Page 84 of Praised
My breath lodged in my throat, but Rose was headed back to me at that point, flanked by Grayson and Owen on either side of them. Grayson kicked the edge of Rob’s shoe until Rob let his arm fall off the armrest of the chair, and Grayson lowered himself to perch on the edge. Rob’s hand returned protectively to his knee at the same time Archie hauled Owen right down onto his lap, and Rose came around to stand beside me, unsure of where to go or what to do next.
“Everything good?” I asked, reaching for his hand.
His jaw was set, but not tense, like he’d made some sort of decision over there in the corner and, for better or worse, he was going to stick with it.
“Did you want to sit?”
The corner of his mouth twisted into something that was almost a smile, but mostly a grimace.
“Can I…” Rose trailed off, but used his body to finish the sentence. His knees landed on the floor beside my feet and he folded his hands together across the top of my knee, blinking up at me with wide and unsure eyes.
I knew Archie said something, or maybe it was Dalton, but I didn’t hear the words over the whooshing in my ears as my focus widened and then narrowed down to one singular point in front of me.
“You don’t have to do this,” I said.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want it, but…
I supposed there was no but, really.
“I want to see how it feels.” Rose cleared his throat and tipped his chin down. “Sir.”
“You’re going to make him come in his pants,” Grayson said.
“How embarrassing,” Archie chimed in.
I gave the both of them the finger, my stare still locked on Rose and the angelic expression that had manifested on his face as soon as he landed on his knees.
“Do you like it?” he asked softly. “Do you like me here?”
“I like you everywhere,” I promised him, the very real truth.
“But here especially?”
I managed a nod, still in awe of the sight before me.
“What did you and Owen and Grayson talk about?” I asked. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
“Are you worried?” He tilted his head to the side, chin angled up again like he did when he was trying to be brave.
Like a king on his fucking knees for me.
“Curious.”
“Owen had a lot to say,” he whispered, changing the direction of his head tilt, clearly still processing whatever they’d discussed. “And I don’t want to tell you the whole of it, but I swear it was good.”
“Obviously, if it brought you to your knees.”
I petted my hand across the top of his head, threading my fingers through his hair and appreciating the softness of his blond curls. The hum he let loose vibrated up through my bones and I fought the urge to tighten my hand and pull.
“I like being on my knees for you,” he said. “At least I like it when your cock is in my mouth. I didn’t think there’d be any harm in trying it without.”
A knot of worry that I didn’t even realize had tied itself together in the center of my chest unfurled at his words, and I grabbed Rose under his armpits and hauled him up onto my lap. He was slim and small, and he landed easily against the tops of my thighs. He squished his legs on either side of me to get a proper straddle, and I held him steady with my hands around his waist.
There’d evidently been a part of me that was worried this was all for me, not for him. That we’d both made concessions for each other at the beginning of our relationship and this was another one of them. But as he arranged himself against me, the swell between his legs burned hot and apparent, a reminder to me that Rose wouldn’t do a single thing that didn’t please him. And I knew, I trusted in the very depths of my gut, that if there ever came a day whenIno longer pleased him, he wouldn’t do me anymore either.
“I think I’m in love with you,” I whispered.
Rose’s mouth split into a grin and he rolled his eyes at me, a small shake of his head to go along with it.
