it. Far from it. It was a shock but I’m sure you felt how into it I was getting.” He laughs again. That smile that melts my insides showing itself. Although, this one has a shy edge to it.

“So you’re telling me I’ve just caused you a queer awakening?” I ask.

“I guess so, yes.” He tilts his head to the side in contemplation, but his eyes meet mine, showing me the sincerity of his words.

“And you’re not freaking out?” I say the words slowly. I am so far out of my depth here. I’ve always known that I liked all genders. I never went through this sudden realisation, let alone thrust it onto someone else.

Henry thinks for a few seconds before responding. His hands shift on my back again, as if he’s testing something. “No, I’m not freaking out. Quite the opposite in fact. I’m wondering how I’ve not known this about myself until now but that’s something I can deal with later.”

“Later?”

“Yeah.” He lowers his hands off me, and I feel the loss of contact keenly. “I’d rather continue exploring.” To my further surprise his hands come to the sides of my thighs like he’s about to tug me deeper onto his lap. “If you’re okay with being my teacher that is.”

“What do you want to do?” My tongue feels stuck to the roof of my mouth so my words come out slightly choked. Hope starts dangerously overtaking the caution swimming inside me.

“I don’t know. What do you want to show me?” Henry’s eyes alight with a spark that has my dick twitching back to life.

“You’re asking me to show you how to have sex?”

“I know the mechanics.” He pauses. “And maybe I’m not ready for anything involving penetration. But can I explore? With you?”

“Promise me you’ll tell me if anything makes you uncomfortable or uneasy?”