Darius Holt is officially off the singles list with the announcement of his engagement!
EX Tradings' CEO replaced without notice, son succeeds father.
Rowan twisted the thin silver band around his ring finger in a thoughtful habit he had developed ever since Darius had proposed. The ring was almost like a fidget toy for him, something he spun around his finger when he was sitting on the couch and too tired to get up. He did not have as many postpartum issues as a normal mother thanks to his father's efficient cruelty, but his sweet little baby was a handful and a half at only two months.
Darius stepped into the apartment and kicked off his shoes, eyes already sparkling. He curled up on the couch next to Rowan, pulling his fiancé into a back hug. He kissed Rowan's ear, something he had been doing a lot lately, and whispered, "I missed you."
Rowan smiled despite himself and leaned back against Darius' chest with a happy sigh. "You saw me this morning."
Darius nuzzled his cheek. "I miss seeing you every time I look up from my desk."
Rowan tipped his head up and kissed Darius' chin. "Okay, I missed you too."
Darius chuckled, the sound pleasantly vibrating through Rowan's body. "How are you, baby?"
"Tired." Rowan ducked his head beneath Darius' chin and settled into the position he found most comfortable and safe. "Aiden wouldn't sleep for the longest time. I had to hold him for two hours."
Darius wrapped his arms around him even tighter, like he was afraid that Rowan would fall apart from too much work.
Rowan liked the pressure. It helped him stay out of the place where past panic ruled his existence.
"You're the best parent in the world."
Rowan did not deny it anymore since Darius said it and similar things a few times a day. "Okay, well, the best parent in the world needs a nap and a shower. In the opposite order."
Darius pressed a kiss to his hair. "Absolutely. You go do that. Don't listen to your parental instincts if you hear Aiden fussing. I've got everything under control."
Rowan smiled. "Hm, I doubt that."
"Don't doubt me," Darius whispered conspiratorially. "I'm perfectly capable."
Rowan giggled. "Don't whisper like that in my ear," he said, cringing away playfully. "It tickles."
Darius grabbed him tighter and started whispering nonsense in his ear, laughing as Rowan tried to squirm away. "Alright," he finally relented, letting Rowan go. "Go take your shower. And then your nap. I shall hold down the fort until you are sufficiently rested."
Rowan got up, still smiling as he shut himself into the bathroom. His smile was so genuine that his reflection scared him. When was the last time he had been this happy? When had he ever been this happy? It felt like he was living in a state of constant joy instead of fear, and that change still frightened him sometimes. What if it was all a dream? What if it did not last? The questions should have terrified him, but he stared himself down in the mirror. "You're perfect," he told himself firmly, repeating the words Darius said so often. "This isn't a dream. Darius will never let you get hurt again." He reached out and brushed the tips of his fingers across the mirror's smooth surface. "This is real." Before his emotions pooled in his eyes, he quickly stepped away, shed his clothes, and got into the shower. He took a long, luxurious shower, using Darius' shampoo and his own conditioner in a combination that made his hair "adorably fluffy," as Darius called it. After he got out and dried off, he wrapped his body in one of the fuzzy yellow robes that he had teased Darius for mercilessly because they made him look like a little duckling.
Darius had just ruffled his hair and called him cute, so the argument had ended there. Their arguments, or the discussions that passed for arguments with them, always came to a halt when Darius called Rowan cute or adorable. It made Rowan shy, and all counterarguments left his brain like the tide pulling back from the beach.
Rowan got into bed and fell asleep before he could fully enjoy the sensation of cool sheets on his skin.
When he woke up, Darius was there, holding him close with his eyes shut like he was sleeping too. But when Rowan moved, he opened his eyes immediately. "Hey, baby," he said softly.
Rowan rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. "Hey," he replied, his voice still heavy with sleep. "I thought you were watching Aiden."
"Aiden," Darius said, "is being an absolute angel. He is perfectly happy in his playpen in the corner. He's being so quiet."
Rowan sat up and looked over at the playpen situated in the corner of their bedroom.
Aiden, as if sensing his gaze, looked up from his toys and babbled happily, his dark red curls nearly covering his sweet blue eyes.
An automatic smile curved Rowan's lips. "Hello, love," he cooed as he slid to the edge of the bed. "Did you have a good nap? You're so smiley now!"
Darius grabbed him from behind before he could get up. "Nuh-uh. You're not on duty."
Rowan fought back playfully but let Darius pull him backward onto the bed. Once he was pinned beneath Darius as the inevitable loser of the fight, he gazed up at him, just admiring the way Darius' messy hair made him a million times more attractive. "If I'm not on duty, what am I doing?"
Darius ran his fingers through Rowan's still-damp hair. "You're going to be a good boy and relax." Whenever Darius took that tone with him, that always meant he was about to torture Rowan with pleasure.
Rowan obediently let his limbs go limp. "Like this?" he asked, watching how Darius' expression changed as he went into predator mode. It should have scared him, but he knew in his soul how safe he was with Darius. He might be the prey, but Darius would never ever hurt him.
Darius pulled the single knot on Rowan's robe out. "Yes, baby, exactly like that." His fingers slid the robe apart and worked it off Rowan's shoulders. He growled when Rowan purposefully made it difficult for him by being dead weight. "Sit up."
Rowan obeyed with a smirk that set sparks flying in Darius' eyes. When Darius pressed on his back, he rose up onto his knees so Darius could pull the robe away entirely. Then he lay down on the bed again and let Darius run his eyes down his body like he was a whole feast. He arched his hips provocatively and grinned when Darius' hands slammed his hips back down onto the bed.
"None of that, you minx," Darius snarled.
"Minx?" Rowan teased. "I thought I was a duckling."
Darius frowned, as if presented with a real dilemma. "I can't fuck a duckling in good conscience."
Rowan felt like his face was set on fire. "My god, Darius! There's a baby in the room!"
Darius leaned down and nipped the tip of Rowan's nose. "He won't remember a thing, baby, I promise."
"Do it hard enough and I won't remember a thing either," Rowan replied, smiling with satisfaction as his words provoked Darius. His head pushed back into the pillow hard as Darius spread his legs and started. He knew the rules now. He could not move except when Darius moved him. To anyone else, that might have felt entrapping. To Rowan, it felt freeing. His body, his pleasure, and his sanity were all in the hands of someone else, but it was someone he loved, not someone he feared. So he was safe. He whimpered when Darius' fingers found his prostate, that cursed bundle of nerves that Darius knew just how far to push before insanity set in. He tried to stay quiet for Aiden's sake, but Darius soon had him moaning and cursing and begging.
Darius looked very pleased with himself the whole time, and he actually laughed at Rowan's fumbling curses. "You're so beautiful."
Rowan glared. "You're supposed to be fucking me, not complimenting me."
"Ooh, somebody's touchy!" Darius grinned rogueishly. "Am I not touching you enough?"
"Darius–" Rowan started, but his next words got cut off with a gasp as Darius mercilessly abused his prostate with those evil fingers. He really did start to lose track of what was happening, even though it was his own body and he felt everything beautifully. He lost whatever thread he had been following up until that point when Darius pushed inside. All he knew was that he felt good enough to die peacefully.
Darius paused. "Did you just say you could die right now?" He actually sounded scared, so it snapped Rowan back into the present.
Rowan lifted his head slightly. "I might have?" He was not sure precisely where his thoughts had stopped and speech had started.
Darius grabbed Rowan's face tightly. "You can't die. I'll go crazy and die without you."
Rowan smiled, leaned up, and kissed Darius' lips quietly. "I know. You need to learn not to take what I say during sex super seriously. Honestly, I'm just babbling. I have no idea what's in my mind or what's coming out of my mouth. Be a nice alpha and continue, please."
Darius' mouth parted in astonishment. "You did not just tell me to be a nice alpha," he growled, shoving into a hard, deep rhythm that curled Rowan's toes.
"Absolutely not," Rowan gasped out. "I would never."
Darius smirked and continued until Rowan lost all sense of time and place.
When warmth filled him and shot down his spine, his brain blue-screened for what felt like forever. He came back to himself as Darius was pressing kisses all over his body. "Stop it," he protested weakly.
Darius glanced up at him. "You're just mad you have to take another shower."
Rowan rolled his eyes. "It doesn't feel worth it."
Darius raised an eyebrow. "Not worth it, huh?"
Rowan instantly realized what he had said and how Darius had taken it. "Wait, Darius, I–"
Darius pounced on him again, and any protest was lost in the love that followed.